I have to ask...

[Driver Guide]

...was this section blank and/or empty before my post because you had no flames or rants or because you regularly delete any flames and rants?

I'm still looking for the perfect game. One where PvP isn't just against the rules, but is imposssible because of good coding. UO, the regular paid monthly subscription UO, came close, except for the PvP problem.

So... Is PvP merely against the rules or has the coding been changed to prevent one player from having other players as a valid targets?

The answer to this question will determine whether or not someone can still come along and f@#k me over and ruin my day. The perpetrator getting his wrists slapped will be small consolation to me at that point.

Obviously this problem still exists in EverQuest, EVE Online, the regular paid monthly subscription Ultima Online, and many many other online games.

We'll save the question of why game companies think throwing their peaceful players at the wolves and putting them at the mercy of @$$holes is going to help their bottom line for the therapy sessions I know I'm going to need.

I'm looking forward to returning to the idealistic Ultima Online that I'm hoping Whispering Pines represents but if you see an avatar with a nervous tic under his left eye you'll know it's me waiting for the other shoe to fall.

[joy]

There is no PVP on this shard at all, the only time one can attack another is durring the event paintball. I have lived there over a month and run a new player guild, i do so look forward to meeting you and working together for the good of the shard.

[GhostRiderGrey]

Driver Guide, thank you for your interest in Whispering Pines. I do not wipe the posts in Flames and Rants, yours was the first post in this section.

We are a non-PVP shard except for specific events, such as our paintball event. The coding has NOT been changed to prevent one player from targeting another. However, any instances of PVP, if reported, are dealt with quickly and efficiently either by jailing or banning the offending player. Our players understand that WP is a non-PVP shard and help in the policing of this policy.

I do, however, have a concern about your post and your need to resort to foul language (even if you have tried to mask it). This is a family shard, and as per our rules, cursing is not permitted. I would extend this to attempts to mask the cursing as you have done in your post. Please read through our rules here on the website and consider them carefully before joining our family.

Again, thank you for your interest in WP.
-GhostRiderGrey [Owner]

[DeVir Santi]

I do, however, have a concern about your post and your need to resort to foul language (even if you have tried to mask it). This is a family shard, and as per our rules, cursing is not permitted. I would extend this to attempts to mask the cursing as you have done in your post. Please read through our rules here on the website and consider them carefully before joining our family.

Um Well put fearless leader. AS for PVP as a whole its pretty hard to do it here. As Feluccia is turned off, so the only way I am currently aware to pvp is be in a guild. So, if you don't want to worry about pvp don't join a guild. But, even if your in a guild PVP is frowned on and can land you in some trouble with staff as PVP is against the rules.

[Driver Guide]

Now you're starting to scare me for quite another reason. I am a most reserved person; amiable and generous. Leaving my small ego and humility out of the equation I find people saying that they enjoy my company and that they find me kind and helpful and always willing to lend a hand. But if you think that at the second coming God would not say to man WTF? then you really do live in Whispering Pines. Because you have no connection to reality whatsoever. I masked the extreme vernacular in deference to your self-styling as a family site and shard; but the extreme vernacular was essential to stress my concerns with precision.

I have, many times, come across organizations, like yours, who preach love and togetherness and peaceful serenity... even while knifing their grandmothers in the back and selling their children into white slavery.

There are two extremes. There is the "screw your buddy" PvP extreme. This makes for a poor role playing environment because it prevents cooperation on the basis of having to watch who you're working with. The people in charge of the games I mentioned in my original post will NEVER understand this.

The other extreme is a game without challenges where everyone is a vegetarian and the biggest battle you fight is with boredom.

The ideal is a balance between the two where one player cannot ruin the efforts of any other player but where you can challenge yourself by tackling overt circumstances. The clandestine circumstances where the person you THINK you're working with but who is really just leading you into a situation in which you get killed or he kills you himself are more sinister because they lack the honesty of the overt circumstances.

Was I born with the desire to be a cynic? Did the pledge of allegiance said every morning by myself and all school children until it was outlawed by religious fanatics include a clause whereby I reaffirmed my determination to have a bad attitude? No. My expectation of disappointment was developed from interactions with people telling me one thing when THEY knew it was not true.

Tell me that unauthorized PvP has never happened and will never happen on your shard and I will retract EVERYTHING I have said. Until you can say that with honesty (which I will leave between you and God) then don't talk to me about the concerns I have and the way I express them.

Now, being the mind reader I am, I will correctly predict your reaction to this post. You will either remove it completely or you will respond with statements that can be paraphrased as "this is our shard and we will not tollerate challenges to our perception of it".

[GhostRiderGrey]

Perhaps some of our players will jump on and describe their experience here and how they feel about WP.

As you have not been on the shard, you have no idea what our organization is like. I did not "preach love and togetherness and peaceful serenity" to you, I merely pointed out that the use of foul language is not allowed on our shard, masked or not. If you cannot find other words in the english language to express yourself without resorting to vulgarity, then I suggest you seek another shard.

As I stated above, our policy is no PVP. Is it coded to prevent that? no. Has it happened? yes. Was it dealt with? yes. Might it happen again? sure it might, but again, it will be dealt with. If you cannot deal with this reality, then WP is not the shard for you, simple as that. I wish you well in your search.

-GhostRiderGrey

....and no, this post will not be deleted.

[Smellz]

I'll give my opinion of WP. I joined last weekend and after I got my ConnectUO issues sorted out and I logged in to WisperingPines. I went out all the places on the omniporter just to try and become familiar with the shard. I went to what I thought were all the places that should be populated hoping I could find a fellow player to help me out; however, I was unseccessful. To be honest I went back on google looking for other no PvP shards untill I had to go eat breakfast. I thought that the shard had very few inactive players and I didn't want to be a part of it. I couldn't find any other shards, so I decided to give this one a second chance. When I logged on GhostRiderGrey welcomed me to the shard and Hologram gave me a dragon to help me with my farming. I then met Joy and joined her new players guild. Everyone I've met has been very kind and helpful. I'm really glad I joined the shard.

That's my experience. Here are some things I've learned as I played.
-Foul language is NOT tolerated. The game makes innopropriate words look like this: *****
-Nobody runs around preeching love and peace. Everyone is just friendly and helpful.
-There is no need to code the shard to where it's impossible to PvP. Nobody even tries to do it.
-Stealing and scamming other players doesn't happen.
-Everyone is honest. I could trust every player on the shard with my valueables and expect them to give them back.

Thats my thoughts on the shard. If you decide to join feel free to messsage me for help. Hope to see you online!

[Elron]

That's my experience. Here are some things I've learned as I played.
-Foul language is NOT tolerated. The game makes innopropriate words look like this: *****
-Nobody runs around preeching love and peace. Everyone is just friendly and helpful.
-There is no need to code the shard to where it's impossible to PvP. Nobody even tries to do it.
-Stealing and scamming other players doesn't happen.
-Everyone is honest. I could trust every player on the shard with my valueables and expect them to give them back.

Thats my thoughts on the shard. If you decide to join feel free to messsage me for help. Hope to see you online!

I'd like to point out that there are still scammers here. Your defination of scamming may be different than mine. I see scamming as exploiting someone for personal gain. Such as... offering a newbie 2gp per token... claiming a bod's going price is dramatically lower than what he/she has on their vendor.

That's just my 2 gold peices... take it for what its worth.

[Smellz]

That's what I consider scamming. I just never saw it happen before. Now that you mentioned it I will be only the look out for players who do it. Thanks.

[dragnar]

Ok I've been on the shard for about 4 months and I love it. Are there scammers? Unfortunately there are always some players trying to scam or trying to take advantage. If we could trust everyone in the world we would live in a utopian society. As for someone taking advantage or scamming, it should be reported to the staff. From what I've seen the staff is very fair and just in there decisions.I for one will be here for a long time because of the way it is run.