It's always darkest before the dawnFollow

Subtitled: Now I look forward to running into miscreants!

I'd like to tell you all about a couple of recent experiences I had playing EQ that confirmed the existence of karmic law. (It even applies in Paludal Caverns sometimes. It really does!)

Before I do, though, can someone explain to me why whenever I refer to one of the bandit camps as either "B1" or "B2", at least three people (with very arrogant attitudes) tell me it's "C1" or "C2", and why, with equal frequency, whenever I refer to them as "C1" or "C2", at least three people (with equally arrogant attitudes) tell me it's "B1" or "B2"?

I digress.

So I'm in PC the other night and grouped with five other players at B1 (or C1 - whatever) and our group has half of the camp, with another group having the other half. Lo and behold, on more than one occasion they pull mobs from our half of the camp. (One of the characters in the other group even had a name containing the word "loser", if that gives you any indication of the quality of play style we were up against.) Thankfully, everyone in our group was mature enough not to resort to the /shout-ing matches that often come about after such behavior. After this went on repeatedly for 15 mintues or so, and after our polite requests that they stop doing so were ignored, we decided it would be fun to pull their mobs in retaliation. I must say this was a hoot! It was the most fun I'd had in PC. Everyone in the group was working to make sure they didn't get any of our mobs and that we got as many of theirs as we could, and it was hilarious.

Anyhow, back to the karma part. I play EQ to have fun, not to get upset when people behave immaturely or selfishly. If people behave in ways I don't like, I either make the situation fun somehow or, if that's not possible, move along, hoping next time I don't run into similar people. So after running into this group of rude people in PC, I went to PoK and realized I still had 4 stacks of bone chips from when I had been in Kurn's Tower at lower levels. Occasionally, when it occurs to me, I send an /ooc in PoK to see if anyone might want to buy them. Someone actually responded that they wanted them and asked what the price was. I don't know. I know they're almost worthless at a vendor and that you can farm them with little effort, even at low levels, so they can't be worth much. So, against my better judgment and knowing that I'll likely get ripped off (but still remembering it's a game, so no big deal if I do), I tell the person asking that I'm new and I'm not really sure what they are worth. We open the trade window and he trades me 5 gems and says something like "Sell those to a vendor and that should cover it". I say thanks and go to a vendor and find that these Blue Diamonds sell for 200pp each! He gave me 1000pp for 4 stacks of bone chips!!! OMG. I nearly tripped over myself getting to The Bazaar. When I thank him profusely he tells me he hadn't seen anyone auction bone chips in 3 years and it made him feel nostalgic. I'll be nostalgic for 1000pp anytime!

Didn't think much more about it until last night.

I go to PC with another character, and after the LFG announcement I'm invited to C2 (or B2 - whatever). I arrive and hear in groupspeak that two of the toons in the group are planning to get married in game. I realize after a short time that these two (who had invited me into this now full group of six players) loot every mob before it hits the ground and don't have split on. I ask if everyone has split on and there's silence. More mobs drop and they loot everything immediately. So in true noob fashion I ask why I'm not getting any coins. Another member responds "Because they don't have split on". I respond "Why not?" One of the mega-looters says "Fighting ATM". After about another dozen mobs and loots and still no split I just say "I have to cruise" and leave the group. It isn't the loot, it's the principle. I don't like being treated like the servant class. About 10 minutes later the other members of the group start /ooc'ing that they have room for more members and I rejoin because the mega-looters evidently had enough and left. From then on it's a fun group.

Later I log on with a different character for a while and then, after logging back on, join a group of two others at C1 (or B1 - whatever). It's a normal enough group without too much group chat. I notice the two of them inspecting me a couple of times and I wonder why, given that all this character really has is noob hear. Once I ding and say I have to go, they each separately ask me to meet them by the bank in PoK. It was like effin Christmas! They both showered me with cash and equipment the likes of which I hadn't imagined! What incredibly generous players. They were so nice and I was so appreciative! (Had to stay on til 3am too even though I had to be to work at 9 this morning. Just had to.)

Then I remembered the other incident and it occurred to me. Every time I've run into a group of people who were incredibly rude, it seemed later that day I ran into the most generous individuals to balance the scales. Karmic law lives, even in PC!!

Now I can't wait to run into the next group of rude, selfish rubes!

this is how my ignore list gets filled up