Given the overbearing workload as-is, I'm more in favor of option 1 rather than 2, especially if the caravan drops you off somewhere in Griffon Hill (makes sense as there's a small outpost there anyway).

I think reusing existing assets in a way that makes sense is always a plus.

@Lord_Acererak I like quest chains a lot. Be it in the form of multiple linked quests or a single super long quest with multiple stopping points.

On an unrelated note, with the addition of +1 AC to Mithril (and you might as well add it to Adamantine as well, to be honest), there should probably be something equivalent to this for leathers. Maybe Malar Panther leather?

Since there's been talk of designing new quest loot, thought I'd bring this up here:

I think craftable gear (especially armor) could use a slight bump in power level. In lieu of this, I'm also of the opinion that 7 - 10 quests should be quite a bit harder than they are now, so that the quest loot you find in them can be on par with better craftable gear (anything under mithril, for instance).

Likewise, 6 - 9 quests should drop gear that's roughly on par with non-top tier craftable gear. 4 - 6 quests should really focus more on useful consumables.

+1, as mentioned before a lot of this is just common sentiments held by a lot of active and no longer active players. At this point, I think the content drought is the biggest thing, especially quests. Updating the crafting system can probably sit on the backburner until this is dealt with because the crafting system as-is works perfectly fine, even if some of the items are somewhat lackluster.

@Echo Yes, that's the point. The signs are already the only real indication of distance anyway since two transitions are nowhere near 30 actual miles even in NWN. Therefore, it's okay if areas are a little smaller for the sake of reducing sprawl. True to scale realism will never be achievable without it being an utter pain in the ass (or adding mounts, which is... fraught with peril and I do not recommend this in the slightest).

@Zool Storm. Horns. Ascent. Stonecliffs is the Eveningstar area I would personally shrink a bit. Two transitions isn't a big deal, really, it's just the size of each.

@Echo Through a sign that states "Eveningstar, West - 30 miles" along the road. Perhaps another sign in one of the transitory areas that states "Eveningstar, West - 15 miles."

Realism is already not a thing given 30 miles is only two transitions anyway, there's no harm compressng things a bit further.

@Zool Love it, that's great. Didn't even need to be this detailed tbh b/c that'd be a PITA to update more frequently. I suppose if anything gets added there a simple "+1" reply would be enough.

Certainly possible, but the 0/55 can't really be explained away. We have enough of a community built over the years that numbers should be much, much higher, and asking why those people aren't logging in is a valid question. Some we've lost to time, simply a matter of people getting older and having other priorities, but there are a fair few who just aren't logging in or left for greener pastures.

I'm just going to leave this here:

The current server design is not working. This is not up for debate. If it were the case that low player numbers are simply due to NWN being a 20 year old game server populations should be low across the board and yet they are clearly not.

If you want the server to succeed, you need to start providing updates on a more frequent basis so when I do try to reach out to people and say "hey, this is what's changing," I can say more specific things other than "Zool's back."

It would also be useful if the Admin Team was more transparent about why they're insisting on doubling down on design choices that are clearly unpopular. Time and time again the same suggestions are made and yet nothing really changes. The current iteration of CoA has great factions, interesting plots, and motivated Storytellers but they're hamstrung by poor game design.

Give me a reason to believe that Suggestions posts regarding the server's so-called "vision" aren't just ignored and pushed aside because of a stubborn refusal to acknowledge that unpopular ideas are, in fact, unpopular.