State of the Server (9/24/15)

[Elusa]

So here's an idea I came up with. For the week prior to the vault wipe, how about we lift the restrictions on races and classes? Sort of a celebration, plus we get players on to mess around with the restricted stuff before we all have to restart. I think it would encourage people to get on and play again. A week of goofy times with goofy characters. Everything's going to be wiped anyway, and we can just declare that week non-canonical.

[Fuzziebunny]

I am all for Golems!


As for a week of testing concepts, I like it. Even if you want to be silly with it. I think a week of looking at all the restricted and unrestricted classes sounds fun. If only to look at the mechanics of a character they may be considering from an RP stand point, but are unsure of play wise.

[Kaybrie]

For one week, I will play a drow paladin.

[jarlexel]

Why only a week though, have have a few months till the wipe and new stuff, it can bring us and a bunch of others back to mess around until then

[jarlexel]

For one week, I will play a drow paladin.

Sorry Kasso, but it's already been done on sundren. GBX done a Drow Sunite Paladin, my toon Michael Zollas tried to save her life from everyone, and I mean everyone wanted her gone.

[gamestarmike]

I like this idea :^)

[Farmboy2003]

I'd rather have no elves than Gnome Arcane Archers.

[Elusa]

I say a week, mostly because it's a good length of time to get in some silly roleplay that can be forgotten. If the DMs/admins think a month or longer would be alright, it's up to them. Currently the server is almost constantly empty, so personally I wouldn't be opposed to a longer period. Just have to make it clear that any events that would happen during that time are non-canonical. So it would be a "just for fun" kind of thing.

One other thing I'd like to suggest, while on the subject of restricted things? RPotM. This needs to be a thing again. And there needs to be other avenues to earning the right to play restricted classes/races. They should only be rewarded to the best RPers on the server, but they should be something players can work towards through player and DM recognition and through in-game and forum RP.

[[DM] Grinning Death]

I'm not opposed to having silly RP, but all of my free time for Sundren will be put into the long laundry list of things we want to do before the holidays. That said, it's really up to Saulus/Lotus/Doubtful.

In regards to RPotM, I think we can figure out a similar system. However, I firmly believe restricted races/classes should be subject to character requests, with a well written bio as part of the application.

[Doubtful]

Personally I'd rather we have some fantastic events that help close out our current timeline, wrapping up stories and getting people excited for what's to come, rather than a final week of comedy and farce.

As for RPotM, I have to echo GDs sentiments, a bio based application system is preferable to the RPotM system. An 'always open' system is probably ideal, whereby if people want to apply they can, rather than it being a monthly vote-off.

[Elusa]

As for RPotM, I have to echo GDs sentiments, a bio based application system is preferable to the RPotM system. An 'always open' system is probably ideal, whereby if people want to apply they can, rather than it being a monthly vote-off.

I tend to agree with this. And RPotM always had sort of two problems: It was a bit of a popularity contest, where some of the best RPers may not have characters that are popular, and it required a lot of work on the part of the staff.

[Memnoch1962]

Think I'm going to do a dwarf, bring back my Dwarven Gigolo

please, no pics

[Rekov]

I tend to agree with this. And RPotM always had sort of two problems: It was a bit of a popularity contest, where some of the best RPers may not have characters that are popular, and it required a lot of work on the part of the staff.

The best designed settings/servers have no need for applications. This is a common philosophy among people who work on custom setting PWs. The idea is that the setting should be designed to fit the game as well as just the story. You create a setting where any player can pick any origin for their character without it causing issues for the setting.

There was some discussion earlier about the decision not to include PC vampires in the next iteration of Sundren that touched on this issue. The extreme mechanical superiority aside, PC vampires in fact demonstrated a better approach for giving players exclusive content than applications, because the special status is earned through RP, not chosen by some contest only tangentially related to actually role-playing well.

Application based characters will only lead to the same resentment that people felt towards PC vampires, and it will turn people away from the server who want to jump into the character they want to play without having to jump through hoops first.

[gamestarmike]

ya! I want to be a fiendish half-orc vampire paladin/sword saint of Eilistraee!! let us decide!

[Kaybrie]

Well, given the server's history (or you can just go look on Dalelands or Baldur's Gate) if you let anyone play any race/class they want, they'll tend to muck it up. Which means more of the not-fun work for DM's which is policing people's RP to make sure they're doing it right. (I for one absolutely hated it when I had to step in on someone doing something ludicrous as a DM, it wasn't fun for them, and it wasn't fun for me.)

The alternative is just to remove every single ECL race/class that has a particular RP/selectiveness attached to it, which is again, the not-fun option. I enjoy seeing tieflings, aasimar, genasi, etc in game, and the RP that's normally attached to such characters.

Sundren's appeal as a unique server was a -higher- standard of RP being attached to it. Drop in and play whatever you want without any research attached (Which is all it takes to make a good bio, a bit of research) and it becomes too casual. If players want super-casual play where nobody's going to police their paladin's alignment, they can go to Baldur's Gate, I for one like that Sundren has a higher standard and expectations of their players.