Are you guys SURE you want more DM attention?
I'm gonna give some feedback here, and it's going to sound hyper-critical, but I do mean it to be constructive. I would say upwards of 75% of my dm interaction on this server has been kind of... bad.
Now, I'll admit that I've played on some pretty hardcore roleplay servers. The kind that are password protected and require applications and have small playerbases and dedicated DM's. (By 'dedicated,' I mean DM's that aren't allowed to be players (which, by the by, is a really really good rule, but it DOES tend to limit the amount of DM's you get)).
So it's possible that my ideas of what make good DM'ing just don't work on an open server with a big fat population. That said, I can't help but compare them in my mind, and while I understand that player-driven material is great for DM's to grab onto, in my experience the best DM interactions come about because the DM wants to introduce the characters to a slice of
their imaginary world, and not due to the fact they want to make all our character's dreams come true.
Because, you can't FORCE a dm to care about your character's desire to bring Sshamath to it's knees with guerilla warfare siege tactics. He might think you're reaching, or might not wish to upset the lore of the sourcebooks, or might just think it's trite and uninspired, etc. On the other hand, if a DM is introducing NPC's that they enjoy playing, or creating mysteries that they want the pc's to unravel because they are clever and intricate, then they are far more likely to remain interested (and be interesting). Examples of what I've seen here (and constructive alternatives when applicable) include:
Spawn wave events. I could not abhor these any more than I presently do. They generally attract lots of players, which tends to make events turn a bit cluster-eff-ish and unfun. They cause lag. And at the end of the day, it's just
more combat. We get plenty of combat, some of it quite challenging (depending on what you're going after) without a DM present. Sometimes there is a cause for such spawn waves, which is nice, but it seems fairly often it's just a 'fun' thing that has no underlying plot or archenemy or mystery to unravel.
Events that run completely roughshod over established lore. Usually, I'm all for a more dynamic approach to lore that we create as we go, but when there is a strike force of surfacers in Sshamath literally wiping out wave after wave of npc drow, it's a bit hard to swallow.
Events that do not take into account, or do not reward, pc motivation for getting involved, or not getting involved in an event. This one is a bit hard to explain, but several times I've seen events getting started where the lead-in is simply, "I am powerful and can reward you with magical items if you do what I want." I mean, we're supposed to be playing realistic characters who behave in a realistic fashion. My drow would likely just kill you and take your stuff if that were true, but at the very least characters want to have SOME reason for trusting the word of a stranger. If those characters ask a few questions, have some answers ready! And if somebody stays in character and plays it to the hilt and actually refuses the quest, reward that person for having some roleplay integrity, and not just wagging their tail in your presence because you graced them with an "event."
Handing out requested gear. This seems the very antithesis of roleplay to me. If there is treasure to be had at the end of a quest/story, it should make sense within the context of said quest/story/mystery/etc. You shouldn't get things handed to you because you either request them, or the DM knows it would be good for your character. It also creates awkwardness and a break in being IC that really isn't needed.
OOC oddities. Recently, a particular guild was basically told on their private forums that the reason they got no attention from the dm's is because said faction wasn't 'doing it right.' At the same time, there was a mixed message which essentially said 'tell us how you want things to go.' From my perspective, if you're displeased with the way the faction is going, feel free to dismantle it IC (which is essentially what they did), or roll with the punches IC. But for the DM's to come OOC and basically bash the players for not roleplaying in a manner that they approve of is just about the biggest turn-off I've encountered on the server. For all my ranting and raving (in the past) about balance, I'd never consider not playing here because of it. But the current crop of very, let's say... "authoritative"... DM's is doing the trick. I know, I know, big deal, the server is already full and I'm just a 'powergamer' anyway, but it's how I feel.
If we can expect more of the above when/if we get dm's in the UD, then as crazy as it may seem, I'd almost rather go without. But if we can get some subtlety, some inventive intrigue that doesn't require the bashing of heads, some interesting npc's that we can interact with, then I'm all for it.
I feel that one should not be a DM unless they have story arcs, and npc's, and villains, and factions that THEY want to develop. Getting involved in player driven stuff seems like it should come organically because DM's watch and pay attention to what the pc's say and do, rather than because they posted their bio on the forums for the whole world to see (no offense to those that do it, I just find it to be very OOC and not my thing). And don't be afraid to randomly reward people with xp for roleplay that you find engaging. It lets them know you're watching and gives them hope that someday a personalized event might come their way.
As it stands right now, I don't play at BGTSCC because of the DM's. I play here because, for the most part, there are a lot of people and the vast majority of them are decent roleplayers with interesting characters. I don't play in the UD that much anymore not because of a lack of DM interaction, but because it's sparsely populated and always has been. I'm sorry, but this is very unlikely to change. Many people are drawn to this server because it has lots of players. When they get here and find that most of those players are on the surface, it isn't surprising that they end up there.
Wow, I wrote a book.
UD players please feel welcome to PM me whem you see me log in as DM; if you do I will do mey best to include you on any events 