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    • A

      How Many Old Timers Are Still Around?
      General Discussion • • aldrien

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      Y

      Toben Set died around the time i started playing. I remember some one making a sending about it.

    • J

      Fear of the new crafting system
      General Discussion • • Jaaj

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      C

      Weapons have been found. They are just extremely rare and slowly working their way in.

    • V-Rage

      Improving player numbers.
      General Discussion • • V-Rage

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      Echo

      Probably a good idea

    • M

      How to Support Arabel
      General Discussion • • Mithrandir999

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      Echo

      So it's time for a Patreon Drive!

      We're currently getting about $5.00/month - (down from the $42/month we were getting last year), and the server costs us $40 / month. Hubby's been footing the bill but it's time for us to ask for your assistance.

      DONATE HERE https://www.patreon.com/user?u=382010
    • Mr.Moloch

      Intrigue and Adventure VS CoA Sims
      General Discussion • • Mr.Moloch

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      @Tomppa:

      I actually feel that these are a great boon. Free rest, free sendings, powerful gear (appraise +5 ring) are the reasons why I can pay a group of adventurers 1000+ gold for some plot related tasks (without needing to constantly power quest to keep funds coming in)

      Well, one faction's perks may be more useful than another, but in my case they just showed how little common sense my 'employers' (not that I had wages or anything, in fact I paid quite some money into the resurrection fund, and by dealing out consumables to absentminded wizards) had as they were either a small improvement on skills I already had (2 more points of concentration if wearing a helm, a 3 lbs lighter shield), duplicated class abilities (some minor clerical spells 1/day, free rest if willing to make a detour), made no difference because of my class (reduced arcane spell failure), or even worked against it (medium armor on a ranger, a shield for someone with a deity whose favored weapon maps to a two-handed weapon (and has the ranger two-weapon fighting skills)). Free sendings would have helped, or access to the crafting areas (even if not using them actively, but just to be able to patrol them), or if they really wanted to provide something useful, either a weight reducing bag or STR enhancing belt/gloves/whatever would have made a difference. I wasn't even provided with a weapon..

      But guess what, despite all that, being in the faction was still a lot of fun, because of the group of PC 'allies' (quoted, as for me there was more intra-faction tension than inter-faction tension) and the forum binding them all together and giving you something more or less meaningful to do when you couldn't be online but had some spare time to spend.

      After all, I wouldn't be throwing so much gold around if there wasn't a real chance of actually getting something valuable out of it, right?

      Yes, I was/am looking to get something valuable out of it, but to me (and my character) that wouldn't be 'loot', but soft things like helping characters change their ways/views, and players having a good time. I doubt I'm being very effective but at least one player is still having a good time.

      P.

    • Mr.Moloch

      What Should Clerics Be Doing?
      General Discussion • • Mr.Moloch

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      @Mr.Moloch:

      Just to update the ideas that have come out of this discussion that have been, to me, extremely on point.

      Master Nystagmus Wrote:

      Spread dogmatic knowledge.

      Increase faith & belief that their particular god has real power.

      Increase in personal faith by living the dogma.

      These are the general things a cleric should be doing.

      I'd break these down to specific ways to consider how any specific cleric can do these things through their dogma by perhaps considering these points:

      First and Foremost, really know your deity's dogma if you expect to roleplay a good cleric. Then consider how you can do the following within the dictates of that deity's dogma. This should by no means be exhaustive, its just a list I've come up with from the conversation thus far–so I'm sure we can add more ideas!

      Spread dogmatic knowledge.

      Consider writing your character's interpretation of his faith, or his response to another character's interpretation of the faith. Consider the doctrinal debates and discussions of real world religions. How does a LE Helmite justify his view of Helm compared to a LG one?

      Consider ways to make sermons more than standing and preaching. What can your character do to make "interactive sermons" as B-rock suggested? Malarites would do hunts, Helmites vigils or patrols, priests of Tymora may lead people into dangerous locations like the EW Cemetery, Cormyrian Mountain Bear Hunting, or exploring the Underdark all the while telling stories about famous adventurers.

      Increase faith & belief that their particular god has real power.

      Several people raised the fact people don't view a cleric's power as anything more than "buff bot", so don't encourage that. Ask people to pray to your god before you buff them on a quest, don't heal someone who is laying dying if they've insulted your god or refused to pray before the quest (assuming it won't violate your god's dogma).

      Ensure people know who your deity is. At least mention them during quests or discussions.

      Consider what big projects your god would want you to work on, and work toward them. Oghman priests should seek to write books on history and lore, priests of Mystra should monitor magical artifacts of great power and their locations and bearers, priests of Velsharoon should seek the path to becoming a lich.

      Keep in mind the difficulty of portraying some gods in CoA. DMs aren't likely to want to build refugee camps, hospitals, orphanages (many goodly gods may want this-we want to focus on playing adventurers), we aren't looking to pay attention to weather patterns and how they affect harvests and crops, there aren't going to be many tsunamis or deep undersea explorations.

      Seek out lay worshipers and do ensure they get funerals when they die or that you demonstrate some care, concern, or at least tyrannical interest in their lives. Banites may even seek to regiment the faithful, enforcing dress codes, personal relationships, and celebrating every death as one more soldier in Bane's army.

      Increase in personal faith by living the dogma.

      Don't pick spells based on what seems mechanically best, but rather consider spells that fit the flavor of your deity as drklameth suggested. Priests of Lathander should have lots of light spells, priests of Shar should consider Darkness over Bull's Strength once in awhile. Domain spells are something clerics should often have prepared as part of living the dogma of the deity.

      Consider the role an adventuring priest of your faith should fulfill. Tempus is likely to have "battle priests", Lurue and Eldath will have "healers", and Tyr is more likely to have priests who present sermons and resolve disputes, Tymora's priests will be risk takers and gamblers. That shouldn't link every priest to specific hard-coded roles---but a "battle priest of Eldath" is ridiculous and ignores the entire dogma of his deity. Likewise, a priest of Garagos who isn't the first to rush into combat isn't fulfilling his deity's dogma. Every priest should be seeking to mimic their deity's dogma to the best of their ability every day, while still obviously suffering from mortal flaws.

      I find this post extremely helpful. It makes me want to try my very first priest of Velsharoon - I bet the DMs can't wait to say Velsharoon cleric #4589409896038690!

    • CitizenBane

      Bring back more "badass-ery" to CoA
      General Discussion • • CitizenBane

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      The Count of Depths

      I'm sorry the topic is locked and so there will be no way to respond to this, but I feel I must really write it.

      @Ela:

      Lets face it guys, the server changes because of those who "impress" the DMs the most

      The server changes because of those that can "impress" us with creating a story that involves and creates fun for several other players. What really I DON'T GET is people who focus so much on roleplay, who spend their days in safe places, exploring the depths of their characters' personality (and these are all WONDERFUL things), but still want to affect the foundations of the setting. That will not happen! Roleplay is the reward in itself, for this kind of gameplay. No DM interaction will give you the same kind of satisfaction as spending hours sharing dreams, hopes, nightmares with the other roleplayers you like. The way a DM will reward you is allowing you to have a glimpse of the NPCs' personality, a quest that may challange you and help develop your character. But if the focus is on your character, expect the rewards to be focused on your character. And wouldn't that makes sense? Mazzini and Garibaldi were both great characters/personalities. But one made Italy. The other was very interesting to be around.

    • K

      Motivation.
      General Discussion • • Kathrine Stoneriver

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      W

      Especially when they know FD will most likely not be the result.

    • Bowser

      Out of Game / Leaving Thread
      Off Topic • • Bowser

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      Matriarch

      I am back! And I am writing you a hello since forums are ebol and dont want me to write an 8 characters post or something like that...

    • ArchAngel_G

      More Ideas to Add More Interest
      General Discussion • • ArchAngel_G

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      Putting aside resource point battle system dilemma for a moment what if there were particular one time quests scattered around the module that you could undertake which could give your faction resources? By completing these tasks factions gain resources for ex. rescuing a bunch of dwarven miners up in Thunderholme from a goblin hordes gets you a shipment of ore or perhaps even something bigger like a pledge to aid your faction in a time of need. Also regarding player faction bases which was brought up earlier would it be feasible to let members of a player faction should they choose, design their own base with the toolset and upon DM review add it to the module. It's not that I don't trust DMs to make kickass areas I just think giving players the option to design their own HQ should the DMs think they are deserving of one could let them add their own personal touch to it.

    • D

      Elder Scrolls V news
      Off Topic • • Dondknight

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      B-Rock

      Why this game so crack cocaine?

    • Mr.Moloch

      Community Transperency on DM Decision
      General Discussion • • Mr.Moloch

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      farglenargle

      No wonder Gmork's never IG

    • ?

      Motivation Killers
      General Discussion • • A Former User

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      AronFF

      @dripster13:

      ( I don't want to quote a wall of text. )

      Tl;DR

      Stop acting like a jerk. Player or DM. No one was trying to attack the DM team. No one was trying to suppress the player's views. Shit got out of hand. Lets ring it back in. It's new years. Lets start it right.

      In response to dripster's and many other comments.
      Moloch did indeed sound harsh many times on the forums, but all honestly I see a shift toward pacifism and wisdom if anything.
      DMs have their own styles of writing, and as EoF once said to me in a completely different context, tone is difficult to express in written word.
      I always assume the tone (of players and DMs alike) was positive, and when I fail to assume, I try to inquire if it was.
      Bear in mind that we all come from different points on this globe, and even if you share your home country with someone general attitudes, temperament and even meanings of certain words change on the scale of a few dozen kilometers.

      On mention of tyranny. On my opinion, this has became popular lately as an accusation in the world.
      I have the pleasure to hear politicians and other people to claim they live in a country where freedom, especially the freedom of press is denied. They write this a lot and whine about it a lot in the TV. (They even export the idea to foreign press, some would probably recognize the situation I speak about.) It makes little sense, to be honest.
      Well, I've lived in actual tyranny. Granted, five years total, but I have heard much about my families' experiences. It is not like this.

      It would be very hard for me to play here if I assumed DMs were not there to make the server running, provide us with entertainment and I couldn't value their effort.
      Player complaints can't spoil this for me, DMs could, but somehow refrained to do so in the last couple of years. : ))
      But there certainly are other players who might end up discouraged by this or that.
      So I suggest posting even rants in questions. (ie: prefer "I'm furious. Why this post was deleted?" over "I'm furious, this post was deleted!")
      It's much easier to respond in a way to get the opinions closer to each other again.

    • StrawMan

      CoA Who's Who!
      Off Topic • • StrawMan

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      Forte

      Update:

      RaveWarrior added to guys.

      And for the love of God, people:

      NOTIFY ME WHEN YOU SUBMIT A PHOTO, I DO NOT CONSTANTLY CHECK THE ACCOUNT NOR HAVE AN RSS FEED SETUP FOR IT. YOUR CHANCES OF IT BEING UPLOADED FAST INCREASE BY 9001% WHEN YOU TELL ME.

      I'd be quite happy if a DM would edit the OP with that so people will have a higher chance of seeing it.

    • ma1keru333

      Raising Server Numbers
      General Discussion • • ma1keru333

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      C

      So, I can go over my theories of what will and won't work and some of them might even be right, but I figured I would use a real example rather then conjecture.

      Back in may/june of 2015, I logged in to coa for the first time in almost 3 years. It was 5 pmish my time and there were 6 people on. 5 pm my time (new york baby!) is the gateway time between the euros and the americans, and is traditionally the most populated the time the server sees. So, needless to say, I was a bit disappointed.

      But, I went through the time to get logged in, figured I would poke around a bit. Ran into a guy named goatman (that was his login, can't remember the characters name), and the two of us started jamming quests. I made a comment about it being a bad day, and he said "6 people on, thats a good day!". Somewhat deflating, but I was having fun running through some of the old quests from my heyday so fuck it.

      Next thing you know, we had a few people joining our group. Now personalities are starting to come out, people are getting into the rp, and we are questing away, having a good time. The next day, our group grew by one or two more. Three days later, we were worried about the max amount quests would allow, and there were ten people on at the same time goatman had said it was great to have six.

      Within a week, out of nowhere, another old face appeared. This time on the DM side. Now, I have a theory that polaris secretly has a crush on me and is my internet stalker, but since its still just a theory we will for the sake of this story call it just a coincidence. wink wink.

      So, now we have 10-12 people logging in, a dm that goes nuts for his first few months back like clockwork, and the server feels alive. Pol makes a few posts on the forums, says a few things on irc to get people in game, and now we are up to 15 people less then three weeks from when it was exciting to have six. A week later, PDs are coming back, and its time to hide your wife and kids. Moloch hath returned as well. For almost an entire summer from about 5 pm my time to around 10 pm, we were hitting 25 people. We had a cool plot, and stuff. The server was alive once again, in just a few short weeks.

      Now, things changed fast again. Plots ended, players went back to school or whatever, and DMs while enjoying their short burst of energy over the summer were people who had been there done that before and that will always lead to faster burnout the second time. That's when I was asked to join the team. In my two years, we had lulls, and we had high points. I came two away from 40 people on for one of my events, still a point of pride.

      Now, you may be asking, is there a point to this or is LaF just on another rant about how awesome he is? And the answer is yes, to both. I am awesome, and the point is that logging in and having fun, and taking the time to spread that fun around, is the key to getting the server back to where it was just a short while ago. More DMs, more players, more plots, more player driven stuff, ect ect ect...these are all just pieces of the big puzzle, but the point has always been and likely always will be one thing. Have fun.

    • K

      Death penalty.
      General Discussion • • Kathrine Stoneriver

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      H

      It is a good oportunity to gather cohorts and minions…

      Who wouldn't like to work with someone that amazing?

      You just have to play with the odds...

    • K

      No Interest in DM Factions?
      General Discussion • • Kreyla Aelasar

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      @21:

      @Deadlock:

      @Broken:

      I mean you had the Zhents; with so much stuff you could do with them, noone really took advantage of it.

      Smirks
      Sneers
      Walks grimly

      SMIRKS SOFTLY

      Best evil emote ever.

      facepalm

    • Pandemonium

      Paladins
      General Discussion • • Pandemonium

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      Mr.Moloch

      Detect Evil is a terrible idea. So is thinking a paladin can know when his companions are evil.

      The real problem isn't paladins traveling with evil. It is people choosing the evil alignment, but who aren't willing to roleplay that or the kind of fear and hesitancy that an evil person would have near a God-buffed knight sworn to exterminate evil from the world.

      I'd want people to keep in mind, paladins are not the only ones who need to watch their comrades. An evil priest of Malar traveling with a paladin may find Malar turning against that priest as well.

      Divine classes especially should be aware of these issues.

      A simple neutral evil thief traveling with a paladin and hiding his real nature is fine, it can create wonderful conflicts and stories when the thief's nature slowly starts to be discerned over the course of a quest.

      A priest of Bane giving blessings to a paladin of Torm should result in both seeing a big frown from their bosses.

    • Prof. Misclick

      [Archived]Approved Applications
      Closed/Denied Applications • • Prof. Misclick

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      Prof. Misclick

      Set up Verk/V-Rage- Pierre Cambrian as Rank 2 in the Ravens based on IC recommendation of Gruffman- James Rawen

      Raven Feather 25 gp wage Forum access Already had discord
    • O

      Coa is not pw story/rp anymore. Its pw action/story lite.
      General Discussion • • ordinath

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      Mr.Moloch

      We've discussed ad naseum in the Adventure and Intrigue thread what makes compelling characters in the DM's book and how to gain DM attention for plots and stories.

      This conversation is pretty well done now.

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