Over the four chapters of EFU, the DMs and players have shared a lot of precedent for different kinds of events, scripted systems, activities, plots, factional dynamics, etc... that form the story and worldbuilding and gameplay experiences that we are here for.
My question is, reflecting on these experiences and aspects of EFU, what do you like to do on EFU?
I enjoy discovering randoms, and finding something new. I enjoy that "Man on the moon feeling" trying to find places that no man has walked before.
My EFU experience is when the char concept is viable for it, is Exploring, searching, and, treasure hunting. I just like knowing what is out there to find.
I also enjoy DM events that are rather then a sending or "I need people" its a extra chamber or a trap/puzzle room. I enjoy being able to do things without just having to stab something to death.
But most importantly interacting with other players is key to why I am still here, the fact that quests are there and are team and group based encourage a degree of friend making or bust.
Finally, Questing is fun. I wouldn't do it if it isn't fun. Its a challenge "How well can you do it? Can you mannage without this? Who do you need to do this?" Its entertaining each quest is a chance to strut your stuff and prove how good you are at adventuring.
There are a lot of aspects to efu, and I enjoy the majority of them. Or I simply wouldn't put so much effort into being here.
I most enjoy chances to advance the story, whether that's the meta plot or something a player character has begun. Things related to that, such as digging lore, inventing or discovering theories, going to places of relevance I've never seen, creating or joining a proactive faction (whether DM or PC), anything that pushes things forward.
It's not always easy to do, nor am I always successful, but for me when this happens is when EfU shines. Certainly all the systems in place are fantastic, and allow diversity and an array of things to do. But this is still an old game, and without the narrative to invent and discover I'd be doing something else.
The kind of DM quests I enjoy the most are ones that either have some non-combat situations mixed in, or the entire event is focused more on plans, schemery and stuff like that. Also I would add that the kind of DM events I enjoy most are the targeted ones, which are aimed at specific groups/factions/players and not ones that are more widely thrown out. The large group DM quests kind of make my brain shut down.
As far as scripted content goes, I enjoy anything that isn't a QA. Exploring, hunting down bounties, randoms (especially the kind that are just obscure, mysticism-themed hints at server secrets), cargo deliveries (though hopefully they could be a little more complex than the EFUM ones, like escorting a war party protecting a group of refugees and getting more reward the more that make it there alive).
I love content that doesn't have hard level restrictions especially.
Overall the things I enjoy most are secrets (especially ones with a lot of obscure clues but not enough to really know wtf is going on) and DM spice/events aimed at smaller groups of players. I really really really enjoy when a DM finds a small group exploring out in the Underdark and just spices them with some maybe unimportant NPC interactions. Exploring areas and getting some version of "Randomized" content is also very high on what I enjoy.
I think this goes without saying, but it's a great feeling when a DM takes some time to talk to you directly, maybe offer some advice or some positive reinforcement that what you are doing is interesting to them. On the other hand, maybe it's sucking up but I always try and mention over the DM channel after an event or spice that I found cool and entertaining. DM's are people too.
Bottom line: I just like stuff to do. When I don't have something to do, I don't have the "filler" activity in-between epic RP scenes. I don't have the thing that keeps me logged in so that other people see people logged in and also login themselves. It doesn't have to be immensely rewarding, but something to do that isn't mindlessly boring (such as worming) is always very much appreciated.
Perhaps treasure maps that can be found in random abandoned packs/dug up around the UD? Or a treasure hunter that will sell you a random treasure map which is a series of QA-like objects that each hold a clue to get you closer to the treasure.
And even if it's just the illusion of conflict, I like when a setting has a lot of inter-conflict going on. EFUR feels a little short on that, IMO.
I love PvP. Not the mechanical aspect of one on one dueling, which I am still pretty terrible at, but rather the "grand strategy" type of conflict where things like alliances and politics start to come into play, and where losing does not necessarily equal death.
The pinnacle of achievement for me is when I can coordinate a specific desired outcome through the freewill decisions of other characters. Often times other characters get the credit for these outcomes, which just makes the taste of victory that much sweeter. There is no other game, outside of real life itself, where you can pull something like that off.
My most favourite activity is gossiping about recent events. Speculating and puzzling about what is to come and what truly happened. I guess I like watching and reading the story. Especially when my predictions turn out to be right. EFU is just exciting and full of surprises. I just love to see how the world is shaped and develops by actions from both player and DM alike.
Funny enough, that means I have most fun when I'm walking to Quests and talking about events afterwards, rather than actually doing anything. It also means I dislike having new characters, where I have to pretend to be dumb, find a new perspective to puzzle and wait until my new character learned enough to make a fair guess. Which in turn makes me scorn high risk quests/events and PvP.
I'm one of those people who doesn't quit, even when my character loses all their items and all their experience, simply because my character knows something. Initially, I designed my characters to maximize survival and persistence, often staying out of any risky conflict, but lately I changed them because actually shaping the world yourself is very addicting.
Apart from that, I have no real preferences. I try to make use of all the content. The only thing I care about is someone else to do it with.
Things that rarely get mentioned, but I greatly enjoy; Inscriptions on walls (etc), NPC-Dialogue (The randomized kind), Descriptions and the Atmosphere (Some of it, sometimes EFU goes too far).
The Absurd and Weird are what keeps me coming back. I loved the fae in efu:m, I think interacting with them were among the finest hours of my time on EFU.
Character interaction.
My favourite moments with EFU usually involves me/my PC managing to learn something personal and intimate about another character. Through conversation, through observation, through subtle questioning and prodding.
Learning what someone is afraid of. Figuring what drives and motivates someone. Realizing another person's personal flaws.
It's essentially experiencing the creativity of others, intentional or otherwise.
Mystery.
Secrets.
Giga-plots.
Stories (NPC's / PC's)
.. The Mist..
Heroics.
Exploring the unknown alone, where no man has gone before, to be able to take other PC's there later and 'show' them around.
New quests!
Challenging spice!
EDIT:
And most importantly, small and simple things. Such as the world coming alive around you. NPC bartender being possessed for 10 seconds to make a crude joke. Receiving random DM 'ambient' message when exploring... Those little interactions that make the world feel alive, yea..
And, duh.. .... Stargazers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Crafting! Wands, Scrolls, Potions
I love it, and try to sell Mikael's curatives to as many markets as possible
Things that make these efforts, and other non-stabby, efforts seem important to the work are what fills my time in EFU
I love it when a plan comes together. Getting a like minded group of 4-5 PCs who I can interact with on a daily basis in pursuit of some grand scheme be it power, religion, politics, spying, or otherwise. There's a great opportunity on EFU for both blatantly overt acts and more subtle manipulations that bring the world so much more depth than other PW's.
Mostly though I love when PCs say hell with it and do something spontaneous. They get away from the notion that they are playing a PC And get lost in the IC activities, letting IC development change their character and influence IC events. The bard refusing the allure of fortune and not moving to help the dragon enslave a populace, the Watchman deciding it's time to finally take a bribe, the Cut-throat who decides he's ready to stop being the thug and take on an assassin job. The uptight merchant who loses her composure and begins screaming over the sending system about a rival.
Those sort of things I love watching, partaking in, influencing, and more. I enjoy being a catlyst and watching how PCs react to various situations, and all the surprises that people can still throw your way after so long of playing on a server like EFU.
It's sort of what drives me to play troublemakers and criminals so much. You never know how a PC will make their character react to your actions and it's never a dull moment.
Character interaction and the mingling and clashing of interests.
Moving plots forward, especially PC plots (hence I tend towards city-dwellers and charismatics). A big part of this is making PC factions, be it full-fledged factions (e.g. Wayfinders, Coolidge's Vaunted Disciples) or unofficial factions (e.g. Kharst Delzoun's clique with Kotenku and Alyssara's characters). Forming the latter kind tends to get the majority of plot-forwarding legwork done (even when those groups conflict internally).
Politics and Intrigue (the more challenging, the better!)
Exploring, especially finding Random Encounters. Challenging, fluid, and fun without the drag of official questing.
Spontaneous DM world-coloring. Doesn't have to be complex, just adding things that remind me that the world is ever changing.
Accomplishing major goals to the point of having to make more.
On Questing...
I only quest for XP in order to give my characters capabilities to augment all the aforementioned stuff. Not that I don't enjoy quests, there's just better things to do 95% of the time. Even if that's getting to know some new face in town, that lets my character make his plans more elaborate and lets me as a player know how our characters can interact in the future.
I just like to stay active.
This can be wandering about and exploring the server, and the random explorations that make it exciting. Or it could be bashing my head on an alchemy table and questioning why I ever started doing alchemy in the first place. Or it could be shooting the breeze with other PCs having a discussion about recent events, or even taking in corpses at the mausoleum and cataloging the dead or doing investigations (making death certificates is morbidly entertaining).
I just like having things to do and find my most enjoyable characters have been those that can always go out there, be it explorers or craftspeople. Kara Arashil who was just a beast of the Prophet's Peaks and survived the wilds by sheer crush power, Ssashea the water genasi having a whole new wilderness to claim, Sascha Corris the ultra alchemist, Ceres the summoner who is more capable of surviving exploring the UD, or Veronica Mesmerte the socialite and public demonologist in the Dominion.
Just activity. That's all it is. Keep me busy with rp or action, it doesn't matter what. Crushing skulls or mediating an argument or performing a ritual or just walking around simply because I can.
The three things that I have to say I enjoy the most however are exploring; both with or without a purpose, just discovering new things and lore; Quests, be they scripted or events; and personal practices, like alchemy or prowling the wilds or tending a grove and rp'ing with myself or small cults. I'm a dreamer and a builder and just need to be doing things to keep my active imagination occupied.
I like exploring, and I really enjoy the semi-rare times a few good players can get together and cause some server-wide conflict and drama, but...
EFU is really about this for me;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3MZjDE1ooM
Anything that promotes character interaction drives me to play EFU. I hate questing, but adore long exploratory ventures that build relationships between characters. I think that a good, long-term non-violent conflict can make the server really shine for me. I had the pleasure of experiencing it between Herostrat and Khavenko with different characters and I think those moments have really carved out my interest for this place.
I like foremost to try to build things, rebuild things, and fight the tide of massive destruction. It's really nice to see the very few things that actually exist through all the doom and gloom, even if for a short while.
I like questing with different groups, and different and difficult quests, and actually roleplaying through the quests, and expanding my character through interactions on those quests.
As well, playing a henchman is great. There's always the desire to promote things by myself, but moving other people's groups and factions along seems more fun than just hammering at my own ambitions.
The custom content is just fantastic at this point as well, custom characters, spells, and scripting makes it very difficult to choose which class to play, and just what kind of character to play, because there's so many great possiblities.
Quote from: Vlaid;355867I think this goes without saying, but it's a great feeling when a DM takes some time to talk to you directly, maybe offer some advice or some positive reinforcement that what you are doing is interesting to them. On the other hand, maybe it's sucking up but I always try and mention over the DM channel after an event or spice that I found cool and entertaining. DM's are people too.
Bump!
Also...I love random DM events like "You hear that 500 gnomes are approaching the illusion" or "You hear talk that there is a giant strange creature in the worm tunnels."
I enjoy questing, PvP, and creating fun back stories for PCs and then playing their intricacies IG. All these things are great, but the thing that really keeps me around and excited to play the most is the fun DM spices/quests/plots/things that the DMs do. From my experience, the DMs seem to be really active and doing a lot more of this kind of thing, and I LOVE IT! :) It gets you away from the typical monster AI and quest strategies and you get to try to react to IG situations the way your character would and its always different.
Also...shout out to an awesome player base. There are some really creative players here and I always enjoy seeing how their PCs progress and how they add so much to the server.
I enjoy it here :)
I enjoy roleplaying, adventure, good stories/plots, character full of life and personality, and exciting events (not necessarily blood baths, though Khorne is pleased :3 ). EFU always seems to get this right.
I've taken great joy in creating characters for this server; it has a really unique and well-built setup that other servers have tried to implement, but just seem to be lacking in execution. This is the kind of server that could turn a benevolent person into a malevolent one simply with story alone.
Some of the best rpers I've ever seen have made their home here on this server, and it's always a delight to roleplay with them.
Beyond that, I simply enjoy watching the story unfold from my character's perception. There's a lot going on, and it's rarely uninteresting. Better yet, it's shown and told well. That's the core strength of any rp server, imo.
Well, for me it's all about just talking to other PCs and learn more things about them. Just sitting at the Crone (or anywhere else) and talk and talk with them. It's the most amusing thing there is, and it gets only better when a DM just take control of Gran and makes funny remarks. Even if it's just a moment, it still feels nice that a DM was there and interacted with us. With so many players on (and I must say, WAY more interesting PCs than mine), it really makes me happy :D
Every DM event i find enjoyable. Even those with 20-30 PCs just going out to destroy something. It's nice to see all those characters join forces to defeat a common enemy, with all their differences. and the more PCs, the more things that could turn out horribly. And of course the aftermath of each event, where all the characters talk about what happened, and THEN the fighting amongst ourselves. priceless! :D
The quests are fine. some enjoyable, some less , But! - you can never know when a DM will pop out and take control of Bobo the clown and start to duplicate himself using the mirrors. I was lucky enough to be in three normal quests, when a DM just came to spice things out, and it was alot of fun.
Lastly, one of the things i like the most is, when my character learns some information/rumours IC, that i already know OOC for days :)
EDIT: forgot to mention! the Forum is awesome as well. Players and DMs really work hard on each posts! I really love it when DMs write on important events that happened, cause if I missed it, I don't feel entirely out of the loop. Also, Wayfinders reports are splendid, and show that there is more to do than just questing in order to look for some action
I've loved watching how the world and characters can change and effect everything around them. From personal relationships to server changing events.
I like to get mad.
For real though - I like getting into conflicts with other PCs. When I log in as a player and I see that my nemesis is online, I get that awesome feeling of tension knowing that anything could happen. Maybe one of us has or will make some political maneuver. Maybe I'm going to die? Maybe I'm going to attempt to kill someone, and it fails? And seeing how the resolution of those conflicts can affect other people, and the setting at large, is what I like to do and what keeps bringing me back.
Storytelling. Whether it be furthering someone plot, a DM Plot, a meta plot, I love the feeling that actions in our world have reactions, and meaning. Questing is great and all, but it is this ability to be part of a greater story, or drive one's own, that keeps me coming back.
I love the story of EfU, all the way from Chapter 1 to now. It's a grand narrative that's engrossing and amazingly detailed and complicated, and when you finally dig deep enough to learn parts of that story, it's a real revelation.
Right from the beginning, our DM's have been a cut above the rest, and this is something that makes the experience better for me as well. Not so much in the large quests (which are great fun regardless!) but the small touches - a possession here and there, some hint that the world around you is alive, a small unexpected encounter in the wilderness, and spice!
Add to this the quality of the players and role-playing and it truly feels like you're a part of a living, breathing world.
So how does this impact on what I like to do? Well, everything in a way. I like to immerse myself in the world of EfU and do whatever takes my fancy. Questing, plotting, exploring and interacting with the characters and the environment are absorbing and rewarding activities in themselves, and at different times I love doing them all (even better when they are all mixed together as well!).
quest grinding and invis ganking mostly.
I whatever my PC/concept does. When what my PC does is not to my (player) liking, then I roll another. Since this information doesn't help anyone a bit, then I'll list some of the things my PCs did that I liked the most:
- Becoming famous/infamous ICly and OOCly by something cool my character did/does.
- Working in teams with PCs I get along with
- On some more reclusive PCs, I've enjoyed lone exploration and farming
- Playing in state of danger. The danger of folks (PCs mostly) who hate your character/have plenty of reasons to attack him, and still act bold (to increase the danger). I usually lose characters over this one.
- Play barbarians. Whatever they do, is fun for me, as long as I have the at least one rage charge in my quick bar, I can deal with anything. In a fun way. For me.
Interact with other players and DM Events. Questing feels like a chore.
Accomplishing and creating things.
Engaging in interesting philosophical discourse.
Being an hero