DEEP THOUGHTS

And no I am not doing this Jack Handey style but some actual things that have been percolating through my brain for the last few weeks if not months.  This is probably going to be a pretty "dry" post, but I hope you will stick with it.

Let's start out with some things that caught my eye or attention in the past and are the reason for this post.

Glitches within the game being exploited:

• ranging from "minor", porting to someone as they move between zones and ending up in the clouds, or power leveling a wizard.
• to “medium”, the "Chancel" glitch which allowed you to port  an under level wizard into the instance and level them to Legendary without questing
• to "major", the "plant" glitch which apparently was allowing unlimited harvests of plants, leading to an overabundance of single school blades and mega snacks within the bazaar, this also lead the closing of housing for a short period of time while KI worked to straighten things out.

Areas of concern in the Arena:

• Blade Stackers, usually a team of Ice wizards, sometimes with a life wizard thrown in.  They use multiple blades upon a high resist, high health player allowing said player to OHKO all the wizards on the other side of the battle ring while taking a minimal amount of damage to themselves.
• Tempest Spammers, usually a team of Storm wizards with one Myth or Fire wizard.  Please see my previous post on the subject for more details.  
• Use of high level school pets by low level wizards.  I have experienced this one myself MANY times while I was doing low level PvP.  A wizard will come in at low level (anywhere from 1-25) with a school pet equipped (either level 48 or 58, or a hybrid) and proceed to use said pet to hit someone with a health pool that is not designed for that massive hit.  Now this is mostly confined to the level 58 school pets as the level 48 pet cards drop readily.
• One of the newest ones, a Legendary wizard starts a 2v2 match with a ZERO rank level 1 player and has that level 1 flee the duel.  Since the current matching system tries to "level" all wizards within a match it makes the 60/1 duo about a level 30 which is Magus.  Now if 2 Magus wizards are in the PvP queue and get this 60/1 pair they are facing a team that has Critical on their side, in addition (once again) to a larger health pool.  It may be 2 on 1 BUT they are going against a human player who can think, and not the game AI (Artificial Intelligence) which has a set number of spells it can use, though it seems to have an infinite number of cards.

Areas of concern throughout the Spiral:

• Inappropriate Language
• Inappropriate behavior
• Trolling
• Begging
• Oni-ism -- pretending to work for KI, or pretending to be a well known wizard
• Bullying

A lot of the above issues boil down to ONE thing : lack of Ethics.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Ethic as follows:

Definition of ETHIC

1

: the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation

2

a : a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values <the present-day materialistic ethic> <an old-fashioned work ethic> <an elaborate ethics> <Christianethics> b : the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group <professionalethics> c : a guiding philosophy d : a consciousness of moral importance <forge a conservation ethic>

3

a set of moral issues or aspects (as rightness)<debated the ethics of human cloning>

The highlight is mine by the way :)

I find that one of the major issues we are all facing in the Spiral is this lack of Ethics.  The Ethic to do the right thing, a moral code of conduct.

Let’s go over my bullet points one by one

The “Minor” issues:  being in the clouds is no big deal, its not really something we do on purpose, it just “happens” ;)  It’s sort of fun too!  Power leveling only hurts you to a certain extent. You do not get the chance to earn the spells you are given for completing a Wizard City, or Krokotopia until you actually go there and DO it.  And once you do go there it takes FOREVER to level! Trust me, I know and learned the hard way.  Wont do that again.

The “Medium” issues;  Chancel glitch, I know many wizards who did take advantage of this glitch -- they could manage getting a wizard to Legendary in just a few hours of playtime.  But once again, they paid for it in the end -- they didn't have access to instances to farm without porting into them.  They ended up learning the hard way, cheating the system doesn't pay in the end, you still need to do the “real” work.

The “Major” issues:  The “Plant” glitch, this was plain and simple a gross MISUSE of the floating trick that KI was nice enough to leave in the game for our decorating enjoyment.  Once the first wizard discovered it they SHOULD have reported it to KI and NOT spread the word.  Instead, through lack of a moral code, they thought it was “ok” to basically STEAL from KI and say it was KI’s fault for not fixing it.  That is just a cop out my friends.  Do you go in and steal a friend’s television or computer because you know they didn't lock their door?  Or do you tell your friend the door is unlocked, I will watch your stuff until you get back?  Which friend would YOU rather have?  The one who has your back, or the one you cant even trust with one slim dime?

Areas of Concern throughout the Spiral:

KI has said they ALL of us are the moderators of the Spiral, it is our duty to report inappropriate language and behavior, harassment -- whether it be racial, sexual, bullying, impersonation.  Use your report button, but use it wisely!  Do NOT become a vigilante in your journeys throughout the Spiral.  Be sensible about the power KI Has given us, don’t abuse it!  Once again, it boils down to YOUR ethics.  Do what you think is morally right.  Try to set people on the correct path, but remember you cant FORCE them to take it, you can only guide them.

Arena Concerns (all rolled into one):

They Arena is an ever-morphing place, with each change in the game that KI institutes we see a change in the seemingly “unstoppable” teams.  Chain Stunning, Blade Stacking, Tempest Spamming, Chain Smoking -- they have all come into fashion as a means of “easy” victory, an easy way to gain rank and tickets.  But I ask you this -- does your moral compass think this is fair to the other team?  Do you think its right that one team gets NO chance to play a card against you?  What makes this “strategy” even worse is the attitude many bring with them -- “We are all powerful and you are NOOBS!”  TPC has faced this many, many times -- it was what were designed for after all -- to bring the fun and excitement of the Arena to ALL wizards.  The Arena is there for all wizards to face a THINKING opponent.  Computer AI can only go so far into teaching us strategy and tactics, it takes a human mind to overcome another.  If I play this card now, what will he do? Will he do X or Y or Z, or will he play something I never even considered?  These thought process are joy that the Arena can bring to every wizard.  They help all of us with many things -- analysis, theory crafting, statistics even!  The Arena should be a place to go to learn and grow and expand your self and your abilities.  Not to go there and feel awful about yourself.  Once again, allow your moral compass to guide you.  If you see someone and they are struggling, ask if they would like some tips if you feel you are able to offer them.  On the other hand if you are struggling and you see some one's play style you admire ASK them for tips, I bet they would be flattered to know that someone admires their ability!

Allow yourself to be THE best wizard you can be -- and allow others the same privilege.

Remember that ethics and a moral compass DO count in your playtime!

I hope you enjoy your journeys around the Spiral, I know I enjoy mine!