Coa is not pw story/rp anymore. Its pw action/story lite.
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I've been around for a few years and I'm still enjoying it. But it has definitely changed, for good and for worse.
CoA 3.0 seemed to have:
-A lot more characters that weren't as adventurous. I often met characters and did nothing but talk to them for up to two hours, and it was enjoyable. Just learning to know a character can be very fun and helps you flesh out your own character as well.
-Since people were more willing to take the time just to talk or show someone around, it was very easy to get into the server.
-A lot more cliques of players that pretty much handled all the DM plots on the server. The Purple Dragons/War Wizards solved pretty much everything. But I think this was because of all the players running to them and asking them to solve it, heh.
V 4.0 seems to have:
-More opportunities for every kind of character (mostly thinking about evil) to shine and be involved in the DM plots and get their own plots running. I can't say I see any cliques anymore.
-The downside of this is that it requires a lot more work to get started. I simply don't have the time or interest to get involved in anything anymore because it feels I'm required to do a lot of work. In 3.0 you could easily get involved by simply talking to someone. But then that "someone" was usually always someone from the law enforcement team, which was pretty boring.
Adding this together, I think the server is still as good as before, but in a different way. I don't think I have changed much myself, I still enjoy "simming" and still get worked out trying to pursue DM and personal plots.
The depth of the characters I meet hasn't changed much, but I agree that a lot of things happen too fast for me to feel any interest and that many are too driven to pursue their goals only.
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Almadyr raises some valid and well-reasoned points, but I'd like to respond to them briefly.
@Almadyr:1. it's easier to get to higher level than it was a few months ago: therefore people tend to try and reach such level. There are many more "spaced" quests (lvl range) and -my opinion- the creation of a well honed group to quest with is not anymore as necessary as it was in the old V3 or early V4 days. in order to reach lvl 7 or 8 (after all is easier to roam the wilderness with a 9 lvl druid than with a 4th lvl one).
This is on purpose, but it was done for several reasons:
1). To make it more fun for the casual player to gain levels.
2). To help encourage people to make new characters, rather than to hold onto old and stale ones simply because they're level 10.
3). We prefer a server where everyone can pretty readily reach the average level (of 7-8) so that there aren't gross imbalances where some people just never have a chance to get past 4th.
4). Leveling up past 8th is not happening any faster, though its still feasible to hit 11th in a reasonable span of effort.Lastly, I'm not sure if I see how that leads to the problem you pointed out, that people are "quest smashing". If anything, making it easier to level should have taken some of the of the focus off needing to work so hard to level.
2. there's a lot more loot available from many shops(and many quests!): this has, to me, two effects: a. diminishes the necessity for PC merchants (now magical weapons, wands, higher range of potions can be bought etc) and b. incresases the importance of gold –> more quest grinding.
Moreover, usually, exploration and RP session involve a use of consumables with no appreciable return in gold or xp unless it's a DM quest.1). We want to diminish the necessity for PC crafters. Contrary to any belief that standing around selling potions or sitting alone crafting armor added to immersion, it simply never has.
2) PC merchants are still a very real possibility, as the success of Fivestar Merchants demonstrates, and is bolstered by a new treasure system which is still developing but allows for merchant-type characters to exist sans crafting.
3). We turned up the quest rewards on level 1-5 quests by 25% as part of the new system. So, this should not lead to more quest grinding, rather it should mean that getting supplies is easier rather than harder.
4). We've added Exploration XP to reward explorers with XP. We've also set up more areas within the Haunted Halls to reward people with minor treasure for exploring.
5). We've changed the way monster loot drops work, monsters now drop more loot-so explorers should be finding more rewards for killing monsters outside quests too.I can see that perhaps the system needs more finesse, but I'm not convinced its leading to a problem with people fixating more on questing. In fact, I am not seeing any "quest grinding" for the most part.
What I do see, is that 2 years ago there was a stigma associated with anyone who did more than one quest a day (if that often). They were "power-questers". The DMs did not appreciate that attitude, we want people doing the quests and enjoying themselves, DnD is a game about killing monsters and being heroic.
We have made a very strong effort to remove the stigma from questing, and remind people that that is actually a major component of roleplaying an adventurer. Part of a character's story should reflect their growth and development from killing rats in a basement to challenging some of the most terrible foes in the kingdom–ie the journey of a hero.
I do not think that makes Arabel an action server or a story lite server. It makes it a server that tells the story of heroes or villains developing as such.
3. the opportunity to be able to change the server: many concepts can be created with the aim to change something (i.e. short term concept). Characters tend to be constructed more into a "step-by-step" personality rather than an evolving one due to the fact that an application has been written for that character and their character will be measured for what she can achieve ig on the basis of their application (but this is my biased view only, since I am no DM and my knowledge is quite scarce)
I think this statement stems from a continued and persistent myth about what applications are for.
Applications exist to ensure that unique perks and privileges are given to those we know will involve other players in interesting stories. They're not "step-by-step" straight-jackets and are meant only to give us the sense that a character has been well-thought through, and will be immersive and interesting for the DMs to interact with and the player base to encounter.
People are more than welcome to consider the goals from the application as a guide to what they may do, not as a check list they must go through. DMs fully expect that characters will develop in new and novel ways, which is why we focus much more strongly on a solid concept than on the goals these days.
Additionally, while most of us appreciate a long-standing character that is well played and remains interesting. We have also firmly said that sometimes a story ends, and players should know when their story is over. I tend to say a character that is between six months and a year old is probably, 9/10s of the time, long in the tooth and ready to move on. To each their own there, but new characters and new ideas bring new blood and freshness to a very old game.
So yes, the DMs are encouraging people to make new characters more frequently than use to be the trend. We do not see these changes as encouraging a lack of depth in characters-quite the opposite. More dynamic characters who aim to make an impact in the world around them in our view are less likely to turn into empty and flat characters who have become a caricature of something interesting.
4. many new factions popping up from nowhere: I already wrote this up somewhere in the past but apparently this is what Playerbase+DM want so I won't push it more. To me new factions coming to life and existing dying after a brief lifespan tend to generate "pale" characters.
Again, I fail to see this even happening, let alone how it could lead to more focus on quest grinding. So yes, I guess we won't find agreement here.
5. absence of a strong hierarchy "within the walls": who's in charge? where are the key figures of the city? why things change so quickly? If you don't have enough time to play, the constant changes will make the creation of a "long-term" character quite difficult (again, my opinion).
This was a problem, but we must create a middle ground. Too strong a hierarchy leads to the situation where the Purple Dragons save the day, every day and evil characters don't stand any chance no matter how clever they are.
Too little hierarchy tends to create mass chaos. Right now, the DMs are focusing more on stabilizing things, and our current storylines are aiming in that direction–although players can still influence how things turn out.
One thing that may be helpful to keep in mind is the cyclical affect of everything that happens in game these days, Arabel will never be "perfect" but the DMs push and pull it back and forth always aiming towards constant improvements-but change takes time-even more when we have lives detracting from our time here to make those improvements. Patience is useful, so are well-reasoned arguments like yours that provide polite critiques that its possible to actually respond to constructively (at least, I hope I'm being constructive here).
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Okay so it'll be a PITA quoting all that wall of text, just going to quote best as I can.
- PC merchants are still a very real possibility, as the success of Fivestar Merchants demonstrates, and is bolstered by a new treasure system which is still developing but allows for merchant-type characters to exist sans crafting.
IMO, it's difficult to be a PC merchant that's not in the Fivestars. Simply can't compete with the resources a Fivestar has access to.
3). We turned up the quest rewards on level 1-5 quests by 25% as part of the new system. So, this should not lead to more quest grinding, rather it should mean that getting supplies is easier rather than harder.
This was good, fyi. Although a bit unbalanced on a certain one (talked about it with DMs privately, might already be posted)
What I do see, is that 2 years ago there was a stigma associated with anyone who did more than one quest a day (if that often). They were "power-questers". The DMs did not appreciate that attitude, we want people doing the quests and enjoying themselves, DnD is a game about killing monsters and being heroic.
Honestly…no. I'm of the belief that the stigma was always associated with, and directed at the people who were spamming quests to reach level 10+ in an expedited manner, versus those who took months, even 1-2+ years to reach it. From what I saw, the hate was always directed at them and not the "honest" (bear in mind this term is used loosely) players doing quests.
It was always the people treating the server like a grindfest instead of a roleplay environment that got that "heat". It's unfortunate some who didn't deserve it, got the negative attention. This is all from what I experienced two years ago, so I'm possibly wrong on the interpretation.
I do not think that makes Arabel an action server or a story lite server. It makes it a server that tells the story of heroes or villains developing as such.
IMO if there weren't so many quests (70+ is the number? I know it's at least 35 from past posts.) this wouldn't be happening so much. While likely, yes, people will complain of nothing to do, it'll direct them towards roleplaying outside quests.
Honestly, if they're complaining because they can't quest on a roleplaying server, I think they may've been on the wrong one to begin with.
Again, I fail to see this even happening, let alone how it could lead to more focus on quest grinding. So yes, I guess we won't find agreement here.
Might it be in reference to how suddenly Vhoor came and went as an example?
This was a problem, but we must create a middle ground. Too strong a hierarchy leads to the situation where the Purple Dragons save the day, every day and evil characters don't stand any chance no matter how clever they are.
I think most of the people who played from the start/early middle of v3 are/were actually used to that. For a long time the DM team was resistant to change (or at least appeared to be) now it's Obama's cabinet (to put a humorous visual on the level of change willingness) and the same people don't know what to do.
I mean personally, I viewed changing stuff in v3 as prestigious, and took a high level of effort. Rolo/Norah's deaths being examples. Nowadays it seems like (I'm exaggerating, I -know-) that anybody with five minutes can invoke change. It's just not as awesome as it used to be.
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well, i for one would love some rp advice. the characters on this server run way deeper than anything i've ever done before and really feel like i'm missing their mark more often than not.
i think the hardest thing for me is to play a very serious character, when i myself tend to be rather laid back. i've made notes about his feelings towards other types of characters, general philosophies, and have them written down on a notepad doc for me to reference on my desktop, and have really thought out what he'd do in certain situations, but i feel like his dialog is still erratic at time :-.
practice makes perfect?
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Practice does make perfect (or better at least)
And also, don't fool yourself with the whole seriousness. You can play a laid back character that is still involved, pushing plots, changing the server, and aiming for goals. It will just change their attitude. In fact, my current character is very much this way. It's actually a really fun character point that makes the stress this server can cause alot lighter!
Also, I know almost everyone is willing to offer advice. If you ever have any questions, you can ask me and a multitude of other people.
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Hi. I like this server.
I used to be a power-quester, but things (the server) has changed…
For the better, in my opinion. -
I think everyone does a good job of roleplay. I rarely get into a situation where someone is just off and not trying. If there is, it is usually someone new that can start to get the drift with a little IC prodding and some OOC nudging if you take the time.
That being said; intense personal sessions of doing nothing but talking is not for everyone, and maybe the problem is not other people- maybe it's you. (This isn't really directed at the OP- I have no idea who they play.)
Although I'm a good sport and try to listen to play along with those who want to sit around and get to know you through an intense roleplay session I find what half of the people do is insanely selfish. If people are avoiding your awesome RPing, it could be that it's not very entertaining: You talk way too much about you and not enough about me, and I'd really like this conversation to get to the point where it's about us (and hopefully who we're going to gank, or what we're going to explore, or to be honest- if we can talk more over killing some monsters, god-forbid on a scripted quest).
In RL I don't bare my soul to every stranger I meet in a bar, I try to hide most of annoying quirks in public, and I rarely bring up how bad my childhood was within the first 30 minutes of meeting someone. I find it easier to make friends to wade in slowly to personal items rather than diving in head-long.
Some things to consider: Am I running through a script that makes me look like I've put a lot of thought into this character or am I making an attempt at "making a friend" through IC interactions and sharing of info? Am I asking questions about the other person so they might find this entertaining as an exchange rather than listening to someone else show off how awesome their back-story is? Would I even really be that into talking to this guy and do I want everyone to know I'm a messed up little freak? Is what I'm doing fun for others besides myself?
I know some of you are just awesome at weaving stories and creating real-to-life characters and this isn't directed at you. I've found that good players with awesome RP skills have little trouble keeping their standards high and raising the quality of play of those around them. They are the sort of player who makes you feel bad for sloughing off on emotes, or failing to react to something in the way your character should. It's like having a mini-DM in the room. These people are the ones you go back to time and time again, and you can spend hours with just doing nothing and still have fun. It's great to meet these people because it helps us poor RPers learn a little more and think about our characters in new and deeper ways.
If you have the expectation of how people should react to your character, what people should do in a given situation, and what people will should think of your character you're going to come away disappointed every time. Just because someone ignores you it doesn't make them a bad player; they may have their reasons.
People come in and want to have fun. That may vastly different from person to person. If the server isn't where you'd like it to be, then lead by example, set the bar, and help people along.
((I also enjoy the new server style a bit. I can not give up much time to play, but I can hop on and have some good banter with some people, explore new places, rob crypts outside of scripted quests, get XP and loot just wandering around, find the uniformed DM faction guys and buddy up for a little intrigue pretty easily, and run into DM run events more often than we have.
I got bored with the tea-parties, lying in the sun and watching the clouds go by, building birdhouses for homeless kobold children, sitting around discussing your favorite type of cake, etc stuff that went on for a while on the server. I am sure there were awesome deeply-developed characters who were involved in that, but it is not fun for everyone.
I don't think that people being driven to action precludes CoA still being in the RP camp of servers. I had always thought of adventurers as men at war with something every day, whether it was big bad evils that had to be stopped or the fact they are teetering on poverty (and avoiding such completely depends on killing things). ))
PS- I still am teh suck at this game and RPing so take this for what it's worth. Also there are big swings in play quality and style as new players come on board, old players retire and it takes time to get back to the happy place where most people are comfortable.
PSS (or is that PPS)- I have always thought that CoA worked best when DMs set things up, left them open-ended and left the players to make their own fun and deal with everything in character. It made it just all the more awesome when they (the DMs) showed up to screw your plans over in a new and exciting way you had not yet considered.
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I've only been back a few days, and had a character for several months prior to the end of 2009. I've found the opportunity available to be quite intriguing and enjoyable, and have found player enthusiasm to create and tell a story to have improved immensely. I have found myself wishing on occasion that I had the ability to commit time to DMing again so that I could help foster the new mindset of some of the players I've interacted with.
I semi-agree to the initial point made by the original poster. I've noticed that many characters and players are much less welcoming to new characters, unless that character has already proven in some way that they are useful for their specific plots. This can be expected and isn't necessarily "wrong". Some characters, have a meeting waiting list that they're desperately trying to get through, and they need to prioritize whot hey meet and won't be able to accomodate every character that they come across. But I think this is probably where a lot of the lost feeling of "casual RP" is.
The new attitude of "getting things done" sometimes ends up being detrimental to the character to character relationship. A character at his peak spends less time meeting new people, because he needs to keep up to date with his core group in order to "get things done." Thus it's difficult for some newer characters / players to get their foot in the door, unless the player of the busy character already knows the new character's player and is willing to make an exception to get to know him.
I tend to think that's probably more the reason for the reduction in casual rping and "elitism" that seems to be mentioned in many of the posts of this thread. Granted my opinion on the matter may not be accurate since I've only been back a short time; but if there's truth to it, I'd venture that there are three very practical things that can be done:
a. Take ownership of a small part of the big cheese - If your character works for one of the guys who is managing so much he can't meet new players, then don't spend all your time hanging around him. Keep him up to date, and then while you're handling your tasks for him, go meet people and build up your "division" of his larger group. Then you can help him filter the useful ones and the less useful ones, and have stuff to do when you're not in your faction meetings.
b. New character / New Niche - I've found that you always need a core group of people to progress, and so I do understand the desire to start a concept with players you already know. I don't know if this is still an issue, but I recalled a time where several veteran players would end their characters and start new ones with concepts that were all directly linked with each other. The result would be a faction of veterans with very little motivation or incentive to go out and meet new people. If you're making a new concept and consider yourself an experienced veteran of CoA roleplaying; find a couple guys you'd like to start over with, but keep the group small and try to fill out the rest of your group with newer players. You'll have your core group to keep things afloat, but you can get your new blood to learn and grow.
c. Simply ask - If you happen to find a character you like, why not have your character ask them to have a casual chat right after? I've found (myself included) that many times players expect the other character to approach them first. Whether out of shyness or pride, if no one takes the first step to build a character relationship, it'll never get done. It's actually quite sad when I think back on some of the players I've exchanged tells with telling each other we had a good time, but since neither of us ever took that first step, nothing ever became of it.
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If the original posters agree with Div, it clears up a lot for me. The way he put it makes perfect sense. About 90% of my time online, I'm slammed between important meetings with PCs or NPCs that are important to plots and such. Honestly I like that. I don't think that means I develop my character less, but I certainly don't have time to stop and talk to every random person that wants to talk to me for an hour. I don't think its really elitism, I do it with all sorts of player names I recognize, its usually the characters I go on. Even with the players that you could accuse me of being in a click with; I tend to leave them after only a few minutes of RP, because I have another person waiting on me, who I've been looking for for a week.
I don't think its wrong, I think maybe its just the effect of involved players not having enough time to sacrifice to uninvolved ones. Maybe thats a terrible way of putting it though.
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@Bolthor:
I don't think its wrong, I think maybe its just the effect of involved players not having enough time to sacrifice to uninvolved ones. Maybe thats a terrible way of putting it though.
Not being a dick, but that was a terrible way to put it. The phrasing makes the elitist bit come out a bit too much, which I know isn't your intention.
I would say that "sacrifice" and "uninvolved" is too harsh. I would say that the busy players prioritize and have to cut down on general RP time with folks that are less busy (though that doesn't necessarily mean less involved). That does not mean the character is generic or simply involved for the sake of involvement. It just makes knowing an intimate detail about them far more intimate and rare. That's my take, anyway
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I'd also encourage players who aren't being given the time of day by "important" characters to take matters into their own hands ICly. There's no need to complain about it. Rather go find a group of bored characters and bring them out on adventures and such that may help further an existing plot. Let a DM know about it and just flat out tell them "my character doesn't seem to be getting much face time with this dude, but i'm trying to get some people out there to do my own independent stuff for the same plot." The DMs may not jump on you right away, but if you show persistence, I'm pretty sure they would be more than happy to toss you a few hooks as well.
Then it's up to you. You can use that new information to worm your way into that "important" person's core group (make him prove to you that -He- is worth -your- time now) or sell off the information to his enemies. The sky is limitless. But ultimately that character who was acting like you weren't worth the mud on his boots? He bit himself in the butt by not giving you the time of day.
The DMs can definitely see which characters are being elitest. But if no better option of players are coming up to drive along the plot, it's better to give the information to someone who will do something with it than someone who complains oocly about "elitism." Be that other option for them and show you're including people and they'll be more than happy to toss you a few hooks and see what you can do with them.
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@Bolthor:
… I'm slammed between important meetings with PCs or NPCs ... but I certainly don't have time to stop and talk to every random person that wants to talk to me for an hour
I've been there and I bugged out. I didn't enjoy logging on and working through a queue of folks wanting to move plots along.
I want to be in plots and things, but being connected to three, four or even five plots at the same time just drove me mad.
I enjoy the times I've spent RP'ing over a bottle of ale about history and stuff. I've enjoyed more, the history that came out in the lulls between battle; much shorter and much more focussed. Both are good.
What I didn't enjoy was keeping up with the plot pushers. I can't do it, I don't have that kind of time. They do give the server a feeling of movement, but I don't see them as elitist. I have a group that I spend more time with, and other players who I spend less time with. I also enjoy picking up new players and including them in something. Having a core of folks in a party that you know and trust and have fun with many times is great. Including others and drawing them in is also good, and once in a while you come across a gem of a new player and you think… I really enjoyed than and want more from them.
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I'm on character number 6-7.
When I started. I was a halfling rogue. I tried stealing a few things adn got caught. Ran from the PC and NPC gaurds chasing me, through three of four sectors of the city. Was arrested and killed(on accident)(magic missle not being subduel). I got pissed off started yelling. Then have all the Pc's help me out OOC a bit but calmed down my halfling IC-ly too. The the halfling….danu...I think, show me around telling me about how to be a good halfling, and helped me become a good player/character.
Now I find myself doing the same things. Helping out where i can, IC and OOC.
IMHO RP is only as good as you think it is. I find almost all characters I find are crappy RP's. But then slowly learn about the character and see that is wasn't crappy RP but lack of knowlage of who the character was.
The loud mouth talker, come to find out was a bard being working on his next play.
The quiet man off in the distant was an assasin plotting his next target.
So, I don't feel that the sever has lost nor has it gained anything.
I think its more "I been here forever, and my old forends stopped playing" "So now I feel no one is living up to the standards I have due to the way I played with these people."
I'm not the best RP-er by any means. I try to have a character that people will IC-ly Like or hate. Thus in turn makes friends and enemies through adventure and intrigue.
Then the running about, leveling. Levels don't matter in CoA, and yet they mean so much. People want their character to be wherer they feel they shoudl be, and as it stands on CoA, lvl5 is a good point to have a good character, having freinds and plots going or near finishing. Continuing on wards looking for the next thing to bring folks to hate you or like you.
I was throw three hooks. None led to any answers. This is on three different characters. no matter what I thought up I got no responces PC, NPC, or DM.
In all honesty, people not in fractions of some kind(my opinion), get ignored. If isn't not a plot on going then you kinda S.O.L. Zombie rot being my example. Asking all over for an answer, and only to end in the same dead end place. This happened before I got into a fraction, then in the fgraction, it wasn't the main point so it was ignored. None would even follow up with me on it. So the tale died with me being to only affected person to date, minus all the commers affacted, and nothing stated ever since, no scare of a plague or a mad priest or mage.
So the sever in my opinion is still very player based, full of interesting characters and things, but you need a fraction to mean anything. Plots are grand and fun, but only a few share this experience. A wide spread plot involving all players, in or out of fractions. The way I see things going is PW story, not CoA action/story lite. Its a group based server, where all players must eventually sign up to some club, or guild. No lone heroes.
Hrmmm, am i off point? shrugs stopping here.
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I got bored with tea-parties, lying in the sun and watching the clouds go by, building birdhouses for homeless kobold children, sitting around discussing your favorite type of cake, etc stuff that went on for a while on the server
Yes, I got bored with those too. The way I see it, I can do all those IRL (okay, aside from the homeless kobold children), so then.. why waste gaming time doing it?! We've only so few gaming hours everyday!
I just want to offer the perspective from a different type of player group than that of the Original Poster. What I look for in NWN is -unique experiences-; stuff that I can't experience IRL. Like plotting to take over and control the forests, killing terrible monsters etc.. Basically.. A&I.
From my perspective, I honestly don't see how CoA SIMS can be more fun compared to A&I plotting and scheming.
I also don't think A&I means less Character Depth, the focus has just changed. A character with a deep personality will have his actions affected by that personality, and since plots are affected by actions.. Character depth matters.
For me, character depth refers to - how does She think on diff occasions? how does He react in diff scenarios? does she have any not-so-pleasing quirks? Not so much hobbies, favourite foods, favourite sports, favourite books etc.. But that's just me and my opinion.
Lastly, 2 big thumbs up for the way the server is heading now!! A&I rawks!! -ALOT- of other servers on NWN are going down the SIMs Path, I dont really understand why people would want to log in for 2 hours to only sit and talk like it's some IRC Chatroom or Virtual Life. This is the -ONLY- server I've come across that has this upbeat momentum atmosphere. The pace is set and the mood is on to just get things moving.
I like to move it, move it!
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What I didn't enjoy was keeping up with the plot pushers. I can't do it, I don't have that kind of time. They do give the server a feeling of movement, but I don't see them as elitist.
Pretty much how I feel about it, too.
Apart from that, I think it's important for the server to be open to different play-styles and levels of commitment. In an ideal world/server, it would still be possible to have a lot of fun even if you know you won't be able to commit to any short-term (e.g., <3 months) plots.
I also think I do see and agree with Moloch's point about new characters injecting freshness. But I think one additionally needs to consider the other side of the coin: An impression that can arise that every time you log on, a large majority of the characters your character interacted with the last time have already moved on. Playing a character for only a handful of evenings before both plots and PCs have passed by can be a rather "de-motivating" experience.
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Oh hey, what's this here.
For those few oblivious to my incessant bitching about how everything used to be better, similar to an old person waving a shotgun at kids on his lawn, this is something I've been stating on an hourly basis for the last few months.
That said, I find it's easier to just go with the flow. There are a bunch of people who like to portray characters with deep backgrounds, thought-out idiosyncrasies, colourful outlooks and original mindsets. They're actually waiting for me to get back to questing with them right now.
Anyways, the majority of RP is done either in factions or quests. It's easier to just accept it, I find.
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I also think I do see and agree with Moloch's point about new characters injecting freshness. But I think one additionally needs to consider the other side of the coin: An impression that can arise that every time you log on, a large majority of the characters your character interacted with the last time have already moved on. Playing a character for only a handful of evenings before both plots and PCs have passed by can be a rather "de-motivating" experience.
Keep in mind, you entirely misunderstood my point.
I said characters between six months and one year old are beginning to be stale.
In an ideal world, a character would last at least a month though. It typically takes that long just to start making IC friends and relationships.
Not that I think anyone should be forced to keep a character that long if they're not having fun, just like I won't want to force someone to retire a character they're still having fun with.
But one way to look at it, old characters become unbelievable because after a year, you've usually been part of a major plot resolution-slain a dragon, defeated an army, banished the demon lord (whatever our big plot was in the last six to twelve months) and when you hang around to kill goblins for another couple months while you wander the wilderness–things have got to be a bit unexciting. There's a reason Frodo and Bilbo left Middle Earth after all.
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Keep in mind, you entirely misunderstood my point.
I said characters between six months and one year old are beginning to be stale.
Yes, I did understand that.
But one way to look at it, old characters become unbelievable because after a year, you've usually been part of a major plot resolution-slain a dragon, defeated an army, banished the demon lord (whatever our big plot was in the last six to twelve months) and when you hang around to kill goblins for another couple months while you wander the wilderness–things have got to be a bit unexciting.
And that as well.
However, I wanted to make a rather different point myself. That is, there are vast differences in how much a character is actually played within a month. Some people play several times a week. Others just (find the time to) play once or twice a month.
Perhaps this latter case is the exception (I do not know) - but that is the case I was thinking of. I.e., The 6 months to a year may be a lot, and they may mean participation in a major plot. And yes, it may seem rather odd to see such characters slay dragon after dragon, and solve one huge plot after another without end.
But in those cases where one plays e.g., once a month, the other side of the coin applies. Meaning that the only characters that could be of any lasting interest to interact with in terms of relationships are those that have a significantly longer life-span.
That is, what is old and stale for someone who plays or DMs frequently may be very different for someone who plays much more rarely.
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A fine point there.
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I kinda find myself agreeing with Ord here, the main reason I like RPing online is for character development and such like. Plot is just something that works to that end. But that's my taste, and that does not make me right. :)
What I will say is this… nowadays I spend a lot of time playing on a server called Arelith. (I am intending to RP on Arabel more soon though, now I've got more time) WHich I have a lot of fun on and is far more... immersion orientated and less plot orientated. Is this better? Worse? I don't know. Not going to comment. I enjoy it a lot though.
Anyway I've been RPing with this player who, to be frank, is pretty bloody stunning in his RP. I mentioned Arabel to him, and he gave it ago.
His opinion was that he really found it very cold. He said he tried interacting with people, sent up a few interesting emots, tried a few conversations, but didn't get anywhere. Mostly everyone just ignored him, save for one player whom I won't mention so as not to single people out (even for good things). But on the whole he was not impressed by the RP merely because no one really took any interest in him or his character, or gave him much help at all. So, understandably, he didn't stay.
This is someone I consder a pretty darn good RPer, and if we lost him, who else have we lost? Because Arabel can be a bit eleetist(1) and because we are a little cliqueish,(2) And because we don't get drawn into random, interesting, characterisation RP as much as we used to.
Just something to consider.
(1) Not an entirely bad thing, it means we have high standards. This is good. But it can put people off.
(2) Something I am a little guilty of myself if I am honest. I'll put my hands up and admit to that.