An Event Schedule

[V'rass]

So plenty of dms on in that zone... great, did not want to have to find a another server.

[DM Dialectic]

In light of the current discussion, I think the OP is trying to establish some ideas for more "open" type of events. Ones that are not made exclusively for DM/players' mini-plots., nor Guilds. More inclusive and friendly to the newer players checking out the server. And also for the more casual player who is not sure about diving headfirst into the RP-aspect of the server. No, not the "spawn-endless-mobs-for-an-hour-to-bash-the-Party" types, but simple ones with a basic premise and a relatively short timeline. (Like the above mentioned examples.)

Its a good point here. We have a very active metaplot this year, and there is a risk that it drives out the more pick up, uninolved, fun D&D session style events. We do have a couple of ADMs and DMs who are specialising in these.

Its a valid request to ask for more of them; its also a valid question - how best to deliver them? As bare shouts lead to 15 player nightmare events that few people enjoy. But limited range shouts are going to require some tolerance from players on being told "no, we are full" - and some restraint from players who are very active and in many events to not switch out to their lowbie for their third event this week, taking a place from some new player.

I will say this; simple premise events for a set of characters that you have not encountered before that are not combat based can be quite challenging on creativity. Its not impossible, but its not the easiest type of event to do on the fly. (although shorter ones can be done)

And again, I am not referring exclusively to my very limited playtimes. That is MY own problem. But, from what other "veteran" players have told me (a huge amount of whom are no longer actively playing here), it is not an uncommon symptom. Having said that, for me to be on darn near daily (with 30-45 other players at the time) for 3/4's of a year, and to literally NEVER encounter any chance to participate in a "open" DM event, does hint at a problem.

I'm not sure it does, given that timezone. I'm only aware of one dm on our team at that time zone, and two more who might be active if they stay up late. There's not much we can do to provide 24 hour coverage, like I said. You start playing when Euro DMs have already been in bed for 5 hours, and when east coast DMs are going to bed - it basically means you aren't going to see events outside of the weekend or holidays from DMs out of your timezone

I suppose, being blunt, if DM attention is a determinant to your enjoyment of the server then it might not be the server for you currently, until we get personnel to meet the gap.

There is this as well: http://www.bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=48188 Off hour DMs are more likely to come when asked, rather than on the fly.

//To build on what HDM Golem said, there are a few good ways to improve the odds of getting involved IC in DM events outside of open DM events.

1. Send in a player request to the DM team noting these guidelines that the DM team has posted here:

http://www.bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=48188

2. Get involved IC in RP related to the Year 1351 metaplot and post in the Elfsong Tavern forums or other forums IC your IC involvement in the metaplot for the DM team to notice and PM the DM team about any metaplot related RP requests that you have IC. Year 1351 metaplot information is located here:

http://www.bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?p=600269#p600269

3. Get involved in RP IC that has nothing to do with the 1351 metaplot that is collaborative with other characters in nature and publicize it IC on the Elfsong Tavern forums or do it elsewhere on the forums IC and PM the DM team about it. There is a chance that DMs might take notice if such RP collaboration IC takes off and offer DM team support.

4. IC join a guild or IC character group that is already doing #1, #2, or #3.//

[DM Bloodlust]

What do you think?

Pre-announced events, like shout events, pretty much always become mass events. A lot of players in one place, which tend to rely heavy on combat for a good reason and turns pretty much everyone into a faceless minion since roles are difficult to administer and make fun. Scouting is the worst, unless you're the scout. It's a specific type of event. This year's metaplot is suitable for that, sure, but it needs to be made with good taste. Like Mrm3ntalist mentions below here:

One thing that can be done and some dms enforced it, is that if a player or guild is focused heavily on an event on a part of the Sword Coast, to not be allowed to take part on a similar event on another part of the world.

I'm one of those DMs that enforce this, but it applies to characters. While I hope players aren't in every event, I'm fine with a player playing one character here and another in the next event to simulate distances. Just not the same character being everywhere at once.

Not surprisingly, many DMs aren't too fond of mass events because they can quickly become difficult to manage. Players, being faceless minions in these events, often have a tendency to want to kill some boredom by making everyone look in their direction and as a DM I often need to respond to it. You know, someone sets something on fire spontaneously, tries to do something or such. It's also difficult to manage the player chat when several people want to be influential at the same time. It requires a lot of speed on my part. I'm fairly comfortable with these kind of events though, but the pool of DMs that are is low.

BUT, I wonder how these events can help. I know players like to say that they prefer events with "3-5 players, in a series of events with a progressing story" but I've to say that I don't think that's true. Since I became a DM, I've had the most experience out of any staff member with these kind of plotlines and if players wished for these, they sure don't show it. My experience is that these plotlines are mostly held together by a single player, who is the only one to show up to all the events (even when the players decide date/time).

Even more worrying is that once a guild or group of players engage in for example one of my plotlines, a tendency breaks out among players to appear "set". The involved players will stop playing, except when the event is scheuduled, leading to little to no RP with outsiders or spreading of the RP effects and consequences.

I wonder if constant mass events might not produce similar results, gravitating people towards when it's a good time to be online and when it's not. On the other hand, maybe it can spark some life into PCs that don't involve themselves currently. I do very much prefer doing spontaneous events by finding people in the same dungeon and spinning a story on the spot, but that doesn't reach everyone of course.

I could maybe give this a tryout for 1-3 events? It will be at least 10 days though before I would announce such events because I'm seriously overloaded as it is. To give you a taste, I've an event tomorrow, on friday, on sunday, on monday and on tuesday. Each event takes like 3-4 hours of my sparetime, so you can see that I just don't have time right now.

[Kanada]

I have been playing off and on here for 4 years. I've been in 3 DM events in that whole time. Sure, some of it is not being in guilds but i have trouble finding people to let me in a guild. My characters are not loners. They do not shoot evil glances and huddle behind bushes. DM contact has basically been absent from my entire tenure at BGTSCC.

[Vhaeraun Baen're]

Wow, this really blew up. I really appreciate everyone's input. Here is how I would like to respond to it:

1. I am absolutely not saying that spontaneous events should stop happening. If anything more should happen! The other morning a DM logged in and did a shout event for chars lv 10-20, but alas I had just hit 21 the night before so I was unable to be in the event or else that would have been my 3rd DM event.

2. I live in Florida which is the EST time zone. I generally only play late at night however, so I have seen very few events or log in right as they're ending. Two different undead attacks on the FAI come to mind where if I had just logged in 30-60 mins prior I would have been able to participate.

3. If one of the concerns of a public event calendar is too much participation then why not just limit it? Have sign-ups and if they get full have reserves in case some people don't show up. I have DMed for many years and understand how overwhelming it can be to DM even more than 5 people. (if you want to actually have all of them actively involved anyway)

4. Let's not forget the player events that should be more openly available to the public via an event calendar. The upcoming Ball, the Ebon Blade Tournament, and the Zhentarim Banquet all come to mind as of late. There was just me and 1 other person in the lv 11-20 bracket in the Ebon Blade Tournament... surely there would have been better attendance with an announced public event calendar.

5. I REALLY appreciate all the DMs investing their spare time into BGTSCC. I haven't been a player in D&D in a very long time because I always DM and NWN2 has been great to feel like a D&D player again. A large part of that has to do with the DMs.

6. I agree with what some people have said in this thread about hooking new players with open DM events. It certainly worked on me.



Thank you all for being open-minded about this event calendar idea and I hope at the very least it is tried out. If done correctly it will only be a positive thing for the server and its players

[Tsidkenu]

I would like to +1 the OP's suggestion. However, it is going to create work on behalf of the forum mods and DMs to both implement a suitable calendar and keep said event schedule up to date. All that takes time which the DMs aren't spending in game making events for us or responding to our forum RP/PMs. Are any of the players willing to volunteer to manage it on the forums for them?

I will readily admit that I am not one who goes out of my way to participate in DM events. Most events happen outside my timezone ((GMT 0300-0700 week days)), especially those related to the advancement of the campaign. I no longer go out of my way to wake up early or stay up late to attend them during the week. Some lesser guild events I may try to attend on weekends, but it usually means an early start (7am) and I try to avoid doing that every weekend I get.

In-game, if a DM shouts out "Goblins burst out of the cave near Beregost, amassing a warband" and my character is in the Misty Forest, I will usually ignore it simply because my character has no IC means of knowing that is the case. I would probably prefer an IC interaction with NPCs, eg. a guarded caravan wandering by or a Fist Patrol stopping in the East Gate district pulpit to make a public announcement, etc. Of course that means that only those PCs nearby will know of it, but at least it would lead to smaller events.

I regularly must resort to forum RP to stay in touch with the PCs my characters sometimes interact with on my broader weekend availability. I think I've experienced maybe 5-6 ad-hoc DM events and another 8-10 preplanned ones in the 1.5 years I've been back playing on the server. And I don't mind that at all, because I find PC-RP far easier to run into, participate in and follow up on forums if need be.

It would be nice to see Faerun's seasonal celebrations (Midwinter, Greengrass, Midsummer, Highharvesttide, Feast of the Moon, Shieldmeet) as regular server events done every year, set in stone for that day for 24 hrs with all dms participating. IE, did you know that next year is a Shieldmeet year (1352)? Different cultures reflect these celebrations in different ways (eg. Halflings vs elves vs. humans) so there would always be something new to have. Of course, these kind of celebratory events always have higher PC participation and planning (taking significant burdens of DMs), and not having to spawn monsters means all the more RP, which is what this server should be, and is, about!

[Uther3867]

well a event schedule even if it was broken up in groups would be a great idea i've seen one out there work amazing

group A has a event set for friday but wants group B, C to join in on it so they send a pm invite to add it to there calendars. public events would be set for all and that way DM's would know which groups are involved or individuals on private events and public ones would be set so that people can see and be involved if they would be

the only downside is it's alot more PM chatter in your inbox and clicking of a link

[DM Pun Pun]

I like the idea of scheduling for guild events and player-driven requests that get approved. Other than that, I wouldn't want to put these kind of restraints on my events because scheduling could pressure people to make bad decisions outside of the game in order to make it to the event or face being left out.

[Vhaeraun Baen're]

I like the idea of scheduling for guild events and player-driven requests that get approved. Other than that, I wouldn't want to put these kind of restraints on my events because scheduling could pressure people to make bad decisions outside of the game in order to make it to the event or face being left out.

good enough, i'll take it!

im sure some dms would use it and some wouldnt

[Shad]

Good thing. It cant be enforced and shouldn't be, but to have a place where all guild- and group- unspecific events could be shortly-announced would be fine. One may say thats the forum for you. But forum is overloaded with info for someone who dont have time to check it everyday.

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Give them schedule. Let people who don't have much time choose how to spend it. If that would mean to sleep one less hour or try to come home hour earlier - thats for player to decide how to manage their time, give them ground to base it on. Its worse when they come on one hour earlier and stay one hour later and don't get anything of it.

Easiest way to dont make it mass - filter it. On entrance:) Check levels, professions, alignment on portal enter or in some kind of limbo. That how it was in Mage Fair. To come in was mini-event by itself! It would be less frustrating for ones that didn't pass when there would be more events, and there would be more events when it would be more fun for DMs (yes, DM's want to have fun and quality RP on event no less then players, no joking here:)) to play with a group.

When players just join sever, most are eager to participate in any event. That's when "go there and find IC reason afterwards" line apply. After one participate few times with some groups where his character don't really fit IC, player start to actually think of quality over quantity. Thats where detailed announcements help a lot. Rumors spread about travelers being hijacked by rogues on the road north of FAI? IC law-enfircment and paladin-type would go there, merc-type would go to Wyrm's Crossing and offer services of protection to travelers, bard-types may go and watch how would events happen to write about it, rogues may want to join banits or exterminate them as rivals, druids and rangers simply don't care, wizards newer notice it (roards? whats that for? use teleport!), and priest of Ball would gladely make group mass sacrifice of it. But no. All the mob is going there and at first negotiate then sturm bandits camp. Together. Thats hack'n'slash very fun and mess in chat, but to maintain RP quality in such a mob, to notice everyone as individual is nearly impossible for any DM.

But first, thats up to players. Do in game what your character would do! Go where he/she would go. Fight for what he/she would fight. Die for what he/she would die for. That may generate less opportunities to participate but satisfaction from every one would be great, and a thing to remember.

[ctothep]

I would much rather see something like event tokens...

They could be a rare drop that you can either get from chests/mobs or from the xp rp script. They could only drop once a month per account and you can only have one at a time. The tokens can be turned in to get an event from the staff to develop the story of your character. The more players you involve the bigger the event will be.

With such a system everyone has a chance to get into events and they could be done to actually progress your chars plot...

Just a thought from my side

[DM Golem]

I would much rather see something like event tokens...

They could be a rare drop that you can either get from chests/mobs or from the xp rp script. They could only drop once a month per account and you can only have one at a time. The tokens can be turned in to get an event from the staff to develop the story of your character. The more players you involve the bigger the event will be.

With such a system everyone has a chance to get into events and they could be done to actually progress your chars plot...

Just a thought from my side

The thing is, if you send a storyline request to the staff, you can have that anyway. You don't need a token for it!

See here: http://www.bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=48188