Have I got a Proposal for ALFA

For discussion and formation of server proposals and teams.
t-ice
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Re: Have I got a Proposal for ALFA

Post by t-ice »

We want RP , that's the slogan here. If we want RP , we must reward RP , the only way to reward RP is by DMing and providing adventures. Players feel involved, and their action matters, that's their feedback.
Spot on.
Lots of DMs give up after a while, and i think that besides Swift i can't not think on one DM who's been in the role for more than few months. I think this issue worth to spend some time on for itself...
This would be an obvious indicator that the role of DM is something that virtually no-one wants. This is the core issue.
lets no make "DMing" an elite unit standards acceptation process.
This is then rather irrelevant. If there would be a line of enthusiastic potential DMs waiting behind the door for them to pass the bar, then you should look at admittance criteria. The problem is, people don't want to get in, and those that do soon leave, so lowering the bar won't do anything at all.

So the relevant question to ask people is "What would have to chance for you to want to DM?" And that's the hard one, because it means actual changes to the content to make DMing attractive. Pretending that the issue is at the entry point won't help. (And if the issue really is there, people should tell you they would like to DM but are not allowed to.) If DMing is the most important thing, then the system must cater to what DMs want and what would make people DM above all else.

To offer my personal view, what makes DMing fun is being able to tell your story your way. And to put creative, new, and hopefully surprising things in there. Story and game-engine elements working together is key. I am very happy to work from player initiatives and bios, but after I pick it up, it's my story as much as the player's. Player and DM then working to up the ante and providing new creative things for each other makes the game fun fun fun. If there's a months long approval wait for your things to be allowed, it's a killer. It's no fun to put in the massive effort to DM if you're restricted to a little cog in the machine. It's Dungeon Master for a reason.

Likewise builders and scripters asking DMs what do the DMs have in mind, and building things for DM stories planned, would probably help hugely. It's understandable that those working hard on building and scripting will like to build things they want to build. For the community and gaming, however, a sense of creating the modules for the DMs, as opposed to DMs taking the modules and running what they can, would be a step forward. It should be understood that creating content that caters to the un-DMd playing will also propagate that un-DMd gaming. It makes DMing less attractive as the DM no longer runs the game, but is just one element along there with the scripts, and PC success is determined by stamina to do scripted things as much as it is by what the DMs play.
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zicada
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Re: Have I got a Proposal for ALFA

Post by zicada »

Way to revive old threads Castano.
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Rotku
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Re: Have I got a Proposal for ALFA

Post by Rotku »

zicada wrote:Way to revive old threads Castano.
That's what Castano's do. And don't we just love him for it.

T Ice is spot on, with his assessment of things. The harder you make it for DMs to DM - whether that be through taking months on end to put any content in the module, or through the text book of standards that builds up - the less likely people are to stick around.

However, I want to add an important note to that. A love for the community breeds a willingness to help. If people are constantly coming back for more of that fun they are much more likely to take up the wand. People shouldn't be DMing simply because there is no one else to do the job - that's what's happened for years now. People should be DMing because they love doing so; because they want to give back to the community that gave them so much; and most importantly because they enjoy it.

ALFA's becoming stale. Who really loves a stale community? And with OGR stepping down that staleness increases. ALFA needs change. It needs to be rejuvenated, it needs to be revitalized, it needs to have the fun and love returned to it. Strip down some of the beurocratic nonsense (the Game B, as our favourite Zicada would call it) and the hatred of change and work on instilling a new love into ALFA. Not a love of the ALFA that was, but a love of the ALFA that is. Then DMs will come.
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Blindhamsterman
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Re: Have I got a Proposal for ALFA

Post by Blindhamsterman »

well said Rotku.
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Mirabai
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Re: Have I got a Proposal for ALFA

Post by Mirabai »

t-ice wrote:For the community and gaming, however, a sense of creating the modules for the DMs, as opposed to DMs taking the modules and running what they can, would be a step forward.
So very very true. I really feel that the servers were just not built with DMing in mind. From walkmesh and terrain issues (*cough*Moonwood*cough*) to areas that exist more to replicate a world than to enable adventures, our servers can be really frustrating to DM in. This same issue existed in NWN1 but it's exacerbated in NWN2 due to the limited amount of areas we can add to the mods and the length of time it takes to build an area. Unfortunately it's a bit late to fix it now.
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