A Land Far Away

Last night Ayergo took something I said as a “gripe”. It was not meant to be, but by the way he said it, it seems clear that he perceives a lot of gripes, which is unfortunate. I would gather that someone in his shoes feels like the only time he hears anything is when something is wrong. If that is true, that is also unfortunate. By way of addressing that, let me offer some praises.

What Ayergo has done with the Waterdeep project addresses many of the short-comings of old ALFA. ALFA died for many reasons, and I’ll not delve into them deeply here, but I have posted on it in the past so feel free to dig through my old posts and read up if you’re curious. Here is what I feel that Waterdeep is doing right which is leading to a revival of ALFA:

There is something to do: Waterdeep has content, things for PC’s to do. You can log in, find a buddy or two, and go find some adventure. There is content at different levels of risk for different levels of PC’s, and variation in the content so it isn’t too predictable. The DM’s add to that greatly. There is crafting driven content, guilds, a functioning economy, which all adds up to PC’s having things to do aside from adventuring. The more involved you get, the more you’ll find to do.

The content is accessible: you don’t have to sit in a caravan for 20 minutes real time, or walk for an hour real time to get to and from an adventure. Much of the content is accessible with an instantaneous carriage ride, and a five minute walk. You also don’t need a DM to unlock much of the content, and in fact static NPC’s readily direct you on how to find the content.

PC’s can survive: sure Waterdeep has lethal dangers, but it offers the ability to quickly get out of those extremely lethal first few levels where an unlucky critical can take a PC out. Healing is available so PC’s can have a chance during an encounter. Equipment is available to give the PC’s gear that matches the threats they face. Characters can die, and do die, which is as it should be. But it is not so lethal that the only logical thing for a character to do is sit inside and avoid near-certain death by venturing out.

PC’s can grow: nothing frustrates a gamer more than playing a character for long periods of time and there is no growth. Role playing games are centered around character development. You can earn meaningful XP in Waterdeep, and your character can evolve.

Magic items are attainable: It is part of D&D that characters gain gear as they develop. It is baked into the CR ratings of the creatures they face for balancing purposes (i.e. fighting a vampire which requires a +2 weapon is kind of impossible in a world that has no +2 weapons). Waterdeep's loot tables drop magical gear commiserate with the creatures killed, and offers the ability to craft gear. What's more, this gear changes the characters (i.e. Hudol prizes his sword, and future skill and feat choices will reflect that). Gaining gear is part of the character development model.

Trust: The DM team is involved and know the players, and there is an implicit trust that is offered. They don’t scrutinize your PC for powergaming traits, overanalyze your character development choices, or worst of all express paranoia about how quickly your character evolves or the gear they attain. I’m sure if something out of balance arises they’ll address it, but players appreciate that trust shown and don’t want to abuse it. In the end, it’s only a game.

Conclusion: Ayergo has done a lot of good things that is leading to success here. There is adventure to be had and character development to enjoy, and as a result people keep coming back. Because there are people, other people are attracted. It is growing and thriving. Hats off to Ayergo and all those who have worked to breathe life into it.

If you agree and/or can add to what I put above, I am sure Ayergo and those who help would like to hear it. Building a project like this is a lot of work, and getting positive feedback is important validation of that work.

I for one am very impressed with the Crafting system Ayergo has created and can not wait for the DR Robes Ivar will make for my character's friend.

I’m truly grateful to ayergo for the years of effort he has put into this mod. I’m truly fortunate that he took the time and energy to allow me to revisit my favorite mod and community. I can thank you enough, man.

And I’m sure all the whining gets old. Well, other people’s whining anyway. Mine’s justified.

I'll stop whining when Keryn kicks the bucket! Hehe.

Seriously though awesome effing job Ayergo.. bringing back WD and making the server effing awesomely deadly! Can't wait for UM but will have too untill you deem it's done.

I can be a childish and sarcastic git in chat but this Server is everything I wished old AFLA 1 and NWN based dnd could be.

Thanks Penguin overlord for all your hard work!

Thank you for all your hard work and efforts!!

I tell Ayergo and the DMs this every day or so, but nice to openly state it every so often of course. So much attention and detail and love goes into this server, it shows in how much we the players put into our PCs because of it. cheers to all. w00t

LOL.

I probably bitch more than anyone around here.

I agree with everything said.

One thing I would add is Ayergo and team's ability and willingness to deal with characters of differing power levels not with needless restrictions or burdensome rules but IG with an incredibly smart NPC AI. Dump stats, min/maxing, PGing and character jealousy are not issues on the new WD as Hobgoblins sneak attack or leap over tanks, Dweebs hunt low Charisma characters and foes dispel, disarm and knockdown their way into characters nightmares. I have met no character that feels safe while adventuring on this server which is exactly as it should be. It is truly the dream of ALFA without all the drama that tainted ALFA 1 for many of us. All the drama remains in game.

Great Job.

I came to ALFA Waterdeep after the Tolkien NWN2 server OGR and I played on folded. The Tolkien server was masterfully crafted. But it lacked the DM interaction and administration. Waterdeep is not only masterfully scripted and crafted, but more importantly, the DM-driven plots set the stage for phenomenal role play and story telling. Ayergo has built a treasure.

+1 to everything above.

For me, the end to ALFA game B drama is so delightful. Ayergo deserves a ton of the credit here for building something where like minded folks can just come together play and enjoy. Zero drama. Zero BS. That comes from the top down.

His (and entire DM team's) prolific building of new areas with each plot, new monsters to torment us (except Leucrottas I hate those), non-stop scripting of cool stuff (I mean even Animal Empathy is useful -- without a DM!) and the ingenious Penguin XP machine he has created that is crafting are just amazing. Loot standards? XP standards? Pfft. Just make a crafting system that sucks people in and controls wealth and level progression all on its own. Brilliant.

In "old" ALFA I constantly bitched that level progression was "upside down" and the PW was only Permadeath for low levels. Ayergo gets it. The first few levels are quick progression (but only if you wanna!) and then it gets progressively more difficult after that. If your PC dies, you don't have to feel irrelevant for months and months. The fact that I was able to have several PCs that had real involvement in one global plot is so awesome. More importantly, as your PC gains in power so do the challenges which is EXACTLY as it should be. Always challenging means never boring, and that is what WD is.

I love this server, and all the people who play here. Can't thank Mick enough for getting me to come check it out and Penguin for making it all happen.

If you ever think I am griping just smack me with a fish.