I'm going to preface this by saying, many, if not all of my views are going to be unpopular.

I, like some of you, have been in Hathian for going on three years. In that time, I've seen a lot of great and tremendous growth of the Crack Den.

That said, I've also seen a step backwards in the evolutionary trend of the roleplay, which I'm going to lay out below. Keep your mind open as you read these... and no need to reply to justify yourself if you do or do not RP this way.

I. Character Creation

We've become a community that embraces ultra-violence. Not violence, but ultra-violence. The sim was built upon the foundations of being a violent, forced-fantasy environment. Granted, in most cases, we've moved away from the forced-fantasy aspect, only to have instilled this ultra-violent behavior.

But Stu, what do you mean by this? When I first started playing in the Crack Den, I was a lowly rookie with then CDPD as Rookie Trent Noonan. I witnessed several small crimes. Those crimes included: pick pocketing, mugging, assaults & the random rape. That being said, the criminals didn't stand up the CDPD - they avoided them.

What happened? For quite sometime, I wasn't sure myself. I couldn't pinpoint the moment where the ultra-violent behavior became a commonplace occurance. It just had. So I did some research. I asked some of the players that had been here even longer than me. What happened that brought this casual attitude to such violent acts?

The Crows. Plain and simple. The Crows were a very select set of roleplayers who understood the ramifications of violent roleplay, and in the means to secure their place in the gang landscape, they became a roving band of misfits with EXTREME VIOLENT behavior. The fought and attacked with no remorse.

So what Stu? It was the Crows. 7 or 8 people. Big deal! Well, sure, you could assume that. But what began to pop up were clones... folks who wanted to be a Crow, but didn't understand how to RP that culture. So we ended up with chainsaw wielding psychos. We were Texas Chainsaw Massacre -meets- Friday the 13th -meets- Halloween -meets- Hellraiser -meets- Nightmare on Elm Street -meets- well, you get the point.

Ultraviolence slowly became a thing of commonplace. But Stu, what do you mean by ultraviolence? Glad you asked! What I'm referring to is the common use of weapons during fights (which I'll cover in another area) and the extreme lengths the roleplays go to, to get a point across.

Now, as you see, I labeled this under character creation. Why? Because, we have a lot of folks who like to bring a "child" up through this process. They start as a young boy and/or girl and find themselves growing up on these means streets of Hathian. This ultra-violence is instilled in them... and as such, they become a product of it. The trend continues, a cycle to never end.

Which leads me to my next point. How many characters do we have running around Hathian who have multiple personalities? Is it possible that we have 8 or 9 Sybil's running around the city? It's possible. Not likely though. Be realistic in your roleplays. If you've got multiple personalities -- why aren't you seeing psychologists? I haven't met anyone with these disorders that doesn't seek or want help. Believe it or not, they WANT to be normal(er). And I think this plays into the whole "ultraviolent" behavior. Just because you poop in a McDonalds cup and drink your own urine doesn't mean you're a savage, ruthless killer.

While we're on the top of characters. I've also seen this trend growing more and more. HOW MANY ATTACHMENTS do you really need? I've seen folks carrying two daggers, a knife, a hachet, a machete, a gun and a baseball bat in their hands. Are you REALLY Rambo? Do you really NEED to be armed to the teeth? Why are we hiding behind these weapons? Does anyone really UNDERSTAND what a knife wound does to someone? We all preach about guns... but knives are just as deadly. If you don't understand, go to the innercity and spend a week working in their ER. You'll find that knives are just as brutal as bullets.

On the final note in this section. We've also seen the influx of new players and groups within the last year, year and a half. I'd like to make this point, very, very clear. There are no mobs, mafias or "families" in the Crack Den. If you want that RP, you need to piddle off somewhere else. There is no room for organized crime. There is no one who "runs" the streets and there sure as hell isn't anyone who's a legit bad ass. Any roleplayer worth their weight in gold knows that with every strength your character has, you should have atleast ONE weakness. I prefer to use two for mine. It keeps you from being overpowered.

II. Fighting

Okay, I touched on it just a bit above. But let me expand my thoughts here. As I said, I've seen the use of weapons increase. Whatever happened to the good ol' fashioned fist fight? Why must every fight start with some sort of weapon being drawn. I know you folks are TREMENDOUS roleplayers...why muddy up the RP with the use of weapons. You are all MUCH more creative than that. I challenge you, take up the fist fight. Embrace it. Enjoy it.

The weapons, I talked about it earlier. The wounds you folks are portraying are absolutely ridiculous. Carvings, stab wounds, gunshots, burns, crucifixions, I could go on and on. I've seen people get clubbed with a bat, only to stay up on their own two feet. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? If I get hit with a baseball bat at a full swing, my ass is going down. You know why? That shit hurts. I don't care how tough you are... that shit hurts. Same with a knife wound. Have you seen video of a guy getting stabbed before? If you have, you'll notice that after the first stab, they are defensive and are only trying to get away... not throwing haymakers or countering with a move of their own.

Which takes us here. Fighting itself. Other that organized MMA, how many fights have you seen that last more than a minute or so? Generally one person outmatches the other and the fight is over quickly. Why the need for these EPIC three hour long fights? Do your business and get on with it. Go to work. Make coffee. Flip burgers. Serve beer. Work the drive thru, sell records, sell porn, be a tattoo artist... DO SOMETHING! I know that went a bit off topic, but I needed to get that outta my system.

So, you're a "legit" badass? You're going to lose fights. Sorry. It happens. You're going to lose face. Deal with it. No one is a 'winner' here in Hathian anyway. We're ALL losers. EVERY ONE of us. So stop coming in with these crazy fighting styles... where the HELL did you learn those, or AFFORD to pay for learning them? GET REAL PEOPLE! Throw fists, maybe stomp someone... but leave it there.

Let me sum up my thoughts in this way. There is absolutely nothing wrong with ultraviolence - when used sparingly. But when it's commonplace and done everyday, there can't be those EPIC fights that everyone remembers. Why? Because it happens everyday. I urge and beg you folks to think about what I've listed above... let's continue to evolve and steer this community towards a RP environment that gives chance for some really GREAT story telling!!!! Thank you for taking the time to read this.