OAS Discussion Continued

[Adanu]

Ugh. So why is everyone wasting so much time on this when what we have works great.

*It keeps our dms from getting spread out.
*It brings interesting iconic characters played by members into the potential members views
*It effectively markets Alfa for what it is
*There are ten times more chances for someone to log on and meet a player or a dm to play with
*It is a complete server with inspiring views and vantages
*The dms feel comfortable on MS and can use it effectively

All this energy should NOT be used to create some new server. It should be used to build a series of starting statics in Corwell and Lowhill which teach about Alfa's core principles.

I hate to see you guys wasting SO much energy when Zelk and Foam and the tech team spent SO much time converting MS. It is like you are spitting in the face of their work, the DMA's efforts to open Alfa to a wider audience, and to all the people involved with the OAS team currently and saying, "Sorry you are not good enough (for me personally.)

We are doing fine. Build some static content for MS. Please, i've been asking for two years. Dm on MS. Meet some new people. It works just fine.

This has nothing to do with expending energy, and everything to do with having a civil, mature discussion about possibilities and potential improvements. We're not disparaging any persons' work, and we're not saying anything was a waste. The work to make MS an OAS is appreciated, and works for what it is... doesn't mean something else might be better. How will we know unless we discuss it and put ideas on the table?

[oldgrayrogue]

Ugh. So why is everyone wasting so much time on this when what we have works great.

*It keeps our dms from getting spread out.
*It brings interesting iconic characters played by members into the potential members views
*It effectively markets Alfa for what it is
*There are ten times more chances for someone to log on and meet a player or a dm to play with
*It is a complete server with inspiring views and vantages
*The dms feel comfortable on MS and can use it effectively

All this energy should NOT be used to create some new server. It should be used to build a series of starting statics in Corwell and Lowhill which teach about Alfa's core principles.

I hate to see you guys wasting SO much energy when Zelk and Foam and the tech team spent SO much time converting MS. It is like you are spitting in the face of their work, the DMA's efforts to open Alfa to a wider audience, and to all the people involved with the OAS team currently and saying, "Sorry you are not good enough (for me personally.)

We are doing fine. Build some static content for MS. Please, i've been asking for two years. Dm on MS. Meet some new people. It works just fine.

I certainly did not mean to disparage MS, but the remainder of your post hits the mark on my point. MS is a beautifully built server, but it, like all of our servers, does have some issues to be addressed, especially if we are talking about attracting new players. Having played a bit on MS recently, the first thing you notice is the very few statics that are available. Several of the statics also seem to be broken. ((Castano I have been meaning to post 2 for you in a PM so as not to convey meta)) In addition, while the server is beautiful, its beautifully built areas are largely devoid of living creatures. I have made a point to walk through as many areas as I can and most do not have even animal spawns walking about. Adding things like this, and fixing bugs will only serve to enhance the appeal of the server and the play experience. MS can also be difficult to navigate because of the boat travel system. You end up feeling as a player like you never really know what the hell island you are on or how to get where you need to go. I was talking in tells with Zelk about this and she said there are plans to do a OLM or more aptly titled "Over Sea Map" with boat travel that I guess depicts the various locations of islands during sea travel. I think this would be a great addition, but Zelk says its a lot of work. I suggested maybe a "Map of the Isles" somewhere IC that players can access -- Like in the charthouse or something -- as an interim step.

So Cloud, all of these points are by no means disparagement on the build or the team. MS is wonderful and its DMs are wonderful but the build does need a bit more work. My point about TSM, as the longest running server, was just that most of these issues have been addressed there already, so it might make sense to use it as the OAS. I have no objection to MS continuing as the OAS or any server being used as the OAS, however. These are just suggestions for discussion.

[Zelknolf]

I was talking in tells with Zelk about this and she said there are plans to do a OLM or more aptly titled "Over Sea Map" with boat travel that I guess depicts the various locations of islands during sea travel. I think this would be a great addition, but Zelk says its a lot of work. I suggested maybe a "Map of the Isles" somewhere IC that players can access -- Like in the charthouse or something -- as an interim step.

I would note that these are old and stale plans that we keep... not getting to. It's something that we agreed would be awesome back when the world server project was also a thing. I really doubt that Castano would turn away someone who built a map house or a "Book of Ship Routes" that included advice about who to talk to and which islands to hop between to get to any given one of them.

I'd offer, but to be honest I find it just as confusing as everyone else-- but I also have the chooser and the player report, which makes it so I don't have to learn.

[CloudDancing]

A book of ship routes would be easy to make. If someone could make me a short "here -> there" list, i'll make one and have it for sale in a few key locations.

[Swift]

A book of ship routes would be easy to make. If someone could make me a short "here -> there" list, i'll make one and have it for sale in a few key locations.

DMs of the server are probably in the best place to do this. Hop in, spawn all the ship masters in a DM area and see who says what?

[Castano]

This was already built by IKP and is available in our player forums:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/207 ... %20map.jpg

[oldgrayrogue]

This was already built by IKP and is available in our player forums:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/207 ... %20map.jpg

It would be great if this map could be posted somewhere IG so that you could look at it in game.

[Castano]

This was already built by IKP and is available in our player forums:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/207 ... %20map.jpg

It would be great if this map could be posted somewhere IG so that you could look at it in game.

Yes that would be awesome. If anyone knows how to add this jpeg to the haks that would be an awesome little project.

[Veilan]

Maybe a tinyurl or some other linkage could do for the interim?

Or an OOC pointer to the relevant forum or something.

But yeah, it'd obviously be most awesome as an MS-specific loading screen or something. Then again, half the fun for me was exploring and finding out for myself. YMMV.

[Hialmar]

URLd!
http://www.alandfaraway.org/MS_Boat_map.jpg

[t-ice]

I think this is where other players come in, honestly. My more established PCs have often acted as "tour guides" for new players PCs -- basically walking around with them and describing the areas in an IC way and suggesting where they can find work, what areas to avoid, what is safe or dangerous -- all ICly. Also, most players when logging on to a new server do talk to most everyone, especially when no one else is on. I don't think it is a big issue.

Ideally there would be a human behind every interaction, wouldn't it. Be it with PCs or NPCs. My point with "a few central NPCs pointing static content statically" was that ICly there should be people an adventurer would go to for this kind of info. Like, tarvernkeepers. They would be the most ICly logical person to ask. Barging in every door and asking everyone "do you have a quest for me?" is the very MMO-ish we wish to avoid. Even when there is no other players on, and you are biding your time waiting. Of course more DMs and more players is the answer, but the whole point of static content is when these are not available. And the low-level static (fedex etc) quests are unfortunately not great group RP potential, either.

There would of course be a separate taverkeepers for static content in different towns. Ideally different tavernkeepers could also point to different kind of quests, even. (But then there should be IC info of the kind of tavern a place is.) The shady hole, the martial meadhall, the booksy joint, etc.

I suppose it goes down to, when designing a static quest, it'd be great if also thinking about IC ways PCs would find this quest and laying a few down. Other than bumping into it at random when scouring every nook of the server and activating every NPC for a convo (even places and people they ICly really would not go to).

[HEEGZ]

I would not be able to host a server for the OAS, but if it worked piggy backing off of the BG host, that might be worth looking into. I don't have any problems with MS being used as the OAS, but a small download Rivermoot based OAS does have certain advantages. It could be local vault as well to keep tech commitments low. Anyways, if that is something we want to experiment with it I am willing to try it out.

[Castano]

Good job on adding our newest member via the OAS to everyone (players, DMs, OAS DMs).

[oldgrayrogue]

Yay for Dead Dream Girl! play with her people, she is fun and totally "gets it."

[JonnyJerny]

hi