Of following the rules, even when there are no rules.

Any one else feel like this week has been a little...dramatic?



Between temp spamming proliferation and everyone (even us Canucks) finally getting out of school for the summer, the spiral has been an interesting place to be this week. I won't address temp spamming because I don't team PvP (yet - give my team a week or two to finish our gear farming!), and because I think Cassandra DragonHeart and Kevin BattleBlood have covered it with more eloquence than I ever could. Obviously, temp spamming is a permissible strategy in PvP. That doesn't mean it is a good or legitimate one, but it is allowable.

I had my own 'interesting' (in a dramatic chipmunk kind of way) turn of events this week. A player was presenting himself as two different people - as one persona to one group of people, and another persona to another group of people. There are no sanctions against this in game. You can be whoever you want to be, say you are anything and everything. Nowhere in KI's terms of use does it say, "You may not lie about your gender, age, or occupation." However, this player's lies caught up with them, at least from one end - and the two differing stories were so diametrically opposed that he found himself in more trouble than he imagined. Although there were no rules against his actions, there were indeed consequences.

It's beginning to look like the idea of 'doing the right thing' has gone out of fashion. More and more I see people reaching for some all-consuming goal without thought or care as to the consequences their actions may have on others, or even to themselves in the long run. They simply want what they want NOW, and anything that stands in their way should be taken out in any way possible. As long as they act within the rules, their actions MUST be okay. It's as though we've turned off our own personal moral compasses and have turned to whatever governing body we're acting under at the time (school officials, bosses, government, KingsIsle) to tell us what is and isn't okay.

It is my belief that there is right,  there is wrong, and those things do not cease to be right or wrong simply because a person REALLY wants something, or because there are no rules against it. I would love to see people both in life and in this game take pride in not only achieving something, but in HOW they achieved it. This weekend, in both my country and (most of) yours, we're celebrating our freedom. Our freedom to make our own choices, to be who we want to be, to make something of ourselves. Use that freedom wisely! There are a whole lot of issues I could apply this to in general, but as this is a Wizard101 blog and temp spamming is the buzz topic of the week... for myself, I'm choosing not to stun in the first round of a PvP match, regardless of what the other team may choose to do. I simply wouldn't feel good about myself if I did not give the other team at least one turn to do SOMETHING to set up a basic framework for the match.

So on that note... to celebrate freedom, making choices, because I wanna, and because I was gifted some lovely crowns that are burning a hole in my pocket, I'm having a rule-less giveaway! I'll be giving 2 people 2500 worth of crowns items from the crowns shop. Which item or items you get is entirely up to you. Patriotic leprechaun for the 4th of July? Sure! Mega Snack Pack? Why not! And because there are no rules, I might just change things up a little myself. ;) No contests or conditions (those sound an awful lot like rules to me....), just leave a comment and tell me what you'd like. If you can't reach me on twitter, Wizard101Central, or Diary of a Wizard, leave me a way to get in touch with you please. The giveaway ends on July 4th at whatever time I manage to drag myself out of bed - or more accurately, whatever time the kids manage to drag me out. Good luck, and happy wizarding!

Edited to add: For those of you telling me to keep some for myself -  I may be in a sharing mood, but I'm also in a spending mood! Don't you worry about me, unless you're facing me in PvP next week.