Hello, Earthen Ring…it’s been a long time.
For those of you that remember me…cool, how are you? For those of you that have no idea who I am, I go by the name of Phryea, and years ago I was seen as one of the most unnecessarily hated characters/players on the server. Maybe to some, I still am? Who knows…
It has been 5 years since I have been here. RPing in-game, typing it up on the forums, seeing what is jumping on the server, and most importantly helping non-RPers or new RPers get into RPing and settle into their groove. Good times.
I look at Earthen Ring now and it is a shell of its former self…and it pains me, but at the same time it was inevitable.
I’ve been watching the forums for a bit now, and I commend the suggestions, promotions, hashtags, and pleas of returning Earthen Ring to its 2008/2009 glory before the slow downfall…but I see that no one is talking about the plague that caused that downfall. This sucks because as many hoorah attempts some of you will make to get Earthen Ring back to where it should be, has Earthen Ring as a community healed up its past? Has Earthen Ring as a community learned from its past? The answer is No.
I won’t get into too much detail, but from players that I kept close to me and who are close to some of you, the issues are still present. Driving away players who have brilliant ideas that don’t align with the mainstays of the server…creating false narratives to slander and ostracize players that elitists on the server don’t like…the desire to hog the spotlight to make characters look more important than what they really are (listen…that Silver Hand Tabard is nice, but that doesn’t give you the right to play God. Anyone and everyone can roll a pally and get it. Have a seat.) …making your character invincible against anything while going to other characters and forcing them to submit to attacks and attributes you deem fit–and then slandering characters and players OOCly when things didn’t go your way…accusing people of doing things that would legit land them in prison (you know you are, and so do I and the others that saw what some of you did.) …lying and conspiring in favor of other players who legit were in the wrong but did so anyway to inherit gains…and as we have learned from ERN and ERRC, giving players unnecessary power that totally went to their heads which they used and abused to oblivion against other players–which drove players away–and then those people who abused power left themselves because they couldn’t find more players to make into their victims–save for the people that gave them the power in the first place–wow, this is sounding like Animal Farm story in here!
To all players, this is a monthly paid game that people come to so that they can enjoy the experience. For other players, they lived their lives in here because life just felt better here for them…and players with power didn’t care about that. Players brought their masterminds to this server and players with power that shaped the influence of the server didn’t care about that. Influential players allowed players they favored to interrupt RP sessions and events from other players and when atonement was needed, nothing happened. In fact, the players who were being rotten to other players were promoted to be seen as paragons while the players they griefed were bashed to be seen as wicked!
Did you all learn from that? Did Earthen Ring as a community, learn from that? Before I left Earthen Ring 5 years ago, my final words were that this server is doomed because players are drunk with power and they are tearing down all the good this server had to offer while blanketing the pain by using the word “Community”, and a community that is not able to embrace its good and bad and have EVERYONE WITHIN come together to keep Earthen Ring alive is not a community at all.
Looking at the way things turned out 5 years later, it pains me to say, I was right.
As much as I seethed with anger with how players of influence treated me, I also swelled with joy with how other players treated me too. I have a lot of good warm heartfelt memories here. I’ve met players in real life who are everyday people with amazing passion for life, I’ve also met players who I spent 4 hours in whisper chat, and other public chatrooms keeping them in-game doing quests and dungeons to stop them from logging off and carrying out their suicidal thoughts. In the shadows, I helped players who were seen on the server as a complete joke, mature their ideas where they became well respected and revered to all players on the server. I helped players embrace their LGBT herritage, and I’m not even LGBT. I helped players with children, by virtually babysitting their young kid(s) with a mic and a webcam and doing Ulduar and ICC mog runs to pass the time while their parents went to work…When I left the server, I interacted with players who were inspired by me so much, they told me that they will go where I go. I went to Moon Guard, they followed, and we keep connected to this day…and even when Earthen Ring hated me, when players unfortunately passed away, I made it my business to inform as many people as I could so that we could all pay respects.
While I hated moments of what the server did to me, I also loved moments of what the server did for me. My RPing coffers are filled to the brim, I could log on and get into RP from players in less than 10 seconds either by walking up to players, or responding to the many whispers that I get when players see me online. I’m good, I don’t need to seek RP, I have it in abundance…despite all of that though, I am legit in sorrow for how Earthen Ring turned out. Earthen Ring was my home. Many times players attempted to sway me to switch over to Wildstar, Guild Wars 1 and 2, ESO, and FF14 but I remained here for as long as I could until I changed servers due to how toxic things became. I don’t even play WoW for the sake of Blizzard after the bans and employee treatment, nor do I play WoW for the expansions. I’m strictly here for family and friends and nothing more. Once they’re gone for good, I’m gone for good, too.
…but they seem to be sticking around currently…so while they’re still around, I want to take some time to help this server. I see clearly what the problems are, and I want to address solutions.
1, I don’t know if Sullivan/Shaw is still around, but his archived content is still on the web. Google “Earthen Ring RP Made Simple” and start reading and soak up some game on RP etiquette. If he is still around, give him a whisper and tell him thank you for his service to the server.
2, The player Syvbia/Syvbar has, if I am not mistaken, the oldest RP guild on the horde side of this server–and arguably the oldest RP guild on the server period. She is one of those brilliant minds that got burned out because “paragons” that were trusted with helping to care for the server saw her as toxic when nothing could be further from the truth. She is passionate and has a lot of RP and love to give to anyone who comes to her and accepts it…but she is old and tired and genuinely feels like no one really cares. I am sure she still plays horde side so if you can, send her a whisper too and thank her for her service to the server. Earthen Ring is in dire need of help and while I don’t know if #MergeEarthenRing will go through, players currently here need to approach this situation as if the merge is not going to happen…and you need to keep as many players still here as you can, Earthen Ring cannot afford anymore players to leave.
3, EARTHEN RING NEED VILLAIN RPERS!!! Your characters as heroes and virtues means nothing if you don’t have villains to test them. There is no Batman without The Joker. There is no Superman without Lex Luthor. There is no Robocop without ED-209. There is no Aang without Ozai. There is no Hulk Hogan without Andre The Giant. There is no Luke Skywalker without Darth Vader. Even now, Blizzard knows this, for there is no Uther without Arthas! You players need to talk in whisper and small groups and create scenarios of heroes and villains, and determine who wins and loses from time to time. Villains winning all the time is depressing, and heroes winning all the time is boring. Storytelling and interaction is best told through victories and defeats. Character growth, and skewed perspectives to explain different angles of a story. I don’t know what you all have planned, but that ball needs to get rolling and fast, which brings me to…
4, Earthen Ring needs to invest in brilliant minds again. Having guilds as cliques doesn’t work. You need events to be cultivated, you need RP Controversy to flow. You need methods and means to get people passionate to WANT log onto the server and find out what is going to happen next. Those of you that think you can be a brilliant mind for the server, by all means step up. For those that DO step up, you need to protect them. Brilliant minded people are very fragile. It’s one thing to give criticism for their input, but it’s another thing to drive them away from the server because they see things differently than everyone else, regardless if their ideas and planning works or doesn’t.
5, Aside from the Earthen Ring Wiki, take all other forums like ERN and ERRC, and destroy them. Abandon them. Instead, make the official WoW Earthen Ring forum (here) your RP Hub. Making extra forums and hubs where players can reign power will not work. The server is not healthy for that, and this allows players to abuse power and make clique gangs. The official WoW Earthen Ring Forum (here) has matured quite a lot, with extended text to write out paragraphs and story, and the forum moderators are balanced and fair for everyone (unlike back in the day but let me not bring that drama up.) Write your character stories. If they’re too mature, write them in a way where you can get your message across without being vulgar. For example, we ALL know what happened to Alexstrasza when she was in Grim Batol. I don’t need to use the R-word here.
6, Make RP events that flow into other other RP events. If you have an RP event that takes place on the same say as someone else’s RP event, contact the host and change dates. The last thing this server needs is player RP attendance conflict. Basically train tracks don’t work when 1 wooden plank is on top of the other. Set your RP event either a day or 2 before or after the other RP event. Don’t make players have to choose which RP event to go to, instead set RP events so that they compliment one another for players to go to one, then the next, then the next, then the next. This keeps players in-game longer, and allows other players to meet up, which helps restore the community–and don’t hesitate to ask people to help you promote it or maintain your RP Event. Give players a reason to want to RP and come to your event. Make an RP where players can get achievements by staying for the whole event. When I hosted my best RP event, players got the food and drink achievements when they stayed for the whole RP event when my guildmembers served those foods and drinks on a constant rotation. Many of you can do this, and I’m confident that some of you may have better RP ideas than that and turn it into RP events. For the love of this server, DO NOT make RP events that compete with other RP events. Moon Guard is the biggest RP server, and not even THEY do that. Earthen Ring does not have that luxury right now.
7, Server Paragons need to step down. If they care for this server as much as they may say they do, they need to be able to let fresh blood fill in their shoes. This will show change, and inspire new players to rise up with their ideas. For that to work, the server paragons need to realize that this is not about them, this is about the server’s RP health. If you’re new, don’t be afraid to fail, and be ready to take accountability when you mess up. When my guild was seen as the best, I never intended for it to last forever. The Northfold Gang cam about and I helped to cultivate them and things didn’t turn out the way that I planned, and I owned up to that. At the same time, Kelsus approached me on how to make a top respectable guild, I told him the blueprint on how to do it, he then made Conjurers Court, which is now The Court of Lions, and I am happy to see that they’re still about. My goal was to cultivate guilds and players so that the health of the RP scene on the server was maintained high. We were actually BIGGER than Moon Guard back around 2008 / 2009. But, because the server paragons hogged the spotlight and sucked the life out of the server, it is what it is now. This server needs to get healthy again. They have to step down.
8, if you join an RP guild, curb your impulses. As a guild leader, I’ve often see players join a guild looking for RP that caters to their specific tastes and when the guild doesn’t meet their fancy after being in it for only a week, they just up and gquit without a word. Again, Earthen Ring does not have the luxury for players to be doing that. It creates tension between the old guild you left and the new guild you join, and tension is the last thing this server needs. You as an RPer seeking a guild to join need to be patient, and be ready to get your hands dirty to help till the soil for the guild to grow. Your discipline will help small guilds turn to large guilds, which can help players branch off and make small guilds and repeat the process. Guildhoping repeatedly is selfish, and it gets you nowhere fast until you have nowhere to go.
9, Set a weekly RP day. Some of you may feel that what I am saying to be done is too large to set into motion. Alright. In that case, all of the RPers reading this can come together and agree on at least 1 day a week for everyone to come together to RP. Make a thread on that right now, if you have to, and drive RPer traffic to that thread. MATTER OF FACT, Arialynn. Despite our disagreements and differences, I believe you can make the thread that can bring everyone together. Pick a neutral zone for Alliance and horde to meet up, pick a day, and make it happen. You have plenty of pull on this server, so this shouldn’t be difficult for you at all. If you can’t do it, then at least assign someone the server can trust to do it.
and last but not least 10, STAY COMMITTED AND FOCUSED! I understand that with the condition that the server is in, getting things done seems hopeless…but you must commit to the server’s enrichment if you want things to improve. Make an event and stay there from start to finish, even if no one shows up. You may not know it, but by doing that you are letting others know that you are doing whatever it takes to change this server for the better. You are cultivating power and influence to change the energy and attitude of this server. You will not see progress right away, but over time, others will join you and the change you want will come.
I’m sure I can talk about problems and give solutions if I tried really hard, but my energy is needed on Moon Guard. Still, I’ll pop in-game every other day to see how things are going, and if I am allowed, I’ll help you all to get Earthen Ring lively again.
With that said, let’s get to work.
Peace Out and Good Gaming To You! 
~ Syv*