TMC Player Reviews: Lensmoor

(The following review comment is the opinion of the comment's author [Thelonius] and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff).

I'm sorry you feel that roleplay in Lensmoor is 'restricted beyond
belief'. In reality, there is almost no restriction on RP at all, and
most of the 'rules' that do exist are actually guidelines.

Lensmoor is a 'roleplay encouraged' MUD, so while you might not see
people RPing every time you log in, there is a ton of RP taking place.
The most common reason for people making this complaint is that they
are not involved in any plots, which is almost always due to lack of
self-involvement.

As for 'those following the god of duty and diplomacy are not exempt
from nonassociation', this is wrong on several levels. First off, as
someone who has obviously never been in Evarius' faith (Duty and
Diplomacy) you have assumed a lot. I have had two characters in that
faith, and both freely associated with the other continent (Antrippa).

Further, there is no 'nonassociation' decree for any faith, clan,
alignment or other group. There is, however, a storyline built into
the game of a war between the continents and the gods of each. This
does not mean you cannot associate with the other continent. In fact,
I RP with members of the opposing continent more than with those on my
own, because I find it more interesting.

True, there is debate about the 'war', and while some people agree
or disagree with proposed changes and updates to that storyline, many
people do not travel beyond the stage of complaining, so it does bog
down the discussion, both on the game boards and the forum.

Just don't assume because there is an underlying storyline that
there aren't diverse storylines in action or a multitude of character
options. There are countless of each at any given time.

(The following review comment is the opinion of the comment's author [Alonzo] and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff).

Honestly, I find it hard to believe that someone would write a review
of this sort about Lensmoor. To say that roleplay is heavily
restricted is beyond disbelief for me as one who has steadily played
a variety of roles there since 2002.

To date, my more-played characters have included an indignant, purist
angel who believes that the best way to spread light is to utterly 
destroy the darkness and that any who do not strive for absolute
purity are not truly good, a rather slimy-slick man of ill repute in
most every way one might imagine who made himself a rather profitable
enterprise of selling his own progeny into slavery later choosing to
follow a path of light, though he is not particularly good at such as
of yet, and finally a lawn gnome, who seems to be a bit lacking in
ability to remember beyond what remains within his vision and stays
in a single room in the mud, tending the lawn and cheerily
interacting with any who happen by, largely in a predictable manner.

If that's not diversity, I don't know what is. It sounds like what
this person really has a problem with is the setting of the two
continents (Antrippa and Lensmoor) being in a perpetual state of
animosity toward each other. This is what it is, and the general
guideline is that the people of each continent do not get along with
the other. As happens often enough, people are still free to interact,
but these interactions are discouraged (in character) for the most
part.

It is worth note that the statement of '...all players begin knowing
how to speak the language of each continent...' is incorrect. If I
recall correctly, only one race, maybe two, know both continent's base
language in the game. For a game to receive criticism is actually a
good thing, as such allows those in charge to take new points of view
into account and make positive changes, but for criticism to be taken
seriously, it is important to get the facts straight. I will concede
that it is extremely easy for anyone to learn the majority of
languages, whether those of races on your home continent or others,
but that is a choice that the player has to make, not something that
is expected of someone in any way.

With an admitted limited playerbase, split between two continents,
and with the option to not be involved in roleplay it can honestly
be difficult to find plots to be involved in at times. That said, I
have always found the complaints of not being able to find roleplay,
and especially roleplay that suits a given person, to be somewhat
unfair. To expect others to bring roleplay to you on a platter is
selfish and lazy. (This is not the same as appreciating when others
involve you in their roleplay, of course.) If you cannot 'find'
roleplay, perhaps you should create roleplay.

Lensmoor is truly a roleplay encouraged mud. I could go on at great
length about the 'willing to help' flagged players (which is specific
to helping others get involved in roleplay) and that the friendly
staff is generally happy to help out as well and various other
related responses to this review, but I don't really want to
overwhelm. If you want roleplay, come by and try. Feel free to poke
any of my characters (Alonzo, Delacroix, Mawriece) and I'd be happy
to do what I can to help. Write a note to IMM asking for help getting
involved, even. The majority of the playerbase enjoys roleplay and is
happy to help others join in the fun.