Adding Immersion
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Another thread made me realize that I had a specific wish list of things I'd like to see in CoA. Things that are doable by players (not game mechanics), which I think would add immersion to the game world. I know not all ideas conceived are necessarily popular, but it'd be great to compile a list of things players are looking for (from one another) that they think will help them enjoy CoA more. Therefore, my first "want…"
PC factions based around places. This has been on my wish list forever. Factions should certainly have goals, or why even exist, but I've never understood why people aren't creating more PC factions who call some place "home." For instance, there was a brief stint where there were "Immersea Pirates," but it died just as rapidly. Why don't we have more home grown hero factions. People that grew up in an area currently represented in the module, decided to become adventurers, and form groups dedicated to bettering (or, debilitating, depending on the circumstances) their homes. If we had PCs connected integrally to setting communities, I'd find interactions much richer.
Have at it.
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I'd like to see more PC factions/groups based out of other places than the slums/sewers and the ruined glade. Not to bash any evil/druid group there have been so far, but it seems these are the only places all druids and evil crowds wish to flock around.
As to the Immersea thing, it died because almost all players (including Olouth who was in charge) had to take a break due to OOC reasons.
What would be interesting in my opinion is people finding new places to work out from. Be it gentlemen thieves in the Pride, druids deciding to sanctify a new glade in the kings forest, a mercenary band putting up camp in the Starwater gorge or whatever. Make something new! Sure, it'll take some time and work to get much out of it, but all the more rewarding if you succed! It also brings new things into the module and some variety.
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This would be nice with a server of 200 players. But since there are usually between 20 and 40 players on at a given time, the number of "groups" that can exist is very limited, unless we all play solo
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well the Knights of Aegis want to call the ruins home…but I think it's doable... I mean ravenloft server still has a very sizeable player base..and Arabe lhas a good playerbase aswell. Also I think it's a great idea!
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PC factions based around places. This has been on my wish list forever. Factions should certainly have goals, or why even exist, but I've never understood why people aren't creating more PC factions who call some place "home."
I'm pretty sure the various elven PC factions have all been this type.
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@Foba:
This would be nice with a server of 200 players. But since there are usually between 20 and 40 players on at a given time, the number of "groups" that can exist is very limited, unless we all play solo
Definitely a valid argument. I've seen it made before, and have no real good rebuttal. In fact, truth be told, I often bemoan the fact that I have few people to "adventure" or scheme with, no matter what faction I'm in (good, evil, DM, PC). So, yeah, perhaps my original notion is simply undoable.
Now that that's out of the way, I still would like to hear what other players would like (from fellow players) to see to add to the immersion on the server, even if their ideas are also unlikely.
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If only there was a place. . like a town or something. . which one could do whatever they wanted and change the fate of its people! If only such a place with such freedom to manipulate existed. But where? Where I say!
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I'd like to see more emphasis on characters pasts. Nothing is more interesting to me then going to rescue someone's sister. Or having the parents come to visit to say the farm was burned down. Or that long time rival that you thought was dead, turns out to be not so dead and wants vengance.
Granted, there are just too many characters and too few DMs to make this happen.
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@The:
If only there was a place. . like a town or something. . which one could do whatever they wanted and change the fate of its people! If only such a place with such freedom to manipulate existed. But where? Where I say!
cough EAST WAY!
Myself, I just wish people would not use modern terminology–like "doctor", "s'up homeboy", "psychological evaluation", "surgery" and so on. Hate that.
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I'd like to see more PC factions/groups based out of other places than the slums/sewers and the ruined glade. Not to bash any evil/druid group there have been so far, but it seems these are the only places all druids and evil crowds wish to flock around.
Some of this is convenience/danger. Having a druid base in the King's Forest would be cool and all, but it'd be hard to do for low levels due to the types of spawns around. Ditto for places like Stormhorns, Deep Hullack, and so on.
So though your goal might be to sanctify a glade in the King's Forest, to avoid dying every respawn I'd see this as a goal to work towards IC, as in to establish a safe base of operations, spawnpoint, and ways in and out, rather than starting off with the King's Forest as a base.
Hullack fringes would work fine, though.
Then there's also the practicality of setting a spawn point far away from the city. OOCly I don't have time to make a 10 min walk every time I want to speak with someone.
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Interest in back stories is dandy. I've only had two characters that anyone showed much interest in hearing the back stories. Tarathustra, and Cora Stoutshield. My first character here, Danu, had a funny back story and no one ever heard it. I might not be great at putting those stories out there, but I always come up with one so that I have some sort of basis for the things my character does and the reactions that they have to others. With my new character Bannon I've been putting tidbits of backstory into his journal in the form of flashbacks. It's ooc knowlege, but it might make folks interested enough to ask or something. That's my thoughts anyways. Bannon is kind of a humble fellow that doesn't run around shouting his problems from the rooftops. The struggle with the back story thing is to be able to make it interesting enough that people actually want to hear it, and then you have to have someone that wants to rp on that lvl. Some folks just want to skip to the action. That's fine I suppose, and I can go there too.
As far as the number of folks we have playing now in contrast to years past - Yeah five years ago there were more players, and often there was 55/55 when I tried to log in. Time has weeded out the weak though and we have a base of top notch role players that I honestly can bairly keep up with as far as rp skill goes. Back then.. not so much. I'd rather play with the crowd we have now. Do I wish there was twice as many of you? Hell yeah! Are there going to be any time soon? Doubt it.
Now for my dreams for CoA… I'd like to see personal property for player factions become easier to come by. I always wanted to build a church to the halfling gods with Cora Stoutshield and I had absolutely no idea how to get it done. I made a few futile attempts to get something going but could never get anything solid to happen in that regard. Part of the problem was my inability to communicate my goals to the dms, not wanting to be a bother and all that. Part of the problem was to get any kind of momentum for a project like that going it seems like you have to play the game 24/7. I'm a working man with a family and I have limited time to play. When it starts feeling like a job I loose interest here quick. So I guess I'm trying to say that I wish pc goals were somehow easier to acheive for folks that can't play all the time.
I've sort of wandered all around my point here but it's late and I'm groggy as hell. I'm heading to bed. I hope I was able to relay my thoughts well enough.
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There is always a caveat when "building your own stuff up" in CoA it seems. Cassiel and that archmage down in Wyvernwater both seems to be/are dubious sorts of folk.
If only powerful and good people would give us a chance to build stuff, more people would come!
How about a PC starting a small village?
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Can and has happened. New Kilgrave ring a bell? Though, takes a huge amount of work to get it going and keep it on track.
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Define 'immersion' by your own gaming experience and start from there.
My games were ones that required dexterity. The ones that tended to lose my attention were ones that required problem-solving.
1. Consider using horror elements by any means necessary
2. Admit that the more action there is, the more sweaty hands there will be -
Kilgrave had a whole PC village. Obarstal had a pirate ship. The Iron Wings had a base in East Way. The list can go on, but these are just three that I'm aware of.
These things are done and the DMs are happy to do them. I guess they're not willing to put effort into a faction that has done little and hasn't got the player base to do awsome. If they did put this effort in, we'd have lots of little bases where noone spends time or uses, because the factions vanish or just plot along doing little because there are few active members of the faction. These little bases would use space that can be made available to the whole server rather than just a few.
This does give those people who cannot spend the level of effort required to establish a base of activities something of a problem. However, the server does offer these people a ready made solution. Write an App and join a DM faction. You get a base and support from the DMs for your plots, and what's more, the DM's don't mind if you're not as active as someone who logs on 24/7 as long as you do do something.
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Myself, I just wish people would not use modern terminology–like "doctor", "s'up homeboy", "psychological evaluation", "surgery" and so on. Hate that.
This bothers me ALOT. I try hard to keep my language less contemporary and more "fantasy-ish by using old English, or less modern words and verbage. I appreciate those players who use slang and accents, as it influences me. My language tends to change depending on who I am around and I have to watch that.
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Write an App and join a DM faction. You get a base and support from the DMs for your plots, and what's more, the DM's don't mind if you're not as active as someone who logs on 24/7 as long as you do do something.
Problem with this is you'll never see the light of day if say you and your faction DM has different playing times and you'll never even see each other or talk to each other outside the forums
The Beauty of PC factions most PCs are based around when the leader is online (or around)
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My sugestions go over both threads, really:
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All NPCs with descriptions and NPCs with more flavour (not just 'Commoner' but something a little different)
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Statues / plaques / headstones dotted about with details on things that have happened in the past of the server.
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Make the wilderness more interesting and not just huge expanses of land with spawns in. More caves to explore with real, interesting things in (ie the Vast Swamp - lots of cool lore there to be un-covered. More areas like that)
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More unique creatures with unique descriptions! A spawn of ''Hullack Tribe Goblins'' to me is more interesting than just ''Goblins''
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More changes due to Tymora dying, not just changing the signs on the temples and carrying on like nothing has happened. Preachers on the streets, temples ransacked etc. So much more could be made of the aftermath in my opinion given it’s the biggest event that’s ever happened in the history of CoA
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Less NPCs on the roads and on the streets to make criminal activities such as mugging possible, and able to move out of the Slums. Crime based in one area is pretty boring!
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Speaking of the slums the silly kobolds should go. That whole plot was silly in my opinion
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Faction NPCs should be used more. If you’re not in a faction you don’t really get to see them much. DMs should get them out and about more
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Write an App and join a DM faction. You get a base and support from the DMs for your plots, and what's more, the DM's don't mind if you're not as active as someone who logs on 24/7 as long as you do do something.
Problem with this is you'll never see the light of day if say you and your faction DM has different playing times and you'll never even see each other or talk to each other outside the forums
The Beauty of PC factions most PCs are based around when the leader is online (or around)
I think you miss my point.
If you want to build your own place and can gather enough people to pursue this with you in your own TZ, there is nothing stopping you as has been demonstrated time and again. You can always get DM support if you're doing awsome.
If, however, you are in a TZ where there is little player representation or you are not able to build a PC faction due to RL restrictions, you do have the option, what ever TZ you are in, to join a DM faction, get a base and status on the server. If you're in a challenging TZ, you're going to have problems, yes. But, my point was that you do have ways of getting a base if you have these RL issues.
I don't think anyone would deny that PC factions run well can be awsome and are easier to join that DM factions. I was offering a solution to those for whom the PC faction is not providing what they want!
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I generally stay up until 6 am to participate in things because of my ahitty timezone. That is commitment.