The following is a compilation of various posts and e-mail messages
left behind by Aeroleous before he was nuked. These are unedited except
for the addition of HTML tags and some headers for clarification. I've
also merged his multiple-post "What is wrong with Astaria" into a single
section. Finally, I created a linked table of contents below for easier
navigation into specific sections.
I'll be putting up another page shortly with my comments inline.
- Kafka
* Aero's Farewell Bonanza
Dear Astaria,
It looks like it is time for me to leave Astaria and MUDding
in general. But rather than saying "goodbye all my friends!"
in a fluffy kind of way like most do, I would like to make a
final contribution by posting what I think are serious problems
and issues with Astaria. These are my undisguised opinions,
gathered from being on here since 1995.
Oh, these ideas will be heard regardless of who wants them
suppressed. Hence, even if any of these posts get wiped, you
can mail . To my enemies: information
cannot be hidden, so don't even try. I apologize in advance
for my harsh tone, but since I have no more political stakes,
I might as well be brutally honest.
__________________
Table of contents:
Intro (this post, Adv guild board)
Why am I leaving? (Bash board)
What is wrong with Astaria? I(Adv guild board)
What is wrong with Astaria? II (Adv guild board)
What is wrong with Astaria? III (Adv guild board)
What is wrong with Astaria? IV (Adv guild board)
[hey, what'd you expect, those have to be the longest posts!]
Guess my stats! (Spam board)
List of people I learned from (Dip board)
Individual messages to people (Dip board)
Resignation from Carcinoma Enterprises (Eq room board)
* Why am I leaving?
So here are the multiple reasons why I am* leaving, and I've
accumulated these reasons for over 5 months:
- I am a junior at the Michigan Institute of Trucking with a 5.0 GPA.
Currently my life involves:
A 5-year program to receive a master's in computer science +
a bachelor's in management & finance +
a minor in biomedical engineering +
a concentration in economics
6 classes a term, in 3 departments
Being an executive officer of 3 student groups
Teaching physics (E&M) to freshmen
An internship at the world's most profitable company
In other words, I'm busy and my workload is increasing.
And that's that! Oh, I'd rather not have more contact with the
MUD than this now that I'm gone, but if you do have something
*interesting* to say, you can email .
* What is wrong with Astaria?
I'd like to comment on what's really wrong with Astaria and
why player turnout has dropped over the last year. I think
I can be qualified to do this since I've explored nearly every
place on the mud and made it a job to track any relevant
info/people.
* Wizzes' Attitude
This is the main problem. Here's a little convo I had with Nix once:
Nix says "We won't get involved with player debates.. and here is why"
Nix says "We do not code for the players.."
Nix says "Now.."
Nix says "Let me explain that."
Nix says, "We (the wizard staff) have our own idea of how this
mud should be and how things should operate.."
Nix says, "And thats what we do."
Nix says, "If people don't like it.. they can leave"
....
Nix says "And I will likely not respond to any post made"
Nix says "And if llythir slanders me.."
Nix says "I'll nuke him and siteban him"
Nix says "For life"
Nix says "Period"
And mind you, Nix is one of the more ethical wizzes. I just happen
to have a log with him. There are worse wizzes (see next post).
But here's a dose of truth for the wizardry to swallow:
- Wizards are *human* and no better than any of the players. They are
neither smarter, wittier nor stronger. Just as there would be new
players if the current ones left, there would be plenty of replacement
wizzes: in other words, very few of you would be missed if you left.
- Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Wielding
this power improperly makes you sink below the most wretched player.
- There is no mud without players. You could have it wonderfully coded,
but if nobody visits, the mud might as well be trashed. Astaria is
special because of its players. Don't fool yourselves otherwise.
In fact, most wizards (especially the senior ones) are computer
geeks IRL who couldn't intimidate a fly. They like having power
over players because it makes them feel good.
* Wiz bureaucracy
At one time, Astaria had 6 admins, 3 elders, 2 arches and _2_
full-time normal wizards. This is *not* how good companies are run.
The heirarchy, like many things here, exists to make certain people
feel good about themselves.
* Wiz recruitment
Yizashi made a little attempt to make the process more open just
before he left, but seems to have failed. The truth is that wiz
recruitment in astaria is a shadowy, unclear process.
We have incompetent players/coders being wizzed while talented
players don't even know they can apply. The best example of this
is Perrin and his wives, but see the next post for more on this.
* Bad admins
I would name four the wizzes that truly do deserve my unconditional
praise, but I'm afraid that if I wrote nicely about them, they
might get in trouble. So I'll just name a bad example instead:
Sure Finian was a hotshot coder, and he managed to impress Aurora
enough to take over the place. But he was a horrible manager.
Losing Rakasta, no matter who was wrong, was a failure on
the part of the manager for not keeping his staff motivated.
Towards players, he was an egotistical tyrant who fed on the
hot air supplied by sycophants. Insulting people on astaria
and dropping tricrown were done to fuel his need for
attention. The wisest decision he ever made was to resign to Alexia.
* Logical flaws
Because of bad management and demotivated wizzes, very few bugs
get fixed and many innocent features we've liked (like
mindlinking to dead people or mindwiping mobs) are downgraded
needlessly. After all this incompetence and fixing of the wrong
things, many wizzes claim "I don't have time to fix this".
Astaria has been continuous series of downgrades disguised
as bug fixes or features ("Look, you have gemstrike instead of
pblast!"). None of these have required much brainpower or
effort. So what do we still have that probably won't get fixed?
- You can dodge from being drowned in the ghostship.
- Guardian will protect you from a meltdown, even though it's an
internal effect
- Mobs can mindwipe you but you can't mindwipe mobs
- Fetter doesn't do jacksquat on beserk or dazzle
- Tripwire can be circumvented by typing "10e"
- Fighters can't use too many more weapons than thieves
- Fighters basically use the same armor as clerics
- Blocking with a shield protects against internal fracture
and diseases
There are many more I could list, but it becomes too painful.
* How would I do it instead?
Hey, I'm a player, not a coder, and I chose not to apply for
wizhood for this reason. But the main key to improving Astaria,
as much as the admin hates to admit it: accepting feedback from
*real* players with experience and acknowledging their importance.
* A significant problem
This post relates more specifically to a significant problem
in the astarian wizhood: that Perrin has for the second
time wizzzed someone because she is his wife. When Perrin
married Marielle, even though she didn't do much productive
work, she didn't do anything destructive either, and she
left on her own accord without making many enemies.
This time, Perrin wizzed Lilandra, and as many players
expected, she has used her wiz power to take out her
grudges against players. So from this point, this post
is directly for her, as she deserves a dose of truth:
First a quote with some comments:
Lilandra tells you, "lemme ask you something. I have heard
rumours that you actually dispise me. Am I hearing this
correctly?"
[I thought wizzes aren't supposed to care, that they weren't
supposed to get involved in player to player business]
Lilandra tells you, ":nods "Your right I am probably just
hearing things. I am sure the person is wrong. I just heard
all these wild rumours about a webpage and all kinds of
nasty things. I'm probably just hearing things."
[Your grammer is atrocious]
Lilandra tells you, "really? Oh...I am probably all wrong about this.
I mean I don't know. I just heard about GP and Llythir and I am
not sure. It doesn't worry me at all, I just wanted to make
sure that the rumours weren't true about your involvement. I
would hate to lose you as a friend."
[Oh my, are we playing Bad Cop/Good Cop now?]
Lilandra tells you, "I have ears my friend. Ears sometimes I wish
I didn't have. I have friends in places sometimes i wish I didn't.
Because I hear and see betrayal. On hidden webpages and etc. Be
careful Aero you don't know how much I may know."
[Ooh, now we're playing CIA agent.]
And as for betrayal, you're not worth my time to betray,
and wizzes shouldn't worry about that anyway]
Lilandra tells you, "Can I ask you something up front?"
Lilandra tells you, "What do you think about me right now? I mean
you have seen my coding and my wizard life, who I got married
to and etc? What do you think about all that?"
[I told her that she's a good listener, but she didn't
understand the innuendo at this point]
Lilandra tells you, "Aero, I know about this webpage. I heard
about what you said on that page. The cat is out of the bag
my friend. Now I ask you again. How do you really feel about me?"
[Oh no! I've been revealed! Hell, what did she expect,
me to break down in tears and kiss her stinky feet?]
Lilandra tells you, "Please don't play dumb. I saw the Arazrose
excite webpage, the administration is aware of it. We are aware
of this page you are creating with the aid of Llythir and GP
and frankly. We don't care. But I am sick of you playing
cloak and dagger Aeroleous."
[Erm, *I* am playing Cloak&Dagger? It looks like
I'm currently on the receiving end of your little game.
And I love the figurative "we" since she's not authorized
to speak for the admin]
Lilandra tells you, "No you haven't been to it, but you posted
about it. I have friends that care about me Aero, they are
all over. They saw it. Yes they as in more then one."
[Oh no! Your spies are everywhere and we should all
watch what we say!]
Lilandra tells you, "I saw it Aero. I'm not upset about it at
all. I don't care about the page. I just don't like playing
cloak and dagger. Good night Aeroleous. I truely hope were
not playing this game."
[If you're not upset, then why did you waste so much
of your precious few brain cells trying to intimidate me?
Plus, I only play Cloak & Dagger with people I think might
be smart enough to understand my threats. Not you.]
So here's some truth for you:
- You are an incompetent, dumb, vindictive and rancorous shrew
- You are a wiz because you slept with Perrin
This makes you a whore, and a 2nd class one at that.
Astaria's better ladies of the night (I won't mention names)
get husbands who power derives from their intelligence and
wit, not position.
- You abused your power as a wiz because you are petty
As for my opinion of you:
- You hate me because you think I got you recalled as psion GM.
This is false, since I was one of two people remaining to
support you, and the only 36 to not sign the petition.
But you like to blame me because it's easier to do this
than to admit that 20 masters wanted you out.
- You were an incompetent GM and the psions only prospered
during that time because of Shimmer, Jack, Daymar, myself
and many others.
- You were elected GM only because you were married to Shimmer.
When you divorced him, your days were numbered. I got 3
tells the day you left him suggesting that you were through.
So yes, all your achievements as a player and wiz were because
you offered yourself up as cheap meat to men in power. I
remember you levelled from 20 and up both as thief and as
psion by sitting on Virulent and simply waiting for a repop
because you couldn't be more original.
One day, you will be discarded by Perrin like a used roll of
toilet paper, and then the full weight of your stupidity might
dawn on you. I wouldn't post here if you'd just be left, but
by then, you will probably have ruined the lives of many
players and I cannot accept that.
It looks like I've been telling various half truths about my
stats while I was a player, in part for fun and in part
for security (if you know someone's HP, you know how to kill
them). Now you can really learn what my stats were!! I would
give the winner my usual reward (my utmost respect and a
chewet) but I won't be around anymore! So guess what each of
these numbers mean :P Some of these are RL stats btw.
a) 2
b) 5.0
c) 7' 5"
d) 21
e) 47
f) 581
g) 1600
h) 1772
i) 1838
* List of people I learned from
These are the people who have taught me about what it means to
be on Astaria and they have (intentionally or not) shaped me.
This isn't to say that they aren't stupid or that they are infallible.
But I do owe them at least for showing me some of the darker aspects
of Astaria:
Harald, Ramu, Strahd, Llythir, Evermore, Mugwump, Grayphantom, Shimmer
* Individual messages to people
Here's a list of what I wanted to say to some people, but I
might as well make it public because it's more fun that way.
If you're not on the list, you probably haven't done anything bad.
Llythir - No you're not on this list because of the psi-thief war,
in which I'm totally uninvolved. It's because of the recent thing
with Hope. Unlike your Malice friends (yes they blackballed her)
I like her as a person, but your marriage and voracious defense of
it shows your one weakness on here: women. It's happened twice
before, as some players may remember. You have more power than anyone
else on here, except under the influence of the opposite sex. This
has always been your undoing, and you still don't learn your lesson.
Satanika - You're an oaf who blindly protects your so-called
clannies, even if they do absolutely idiotic things. You send your
clan against anyone you perceive as a threat, and being an Old Skool
thief, you think you can win any crap you start. This is what got
your clan and yourself into trouble with so many others, and you're
one of the people I am glad I humiliated, pked, and got voted out
for. I hope astaria sees you for the bully you are, because the
only time you come on is to pk someone you think insulted your
dysfunctional "family".
Katerina/Lauriel/Nimuae/Jude/Fay - You're a touchy little thing
who thought you were smarter than I by quoting a few piddling
things I posted two years ago. Here's some news: I ordered
Fay to be killed because I knew you were psychotic enough to
suicide afterwards - best 20 tri I ever spent. I'm surprised
I took out Kelidin at the same time though. But freebies are
always nice.
Me - I'm a self-righteous person who's ready to critique others
even though I might not be perfect myself. But then, this show
of posts isn't about me, and I'm outta here anyway, so flame me
all you like!
* Carcinoma resignation
As owner, founder, CEO and chairman of Carcinoma enterprises, I
hereby announce my resignation and the liquidation of all my shares
to those who have helped the company become the prime financial
and industrial force of the Realm. From now on, the Company will be
run by its Board of Directors.
Jack, Director, Carcinoma Consulting Services
Thomas, Director, Carcinoma Erotic Services
Lereon, Director, Carcinoma Banking Services
Strahd, Director, Carcinoma Contracting
Lloyd, Director, Carcinoma Anonymous Services
Deadhorse, Overlord, Clan Carcinoma
In case anyone didn't get it the 10 times I posted on Clan
Carcinoma (free scarlet boh when you join, along with mudsex
lessons!!!), the entire thing was a *SATIRE*. Everything I've
posted on Clan Carcinoma has been a pathetic recruiting technique
used by one clan or another. The lesson to be learned here
was: if you're a clan that wants respect, be judicious in your
words, strategic in your alliances, and selective in your
members.
* Private mail to Falerium
To: falerium clanarazrose
From: aeroleous
Fal,
Well, the only person I didn't point out in my dip board post
was of course you, because I thought that I at least owed you
the half-dignity of a semi-private mailing.
What the fuck happened? You whom I was obviously training to
be my successor in the clan, you whom I considered an equal,
as a brother even (though obviously IRL I love being an only
child). Of all people, you got the most information from me
about my methods and myself IRL because I wanted you to
trust me as I had trusted you. Despite the doubts of some
of the clan members from Jan 2000 (Apathy War) until
June 2000 (Lilandra incident) I told everyone that I vouched
for you and that you were reliable. You of all people knew
that I was there if you needed to talk about any problems or
concerns you might have, that I was willing to take time off
my busy schedule to help with whatever you needed, because I
wanted my clannies to succeed in astaria as well as IRL.
After all that, you did the ultimate fucking act of fluff that
you knew was the wrong thing from what I'd been saying
from the start: you started a new clan because you were
pussywhipped by Minthia into it. Then you gave out private
information (some of which only you had) to Lilandra, whom
you knew was an uncontrollable wench who hated me. Despite
this betrayal, I still told the clan to leave you alone since
I really felt I would be cutting off my right arm. I had
a 2 day fight with Joram over pking you. But the truth as I
now realize it is this: you deserved the pk, and then some.
Not even for the betrayal or the renouncing - but for the
sheer STUPIDITY. At least real manipulators like Hope
or Ardena know what they're doing. The truth is, you were
absolutely clueless, and now you will obliviously continue
on with your pathetic routine.
Oh allow me to finally be honest about Minthia also: she's
a clueless, fluffy bitch, and the *only* reason why she's
alive is due to us, and we only saved her out of (misplaced)
respect for you:
- When she feasted for no reason a member of Clan Grpyhon, I had
to negotiate with Jack to prevent her from being pked by
Centurion.
- When she was supposedly hacked (but more likely on another
PMS-inspired bout of stupidity) we had to prevent Malice
from taking her out.
- When she tried to steal psion gear from a corpse, I only pdrained
her instead of pking like I was entitled to. And despite saving
her neck twice before, she still never spoke to me again. Even
worse, you asked me to apologize to her for it - again, of all
people, you should know: I don't ever say sorry when ordered
to, especially when she was so obviously on the wrong.
And we were supposed to take this worthless slut into the
clan? Give me a break. She didn't even bother to apply
anyway. Yes, she was supposedly "blocked" by some members,
but if she had any wits about her, she would've learned how
to impress me to get in. Clearly, her intelligence wasn't
sufficient for this.
* Private mail to Aurora
To: aurora
From: aeroleous
Your majesty. You probably don't know me, though I have
been playing Astaria since 1995. My current character is
2 years old and I've put over 100 days of work into it.
For real life reasons, I am leaving now, but I felt it
was my duty to report two behaviors by your staff which I
find detrimental to the enjoyment of your MUD. I hope you
return soon to manage Astaria yourself. I think many of
the players miss you, and would feel much more secure if
someone of your integrity were in charge.
Example 1:
Nix says "We won't get involved with player debates.. and here is why"
Nix says "We do not code for the players.."
Nix says "Now.."
Nix says "Let me explain that."
Nix says, "We (the wizard staff) have our own idea of how this
mud should be and how things should operate.."
Nix says, "And thats what we do."
Nix says, "If people don't like it.. they can leave"
....
Nix says "And I will likely not respond to any post made"
Nix says "And if llythir slanders me.."
Nix says "I'll nuke him and siteban him"
Nix says "For life"
Nix says "Period"
Example 2:
Lilandra tells you, "lemme ask you something. I have heard
rumours that you actually dispise me. Am I hearing this
correctly?"
Lilandra tells you, ":nods "Your right I am probably just
hearing things. I am sure the person is wrong. I just heard
all these wild rumours about a webpage and all kinds of
nasty things. I'm probably just hearing things."
Lilandra tells you, "really? Oh...I am probably all wrong about this.
I mean I don't know. I just heard about GP and Llythir and I am
not sure. It doesn't worry me at all, I just wanted to make
sure that the rumours weren't true about your involvement. I
would hate to lose you as a friend."
Lilandra tells you, "I have ears my friend. Ears sometimes I wish
I didn't have. I have friends in places sometimes i wish I didn't.
Because I hear and see betrayal. On hidden webpages and etc. Be
careful Aero you don't know how much I may know."
Lilandra tells you, "Can I ask you something up front?"
Lilandra tells you, "What do you think about me right now? I mean
you have seen my coding and my wizard life, who I got married
to and etc? What do you think about all that?"
Lilandra tells you, "Aero, I know about this webpage. I heard
about what you said on that page. The cat is out of the bag
my friend. Now I ask you again. How do you really feel about me?"
Lilandra tells you, "Please don't play dumb. I saw the Arazrose
excite webpage, the administration is aware of it. We are aware
of this page you are creating with the aid of Llythir and GP
and frankly. We don't care. But I am sick of you playing
cloak and dagger Aeroleous."
Lilandra tells you, "No you haven't been to it, but you posted
about it. I have friends that care about me Aero, they are
all over. They saw it. Yes they as in more then one."