How about an abandoned ancient and lost Lothite city that Lothites have to find and restore. Something ancinet, lost, and abandoned. Sacred site. The city is a testament of the chaos of Lolth as the warring ancient houses destoryed their own city by their battles. Burried under the rubble are ancient compounds filled with Loth's artifacts. Each compound grants specific benefits. One will grant the Matron a portal room to transport her armies rapidly via one way portals. Another may grant an undead lich merchant that grants powerful undead servants to bolster her forces. Another may grant a mine that produces rare gems needed for crafting. An ancient library containing stolen artifacts of the Seldarine may also exist, including a capture Seldarine imortal avatar who has been imprisoned for generations, stuck in a slave pit like a sarlac, and in her madness she attacks all who are thrown into the pit.
Philock is within the Netherese ruins area. A few more connecting paths could lead to the tunnels leading to Philock.
Very little information about this city exists. But the drow house that reclaims it first can build up her forces in security and shadow. Bursting forth at the right time to strike fear in Baldur's Gate and the surface elves.
Or, maybe bring in Sschindrylyn.
The build of the city and location should accomplish a few things. FIrst, it should really be designed to call Lothite players from other server back to BG with the hope of having their own dedicated house in a purely Lothite city. The city is contained or capped by the Netherese ruins, meaning whatever mayham lothite players incurs should be away from Sshamath.
Because this city is a ruin, much of it can be rubble.
Lam
12 I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
I wouldn't give Lothite players a city, I'd make them work for it. So when they finally get it, they take care of it and keep it played in. But I would hash out all the areas that are recoverable and hidden by boulders and rock.
12 I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
I don't think so, current Underdark population is so low that it doesn't justify spending more resources into it and would also further divide a thinly spreas out population even more.
That is a good point but I have three objections. First it is essentially a dynamic dungeon that is ready to recieve Lothites when they finally get their act together 2) there are builders who prefer to build for the UD 3) there are a large number of lothite players who play in NWN1. They are there because that server supports Lothite role play and activity, whereas BG techincally does not. The poin that numbers are low in the UD is actually the reason why you want to figure out how to correct that.
12 I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
Sshamath is a city that is neutral and open to heretics within and around the city. Lothites who wish to inflict the will of Lolth upon heretics is not allowed. Lothites are not respected as authorities of the society of drow in Sshamath. Kind of like KOS on the surface for drow, heretics are such in the underdark.
12 I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
To echo Lambert I have met a few UD players who don’t play here because of the oddity that is S’shamath compared to most drow lore. Not that our sshamath is wrong- I actually prefer it- but some people prefer a more traditional Lolthite style of RP.
Having something like Schyndryn (or however you spell it) which was slated to go in a long time ago I think for this reason, might do a lot towards bringing some of those players back.
It sounds more like RP opportunities than RP impossibilities.
That said, I doubt we would turn an area away if it were done well. I would lean toward agreeing that the current UD player count just wouldn't support it; that relying on hold outs to come back and play nice because we added an area they want sounds more optimistic than is my nature. But we have several builders, so maybe one of them want to do it.
Planehopper wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 12:02 am
It sounds more like RP opportunities than RP impossibilities.
That said, I doubt we would turn an area away if it were done well. I would lean toward agreeing that the current UD player count just wouldn't support it; that relying on hold outs to come back and play nice because we added an area they want sounds more optimistic than is my nature. But we have several builders, so maybe one of them want to do it.
This is all true. I’m not imagining the field of dreams or anything but if we had something like a UD Nashkel, it might eventually grow into something, or at least be an interesting stop through if not.
RP impossibilities is having no one to roleplay with.
The issues with the UD are 80% coming from staff for example:
*lack of dev support (bugged quests for years for example)
*not many DM plots (some that got abandoned)
*no supports for Eilistreean drow (a lot of players left due to this)
*a few staff members think the UD should be deleted (not sure if they said it as a joke or not)
I don't need to have anyone agree with me about these points because I have a drow char and have played a few times in the UD.
I don't know what was the idea with deleting a full town along with the quests. I don't know why but it feels like a lot of staff members simply dislike the Underdark.
yyj wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 3:18 pm
RP impossibilities is having no one to roleplay with.
The issues with the UD are 80% coming from staff for example:
*lack of dev support (bugged quests for years for example)
*not many DM plots (some that got abandoned)
*no supports for Eilistreean drow (a lot of players left due to this)
*a few staff members think the UD should be deleted (not sure if they said it as a joke or not)
I don't need to have anyone agree with me about these points because I have a drow char and have played a few times in the UD.
I don't know what was the idea with deleting a full town along with the quests. I don't know why but it feels like a lot of staff members simply dislike the Underdark.
I’m actually good with a change up of the UD. Yes a few quests are missing but in the long run refreshing that area will be a nice change.
Also before dreamer took a hiatus we had a pretty regular DM event going. It was centered around Bregan but everyone we ran into was invited along. We actually went out of our way to invite whoever in the UD was on, regardless of level.
I don’t believe the staff hates the UD. The majority of the staff doesn’t play down there but that’s okay. I find more OOC friendliness towards my UD characters than not, even when they are in opposition to surface players… some of whom are staff.
Yes a bigger population would help a lot. Even with DMs, I mean with dreamer just getting us all on at the same time was difficult. This is true of the surface as well but doubly so for the UD where there aren’t enough people to fill an event if people are not available.
I really realy realy like Sshamath just the way it is. In many ways it is one of the Best if not the Best UD area I have ever played in. It's just not authentic to 95% of the UD.
Autheniticity is what I'm shooting for. It might be too late for other reasons suggested. But you never know. My point is that BG has invested in a whole UD server. It should exhaust all possibilities to make it succeed. If the UD can succeed in a NW1 server, why not on a NWN2 server? Hire a management consulting expert, send him to the NWN1 server where it works, or just listen to those who've been there by inviting their input, and voila. BG server 2 will thrive just as much as the NWN1 sever alluded to.
Go ahead staff, post a request for input to past and present UD players on how to make the UD pop, and you'll have a second server with 20-50 players on regularly if you implement their suggestions.
Don't be fooled by whinners, opiniated surfacer players, difficult players (UD or surface), or people who are NEVER happy. Every organization has challenges. Figure out why your second server has such low player counts and do everything you can to fix it. If you are looking for reasons not to fix it, that in itself is part of the problem. If you do fix it you won't be drawing players from the surface, you will be drawing players from other servers.
I'm trying to build up a drow house that if it succeeds will bring great rp for the UD and the surface. I get there is a lack of interest, but there is enough of a kindling to have something really special evolve. By the way my Matron character is still waiting for her guild leader faction feat. I put in an email request a few months ago. No hurry. I have been enjoying the server just the way it is, it helps me decompress. I do want to see BG serve 2 succeed as do many other UD players. I'm just one of many who want to help BG staff understand the other half of their time and money investment.
Peace!
Lam
12 I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
I think to get a Lolthite city we would first need an active UD playerbase.
From reading old forum posts from years past, I can tell there has been a fair bit of interest from a lot of players wanting to be part of an active and populated UD community.
But there has been not enough interest from the admin or the larger community as a whole, to support an active UD. I am not saying everyone has been totally against the UD, they just do not have much interest in it. There seems to be a few reasons for this:
1) Its a server based on Baldur's Gate, and the Sword Coast, not say Menzoberranzan and so the focus is spent on BG.
2) I wont start one of my, 'evil RP is feared' rants- but it is feared. So, from those long ago days, when drow players used to raid the surface causing melodrama, until now, the notion of having to suppress and segregate UD RP, has prevailed over any enthusiasm in supporting a player base in the UD. It is simple, Lolthite RP will not be supported on this server, on a grand scale.
3) The interest in the UD community has ebbed and flowed over the last 10+ years or so. A heck of a lot of players have already given up and left. So regardless of reason/cause, the attitude is, if it was going to happen it would have by now. Cyclical reasoning that perpetuates the status quo.
4) Before the server split there were people volunteering to add zones, spice up current areas, but there was no server space. Now that there is server space, see reason 3).
5) The admins time and energy is limited and voluntary. Even with players willing to volunteer to help prop up and support the necessary changes- it would still have to be approved by them. And they do not have neither time nor energy to do so. It would take too much to even green light it...they wont take the chance.
6) Also, since the work done on the server is voluntary, the choice of what work gets done, is also voluntary. Even if the UD were flooded with players tomorrow, and we bribed the admin, there is no guarantee that someone is going to take on the UD as a project, at this point. That is to say even if we find content creators and even if said content is approved. Who and when would would even implement it.
7) Even if we solved reasons 1-6, trying to organize people on an internet game is like herding cats. We players supporting a project of creating an active UD, would have to be committed and well organized. Yet, most of us just want to log on after a long day and hang out for awhile. This is where I have to give credit, to the admin. They may not put much effort in supporting the UD, but they at least are organized and committing their time for the server itself.
8) The UD is sort of niche fantasy and not what I imagine what mainstream fantasy is. The UD is not widely known or popular.
Long story short there is just not enough interest.
But, do not be too disappointed. There is still a small but tenacious group of us that really enjoy the lore and are willing to create a story with what we have to work with.
We are not going to be able to prop up the UD with just a handful of players, but we can start small.
I am usually on once a week on Saturday or Sunday with my Lolthite. So if any of you want to try to get more organized in the UD- send me a PM. Or even if you just want to hang out, let me know, I will introduce you around. If we could even organize 4-6 of us, to log on, on every so often, to support a faction, I think it would plant a seed.
Tekill wrote: ↑Fri Feb 18, 2022 1:42 am
I think to get a Lolthite city we would first need an active UD playerbase.
From reading old forum posts from years past, I can tell there has been a fair bit of interest from a lot of players wanting to be part of an active and populated UD community.
It's a Catch-22 though:
Not enough players in the Underdark due to lack of prolonged and driven attention from staff; not enough attention from staff due to lack of players.
Drow typically fall into three main categories:
Fanatics (mostly female Lolthites)
Outcasts (all non-Lolthites)
Merchants/Mercenaries (mostly males)
Sshamath doesn't offer lore-wise support for Fanatics. It is outlawed by the ruling council.
Outcasts are typically shunned by other drow because they are outcasts, and on the surface they are shunned for being drow.
That leave only Merchants/Mercenaries as a viable lore-centric path for drow to take, if they wish to engage in lore-accurate role play, without insurmountable odds stacked against them. And most drow characters do not make a good fit as merchants.
Most players attempting to play as either Fanatics or Outcasts are likely to quite rapidly run out of steam, given how grossly the deck is stacked against them. Which mean most efforts towards getting some permanent added for either group to role play around, is likely to be dead in the water before it even gets in the boat.
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