Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

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Maecius
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Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by Maecius »

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Out of Character

So I've rolled a fresh-faced, level 1 character on Baldur's Gate. My aim is to relearn the server, directly experience its new content, introduce myself to the players playing these days, and to take notes on the game's design (with an eye for future development).

I've gone with an unoptimized build -- a half-orc cleric-wizard crafter build (with all of the crafting feats, even the useless ones) -- to better replicate a new player's experience, and to handicap myself a little bit, as a veteran player, in terms of PVE.

... I've already died once. :lol:

I will probably play with my scry on "hidden," so that all of my encounters with other players are as natural as they can be, and so that any friends or enemies my character creates with the world are based mostly on his in character habits and haunts.

I will share occasional notes here, particularly when I find trouble areas (as that's part of the point), but I'll also try to share the positive moments too! I'll also allow comments here, but I would actually prefer them in PMs, so that I can try to keep this thread as tidy as possible (for easy reference when I'm looking back at design issues to consider).

In Character

Leonard Orhdalyon, "Teddy" to his friends, was a foundling child raised by a -- wait for it -- gnome. Since childhood, he's been used as most sons get used: As an extra body to help support the family business. But his muscles weren't put to work on a farm, or in a warehouse, or even behind the counter of a shop. His adopted father was a priest of Gond, and so he was raised to be a craftsman and a tinker.

For his gnomish father not only took advantage of the half-orc for carrying heavy components to and from the workshop, he also put him to work at the work bench itself. The huge half-orc somehow learned to handle teeny-tiny mechanical components and fragile glass phials with his ogre-like hands, and struggled through the mental gymnastics and knowledge-building exercises that he'd require to read and comprehend technical workbooks and magical grimoires. These things, things that seemed to him to come so easily to others, took real effort from him.

Since leaving his family for the Sword Coast, for reasons still unknown to most, he has been exploring his new home with vim and vigor. On arriving at the port city of Baldur's Gate, he paid a local lad for a tour of the city, then found himself recruited on a graveyard adventure by a falchion-wielding earth genasi, a human mage, and a dwarf. Despite taking a crushing blow from a rusty sword to his ribs (thank Gond for chainmail), Teddy made it through the night's escapades alive.

After the adventure, and a long, long bath and good night's sleep at the Blade & Stars Inn, he was ready for a new day.

Design Notes
  • It's nice to have a little guidance coming into Baldur's Gate. I don't think we have comparable "Cliff Jones"-like figures or tour guides at any of the other starting locations just yet, unfortunately. (Side observation: Should Cliff Jones be named something that makes it a little more obvious to new players what his purpose is? "Town Guide" or something, perhaps?)
  • I idly wonder if we should have a "processing" point where new PCs get some Q&A to place them at a starting map (as Mystra and Shaud currently do, albeit not incredibly clearly in the case of starting in Soubar), and to give them some server information. I'm imagining something like a border checkpoint. Don't know if this would be a burden every time someone made a new character, though I suppose we could make it skippable.
  • The "Hear Ye, Hear Ye" and "Frequently Asked Questions" bulletin boards are hard to notice and hard to read. You also can't interact with them: You have to right-click and then examine them to get to the information. I wonder how many new players actually do this? As noted, they're also hard to read: They're walls of text, and a lot of the information is outdated or incorrect (for example, the advice not to use WASD for movement). I don't feel wall-of-text info dumps are very friendly to the end user, so we may have to think of some ways to better communicate this information (after it's updated to reflect more current server rules and norms). I didn't read either of the informational bulletin boards in full myself.
  • Cliff Jones is handy for information. Though he "motions to some crops" at both locations, so that dialogue line may need to be updated to be more neutral. It makes no sense for him to be motioning at crops at the docks. :? Still, it doesn't hurt to have him around, as his information delivery feels far more natural and user-friendly than the bulletin boards beside him. I think he serves his purpose. I wonder if we should incorporate more server specific lore in the "tell me more about this place" part, though? Directing the reader to Candlekeep isn't very helpful, especially since there's no way they should normally be going there at level 1.
  • Dedude's "Street kid" (I'd rather it reads "Street Kid" -- the lowercase "kid" low-key upsets me, since it's not consistent with other NPCs) tour guide was very enjoyable (even if he was a rather slow walker). I noticed a few typos that we'll want to correct sometime, but the overall event line is well-written and very informative. It engages the player more than the other info dumps, though it also asks more time and patience of the player, requiring them to actively follow the NPC across multiple maps. The tour doesn't hit every quest in the city, but it points out a few good level 1 starter quests and dumps you off near the graveyard and basic equipment merchant (if you start at the harbor anyway, I'm not sure if you backtrack or get dumped off somewhere else when starting at the farmlands).
  • At the basic equipment merchant, I noticed that they don't sell the "backpack of the hearty." I picked one up from Maltz today, but wonder if this should be something we sell at Blunt's, too? It's very helpful to low-level characters, and affordable at starting level if you don't spring for pricey armor.
  • After shopping, and still at the basic equipment merchant, I managed to run into a player who invited me into a party, which grew from 3 to 4 when another player arrived at the graveyard. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to gather a group to adventure as a new PC (given that there were only about 9 people online when I was playing at like 2 AM). This could have easily just been dumb luck and good timing though. I'll have to see if it remains a simple affair to find groups moving forward to really get a sense for it.
  • The graveyard itself was dangerous at level 1 (that's where I died), but not punishingly so. I leveled up quickly and at level 2 the going was safer. It probably helped considerably that I was in a party, and that I've gotten over my historic "consumables shyness" (I probably burned through 10 cure light wounds potions last night, where in the past I'd always horded consumables until I had 99 of them sitting there doing nothing). All in all, I think the challenge level was acceptable for a CR 1-3 dungeon, especially in groups. You do need to bring the right weapons, though, which could be a trouble spot for new players. I forgot to check if the Flaming Fist at the gate to the graveyard suggest bringing the correct weapon types. I'd rather do something like that than turn off the DR entirely, I think, as it is a good introduction to D&D fundamentals (i.e. "make sure you bring the right equipment for the job," and, "undead can actually be pretty scary in this game"). The oozes in the cave dungeon might be a really nasty surprise for a new player, though; not sure if we should keep them as a learning experience as well, or consider replacing them with something "easier." My four-man party made it past them without any deaths, so maybe they're fine. A necromancer boss fight did more damage to us than anything else. Either way, low levels is where you probably want to learn tactics, when the cost of failure is low and easy to recoup. At higher levels, losing XP can feel like more of a grind to recover. I had my -200 XP back in probably less than 2 minutes once I was back in the graveyard.
I think that's all for now!
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Maecius
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by Maecius »

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Out of Character

Did some quests around town and tried to reorient myself to Baldur's Gate a bit tonight. Ran into one other character inside the city itself, and RPed briefly with them, but otherwise not a lot of activity within the city proper. At least not on the thoroughfares. Not a bad thing, but maybe a little lonely for new players, or any player interested in a more urban story setting.

I wonder if the city needs another overhaul at all some point, to make it more interesting and give it more character? All of the maps feel very similar. It's hard to feel like the palace district is the rich part of town, or the docks are the poorer part of town, when the textures are all the same. Then again, maybe that uniformity is nice?

Getting close to level 4, but didn't quite get there tonight.

In Character

A busy night, but not an eventful one. Teddy ran errands and made a little bit of money, then had dinner at the Elfsong followed by a drink and a read by the fire. He won't be able to play sight-seer or errand boy much longer though: There's a whole world to explore out there!

Design Notes
  • Most of the NPCs are kind of boring. 80% of them do nothing when you click on them. We really should give them some love sometime. At the moment, they're mostly silent distractions who you have to chase down and click on in order to find all the quest-givers. There are a few exceptions that are excellent, though. Like the Waterdhavian emissary in the Merchant's League building who will tell you lore about Waterdeep.
  • Many of the shopkeepers in the Wide are also stoically silent, though I'm very glad we moved it and expanded it (great work to builders there, it definitely feels more like a market than before). Still, shouldn't the butcher NPC sell meats? The farmers other food items (one has a fish stand, another a fruit stand)? Who are "Jerta" and "Red Corel" and what should they sell? Etc., etc. The epic shop is hyuuuge, and should maybe be broken up into more thematically appropriate shops across the server to encourage exploration and make "the menu," as it were, more manageable? It just feels a little weird as a one-stop shop.
  • Baldur's Gate, Harbor District: The map pin for the "Blushing Mermain Tavern" needs to be renamed to "Blushing Mermaid Tavern."
  • Baldur's Gate, East Gate: The map pin for "Town Crier' Post" should have an s after the apostrophe, i.e., "Town Crier's Post." We should also consider using the town crier to deliver local news, or possibly even DM event rumors?
  • New level 1 quest, "Roy McGriff," is a nice touch. The warehouse itself is really well designed. Though in his dialogue he says that he feels better "knowing an advenuter like yourself is handing this." Should be "knowing an adventurer like yourself is handling this." In the final answer, too, it should be "it's an adventurer's right of passage" -- right now "adventurer's" doesn't have an apostrophe.
  • Idle thought: Should quest-givers have map pins? Roy's name at least indicates he's a quest-giver (and indicated that it's a level 1-ready quest), but given that so many NPCs are otherwise useless, there's not a lot for players to go on when determining who's important to talk to. They can either click on everyone (which is not very rewarding right now, since most people have nothing to say), or we can provide some sort of feedback. Most games these days provide little excitement marks above NPC heads or other visual indicators, but we could probably get away with map pins?
  • Though if we do use map pins, and then later move to a "one time only" quest situation, where players don't repeat the same quests week after week after week, but do have dozens of more quests to undertake, we'd have way too many map pins. Hmmm. Not sure how to make it work in that situation, unless we go the Roy path and put quest-giver indicators in the NPC name tags.
  • What's the purpose of the tripping hazards in the harbor district? Do they encourage roleplay? I don't mind them, but I'd rather see triggers that shine light on the world. Faceplanting players, while I suppose entertaining if you're walking beside a friend and they suddenly drop to the cobblestones, doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose.
  • I really love the new hunting and cooking mechanics. Skinning and cooking meat, that is. Might be nice if the "Cooking !" option at campfires lost the excitement mark, or if there at least wasn't a space there, though? I wonder, also, if we could expand this, particularly for characters with survival investment? Maybe if we implement crafting, we could incorporate hunting and harvesting into the mechanics -- a Monster Hunter-esque system where you carve out dragon hearts and umber hulk carapaces to make unique armor, etc. Imagine hunting displacer beasts for tentacle stalks and then a black dragon for its hide to work with a crafter PC in order to make boots with 5% concealment, etc.? Maybe a character with high survival has a higher chance of harvesting rare or valuable components (maybe a wizard really wants that beholder eye, but, not having any skill in butchering animals accidentally destroys it trying to cut it out -- oh, if only they'd brought a ranger!)? Just a random example and some random thoughts of course, as any system developed will have to be vetted by QC. But I think it would be neat if we could incorporate hunting and harvesting mechanics into it.
  • If we're going to keep Razimuth's Tower pinned on the map, I wonder if we should do something with it? Perhaps a quest giver in the same vein as Ragefast? Otherwise, maybe get rid of the map pin in the Palace District? If we do away with "the same quest week after week" for more one-time only quests, we can keep in mind that completing a quest can lead to new quests -- doing one mission for Ragefast might encourage him to trust you with harder missions, etc.
  • I like the server lore memorials around the city, alluding to the campaigns that have affected it. I can also see the impacts players have had on the city, with the location of multiple guild halls and public areas in the city, which is really nice. It lets me know as a player that I can introduce things that might not exist here already (or at least starts to hint at this possibility).
  • Reminder to self: We'll want to develop the Hall of Wonders. The builder who signed up to do it is no longer on staff and did not actually get around to doing it, so we'll want to put someone new on it sometime. Maybe combine it with the temple of Gond and use said temple's real estate for something else? Unsure there.
I think that's all for now!
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LISA100595
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by LISA100595 »

*Bumps Maecius excellent post for the Dev's*
Lady Elvina Aira-S'efarro - The Order of the Silver Rose
Salaria - Bounty Hunter half-sister of Darius Brothers
Angelina Northstar - Holy Warrior of Tyr / Knight of the Silver Rose
Matilda Stonehold - Honorable Sheild Dwarf
Loriah Swift - Morninglord of Lathander
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thids
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by thids »

Forums are an integral part of "enjoying" BGTSCC. Might as well provide you with a genuine forum experience:

"A half-orc raised by a gnome? Are you serious? What is wrong with you? At least it's not an elf..."
"Also your build is terrible, no wonder you died already, do you even have blind fight? It's clearly a l2p issue."

Next, encouraged by the positive feedback above, you consider re-rolling, so you open a thread on tips and tricks, asking for paladin and alignment roleplay advice. Then you sit back and watch the fireworks.
Lord Maximilian Blackthorne - retired
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Maecius
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by Maecius »

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Out of Character

Made it to level 4, upgraded my armor, and teamed up with another player for a new dungeon run. Got my first taste of the dynamic spawns and dungeon encounters, and was pleasantly surprised. They definitely scaled up, and they felt like they scaled up, but they didn't overwhelm us.

A few Q&As and comments that I've had from players so far:

1) "You should be playing on an anonymous alt account, not on 'Maecius.' You won't get the true experience if everyone knows who you are."

Probably true. But I'm mostly doing a playthrough this time to get a feel for the game's overall design, not the "real face of roleplaying on BG."

I have played on anonymous accounts before. But sometimes people feel like they were tricked or betrayed, particularly the people I've roleplayed with regularly from "behind an alt account mask." So I opted to go with more transparency this time.

Most people only send me Tells asking questions or seeking help if they really need something, and I'm fine with that.

2) "Your build is the worst, there's no synergy. Half-orcs are terrible for casters. You'll have a hard time in end game. Better learn to play, newb."

Thanks Thids. :P Though a few others have also made this observation/asked the question of why I'd play a build I know is not optimal for the server. And the answer is that I want to play something that's fun for me to play; while also proving to myself (if maybe no one else) that a roleplay-focused build can survive (or even thrive) on BG:TSCC. If it turns out that's not true, then I'll record those observations in my design notes.

My stance has always been that powerbuilding is not necessary to thrive on BG, and that the people who do it (and I'm one -- I've spent hours and hours fine-tuning builds in the past) mostly do it because they enjoy building for its own sake, or because they are concerned about PVP. I'm out to prove to myself that a suboptimal build can do well here.

And to be fair, I mean, at least it's still a caster. Sure you'll be able to dispel his buffs if you even just sneeze too hard at him: But it's not like I'm really handicapping myself and going pure fighter. :naughty:

3) "You should do the Underdark!"

I might roll an Underdark character at some point, either in addition to or after my surface explorations. It would give me a good idea of how well we're doing at making the Underdark a viable alternative to the surface, and also where we are missing that target. My free time's not infinite, though, and I do still have my admin responsibilities, so no promises here.

4) "This sounds fun, I'll roll a character with you/I can help you out if you want!"

I appreciate these sentiments, but I'm trying to do it more-or-less "solo." :) I've done group character rollouts before, and they are a lot of fun; but most players (at least as new players) don't have the benefit of being able to organize a party or group character concept. So while I am grateful of offers of this nature, it'd go against the experiment!

In Character

Teddy made a new friend in some ruins south of Baldur's Gate: A one-eyed staff fighter named Ben. Together, they made it through some tough fights, and found an underground cave system. There, they came across a room that might have been used once by cultists, for it was swarming with imps and strange goblinoid creatures. But they prevailed over their foes and retreated back upstairs to explore more below another day.

It's clear that the Sword Coast hides many mysteries and strange things to learn about. Just what was this ruin, once upon a time?

Design Notes
  • I was pleased with the dynamic encounters system, and really have nothing to nitpick on it. It was a fantastic add for the server.
  • Although I did notice that the dynamic quest system still spawns Mr. "randomname" as a quest giver. :? We'll want to fix that sometime.
  • Came across the first part of the ruins puzzle with the statue with the hollow eye. I'd forgotten we put this puzzle in, and was glad to be reminded of it. More dungeons should probably have a similar sense of mystery and encourage exploration in addition to killin' and lootin' things. Something to keep in mind when updating maps and even establishing new dungeons -- if they can encourage roleplay and player curiosity, that's a good thing! It gives people a reason to prepare and come back, if nothing else.
  • I enjoy the bridge over the Chionthar, but it's kind of boring. I wonder if we should think of ways to give it some life? Maybe a few NPCs on the bridge, with randomized dialogue? A merchant wagon somewhere, taking a break, who can trade in some unique or interesting (but not powerful) wares?
  • I need to start giving my characters more strength. Wait, that's not a design note. I just get encumbered a lot.
  • We may want to look at the spawn rates in the lower level of the kobold ruins maps. That darn imp spawned four times on us in as many minutes, eventually chasing me and the other player out of the room so that we could roleplay in peace elsewhere!
  • Note to self: Speaking of that imp, it said some things about Maecius that it wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Gotta remind it later that snitches get stitches.
I think that's all for now!
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casadechrisso
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by casadechrisso »

Maecius wrote:
2) "Your build is the worst, there's no synergy. Half-orcs are terrible for casters. You'll have a hard time in end game. Better learn to play, newb."

Thanks Thids. :P Though a few others have also made this observation/asked the question of why I'd play a build I know is not optimal for the server. And the answer is that I want to play something that's fun for me to play; while also proving to myself (if maybe no one else) that a roleplay-focused build can survive (or even thrive) on BG:TSCC. If it turns out that's not true, then I'll record those observations in my design notes.

My stance has always been that powerbuilding is not necessary to thrive on BG, and that the people who do it (and I'm one -- I've spent hours and hours fine-tuning builds in the past) mostly do it because they enjoy building for its own sake, or because they are concerned about PVP. I'm out to prove to myself that a suboptimal build can do well here.

And to be fair, I mean, at least it's still a caster. Sure you'll be able to dispel his buffs if you even just sneeze too hard at him: But it's not like I'm really handicapping myself and going pure fighter. :naughty:
Hey, thanks for that, I think it's really important to some freaks like me who don't powerbuild and have more fun mixing classes just for flavor and RP. Of course I know the original quote was not without irony. I believe that Baldur's Gate is fairly well balanced now in a mechanical sense, I know my builds suck and I'm still getting my regular level ups, even if I might hit certain xp "sweet spots" a few levels after everyone else. Of course a lot of that is also thanks to RP xp and things like fishing, weekly quest resets etc, but I appreciate that you keep me/us(?) in mind. At this time, the only reason I see here to powerbuild is, besides simply enjoying it, competition to other players, and if PvP is not a factor life is quite enjoyable in BGTSCC as far as I'm concerned.
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Maecius
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by Maecius »

Out of Character

Ran through the bandit camp solo, then did some quality checking/note taking around Baldur's Gate. I partied for another run through the graveyard (at the behest of Mr. randomname who gave me a quest to find him a lost ring), but appear to have broken the dynamic quest (either by going off path or by partying up).

After the smashing and bashing, I got caught up in some roleplay with several players, and spread the good word of Gond Wonderbringer.

In Character

Teddy finally began to make plans to head to the Friendly Arm Inn, where he'd made his reservation weeks before. But on his way out of Baldur's Gate, he was caught at the arm by a panicked, lovesick man who claimed he'd lost his mother's wedding band in the graveyard, and was too afraid to go back and search for it. Agreeing to help the poor soul out, Teddy went into the graves once more, alarmed at the number of undead.

Teaming up with a man who appeared to be of a druidic background and a wizard with a crossbow, the group put down several necromancers in some cave systems near by. Hopefully that'd keep the undead population down for a time at least?

Returning to the graves, he was unable to find the ring in question, and had to go deliver the bad news. It was then that the man further explained that the ring was on his mother, who was buried in the graveyard. And Teddy, blanching, politely informed the man that, being a priest, he was in no position to go grave robbing. Sune would have to forgive him for not supporting that marriage!

On his way back to the Trade Way, finally intent on heading south, Teddy took a break at a traveler's stop, where he met a young woman named Elise. She was new in town, and looking for adventure, so he gave her a few pointers and blessed her in the name of Gond. He also assured her he'd keep his eye out for a spear for her, or, if she brought him some materials (metals, horn, bones, or whatever it was she wanted her spear to be made out of), he'd try to craft her one himself if she found him at the Friendly Arm after he was set up there.

After she ran off to find adventure, he spoke briefly with a gentleman in a dress named Mi-Le, as well as several others around a fire (including Ben, the man with whom he'd explored the ruins south of the city a few nights prior). Once he'd had his fill of warm tea and good conversation, though, he pressed on to the Friendly Arm!

Design Notes
  • The "BG, Farmlands North Bandit Cave" is an excellent low-level dungeon, particularly in terms of the "solo game." Adequate loot opportunities, built-in quest destination, circular dungeon that takes you right back to the beginning (this is good for a low-level dungeon, but doesn't have to be universal), decent foes (though the sneak attacks can pack a wallop if surrounded). Of course, there's always room for improvements:
    (1) There's a random explosive barrel kind of just sitting there at the beginning of the dungeon, but its high DR makes it difficult to trigger as an environmental weapon. I had to walk up to it and bash it with my mace because my light crossbow wasn't doing enough damage to penetrate its DR -- I then had to imagine my poor character been hurled back screaming when it blew up on him. Don't worry, he lived. Maybe take away its DR or do something else with it, though?
    (2) Not much mystery or lore to the dungeon. Maybe a Knowledge: Local lore node could be placed somewhere in here about how many of the goods seem to belong to the Merchants' League and then very briefly describe who that is, or a letter or something from a Waterdhavian or Neverwinter merchant to the Merchants' League that introduces players to the concepts of Sword Coast trade or the Lords' Alliance?
    (3) This is totally not necessary, but maybe a back exit out into the "To along the River Chionthar" map between Baldur's Gate and Ulgoth's Beard? The only purpose this would serve is to give the bandits an "in character" second exit, to explain why they haven't been smoked out or eliminated after all these years. Make it appear as more of a cavern network than a single rat hole, in other words? Oh, maybe the lore node could be at a non-traversible "doorway" that describes the caverns going on for what appears to be miles more, but that the rope bridge appears to be down or something? I don't know, just some random "dungeon ecology" thoughts to make it seem more of an in-character part of the world.
  • Around Baldur's Gate, at both entry points, and at the bridge south of Baldur's Gate, I noticed that the sign says "City of Baldurs Gate - Rules for Entry."
    - There should be an apostrophe in "Baldur's."
    - It also says "The Gray Orc and the Drow Elf, wicked and evil by nature, and their banned presence in the city of Baldur's Gate and its Environs." Should probably read: "The Gray Orc and the Drow Elf, wicked and evil by nature, will be killed or arrested on sight in the city of Baldur's Gate and its Environs." Or "are banned from the city of Baldur's Gate and its Environs" if we want tamer verbiage.
    - Might ask the DMs if "Zhentarim known to have committed acts against the sovereignty of the Council of Four and its Allies, and their banned presence from the city of Baldur's Gate and its Environs" still applies -- or if it should be removed, or rephrased to, "Agents of the Zhentarim who are known to have committed acts against the city of Baldur's Gate or its Allies will be arrested on sight if discovered in Baldur's Gate or its Environs?"
  • The Duchal Representative NPC outside of Baldur's Gate Duchal Palace doesn't say anything. Maybe an opportunity to briefly describe the system of government in Baldur's Gate? That it's led by four "Grand Dukes" who are elected from among the populace and appointed for life, etc., etc.? Seems like a good place to kind of lay out what the palace is, who the Dukes are, and why either is important.
  • Despite having two waypoints/transitions in the Palace District to the East Gate district, they both deposit you in the same place (the north part of the East Gate, by the Wide). Should the lower/middle-transition out of the Palace District maybe put the player behind the Torrgeir Mining Company in the middle of the East Gate map? With a transition point there into the Palace District as well?
  • Sign outside Maltz's Weapon Shop says: "Maltz' Weapon Shop." This should read "Maltz's Weapon Shop." On-examine description should also probably read something like "Arms, armor, and adventuring gear for all budgets at Maltz's Weapon Shop!" instead of ":for all your weapon needs." Maybe even a little note about how there's a "courier's wanted, inquire inside" advertisement posted on the sign, below the slogan? :P
  • I took a quest from "randomname" to go find a lost ring in the graveyard. It worked swimmingly (and was rather immersive, even requiring the use of "Search Mode") until I ran into a group in the graveyard and joined their party. Then they wanted some help with the cave, so I went with; and after all was said and done and I went back to find the ring, the prompts had stopped appearing. I wonder what broke the dynamic quest line? :think: Partying? Or leaving the map?
  • After-Edits Add-On: In retrospect, the RP with Elise (welcome to the server, by the way, Elise's player!) reminded me that it's going to be difficult to roleplay a "crafter" without mechanical crafting on the server. We'll want to try to introduce some sort of crafting at some point before 2020, in keeping with the server's strategic plan. A crafter doesn't need to be able to outshine the epic shops or anything, just produce interesting items with some level of customization.
I think that's all for now!
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Maecius
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by Maecius »

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Out of Character

Managed to make my way through the lower levels of the kobold ruins and finally reached the Friendly Arm Inn! I also made it to level 6. It only took me a week.

:cool: I'm clearly a pro at this game.

I've had a lot of really good luck finding RP, too, even in dungeons. Actually, I think it's safe to say that most of my RP so far has been dungeon RP. I suppose this is the double edge of the double-edged sword of playing a low strength character? I mean, sure, I'm always encumbered; but because I'm always encumbered, I basically force my party to walk through dungeons. And people seem to RP a lot more when they slow down just a little.

I'm sure my username gently encourages people to RP with me when I RP at them, but I've had similar luck on alt accounts, so I can't credit it entirely to that. I think most people are probably willing to dungeon RP with you if you don't treat the dungeon as a grind, but as something your character's actively exploring.

That's not to paint a rosy picture of the server as an RP oasis, though. We did have a group of four who took one look at me and my party, decided not to engage us at all (with one exception, who did RP with us a little), and then ran full-speed to go through the dungeon ahead of us. So I can see that some players are still prone to ignore RP opportunities when they're focused on the grind. Which is fine! It just makes engaging them in a meaningful way (as a DM or as another player) a bit difficult when they're "in the zone" I suppose.

In Character

Teddy made it several miles south of the city, then noticed the ruin he'd explored a few nights prior. Curiosity overcame him, and he decided he'd take "one more look" before heading for the Friendly Arm.

How was he to know that this decision would lead him through a full-night's march through caverns and caves?

The ruin was, of course, of great interest. But inside, he ran into a half-orc paladin of Helm named Kal, who asked if Teddy would join him in plumbing further into the depths of the ruins. He figured, why not? A paladin of Helm would likely guard him well!

As they explored the subterranean caverns beneath the ruins, they ran into yet another half-orc. A brutish, but brutally effective, axeman who made cutting monsters down look easy. It turned out that the barbarian and Kal knew one another, though, and so the three half-orcs made a half-orc pact (you won't know what that is unless you're a half-orc, sorry) and decided to continue exploring together.

A dead dragon later, and Kal had to return to the surface to make another engagement, leaving Teddy and his new friend (the axeman Garzah) to head deeper in. After wading through a cloud of bats, and then dealing with strange "goblin-dwarves" that neither of them accurately identified as gibberlings, they found their way to an inclining tunnel that, in due time, led back onto the surface. Along the way, they came face-to-face with a drow scout, which raised both their eyebrows (just how deep did the tunnel system go?). The drow was hastily dispatched when he thought he could match two half-orcs in a fight.

It was all Teddy v. drow, of course. Garzah was just there for moral support ...

That's believable, right?

Once on the surface, Garzah led Teddy to a "walled camp" where they could "sell the plunder," but the fort turned out to be none-other-than the Friendly Arm Inn! Teddy had finally made it to his new home on the Sword Coast!

Design Notes
  • The "Sword Coast Postal Service" quest-giver in the lower level of the ruins needs to be adjusted so that his speech is not public/global. Currently everyone sees the conversation if you engage him, which leads to a lot of word spam. This is an unwelcome wall of text if people are trying to RP in the area.
  • The "Sword Coast Postal Service" quest-giver also tells you to find his colleague "in the graveyard outside of Baldur's Gate." Master Angus is no longer positioned in the graveyard, though: This conversation should be updated to direct the player to his correct location in the marketplace outside the graveyard.
  • I'm glad that Creepy Child™ at the Friendly Arm Inn isn't a speed demon anymore. He's still creepy, but that's pretty true to life in my experience with children.
  • The spawn rate still seems pretty high on the beneath-the-ruins map. We got to fight the wyrmling twice in a row, and we weren't RPing in that area for that long. I mean, it'd be great for a grind, but if you're RPing at all on that map, you're going to get jumped by a lot of enemies that suddenly fall like ninjas from the ceiling.
I think that's all for now!
c2k
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by c2k »

Maecius wrote: I'm sure my username gently encourages people to RP with me when I RP at them, but I've had similar luck on alt accounts, so I can't credit it entirely to that. I think most people are probably willing to dungeon RP with you if you don't treat the dungeon as a grind, but as something your character's actively exploring.
You are not wrong. From my experience on this server, new players and low levels are where the good RP is at. People who play here want to be a part of the server cycle and are more open to RP than high level characters, barring a few exceptions. You can get in some spectacular RP with a low level crowd.
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Lockonnow
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by Lockonnow »

well those that play high lvl 30 wish to go and find what they seek (items couse they cant count that the dms) will give them, there sould be a chance to find it but not allways for PVP
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Maecius
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by Maecius »

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Out of Character

Just explored the Friendly Arm Inn a bit tonight!

In Character

Teddy finally collected the key to his room, confirming with Bentley that his would be a long-duration stay.

While he was still chatting with the gnome, a number of, uhhh, "fashion-forward" individuals entered the inn's common room, and tried to encourage Teddy to make his own wardrobe more colorful. The group seemed excited about their outfits, which pleased him as a priest of Gond (after all, tailors are craftsmen); but their outrageous taste in clothing was not contagious, and they could not talk him into dressing like a peacock himself. In the end, their antics were a little too distracting for him, so he retired to his room to study in peace and quiet!

Design Notes
  • I really like the Friendly Arm Inn exterior courtyard's layout. Some of the NPCs are a little bland though. The guards all have the same lines (near the end of the conversation line, there is also a narrative piece that indicates archers and guards on the wall are looking down at "your" -- it should say "you"), and Creepy Child™ doesn't say anything if you try to talk to him.
  • I love the interior of the Friendly Arm Inn. I had no idea we had put in that gorgeous conference room or gambling hall, and I love the rooftop café. A person could get a ton of RP out of this place if they cared to.
  • With regards to the rooftop café, it's spelled "cafe'" in-game, with an apostrophe, both at the transition and on the sign. Is it not possible to use the accent aigu in the Toolset? If it is, it might better to change it to "café" -- if it isn't, maybe just "cafe" without the accent. The apostrophe just seems a bit odd to me!
  • I really approve of the "cardgame instructions" placeable by the card table inside the Inn. I'm sure it'd help enormously for those who haven't used the card table system before. I remember playing cards with a ton of people back in the day on Valerius, and it was always so much fun.
  • I also like the craps table, though the rules overwhelm me a little bit, having never played craps before in real life! The rules also say "DON"T" whenever there is a capitalized DON'T. It should be DON'T, with an apostrophe, not a quotation mark.
  • I love that you can light the torches or snuff them as appropriate to your RP. I can tell a lot of love and care went into the little details in this place.
  • 0:) I may have picked the lock and slipped into the wine cellar. Nice touch -- I really didn't expect the door to lead into an actual room, since we so often use a "locked door" as a dead end spot where players can progress no further due to a lack of development beyond that point. ... Then, having slipped into the wine cellar, I saw the DC 50 "KEEP OUT" door beyond that. And now I am just barely resisting the urge to go DM-side and see where it goes ... I'll resist. For now.
  • Whaaaat! FAI has a stage now? All we need now is a karaoke night!
  • I appreciate the "Beast of Whitehall" lore placeable. It's a nice credit to DM Creo's campaign, and shares a bit of server lore with players. Always nice to share with players the fact that we have really cool campaigns here. One of the things I've learned to love about the server is that we have a huge, rich history here that you won't find in any of the books. And I'm glad it's being recorded and shared in game as well as on the forum-housed timeline, campaign boards, etc.
  • Gellana Mirroshade in "The Trade Way, Friendly Arm Inn Interior" introduces herself incorrectly as "Geliana" Mirrorshade.
  • Inside Gellana's "do you sell anything here?" conversation line, one of the options is "I want to share my loyality with others. Do you sell these banners? *motion to banners in the area*" Loyalty should be spelled "loyalty." Furthermore, if you ask to buy the banners, it opens a shop with ales, darts, and soap. But no banners.
  • The "banner shop" is the same as her regular shop, which appears to maybe be a clone of Bentley's shop? It's bar items, not temple items.
  • The Lore checks in Gellana's conversation all appear to default to "Lore: Arcana" (which used to be traditional "Lore"). They should probably be Lore: Religion, Lore: Local, etc., as appropriate to the conversational cues they unlock.
  • Barmaid Nessie welcomes you to the "Friendly ArmS Inn." There should be no "s" on Friendly Arm Inn.
I think that's all for now!
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Maecius
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by Maecius »

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Out of Character

Made it to level 7 exploring the Coast Way, South of Baldur's Gate. I had skipped the map in my subterranean journey to the Friendly Arm Inn.

In Character

Teddy made a return visit to Baldur's Gate for some equipment he could not easily purchase at the Friendly Arm, as well as for some exotic ingredients.

For alchemy? For crafting?

Not quite.

For cooking.

Teddy has it in his mind that he might offer to help pay his way at the Inn by working in the kitchen and preparing meals, a task he'd done often for his own family (who even more than him would often focus on obsessive little tasks for hours at a time -- forgetting to eat if he didn't make them and bring them meals).

Design Notes
  • First I want to give a shout out and a thank you to the Dev Team and the QC Team. Both groups appear to be following my journey here, and have implemented many of the corrections and fixes I've discussed so far, or at least have opened discussions on them. In a way, that's the ultimate goal of this particular exercise, to improve the server experience for players by putting myself back in the "new player's" shoes. And I appreciate the dev staff for their efforts at "making real" many of the suggestions I'm making.
  • I was thrilled, THRILLED, that the Coast Way, South of Baldur's Gate has interiors for all of its caves now. It seems like such a little detail (and in truth, the interiors are quite simple, so it doesn't take much -- and they could always be expanded into something more later), but it makes a world of difference. Like the locked door at the Friendly Arm Inn, they're not just decorations leading nowhere. They're a part of the world you can explore and turn to RP.
  • I also really loved the little pond and camp in the north part of this map. A very intimate and friendly location for roleplaying a camp or resting point.
  • I nearly got killed by the goblins in the ruins! I don't know if it's a regular encounter or a dynamic one there; but whew, I don't remember how many potions I burned through surviving that one. The server's definitely not the cakewalk it used to be. So far, though, I'm liking that about it. It hasn't overwhelmed me, there's a greater variety of threats and foes -- and, really, the one time I've died so far it was because I was taking unnecessary risks (going into a level 3-4 area as a level 1 character).
  • No real suggestions out of this update. If I were to add one, I suppose I might suggest we add lore nodes or salvage/gathering points around the map. As it stands, I found no internal lore to explain the bandit fort, the smuggler's cave, or the old ruins.
I think that's all for now!
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Maecius
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by Maecius »

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Out of Character

I'm aliiiive! :orcs-cheers:

I've decided to dust Teddy off and start playing him again. Had a good return this evening, even though I didn't get to play for too long. Ran into a player who seemed to be new to the server, and got to enjoy a little bit of RP with them! Saw a number of folks in Baldur's Gate and hanging out in the Farmlands, too, which was nice.

In Character

After several weeks spent away from the Coast to attend to some personal matters, Leonard has returned. His first evening back saw him helping out a woman named Adeline in a fight against monsters, and then giving her a quick-and-dirty tour of Baldur's Gate (mostly to point out key shops in the East Gate district). He might have spent more time with the charming young human, except that he was anxious to get back to the Friendly Arm Inn.

He'd earlier indicated to Bentley that he'd be gone a tenday or so, but it had stretched well beyond that and he was worried the gnome might have given away his room.

As luck would have it, he had left enough of a deposit with Bentley that when he arrived at the Arm he was relieved to find his room still reserved and his possessions untouched. Bentley seemed pleased to have a paying customer returned, too; but nobody else really gave the half-orc much of a "welcome back" experience.

C'est la vie. Perhaps once his name is more widely known, folks'll notice it when he's gone for so long?

Design Notes
  • No design notes this session. After some gentle encouragement (read: guilt tripping) by community members, I've brought this experiment back from the edge of the grave! I'll try and give it some more time moving forward, but the next few months do promise to be busy for me, between moving to a new city and starting a new job.
And that's all for now!
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Maecius
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by Maecius »

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Out of Character

Today, Teddy got his bacon saved by a noble paladin, helped a young woman recover a family heirloom, (almost) poached a supplier for his cooking and crafting endeavors, and nervously tip-toed past a campfire surrounded by demonic-looking people with tails.

In the process of all of this, he managed to also make it to level 8! Ba-da-da-dah-da-dun-da-da-dun!

In Character

On visiting Baldur's Gate for fresh supplies, Teddy happened upon a woman who was on the verge of panic. It seemed she'd been mugged by thieves who'd disappeared into the sewers with a treasured heirloom -- her father's signet ring! And while Leonard's instincts told him to leave the hero business to the City Watch or to some adventurers, he found it impossible to say no when she asked for his help.

He'd always been a bit of a softy.

So it was that he found himself clinking-and-clanking through the sewers, wishing not for the first time that he hadn't inherited such a strong sense of smell from his orcish side. But even with his sense of smell being what it is, a group of thugs still managed to get the drop on him!

Although Teddy's more than seven feet tall and certainly weighs over a couple hundred pounds, he was still struggling to deal with the swarm of little knives and daggers that were swinging and stabbing in his direction. More than one hit home, though none struck vital organs.

He was nonetheless really starting to sweat bullets when a man in shining armor came out of nowhere and started cutting through the sewer bandits with unbelievable skill and panache. The man turned out to be a paladin of Torm by the name of Gastian. After exchanging a few words, they went their separate ways, but Leonard made a note to himself to remember the man's name and his faith, as he would try to return the favor of a saving grace someday.

After all was said and done, Teddy was able to successfully recover the ring, which he returned to a very happy woman up top. Then he made his way back towards the Friendly Arm, thinking only of taking a bath. En route, however, he met a hunter named Raimol (who he encouraged to bring him furs, bones, and other crafting supplies, to include meat if Raimol's main buyer of meat ever has too much of it), and, then a little later, a human man almost as big as Teddy named Edazarode.

All in all, it was a pleasant evening (except for the almost losing his life and walking through a sewer part), and he was happy to finally crawl into bed at evening time.

Design Notes
  • That was my first time running the Nerisdove quest, believe it or not. I enjoyed it. A few minor spelling errors (e.g. in the completed quest log it says "Nerisdoves ring has been returned" instead of "Nerisdove's ring has been returned," but nothing major to change. It worked nicely for a level 5-9 quest, depending on whether you have a party or not.
  • I found two doors in Baldur's Gate that may need to be fixed by area builders at some point. I still think the city in general needs a face lift, but these two can be fixed at some point on the fly before we put all the work into a hyuuuge area rejuvenation project. I got the map location on the first screenshot below, but I forgot to keep the map up for the second. :oops:
An A-Door-Able Problem 01 (Click Name For Full-Size):
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An A-Door-Able Problem 02 (Click Name For Full-Size):
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And that's all for now!
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Maecius
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Re: Maecius Plays BG:TSCC

Unread post by Maecius »

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Out of Character

The last few days have been productive, character side. I made it to level 9 -- and I managed not to die!

Not. :character-bowser: Even. :character-bowser: Once. :character-bowser:

Teddy made several new friends, added about 40 spells to his spell book, acquired a number of useful magical items (boosting his AC considerably), and explored more of the Sword Coast. I also remembered something that I meant to include last time, but will include in this edition's Design Notes instead.

In Character

Leonard "Teddy" Orhdalyon spent several days getting reacclimated to life on the Sword Coast. For example, he met and talked with several of the other people staying at the Friendly Arm Inn with him -- a land-locked sailor turned sellsword named Bellamy Charles, the huge (almost Teddy-sized!) human named Edazarode (who he'd first met last entry), a mysterious (if somewhat gloomy) woman named Esther, and a dwarven wizard with a strange penchant for ripping his shirt off named Theodar Battleforge. He found he enjoyed his time at the Arm much more now that he knew who some of his neighbors were. It was starting to feel more like home.

Teddy had, of course, met several others in his journeying. He'd saved the life of a man he found bleeding out beside the road (presumably the victim of a bandit attack, judging by the amount of bandit activity in the area at the time), reacquainted himself with an old friend in the monk named Mi-Le, and made a new acquaintance of a seemingly kind-hearted woman named Shana.

All in all, he was becoming more familiar with many people, and also with the Sword Coast in general. He made his first venture south to Candlekeep, purchasing an assortment of magical components from Phlydia's magic shop, learning several new spells, and praying at the shrine of Gond located there. He got lost briefly in the Cloakwood (fighting his way to freedom), explored a cave filled with gnolls, and then spent a quiet evening camping between Baldur's Gate and the Arm.

It was starting to feel like he might have a place here on the Sword Coast.

Design Notes
  • Got to visit Candlekeep this time. With so much of it "guilded" off, I wasn't able to fully explore, but I did take a few notes while passing through.
  • First things first, I really like the use of signage and the existence of the "directory" and other, similar things that make the area feel very interactive and alive with setting information. All in all, it's an extremely well designed map. You can tell several past area builders have loved this particular map and put a lot of effort into it.
  • The grave marker at the front is a little weird, though. It's clearly an inside joke or a reference to some past event, but without context it means nothing to people unfamiliar with it. It might be wise to include some context with the description (e.g. like we do with the statues at Baldur's Gate, or the tomb of William near the Friendly Arm Inn)?
  • When talking to the scroll merchant inside the library (Brother Demetrius), you're given the option to ask him about the history of Candlekeep. He, in turn, directs you to "Garion" outside. This should be "Gorion."
  • The "nameless" NPCs (with names) around the monastery draw on the same dialogue line. Normally not a problem, except ... well, Chanter Madeline Bennett is a woman, yet when you ask her a question it says "*he*" turns away and resumes *his* previous activity." This was probably written originally when all the monk NPCs were men? But maybe change the pronouns to "they" and "their" now that it's a mixed crowd, so that it's not quite as odd when that happens?
  • Minor one here, but the "Great Reader and Chanter Quarters" has a tavern sign above the door. I mean, I never considered Valerius or Laitae booze hounds, but maybe some of the other Great Readers are? :D Just seems a bit out of place; but maybe it comes with the building placeable and there's no way around it.
  • Cloakwood proved to be a rough place for me at level 9. I managed to make it through a few encounters on the first map with the liberal use of healing potions, though. I could probably do better here with a DPS build to back me up -- the spawns could only hit Teddy on a natural 20, but there are enough of them, and he kills them slowly enough, that they did end up rolling a lot of 20s. With a party, this might be a good map to tank on, though; and the XP return was nicer than what I'd been getting at other locations (bandits, kobolds, gibberlings, etc.).
  • Gnoll cave was also a bit hard to fight through at level 9. I bet I could do this one with preparation, but given the trouble I have killing the spawns, it'd also be a better place to go with friends as opposed to alone. :lol: I suspect that'll be something I say a lot in this "blog"-like journal though. My build is far from optimized, and while our spawns have not been overwhelming for me (partly as a result of my cautious play style), I don't kill them fast enough for them to be useful for "grinding." Most of my XP will likely come from RP and exploring (I may do a few repeat quests, too, but I'm trying to minimize my double-dipping on quests since it breaks up the narrative side of things a bit). I don't think I can rely on "grinding" for XP with this build.
  • Using the "Study Spell" feat to learn spells off scrolls is a bit cumbersome and somewhat counterintuitive. At least, it's more complicated than the vanilla method (right-clicking on the scroll). We introduced this originally with the idea that there would be a chance of failure when learning new spells. This proved about as unpopular as I suppose you'd expect, so we removed the chance of failure; but have since built several other pieces of code onto this feat (particularly for tracking when a wizard has too many spells in his or her spellbook). Still, I wonder if there might be a way to look at making this easier, or returning to the old way and attaching these scripts to something else? I suppose I'm not sure. I'm not unhappy with the "Study Spell" feat or anything, but if we can streamline design, I'm usually for it.
  • I forgot this one last time, but in Baldur's Gate, I found a "Tree House" -- by which I mean a house that had a tree literally growing inside it. We may want to fix that the next time someone's touching up the East Gate district!
I Just Won't Leaf the Builders Alone! (Click Name For Full-Size):
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That's all for now!
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