30/09 2001

IC COURT

Weeee. IC court is fun. I have used it extensively over the years I have played. It´s a great way to get something going, or a break in a story, or an end. Court is a roleplaying tool to me, not a snert-control device. For that, it doesn´t work - and can in most cases just increase the problem. But I am going to write an extensive rant about that some other time.

It doesn´t really matter if Baba wins or loses. I like the unpredictability of the thing. I like that it´s very much "who is in the jury" that decides the outcome. I of course try to have her win, try to present the case as good as possible. But the outcome doesn´t really matter other than RP wise. I have had great rp sessions from the cell:) The court is actually a major challenge for me - having to state something in such a short time. I have thought about preparing the whole case beforehand, but the other roleplayer can´t do that - so I feel like I am cheating a bit then. But maybe I should since it would help my little handicap. I don´t know.

It can have other uses as well. Court can also be used to get a story more known for example, or to drive a thread in a certain direction. I just had a great courtcase, and that reminded me of this. It´s something I have wanted to try for awhile, and I had someone particular in mind - but I never see the character online and the case is old now anyway, so I went for another instead. Not the perfect exile for this, or the perfect case but he had to do...

Baba sued Wangah Rah for actions detrimental to the common good. Background was that he refused to tell about the readings from the ethereal amulet. Or rather : Baba wasn´t allowed to tell until he had deemed it wise. Having wanted to try it out for such a long time, I grabbed the chance. I also think the whole Brion thread is just way cool, fun and challenging in a way no other quests in CL are - so I had this thought in my mind to have fun while introducing the ethereal amulet to more players. I´m a director in real life, and I never stop thinking like one see. I´ll write something about that another time too...

The courtcase itself was a very good one. Both parties stated their case very well, it spurred a debate and noise on the sunstone, and in town afterwards. The verdict was innocent by the way. I was content, as I made a nice "catch". Started a thread I will work more on in the time to come, related and roleplayed with a to me "new" player, introduced the amulet to a lot more players, generated debate on the SS and ingame , stated Baba´s position (as that isn´t commonly known already), and got some more enemies for Baba. Wee. All in ten minutes. Now that is nice, don´t you think?:)

15/10/01

Some players takes the court just too seriously. I recently had another great courtcase, and when Baba did her usual ballistic and tormented fuzz on the sunstone - I got some sunstones back. Directed at me though. While their intentions were good, wanted to comfort me and all that, they really didn´t understand the difference here between me and Baba. See, I had a blast. Baba was going nuts. I really don´t "get" what these players object too. It might stem from a lack of distance between their character and themselves. So when their character gets sued, the player feel violated somehow. And then they react to the randomness of the outcome, that it´s based on no laws, that it´s a popularity contest etc. I think it´s the randomness of it all that adds some suspense. In this case, when I saw the jury, I thought it would be really close. The verdict was guilty however, and I got to do some drama from the jail cell. Weee. The goal is not whether to win or lose a courtcase. My goal is to be consistent with how Baba reacts, and very often - losing is much more fun playing than winning, and is also more dramatical in nature. So, while I thank for these player´s concern, I have to say you are misunderstanding a bit:)

15/11/01

Oops... to be clear - above I am writing about player to player, not what your character may think about Baba in jail. If your character is a friend of her, it of course makes complete sense if your character is upset etc.