[Suspicious]

Well, I've only experienced this maybe once, but I've heard a lot about this occurring with others, and it has come to due inevitability.

Guards are using Skype and other such services to call for backup. While in and of itself this is not immersion breaking (if you're in the middle of Cellsvich you should expect to get a half dozen guards swarming on you if you so much as litter, walk on the wrong side of the road, or sell donuts), it is immersion breaking anywhere outside of a town, or in a place like Law's End (COUGH http://www.neus-projects.net/viewtopic.p...amp;p=3867 COUGH), but the latter bit has already been resolved.

I'm going to make clear now that using ANY sort of direct communication to 'phone for help' is straight up against the rules. Quoth the wiki:
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4 - You cannot attempt to call in 'backup', in any shape or form, for a fight. This includes (but isn't limited to) trying to use laplaceNET during or right before an engagement. Trying to ignore RP/PVP Requests until your 'backup' arrives falls into the same category, and will be punished accordingly.
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This should go for guards as well. I'll reiterate: you can communicate in Skype all you want, but no one should be able to assist you if they aren't a reasonable distance from the fight to begin with (like literally right there). I've had it officially from Dev that it's 'more than a couple of miles' from Cellsvich to Dormeho by foot, so, given most fights are resolved in a matter of IC minutes, there is no way to get to such a fight in a timely manner unless you're some kind of Usain Bolt on magical steroids or have a strong desire to die of Void Poisoning through 'unsafe teleportation'.

Comments and discussion in this regard can continue freely below.

[Lolzytripd]

I agree due to distances if a fight occurs outside a town with a magic guild, that reinforcements of anykind be arguably metagame.

[Sarinpa1]

sigh
here we go

Guards pretty much have guard powers in towns and at arena.
There are hundreds of NPC guards
There are like what, eight PC guards.
PC guards are here to represent NPC guards because NPC guards whaaaat dont exist.
PC guards are not generic "Soldier 1" characters because who dafuq would want to play that.

Guard 1 spots idiots duking it out in middle of Cellsvich.
Beep boop backup required yo.
What would happen in realistic scenario - The guards stationed there would aid Guard 1
What will happen in game scenario - Beep boop Guard 2 to tha rescue from random location.

This is acceptable within areas with guard presence. Towns, arena. Other areas? The guard characters are not representing guard, they're there on their own accord.

[Lolzytripd]

sarinpa, I agree with that as the arena is right next to tannis

[MegaBlues]

The big issues about claiming that NPC guards are there to go run for backup are that:

1: NPC guards aren't always everywhere. A.K.A., Law's End, open land on the continents, etc etc

2: Even if guards were called, they appear in a matter of moments due to Skype and the fact that the game's scale and speed aren't quite even. Which shouldn't happen.

[Sarinpa1]

Like I said.

Inside towns. At arena. The maps themselves. Anywhere outside that yeaaah no.

[Lolzytripd]

perhaps a reinforce ability given to guilds, that allows calling in back up, with turn wait for how long to join the battle based on map distance

[Chaos]

Buckle up kids; this is going to be a long one.

When it comes down to it, what Dev or the GMs say are the rules. Below are simply guidelines that will help you avoid trouble.

People really need to remember this; Dev can certainly bring the hammer down on whatever I do, but otherwise, the rules are just a pamphlet of what you can expect, and not there to shackle me like you seem to think they are. Not phrasing yourself like you can command the guard about it would also help.

Additionally, If you believe there's something stupid going on with the Guard, you should be contacting me or Sly about it, instead of whining everywhere else.

Anyways, as for your topic:

1. 'Oh I'm outside of a town, so the guards can't touch me at all here' isn't correct. The Badlands Arena has guards around due to the high traffic and a number of incidents that occurred there. The Nameless Shrine definitely has guard presence since Fort Ajrav (read: the current, player house-based jail) is located there. The forest separating Cellsvich from the rest of the continent has the occasional guard due to people living there, as well as a certain incident. The roads connecting the various settlements of Sigrogana have guards patrolling them here and there. If you are spotted in any of these areas, backup can and will happen. If you wanted to be safe from the guards, you would be far enough out of the way, somewhere that no one could see you if you were quiet/stealthy enough (I.e. A room in an Inn) in a dungeon or locked up in a house. (Chaturanga and Oniga have little else besides the main cities. Lispool has the Hyoyains, which are apparently threatening enough to most)

For the record, I have not seen any situations where this seems to be contradicted, beyond the Law's End incident. If anyone has evidence to the contrary, please contact me and we'll see what's up.

2. Ideally, Guards would be around in pairs, so that if one was caught in trouble, the other would be capable of either assisting them or getting backup. However, unless the guards were all around at the same times (which wouldn't be a good idea), it's a very inconsistent plan. In light of this, there's a system used by the Guards that involves LaplaceNET requests. (I've mentioned before that me and Sly monitor this to prevent people from doing it wrong; the Law's End incident was a issue that I already spelled out in said topic, yes, but regardless) There's also the guard presence that would have to be accounted for where due. Not everyone can be on SL2 at the same time.

3. Town-to-Town distance.... The Mage's Guild pretty much confirmed that they work with the law.
Criminals trying to use their facilities? They sell you out in the blink of an eye.
Authorities want the portals shut down? They'll do it.
Guards need to get from Cellsvich to Dormeho quick? The line can wait.

Now, if they had to run to the middle of the road from the Arena to Dormeho? It'll take a while; one guard might show up in time unless it's a very lengthy fight.
Old Iron Mines? There's a little distance from Tannis to the Mines.
Dungeons? Not happening.
Law's End? Out of the question.

4. I'm quite aware there's a good bit about how guards react that isn't realistic. While distance from certain areas is a problem, realize that you're trying to put Guards in a completely different time frame. Your fight happens in what should ICly be minutes? If a guard is alerted at the start, are you assuming it takes them a minute to take five steps? No, in an IC minute, if the Guard in Cellsvich was just alerted about a fight in Dormeho, they would be over there and looking for the fight by the time that minute is over.

The main point about avoiding the Guards isn't how long it takes to get from Point A to Point B; it's not letting the Guards know to begin with. If you're fighting out in the open in Dormeho, you shouldn't be expecting guards to not show up. For gods sakes, the place is loaded with them due to the Black Beasts; someone would at least hear the public beatings!

tl;dr The guards are restricted, yes, but not as restricted as you think. Also drop the attitude.

P.S. If anyone has any questions, please contact me.

[Lolzytripd]

And that makes sense, its just alot of people don't seem to care about the scale of the world.

[Chaos]

Lolzytripd » Sun Feb 01, 2015 11:03 pm[/url]"]And that makes sense, its just alot of people don't seem to care about the scale of the world.

I agree with you on that; while the passage of time in Sigrogana (comparing OOC time to IC time) is quite fast, player movement speed on the overworld screws with the space-time continuum. Though I feel like this is an issue that can hamper with how people enjoy the game, so it's a rather delicate issue.