Squishy for president Yay!

I have been sitting back over the last few months watching this whole Wackback scenario take place and while I understand the need for some kind of Wackback feature in the game for RP sake, I have to be honest and say that this whole wackback thing has gotten way out of hand. I can totally understand where folks are coming from and particularly those who used to play in the old country. I have heard all the arguments for and against over the last few months. Its getting to the stage where every wacker in the game is getting afraid of taking a shot for fear of the dreaded death wackback. It was never like this back in the old .org and forgive me for saying this but......

.....isnt this place supposed to be a return to the game that we all loved so well. In the beginning when there werent many folks around and it was a struggle to keep new members interested the game had a change where features were introduced to keep the wack happy folks at bay and allow newer members a chance to stay and take a look around. This resulted in a city wide campaign to allow new folks 48 hours to find shelter. Various lengths have been tried and tested to focus the game around RolePlay and the whole concept of Wackback has been totally distorted along the way.

Back on the original game, Wackback was based on skill. Granted this was not always the case but you definately did not have accomplished wackers falling like swatted flies week after week. There is absolutely no skill involved in wackback any more. Its nothing short of a bad roll of the dice. Yes, there are arguments which speak about guns in the day being bad, and other arguments suggesting that there are a lot more shots being fired nowadays and this is why there are so many Wackback deaths. But I just dont buy it.

On the original game, you had to miss FIRST before you wackbacked. People who took on impossible shots or shots out of their league would sometimes 1% the shot and sometimes wackback from their miss. Guys running around as prowackers on defence ran the risk of shooting themselves in the foot with their peashooters and wackbacking. But the majority of the players with decent guns could train away and the only times they would really wackback was when they tried to shoot someone with greater defence than the shot they were firing. Folks with bodyguards would find that their bodyguards were shooting back to protect them.

You have crazy scenarios now where bums lying on the street asleep in the gutter are firing back left right and centre and killing folks who wouldnt normally miss. Yes, people move and can shoot back but ACTIVE people move. Anyone with half a trained shot should be able to kill a sleeping bum on the street. And especially they should be able to kill the bums that they paid for whose only job is to stand there and wait for the fatal bullet to arrive. The chances of being surrounded by police trying to kill you for shooting at an inactive bum who nobody cares about in my eyes should be very slim.

Folks have been trying to say this for ages and every time someone speaks up, they are shot down in flames. I understand that the stats add up and that yes there is a 1% of wackback death or whatever the % is. But is this small percentage happening under the right conditions i.e. the way it used to be like mentioned above or is this purely a forced percentage just to tally up the stats. It seems to me that measures are being put in place to justify the whole roll of the dice.

Guys, you have done a fantastic job with this place. I absolutely love it here which is why I spend so much of my wacking life on the game. I like to train a gun. Is it a crime? Should I really be afraid taking a shot at an inactive bum for fear of wackback? And yeah, ive heard all these arguments among the minority about 'every time you use your gun you take a risk'. Yes I know I take a risk but like I said, Should I really be taking a risk shooting at someone I have paid 200K + for to just lay there and take the fatal bullet. I really cannot understand the concept of experienced wackers wackbacking on these MIAs. There are a lot of skilled wackers on the game that have been trying hard to train a gun and wackbacking again and again and again from shooting MIAs.

This new idea is a step forward in one way, but surely the whole central concept of wackback needs to be looked at again. The vast majority of folks here like to come, train their gun and protect their families. The amount of shots from month to month should testify to this.

"so much of my wacking life", definately a Freudian slip, Im sure this should have read WAKING life, lol

Firstly, thank you Squishy for listening to reason.

Taurus, I see what your saying, but every RPG has a chance of fecking up, online and offline. D&D a Lvl 20th Fighter still has a 5% chance each attack of having a critical failure. In Cyberpunk its more like 10% even if you have 12 reflexes and a maxed out Gun skill. Fatal Wackback in the game is a very small percentage, I mean very small. 1% per shot and then all the added percentages after that before you actually die.

I'm not saying this from the perspective of being a non wacker either. I died of WB at Don only last week, and I'd dare say it was a really, really unlucky roll. For a start it was my second serious WB in only a week, then a 1% roll on shot, then I reckon I had above average defence. I had my 1 BG. I guess in hindsight training my gun on Mug answers was just a bad Idea. It is quite probably the suckiest way to die in game, getting killed by Premeir is even less of an insult. However, it is the way of things, if you want to train that hand cannon, then you take the risk of dying. He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.

Its the price we pay for the lives we live. Yes the game is based on the old .org, but it has changed significantly, enough that it took me, a seasoned player of 8 years a while to master all the little nuances and changes impliamented since I decided to take a break in 2007.

Just saying is all.

"Its getting to the stage where every wacker in the game is getting afraid of taking a shot for fear of the dreaded death wackback."

No they are not.  There have always, and I mean ALWAYS, been a large group of people who were afraid of the risks that accompany the life of a hitman.  The difference is, in the past they would not train their guns.  It never used to be a given that every Tom, Dick, and Sally had to be a hitman.  Being a hitman was for an elite select few who understood the risks involved, understood that they were marked for death should their family be attacked, and were willing to accept these consequences as the price you pay for the glory of defending your family.  These days, for some odd reason, it seems everyone feels obligated to train their guns, but there remains a percentage of people who are not cut out for it.

Those who are afraid of taking a shot out of fear of wackback are not cut out to be hitmen.  That's fine.  Go hone your oratory skills instead.  God knows we could use some more interesting material on the streets.  Lately those streets have been boring the fuck out of me.  Did I mention that I hate all of you?  Anyhow, if you want to be a hitman, you can't take life so seriously.  When death comes, either by an enemy's bullets or by the dreaded wackback, a hitman has to shrug his or her shoulders, create a new account, and start training all over again.

Considering that these days people have the benefits of a shooting range, MIAs, RIAs, bodyguard kills, Durdens, and an accelerated ranking pace in order to assist in gun training, it really should not be that big of a deal to start over.  Death HAS to be a part of this game.  Every time I hear someone complaining about the death aspect of the game, whether it be wackback, "innocents" being killed, too many wars, or whatever, I want to punch a nun in the face.

Im not arguing against any of the points Quoth or faceman are saying. I realise totally that death is a part of this game and it comes to us all and more especially if you take the route of being a hitter. I also realise the difference between what we have here and what we had back in the old country. To be fair, this place is a lot better in a lot of ways. Im not trying to bitch or moan, im bringing a point of view. I dont speak a lot but when I do have something to say, im not afraid of voicing that point of view.

Im simply saying that from a role playing perspective, which gun is more likely to fail? The gun being held by a seasoned wacker shooting an immobile target or the gun of a non wacker shooting at something a lot harder than he can cope with? What im questioning is the way the wackback is being handled? Should it be simply based on the roll of a dice or should it be based on skill, situation? I said from the beginning that I am totally for the concept of wackback. It adds a degree of reality into the game.

After such a well spoken expose from Taurus I am very grateful that somebody had the willingness to invest so much time and explain so perfectly what I have felt for months. (I wish I could say years, but I also met this game in 2009)

I believe it's an absolute travesty to die from IA hunting. This is supposed to be a game. And in a game "too" much realism can be bad. I come here to have fun, not to have to accept the fact that a single click *in training* can be my own demise.

I do like hearing about this new change being put into place and I am definitely be one to use it, but I believe that one shouldn't die just from hunting IAs.

I realize I would want to say much more on the subject, but I also don't like to repeat what other people said just be make fillers...

Thank you Squishy for taking the time out to explain the whys and wherefores (is there such a word? dunno) of the current system. I guess its the better of two or three different evils to have it like it is. I like that idea of stats ceasing after 6 months, or even slowing down but I can understand that there will be advantages and disadvantages to all routes.

I've never had a problem with any of the rules or the way the game was coded (other than I hate PP and as a protest I'll never use it. lmao). I think FakeMan said it best so there's no need for me to repeat him. What I would like to see is the old Wackback code implemented. You know the one where instead of being on Wack or Defense answers, us as players (not the IAs), could be on Wackback answers. Made people find out a little more information about someone before shooting at them in a war or just for shits and giggles.

Sort of like, give the Wackback abilities back to the players and not the IAs. I think that would solve alot and make shooting in general a little more interesting. 

Can that be done or is it impossible?

I like that idea:-D Those WB answerset were fun back in the day, lol

I second that Taurus. I see you're ole skool as well. Wackback answers could also lower the numbers of wack answer members. People could choose wackback answers, bg up, and then train their gun. That would be a deadly account. 

Are sure of this Squishy?

If I'm not mistaken it was 2001 when I had the answers for all skills (this was the .org version though). Prowacking and Jailbreakers used to be a skills you could choose answers for as well. Maybe I'm going waaaayyyy over alot of peoples heads here. Most people I talk to have been here 2 years at the most. I feel like a dinosaur. = /

Then again it could be the kaya.

"You have crazy scenarios now where bums lying on the street asleep in the gutter are firing back left right and centre and killing folks who wouldnt normally miss. Yes, people move and can shoot back but ACTIVE people move. Anyone with half a trained shot should be able to kill a sleeping bum on the street. And especially they should be able to kill the bums that they paid for whose only job is to stand there and wait for the fatal bullet to arrive. The chances of being surrounded by police trying to kill you for shooting at an inactive bum who nobody cares about in my eyes should be very slim." 

Brilliant! ha ha! Moron!

Try shooting a bum in the middle of central park - see if you don't get surrounded by cops telling you to 'drop the weapon'

Whoa... little hostility, there, fella... You have a point, but still. Was the insult needed?