Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Getting that next level byanymeansnecessary does have a certain charm.

What I have noticed since the 100% RCR is a slew of new Player names—notice I'm not saying players—and a slew of new PCs, all of Epic level(s).

Makes my level 4 toon feel kinda lonely.

Steve wrote:What I have noticed since the 100% RCR is a slew of new Player names—notice I'm not saying players—and a slew of new PCs, all of Epic level(s).

I've noticed tonnes of new player names too, although I don't see many of them that are epic. Maybe the latter are actually old players coming back to try the new stuff out? *big shrug*

Just a some of my thoughts. Personally, I am for the 100% RcR for limited times at certain intervals or full-time, either way works for me as long as there is some opportunity for it.

--The issues that I have with the 50% RcR is that it hurts RP in some ways. A couple of examples that I have run in to in the past with 50% RcR:

1) I had worked on my PC for a couple of years; grinding, questing, RPing in an effort to get him to a point that he could go out and adventure and I could have fun when people want to go to dangerous places, or so I wouldn't just insta-die in DM events, etc. Plus it showed growth in my character.

Days after an RcR another PC came up to mine and asked if my guy could resurrect his friend, as my character had resurrected another of this PC's fiends days before the RcR. Now that he was 10 levels lower than he had been, my PC did not have the spell to resurrect anymore, as he did not have the level requirement to select the spell anymore.

How do you RP that? "Uh...yeah, so....About that...My uhm....uhm...er...Goddess is not taking any new pleas for resurrection at the moment....uh...yeah. Better go to the temple or ask someone else."

2) Before the RcR my guy could handle the serpent temple maps. After the RcR he would die a horrible and quick death there. A group of PCs, that you had gone to the Serpent Temple map with my guy before the RcR, come up to you and ask "Hey, we are going to return to the Serpent Temple because *Fill in the blank* (Really you can enter any RP excuse to why someone would go grind somewhere and RP a bit along the way). We know you have a strong sword arm, would you join us?" How do you RP that you no longer have 10 levels worth of stats, spells, CL, etc?

"Yeah, so, I uhm...Stubbed my pinky finger the other day. Yup, really bad. I mean, I may not be able to join you in your adventures for say....4 months while my pinky heals (Really its 4 months of doing weekly quests, as grinding for XP takes forever)."


--Plus to speak to the whole "How are there so many high level PCs running around the Sword Coast all of a sudden? This is why the RcR hurts RP!"

Nah. Is the argument that ANYONE who arrives in the BG area are all just level 1s? High level people did not travel and visit new lands in DnD? Maybe a well practiced swordsmen decided to make his new fortune in the region. Maybe a wizard that suddenly arrives spent a great deal of time in study and practice back "home" and now they are ready to put that study and practice in to play in the sword coast.


--When you get down to it, grinding and weekly quests is just -soul crushing- for many players. I mean, its like a punishment, when the game should be fun. Some people hate, hate, hate going out and just grinding and questing (Me). But, since many people have issues with the XP bar not being full (Myself included), and want to be strong enough to go on spontaneous DM events or adventures with friends, we do it. What about people who can't log on during peek times all the time, and have an issue finding others PCs in their level range, and that are also in the mood to grind for some XP at that moment, to go out and adventure/grind with? It has been said before in this thread, why are people punished for evolving their PC or for RcRing to take a newly available class?

--Also, RcR is good for changes in RP. Now, Im not talking about drastic changes, like going from a wizard to a cleric. Does that actually happen? But, what if, say, a PC actually does forum or IG RP for a time around studying vital parts of anatomy to attack, then, after a period of RPing this, they want to take a few/many levels of rouge to show this RP? Can they now not change up their build a bit to add rouge? T

his is a very basic example and there should be more to it, but I kept it short for the sake of time. But, there can be a lot of RP reasons to change up ones build. But, just because they want to change up a few levels to take from one class and add to another, they should be punished by losing 10 levels?

Sorry if my response seems a bit roughly laid out, I'm at work and trying to not let anyone know I am on a game forum.

Sounds like there is a perceived "problem" in that DMs are not running enough low level events?

Or, has a paradigm descended upon the Server where only lvl 30s make a "difference," and thus, no Player feels empowered until they can "compete" on the highest or ultimate level (double entendre!!!)?!?

Charraj wrote:A sobering thought: has BG retained its playerbase partly because of the grinding aspect of the server?

Or would it have hundreds of players trying to get on if grinding was either:

1. Unnecessary; or
2. Easier; or
3. Pointless.

Who knows? No-one can understand the great unwashed public.

No, the DMs don't ignore low levels. Let's not nit pick out things in order to try to argue. Taking one thing that has thousands of routes (Such as how DMs do events) and only taking one, is a bit narrow minded. Let's think things through a bit. The DMs often announce events over the forums or through yells IG to let people know of low level ranges they are looking for to include in an event they are running. Also, no one is saying the DMs are only catering to high level PCs.

I want my PC to be high level for many reasons:
1) He is supposed to be a "hero" type and needs to be able to back that up. Can't do much for people if he steps up to evil and brandishes his sword, only to be swept aside and trampled under foot. The guy has been training (Just during his time actually IG, not to mention he was supposed to be bit of an accomplished person before he arrived) for years and that should reflect.

2) Could you imagine never trying to improve yourself? I mean, really, what is the point of life if you never try to better yourself? For example, in my personal life I practice and play volleyball to get better and better. At work I try to learn and master as much of it as possible, then learn new things in other aspects of my job that don't even relate to me. I do this so that I am as employable as possible and can grow in the company.

Why should my IG PC not do this as well? he would want to better himself and grow and become stronger. By saying, "I can only accomplish things IG if my guy is level 30." is also lacking in imagination. My guy made waves among some PCs and guilds before he got to level 30. But, because he was accomplishing things he was growing in XP, thus level, and was able to continue making a difference as he got stronger.

So, why is there this negativity towards people who are growing their PCs to level 30? Why is it that when someone gets to level 30 suddenly they are nothing but a power-builder/power-grinder/only concerned about getting XP and never RP along the way? Why can't it be both?

And, if someone is being a poor RPer and playing their level 30 as a god and indestructible, which seems to be a complaint on this and other threads, just stop RPing with those people. When there is no one to show off to, perhaps they will adjust to a more "proper" (Not that there is a proper way) way of RPing with a large group of people all playing the game together. Or they might get bored and leave, or just go out and grind solo, which wouldn't hurt the overall RP level of the server. Even then, there will still be those who just want to troll and show off their skillz. But, those will become less frequent. Worst case scenario in that case, just suck it up Buttercup and ignore them.

while i see both sides of this argument valid the 2.0 system was designed for party based combat and challenge.

that being said it's nice to have all your hard work returned once in a while due to the following:

A: glitched feat
B: new classes and skills
C: new Feats and Spells

and with the new loot system which is nice to encourage party looting and one lap of it in my humble opinion i would say to perhaps increase party gained XP instead of the system now where it seem's 4-5 is the best output which is still only 20-30 xp a kill if your lucky and don't have a ECL.

i would suggest a no cap of XP with the level 8 range still in effect to limit Epics grinding up lowbies, but also if possible have the spawn check the amount of players in a party that are about to trip the spawn and spawn accordingly and with a higher XP output.

therefore i see 3 Pro's to this

1. increased commerodary due to the fact that a party need not stay in one area but can travel from area to area which would increase chances of more RP and a sense of belonging.

2. the stop of continuous laps of grinding because with the increased xp per group member it would flow quicker

3. i believe it would be a fair thing to solve and compromise between both sides of this argument.

this is just my opinion and like nose's everyone has one

((no offense meant if you don't have a nose))

sweetlikesplenda wrote: --When you get down to it, grinding and weekly quests is just -soul crushing- for many players. I mean, its like a punishment, when the game should be fun.

Yes, exactly.

That was the issue I had with RcRs or bgtscc's xp system.
If you want to try many ideas, you'll end up doing a LOT of grinding or questing.

It is absolutely horrible and feels like punishment for playing. I wouldn't wish that kind of thing to an enemy. It is that bad.

For those who "care about RP"...

GET THE HECK INTO THE GAME and teach newcomer kids not to run party while chatting via skype to each other.

sweetlikesplenda wrote:The issues that I have with the 50% RcR is that it hurts RP in some ways.

The RCR is a gift. It seems you consider it a Right, and even more than that, a Right that actually causes problems/pain/discomfort/negativity. I mean, if the RCR hurts your RP, then why are you using it?!?

sweetlikesplenda wrote:I want my PC to ...

1) Not all "heroes" will succeed, nor does getting to "back it up" exist as a given. Nothing you say in this point goes against the 50% RCR gift we share.

2) Just because I promote being low level and RPing that and enjoying the progression, the experience and the growth...how does that even remotely deny the desire to "improve yourself?" You have somehow misinterpreted my statements as one who is saying "stay lowbie, and stay there, and be happy being nothing." Which I am not.

sweetlikesplenda wrote:So, why is there this negativity towards people who are ....only concerned about getting XP and never RP along the way? Why can't it be both?

I am concerned that if a Player has infinite chances to 100% RCR a lvl 30 PC, they have no reason to ever go through that "getting XP and RPing along the way." again. Which turns the Server very quickly into a "Everyone is LvL 30 and no more progression." Have you not read the plethora of Players—in this thread—who say over and over "I don't have the time to get up to LvL 30 even once, not to mention again." Sure, we all wished our single quarter could last us for hours and hours in the arcade, but that just is asking for too much, in my opinion.

If Players are not asked to work for their gains, then why not just let Players start with a LvL 30 toon?

sweetlikesplenda wrote:... just suck it up Buttercup and ignore them.

Good advice. Can I start using it now?!?

Steve wrote: "Everyone is LvL 30 and no more progression."

You already had that. There were alwayss bunch of high-levels characters around that were ALWAYS level 30 and pretty much weren't progressing anywhere from that point.

Steve wrote: they have no reason to ever go through that "getting XP and RPing along the way." again.

Ugh, have you ever been in grinding party?
It is often "Getting XP and NOT RPing". Yes, people RP occasionally. But after 1st or 2nd hour of running in circles, amount of RP will decrease.

Steve wrote: If Players are not asked to work for their gains, then why not just let Players start with a LvL 30 toon?

Why not?

They'll still have to work for equipment, though. Naked level 30 without prior history may be severely weakened depending on class, and accumulting cash for full set of gear takes time. Level 30 suddenly deciding to visit the region is plausible event, and may result in new developments, RP-wise.

Of course, there are also "Dragon" player that has been sitting on piles of gear forever, but last time I checked nobody ever had a problem with that.

Also, if you wanna "work for their gains", there's always IRL jobs. Work all you want. Karond previously mentioned that the purpose of server was to "have fun".

Steve wrote:

sweetlikesplenda wrote:The issues that I have with the 50% RcR is that it hurts RP in some ways.

The RCR is a gift. It seems you consider it a Right, and even more than that, a Right that actually causes problems/pain/discomfort/negativity. I mean, if the RCR hurts your RP, then why are you using it?!?

sweetlikesplenda wrote:I want my PC to ...

1) Not all "heroes" will succeed, nor does getting to "back it up" exist as a given. Nothing you say in this point goes against the 50% RCR gift we share.

2) Just because I promote being low level and RPing that and enjoying the progression, the experience and the growth...how does that even remotely deny the desire to "improve yourself?" You have somehow misinterpreted my statements as one who is saying "stay lowbie, and stay there, and be happy being nothing." Which I am not.

sweetlikesplenda wrote:So, why is there this negativity towards people who are ....only concerned about getting XP and never RP along the way? Why can't it be both?

I am concerned that if a Player has infinite chances to 100% RCR a lvl 30 PC, they have no reason to ever go through that "getting XP and RPing along the way." again. Which turns the Server very quickly into a "Everyone is LvL 30 and no more progression." Have you not read the plethora of Players—in this thread—who say over and over "I don't have the time to get up to LvL 30 even once, not to mention again." Sure, we all wished our single quarter could last us for hours and hours in the arcade, but that just is asking for too much, in my opinion.

If Players are not asked to work for their gains, then why not just let Players start with a LvL 30 toon?

sweetlikesplenda wrote:... just suck it up Buttercup and ignore them.

Good advice. Can I start using it now?!?

+1 on many of your points Steve. This is why I agree that we should not have infinite (or even limited, necessarily) full RCR. It's one thing when we implement MASSIVE changes, but in the day to day, there needs to be something to encourage staying true to existing RP and allowing for different styles of RP without everyone being top level all the time.

sweetlikesplenda wrote:... just suck it up Buttercup and ignore them.

Good advice. Can I start using it now?!?[/quote]

If you are going to use my suggestion to use towards all the many many many people you seem to file under the "They are just going to laud their level 30 and never respect death as a possibility, "I AM LEVEL 30, SO I AM A GOD"; that you seem to file so many people under (To the point that, if you read through all your many posts complaining about this, and didn't have an actual experiences to the contrary, you would assume that most level 30s act like this), for the purpose of ignoring my forum posts, then you have failed, as you keep responding. I mean, you quoted me "ignore them".

Now, I expressed some view points and struggles that I personally have with the current RcR bot, which is an actual right, as it is offered by the server (I mean, the NPC guy is right in the Nexus and available to use by anyone). Don't know if you saw it (See that? I can be snarky too). Just because it may not have been an option some years ago, when you were around and many of our server's player base weren't, it is an option now and everyone has the right to use it. Now, just because it wasn't even an option a long time ago, and then for a long time was an option at 50%, it does not mean it has to remain as it is.

So, please stop nit picking and putting words in my (And frankly everyone else that you respond to) mouth, then finishing your arguments and assumptions with snarky comments. As this is the path to threads being shut down, you know, with people trying to bait others in to responding to things poorly. Though, since you are opposed to the topic, it is likely your goal. Just because it's the internet is not a reason to be a meanie-head. Just sayin'.

NegInfinity wrote:Karond previously mentioned that the purpose of server was to "have fun".

Right, but what's fun for you isn't necessarily what's fun for me, or vice versa. Some people, like Steve for instance, have more fun RP'ing the growth of a character, and *gasp* sharing that growth with other characters. If your idea of having fun, however, is insta-level 30 gratification and this...

NegInfinity wrote:GET THE HECK INTO THE GAME and teach newcomer kids not to run party while chatting via skype to each other.

... then by all means, have at it.

I'd keep the old policy of 50 XP upon RCR, but with one small addition - get rid of level 20 cap. It will only make a difference of level or two (depending on ECL) but it will mean something to 30 level characters in a way that they didn't completely waste portion of their character/XP.

sweetlikesplenda wrote:... and never respect death as a possibility, "I AM LEVEL 30, SO I AM A GOD"

It's actually "I AM LEVEL 30, SO I NEVER DIE."

Except for when the Player "tires" of the Character, and willingly ends their life. And if they do, fine.

But that they or anyone else gets to immediately have a new PC at lvl 30 again...well, I will remain of the opinion that it cheapens the experience on BGTSCC.

But what is funny is: Narshe already said the 100% ain't gonna stay!