It boggles my mind...

[Saulus]

This isn't really a rant but just something I find laughable about the NWN community... It's so self destructive! I say this because I know other PWs have dealt with the same, their owners have told me so many horror stories...

But we get a few users who have been banned on Sundren for clearly breaking our rules, and it almost becomes a mission for them to slander and flame Sundren, a community project that's totally free of charge and made for the NWN2 community.

Literally going on other websites and just writing nonsense... and it's like oh wait? This is supposed to make people who do this kind of work want to continue? This just boggles my mind that literally players are trying to destroy the community they play in because of their selfish actions.

Onto my main point:

Sundren's difficulty has increased over the past few months... that's not incidental, it's intentional... There will be a lot of bumps along the way and I really want all the people who are freaked out or complaintative about it that you can relax. Sundren is not a hardcore server, I'm not trying to tell you that to make you happy, but that's a fact.

The death system is going to be harsh, yes... but only if you're careless. That's the goal of the model we have set forth, and it's not 100% there right now, but it will be.

You have to sit down and think for a second that we have a grand plan you can't see yet and that we can't show you... and you just have to have faith that we haven't spent all this time working on this without some forethought-- myself personally over two years I had been planning this project.

A lot of people have opinions about how something should work, but in the end WE know best, and we always take players desires into consideration, which is why we will never be as hardcore as permadeath because that's not the kind of playstyle a lot of our players enjoy -- however there will still be "consequences" for death.

It can be tiring to have to explain every choice and change to everyone because they don't understand the grand effect of it all.

We have some really amazing new areas in the works, and I guarantee to anyone who gets to see this new stuff that you will see with your own eyes that we are pushing the capabilities of this engine and trying to do something unique and original that people haven't tried yet.

And really, that's what the leadership of this project is all about...

[Mighty_Draco]

I'll stick around to see what comes of this myself. I agree that it's silly that people slander/flame any website that does not influence them and is run for free. I'm of the opinion that if people want to run a website about taking care of pet rocks, then let 'em. It doesn't matter to me

One thing I can say, from the perspective of a player, is that this death system looks and behaves, by most definitions, as a hardcore death system. At it's current state, if my character dies, he's gone unless a DM decides to be real nice. Begging to DMs does not sound terribly appealing to me, or to any DMs I'm willing to bet. I just hope right now that it will ease up a bit, because a decent bit of time into making my character, and I'd hate to see him go over one mistake.

[joker]

If someone is really that concerned about the new death system, they could start a new character. That way you have 3 signus items, that will let you respawn. Not sure how this works yet, because my new character has not died. I have been real carefull with him and joined groups. Now he is at his max. level and I will have to wait a couple of more days.

Anyhow, if you are very carefull and do not rush head first into battle you should not die. Draw your enemies out, instead of rushing into a big group of them. Sit back and think about it. Group up and use some tactics to take down your enemies. You might survive longer!

[Jaeram]

I'm fairly new to this server still, only been here about a week, but so far it's my favorite. It's the first server (after a few weeks of trying others) that I've found that actually has a good sized player base and doesn't lag to high hell, and since it's a role playing server it just works to make everything more immersive. Although there are some things I don't fully agree with, I do understand that it's still a beta and the server is growing seemingly daily and if the DM team says that when everything is finished that these mechanics will work well and as intended, I say just bite the bullet for now and relax until everything is finished. The DM team here seems to be doing a great job, so thanks for such a great server.

[Ethelo]

I personally am loving all the recent changes, great work guys

[nutranurse]

Do whatever the hell you want as you as you give the server a story to play through. A good one that does not centre around two or three specific individuals too!

[CharacterInWhite]

Right on, Saulus. It's a shame that many people don't realize just how hard it is to make these things! There have been previous PWs I disliked, but I never would go on a tangent about how awful the server was, and how the DMs did everything wrong - because the PW is free, it's their PW and they can do what they want with it.

It's like telling a musician that his performance sucked.

You don't say that. A musician spends years in practice and training improving at his ability, and to say something like that is just plain stupid and rude. And, what really makes my blood boil, is comments like these come from those who don't know how to play any instruments (at all, let alone the same one), and so their criticism means moot.

So, Saulus, it's your instrument, and it's your song. I've no idea how to run it, so I'm not really in a position to criticize.

You and the entire development and DM team are doing a great job. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

[Scavar]

Like I said earlier today, I'm supporting you, your team, and anyone who helps you out. Slander is garbage and the fact that is exists is just terrible.

Continue on and don't completely give up faith in those players who play what you do.

[FreakyFerret]

"Even bad publicity is still publicity."

If someone bad mouths your server or work, take it a compliment. You did something which had an affect on someone else. They cared enough about Sundren to actually voice an opinion. That's a rarity in the arts really. Knowing their anger flows from them being banned and their now inability to experience Sundren should be that much more gratifying to you and a comment on your hardwork.

As for my opinion on Sundren, it's not my ideal server, but I like it enough to play.

Finally, I think you and all the artists (technical people are included in that because sometimes tech work is more art than science) deserve our thanks for the hardwork you do to provide us with entertainment. So, Thanks!

[zkeleton]

I don't really think its an NWN community thing as much as just an internet forum thing. People just feel free to vent and spew forth whatever kind of crap they want on forums with no self editing at all. It really amazes me sometimes especially considering how overly senesitive some people are to anything negative at all.

(and these sundren forums are tame compared to some we've all been on)

So people take things too personally, make assumptions about people they really don't even know, spew forth garbage with no ability to edit themselves and the crap gets splattered all over the place.

Yay for the internet.!?

[ThePaganKing]

I have been through several iterations of Sundren and a couple server wipes and I am still here, so yea, I think I will stick with Sundren.

I do like the new death system, it really makes you think before you do anything. Several times now I have been with parties that really evaluated whether they wanted to continue or go back because of the difficulty.

And, you can survive if you are careful and plan ahead. I have survived a number of times as a 5th level ranger in Viridale by being cautious, using all my skills, and using the terrain to my advantage. That was by myself patroling and helping people if they needed help. So, just be careful and plan, don't just rush in.