The Big Player Density Poll

[Drankathar]

voted 1.. but wanted to vote

The poll lacks an option for "I've been here since live and have never had any problems finding players/DMs to interact with", so I'm tossing that into option one.

[idoru]

If you've been a member since live or before, wouldn't you fall into the 'two years or more' category? I must admit I find it a little shocking to see how many members we have who have been here since pre-historic time... Either that's a major show of dedication, or it's a sign that we have completely failed to attract new members after that point.

Thanks to everyone who voted so far!

[Maximus]

I've been here since April 4, 2001. So almost five years now.

[Rotku]

Well, when I first joined players were easy to find. Everytime I logged on to DD it use to be swarming with players. DMs were the hard part. Took me about 6 months or so of playing before I met my first DM quest. Then my PC died and I decided to turn DM myself. Now a days it's off and on. Sometimes it's very hard to find a DM, but that's usually because I'm not enthusiastic enough to look. Other times (like the past month or so) has been very easy.

[Inaubryn]

I've reached Ancient status or maybe Great Wyrm. But, I played Loudwater beta with more ancient folks. No probs with players there. And then did WD when it went live. no prob there. Then did BG when it went live. And you could see there was no shortage of players there from the sheer amount of corpses on the road. Boy, was that loot heaven. So, no probs there. Then I went DM.

But, Arri's right. Back then we had 2-4 servers. So it was easier to find players as they were all concentrated in only a few spots. But, you still had to deal with timezones. Freakin' Euros, Aussies and Kiwis. Move!

If you have 300 players relegated to 4 servers, then obviously there's no density problem. And if you want to alleviate density issues altogether, then just make one server and call it a day. But, since we strive to recreate Faerun, the more we spread out, the thinner we spread players. That's like virtual gaming las of physics or some such.

Remember this. Players will always flock to where the DMs are. At one point for the better part of a year, DC/WG boasted 12-15 players nightly and 25+ on Fight Nights. Why? Because I was there runnin' shite all day e'er day. I had quests galore to run and pretty much gave DM attention to any and all who graced the server. Even it it was just a "Hey, thanks for comin', I'll be with you as soon as I can, lemme know if ya need anything in the mean time." And for the longest, I was the only Live DM on WG.

So 1st things 1st. I don't care if we have 2 servers or 20. Get sufficient daily and nightly DM coverage and the players will be there.

BTW, voted 1.

[Joos]

So 1st things 1st. I don't care if we have 2 servers or 20. Get sufficient daily and nightly DM coverage and the players will be there.

Which is easily proven by comparing server population today compared to a month ago. TLR and Sembia were both very popular and well visited servers and then RL hits the DM's fanny and the servers go desert-style.

[Tathkar_Eisgrim]

As a newcomer to ALFA, I'm not well-versed in DM policy, so may I ask a question to clarify this discussion in my own mind:

Are DM's 'connected' solely to one server, or are they allowed to log-in as DM's across several servers?

If its the case that DMs are currently restricted, might there be a case for widening DM duties across several servers (following the players more) so that:

- Players get good DM attention. Good for morale.
- Those same players might be more inclined to spread word to inactive ALFA players, and new players alike about how rewarding ALFA is for DM coverage?

As a general aside, I have been aware of ALFA for some time, but only recently applied because I was kind of expecting DM coverage to be an issue, considering how many servers you have active.

Thanks for any clarification, you can give to the above.



Tath.

[NickD]

A DM is connected to a specific server, but is allowed to DM on more than one. e.g., Inaubryn is a DM on both North Underdark and Dragon Coast, but not on any other server.

DMs are not allowed to play on servers they DM on, so if they could DM on every server, they would never be allowed to play.

[TheCrazyGoblin]

Inaubryn is a DM on both North Underdark and Dragon Coast.

[Tathkar_Eisgrim]

Thanks for the clarification.

The only thing I can suggest then with regard to improving player density is:

- ALFA wide, determine which servers are most in need of maintenance. Develop sweeping plots which close traffic to those servers for a period of time, as determined by need or IC actions.
- Develop plots which guide large groups of players through a series of servers over time. Focus DMs into these servers, doing related plots. A guided tour approach.
- Make travel a little easier. Open up more by sea routes. Allow safe(r) and quick(er) travel with trade caravans for a fee. I understand the Realms have several magical portals dotted around them. As a plot, have these become active, facillitating easier movement to the servers, you are focusing attention into. DM's shouldn't be shy on porting players to them to facillitate a plot. Powerful guardians could have the means; as could powerful enemies... (Cross-server Player-kidnapping & return by DMs? - technically possible?)

Edit:

- If travel time is a factor in how you balance XP over time, then perhaps XP rates might need to be tweaked in the servers you are focusing on.
- As for DMs and accountability. If you can't trust a DM, to play honestly, who can you trust? Maybe the rules for DMs playing could be tweaked somehow, if its a genuine concern?



Tath.

[NickD]

Inaubryn is a DM on both North Underdark and Dragon Coast.

He's in the DM list for both anyway. It was just an example, it doesn't have to be true.

[Ludo]

...there were 103 votes and 32% that had trouble finding players. The percentage climbs to 35 if you hack off the old and wise. An alarming 50% of the year-or-less players who found the poll and posted, therefore possibly the best ones, had trouble. Even with all the considerations that can't be polled that's a significant percentage. I voted less than 6 months - no trouble but I probably should have voted the opposite. Here's why.

I want to play in a peaceful place, and I had heard Silverymoon described as a place to 'visit once, but don't stay there or you'll get soft.' I can't find people in the city during my favorite times. However, I got into a campaign right off and now I give one or two of my precious evenings a week to Wynna, gladly. From my first day in Silvy, even before the campaign, I had someone to play with, someone who traveled from Everlund and points east to play with me, at Wynna's instigation I suspect. ALFA is a helpful, friendly place.

To play at my favorite times and find DMs I would have to play in Sembia, and my type of character would not be comfortable there. Elm might travel to Sembia some day to keep herself from getting too soft but she would return to Silvy with relief. Most players of course are not like me.

My point is this - when someone says they have trouble finding players, they may mean that they can't play where they want to when they want to. Alfa offers lots of wheres and lots of whens, and cutting down on the wheres could help with the whens, but then how would the great variety of players be accommodated?

The problem may well solve itself as NWN2 starts up. If the player base doesn't drop too much you'll be starting with enough people to do a few sites justice, and as ALFA2 grows, the player base may grow enough to support more.

However, this ancient ignoramus would not object to trying any strategy that allows more different people to play in more different places at more different times. Lots of other people will object to certain such strategies, so I don't need to. I think it's too early to decide to give up the goal of modeling all of Faerun - it may be almost achievable, and it's fun to be Don Quixote.

The decisions we make now about how to start are very important, because they will set the tone that will keep or not keep our player base. I am not qualified to advise on that. I simply know that we are all different and I like it that way.

[Tathkar_Eisgrim]

The Realms are big. Even before I joined ALFA I was impressed that a Persistent World team had the bottle to attempt to model the greater proportion of it. Looking at what you have achieved, I think it is quite remarkable.

However, the larger a Persistent World becomes, the more tedious travel becomes, the more you risk spreading out your population to the point, it destroys your ultimate aim: your players having quick access to fun. While it is realistic to expect people to travel, it can ultimately get in the way, when player's have real lives, and cannot spend a precious hour just getting somewhere.

Which is why I made the suggestion above on having more means to travel from realm to realm, server to server. Make it easier for groups to mix and meet each other. Controlling *Travel* is the key I think.

Also a minor thing:
The rule on not running perhaps could be amended / clarified. While I wholeheartedly agree on limiting its use, because its abuseable, perhaps it has a legitimate - and I stress, occasional - role in travel? I can imagine Elven Runners being able to move swiftly from place to place, or those with the Toughness Feat, or Rangers in general. Maybe it's something worth discussing, to aid travel and communication between players.



Tath.

[Cynon]

It's not about trying to find players.

When i started on ALFA nearly 2 years ago i wasa n00b and was lucky enough to start on a server with lots fo DM time. DM's like low levels who have no idea what they want their PC's to be and so i got loads of DMing cos is was a DM tool.

After about 6 months i had some levels and some goals and all the plots died on me. The DM's all moved on to playing with the younger models and newer n00bs and maybe some exclusive old higher level personal friends of theirs. I ended up being a solo player for about the last year... until recently.

After great efforts to try and find other players and start something that might get DM attention and some plot action i just thought stuff it i don't need other players and i don't need a DM i'll just be like some psycho who RP's to himself and kills stuff.

Don't ask me how but now i play with tonnes of other players and have so many DM plots going on i just don't know how to balance it with RL. WTF... WTF indeed.

Dat Deus Incrementum.

God gives the increase

Or sods law, if you look for it your a PGer and everyone ignores you. If you don't want it it rams itself down your throat.

Why am i such an angry person?

I don't know.... is it something to do with hormones?

What was this thread about again?

[wvincenti]

I voted 2, but I really only had trouble finding DMs in that first 6 months.
Players were always easy to trip across on Waterdeep right after LIVE, and I joined that May.

DM contact I ran into sporadically early on, though one of my first PCs was about to get involved in a big DM'd plot when I got stupid & got him killed. I fell in with the end of the Bright Blades quest (thanks Smoothie and Mikayla!) after about 5 months for my first lengthy DM'd time in game. After that I seem to have had much less trouble finding DMs. In part because I got lucky and had a schedule that matched up nicely with Murky's and the rest of the SD DM team for a long time. And also because I got good at checking Player & DM schedules to continue plots or encounters that they wanted to pursue.

-Bill