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Messages - nelly

#1
Howdy,

Let's see if I can do this short & pithy (spoiler: I can't).

Disclaimer: please note I am not talking about my current PC or situation. These are observations about the average retainer/Ward PC, the dynamics I see in the climate before those PCs, and how I would propose solving the current low House activity situation. I am writing this with genuine eagerness to help improve the current House dynamic/climate!

Context
House numbers have been very low the past few months across the board. The only House lately to boast any meaningful numbers is House Orza, which, is effectively the most relaxed House in terms of limitations on RP for PCs (more on this as a factor below).

Observations
1. The Ward has simply been around for a long time, and creativity around the Houses is certainly drying up some. This is natural, and definitely more complex to fix than the next points. I won't directly propose a solution for this beyond "up incentives, which ideally will give people drive to be more creative". More on this in the proposed solution part.

2. Joining a House restricts RP for most. Why? You have an NPC/DM group overhead that has an image for what you should/shouldn't be doing. I'd like to not focus the discussion here, but the logic is simple: compared to player-started factions, where the world is your oyster, Houses provide a mold/structure and most players will attempt to be good actors within that. Humans, at our core, are just big apes following breadcrumbs of incentives. As much as we want to beat our chests and say "The Houses are what the Players make them", most players want to color inside the lines and feel like they're "doing a good job". And yes, DMs set those lines (nelly's leadership principle #1: those with the breadcrumbs set the rules). TO BE CLEAR: I don't think there's anything wrong with this! But it's a factor to consider into the current landscape, and ultimately feeds into my recommendation.

3. Incentives for Houses are currently at an all-time low.  I'll break the core incentives into the following categories, with my perception of their current "status":
- DM support: medium, a good bit of DM activity lately and the Houses definitely are not unsupported (worth juxtaposing this with player run initiatives that are also at a "medium" status indicator, so while sufficient and enjoyable, it is not an "edge" of being in a House)
- PC concept "bank" of ideas: low, per my above explanation, I believe the obvious concepts are dried up by now and players will have to dig deeper to interest themselves in a concept
- Mechanical power: low, the recent faction store nerfs have made many of the pieces much less powerful than found or craftable equiment. You may be thinking, "Well, Nelly! No way - the previous power of the retainer gear was game breaking and stupid to have everyone and their mom run around with OP gear." Yes, I agree, having high caliber loot available to anyone with 900 gp is dumb & this is why I will later propose application-only access to rate-limit these items in the economy.
- Team/community: low, I believe the above factors are causing the dearth of players, but team momentum/size in-of-itself is a key factor. In the start-up world we have a phrase "the flywheel effect" (an upward spiral of momentum, where the act of having momentum in the market begets more momentum in the market) -- what's happening with the Houses at the moment is the opposite of this, goofily dubbed "the doom loop". Lack of momentum is causing a downward spiral that only begets more lack of momentum.

All-in-all, if you're looking to join a House vs. start your own initiative or float, there is very little incentive to join a House (and in fact it is less lucrative at this time). The more exciting and rewarding option, by far, is to do your own thing, ring run, (or float without consequence). If you join a House, you will be staring down the barrel of limited fresh PC concepts left, the same amount of DM support as player-led factions, faction gear that is just OK, and your House numbers will be low.

Proposed solution
1. Make retainer gear strong - either by restoring it to what it was, or bolstering what it is today. We can pretend this doesn't matter. It absolutely does impact player's desire to play within factions (especially when incentives are low, per my above). If we want retainers to be an actual force for their House, and to be at least somewhat feared in the Ward as an authority figure to the wandering masses/peasant PCs, then we need to give them highly sought-after and exclusive tools to enable that. Besides, it's not like the Houses are bursting with players right now and this is going to break any balance (so long as it's controlled, e.g., app only). Make a wanderer/floater/non-affiliated PC spitting at a retainer something they should be scared of. It used to be this way, and I think making retainers have an edge mechanically is the way to get us back there.

2. Make Houses app only - this will force individuals to think (if even for a second) about their concepts and goals, which should help grow the "PC ideas" metric. It will also, in theory, give some awareness to DMs about the motives of House PCs before they join, which may help provide a slight advantage on the "DM support" metric. Lastly, it will help rate limit access to the proposed stronger retainer gear (which I think in of itself will provide benefit).

My solution, in theory, should improve PC concepts/ideas, DM support for those PCs by providing awareness, improving mechanical incentives for players to ideate/push agendas for the House (positive feedback loop into the PC concepts/ideas and DM support), which should lift us (hopefully) out of our "doom loop" of team sizes and push up numbers. Now, of course, with this suggestion the Houses will not end up with 8+ large man sizes again, but I think they are more likely to have a core set of 3-5 key PCs pushing meaningful things that lead to a more interesting world for us all (and will minimally be better than the 0-1 levels we have now).

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. =)
#2
i am out of pocket for a week! no nwn access on vacation. be back soon
#3
End of an era. I loved playing with you, but I also loved how much bad ass shit you did after our time together ended. Whether by your side, or from afar, I loved Aatish. She had phenomenal impact on the server, and she is among my favorite PCs in all my time on nwn

<3 friendo

[hide=The Dream ends...][/hide]
#5
Hi all,

Firstly wanted to say thanks for putting up with Aeryn! She was certainly created to be annoying, psycho, and pedantic. The pacing back and forth, the personality quirks, and the petty attitude were all intentional - hope you guys enjoyed the antagonism =)  My favorite moment was 100% exploding my own team in the Grand Games, it felt like a really good opening display of her personality

[hide=Story: Aeryn Hastings, a tragic pursuit of the Mists - but you /knew/ that, yes? You knew.]Aeryn was an awoken evoker who spent her whole life thinking she was the Diviner of the Mists (later being titled the Augur by her dear "childhood friend", Ser Japes). She truly believed it her birth right, and like any pompous, wizard-addled brain, was proud as hell over it. She hated the Nothing, targeting Aatish and any Nothing cultists she suspected for a long time (including several failed attempts at mendicants because she believed the Razor Web was the Nothing manifested as a god). Her pursuit of ousting the Nothing led her to Master of Oldspyre tower, where she intended to research the Mists and find a Champion of the Mists. After her long survey exercise, Manfred Japes emerged as the true Champion of the Mists given his survival from the Nothing. Somewhere along the way, she acquired a Man-Servant, Gaddiel, who was instrumental in guarding her during her pursuits.

When the true Augur was revealed, Aeryn felt she had been robbed of her birthright by someone she long-hated under suspicion of Nothing-worship, Vivian. In an incredibly chaotic, vengeful, and arrogant display she sought to take back what was 'hers'. At first, an attempt at commanding the Augur into her. It failed, and desperation led her to force it out of its current host. Once that failed as well, she was entirely devoid of her entire life's purpose, and perhaps she would have suicided from the Oldspyre Tower, if an angry retainer had not found their way to the top of that Tower so soon... eventually, justice found its place, and she died at the hands of her sacrifice's closest companions.[/hide]

[hide=Screenshots]

Gaddiel, her Man-Servant-Guardian escorting her on a Velstra expedition (also the cover of our album check us out on Spotify)


Free Spirit is damn right


Accepting gifts from a small god of chaos, because of course she would, you knew that!


Welcoming party for the Master of Oldspyre


Classic Aeryn antagonism in the Ward with those fantastic crimson cultists <3


Jealous, always, even when watching one of her greatest allies rise



And finally, the beginning of the end - hatred, envy, and neuroticism contorting to murder

[/hide]

Quick ooc note: happy to go into more details in PMs on discord. Oh, and also, I didn't suicide because how lame to Roxy that would have been. I'm happy I was caught by Odette & Co, for sweet vengeance. A really, really tragic story, I admit. I'm sad it's over, too.

Thanks all! Special shoutout to DTW (Gaddiel), Lannister (Manfred), VP (Aatish xoxo), Roxy (Vivian, a really bad-ass PC), Caster (Odette), and Spiffy (Aaryn club 4life) for the fun. Oh yes, and of course, thanks to Cmenden (Meredina) for letting me blow up folks in the Grand Game. 10/10

[hide=P.S. a bonus pic, smile! ]
[/hide]
#6
i cant play efu 24/7, and despite my efforts to make it work into my schedule, it's clear to me that it's expected i play nonstop or my efforts are worthless. I'll come back when I have time to give, have fun gamers =)

sorry to be drama lama
#7



*Disclaimer 1 - The Elephant in the Room is addressed at the very end in the last segment!
*Disclaimer 2 -  Aatish and Malik had different backstories and while they shared many goals, they had very different goals too. I have not spoiled anything here for Aatish's backstory or current goals. And I urge you to not think anything of Malik (especially his ending & the Nothing) is reflective of Aatish. Malik and Aatish argued a lot behind the scenes. They were designed to be two forces in balance. You should FOIG what Aatish is up to and assume nothing from this post.


And of course, I'd like to begin by saying thank you to everyone involved. In no particular order - and if I have missed someone, please know I am writing this after spending 3 hours on this OBIT and my brain is muddled.

All of Moonspear - AGNES, Aatish, Wednesday, Gwendoline, Vivian, Lissandra, Artul, Elleanor, Emelyn, Erikir, Symmone
All of Orza - Anastasia Orza (The ultimate Third that we never replaced, I missed her greatly), Rankov, Karakov, (I am misspelling - sorry Crow), Morvoren, May Kassis
Glitt - Tristram, Harlan, Cordelia, Cairbre, Aoife
Sunpurse - Sidonie, Akesh, Tudur, Vasinigiv the Knave, oh, I guess Eris Hale too (Lord Malik Hale RIP)
Velstra - Fleta, Egbert, Tetrallia, Adrian, Circe, Henry
My enemies, my favorite category, you were all amazing - Thorgred, Crookjaw, Yictanaghz, Brick, Japes, The Malagor (shout out to Akron and our 90min deep ring bridge duel)
And of course... Buonfiglio, Loria, Meredina, Gethin
And of course the DM team that indulged all our crazy ideas. Thank you all!
... and extra shout out to Stranger, Cat, and Cmenden who tie for most entries =)

THE STATS & LOOT
[hide] *note Malik was LN at start;)




[/hide]

THE BACK STORY
[hide]
Malik was born to the Peerage Ward and of a middle class family. His father was a very skilled carpenter whom Malik revered in his obsession for his craft, thus Malik's natural predisposition for hammers and detail. However, at a very young age, he witnessed his father mistreat his family in violent mood swings, thus Malik's impetus towards Order and Judgement. As a result, he spent most of his childhood justifying the duality of how a man he could revere during the day he could despise in the evenings, thus Malik's skewed acceptance of the cohabitation of Darkness and Light.

One day, as a teenage boy running errands for his father in the Steadings, Malik came across a young girl being beat by a pack of local boys. Malik, having the benefit of age on these young tyrants, immediately went to save the defenseless girl. After his first successful combat, Malik, the victor, looked upon the beaten girl. She had bright red hair and unparalleled fire in her eyes. A coy innocence to her struck him, and it was love, truly, at first sight. He knew not that she was far from innocent. She was receiving judgement for just last eve she had burnt alive a young boy- too young yet to control her Gift the Promise.

Malik, looking at his first love as she lie beaten and broken, swore then his first Oath - to protect Aatish Aldebrand for as long as she might live. And thus, well, the story to become a Moonspear in Orzan Colors began...

And well, the rest of the story I am thankful I was able to tell IG... thus better told in pictures... [/hide]

THE STORY - IC
[hide]

[hide=It begins... a Trystan Loyalist meets an old Moonspear Captain that remains in Orza's command after their siege of Castle Moonspear...]
[/hide]
[hide=Malik beheads an Oathbreaker Orzan as one of his first missions... Ominous foretelling of his own end.]
[/hide]
[hide=Swearing Oath to be Inquisitor as a Moonspear agent in disguise]
[/hide]
[hide=Lady Sunpurse has her suspicions after he takes the Cowl]
[/hide]
[hide=Confronting the only other Moonspear, Agnes, and trying to keep her alive in tricky scenarios...]
[/hide]
[hide=Ultimately witnessing the destruction of 94... Who knows what Malik would have done if he didn't lose?]
[/hide]
[hide=The moments of plotting right before killing Anastasia Orza]
[/hide]
[hide=The Reveal, and being scolded by Ser Lyon in their Methods]
[/hide]
[hide=Moonspear: Returned Banner but House in Exile, The Haft is Built]
[/hide]
[hide=Hosting House Moonspear's first Tournament in their return]
[/hide]
[hide=Performing Inquisitorial duties of Judgement and Order, even over the Knaves]
[/hide]
[hide=Paying respects to Maxwell, Malik's first Hero]
[/hide]
[hide=Plotting to legitimize Ser Lyon's return]
[/hide]
[hide=Exile No More - A boy returns home alone, but only on invitation]
[/hide]
[hide=A brief return that was not without tension...]
[/hide]
[hide=But not in vain - Ser Lyon returns]
[/hide]
[hide=At long last, Moonspear returns to its rightful seat]
[/hide]
[hide=A seat that Malik would soon fill himself in lower Councils]
[/hide]
[hide=With Lyon having sworn to the Count, Malik does the Count's biddings]
[/hide]
[hide=But at what cost? Remorse, contemplation begins...]
[/hide]
[hide=But Resentment tempers to Apathy as Malik begins to believe the Nothing is the endgame, not the Count]
[/hide]
[hide=The Nothing finds its way to Malik too often...]
[/hide]
[hide=So he embarks on a path to get the Houses to fight against the Mists]
[/hide]
[hide=A path that would end with him leading forces against the Mists, within the Mists... and to his ultimate death in a Dream]
[/hide]
[hide=Knighted after his Death in a Dream, he is brought to the side of his Prince Trystan at long last]
[/hide]
[/hide]

Did you think I forgot? VANILLA PUDDING - I'll miss you, buddy. There's no commemorating Malik without Aatish. <3
[hide]

[hide=You hated all the times I took Power Couple shots ;) ][/hide]
[hide=But they WERE a power couple][/hide]
[hide=True Love is a Jealous Woman][/hide]
[hide=I love that you always kept things light & fun, even though Malik is a huge grump][/hide]
[hide=Aatish even let Malik hold the staff sometimes][/hide]
[hide=Aatish, Malik's Wildfire turned Bedside Candle (and now Wildfire once more?)][/hide]

But seriously, thanks man for all the fun and awesome times. And for putting up with me when I get my surliest. =) You are an amazing partner, and you made things so incredibly fun for me. I can't wait to see what Aatish does next.
[/hide]

And please forgive, but here's a big RANDOM PHOTO PILE OF FUN TIMES =)
[hide]






















*Lol. Cannot find where I failed reflex Critical Failure and got DM click killed.





[/hide]

OK, now probably a moment too long delayed. But! I am revealing my identity as well in this post.
[hide]
It was me, Nelly! This whole time. Ok, this is probably shocking for some so I'll just list it out as quick as possible.

Why? Three reasons.
(1) Gender bending is hard, and I wanted to be taken seriously on a male PC. I am a female but I have a lot of male personality traits and I knew I could do a good job portraying it, but not if people were treating me like a woman, which leads me to...
(2) My prior PCs were being treated like Nelly IC and not like my PCs. I guess this might happen to everyone. But Nelly (my OOC self) is goofy because I am playing a video game. Because I am in Discord and having a fun time. I am incredibly different at work and in most of my personal relationships. Please take me seriously, even if I like to goof off xD
(3) Society unfortunately has its biases. We all do. I'm not saltin', this is just life, IRL and here in EFU. We have a great community and I am sadly just referring to the world at large here. So I wanted to avoid some of those biases. And well, if you need this one spelled out for you any more - sorry, I can't help xD but here's a song that might.

How? Honestly, Roman82 exists. That tone is my "Corporate voice". I act that way at work. =) When I have to be serious and professional. I live my life 99% of the time like Roman82. Nelly is just me having fun online with friends <3 unfortunately I cannot be that goofy all the time!

Last thing - I don't think anyone would, but it makes *me* feel better to say this. Please don't belittle Malik's accomplishments or my own because now suddenly you know I am Nelly. Malik was feared, rightfully so. He was a beast of a PC both mechanically and in RP prominence. I have played nwn since I was nine years old. I have role played since before then. While "new-er" to EFU, I am certainly not new to any of these fundamentals. The biggest thing I had to learn was PVP culture (which I admit I had failed at several times while trying to learn, and still fail at sometimes) and managing PvP jitters. The rest was pretty the same for me. So please don't shake your head or change the past. Malik, how you all treated him, and how his story happened is the same as he was, with or without me being Nelly.

Please feel free to reach out to me via PMs if you have any questions or comments you'd like to make. Never was it my intention to offend or manipulate anyone. Just a necessary thing for total RP IC immersion for me. Thanks!
[/hide]

Whew, what a post. Thank you all for indulging me! I hope you enjoyed Malik as much as I did. I know I enjoyed roleplaying with all of you! This server is awesome, looking forward to more fun times ahead.

---- THE END ----
#8
Nice PC :) We interacted across a few of my PCs and Huck was always a delight. really consistent and delightful RP each time.
#9
Great PC! good luck on your next! : )
#10
Loved Frobo! thanks for being a delight
#11
Screen Shots & Obituaries / Re: Luitgard Hrodohaidis
March 08, 2021, 03:54:35 PM
It was awesome playing together on this PC! Loved Luitgard and Everly/Luitgard dynamics ended up being some of my favorite.

Here's my favorite scene (and was a highlight of my week that week)... offering your arm and DM loot was emotionally so powerful. I live for this RP.

[hide][/hide]
#12
Hi all! First time doing an OBIT, I guess this makes me a real forum user now.

Everly was an aspiring Architect (who referred to herself as "THE" Architect, though she was certainly not lol). She became Castellan of the Grey Keep and oversaw its "reconstruction and revitalization", accomplishing a huge goal of hers to actually do something/anything architectural. You can check out her sketchpad here:
https://www.efupw.com/forums/index.php?topic=701561.0

I really enjoyed Everly and I want to say  thank you to those that made the ride so fun. An extra call out to Thorgred, Agnes, Meredina, Nadine and especially her early squad of Quass, Fernard, and RWMurderer (lol).

Enjoy some fun screen shots! Never took pictures of her build (pure bard), and never had any loot... so enjoy these fun moments :)

THE FIT
[hide][/hide]

An architect and her Keep
[hide][/hide]

A diplomat after a ransacking
[hide][/hide]

A lover of nature's organic beauty and her wolf friend
[hide][/hide]

A wanderer who met a floating soul
[hide][/hide]

A dreamer overlooking the City she wished to further design
[hide][/hide]

An obsessed woman who talked to inanimate objects... and sometimes they might talk back
[hide][/hide]

And finally, a corpse.
[hide][/hide]

And a bonus one (ooc) haha to show how much of a goof I am - I can't resist 8-)
[hide][/hide]

Thanks everyone :D
#13
Screen Shots & Obituaries / Re: Maeve Briarwood
January 08, 2021, 10:28:25 PM
Maeve was a great PC! I loved RPing together + her visceral emotions over sending were 10/10. Nice job, she's already incredibly missed.   :'(
#14
Hi,

Ring 70 spawns does not clear like all the other server areas. The spawn persist the entire reset (10 hours confirmed, at least), which, I think, for most spawn-types would be just super annoying to handle but do-able. Unfortunately, the nature of this ring causes the small area to be cluttered and so it easily becomes one of the biggest death pits I've ever seen.  All it takes is 1-2 runners per reset to run by (at separate instances even) and the entire map is entrenched in spawn and this will catch the next person loading-in straight into a death trap, which, just doesn't seem... by design, given that no other ring works this way.

Please fix!

Thank you for all your work! Sick ring otherwise 8)
#15
Screen Shots & Obituaries / Re: Dorian Raventree
October 01, 2020, 09:29:17 PM
Great character! A hard-line paladin that stayed kind and giving. Enjoyed playing together, and so proud of you guys for making it! Best of luck on your next.