Messages

Thank you!

Just popping by to say that I've recorded another song. It'd be awesome if you would like to give it a listen - It's even in season!

https://soundcloud.com/philip-hartman/not-an-autumn-song

Seems my already busy schedule got even busier, so until things settle down a bit it will probably be better to just go full AWOL for a while. :/ Hopefully will be back again in a few weeks once some big ongoing projects are done, but if I get the odd moment to spare here and there I might pop in occasionally before then.

To clarify, there's no path to the object - it's blocked by the stone altar below and can't even be accessed to start the "conversation".

[The original suggestion post is at the bottom of the OP, hidden.]

Cool! Since you're all already volunteering, I've changed the original post into the suggested list (while awaiting official word). The original suggestion post is at the bottom of the OP, hidden.

Doc-Holiday, Crystal_Rose and SN, could you please complete your info about GSID and Current Character so I can fill in the blanks in the list? Thanks!

Hi Lira! I'm not the most active player around, but I'm also willing to help out if there's anything you need. I'm currently playing Wesk, who just so happens is an Ordinant of the Society, so if you want a chat about the faction, or need anything else, just toss me a tell. :)

Thanks for the answer, SC, appreciate it. And, I'm convinced. :) I know you guys have good reasons for the decisions you make, but it's nice (if not necessary) to see them written down clearly like this in suggestion threads.

(Also, for the record, I realise this must've seemed like a pretty self-serving suggestion for me, but it was mostly made for people in my situation in general - I don't personally at all mind sending such an app once I feel it warranted.)

:(

I actually like that most DM events are NOT widely announced. If you're out, doing stuff, DM's drop some DMly love on you in some form (be it aberrant lost children or helpful unlimited undead summoning circles...). If you're afk in the square 10 hours a day only coming to life for quest sendings, probably not so much.

For one thing, it tends to turn them all into mobs of 10-20 players when it is wisdely announced and a lot of people (myself included) get very very slim amounts of enjoyment from RPing in that kind of atmosphere. Sometimes it ends up just being not fun at all and I only stay out of obligation.

I want to clarify that I didn't mean for DM's to turn their events into public announcements - that doesn't work out very well for most quests. I meant that in addition to the "random stuff" happening when you're out and about, it would help if some (non-public) stuff could be made possible to plan your playing time in advance for.

Because every single DM event I've been included in that wasn't planned in advance led to sessions -at least- 4 hours long, sometimes turning into all-nighters, even though the actual DM event part of it was around 2 hours. And that's a long time to be around if you are working and/or have a busy schedule. Planning some of these things in advance would give players (both new and old) to a) have stuff to look forward to and feel there is really attention of this kind going on, and b) be able to actually get to experience DM quests even if you only have a few hours here and there to play (I'd say even only having 2 hours to play every day is a larger commitment than many can spare).

So to summarise: With "plan in advance" I don't mean "publically announce for the whole server".

I was going to write a thorough post about my thoughts, but then LPFF went and put down into words almost exactly what I feel (in a more succinct way than I'd ever be able to).

I'd just like to add one other thought that tangents the time constraint issue - Hardly anything is ever planned, and often when it is people don't care. Basically, if it weren't hard enough that an event might take two hours minimum of play time, you have no clue when they'll kick off either. Nearly every DM quest I've been on has "just happened" when I've been with a group somewhere, and most player organised stuff is spur-of-the-moment too. So that means you can't really even plan your playing time to specific scheduled points either.

What this leads to, in terms of new players, is there being a lot of stuff going on, but them not noticing in advance there's something special to log on to. If this player can't/doesn't want to hang around IG for hours to "stumble upon stuff", they will likely not experience any of the cool stuff either.

I don't know if it's feasible or wanted, but perhaps both DMs and players could schedule stuff a bit more often? It wouldn't have to be particularly specific, but for example if a DM would like to run something for someone, maybe they could just send a quick tell asking "I've got this thing for you, when would be a good time?". This doesn't only enable people to plan their time, it also gives them something to look forward to. The few things this has happened with DM's for me, I've been super excited and looking forward to the scheduled time a bunch. It'd be sort of like a scheduled PnP meeting, except on EfU.

Just a thought.

I have a hunch that as the server becomes more fleshed out and more content is added this will cease to be an issue. I can't remember any chapter, except perhaps EfU:M, where the first few months weren't tough to level in.

As I said, throughout all four chapters, I've been level 8 once. For some of us, it's not that easy (for various reasons). I'm still unsure as to why limiting it in the way it's limited now is cut in stone.

I know Talir has already said it's not going to happen, but I'd like to chime in with my five cents anyway.

I comment on this as a player who has almost never, since I started playing on the server in 2006, been level 8. I had it for a single day on Greyfell, if memory serves, before I died and lost it again. Otherwise, the highest my characters have managed to accomplish is level 7. And this is not only because I'm not the best with NWN's mechanics. Chiefly, it's because of my play style - I often have relatively little (in EfU:R, very little) playing time. When I do play, I much prefer to plot, interact with others, organise PC events involving random people on the server, explore, and in other ways further my character's development and goals in various non-mechanically benefitting aspects. This means I don't run a lot of quests. I guess if I ran quest trains (I don't use this term in a derogative sense) I would eventually hit the level too. But as it stands, whenever I log on (which at the moment might be two-three times during a week), I have to choose between questing, or doing all that other stuff that I personally find more interesting. This does not mean I sit in the square RPing all day long - this means I often do right scary and downright dangerous stuff involving other content on the server than scripted quests.

Now, I do quest - It's necessary to gather gold and supplies to survive after all. But all that other stuff I do tends to have very lethal consequences, since it either involves random spawns in dangerous parts of the server, or (if I'm lucky - and I love it to bits when it happens) DM spice. So my xp income/decay tends to balance out to a point well before the 28000 xp you need for level 8. Additionally, since I quest so little, I very, very seldom have any useful consumables at all. I was recently in a stretch of DM quests and spice that was absolutely awesome. But where my companions chugged potions left and right, I had at my disposal two or three blur potions in total over the course of 4 days, one purple crystal (I was given some more by my ICly nice companions), a couple of moderate healing potions, and two potions of invisibility. That was the extent of my life-safer stuff, basically. And being a rogue, I'm among the last in line for the supplies dropped on the quest.

All this added up, I have given up on ever getting to choose a perk for my rogue.

I'm a bit unsure what the reasoning behind keeping it at level 8 is. From what I see, reaching level 8 doesn't really prove anything about having a successful character - Hard drawn, all it means is that you've managed to quest many times in a row without dying (except if you're super awesome and get there by DM xp). Sure, most level 8 players do seem to be cool characters too, but that's because our player base is great, not because of what's required to hit the level.

From what I recall, rogue perks (being the first perks to be added) were added just to give rogues an incentive to stay pure instead of multiclassing, and to patch their relative mechanical lousiness in a server where things turn up to be sneak attack immune left and right. At the moment, they're not even very good stealthers or scouts - At the low loot level we have and most places being outdoors, they're outclassed by rangers and druids. Since the level 8 perks is where the real "power" is at, for my rogue these balancing, necessary perks might as well not exist.

This might have turned a shade rambling - I haven't slept well in a couple of weeks - and it's in no way a complaint about my current situation. I love my character and I love my position on the server, but for someone like me, the level 8 perks might as well not exist. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in being in this situation either.

To not only have this post be a rant about myself, I'd like to suggest something. I have no clue if it's actually possible to implement, but:

How about, instead of the rogue perks requiring specific mechanical levels, they were changed to activate once you had played for a specific time on your character? A certain number of hours, a certain number of resets, or whatever way is possible to measure in scripts. Perhaps they could even be applied for with a simple EfUSL check for that character. This way, it wouldn't be discriminating against those who do a good job with their character, but that for various reasons never hit level 8.

-EDIT- Otherwise, I don't really see the harm in lowering the level requirements. If it was lowered to 7, the people who have an easy time reaching 8 would not miss out (they'd get it soon enough anyway even if it remained the way it is today), and the people who don't would reach it at roughly the same pace as those who easily reach 8 today. I don't see who this would harm, really.

My internet is visiting the fugue - Will be back once it's respawned.

I would actually argue that for someone who -isn't- knowledgable about the specifics of druids, it actually makes more sense for them to use the term. My own character never refers to a character based on their class. He refers to each character, if he refers to them in a titular/labelling sense, as what he perceives them as IC. He still calls druids druids. He also, having zero ranks in spellcraft and being a city man, likely would also call a nature-based sorcerer a druid, and so on. For him, the term roughly means "lives outside the city, has a deep connection with nature and balance, uses some kind of magic that looks natureish". He makes sweeping statements about "the druids" when referring to the Stewards, because he doesn't know better, and because it's a convenient label he has had introduced to him as a city man. If he had intimate knowledge of the differences between the various nature dwelling folks out there, he would be more specific in his referral to them. Just like someone with no knowledge of magic who saw a person cast a spell might refer to them as a "mage", while someone with specific knowledge in the field might refer to them as a "conjurer", "blood-mage", "spellblade", etc. I would even argue that a "wild walker" is not exactly a fitting description for a druidic character, since it's too generic - it fits in on anyone who walks the wilderness regularly, including rangers and suchlike.

I agree with the above people in that when the name of a class also happens to be an actual sweeping description of that type of "profession", I can't see why it would break immersion to use it. I would never call a rogue a rogue, but why not call someone who professionally practises the bardic profession a bard? Referring to someone as a "barbarian" because it's their class is immersion-breaking, but referring to someone as a barbarian because they actually fit the description is fine, in my opinion.

Yep, works fine now!