The platform.
"ALFA is a gaming community". The key word here isn't "gaming", but "community". It's not as a lone DM Admin that we can make this community strive, it's through collaboration and that is why it is important to listen to what the community wants and feels and use the trust that has been given to the position of the DM Admin to make the changes that should be made. All while keeping in mind what ALFA stands for and what the original mission was all about.
It is important to note that the NWN2 community wont grow unless we help it grow and to do that we need to be proactive and don't be afraid to make mistakes. Because luckily (or sadly for some
With this in mind, I want to shift focus over to what really is important to me in this community, and that is the stories being told and the memories being created from those stories and what we can do to make that even better.
- Trust and Global DM's
It is important trust people you play with, and especially the DM's who make the world around your character come to life. Trust can't just be handed to someone, it has to be earned. But in order to earn that trust, we have to ourselves be a bit more trusting. That's why I propose that we bring back "Global DM's" who has the priviledge to DM on any server they wish. They are just encouraged to not actively DM people they normally play with when they play their own characters. This means, of course, that those DM's who are Global DM's would be allowed to DM on servers they play on. - Risk/Reward for Social quests
Not all risk is taken from going toe to toe against a dragon. Some risk come in the form of social interaction and consequence of that action. One wrong word could get you banned from entering a tavern, another a whole city. These are pretty grave consequences that doesn't come from heavy combat, but rather social roleplaying. I've noticed that there has been a lot less social "quests" lately, possibly because it's not rewarding. But if the DM's were encouraged to actually build social quests and were encouraged to weigh the risk and reward of it as well, then perhaps we'd see more of them. - I'm only human.
Make mistakes. It's ok, we're all just human. Fear of making a mistake seems to some DM's to be crippling. They know how harsh it can be to recieve a reprimand or even a strike in this community. If a mistake has been made, correct it. If you can't, then ask someone for help. Don't let the fear of making a mistake cripple you as a DM because this isn't real life we're dealing with here. One bad choice wont have permanent consequences. In ALFA, we get do-overs. - Sponsorships and Co-DM's
I am contemplating sponsorships for DM's. It means that DM's in good standing who is not a PDM, can "vouch" in lack of a better word, for another DM and give that person DM status. This, of course, is up to the respective HDM to approve or not when it comes to each server. The idea behind this came from me wanting to be someones Co-DM. Not to run my own things, but to be the assisting DM of someone else so that ideas could be discussed on the fly and larger groups of players on different locations can be handled simultaneously. This hopefully gives everyone a better experience in the end. - Bank error in your favor – collect 1000xp
Now, this might still be a bit controversial, and I don't grasp any of the tech required to pull any of it off, but I'd like to give everyone a better chance of survival with their PC's. This wouldn't be issued retroactively to all players, just the ones that are created new. The reasoning behind this is that ALFA can (and should) be a pretty dangerous place to live in, but too many potentially great characters and stories gets lost because of one bad roll and that to me, is a damn shame.
- Yes you, there, in the funny hat. What was that question again?