Tibia RP: Hello, Dragonas!
Dragonas: Hello Morthanius

Tibia RP: Firstly, I'd like to thank you for giving up a little of your time to answer a few questions, the readers at Tibia RP will be incredibly appreciative.
Dragonas: No problem at all. Souds like fun. :-)

Tibia RP: Unlike in most fansite-gamemaster interviews, we're not going to ramble on about 'when you were asked to become a gamemaster' and all the lark, but try and get your viewpoint on some hot topics of the moment, does that sound alright?
Dragonas: Sure, sounds like something a little different. And hopefully productive as well.

Tibia RP: Alright then. Firstly, the botting situation. How've you found things to be on your game world during the last six months? What positive aspects of the current changes would you like to expand, and what flaws would you like to patch, for example.
Dragonas: Well in general I would say the system is very effective at taking care of a lot of botters. In the past it was a very time consuming and often fruitless endeavor when it was only the GM team handling that situation. I do understand some of the concerns a lot of players have though. It certainly can be frustrating when you are sure someone is cheating, but you have to wait and hope the system can take care of them. But like any new system things will certainly continue to evolve and improve over time.

Tibia RP: Improving over time is a very interesting statement to make, though. We've been using the same set-up and giving the same punishment for eight months now. A player even told me he had 'weighed up the pros and cons of botting, and the pros outweigh the cons'. What changes do you expect, or would like to see in the near future?
Dragonas: Well I don't really think that a 30 day banishment and a 6 month + deletion warning is a light punishment. That certainly does put a lot of restrictions on your account for quite some time. Of course there will always be people that choose to take the easy way out on any game with various forms of cheating. It isn't possible to remove them all, but you just have to do your best.

Tibia RP: Indeed. We'll have to see what the future holds in this department it seems.
Dragonas: Hopefully more moves in the right direction.

Tibia RP: Some readers, from Antica, might have seen your posts on the Antica forum around the time of the 'Shapeshifter hack'. There was a long discussion with regards to 'leading guilds', 'owning' servers and such, what're your feelings on such a set-up? Do you feel that standard PvP servers have veered a little too far into the dominion of oppression, perhaps?
Dragonas: In many cases I do, yes. While I understand and appreciate that all people play the game a different way, I think we have to be very careful when the "fun" of a small group of higher levels takes away the fun of dozens, if not hundreds of other players. Unfortunately in too many cases the people in power push the boundaries much too far.

Tibia RP: There are a great number of readers who will be calling out for gamemaster intervention for such situations, stating that 'Rule 0' has been broken. Is it not time, in your opinion, for this rule to be more widely enforced - in a hope that such situations might diffuse?
Dragonas: It is kind of a difficult situation. While you want to maintain some basic level of respect and reasonable behavior, you also don't want to totally remove the reason many people play the game, namely PvP and power. It is a very difficult balance to maintain, one that probably shifted too much over the years to giving leeway to the power abusers. Of course that is likely also one reason you see certain changes implemented into the game like the new PvP system.

Tibia RP: Ah, yes. Could we have just a quick word on your opinion of the changes made in the summer update? For the better I take it!
Dragonas: I think they were needed personally. I visit many PvP worlds every day and war was basically constant on most of them. I think the new restrictions make people think once or twice before just settling everything with a sword or rune. I really can't complain about something that might make talking a more common occuence.

Tibia RP: Hm. Would you say that standard PvP servers, ones in which restrictions are meant to be in place is the correct place for ongoing warfare? Especially considering it is now almost to be 'encouraged' with the new war system?
Dragonas: I think Craban made a good point on one of the dicussion threads when he said much of what goes on is not war but "slaughter". And really, that is only amusing for the few powerful ones at the top. I think there is a difference between war and slaughter. If two guilds have genuine issues and wish to solve them, hopefully that new system will be what they are looking for. Of course I don't think a guild full of level 50s should find themselves at the mercy of the strongest guild on a server, which was becoming a common problem.

Tibia RP: Aye, hopefully it will be. There were a great many players dismayed that they could no longer stop other groups of players from playing a server, I take it you believe this kind of behaviour isn't exactly beneficial to a community?
Dragonas: Sometimes it has a place, such as if a group has caused a lot of trouble over a long period of time. Most of the time though it was just one group imposing their own rules onto the rest of a server. That isn't healthy and certainly doesn't encourage people to continue playing that world.

Tibia RP: That sort of ties in nicely with the next topic. Yesterday, a developer note was released that talked of the possibility of 'character transfers' between servers, allowing those who experienced such cases of abuse to escape to another world. Do you feel encouraging 'escaping' or running away from the 'abusers' is the right way forward? In fact, is it a solution at all. Some will say the abusers are left to do as they wish, nothing will have changed.
Dragonas: Well it isn't really possible to fight back in a lot of cases. When you are dealing with a group that has most of the firepower on a server, the majority of high levels, lots of money, and are high organized, the average group can't hope to do much. And as so many worlds have problems with that form of abuse, the number of places where things may be better is relatively small. I hope to see more done against the abuse directly, though what that might be I do not know.

Tibia RP: Cipsoft, if I'm not wrong, seem to be taking the route of server realignment, though. Do you feel it would be more beneficial to target the causes and instances of abuse directly?
Dragonas: I think it has to be considered, though of course I guess there are other benefits to moving words other than to escape power abuse.

Tibia RP: Of course, of course. There are a plethora of reasons for which one might wish to move server. Such a radical change does not come without additional problems, though - such as the economic issues predicted by some players. Then there is the potential for the abusers themselves to move on! Premia, for example, has already been given threats from inhabitants of other servers!
Dragonas: It certainly is a big issue that many seem to be concerned about. I don't think anyone looks forward to seeing an influx of people to more balanced worlds that may be coming with a destructive agenda.

Tibia RP: It will be interesting to see how the system develops when the massive amounts of feedback are taken into account. Are there any particular features or restrictions you'd like to see put in place?
Dragonas: Well I am looking forward to how the proposed war mode works out. I'm not really into that sort of stuff myself, but maybe it will give those who are some new goals to strive towards.

Tibia RP: Well, change certainly seems to be rife at the moment - war systems, potential character transfers and possible server realignment. Are there any proposals or ideas that have caught your idea of a similar vein? To perhaps tackle the issues these systems are intended to help solve, head on?
Dragonas: Well something I have seen brought up on the proposal forum a few times is a more advanced statement reporting system. It would basically allow any player to directly report the exact statements they see. It sounds like a great idea to me, though of course there are probably some technical issues. I think it would certainly promote a more reasonable and friendly atmospehere, and maybe a few less level 50s hearing "BoH or die" from level 150s.

Tibia RP: Technical issues aside, this would be a more similar system to those other MMORPGs have in place. No longer would the phrase 'a GM has to see XYZ' be so commonplace. But, do you not feel the workload could possibly be immense?
Dragonas: I'm sure it might be, but it would also cut down on a lot of wasted time investigating things that can't be proven.

Tibia RP: Hopefully. In all honesty it sounds like a very viable solution - tackling the actual instances of abuse that have created such deep divides... Lastly, a community related question. If you take a quick skim of the more general MMORPG sites, those comparing individual games, for example, Tibia's community doesn't receive the best reccomendations. Do you have any suggestions for individual players, Cipsoft or anybody involved with the community that could possibly help to change the way we're perceived?
Dragonas: I'm not really sure much can change that unless people take the time to try the game for themselves. I've tried other games as well, but found that Tibia has a truly unique community. Of course it does have problems, but I think what seperates it from others is that people actually care.

Tibia RP: Indeed, for now at least players are not, in the majority of cases just another face in the crowd. Do you have any parting words for the readers, words of wisdom or advice?
Dragonas: I hope my rambling didn't bore you too much and thank you for the interesting questions. And...have fun on Tibia. c|;^/
Tibia RP: Well, thank you for your time Dragonas, it's certainly interesting to get as many views as possible on the important issues we face today.