Underdark General Discussion Thread

[Darksider_war]

Lolthites gained popularity trough the population though last year with Lolth's sacrifice. This shouldn't be forgotten.


That's server lore.

Yes, and then everything went bollocks when 4 guys powergamers with no real sense of rp whatsoever were allowed to enter a temple of lolth (ergo a guild), slaughter everyone and everything, steal some artifacts, sell them to the cult of the dragon and getting away unscathed, without us lolthites having been given the courtesy of being involved in the attack or worse, without anyone in the city knowing it. Ever wondered why we decided to close the guild?

PS: no hard feelings for DM Wretch, on the contrary, he/she really put some effort in recomposing the broken pieces of what was left of the group.

[Hitman Hard]

Or maybe the underdark is full of rp elitists who don't want anyone from the surface to Rp with them, and whine about no Dm attention because of their ooc haughtiness.

[Darksider_war]

Or maybe the underdark is full of rp elitists who don't want anyone from the surface to Rp with them, and whine about no Dm attention because of their ooc haughtiness.

Really? I do not remember the Arac Tinilith guild ever being given a choice to rp during the attack. It all was like "sorry guys, but someone attacked your guild while you weren't online". And as a side note, slaughtering everyone is not RP. At best, it is grinding assisted by a dm. Oh right, did you know that there is a mythal inside Sshamath preventing fighting and killing?

But again, I do not expect someone to be objective about it, especially if we consider the overpowered equipment he got in return for such a farcical event

[DM Sentinel]

Do take into account that premise of many surfacer adventures by books is 'assault of evil temples and cities to save the day by killing hordes of monstrous priests'.

It is unfortunate that players of factions became the same victims as NPCs, but looping projecting of past event will not help.

In the end, it might not be lorebreaking if the plan of DM was for Sshamath officials to let the Temple take losses without interruption on their part, for political reasons.

But my logic calculations are concentrated on present form. Keep up the good work.

Hitman Hard, your comment is not welcome in your present form.

[Darksider_war]

Do take into account that premise of many surfacer adventures by books is 'assault of evil temples and cities to save the day by killing hordes of monstrous priests'.

Oh, I am fairly aware that the premise of many munchkin players is to enter a drow temple and slaughter everyone. It's just that it should equate to a suicide 10 times out of 10 due to a mixture of hyper deadly drow assassins, hyper deadly drow fighters, hyper deadly drow priestesses, hyper deadly spiders...well, no real sense in continuing.

In the end, it might not be lorebreaking if the plan of DM was for Sshamath officials to let the Temple take losses without interruption on their part, for political reasons.

Perhaps, but to me it looks like an IC excuse to justify one of the biggest blunders ever made in this server.

It is unfortunate that players of factions became the same victims as NPCs, but looping projecting of past event will not help.

Sadly, the UD basically died after that attack (not that it was in a good shape before). Only considering the AT group, 75% of it left the server for good (can't say I blame them), another 20% left the UD for good (me and a few others), and the remaining 5% (Celduil and Munin) simply stopped playing their toons altogether. Not to mention the newest players, a good share of them even good at roleplaying a traditional drow of lolth, who after the happening said "bummer" and left. And then there was a cascade effect in which many other players unaffiliated with the AT group left the server as well due to sheer annoyance regarding the incident.

I am afraid this happening is going to haunt the UD section of server roleplay for months and months to come. A pity, I liked the UD a lot before it, but even at the cost of being odious, I'll say this: after what has transpired I would not want to play an UD race ever again, not even for all the mithral full plates in the server.

[DM Sentinel]

Understood.

Deleting associated character bios from memory cache.

[Hitman Hard]

But he can call our guild powerbuilders? Favortism?

[roke42]

I would appreciate it to go back to a discussion how to improve the current situation in the UD, not who is to blame for what lead to its current state.

[Xanfyrst]

Or maybe the Underdark is full of rp elitists who don't want anyone from the surface to Rp with them, and whine about no Dm attention because of their ooc haughtiness.

First off, there's more elitists on the surface than down under, size-difference in population taken into account. I find many drow roleplayers annoying with their half-drow/half-common talk, but as roleplayers they are mostly not elitists.

Secondly, the drow do interact more with surfacers than you think. They just don't interact with individuals that serve no purpose for them.

And third, the incident being talked about here should have never happened. The place is filled with deadly drow guards, assassins and powerful priestesses. It's like a first-time robber trying to rob Fort Knox with a kitchen knife. A lot of UD'ers, not only Lolthies, were quite upset about this happening and not being retconned immediately.

I don't blame the UD'ers for fleeing the Underdark or the server after this. It was a huge slap in their faces.

[Empoweredfan]

Right, right. . . well, there is the 'why' of it. . . (and Munin didn't leave for good (His absence were because he moved in RL. He is back now).

Let us focus on how to make it a place where people actually interact with each other again. Not that the issue shouldn't be addressed in some way, since it is what first started the rocks rolling down the hill.

The main issue, is that people (often new players) try out playing drow for a while, and then leave for the green hills of the surface. It is very understandable really. There are people up there, and it is probably a lot easier to get to know of the current lore of the server (because people can tell them). We do need more information about the UD, and some directions towards the Tombs inside the city. . . perhaps a warning about the dangers of the Underdark, before leaving the city. . . There are a lot of small things that can make some difference.

Firstly though, from the players. . . I think perhaps leaving the area position open can bring some hope to people. Even if you are out grinding the pixels of your swordarm off, knowing that there are people in the UD might help to keep other people here as well.

Or maybe the underdark is full of rp elitists who don't want anyone from the surface to Rp with them, and whine about no Dm attention because of their ooc haughtiness.

It isn't elitism to turn down immediate offers to go and grind. Neither is it elitism to play drow arrogantly. That is called being 'in character'. You will notice that those that want to rp in the underdark will talk to you, no matter who you are. Those that don't want to rp, probably won't.

It isn't elitism. . . it is what people want to do.

[Hitman Hard]

Fair enough, but don't insult the players like it was our idea.

[Storm Munin]

@DM Sentinel

As for the temple and DM:s:

To the best of my humble knowledge any major activity change we did was done in concert with the DM:s. When I rewoke the guild along with Celduil and the first circle of devoted I had a lot of contact with the DM:s in order for us to go in approved directions. This contact was recontinued everytime there was a danger of damaging sshamathan lore and setting.

The DM:s wanted the drama we caused in heretical Sshamath.
The DM:s decided to save Sshamath during the alhoon war by the use of an Avatar of Lolth (we didnt even suggest it). The chosen profet for this event caused quite satisfying rage roleplaying within the seventh circle and the temple both (quite the surprise who found the Queen's graces).
The DM:s made a second lolthite priestess a Seat of Sshamath (unasked for).
The DM:s outright stated that because of lolth's intervention in the war devotion and respect for her grew in the city for a time and they wanted a more lolthish Sshamath during 2012 (again, we didnt ask for anything of the sort).

It is not the DM:s fault that most of the casual visitors and the stubbornheaded totally ignored this. Actually it was quite amusing to see the roster of eilistraeeans totally explode in numbers pretty soon after the statement (sadly few hung around long as always).


All in all I deem the plotline of supporting the temple of Lolth during that time an outstanding success.
Sshamath was vibrant during last year with powerplay between the temple, the seventh circle, the eilistraeean community, the baleful maw and to a lesser known extent by bregan d'aerthe I believe.
Interaction between most of the underdark toons soared as Cazna, Valaklith, and quite a few others were devout (and slightly crazy) while patrolling the UD at large.
This powerplay bylined and rounded out the server plotlines concerning the mop up after the Alhoon war, the ancient talonan and the retaking of Darkhold. Deals were brokered in the darkness, trysts waxed and waned, alliances betrayed.. and founded.

True there were moments of really bad roleplay and sadly some grief but..
Mostly I think everyone who cared to be involved had a blast.


Lastly:
As a vessel carrying the DM title it would be nice if the Sentinel unit had any idea of what it rambled about.

It would be nice to see the sentinel unit in action some time placing its foot where its mouth runs.


Peace and lets boldly walk onto new paths.

/M

[Rainbow Prism]

Oh, please. The community of Temple was a sham. I am pretty sure DMs worked on principle 'they are applauding with happiness - we did good', which I totally not agree with if I look closely on your band. Half of your priests never knew what exactly is lore of Sshamath.

The only reason I stay in Underdark is because unlike for surface, there is hope for real RP. And by that, I do not mean guild RP that works on PvP and ignorance of setting.

[Passiflora]

Oh, please. The community of Temple was a sham. I am pretty sure DMs worked on principle 'they are applauding with happiness - we did good', which I totally not agree with if I look closely on your band. Half of your priests never knew what exactly is lore of Sshamath.

The only reason I stay in Underdark is because unlike for surface, there is hope for real RP. And by that, I do not mean guild RP that works on PvP and ignorance of setting.

A bit harsh there, Rainbow. The temple comunity was perfectly fine. Especially after the avatar of Lolth saved the city. Judging RP isn't a really nice thing to do either way.

[TheVoid]

Look, the UD plot took a long long time to complete. At times, it felt like only myself and Strahd cared about it enough to get it moving.

I took it on by myself and it was failing to fruition because of the lack of interest, lore knowledge, and time from the other DMs due to the surface metaplot running almost simultaneously. Many were burnt out with the Amn-Gate/ Tiamat plots and decided to take a long hiatus or quit the team while the Ud plot was dragging it's feet with myself at the helm.

DM Strahd was added and Darkshard contributed to get things back into focus and things were fruitioning or at least getting started.

But we were only a MINOR PART of how the arc was completed. The players such as Rasael, Kenshin, Storm, and many others who know who you are hung on and believed that we would not do them wrong even when things looked bleak and interest was waning with their own guild members and associates. Their were many "WTF??! Moments" when events went to shit or when it was not planned correctly or a unslightly lapse in the lore here and there but the players at the time decided or were by nature "the glass is half full" kind of folks which made things easier for us to keep moving the storyline along to what was hopefully, a positive and memorable experience of their time on the PW.

I am very appreciative of the players who realize this is only a game. That their are such things as "happy mistakes" that can also lead to some surprising twists and turns if you can keep an open mind about it. DM's can host events and do things to entertain but I guess sometimes a little more suspension of disbelief is going to be required when odd things happen and have been ruled in-play. Especially so if the DMs that want to help are still learning the setting and know they are going into hostile territory where players have a reputation of being unmerciful if they are not pleased or entertained....