What's Karma

The following is taken from the in-game help files:

In such a richly detailed playing environment as the world of Zalanthas, which is very different to most game settings most players will have encountered, there must be some degree of control over which players get to play which roles. The alternative (and this _has_ happened in the past) is that we have a lot of people going around playing races and guilds very badly (i.e., nowhere near what the game's creators intended). Karma is one way in which the staff members exercise this control.

Karma is simply a measure of trust that the staff members have in a given player's:

• Degree of maturity and responsibility as a role-player, as evidenced by playing roles 'realistically.'
• Knowledge of the game world, and an appreciation of the way in which the various races, guilds, and so on, interact.
• Role-playing skill, as evidenced by role-playing in such a way as to show that they are really involved in the game world, and also enriching the game world for other players.

Karma is not an end in itself. Acquiring karma points is not something you should be 'striving towards' as a player; the fun that you get out of role-playing your character should be the primary reward in itself.

Players never get to know how much karma they have, and only find out when a character dies, and it is time to create a new character. (In which case, they will find that they have more options than before, i.e., certain races and guilds which are 'blanked out' for new players are now visible.) Since karma is not an end in itself, there are no 'guidelines' for 'how to get karma' although there are certain things that good players will exhibit in their playing (see the three points above).

There are, however, certain things that will almost guarantee that you may not be the type of player who will gain karma. Following is a list of features of players who will likely never gain karma, and reasons why these things are considered bad on Armageddon MUD. You will likely not gain karma if you are the type of player who:

never emotes:
Emoting is _the_ primary form of non-verbal communication in the game, and is in fact a very powerful tool for enriching the game world for both yourself and other players. Not using emotes is somewhat akin to a person in real life who _always_ talks in a monotone, and never shows any facial expression.

does not play within the guidelines set out for your character's clan:
(assuming he/she is in a clan). For example, if your character is in a band of raiders, who have sworn never to enter Allanak for various good reasons, and you have your character enter Allanak (even when you think no one else is on-line ...) on a whim, then you are role-playing poorly. It's like someone who, in real life, lives safely and happily in a prosperous city and decides to visit a war zone on the other side of the world 'just because they feel like it.'

skillmax:
(i.e., repeat commands over and over again, with the intention of trying to raise your character's skill levels). Certainly, everyone practices skills to some degree, but how many people (even on a harsh world such as Zalanthas) blindly repeat things to the exclusion of sleep, food, and social interaction? In some games, it is common to see PCs sparring for several game hours non-stop. On Armageddon MUD, this is considered very unrealistic, and thus, poor role-playing.

Suiciding your character just so that you can see if there are new race/guild options available to you in the character creation process is not acceptable, and will be punished by removal of all karma.

Karma is a totally out of character (OOC) concept, and should have no bearing whatsoever on what happens in the game.

Part of the function of karma is to make life easier for the staff members; those players who over time have demonstrated desirable qualities will 'automatically' gain access to privileged races and guilds. Gaining karma is not, however, the only way to do this. If you feel that you have a case to make about why you should be allowed to play a privileged race or guild (e.g., mul or sorcerer), then you are free to send an application via the Request Tool.

Levels of karma:

Number		Options
1 karma		desert elf
2 karma		water and stone elementalist
3 karma		half giant
4 karma		wind and fire elementalist
5 karma		lightning and shadow elementalist
6 karma		void elementalist
7 karma		mul
8 karma		psi and sorcerer