Still floundering. [Try to avoid the runaround please]
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Heya,
Just posting this topic again because I never really did get a solid answer that might help rebuilding motivation for a game/server/character/etc I can't seem to enjoy any longer.
What do /you/ do to rebuild your motivation, or do you? I've been considering just scrapping Lisa because for the life of me I can't seem to get anywhere. On the one hand, I enjoy RPing her but by her very nature she's supposed to have goals that are fairly close to unobtainable or supposed to ICdly give a damn about politics and such but nothing (currently) seems to be coming of it which destroys any semblance of motivation/fun factor.
I'm not asking for DM attention, I'm not asking to open up a can of worms like the last thread (which for good or ill, did bring out some issues on /both/ sides of the Client that really should be addressed and spoken of openly if we could do so. . .but please not here >.>) but I'm really kind of torn on things and while I dislike speaking like this, I often feel as though I'm kind of between a rock and a hard place.
On the one hand, her goals are lofty, perhaps sadistically so. It's in my nature to want something that may be a little out there because it seems everything else has already been done, and done to death. However, I really can't figure out how to pursue them IG without basically spinning a dial and saying 'let's go this way!' which makes zero sense. (I guess I need to re-organize myself? I don't really know) I don't enjoy 'reagent hunts' and politics in a /game/ has left a really bad taste in my mouth because it's like pulling fucking teeth to get something done only to have it mean absolutely nothing when the fickle winds of 'plot' blow some other direction and everyone goes that way or they sit idle expecting others do the grunt work themselves only to step in when its done and claim the 'glory'. Which might well be IC, I don't know, I don't care. But it's just one of the little things that tugs at the 'screw this' chain.
These are some of the major issues that /I/ have which have kind of sapped all my 'give a damn' repeatedly and now I'm in a position where I think it'd be better for my sanity to just scrap the server and go do something else that doesn't aggravate the hell out of me. I'm not the only one who shares such thoughts but I speak only for myself.
I hope this doesn't sound whinny but it's a problem that I don't think has an external solution so I'm asking those who've already /been/ there how you got around it and what I can do about it as well.
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I'm going to monitor this thread fairly closely. If it goes off track, I'll delete or lock. But this topic, and Katherine, needs to be addressed as helpfully as you can.
We all get fed up from time to time and loose focus. Ideas please. Helpful ones!
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I'd go into IRC and talk with the DM's on your goals and see if they can give you advice onto breaking them down into managble chunks.
That and i sometimes find it helps to just bring on an alt for a few hours and do some scripted questing to unwind.
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Reconsider your characters purposes ICly and OOCly. If you are bored given the politics, fuck it. Instead of conquering with words, conquer with actions. Go adventure and have fun. There is always a different way to achieve things other than the one path you're trying. (However we are most of the times too stubborn to take a look from a different perspective)
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Try retiring the character, if the previous doesn't work, and start another. This happened to most of my characters, once I had no motivation to play them, I started a new concept/idea and some worked others didn't.
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If retiring and creating several characters doens't work, retire from the server. For how long? Dunno, depends on you. I started playing somewhere else, a Harry Potter server, for a month or so, then returned here after I got tired and began to miss the gaming style that Arabel has. I must confess, during all my lifetime in NWN I never seen a server as good as ours, you will soon realise that when you stop playing here for a time.
Those are my advices as player, of things that happened to me as well.
Cheers.
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Firstly, a week off is always good.
Secondly, i re evaluate one goal, and try to break it down into small steps. Then i break it down further. Then i talk to a dm about the plan and ask for feedback. Then i take that on board and try to do the smallest easiest part.
To do that i send dm channel messages when i'm about to try something, after having told the dm team the plan via forum.
I also had pretty much impossible goals for an old character called novo.
Creating your own pocket plane, or gaining property within another plane is a big goal.
I found i wasnt getting where i wanted to, and found a faction, dm supported, that could loosely fit my character into it. I worked to get full membership in the faction, which was fun itself. You may find that at this point a whole bunch of other things have turned up that your now interested in. Gain some favour with the faction, so the npcs are more likely to give you help when you run into an innevitable brick wall. Find some like minded allies and ask them to help you, or give advice in character. Run some kind of public relations type event. I chose treasure hunts which were awesome fun while hard to organise. Use your new found fame to your advantage and re try one of your personal goals, if you still dont get there, perhaps ask your friendly npcs for a hint. If you try again and still hit a wall, try something big and risky. While these things tend to backfire, they generally open up something else thats fun as hell. If your still bored at this point, think of a new concept, and discuss it with players and dms, then make a new character.
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My tip.
Don't allow IC to spoil your fun. I've watched some players do the IC stuff to the n'th degree, and sometimes that's awesome, but mostly, I see them getting depressed when it all is just too much. I, personally, don't see the point of total immersion in a game when that total immersion spoils your fun. Whilst it's fun, all power to you. When it ceases to be fun, something needs to change. I have, on occasion, jacked in some plots that were very important to my character because they were just no longer entertaining. I then restarted with some fresh plots/goals and wayhay!! a new lease of life for a loved character. You can only go so far with this, but if something is just not fun, don't do it.
Running an alt for a little while just to quest and run around and have plot-free fun has helped me time and again, but isn't a solution for everyone.
Retiring said character is again, an option. It's one that I don't like, personally. I prefer to retire a character on a High note rather than a Low note. When I've retired on a Low note, I've always regretted it. Putting the character on the shelf for a week or two has worked for me, time and again.
My three suggestions that I have found work.
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Scrap boring goals and create new, fresh goals.
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Run an alt, or take a week long break.
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Join a DM faction and do some of their goals for a bit.
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Find yourself an enemy. Nurture the conflict spectacularly. Go out in a blast.
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Maybe spending some time helping others pursue their goals before returning to your goals would be helpful.
More than likely, you won't get big rewards like uber loot or favors from important NPCs by helping others pursue their goals, but you may come up with some new approaches and perspectives toward your goals during the process.
Also, you will get to help a fellow player tell his or her story, which is way more awesome than loot and favors.
Who knows? The player may even be grateful and considerate enough to then play a supporting role in the pursuit of your goals. After all, everyone can't be the star of the show all of the time, and good players should know not only how to make themselves shine but how to make others shine as well.
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@Eddie:
Maybe spending some time helping others pursue their goals before returning to your goals would be helpful.
This, I like, and wholeheartedly support. A break, doing this, would give you a break and enhance the server.
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I can't tell you what will work for you, but I can say what did work for me, hopefully it will help. I had a character with big goals, and hundreds of small plots going on. And no shortage of power to make these plots happen, I don't exactly know what went wrong but I lost interest in playing arabel altogether.
It wasn't a lack of interest in the character it was a lack of interest in the game itself, I suppose it was due to the feeling that despite having all the tools necessary I still couldn't get something done, and everything looked like more of the same.Now I slowly stopped playing more and more, playing an alternative game I deemed a lot more fun, until I was just about to quit CoA altogether. Personal circumstances had me travel around for a few months however, unable to play anything, though I certainly had the free time I no longer had the ability, and that gives you a lot of time to think.
This is where I realized it wasn't the game that was going on a decline it was me, looking back at that situation… I now realize there was a milion and one things I could have done, and a lot of them would have been entirely original, awesome and full of intrigue but my mind was made up and locked in place.
I still ended up making a new character though, with goals I hope are more ambitious interesting and I really hope harder to achieve. Because its not the goal that's fun its all the twists and turns you never expected you had in you, that are necessary to get even just a little closer to them that makes the entire experience worth it.
It might not help you but my advice is this. Take two steps back and wonder about yourself, not your character, not the game, but yourself...
Sometimes we're making things boring on purpose because we're looking for an excuse not to be happy. Sometimes we're just to stubborn to try something new because our goal isn't to see this plot through, its to see this plot through using the tools you originally thought you could accomplish this plot with.
But sometimes you might just figure something out about yourself you didn't know yourself, and it'll explain quite a bit, I doubt everyone has personal issues as an excuse for the game not being fun but still.In short and sweet, take a step back and try to get a new perspective.
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Go out in a blast.
This i can only speak from my own experiences but alot of times i have felt like you do and either retired the character and regretted it or gone out swinging there is no shame in an end that fits the character.
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I don't know if this will help or not. But I too loose focus and enjoyment here and there. I am taking a week off of playing the game instead I will just send my character off on a pilgrimage.
This way I can relax from all the running around IG and get to a list of things.
1. Do more research about what the Character believes in. I recently found a site that listed all the temples within Faerun. So looking into this I got a bit more modivated.
2. Sit back and think about what your character really wants. It is far too easy for myself to get distracted and off track.
3. Just avoid the DMs as much as possible for awhile. (Sorry DMs) I have been running from one DM event to another, struggling to stay alive from godly monsters and such they throw. Seeing party wipes one after another gets me wondering quieting the server as well.
4. Make new goals, help friends with theirs. Rose is in 8 different ones, finally finished 2 so down to 6. Never a wonder what to do moment.
5. If all else fails retire the character for awhile, make a new one, play with it a few. somtimes I find new goals for my main wile doing odd and ends with another.
Cheers
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From my own personal experience, I would highly advise taking a break for awhile. Whether it be a break from the character itself, or a break from the game, I wish beyond all things of my "past CoA" mistakes that I would have "rested" a character I at one point greatly enjoyed than kill it off.
I have had a character in just about every faction of the server at one point or another, from V2 all the way until now, and I definitely had times where I was sick of a character and took them out in a blaze of glory. It was fun at the time, and roleplaying the ultimate end of a character can be great if the cards are right.. but when a month or two rolls by and that feeling hits your gut "Aw crap, I really wanna log in and play that character!" and you don't because you gave it a great end and it would cheapen everything you worked for previously.
There are lots of things you can do to give yourself time to recharge.
Find an alternate character that's really a lot different from the current. I tend to make a new character and got involved in a PC faction I have no idea about and just roll with it. I also find it helps if I distance myself from PC's I run around with on one character. A break from all your character's IG friends (or enemies) can also be really refreshing.Play a game that isn't NWN for a few weeks so you can "miss" certain things, even the same ol' default music or graphics.
Those are just a few ideas and things I do to "respark" interest in a PC I'm bored of but not willing to let go. As they say, "distance makes the heart grown fonder." Or some crap. 8)
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First off. My experience says, that extremes on CoA, while wonderful at sparking conflict, get very old, very fast. I had forgotten it, yet my current character made it VERY clear to me. Playing extremes on CoA, much like a paladin is, is insanely difficult, because you alienate so many potential players.
A paladin, or paladin'ish character, must abide to a very strict code, which LIMIT your character insanely. Opposing evil all around, is hard, and its only become harder. Meaning a concept like yours, can become very tricky, because not only does your alignment, and your code limit your oppertunities, and "play mates".
Perhaps, if Lisa is too difficult to play because of this, a less extreme concept might be an option. Secondly, when you put up INSANELY high goals, you burn out fast when you do not see immediate success. You feel like you are shooting a sling at a dragon.
My family has a saying, which go towards the same advice which Abbot gave me the other day.
"Big Goals is similar to eating an elephant. How do you eat one? One tiny piece at a time."
In other words, start small. Set a goal, say "Eradicate goblins in the Kings Forest." Figure out a few sub goals along the way, and go for them. You will soon see success, and you will feel you accomplished something. Then you start with another thing, start small, work towards it. Eventually, you look back, and see how much you have accomplished.
Losing isnt fun. Success, even on a small scale is however.
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@Zargen:
3. Just avoid the DMs as much as possible for awhile. (Sorry DMs) I have been running from one DM event to another, struggling to stay alive from godly monsters and such they throw. Seeing party wipes one after another gets me wondering quieting the server as well.
Thats a weird advice
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The best advice I can give is to try to do some OOC organizing, because it's impossible to do IG. What do I mean? Well here's my explanation.
To accomplish or at least go after goals, especially big dramatic ones, you require other PCs to be helping you. It doesn't matter if they care about the goal or not, but it has to be inclusive to others somehow. If you simply cannot find people IG that are interested in what you're trying to do, look around IRC or the forums. Post a summary of what you're trying to do, get people interested OOCly, and maybe someone without a PC will make one to get involved or whatnot.
Since all lofty goals require a DM, you need to petition DMs for interest. You know how you write applications? Write a summary of your plot, what you hope to do and what you hope to accomplish (possibly including the steps you plan to take), and send it to a DM. I suppose the most direct way to do it would be to ask a DM if they'll either run things or just possess NPCs for you to try working toward this.
The less personal your goals are, the easier they are for you to accomplish. Personal goals come well after your PC is established, once you have a network of friends who will help you just because you're you. And those personal goals should probably retire you. At least in my opinion.
Get into #coacharacters and tell us what your lofty goals are that you can't figure out how to pursue, we can probably come up with something. For this thread though, my best advice is that you don't necessarily have to go out hunting for the next clue to your plot. Sometimes you have to take a subquest on. Look at existing DM plots and plot hooks. That dragon the noble wants killed, the goblin hordes closing the roads, finding the lost relic of the temple, so on so forth–pursuing THESE plots as goals, and then upon success, accepting plot hooks for your own goals is the key to success on CoA.
For a more clear explanation:
You want to return raise undead Gondegal to be King, clueless start.
You find the artifact for the evil temple, they tell you how you can raise Gondegal as a reward.
You wipe out the goblin horde and recover the lost magic artifact of sweetness. That artifact you trade for information on where to find Gondegal supporters and those that funded his war.
You slay the dragon for the noble. Instead of taking his gold and loot, you want him to pledge support to Gondegal if he returns, financially and in soldiers.So, now you know how to raise Gondegal, and you talk to that DM about setting up play times for going after the next step to raising him, as well as going after all of his political supporters, heck you even secured a powerful ally when you're ready to make your move.
Go after DM plots, they're the easiest path toward completing your own goals.
Admittedly, I will say I'm not quite floundering, but I'm a bit at a loss of what to do currently with my PC. I'm having trouble finding other PCs that are willing to do anything risky on Team Good. I have no problem with characters that are calm and calculated, but my style is more like a sledgehammer than a rapier.
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Thanks for all your timely, well thought out and interesting ideas. I'll be thinking on them for a bit but I hope other people get something useful out of this too as there's a lot of good stuff here.
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make a feral hin and join the pack
its always fun to not overthink and just do things not thinking about repercussions
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While I don't have the Arabel experience to give good advice, what I've found on other servers is then once a character doesn't really have plots or anything that gets me excited about playing…I start considering whether or not it is time to build a new character.
Concepting (the art of creating awesome and fun characters) is honestly one of the most fun parts of online NWN in general. Spend a good hour concepting and if you really don't come up with a character that excites you, then look at all the awesome ways people here mentioned for keeping interest in your current char.
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I have had this problem before, but believe me, it might be a big mistake to continue playing a character when you're bored with it, because if you die on a quest you might end up whitelighting because you felt bored but then come to regret it later. That happened with my character Vitarian Leah, and I've always regretted WL that character. Now I wish I had tried more methods of regaining my interest in him. All I can say is you should try out some different things, whether its taking a break, trying an alt, whatever. Just don't make any hasty decisions when it comes to ending your character.