Were did our UnderDark Dms go?

[adzling]

So taking the path of least resistance is the what the majority of you prefer? Then I really don't see a reason why we should keep the UD at all.

If no one wants to contribute to the storyline or any kind of creative writing then I really don't see the reason why we should be putting more content in the that setting or even giving more DM attention. Again, I have not seen one request, an outline, plot, or story/bio from anyone except for one player. That tells us something, it tells us that players down there really don't want to make the effort to make things happen.

Groups like the Radiant Heart, White Mask, even the Freaking GNOMES! Yes you are gettin out done by a faction of GNOMES! Put more effort to making their own direction and creating some basic content for the DM staff to work with.

this doesn't work void.
I have tried this numerous times.
i was ignored.
i left the server.
i came back.
i applied for dm status to plug the gap in the lack of dm activity
i was refused.
i offered an idea for how the portal might be reopened.
i was rebuffed

basically BG seems to think its OK to let the UD languish with a lack of DMs, to the point of turning down the longest running UD player on the server on the basis of "having done nothing".

im sorry if this sounds like im unhappy but your post that blames this on the players without taking a whiff of responsibility on the part of the staff just steams me.

you had your opportunities to improve ud rp and you (the staff) could care less (it seemed).

for god's sake why don't you promote some more UD dms if you cant be bothered to run UD events yourself?

and by that i dont even mean myself, i've accepted that the DM staff sees my contributions as worthless and have moved on.

just make someon DM, anyone!

[Eviloth]

The conversation about dM should be closed. Nothing else to say. All things were told. See ya. Happy playing.

I think it is developing nicely as long as people remain tactful.

[Eldebryn]

Fact 1: There have been no events in the UD for some time (especially events targeted for every citizen, part of a faction or not)

Fact 2: There has been little or no DM activity in the UD for some time

Fact 3: The population of the UD is usually very very little, having only UD characters feels like playing in a deserted server.

Fact 4: Many factions have been declining heavily (Charnag maelthra, BD, lolth's houses, DM Rhicora herself mentioned that house Ssamath may not exist though I have to say I am no expert on that issue)

Fact 5: The RP in the UD while having great potential around the culture of drow and the city of Ssamath, has greatly diminished for various reasons some mentioned above.

Fact 6: Some people want to play UD races because they like it, recommending someone to play in the surface to avoid these problems is foolish I might say. "IF" that is the spirit of the developers why on earth is UD still here?

Fact 7: UD either needs to be boosted or R.I.P. The current situation is not favorable as most would agree.

Based on these facts I would like to know the thoughts of more developers on that matter as I consider communication with them to be most important.

I will even make the following suggestion until then:

I strongly believe that having some DMs shake up the things in the UD could be a nice start. Without DM support you can't expect us to RP alone and everything to be ideal, we can do that in RP servers of MMOs like LOTRO and everquest 2. People play in NWN2 servers for the DM-run events, for the fun and joy brought by the fact that people organize a D&D-style adventure through this video game.

It dosn't need to be an actual event for that matter, possessing an NPC and granting a unique quest to a party or suddenly poping next to a convesation in a "Hey! I know you! You faithless pig run away from Menzoberranzan after killing a priestess!" can be very exciting and fun for many players who chose to participate.

I am not saying UD players are completely free of guilt, abandoning a problem and asking someone to fix after it deteriorates is just wrong, kind of like the way people who pollute the environment say they hate big companies who own factories.

In the end, I don't really see who having some DMs take some make things worse. It can't. Just the idea that an event may take place anytime is a great motivation. No one can deny that it sucks when the surface has RP events and takes XP and items from DM events while the best thing we are offered in UD is the RP exp and fun alone. Yes it IS rewarding, but I want you people to think honestly and say you don't care about DMs giving XP and items, all you need is the RP in a city of extremely low population.

I bet most of you can't, so I merely recommend that some DM action is brought in the UD and depending on the impact of that, see how things will go....

[joleda]

... No one can deny that it sucks when the surface has RP events and takes XP and items from DM events while the best thing we are offered in UD is the RP exp and fun alone. Yes it IS rewarding, but I want you people to think honestly and say you don't care about DMs giving XP and items, all you need is the RP in a city of extremely low population.

I bet most of you can't, so I merely recommend that some DM action is brought in the UD and depending on the impact of that, see how things will go....

Wait, what? Items are given out during DM events? Are these items that can be bought in stores? Are these items better than store bought?

[catcher]

Better then store bought. Some not even on loot tables.

[joleda]

Handing out truly powerful items, not available to the general public, will always lead to perceived favoritism.

No wonder people are wanting more DM interaction in the Underdark.

[Eldebryn]

Handing out truly powerful items, not available to the general public, will always lead to perceived favoritism.

No wonder people are wanting more DM interaction in the Underdark.

Well it's not only that, even if gold and mundane/buyable from vendor items are given don't you think that's really motivating? Some vendor items are waaaay too expensive. Stuff like that, along with the narration, special monster spawns, bonus exp, alignment changes, involvement of famous NPCs etc are things you cannot get in community run events, no matter how good.

[Broham2]

Handing out truly powerful items, not available to the general public, will always lead to perceived favoritism.

No wonder people are wanting more DM interaction in the Underdark.

DMs have guidelines in place for rewarding with items.. and it includes heavy RP (WITHOUT A DM).. still waiting to see a few of you guys (generally speaking) write up some bios for your characters, do some faction RP, or anything else.

If you are asking for extra items earned by loot runs (which is generally what is seen when I stalk around down there), you're barkin up the wrong tree.

I dont know if you guys assume the surface is the land of milk and honey, but surface players would probably tell you that with a server of 75 people you are asking for a lot to ask a dedicated DM for 5-10 people (at the VERY most) logged in at any one time.. most of whom are spread to the far corners and not RPing.

Its partly a matter of efficiency.

If we see a group of 2 players loot-running.. or a group of 4-5 people RPing.. which do you expect to get DM attention?

When we do spawn random encounters and are met with "//WTF was that?" or "///wow, there must be a DM here"...

What do YOU think will happen? I'll tell ya.. I'll leave. I do the same on the surface as well (as others will tell you) .. though to be quite blunt and honest, it happens a lot more in the UD.

[adzling]

frankly it IS dms or lack thereof.

and you need only one or two good, dedicated ones to make a difference.

back when kelsfar was head DM the UD had a lot going on.

and that was only ONE dm.

so yeah, the staff can keep pointing fingers at the players but frankly that's bogus.

Zkenic, eviloth and myself have all been trying to get plots going to no avail.
zkenic as de facto head of Bregan, me as head of the Charnag and Eviloth as head of a quellar.

sad really.

prior to that both rhicora and ansient consistently ran events only for Morihyanda.

face facts: the UD has NO current active DMs.

if the dm staff is actually interested in helping the ud why dont you try appointing someone who is present and active and have them talk to the heads of the factions (see above) and i promise you we will get something going.

[Eldebryn]

At this point I believe I should mention that I find the "get a faction if you want RP" perspective somewhat annoying. Right now in UD the only active factions are: 2 drow houses, school of necromancy, BD, Charnag. And honestly I wouldn't bet for all of them...

Has anyone ever thought that joining a faction opposed to our character's personality may be a little to much for RP? I mean, I will "bend" my character if it is needed to help some newbies or get some RP going on, but joining a faction my character wouldn't be interested in is too much.

I remember 1-2 years ago when I played in UD for a while an event along the lines of "a caravan has dissappeared near the city, the Charnag is looking for volunteers to search for it". In that event there were nobles, slaves, mages, priestesses and random folks from around the city, so I don't think the "faction=scenario events" thing should be taken for granted.

On a side note I have seen groups of players grinding with me in them, but that doesn't mean there is no RP in there, sometimes the adventurers stop or meet a new stranger and something nice happens, while on the other hand I personaly have never seen an odd monster spawn which I would elaborate on IC.

When people kill monsters there is usually little RP, and I think this applies to the surface too.

[adzling]

agreed, faction events should involve non-faction players as much as possible.

[TheVoid]

adzling,

Why don't you start? I've been waiting for a story or a plot from you. But all I hear is that there is no DM spoiling people down there. The surface has no dedicated DMs to any faction or area. The underdark had many, several even, but they all left because player entitlement. Sorry to say, but DM babysitting to one group of players is basically the same as printing unlimited amounts of currency (got that one from laurk) in the end it's valueless, worthless, and leads to nothing sustainable in the long term. It's players who make this happen, and DM's that can add and contribute, but it has to be player owned not staff owned.

[adzling]

im not asking for a faction dm.

give me one dm between the three active factions in the UD and i will spin a plot for the entire UD to run with.

i'll even tie it into the surface so the entire server can get in on the action.

i tried this before and was ignored by the dms.

so come on, i dare ya.

EDIT: i would add that i tried this approach with both ansient and rhicora. begging them for some help with getting some plots going. Ansient wasn't interested (he prefers more spur of the moment events light on planning) and rhicora just never replied.

so put up or shut up.

[TheVoid]

While not necessary, I would personally recommend that people join a faction if they are startin the UD only because it brings people together in groups and groups of people bring in more creative thinking to pool. It also get's more noticed by the DM's, too many fringe characters are hard to manage. Look at almost any MMORPG, most make you select a faction to be aligned with in the beginning either by race, allegiance, alignment, class, guild, etc....

It helps keep things in order and it also let's the staff know where to focus their efforts on. Like it has been said MANY MANY times, devs and DM's do not normally if ever, run events for single individuals. It's just not as fun as a group, we can take an idea from an individual and go with it but it will most likely need to incorporate more players.

[TheVoid]

I ain't ansient, Rhicora, or Kelsfar so try me... If it is possible to run and works within the framework set by the staff then I will see what I can do to help.