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OOC: Roleplayer Diaries #1

The other day I was wandering around Towns as per usual looking for a sparring partner by convincing the masses I was going to go out on a murder spree (it usually works in drawing the hero-types out).
I ended up engaged in a duel with a man who was fighting as a samurai and allowed me the first move. I drew him forward with a gravity spell, intending to use the reality-warping capabilities of magic to control the battle and confuse my target. The samurai played along, drawing his sword and preparing to cut me in two using the extra momentum. I countered by solidifying the air to slam him on an invisible wall.
He didn't play along here.
I was forced to redirect him and try to counter his attack by transmuting my weapon into a sword to parry his attack. He stopped the fight there, calling foul play.

He went on to claim that, as a wizard, my abilities take time to charge, because there is no such thing as instantaneous magic. He negated my commentary about how different magicks work differently, stating that he was a mage once and during that time he and a friend wrote the rules on roleplaying a spellcaster, before he transitioned over to being a samurai. He claimed that our duel was over because he had no time to teach me how to fight properly.

This is about the point where I need to step back and guffaw at the logic here.

See, the problem with text-based RP combat in real time is that it takes about 5 minutes to write up an action that would take place in under 6 seconds. I would grant, for instance, if as a Samurai, he was asking to have more reactivity and mobility in his actions. What I don't grant, is that I'm bound to his "no instant magic" bull.

There are two reasons behind this: First of all, he was demanding that I play by his rules, which apparently govern Gaia. If that were true, I might've heard of him. When you play by someone else's rules, you lose all versatility and creativity behind YOUR OWN actions. The point of freestyle text-based combat is that you develop your own system of attacks and pit them against someone else's, provided that it's flexible enough to accommodate their version for the duration of the fight.
Second, that apparently every martial spell has to be some drawn out ritual. There is no practical or reactive magic. Teleportation is not instantaneous, nor flight, nor any sort of barrier, etc. Nevermind the fact that mages are classified as "nukers" and even a massive nuclear reaction is faster than I'm expected to cast.
How many systems in the past 10 years have been released that don't allow for either instantaneous spells or mobile mages? Dungeons and Dragons? World of Warcraft, which is inspired by Dungeons and Dragons? D&D works through a system known as Vancian Magic, which provides that EVERY spell has a unique effect, cast time, duration, cost, and name, and needs to be prepared ahead of time. It's a very rigid system, and if there isn't a spell for it, you're s**t out of luck.
What's more recent than that? Every Anime with combat magic seems to have either instantaneous spells or attacks that vary with how much you charge them. A number of more recent MMOs have much more mobile mages. Avatar has the supernatural effects tied to the characters' movements.

Oh, but "benders" aren't mages, are they? It's all a matter of titles, isn't it.
Tell me, if I had said that Drake was a demon, would all of his spells be treated like supernatural abilities, and thus allowed to be instantaneous? Would that Samurai still complain that I was using an ability faster than him, because he wrote the rules? If so, who's being unfair then, my friend. Nevermind the fact that the Samurai kept going on about some sort of "Aura" effect, which is supernatural if I ever heard it.

A couple of weeks ago I was fighting a "World Spirit" or whathaveyou, and his first move was to conjure up a series of magical bells that he rang to immobilize me and attempt to blank my mind. He stopped the duel because the spectators grew bored of the long wait on his turn alone.
And y'know what? I allowed it. And no, it's not a case of "well you're an idiot and you should have called him out on god-moding". It's a case of it being a system he created and chose to be governed by. Will I admit that it was a bit overdone and elaborate for something that takes place in under a few seconds? Oh absolutely, but who am I to tell him "you can't do that because I say so"? If someone told me "you're not allowed to use magic because I disbelieve in magic", that's about the point where I say "fine" and snap their neck between my two fingers for being an insolent know-it-all p***k. Cause as it turns out, you CAN snap a neck that quickly; people are fragile like that. Is neck-snapping god-moding? 'Cause anyone with a little upper body strength can do it with the right application.
Yes, I've had someone actually pull that sort of "non-magic" bull on me before. Guess how I handled it. twisted

Now if I told him "you can't do that because it's too powerful", there's a different story.
See, everyone has a unique character. Some characters are more experienced with how things work than others. Cosplayers come from universes with different systems of magical abilities and fight as if someone from that universe would fight, so why shouldn't everyone on Gaia be allowed to develop their own system?
And yet, development of a rigid cover-all system makes characters act like they have the exact same experiences.

That's simply untrue. I've been developing Drake's persona for about 15 years now, utilizing him at every opportunity to grow on his 'experience'. This includes wars that would take years, families, friends, funerals, odd-jobs, noodle incidents, studies, discoveries, tournaments, wholesome roundhouse slaughtering, sparring matches, and most importantly, promotions. I've used him not only in Gaia, but other RPGs, and chatrooms before that. Given that 15 years in real years translates to a LOT more in roleplay years, I've got the balls to say Drake himself is a few millenia old - comparatively, that's true. Over that same period of time I've developed his magic system and fighting style, so I know EXACTLY how my character works, thank you.

That rigid cover-all system means that I'm demoted back to level 1 whenever I'm facing a level 2, simply because they didn't hear Drake's life story.

The other problem with being forced to slow down is that in a text-based fight, the faster person always has the unfair advantage. It's not a case of being balanced or anything - I know that the Wizard is supposed to have more firepower to make up for being slow. It's simply that the Samurai can use their speed to take up to 3 actions per turn, while a Wizard would have to wait an extra turn to cast a spell. Imagine that for a second: The Wizard finally launches their spell after leaving themself exposed for a long period, and the Samurai uses their first move to dodge it, their second move to close the gap, followed by running the Wizard through.
And even if you shot a point-blank spell with a wide radius- taking advantage of your only advantage, the excess firepower- you're still caught in the explosion and not allowed to survive it. Sorry! Oh, the Samurai's still 50/50 though, cause he's faster and could have jumped out with just a few minor burns.

Ehem.
Bullshit.

I'm sorry, just because I chose the job description "Wizard" does not mean I have to sit around like a dolt just to cast the basest fireball. To quote Vaarsuvious:
"I am capable of manipulating matter and energy on a subatomic level by speaking. A mere flick of my finger is sufficient to alter the gravitational pull of the planet. I shelve physics texts under 'Fiction' in the library, I consider the laws of thermodynamics loose guidelines at best. In short, I am grasping the reins of the universe's carriage, and every morning I wake up, look to the heavens, and shout, 'Giddy up, boy!' You many never grasp the complexities of what I do, but at least have the common courtesy to feign something other than slack-jawed oblivion in my presence. I, sir, am a wizard, and I break more natural laws before breakfast than of which you are even aware."