Sounds like a great way for an uber party to power through for massive XP to become more uber while everyone else dies.

Aelirenn Alenuath was a bright eyed, innocent, gently born elf who became a hard, bitter, tight-fisted, RH-hating elven faction leader. I rarely make apps because I expect them to be turned down. I may have miscounted, but I believe I have made 4 successful apps in 6 years, KotMS, Zhentarim, Red Hart (actually, EiG through squire, dosen't count), Titled Noble. Come to think of it, Sabbatine was a bright eyed farmgirl who wanted to be a simple soldier for the RH, but became a Squire, then Knight Errant instead.

I have never played a subrace, or had a PrC, or had anything "special" it is one of the things in CoA that seem to be "out of my league" yet again.

9pm, time for some RP and…er....crap.

So I guess I'll make a post.

Fun is entirely subjective I feel. I think it would be alright, fine and dandy if so much of CoA was not a competition nowadays. I had one whole faction destroyed in PvP. I did not know many of the players in my faction well. Many of them were new to CoA entirely. When they lost the PvP, I never saw many of the players log in again. Months later, when I had a chance to see the loot of the opposing side, I was flabbergasted. If I had 10 more PCs in my faction present at the PvP we would still never have had a chance.

3 months of RP dead in a single battle, against a foe we never had a chance against.

It makes for a great story I agree. But whether it was fun or not is subjective. Considering so many of them ragequit (I ragequit too 1 week later when I realized I didn't have a faction any more), I don't think they had fun.

If CoA was not a competition. If events didn't always set one side against another. If there was only one side to the story.

The advice given above would be solid.

It's a Catch-22. You'll get loot, rewards, attention, xp, factions, bases, good rp tokens and npc allies once you stop caring whether or not you get any of it. Just play a character that you don't take seriously. The character can take itself seriously, but once you care too much, it isn't going to be fun.

For illustrative purposes, this is the most given piece of advice so far. Essentially, stop caring, stop trying so hard, stop trying to win.

I have to ask a question however. I've only really been "trying" for the past 2-3 years since about 2009, ever since the Adventure & Intrigue thing started. Before that, I was just playing to play. I've tried that not-trying route. I didn't "get" anywhere either. I am not sure how I am supposed to try not trying if it didn't work for 3-4 years from 2006-2009, when I was not trying.

I don't want to sound difficult.
I just don't understand.

A friend advised me to essentially spam the forum. Make tons of posts, make lots of journal entries, be extremely visible and generally act like an attention whore. Another told me to basically make enemies of as many people on the server as possible. I think these are quite legitimate suggestions, and my observations over the last few years indicate they have quite a bit of accuracy. I think I have always known they were "methods of success" but have managed to subconsciously ignore it until someone brought it up again.

You get to use social skills very rarely.
There are a small small bunch of quests where they can be used to avoid combat or increase quest reward.
Some DMs will ask for social rolls on some of the quests they do.

Its not "worth" it from a gaming point of view.
But if you enjoying RPing for the sake of it, put some points in.

My mistake, I do actually have one item which is custom made!
I get -6 Move Silently and Sneak with this on my Full-plate fighter! :mrgreen:

That damn gnome, he said he was gonna set up a shop….

I've come back to visit CoA. I say visit because I don't know if I intend to stay. Its still the same old CoA. Quests, random evil dudes, massive half-orcs, faction drama.

I have probably invested about 1000 hours in Arabel. In fact, its probably more than that, since CoA is the game I have played the longest of all. I have played role-playing games since I was 13 years old, and enjoy it. Since I am 26 this year, that means I have spent half of my life playing RPGs. I love immersing myself in a character, enjoying the ups and downs, building history, making friends that I would die to protect, enemies that I would want to eliminate at all costs.

Yet one thing that has really bothered me in Arabel is that my investment has never really paid off. I am constantly "leaving" Arabel because I am severely frustrated with it as a game. I am constantly coming back because it has a "hometown" feel to it for me.

I love Arabel. I hate to leave it. But playing Arabel imparts on me a sense of defeat and frustration and irritability that I cannot overcome. I spend a hundred hours building up a character, slowly molding the PC according to experiences and interactions, changing where necessary, hardening or softening based on what happens in game. This, to some, is sufficient reward. To play the game is the reward.

That is not enough for me.

I see people going on amazing adventures, having awesome, often incredibly powerful gear. I see people with great DM support, applying for and getting approved for things I cannot even imagine.

I want that. I want in. I want to be part of that clique. I want to be a groupie with amazing loot. I want to be a half-dragon. I want to have a PrC.

Across all my characters, I don't think I have ever received DM loot that did not come with a +1 behind it. My Australian timezone and the fact that I live and play in a "dead" zone means that my efforts almost always go unrecognized.

I have woken up for months at 4am in the morning to push plots and work with people who are asleep when I am awake. Because I am my own boss, I regularly spend 12-16 hours in game, plotting, adventuring, and trying to accomplish things.

I have come close a few times. Except that one time the DM I was working with vanished, and no other DM picked up the plot. Or that other time my entire group got PvPed and whitelighted. Or that other time I nearly made it, then got called up to join the Air Force for a few years.

I have invested over 1000 hours into CoA. I just wish I could point at one of my character and say "That one was a success. That one made it." All I have is a closet of failed concepts, dead characters, and the worst of them all…

...the ones who came in second place.

Arabel is like a basketball game to me. I don't always get the ball, but when I do, I try to score. I have never scored, despite trying many times. Often, the experience is actually sitting on the bench while other people play, watching them have fun and wishing I could participate.

Its like showing up for a basketball game and finding out no one else is there. Its like showing up at half time and the referee tells you you can't join in because you weren't there for the first half. Its like shooting hoops by yourself. Its like trying to start a pick-up game that no one attends.

I want a better return on my investment in CoA. I am not complaining. I have gone past the stages where I am bitter, angry, sad and depressed. What I want is a solution to my problem. This is a game I have played for 9 years. A server I have played on for 7 years.

Tell me what I have to do. I want in.

Temple of Unquiet Night (6)

• Mask (Thievery)

• Shar (Shadows, Secrets)

• Velsharoon (Necromancy)

• Cyric (Deception and Murder)

• Loviatar (Suffering and Vengence)

• Bane (Hatred and Fear)

I interpret Unquiet Night differently.
We live in Unquiet Times. The dieties of this Temple cause people to have sleepless nights. They make people look over their shoulders when walking down a dark street. They are the night terrors. The owners of the Dark.

Mask is the master of this temple, and he balances the personalities in the temple by keeping them at odds at each other. Shar aids him in keeping the balance, because she believes in not making waves and attracting too much attention. Mask has penetrated the region with his agents, and the thieves guild runs a route through the region, fencing stolen items and organizing burglaries and pickpocket gangs. The Begger's Guild and Sellskirt's Guild are both subsidiaries of the Thieve's Guild.

Bane and Loviatar are partners in this, seeking to spread their dogmas through the lands by force and guile. Bandits and kidnappers are drawn to the region due to their influence. A Zhentarim secret society operates several safehouses in the area for agents traveling or located in the region. Nobles has fallen under Loviatar's sway, gleefully abusing their servants and ensuring that the Unquiet Night survives.

Cyric seeks to cause as much strife and chaos as possible, often undermining the work of other members of this temple. He runs a lodge of assassins, who frown upon anyone else "interfering" in their backyard. Assassins who attract their attention are given one chance to join up or leave forever. At least one senior noble is a member of Cyric's church, and they seek to eliminate his competition and increase his power.

Velsharoon quietly works with Shar to encourage shadow magic and necromancy, building up their followers in darkness, hampered only by the occasional megalomaniac who decides to go public in Arabel. They have begun the process of creating many artifacts, which will soon allow their followers to conjure up a vast armies of shadow skeletons, who are nearly immune to damage.

@LittleMissBadass:

Temple of Might and Magic (11) [again, too many to choose from so I tried a variety]

• Azuth

• Mystra

• Corellon

• Hanali Celanil

• Savras

• Helm

• Tempus

• Uthgar

• Siamorphe

• Arvoreen

• Red Knight

Uthgar seems slightly out of place due to his more wilderness nature.
Siamorphe is not associated with might or magic.
Would substitute Clangeddin Silverbeard(Strength and War) and Lathander(Strength and Protection).
Have doubts about Hanali too.

Temple of Might and Magic (11)

• Azuth

• Mystra

• Corellon

• Clangeddin Silverbeard

• Savras

• Helm

• Tempus

• Lathander

• Hanali

• Arvoreen

• Red Knight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... BgOeK72jSs

puts a wand on the table and casts a spell. All his gold in his pouch vanishes, leaving him penniless.

Having this document is much more logical than the above. Thank you for your effort!