DMs DMing A Land Far Away

[Inaubryn]

Nerds. Sheesh!

I think a global DM team goes too far, and havin' all these set ups for this, that, and the other is way too convoluted. What I'm talking about is far simpler.

Let's pretend that I am an ALFA DM for NWN2. And the main server I run plots on is, I dunno, let's say an Underdark server. So, I've got these drow, or duerga,r or svirfs, or really bad ass other types. And, I'm runnin' this adventure in which the, I dunno, golden rod of drow control has to be found before the evil archmage gets it or all the land is doomed. Well, I want this to be a serious adventure, so the rumor is that the rod is located in the keep of the Platypus King which lies in Hillsfar. Thus, the PCs need to travel to Hillsfar which is, yep you guessed it, on another server.

I describe the long, uneventful journey through the underdark, pfft, yeah right, before the PCs emerge into the Moonsea region and I, as the DM, pick up the story there. And by emerge I mean, log out then back in to the new server. And by pick up there I mean, log out and log into the new server.

I go on to guide my PCs to victory, which includes the retrieval of the rod, the lynching of the Platypus King, all the while killing just 3 of 6 party members. In the end, they return to the underdark a helluva lot worse for the wear.

Notice how in the above scenario the only OOC things were logging out of one server and into the next? There was no permissions needed, no red tape to navigate. There was just fun, and death for all.

Prior to this adventure I read up on the region so that I, as a DM, could capture the flavor of the NPCs and life in this alien place above ground. I also spoke to the DMs who DM here mainly to find out if there were anything else I needed to know. This found me quite prepared to run the adventure. I would do these same things if I simply wanted to get a group together and DM an adventure in the region.

To address Zelknof's concern. My point is, in order to be a DM here in ALFA you will have needed to prove yourself as a player and a member, and then as a DM. If you're made a DM, that means you've passed all of these other tests and people trust you as a valued member of our community who has already proven themselves over time. That being said, why wouldn't you allow someone like that to DM all of ALFA?

I just don't see how someone who's been here, 3months, 6 months, a year, two years, is trusted to only spot DM. We're saying to them... Well, you can DM here, here, and here. But not over there, there, or there. That doesn't show we trust them at all. And if we don't trust them, then they shouldn't get the proverbial DM wand in the first place.

So let it be known, I'm not for any type of Team. Be it Team America, the A-Team, The Dream Team, Charlie's Angels, okay maybe them, and the Dallas Cowboys, Mavericks and Stars. But other than that, no team. There doesn't need to be one. We're all one... nevermind.

[Swift]

It would suck mightily to have no say about who's on your team.

That's my point right there, FI. This is my team you can't be on it. That's the attitude I'm talking about. If a person was seen fit enough to be a DM in ALFA, why shouldn't they be able to DM in all of ALFA?

Because different HDMs believe in different standards for their DMs. Until there is a universal standard across all servers on loot and experience rewards, this will never happen.

There are many different DM styles and DMs of these particular styles will automatically gravitate towards HDMs of like mind, as will players (Slow paced and high risk high reward is the most common clash in ALFA). ALFA servers have often been characterised in this manner as well, which i do not think is any problem. Players go where the style suits them.

However, the last thing we want is DMs from high risk high reward servers crashing the party (so to speak) of servers with much slower progression just because "lol, im a DM in alfa, that means im able to DM on all servers". All that would do is create conflict between players and DMs alike.

Get all DMs on the same page following the same rate of reward, and this becomes much less of a problem. You still have the issue of NPC personalities which are much harder for off server DMs to research, but that is more easily overcome.

[indio]

[Removed because post was intentionally inflammatory - Mikayla]

[Inaubryn]

Good point, Swift. And I've certainly pushed for DMs being on the same page reward and loot-wise. Again, it's one of those things in ALFA that need to be deabted for 13 years before somebody then puts up a poll so that we can poll those who'd be involved through polling. But I thought that the standards we're supposed to be using come NWN2 were a push in that direction anyway. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what standards are designed to do.

But, again. I agree that all DMs throughout ALFA need to be on the same page and not deviate too much from a given norm. That would go a long way towards a more seamless ALFA.

[Veilan]

Again, reward and loot are not all there is to standards, and definetely not all there is to the DMing experience. The same two DMs could operate within the same standards for encounter challenges, loot rewards, drop rewards, yet one experience is tremendously easier and different than the other. There are a lot of intangible aspects that we cannot, should not, and do not want to control, which make DMing a whole different pair of shoes to whomever is wearing it.

It's both unfair to the efforts of standards to expect them to equalize all DMing to the point that it doesn't matter where a DM is online. This can only be achieved in the "numbers" park - and the numbers park, while definetely much being griped about, is just one small aspect of DMing. Just because you know the framework in which to reward doesn't mean you should be able to DM everywhere - it's a necessary condition, but not a sufficient one.

HDMs have a responsibility to their team, to keep a good and productive working atmosphere, and they also have a responsibility to their players to maintain consistency.

Cooperation for cross-server DMing is great and encouraged, but there are differences and there will be situations where a DM team has to conclude that a certain turn of events on their server would not be conducive to the server's working. It's great if people can agree to make it happen, but DM teams simply must have the authority to make calls on all the intangible aspects there are that influence such decisions.

There should be a good attitude of collaboration between teams, which I think would be great to be fostered by more inter-server communication. However, neither should entirely porous borders be mandatory, nor prescribed top-down (though we're trying to give nudges, like some shared fora of different sorts in the works to encourage more exchange - and those of our DMs who are part of multiple teams usually tell rather encouraging tales).

[BlakOrkz]

Frodo, level 1 Rogue

NPC Bilbo twinked him with:
Short Sword +1/+3 vs. Goblins
Mithril Chain Shirt
Ring of Invisibility (Unlimited Charges)

Tolkein would have been banned from ALFA DMing.

That guy knew nothing!

(BTW, in reality I am pro-standards. Humor is best at all times. It's just a game.)

Poor Sam didn't get a darned thing from that 2-bit, non-standardized DM... DM Tolkein obviously ruined Sam's gaming experience.

[Marklos]

There are always opposite ends of the spectrum with regard to DM skills and habits.

I've never invited back a couple DMs because they were sloppy, or they dropped 6 orcs on a level 1 because it just wasn't realistic for a level 1 to run from *the start area* to Bryn Shander and *not* be accosted. That was a freakin mess. Ask Duck next time you see him, if he remembers.

Anyway, it is all about trust and we have precious little of it among the HDM staff of each other's DMs. Different styles, different expectations.