The Future of the UD -- what happens now?

[Blackman D]

why does the name need to be changed?

and its already IG, given the bureaucracy operates under the conclave it already has a base in the stone stave, which is just a simple meeting room but given who makes up the bureaucracy its plenty

the bureau itself needs no NPCs because its suppose to be completely player based made of up reps from the different factions, all of the NPCs involved with the bureau are conclave reps that liaison between the two

and the members of the bureau is documented on the forums pretty well... the only issue with that is who can see the forum DM wise, associate DMs cant see anything

so most of that is already in place, the only real issue is not all DMs can use it

[BigJ]

why does the name need to be changed?

and its already IG, given the bureaucracy operates under the conclave it already has a base in the stone stave, which is just a simple meeting room but given who makes up the bureaucracy its plenty

the bureau itself needs no NPCs because its suppose to be completely player based made of up reps from the different factions, all of the NPCs involved with the bureau are conclave reps that liaison between the two

and the members of the bureau is documented on the forums pretty well... the only issue with that is who can see the forum DM wise, associate DMs cant see anything

so most of that is already in place, the only real issue is not all DMs can use it

The only issue I have with the name is it doesn't convey authority to me, or make it immediately clear what it is. Say 'The bureaucracy' to a new player and he may just think its a bunch of red tape, not a council, but its a minor thing.

The main issue is it needs to be placed in the middle of things, not away in a room in the stonclave, or a restricted forum. I'm saying this for the player side as well as DM's, so all can see what it's about and try to get involved, either by creating a PC to join one of the Schools not represented, or even better trying to take a seat from someone else

It maybe doesn't need a new building but at least a noticeboard of some kind that helps create awareness IG, and a visible presence in the forum.

As for named NPC's, I always find they help create familiarity and immersion but that may just be a personal thing.

At least were talking about though, the more its discussed and the more people discussing it the more likely good ideas will grow.

BigJ

[Storm Munin]

You raise a valid point BigJ concerning the faction NPCs.

It would be great if the faction NPCs overall, some might die and all that to be replaced, stayed the same over DM transitions.

That factor made generational changes in the Seventh Circle easy without confusing the old timers too much.
Meanwhile the Temple of Lolth/House Sshamath have had the positions changed to other names and personas overnight almost every time a new DM took extended interest.
That did cause a lot of initial confusement and killed off a few longterm running schemes every time.

Like: 1345-7 Bob is the guildleader, 1348 Jim is the guildleader and has been for a millenia getting old now (insert gleeful smiles), 1349 Shawn is the guildleader and have been for some centuries.

Player A: So Bob wants us to..
New DM: You mean Shawn
Player B: I am confused, wasnt that Jim?
Player A: Are you sure DM I remember it as either Bob or Jim?
New DM: Its Shawn now, lets move on.
Player A and B: umm, okay.
*player A and B killing off all their old schemes, plots and side events vs Bob and Jim respectively*
Player A: So *pauses* Shawn wants us to..
*Player A and B start scheming vs Shawn*

Less sudden change, more consistency would be nice to support the long game.
Crazy saying this in the name of the followers of the Queen of Chaos, but still.

/M

[Blackman D]

well while the authority is similar to the conclave in the respect that its a group of representatives from the different factions, the main authority is more or less associated with the faction the members are from, since the main thing is that they rely suggestions and concerns from said faction - and likewise rely any orders the conclave may issue

the members are basically like the sub voice of their factions, the voice being the conclave rep of the faction

as far as being in the middle of things, it can do that from the stone stave, there is no reason why it should have its own place when the stone stave is the political house of sshamath

forum side it needs to have its own forum as there are things that wouldnt be out for public knowledge (because obviously the government always tries to cover shit up first ) but there is also nothing wrong with it having a public rp thread for released info/requests - this has already been happening tho its been thru the campaign thread where it started but of course damn near everyone stopped using the campaign thread when the campaign was stalled for months

and NPCs, honestly between the conclave rep NPCs and each factions NPCs that part is plenty covered, the group is only suppose to be players and if you think about it if you were to stick a NPC in a player spot to fill a void or something you just end up with an NPC in the conclaves group or the faction group anyway...

[DM Hera]

To stay on topic....

((the stuff what to call yourselves that BMD and BigJ are talking about is cool for another thread))

What is the future of the UD?


What sort of events do you guys like? Political intrigue or is it dungeon crawls...


How can we help you, how can you help us understand your part of the server.



Thoughts?

[Aspect of Sorrow]

There's enough dungeon crawling on the surface, take advantage of the culture differences not afforded elsewhere on the server.

[Blackman D]

constant dungeon crawls get old, and given sshamath would be recovering from another assault it simply wouldnt make too much sense honestly

politically the UD seems pretty limited for options, and each faction tends to only have a handful of players so forced in fighting is also probably not the best of ideas

there is the recent attempts of alliance between some surface guilds that could use to have DMs push some things for that involving trade routes and expansions

[BigJ]

DM's - Single shot events will be better right now, if players see them happening they are more likely to come down and die play. Build up the interest before trying longer, more intricate story-lines.

There's enough dungeon crawling on the surface, take advantage of the culture differences not afforded elsewhere on the server.

This. There is an abundance of cultural and factional differences in the UD to be explored and exploited for RP. This doesn't just mean fighting, factions can co-operate for their own self-interests (Ie. Conclave / The Bureaucracy) and conflict can be verbal/political rather than just sword and spell.

Personally I've never taken my UD toon to the surface, never felt the need. Not that I'm saying it shouldn't happen, the 'trade links' sound like some fun RP and lore accurate, its just never been my objective.

New Suggestion/Staff Position - UD Co-ordinator.

I'd like to put myself forward for this. I mentioned to someone else recently I had a bit of time on my hands, I wouldn't mind spending some towards this. IT IS NOT a dm or loremaster type position, or a position of any authority what so ever, just an admin position to co-ordinate between dm's, builders, staff and players etc for all things UD. To answer questions and do the legwork basically. To PROMOTE activity in the UD.

What do you think? There are folk here that know the lore better than me, however my Google-fu is high and I have time to commit.

BigJ

[Blackman D]

the UD had its own private thread for improvements and such a few years ago that was finally deleted because nothing happened for like 2 or 3 years, not particularly because it was neglected but because all the major stuff was actually done (this is where the illithid hive came from)

luna made it as a sort of "catch up" for the UD i suppose, but with UD stuff back on public forums with the rest of everything else is there a need of a coordinator? i mean there arent any secret places to look for stuff anymore so its pretty much the glouras subforum for that already, and then the proper other forums for things devs need to look at

[pimpjwp]

Well to be fair traditional bg lore and what actually has happened in the ud are two very different things . We are continuing to go with the lore bit events and rp over the years do not match . The staff continues to support the traditional lore and that's fine bit it's part of why no one can tell what's actually Going on in the ud . Like the new zhent out post in the ud and word of groups clearing tunnels for dark hold . This is just silly with recent events dark hold is a enemy of sshamath with the actions over the years yet somehow keep going as nothing ever happened ? It has become easier to get ud rp as a surfacer than ud player like there allowed to come down to ud but the easy way they use is blocked for ud residents lol really?
I would like to see in game actions actually reflect the server lore and this has not been taking place for many years this needs to change . When drow groups go up top and slaughter dominate or make others bow there driven off or killed why is this different for surface groups in the ud ?

[BigJ]

luna made it as a sort of "catch up" for the UD i suppose, but with UD stuff back on public forums with the rest of everything else is there a need of a coordinator? i mean there arent any secret places to look for stuff anymore so its pretty much the glouras subforum for that already, and then the proper other forums for things devs need to look at

There's two reasons in this very thread -

DM Lobo: "from what I can understand a lot of the DMs get intimidated by hosting for the UD"

DM Hera: "I would enjoy running the occasional pick event for the Underdark and its Strong Roleplayers but I feel walled in by a lack of knowledge of our player base there. I do not know about the Underdarks factions, what they want or who the players are in there".

Why not have someone the DM's can approach whenever they need too re UD, someone who is happy to do the legwork for them so they can just get on with DM'ing? Someone who isn't a dm or gets involved with dm'y stuff.

Anything really if it helps DM's not get intimidated coming down to the dark side

Organise and update forums, create background lore / npc's for dm approval, research lore for devs regarding any building plans. Essentially promote enthusiasm from both staff and players, market the UD.

Afterall, in the last couple of years I've been here the UD has stuttered in activity, without a co-ordinator so why not see what it's like with one?

Doesn't have to be titled 'Co-ordinator'; UD Admin, assistant, dogsbody, 'dude-who-does-whatever-it-takes-to-promote-rp-and-dm-events-in-UD-person or persons', maybe there can be two of us?

BigJ

[RamenKing]

Well to be fair traditional bg lore and what actually has happened in the ud are two very different things . We are continuing to go with the lore bit events and rp over the years do not match . The staff continues to support the traditional lore and that's fine bit it's part of why no one can tell what's actually Going on in the ud . Like the new zhent out post in the ud and word of groups clearing tunnels for dark hold . This is just silly with recent events dark hold is a enemy of sshamath with the actions over the years yet somehow keep going as nothing ever happened ? It has become easier to get ud rp as a surfacer than ud player like there allowed to come down to ud but the easy way they use is blocked for ud residents lol really?
I would like to see in game actions actually reflect the server lore and this has not been taking place for many years this needs to change . When drow groups go up top and slaughter dominate or make others bow there driven off or killed why is this different for surface groups in the ud ?

Maybe doing some write ups on the forums so others can read whats happening? Rockrun being in an area controlled by the Coven? When did that happen? How? Such a big occurance, im sure it'd make a great story. Though, if such a big thing like that happened, im assuming it would be approved by the staff first before becoming official.

[Storm Munin]

@Pimpjwp
Are you writing about the underdark or the upperdark, or both?

AFAIK, so far any surface faction being down here has arrived due to being asked to do so by denizens of the UD.
That is fairly rare the other way around.


But given the odd rumour here and there lately, I do agree with you about the server UD lore being very fractured and disjoined of late.

Perhaps it is time for a State of the Conclave speech?

/M

[7threalm]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_one_ ... 6_Dragons)

a story ark about the dark ones, they are little thieves that live in the upperdark, underdark that would be great for a city of traders like ssmath. if i remember right they were twisted by netherial magic.

https://www.scribd.com/document/2073139 ... ne-322-pdf page 18

at least that where the whole upperdark thing was leading to when i was apart of it

[Blackman D]

There's two reasons in this very thread -

DM Lobo: "from what I can understand a lot of the DMs get intimidated by hosting for the UD"

DM Hera: "I would enjoy running the occasional pick event for the Underdark and its Strong Roleplayers but I feel walled in by a lack of knowledge of our player base there. I do not know about the Underdarks factions, what they want or who the players are in there".

well a coordinator will not help the first one, people are intimidated by the UD because its different and not the surface, DMs and builders alike, thats a personal interest issue but there is general info in glouras already

the second one is a bit more understandable as the guild/factions forum gets cluttered, there could be a topic added and stickied in glouras with only UD guilds/factions to make it easier on DMs

info is already there or can be added to make things easier