Update - Max Level

[Unholy Carp]

The major problem with this is tha, if every group just hung out with their own people, then no one would ever see each other. As one of said two Red Wizards, I would love to spend more time at the Enclave.

So go out and scout, and invite more people into the Enclave on a regular basis? Picking character concepts that necessarily exclude you from certain fields of activity is unfortunate, but it's ingrained in nearly every character concept. Realistically expecting inclusion in every facet of player interaction would require that your character be surrounded entirely by the absurd, the insane, or the powerful. Which is fine, I guess, except that extra-colorful characters that challenge stereotypes tend not to be celebrated.

However, again, there are only 2 Red Wizards, and, at times, a mostly silent slave bodyguard. While Hlaine and I used to hang out by ourselves all the time at the Enclave, we've pretty much exhausted what various philosophical debates and arguments we could have had together.

If you want interaction with people your character won't get along with, I guess faction-competitive events would be more appropriate? Rushing off to get some key item or piece of information and having to work your way around or through a competitor sounds more right than sitting down to roast marshmallows with them.

Thus, everyone congregates around the same locations because that is the best place to find/watch RP and keep up with the latest activity. I try and keep my time there limited when I'm not directly involved with the conversation or if Hlaine isn't there, but there is only so much wandering around on my own that I can take before I eventually hit up the 'Find Other Players' button, see a crowded Exigo/Crossroads, and make my way there.

Exclusive and stratified circles of players are going to happen. People are going to tend to play around certain others due both to character and player preference. There's only so many awkward moments Jonwyn Doevell the Paladin can RP before he wanders off to smite an evil he can realistically win against.

So Jonwyn is stuck. There's a single meeting area at point X that he feels excluded from for the time being, so he wanders out into the field to fight until he runs into someone else. When the fighting is over, he heads back to the camp, spies the gaggle of elves that ignore him, and then shrugs and wanders off to fight some more stuff.

There's probably five or six people like him out there at any one time, but they're off in groups varying in size from one to three, and they're fighting because they weren't in the mood for a fireside orgy.

[nutranurse]

So go out and scout, and invite more people into the Enclave on a regular basis? Picking character concepts that necessarily exclude you from certain fields of activity is unfortunate, but it's ingrained in nearly every character concept. Realistically expecting inclusion in every facet of player interaction would require that your character be surrounded entirely by the absurd, the insane, or the powerful. Which is fine, I guess, except that extra-colorful characters that challenge stereotypes tend not to be celebrated.


If you want interaction with people your character won't get along with, I guess faction-competitive events would be more appropriate? Rushing off to get some key item or piece of information and having to work your way around or through a competitor sounds more right than sitting down to roast marshmallows with them.



Exclusive and stratified circles of players are going to happen. People are going to tend to play around certain others due both to character and player preference. There's only so many awkward moments Jonwyn Doevell the Paladin can RP before he wanders off to smite an evil he can realistically win against.

So Jonwyn is stuck. There's a single meeting area at point X that he feels excluded from for the time being, so he wanders out into the field to fight until he runs into someone else. When the fighting is over, he heads back to the camp, spies the gaggle of elves that ignore him, and then shrugs and wanders off to fight some more stuff.

There's probably five or six people like him out there at any one time, but they're off in groups varying in size from one to three, and they're fighting because they weren't in the mood for a fireside orgy.

This is a common (And old as hell) problem that will most likely be fixed, so we have been told, once factions are joinable! Otherwise, your choice of RPing at the XR, Trade Post, or somewhere else (if you are extremely lucky) or grindfest.

[Rhifox]

So go out and scout, and invite more people into the Enclave on a regular basis? Picking character concepts that necessarily exclude you from certain fields of activity is unfortunate, but it's ingrained in nearly every character concept. Realistically expecting inclusion in every facet of player interaction would require that your character be surrounded entirely by the absurd, the insane, or the powerful. Which is fine, I guess, except that extra-colorful characters that challenge stereotypes tend not to be celebrated.

I play an observant character rather than an outgoing one, so inviting people to the Enclave for a cup of tea on a regular basis isn't in-character for me. I'm not expecting inclusion at all, but that doesn't mean that my character would not go around to the various hotspots to observe the things other characters are involved in. Red Wizards are not, afterall, explicit Enclave workers (the Guild of Foreign Trade is largely run by the middle class of Thay.), so there's no reason they can't go out and explore the surrounding area.

If you want interaction with people your character won't get along with, I guess faction-competitive events would be more appropriate? Rushing off to get some key item or piece of information and having to work your way around or through a competitor sounds more right than sitting down to roast marshmallows with them.

These already happen. They just aren't happening 24/7. Everyone has downtime, this is something that people don't always understand. Faction-competitive events are happening all the time, I've seen and been in quite a few of them. Just when they are over, that's when I decide to head over to the hotspots to check what the locals are chatting about.

Just because a character is at the hotspot does not mean that is all they do. It's where they go to relax and catch up on what other people are doing. If your character doesn't have any reason to be there, then that's too bad, but you can't blame other characters because they decided to plop down for a moment of relaxation at said hotspot and your character doesn't like to be around them.

Exclusive and stratified circles of players are going to happen. People are going to tend to play around certain others due both to character and player preference. There's only so many awkward moments Jonwyn Doevell the Paladin can RP before he wanders off to smite an evil he can realistically win against.

So Jonwyn is stuck. There's a single meeting area at point X that he feels excluded from for the time being, so he wanders out into the field to fight until he runs into someone else. When the fighting is over, he heads back to the camp, spies the gaggle of elves that ignore him, and then shrugs and wanders off to fight some more stuff.

Why fight stuff? Why not wander off to gather other players for, as you said, faction-competition? If there are people at the campfires that you do not like, why not take aggression against them? At the very least, your inability to stay there stems from your own character's intolerance of others (or feeling of being not tolerated by the others), rather than any fault of ours. My character has an IC reason to go to the hotspots, and there have been plenty of times in the past where I have avoided them when IC reason to go there has been lacking.

[Rhifox]

This is a common (And old as hell) problem that will most likely be fixed, so we have been told, once factions are joinable! Otherwise, your choice of RPing at the XR, Trade Post, or somewhere else (if you are extremely lucky) or grindfest.

Factions are joinable, it just takes RP to get into them at this point in time.

[nutranurse]

Factions are joinable, it just takes RP to get into them at this point in time.

Not all of the factions, only ones I have seen so far are the Red Wizards (race limit there), Helmites/Trimuvate, and.... eh.... I believe that is it. I am talking more so about groups like the Red Blades, Militia, Exigo Trading Co., etc.

[Rhifox]

Not all of the factions, only ones I have seen so far are the Red Wizards (race limit there), Helmites/Trimuvate, and.... eh.... I believe that is it. I am talking more so about groups like the Red Blades, Militia, Exigo Trading Co., etc.

Red Wizards are the hardest to get into, due to the staunch requirements (Being from Thay is the biggest. Hlaine was very lucky to be allowed to bypass that part), to the point I wouldn't consider them truly a 'joinable' faction.

Helmites/Triumverate, yes.

There is also the Banites. The underworld. The Hands of Mundus. There were the Scarlet Lions though it seems they have evaporated. Among others.

Any faction can be joinable provided you make the effort to join them. If you talk to a DM and tell them, 'I'd like to get involved with X faction, what should I do?', then you can probably work with them to get some plots going. And once said plots are going, there's more chance other people will join as well once they see said faction is active.

[nutranurse]

Red Wizards are the hardest to get into, due to the staunch requirements (Being from Thay is the biggest. Hlaine was very lucky to be allowed to bypass that part), to the point I wouldn't consider them truly a 'joinable' faction.

Helmites/Triumverate, yes.

There is also the Banites. The underworld. The Hands of Mundus. There were the Scarlet Lions though it seems they have evaporated. Among others.

Any faction can be joinable provided you make the effort to join them. If you talk to a DM and tell them, 'I'd like to get involved with X faction, what should I do?', then you can probably work with them to get some plots going. And once said plots are going, there's more chance other people will join as well once they see said faction is active.

But you see, many players would not do that as they might be terrified of the DM (I am still at times and I consider myself on good terms with most) or have no idea they can do this. Factions seem to not be fully established yet because of the lack of a DM parading around telling people IC that they can join it, which often is the nudge that most people need to get things started.

But this is horribly off topic at this point >_>.


As for the Max Level thing? Bring it on! I am a bit tired of seeing/hearing of 18-20s running around <_< Even more so when I have never seen one RP and just up and starts it after maxing

[Rhifox]

As for the Max Level thing? Bring it on! I am a bit tired of seeing/hearing of 18-20s running around <_< Even more so when I have never seen one RP and just up and starts it after maxing

You've seen plenty of people who are level 18-20 now who have been RPing. Me, Hlaine, and Kaldaris for example. Hell, I've still only been through Veritas twice since it's been implemented. Not all the people at level 18-20 are grinders.

[Saulus]

You've seen plenty of people who are level 18-20 now who have been RPing. Me, Hlaine, and Kaldaris for example. Hell, I've still only been through Veritas twice since it's been implemented. Not all the people at level 18-20 are grinders.

Let's just stop discussion of that particular topic right here.

This is about an upcoming rebalance of our new Max Level Cap to affect existing highlevel players (around 15+ level).

[undeadsteak]

Wooh. Only 15+? Nothing to worry about then.

[Scavar]

To be honest, I'm level 10, and my max level went down to 9. It can't be a little annoying, but at the sametime I don't have a real problem with it.

I don't get experience for going out and killing, but I'm still willing to go out with others and help them with what I know. Plus I am still getting RP XP, and I've been able to improve some of that.


On the note of the world being a Beta, I am considering it one. I have three characters, and I try to play all three as a test to who I would want to play for whenever the server ever becomes a non beta.

[Kangleton]

*removed, by myself*

[Leevoth]

I think the key to this whole thing is to simply make the dungeons harder, so they can't grinded. (ground? whatever) There are almost certainly plans already to do this, so if there are great. I think no one should really be able to solo an entire dungeon, until they are many levels above the intended level for that dungeon.

I would like to see a fighter take out many of the guards around a dungeon get a little farther and find a locked door he can't bash and says 'oh no I need a rogue'. So he goes to get the rogue, RP-RP, get back, open door, find a monster they need magic to defeat, 'Oh no we need a wizard'... Plus with more monsters per spawn or more difficult monsters in a dungeon, healing would become a bigger factor instead of a potion chugfest.

Obviously this has nothing to do with the Level cap, but I feel that making exp harder to get would eliminate the problem of so many people walking around soloing junk, getting phat loot, then going to solo more junk. I would also like to see money not given away so freely and we all should have to work for each coin....hopefully that will be easier with quests and the like.

[Unholy Carp]

Another grind deterrent: one point of random, permanent (unhealable) stat damage for every hour you spend fighting, to simulate fatigue. This damage is removed when you get an auto-rp tick in a designated area, such as an inn, church, or a camp.

[Wyvern76]

I think the key to this whole thing is to simply make the dungeons harder, so they can't grinded. (ground? whatever) There are almost certainly plans already to do this, so if there are great. I think no one should really be able to solo an entire dungeon, until they are many levels above the intended level for that dungeon.

The dungeons are already this way. Only on a very rare occation can anyone go solo into a dungeon and get more than 4xp per kill. The world is hard enough already to counter out PowerBuilds. People who want to solo grind all day, simply are not going to be the people who are willing to RP anyhow.

All the areas are designed for true groups 3-5... thus the XP bonus (30%) for groups that size.


About the Role playing:

I really don't consider chatting about the camp fire role-play. Sorry. To me that is as meaningful as.... well a random chat room on the web. People BSing around a campfire: doesn't change anything, move a plot forward, has no effect at all!

I admit. I can't stand camp fire chit chat. I search every day for meaningful RP with concequences and rewards. I was on a server where player run guilds where up and running, this really helped.
I even had a character end up managing a tavern, another a counter intelegence agent, a member of the local watch, another an hairess. None of these where "given" by DMs, all earned and played IC. Made things real.

The guilds is a big step. If they are "up" DMs need to promote them. I have a rogue char asking about for a month about the local Thieves guild and Nada, no others can get anything either even asking eachother OOC if it exists.. Only hint Find other players "Thieves Den".... if they are all that impossibly hard to even contact....


Post above is correct, the only viable choice for 90% of the players seems to be: Fireside Chit Chat, or go kill monsters for no IC reasons.

I for one admit "adventuring" often out of bordem.