Sad State of affairs - Player retention

[shad0wfax]

I just don't think there are many hardcore role-players of NWN2 left any more. And the current climate in the gaming world, even the PC gaming world, is not growing any new ones.

A few things that would help:

1. Bye Bye Permadeath,

Spoiler:

Hello heavy penalties in gold and xp for becoming incapacitated and DM enforced permadeath. In effect, no technical dying because of video game mechanics; yes, dying because you rolled bad on a DM adventure.

2.Faster leveling:
1. DMs give proper amounts of XP. I should not get 375 XP from DM 1 and 9 XP from DM 2 for the same amount of playtime/RP.
2. RP XP increases

Spoiler:

(or accrues as a different type of RPXP) when one is in proximity or communicating with another character. I have seen this scripted and in-play and it is quite an effective tool to fo

ster non-dm RP.

3. Stop being the abusive spouse:

Spoiler:

Very few people like hanging out with someone who beats them down every time they seem them and makes their social life and free time unpleasant. Neither do they like to hang out with someone who promises companionship and then leaves them utterly alone for months on end. Do you want play a video game where you die every time you go out fight monsters, go on a quest, or explore or one where you slam your face into a wall repeatedly waiting for the one day the wall might be Dm'd by someone and you'll finally get over it, before you realize you are standing in front of another wall?

4. Stop defending your abusive spouse.

5. Remember the good old days. Things were better than. All we had was chat, two sticks to rub together, a badly pixelated tent, and areas with vectors everywhere and we still made good RP.

1) As I stated above, if we want a big population and we intend to get that by emulating other servers, we have to abandon ALFA's Pillars and Charter and cease to be ALFA.

My goal is to keep ALFA as ALFA by following our Pillars and Charter and thus have perma-death, slower level progression than other servers, and a heavier focus on RP.

I acknowledge that we will not have the same population as other servers because of that, just as the founders of ALFA did.

2) Regarding DM consistency, I absolutely agree with you. I try to always be generous with the RP 1-5 scale and judge players level of RP based on their own ability to RP and how they RPd in that session, rather than to judge then all against the best fantasy author to ever write. Hence, unless a situation devolves into OOC bickering, I always award good or better. On the quest rating scale, we have a chart that defines, and gives examples for, each rating. I rarely award the highest difficulty because oIrarely have a quest that is highly likely to kill players and may result in a TPK. My quests tend to be one or two categories lower, or be RP only. The last column is time in quest, and that should be accurate to the half hour for any DM.

I believe that our standardized DM XP system is a big help in getting DM XP to be more consistent from DM to DM, but there is probably a gap in terms of how each DM grades difficulty and to a lesser degree, roleplay.

On XP in general:

We have drastically increased XP rates by ALFA standards. The XP gains over time that had danielmn and rorax frothing at the mouth to ban me for Talindra's level rate are now surpassed by our new DM and static connect XP rewards. Monster XP is also up slightly. Furthermore, we no longer have farming witch hunts as we did in the past.

We've relaxed that standard significantly, and yet there is still the perception by some that XP is too slow.

3) See 1).
4) See 1).

5) Log in and play then. Creating your own RP and fun has always been an option.

[HEEGZ]

I will try logging in more often. First quarter just wrapped up, and I usually have a lot more free time during 2nd and 3rd quarters in the winter. I don't have a lot to add to the discussion. Hardcore RPer who like permadeath are a minority of gamers in general, and NWN1 and NWN2 are very low population in the gaming community at large.

I was thinking more about play where you DM. A year or two ago there were 1-2 instances of players playing in a DM campaign on a server where they had been DMing, or where their other PC was, I think. My memory is a bit fuzzy. Not sure what people think of allowing a DM to play a PC on a server only if they are being directly DM'd by someone else. It has happened before with no ill effects. Essentially a campaign-only PC, and not a PW style play of PC.

I've resigned myself to pretty much DMing only, though being able to get DM'd, should I find one, would be a real treat. I'm mostly content with the status quo though, and am mostly limited by my finite free time and family obligations IRL.

[Cast_No_Shadow]

It might be quite nice if everyone was in a similar location, I used to hate logging in and being alone (either as a player or DM) and that killed my participation more than anything else.

It'd also be nice if we had PC's in and around the same level range. Maybe start at 3 and cap out at 6,7 or even 8? With whatever levelling rate, I mean it doesn't really matter to me. The most powerful character on the server can still whup the newly created guys ass and be the hero, but you can have a quest where both can contribute and be involved. It makes it easier to design and run quests too your potential audience is anyone logged in.

As a purely personal preference I'd like to see the whole thing sped up a little. Make the world more dangerous, more lethal but make it so getting back into things doesn't take a year of heavy playing. I'm not a teenager any more (and haven't been for most of this millennium) but I still want to RP with some like minded people. To me that means being able to log in, actually find some other people, do something with them, have my character make a difference in some way and have some story and excitement in the few hours I might get to myself in the week.

[maxcell]

As a purely personal preference I'd like to see the whole thing sped up a little. Make the world more dangerous, more lethal but make it so getting back into things doesn't take a year of heavy playing. I'm not a teenager any more (and haven't been for most of this millennium) but I still want to RP with some like minded people. To me that means being able to log in, actually find some other people, do something with them, have my character make a difference in some way and have some story and excitement in the few hours I might get to myself in the week.

http://www.alandfaraway.info/phpBB3/vie ... 57&t=51548

we are mostly 3, 4, or 5 lvls I think, but please do hop on and roll up a toon. Or bring an oldy on over

[orangetree]

*pulls off lurk cloak*

if I came back would I be welcomed? Or despised?

Would I find a group, or would players still be filled with hate at my attempts to exist in the world

would DMs actually interact or just shun me

Can I make a worthwhile character... or is value only my level and timezone

Am I a worthwhile person to you even though I lose a lot

*goes back to lurking*

[Arianna]

I can only say . . . . .

if I came back would I be welcomed? Or despised?

I have always enjoyed playing with your characters OT

Would I find a group, or would players still be filled with hate at my attempts to exist in the world

Hate seems a very strong word, Groups again rely heavily on timezone compatibility, few of us are young anymore and can stay up all night playing like in our younger days

would DMs actually interact or just shun me

I apply the same rules to everyone one I DM on MS . . . groups of 2 or more I can make adhoc stuff for . . . if you want solo character development . .I expect self drive . . I am not making adventures especially designed to elevate any one character. That being said . . . sadly your getting up about the time I head to bed, what other DMs do I cannot say

Can I make a worthwhile character... or is value only my level and timezone

Your timezone is likely the biggest woe for you in getting both a DM and a player group at the same time

Am I a worthwhile person to you even though I lose a lot

not even sure what your getting at here. . . .I do not know you on a personal level . . I would Hope that you and everyone else in ALFA is a "worthwhile person" and we all lose characters . .some more then others . . . We as players just have to be able to deal with the deaths of our own characters and not ever totally rely on someone else to cover our asses

[Zelknolf]

There are a few Euro players around who you might play with.

There's also shad0wfax's events, which would be starting at 7pm England time (at least currently; I believe your DST is on a different schedule than 'murica's DST, so that could wiggle -- it starts at 11am on this clock.), if your weekends are free.

The degree to which characters matter largely depends on the level of work and investment put into them and their surroundings. Folk who have trouble there usually do best when they attach to another person/area that's already active, as that reduces the necessary inertia to make changes (easier to influence changes that are already happening than to start things in currently-dormant areas).