My empath is based in Riverhaven and yesterday there was a really big invasion of eels and stormriders. She wound up in triage, and a bunch of guest empaths came from other cities to help out. With the number of dead there were, this was a good thing. However, most of these guest empaths had the ability to do the unity link while my empath (who is only 32nd circle) did not. And every time she tried to assist in a heal, some older empath Unity Linked the wounds away and my empath got no experience or empathy, even if she started transferring a wound first. I realize that triage is a bit more chaotic than normal healing, and that because it's important to get people up and healed as quickly as possible, courtesy has to go by the wayside a bit more than usual, but it was a really awful feeling for my empath to be crowded out of helping in triage in her own city by people who don't live there and who don't care about what happens there as much as she does. She thinks EVERY empath who wants to help during an invasion, even if they have not gotten their first circle yet, should be allowed to do SOMETHING to contribute. She did mention that she was having a problem, and asked nicely if she could be allowed to heal someone, but someone whispered to her to suck it up and just accept that that's how it is in triage. I don't think that person was an empath, though, so I tend to think it's not really for that person to say.

Riverhaven's Order of the Dragon Shield did eventually come in and a good friend of my empath's was put in charge of triage, so she eventually got to heal and this experience wound up being just a really frustrating moment, but it raised some questions in my mind:

1. Are there guidelines from the guild for large triages around giving everyone a chance to participate? You know, maybe let unity linkers handle the dead and non-unity linkers attend to the living, but either side can ask for help if they need it? Seems to me that guidelines like this could help set everyone's expectations and ease a bit of the chaos.

2. Is it appropriate to speak up in a large triage if one is being crowded out from helping or is it really a case of of having to put up with whatever happens or leave? After the invasion was over, my empath talked to another empath who lives in the area but wasn't at triage to try to get a second opinion, and he said he just leaves when he gets crowded out from helping in triage. Well and good if you have the defenses to survive whatever is attacking and get to someplace safe(r), but my empath didn't, and didn't want to get herself killed and just make more work for the healers and clerics.

Thanks for reading...

> And every time she tried to assist in a heal, some older empath Unity Linked the wounds away and my empath got no experience or empathy, even if she started transferring a wound first.

>suck it up and just accept that that's how it is in triage.

Triage isn't about getting EXP. It's about supporting the fight.

>She thinks EVERY empath who wants to help during an invasion, even if they have not gotten their first circle yet, should be allowed to do SOMETHING to contribute.

Try working on the living, they get the lowest priority. Your could also go find wounded folks who aren't in triage, but are not in a dangerous area. Unity also doesn't give vitality, so you can also help with that.

>>Triage is not your happy place. Triage is about getting as many people restored as quickly as possible. If you cannot put aside your ego and personality long enough to accept that it's better for the other players to get healed by someone else, then I'm sorry. 'Suck it up' is the appropriate response.

+1

Invasion Triage is supposed to be quick, it's about getting people back on their feet. Asking people to not heal as quickly as they are capable or to slow down is counter-productive. I don't imagine a lot of non-empaths would be happy about having to wait around in an invasion when there are empaths capable of handling their wounds.

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Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

I was probably one of the visiting empaths that did this last night. I'm sorry if it wasn't fun, but like others have said, triage is about getting people up and out and fighting again. It isn't anything personal, and I'm sure most of the empaths who were healing fast weren't doing it to steal all the experience, and glory. I remember being a low level empath, and it does kind of suck to start healing, and before your patient's wound starts to transfer to you, someone else healed everything. But, that is part of the experience. It gets cool to see your character gain skill, and soon enough you'll be healing up everyone, and someone will complain about you. During normal times, I think it's fine to ask people to let you heal, but during an invasion, I don't think that will happen. Even if someone agrees to let you heal, it's really so hectic, and with all the scroll, it's easy to miss stuff. So, you're there healing this person, and new empath walks in, looks around to see what's going on and who needs to be healed. Thinking that it's triage, and everyone needs to get up and going again, she just starts healing the person you're healing. Just keep at it, and it will become more fun.

For the record, it's never been about needing a starring role, just about needing a role and to be allowed to contribute SOMETHING. My empath did discover the bit about vitality healing after I initially posted here but before I read the responses here (she saw that vit healing was needed, but didn't understand that it was because the Unity Link doesn't address vit), and that option has been working well. For the time being, she'll be focusing on that and on healing the living in large triages.

Thanks to all who posted, and especially to those who made the effort to post something encouraging. You encouragers best reflect the true spirit of the empath in my books!!! And you shine all the more brightly for trying to be positive.

Nkstroud