I stopped playing here because I found the server boring.
There was nothing to do you couldn't solo around as the spawns kept being made harder and the server more dangerous, the last straw was when you nerfed the XP. Making the only way to advance your character through scripted quests this was the single biggest mistake ever.
The DM's attempt to force players to only advance through direct DM intervention or by grinding out scripted quests with decreased rewards.

I just can't imagine what was discussed when this idea was being put into motion, who in there right mind thinks punishing players for wanting to do different things than "quests" is a good idea, and who thinks lets make the server harder and lets make it so the players get less for there efforts.

Who votes yes to this terrible idea?
Who thinks this will make players want to play here?

The people that killed the server.

fin

:slightly_smiling_face:

I enjoyed that little rant but if those issues I mentioned have been changed so the server is more open,welcoming and above all FUN then I would be happy to give it another go.

Peace out.

Arelith is running an EE mod and will be completely transitioning to it.

The Dev's there were in on the beta testing and one of them has written some of the coding for the enhanced edition.
This is that devs response to some statements being made but i thought the bolded part would be of interest to coders here considering converting CoA to the new format.

Re: Enchanced Edition - Discussion
Postby Liareth » 25 Nov 2017 17:30

I've been in direct contact with the owner of Ravenloft since long before the announcement and he's just as excited about the project as I am. In fact, Ravenloft runs the new (1.69) NWNX which I coded, and has done for over a year, including the same performance optimizations that Arelith enjoys. This means that the transition will be easier for them than most.

I just read the thread on the Amia forums, and yes, there are a few people upset that Arelith got a 'head start', but it isn't nearly as extreme as you've painted it here. And really, Arelith didn't get much of a head start at all.

There are two development efforts required to port over a module: 1) update NWNX, and 2) change your hosting configuration. There are no code or asset changes needed to run a module on 1.74 compared to 1.69 if you don't use NWNX. It's fully backwards compatible.

Arelith, as with every other server out there, is bottle necked by 1), and I'm unable to release the NWNX update that I have ready and waiting until certain aspects of it are vetted by BD leadership - this extends to Arelith. This is why the Arelith test server is crippled by a lack of database connectivity at the moment.

In fact, I'd say Amia has a better chance than Arelith of getting a working module up and running ASAP, because it's certain that they rely less heavily on NWNX than Arelith does.
Liareth
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Hope this helps abit.
peace out.

Never heard of sinfar Chips but wasn't this about raising numbers or is it about saying no no everything is fine when clearly it isn't.

You can bet most of the old players don't even know CoA is still around,I thought it had folded when the forums vanished and the autolauncher stopped working. was about a month before i was told it was still open and made any effort to find it.
My suggestion was focused on this fact of letting others know it's still here
and a way to keep them.

Because 3 players is a terrible peek time number.

Spiffy
Scripted quests make it easier to control character level progression
Just typed this bit as i couldn't find how to "quote" on these new forums.

Doesn't mean it is a good idea just means you did it.

Raising player numbers means getting people that don't play here wanting to.

The servers with the most players still use the default tile sets so you can assume from this that graphics are not what brings in players.
One of the most popular servers had last month 1020 players and 217 new players so you really should take that into consideration when thinking what will attract players because it isn't haks and tile sets.

These servers have role playing and immersion into a setting.
CoA has changed it's setting so much sometimes at seemingly random it no longer has a "feel" to get immersed in.
V3 despite it's faults had the feel of a city with a LG population with law and order.
V4 gave the feel of a tainted city with corruption bubbling under the surface.
V5 doesn't have one things changed so quickly or start then stop that it just has no sense of what the place is like.

So for V6 you need to think up what you want the setting to feel like for the players and stick to it,
Don't add plots to alter the setting keep the setting if you want it to change for V7 then have a long running under current type plot that you can hook things into to guide it's flow.
This will create an narrative that players can get there teeth into and create characters around,this in turn may generate less flash in the pan concepts allowing players to become more invested in the characters and in turn the server.

Players dislike losing and hate being told they have to play a certain way. Make the server more player friendly remove the systems that have restricted players and then tell them.
Send out a group email to all members saying what new stuff you have coming and how the negatives have been removed.
Forum PM everyone even if they haven't played for 7 years you never know they could well be playing somewhere else and pop in to have a glace at the forums.
Email everyone with the new forum address and server address as you can no longer google the forums.

Or don't it is after all your sand box to build or demolish as you choose but if you want more to play with you then you need to change attitudes from negative to positive and empower your players.

fin.

Stop adding systems to negatively impact players.
IE.
The DM team increased the magic level then dropped the magic level,they made monsters stronger to compensate for the increased magic then didn't lower them afterward it was lowered.
Then the XP was removed from anything but scripted quests.
Base classes have been altered to increase power,base classes have been lowered in power,base classes have had apps demanded of them or face deletion.
Base classes have had there core power limited by armor types regardless of feats.
The whole app system!

Is it really surprising alot have gone to play elsewhere.

So to raise numbers you need word of mouth on other servers players talking to old players and new about the cool things you can do here.
I used to chat to others on Arelith about CoA and how good it was i know quite a few came to play here for awhile as a result.

Unfortunately as you have forced all advancement via scripted quests or DM attention,there isn't much cool stuff to do as the server is all stick and no carrot.

Peace out.

It's written in the first post in this thread.

Lots of good suggestions in this but the topic has now just become dozens of posts with this player or that agreeing with each other so should probably lock it now.

Suppose i'll post here.

Happy birthday mate sent you an email anyhow but this thread looked abit empty :)

So to get players to come back and play here where there is low player numbers harsh scripts and monsters scaled to a magic levels that no longer exists?
The only suggestion i can think of is a complete overhaul of the spawns table and loot matrix and allowing players to progress there characters with XP and loot outside of script quests.

But this is unlikely to attract players back but it could help to retain them them somewhat if you could get them to give CoA another chance.

Oh i know about the lull it happens every year i asked because i had been told from another player that they spent 3 hours online in the euro timezone and saw maybe five players log on then straight back off because there was only them online.
A lull happens around this time each year it generally halves the player numbers for several weeks and alot of players scream doom and gloom.
This year im being told it's dropping to 0-2 off peek and 1-4 at peek times for the euro time zones so at peek times pre lull the server had around 8-10 players that play on a regular basis in euro times zones?

Im not currently playing here because I have not liked some of the changes that have been made but thats me and im happy where i am playing.
I do check the forums and try to see how the server is going and as far as ive read the player numbers are dropping and im wondering if this is in fact true?
Or does it just seem this way in certain timezones?