A Bit Of Consideration

[Raksha]

I'm going to write this up and post this because I'm the good cop. I like to listen to players. I like to give them good things. And I hate it when I have to bust out things that you all hate, because I spend so much time on the player client. I know all about the frustration of not being included, or being railroaded, or any of the most common DM event complaints.

That said, please realize what an impossible situation the Sundren DMs are currently in. I have personally now spent two or three hours of my own time doing nothing but staring at login screens trying desperately to get my DM Avatar on the server to entertain you all free of charge. If there are a lot of people on, forget about it -- it simply doesn't work. No matter how many times I go through the "please stupid loading bar get beyond 'Area Successfully Loaded' " rant, it sometimes just won't work.

Given that, please:

1. Realize that the DMs are trying their best to please you all, the players, and give you a fun time. We don't ask for the client to crash, and mess up, and do all sorts of dumb Obsidian-fuelled things. We are not cackling and pouring another beer in celebration of leaving our players hanging. I think the wall across from my foot has some definite marks on it now.

2. Realize that we cannot make everyone happy. Especially in an Epic Effing Event such as the final battle for the Cube, having it announced and available to all at peak server time is not only going to fail, it's going to fail spectacularly. I'm even now hard at work, devoting even more of my personal time to writing up a series of events that will allow any character that chooses to be able to participate in the battle. Yes, there will be XP and possibly gold cookies that may be available for exceptional forum RP. Want to give you good things, remember?

3. Realize that rushing ahead, testing the DMs and generally being difficult not only makes them unhappy, it jeapordizes the event and the stability of the server. I speak from hard experience as a n00b on the DM client, that if I'm trying to curb runaway players at the same time, it increases the chance of me doing something that NWN2 doesn't like, probably causing me to crash out and be unable to get back in. Please! Listen to your DM! Take it slowly! You will improve things for yourself, and for everyone else too.

And I'll now take a moment to specifically address people that were disappointed that their characters weren't in on the Cube event in-engine. Even though I'm even now making alternatives for them to be able to participate. I'm in the same boat. I was really looking forward to getting Tamryn involved in this, since the event and everything around it has been formative to her character. But we all have to make sacrifices sometimes, and because the event was able to proceed, the plot moves ahead, you get a shiny new area, and there are even more stories to be made rather than continuing to wait for the attack for two more weeks.

Anyhow, that's my rant. Now, back to work on the story...

[cmosier]

So, a majority of the server waits for an event that gets canceled twice and is then finished in the middle of night unannounced.

Yea... I can see how they would be pretty pissed off, I know I am. Consideration is a two lane road. Perhaps I do not have the server's most favorite or well known character, but I contribute both time on the forums and money out of my pocket. I miss many events because of my life, and I except that. This one I could of made with a little heads up.

For the record, I will not take anything out on the Players who participated in the event and think all should follow suit. This was not their failure.

[Raksha]

Here's the thing. If you had made it, and if even a few more people had made it...

IT COULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED.

I'll say this again. The DM client isn't working with this many people on the server. It doesn't. It doesn't work. It doesn't work.

The choice was to delay it even further, perhaps to the point where everyone had forgotten why we were doing it...

Or go ahead, deliberately excluding players that had a right to be in it, because if they were

IT COULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED.

[Phantom Lamb]

There was a reason the event was settled. Certain game items that people have spent DAYS developing are waiting to be put in. They can only be added once this event is resolved.

We ARE thinking of the players in the long run, by adding these new items. They aren't in there for our benefit.

[cmosier]

I will not argue or draw it out. I said my piece and let my thoughts be known, I will let it rest with that.

[Maevan2]

I can understand that people are unhappy when they miss such an event. But events come, events go and i don't even know what that event really was about.

*shrugs*

Get a drink and enjoy the server. Other events will come.

[Dune]

I'll say this again. The DM client isn't working with this many people on the server. It doesn't. It doesn't work. It doesn't work.

The DM client right now is actually destroying itself from the inside out. Heads up for that event could not be given. People would be more dissapointed about the heads up being missed again for server issues rather then not being in the event at all. We try to cater for everyone, but at the end of the day, as Raksha said, we are real people who have same logging in issues as you, maybe even worse with the DM client in ways.

[Elusa]

And I'll now take a moment to specifically address people that were disappointed that their characters weren't in on the Cube event in-engine. Even though I'm even now making alternatives for them to be able to participate.

This is all I care about. I don't mind missing the event in-game, as long as I get a chance to participate in a forum post. Thanks for your hard work. I know the state of the server is not the DMs' fault and the event could not have gone down any other way. I think a lot of people need to realize that just because they weren't logged in at the time of a major event doesn't mean their character slept through it.

[Raksha]

The narrative framework draft is written, and is even now being vetted by other DMs.

[cmosier]

It would be better to say I was discouraged by the situation. I, like many others had things planned. I mentioned earlier, I am used to missing events, that is the price of life.

I will appologize to the DM's for how I said it, it was way too harsh.

The situation still sucks though.

[Gabryal]

I would Encourage Sean to write up, when he has the time, the list of conditions he put on those of us who were in this event before we even started it. He set some very good ground rules that probably made the event possible at all. Those rules, I think, would be a good framework for all events in the future. And I'll tell Sean again thanks for doing this, I am fairly certain that no one saw this coming, I think I had the most advance warning and that was about five minutes. If I hadn't been online at the time then I wouldn't have been there. Sean took the initiative to do the best that the client and game would let us do, and I truly believe that if Obsidian hadn't released a game that after numerous patches and an entire expansion pack still had major bugs, issues, instabilities, and other headache's then we wouldn't be having any problems. As things stand we work with the tools we have, and for the DM's to do anything here at all involves almost mind numbing frustration. If I wore hats it would be off to them, with my sincerest thanks.

[Skro]

Anyway, there must be some event for introduce new people to the genum cube plot, that plot it's a bit closed to all who wants to enter.

[sharringtonm]

So, a majority of the server waits for an event that gets canceled twice and is then finished in the middle of night unannounced.

Yea... I can see how they would be pretty pissed off, I know I am. Consideration is a two lane road. Perhaps I do not have the server's most favorite or well known character, but I contribute both time on the forums and money out of my pocket. I miss many events because of my life, and I except that. This one I could of made with a little heads up.

For the record, I will not take anything out on the Players who participated in the event and think all should follow suit. This was not their failure.

You want consideration? TRY THIS. Because of your rude bitchy post and your obvious self entitlement issues, I am no longer DMing or DEVing for Sundren. I put this squarely on this post. Good Job.

[MasterOfEternity]

How 'bout y'all just shut the hell up and go back to your little corners of the world and play the game, yeah? ^^

-MoE

[darcane]

Yea,I rarely get to participate in these things...Though i did in the battle in Sestra,which was really gnarley!!..Sometimes i just make my own events with other players...Like right now im plotting one...Similar to the Blake Kidnapping...lol. It mostly involves new arrivals to Sundren..Of course we dont get the xp or cool item rewards..But it is rewarding in other ways such as character development,rivalries,and just the sake of being fun..

I understand things are not working how they should...Hells,i cant even log-in sometimes to play.And ive noticed it is the same with others..But when it comes to events,sometimes you miss them,sometimes you dont.And being an evil character like most of mine,you are going to miss them.Unless you somehow intrude on one.

We can create our own events sometimes with a little thought..Lets not always depend on a DM to make things happen because they are not always present and given the client issues,it is making things even harder for them.

As always, i thank and respect the efforts of the Sundren staff and DM's...Hang in there,eventually everything will be back to normal.