Posted by The Angel Gabriel on July 28, 1999 at 15:00:46:
In Reply to: Shift in power (Sylvan/Battle).. lots of ?'s posted by Looking to strike up a discussion on July 27, 1999 at 09:50:56:
Serafim, like anyone else, has his strengths and weaknesses. Nothing illustrates this better than his interview/induction policy, which can serve here as a microcosm of his attributes. Strength: He is clearly knowledgeable; he does not interview for just surface responses, and instead often attempts to illicit a second and sometimes even third order depth to your character; he does not induct after just one interview; he *usually* listens to your answers and thinks about them, rather than just take them at face value; he allows you to find answers by talking to other masters. (I personally find it infuriating when leaders say you can't talk to current cabal members.) Weaknesses: He asks things that people who haven't played for a relatively long time could not really answer; he has a few set answers in his mind for many of his questions, and if you deviate from them, you find disfavor in his eyes -- even if your answers are perfectly valid from your character's point of view; he ask some questions to which there are no answers other than what he and other current masters have thought up, and demands you adhere to their interpretations, or find out what they think; lastly, like *all* leaders, he often puts interviewing behind getting equ for other masters/exploring/pk'ing, etc. (Obviously he is just as entitled to have fun playing the game as anyone else, but remember, he also voluntarily chose to accept the position of leader, and he gets rather a lot of benefits from it to balance the responsibility of having to interview and deal with cabal politics. In the final analysis, I'd say he should be more open-minded to concepts/answers that other characters have to his questions, particularly those that are the kinds of questions nobody can really answer. I've found him intolerant in that regard and that's what sticks out in my mind. And, of course, like all leaders, he should spend more actual time doing it. :P Because of this, however, he has inducted fewer people into masters. People have become a bit disenchanted with having to answer questions that don't have answers other than what he has decided to think up in his head. I applaud the notion that cabal entry should be somewhat demanding, but perhaps that rigor should be defined by the person's ability to stay in character and live as they've chosen to live, rather than come up with a response to a question that has no answer in the game. (Remember, it's not like there are actual books/libraries/texts where someone could go find out, for instance, "How does nature in fact inhibit your magic ability in electricity?" There is no given answer to this, and it's not something that can be deduced from the surroundings, because the game is just that, a game. It is not a completely fleshed out world with a complete set of "physics" and "rules" governing the "energy" of "Magic". Anyway, because of this, and the number of applicants he actually gets to, there are fewer masters. Whew. That was alot longer than I though it would be.