What Can We Do?

[Tekill]

I have really enjoyed this server over the years. I would like to thank the organizers and DM's for creating such a fun place to hang out.
But!
Just kidding, no but.
Although!
JK, no althoughs either.
Thank for the good times!

I have created a lot of characters. I have surprised myself quite often with the all the interesting personalities, roles and back-stories I have been able to create and roleplay. D&D always catered to that very well and so has this server and its custom rules,
It has been a fun creative outlet.

I have quested and grinded out quite a few level 30's and epic level characters. I really took my time to get to understand the various classes and builds to match the fun personalities and back-stories I created.

Although, (uh-oh I said although) I was always a bit envious of the players that could stick to one character and could take the time to build a faction or some sort of legacy on the server for themselves.

I want to do that now too!

I have sort of finally figured out a lot of the mechanics, and have pretty much figured out what kind of characters I want to RP and what ones I do not. I have gotten the number of toons I plan to RP narrowed down to one UD toon and one (maybe two) surface characters.

The next step is to figure out what should I do next.
Well, do any of you have any idea what that should be?

I will still be doing some questing and grinding to level up my main characters.
But then what?

A little campfire RP is fine.

DM events are always fun.

I have seen a trend in the way the server is Roleplayed in recent years. Sort of moving away from conflict focused RP to more of a cooperative simulation of the day to day lives of fantasy characters. Faction building and overall RP of the lives lived in a non evil kingdom.

So, when in Baldur's Gate, do as the Baldarian Gaterites do.
I think I would rather join another players faction than start my own.
So, I suppose I can take some time to RP which factions to join and then figure out ways to help them grow.

Then what?
Any suggestions for an old pvp'er (more like CvC'er) that wants to try and assimilate?

I would rather pick a fight with you all then sit around a camp fire doing nothing in some boring fantasy version of The Sims, while waiting for the DM's to supply us with the next round of evil to destroy.

BUT other than that -What can you sugges I/we do?

[Planehopper]

Well.. what parts of the game do you enjoy ooc? Dungeon running? Niche builds? Sounds like social party/campfire RP is less desirable?

Then think about things you *might* enjoy doing. Writing a journal or contributing some art on the forums? A book or songs in game? Interacting as a sort of quasi-npc for others?

I feel like I've been where you're at several times over the years. We get some comfortable doing the same sort of thing that it becomes old hat, and if the RP isn't feeling especially interesting, its hard to find direction.

I've answered my questions a little differently each time.

I like to RP adventure, opposed to more ooc grab and dash runs or grinding. So I have played characters that have RP purpose to adventure and hooks enough to latch on to parties with good RP reason.

I enjoy that quasi-npc status (that is interacting with players on a recurring basis without joining or impacting their paths too severely). So I play characters like.. a wizard advisor to a faction leader... a gnome techsmith dealing smokepowder and potions.. a merchant faction that hires PCs or pays them to complete tasks... a lore monkey book collector who is played as a sage. Stuff like that. I find those roles allow me to jump on when I can, stay neutral enough to interact as I want, and have fun meeting new people and hearing their stories.

Sometimes that RP sticks and is more fun than I had thought and we convince that leader to declare himself a baron, start a caravan business connecting communities, or even starting and building factions along the way.

I dunno man. I have felt the burnout before, believe me. I've always found it easiest to think of the things.I enjoy as a player, then decide a RP concept that allows me those opportunities, then build around that. Cant go wrong there!

[Steve]

Sounds like you need to create a Tournament Hosting, Prowess Boasting, race/decathlon/best spell book type of faction.

Let the games begin!!!

[DM Spartacus]

Nicely worded thoughts on an endless and core thought for this game - thank you all. Of course the answer is likely to be different for all but the process and the need to find a recharged place is interesting and I think important.

I think we have potentially amazing dynamics in this game that rarely reach potential some of this due to no two ambitions are ever the same but I think we might work a good year by being open and flexible.

So for my part if you find a role that works and it can fit with others realistically with the current flow go for it, promote the rp share the broader hope or hopes

For all in this place if dm support can help be sure to engage. It is a finite support and sometimes less than desired but as you would expect we are here because we want to enliven the world and defining what can be achieved on individual basis may help build realistic goals for us all

[Tekill]

The suggestions:
-Grind/quest/Adventure
-Regarding RP - make friends, build trust in others both ooc and ic
-Really Immerse yourself in your character
-Semi npc- by creating tasks for other players
-Created detailed biographies/backstories/artwork
-Create a faction
-Create a character/faction that gels well with other players for greatest satisfaction.

I guess that is jist of the server/game.
I was going to say it is missing something, but that really is a lot of stuff to do, if you think about it.

I could considering starting a faction, from the ground up.
I am still very Character VS Character minded. I think I always will be. So I think it will be an 'against the grain' sort of faction (as in not necessarily evil).

But for it to work I will need to take Sparticus following suggestion very seriously (especially with the sensitivies of the players on this server):

So for my part if you find a role that works and it can fit with others realistically with the current flow go for it, promote the rp share the broader hope or hopes

Then if i take take Planehopper suggestion and treat the faction somtimes as being semi NPC- as a way to create tasks/jobs/purposes for other players, then I think that might aid the factions success itself.

There are just so many factions and churches and orders and houses out there already. Is another faction really what's needed?
And then I guess the next question would be whats sort of faction is really needed in game, right now?
Do we need more bad guys?
Now that we know what we can do, what is actaully needed?

[Planehopper]

Could always do something like a traveling 'circus', circus the sort of the romans - gladiator/tournament/arranged fights between characters, or unpetrified spawns and that sort.

CvC focus
Tasks for players (bounties for petrified spawns)
Events/social in tournaments
Inter-faction as you could ask them to host you

All this could lead to a faction of your own where you could build a magnificent arena is Soubar or Roaringshore, somewhere a little sketchy.

[Planehopper]

Might be kind of cool if rival gladiator schools popped up.

I have characters that may bet gold on the matches!

Fights between level/build restricted characters who have to roll dice for a selection of mundane armor/shield/weapon would make them fun. Less focus on magic and equipment that way, with lots of random dice action.

I can imagine two warriors going at it with mundane leather or chain, using a whip and a club. Would be fun to watch.

[Lockonnow]

There one really main thing you can do it is make sure that the red wizard of thay leaving the Baldur's Gate City of plenty

[Tekill]

Wha-wha-WHAT!?

Red Wizards leave?
The Red Wizards have been a pillar of the Baldur's Gate Community and one of the last bastions of, E-Ville, on this server.
Yeah, while we are at it, lets just purge the following alignments while we are at it: CN LE NE CE.

I know, we can replace the Red Wizards with hugs!

[selhan]

My character rp is 10 years old. Yeah I had a long leave in between but his story never ended, even the return was rp in the making. There's only one other player whos been active longer that I know of with using the same character. Some old time friends are still around with new accounts and new toons. Happy to have ran into them.

All in all for me its all about the story. My characters history up to this point was alot of work. With the RCR system I had the enjoyment to try different builds within the line of the same classes, from RP to Power and it was all cool with their pros and cons, but I think soon Im more incline to do one final rcr to rebuild it to match the rp hes gone thru. Then I may be able to send him off on some rp journey of sort, even age him in appearance as well. I do have a couple of alts but those are mainly to help team up with lower levels that may need assistance instead of a epic toon plow driving things for them. Back in the day it was all about the rp, and helping character creations of one's persona. People who have rp''d heavily with me knows , I myself dont even wait for dms, I will help create player side events and rp. I learned from some of the best ever on this server back in the day, they will never be forgotten.

Tho I will be honest the meta is real now a days, too many people gossip in OOC about IC things that it often tends to cause meta. Meta kills a good rp, a good story. You tend to lose the gripping reaction that was suppose to be caused by a great rp session.

Also one last thing..way too many good guys and way too many quiet bad guys. I have played many other MMOs with no RP period. And I will tell you, you need the Evil as well as the Good to create a balance on the server. When its too one sided, the game gets boring. Long ago there was many good vs evil rp conflicts. It causes good drama, good drama as in, a good interest of happenings. It made you want to log and to see whats going to happen in the day. Mindless loot runs and character grinding makes ya feel like a zombie. Idk how some people are able to do it. We had real mercenary's back then, players who would charge coins to escort players to do Malts quest etc. We had bandits that would try to extort players on the roads. We had a good size community of elves aiming arrows at you if you crossed into their borders, evil factions forcing people to join their cause or suffer chaos and calamity. Those were fun days.

Im sorry I ment to put in my lil bit of input and got caught up in memories forgive meh!

[Hoihe]

My character rp is 10 years old. Yeah I had a long leave in between but his story never ended, even the return was rp in the making. There's only one other player whos been active longer that I know of with using the same character. Some old time friends are still around with new accounts and new toons. Happy to have ran into them.

All in all for me its all about the story. My characters history up to this point was alot of work. With the RCR system I had the enjoyment to try different builds within the line of the same classes, from RP to Power and it was all cool with their pros and cons, but I think soon Im more incline to do one final rcr to rebuild it to match the rp hes gone thru. Then I may be able to send him off on some rp journey of sort, even age him in appearance as well. I do have a couple of alts but those are mainly to help team up with lower levels that may need assistance instead of a epic toon plow driving things for them. Back in the day it was all about the rp, and helping character creations of one's persona. People who have rp''d heavily with me knows , I myself dont even wait for dms, I will help create player side events and rp. I learned from some of the best ever on this server back in the day, they will never be forgotten.

Tho I will be honest the meta is real now a days, too many people gossip in OOC about IC things that it often tends to cause meta. Meta kills a good rp, a good story. You tend to lose the gripping reaction that was suppose to be caused by a great rp session.

Also one last thing..way too many good guys and way too many quiet bad guys. I have played many other MMOs with no RP period. And I will tell you, you need the Evil as well as the Good to create a balance on the server. When its too one sided, the game gets boring. Long ago there was many good vs evil rp conflicts. It causes good drama, good drama as in, a good interest of happenings. It made you want to log and to see whats going to happen in the day. Mindless loot runs and character grinding makes ya feel like a zombie. Idk how some people are able to do it. We had real mercenary's back then, players who would charge coins to escort players to do Malts quest etc. We had bandits that would try to extort players on the roads. We had a good size community of elves aiming arrows at you if you crossed into their borders, evil factions forcing people to join their cause or suffer chaos and calamity. Those were fun days.

Im sorry I ment to put in my lil bit of input and got caught up in memories forgive meh!

To me, it honestly feels the other way around. Evil faiths are free to be open with symbols and membership, and being good aligned that opposes evil faiths leads to isolation. Even if your opposition is simply proselytizing against them with alternatives (like trying to convince people to follow Valkur/Selune, or give them tribute rather than Umberlee). Can even lead to being kicked out of a tavern for doing so or losing friends. Good to me, or at least good that is discerning in the faiths it tolerates and refuses company of evil, seems increasingly rare.

As for OOC gossip - one part of it to me feels mandatory: figuring out whether or not a supposed new player is truly a new player, or an old player pretending to be new. I've been burned far too often by encountering supposed new players spreading malignant IC rumours about things their character, after thorough investigation, had no business knowing by virtue of them disliking one's character concept. Or supposed new players joining groups only to badmouth them in their friend discords for daring... *gasp* RP an erevanite doing a low-effort prank involving tickling on a fellow elf who was depressed. Or even badmouth people for daring play anything other than a disfigured female PC, accusing them of being G.I.R.Ls (Guy in Real Life). I've a particular loathing for those who go on about how female PCs that aren't either disfigured or covered in more cloth than a bedouin are played by men. Which then informs how comfortable one feels around supposed new players, as they don't know if they're old players who do that or not.

[yyj]

I have really enjoyed this server over the years. I would like to thank the organizers and DM's for creating such a fun place to hang out.
But!
Just kidding, no but.
Although!
JK, no althoughs either.
Thank for the good times!

I have created a lot of characters. I have surprised myself quite often with the all the interesting personalities, roles and back-stories I have been able to create and roleplay. D&D always catered to that very well and so has this server and its custom rules,
It has been a fun creative outlet.

I have quested and grinded out quite a few level 30's and epic level characters. I really took my time to get to understand the various classes and builds to match the fun personalities and back-stories I created.

Although, (uh-oh I said although) I was always a bit envious of the players that could stick to one character and could take the time to build a faction or some sort of legacy on the server for themselves.

I want to do that now too!

I have sort of finally figured out a lot of the mechanics, and have pretty much figured out what kind of characters I want to RP and what ones I do not. I have gotten the number of toons I plan to RP narrowed down to one UD toon and one (maybe two) surface characters.

The next step is to figure out what should I do next.
Well, do any of you have any idea what that should be?

I will still be doing some questing and grinding to level up my main characters.
But then what?

A little campfire RP is fine.

DM events are always fun.

I have seen a trend in the way the server is Roleplayed in recent years. Sort of moving away from conflict focused RP to more of a cooperative simulation of the day to day lives of fantasy characters. Faction building and overall RP of the lives lived in a non evil kingdom.

So, when in Baldur's Gate, do as the Baldarian Gaterites do.
I think I would rather join another players faction than start my own.
So, I suppose I can take some time to RP which factions to join and then figure out ways to help them grow.

Then what?
Any suggestions for an old pvp'er (more like CvC'er) that wants to try and assimilate?

I would rather pick a fight with you all then sit around a camp fire doing nothing in some boring fantasy version of The Sims, while waiting for the DM's to supply us with the next round of evil to destroy.

BUT other than that -What can you sugges I/we do?

There is a lot happening, look at the rumors posts for example each one is an RP opportunity, I like anything people throw my way, I rarely hide myself on Scry, reach out if needed, BG is a living and breathing world, just look out for opportunities and chances, there is something for everyone.

And from what I know and seen, a lot of evil factions are just dormant or inactive.

[Oarthias]

I would suggest really fleshing out your character(s) that you are going to focus on playing. Think about what makes them tick. Why is it they react certain ways to the things happening around them. Give them a personality flaw. Something to work through, a place in which that character can grow and evolve as you play them. You can have an idea of where you want them to go, but be open to letting them change in ways you never planned them to grow. This helps with creating a story not just for yourself, sometimes these can have a pretty profound effect on the characters they are interacting with as well.
My alt for example is a druid that I (to the horror of my building friends) tanked her con stats. She is a very very squishy druid. While she may be confident in her knowledge of the balance, she lacks confidence else where. The character has had to work through how she can work through her weaknesses in order to find her inner strength... and in her case it was learning how to shift and use the power of these other forms to protect the balance she feels so passionate about. She also seeks to find the local circle to share her knowledge as well as learning their ways of doing things. She is out to prove to herself and those in her past that she has a place in the balance and that she can survive out from under the wings of her family. She is a bit racist in that she doesn't like or trust tieflings, half-orcs, drow for the most part... I've had some nice bantering with a few that have made her pause and begin to rethink / relook at beliefs about those other races. However being tied to another racist, she slipped backwards into old ways now and again... but again, that was an area in which I created so to allow for growth. -- She is not my main and so she hasn't really reached her full RP potential yet, but I figured it is a good example of a concept of a character that has room to grow and evolve without a... too easily reached end game concept in which you get to and then go... and now what do I do with them?

Even if you already have a character you are playing, you can go back and think about some of these things...
viewtopic.php?f=153&t=18746


On another note... creating factions is very hard work and take a huge time commitment. I've always tried to find a group that my character drift towards and work my way into that. I've always seemed able to work myself up into leadership positions (for better or for worse) over a period of time. In NWN1 I ended up running the Grove there, but it took just over a year and then I reworked it to making it so it was three of us leading it so that we didn't suffer from RL breaks, the burn out of the work that comes with running a guild by yourself, and we were able to cover all the time zones nicely to make sure our members didn't feel left out. I will always recommend joining a guild before starting one, just so you can get a better feel of how to run one later and what you might be getting yourself into. Think of it as an internship. ((I also feel that too many guilds that are overlapping in similarity tends to hurt the smaller server populations.. make something that works with other guilds... but that is my own opinion ))


And I rambled perhaps a bit too much... but food for thought ... I'd write perhaps a bit more, but my lunch break is over.

[Leramak]

I have really enjoyed this server over the years. I would like to thank the organizers and DM's for creating such a fun place to hang out.
But!
Just kidding, no but.
Although!
JK, no althoughs either.
Thank for the good times!

I have created a lot of characters. I have surprised myself quite often with the all the interesting personalities, roles and back-stories I have been able to create and roleplay. D&D always catered to that very well and so has this server and its custom rules,
It has been a fun creative outlet.

I have quested and grinded out quite a few level 30's and epic level characters. I really took my time to get to understand the various classes and builds to match the fun personalities and back-stories I created.

Although, (uh-oh I said although) I was always a bit envious of the players that could stick to one character and could take the time to build a faction or some sort of legacy on the server for themselves.

I want to do that now too!

I have sort of finally figured out a lot of the mechanics, and have pretty much figured out what kind of characters I want to RP and what ones I do not. I have gotten the number of toons I plan to RP narrowed down to one UD toon and one (maybe two) surface characters.

The next step is to figure out what should I do next.
Well, do any of you have any idea what that should be?

I will still be doing some questing and grinding to level up my main characters.
But then what?

A little campfire RP is fine.

DM events are always fun.

I have seen a trend in the way the server is Roleplayed in recent years. Sort of moving away from conflict focused RP to more of a cooperative simulation of the day to day lives of fantasy characters. Faction building and overall RP of the lives lived in a non evil kingdom.

So, when in Baldur's Gate, do as the Baldarian Gaterites do.
I think I would rather join another players faction than start my own.
So, I suppose I can take some time to RP which factions to join and then figure out ways to help them grow.

Then what?
Any suggestions for an old pvp'er (more like CvC'er) that wants to try and assimilate?

I would rather pick a fight with you all then sit around a camp fire doing nothing in some boring fantasy version of The Sims, while waiting for the DM's to supply us with the next round of evil to destroy.

BUT other than that -What can you sugges I/we do?

There is a lot happening, look at the rumors posts for example each one is an RP opportunity, I like anything people throw my way, I rarely hide myself on Scry, reach out if needed, BG is a living and breathing world, just look out for opportunities and chances, there is something for everyone.

And from what I know and seen, a lot of evil factions are just dormant or inactive.

Yeah alot of the evil factions are dormant or inactive. Perhaps look into one of them and see if you can breathe some life back into them.

[bharring]

It doesn't need to be evil to cause conflict.

It just needs to be conflicting views.

I've been playing a Druid who serves destruction. He's not actually evil. He's usually polite, friendly, and kind. But he can surely come into conflict. For instance, he's been told he'll be shot on sight if he approches Doran Amar. So, naturally, whenever that city comes up for discussion, he complains about the Seldarine brats who threatened to kill him just because he doesn't kowtoe to the "right" gods. A nice little recipe for some conflict, albeit not violent or significant conflict.

I don't want PVP, but a bit more conflict could be fun. My druid's been toeing the legal line out in the Farmlands often, and a little local trouble might help liven it up.

However, that said, most people seem to want more of a Noblebright fantasy here. For instance, most local druids (not all) are fixated on healing the land, and helping the people. Few are interested in *pruning back the overgrowth of civilization*. And trying to push the Green Enclave that way would break many peoples' enjoyment. So while I kinda enjoy the interpersonal strife caused by playing such a druid, the server would be worse off if I were to push the appropriate group in that direction.

To look at it from another direction, when I first starting playing here, one of my first experiences at the Campfire was being told to F off (in character). Completely legitimate RP. Probably very appropriate for the player (no idea who it was now). But it certainly put a damper on my experience. So if we're pushing conflict, we need to make sure we're pushing it on those who want it. RP is a community effort, and we need to make sure we're maximizing the RP fun for everyone.

That last bit is probably why certain characters haven't told mine to sod off. There's an aversion to conflict because it can often put a damper on at least one party's enjoyment. Which would be bad RP.

Trying to tie it all together, there's a lot of conflict to be had, if you look beyond direct violence and/or PvP. Put people in difficult situations. Develop feuds IC (with others who want to do the same). You don't need the League of Evil to upset the status quo. You don't need to be Bad Horse to shake things up.

I'm rambly when I'm sleep deprived.