Treatment of priests

[Thade]

If the problem is primarily the mistreatment of priests after one is raised, perhaps punishment should fall after the raising aswell. For instance, if payment is not made for whatever reason, perhaps the priestly magic that rebound one's soul to one's body would degrade, releasing said soul back to the realm of the dead.

Whether or not this would be done manually by the priests is another matter however. Whereas the returning of the shirkers to the realm of the dead via a conscious act would be befitting of some of the more evil dieties priests, the more noble and goodly faiths could perhaps have the same effect involuntarily. Say the goodly energies would not remain in effect for liars, dodgers of duties, as a just reward, or whatever may fit the dogma of each priest's faith better.

[Nikkos]

The main problem with the treatment of priests - as with the treatment of NPCs and others that "don't matter" on the game - is just that: they are treated as if they do not matter, yet these same PCs and NPCs taken for granted are expected to behave as the PCs wish and when they wish regardless of how said PCs have behaved toward them.

Good/neutral aligned: As for refusing to aid them again and others of your faith doing so as well, that also is done in some faiths. Yet again, the slacker usually moans about the unfairness of it. Though I did not point it out before, this harassment is usually IC but OOC frequently comes to bear on it as well ("Hey, man, I thought he was good aligned (or neutral)! He shouldn't refuse! That's bull!").

Evil aligned: As for extracting payment of life if payment isn't made, evils definitely will send you back. I know for a fact of an evil priestess who raised someone and said that payment would be a favor whenever she asked. He thought that was ludicrous. She killed him and suddenly he didn't find her demands so ludicrous after all.

Dominik, you are right. It may be IC for some folk to get belligerent when they do not get their way in all things. However, this goes far beyond that. This is a serious issue - that is why Mystra started this thread and, based on the godly echoes I've seen tossed about, it's also why coming back from the dead is a lot harder than it was last week.

From what I have seen on my various alts, I can safely say that when most people die, they are far more concerned with their equipment than with anything else - especially compensating the priest for sharing his or her god's gift with you.

Moreover, we're not just talking about those who raise you. As was pointed out earlier, if you have called someone to raise you and that person agrees and then someone of your faith logs in, you should not automatically switch to that priest. Who knows? You might even cause bad blood if the first priest was of an allied faith.

• Bottom line on raising dead/being raised: How much does your life mean to you?
  
  Bottom line on common courtesy: Employ it or realize that not doing so will not earn you any brownie points in that priest's book (and possibly many others' books as well).
  
  Bottom bottom line: There is a darn good reason it's a lot harder - near impossible - to return from the dead at the moment.

[Mele]

It's nice that there are many idea's on how to get someone who has not paid debt and things. But really, what would work best is if people -paid their debts-!!!

Is it -really- that hard to pay a debt? Could you not spend five or ten minutes leveling/rping, but take the time to pay a debt?

Think about the time the Priest took, leaving their own rp, to go and raise you. You dust off and walk away and never think twice. Meanwhile, said priest could have lost out on something they needed. I've lost out on meeting with someone when it was important, because they needed to log before I was done raising. And what came? -Nothing-. And even better, the person no longer logs. I have a debt that is months old irl, and the person has not logged again. It is very, very frustrating. If I were an evil Priest perhaps hunting them down and taking the gift back would be an option, but I'm not. So the only option is for the person to pay, or not call me.

I just think we all need to ask ourselves, is it really that hard to make something, or save some coin? The only thing that will fix it is if people start giving what they recieve, plain and simple, and I'm am very thankful for the effort the staff has been putting forward to try to make this happen.

Danica

[Rhelian]

While I agree that some priests are treated badly, I would also like to suggest that in any case, the priest stresses the terms of repayment BEFORE the raising is complete. Raising someone then saying "Oh, and you owe me 400 plat" isn't the right way to do things. Priest would have a duty to inform other players what their help will cost, so that the raisee will know if they can afford that help. It would also help the priests winnow down their raise lists for that day.

As Nikkos said, there is a high instance of disrespect for priests, NPC's and those "beneath notice" on the mud. And while this is a priest thread, I'd like to emphasise that wizards don't get a good time either

<--EDIT-->
Wizard section is now moved to here so as to not sidetrack this issue

[Nysan]

Well, well, well. Been away for a while, so here I sit reading this entire thread and it all boils down to this, at least I think it does. Priests(esses) need to be PERFECTLY clear about payment for services, especially raising, before they preform said act. AND other people need to be prompt about repaying said debt or be ready to take the consequences whatever they may be. Keep being ungrateful or unfair to those helpful litttle robe-wearers and being dead will become more of a career than an unpleasent past-time.
Thats what I got out this thread, and I most definately agree with it all. Not really because I think Nysan has it rough, but more for the person who just started playing and has a priest in the works. Just my little comment is all....

N.R.