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

Has anyone else noticed a lack of DM's lately?

I think it's a lack of shout announcements.

that is not true i think a dm think it is not fun to be dm anymore

DMs are there. It no longer shows when they log on/off in the chat log, but you can see who's on by opening the Player Chat tab

Need more shout announcements... too many good events people miss cause they dont know its happening. Obviously guild related stuff should be kept secret but if its not faction specific it should be announced so all can enjoy if they choose. The only surefire way to find events now is with the scry, if you see a ton of people in a specific area and a dm is on you should investigate... often times it means there is an event.

V'rass wrote:Need more shout announcements...

I wish these would always be accompanied with where one might learn about it, and how. Or if not at all then for that to be pointed out before half the server metagames their way across the coast.

That would work too. At the very least give a hint that somewhere something might be happening. That way at least people could try to find it albeit with a low chance of success.

V'rass wrote:Need more shout announcements... too many good events people miss cause they dont know its happening. Obviously guild related stuff should be kept secret but if its not faction specific it should be announced so all can enjoy if they choose. The only surefire way to find events now is with the scry, if you see a ton of people in a specific area and a dm is on you should investigate... often times it means there is an event.

As a former DM, I always thought this sort of behavior sucked. It is metagaming, it makes events awkwardly large, and it can lead to lag as everyone dog piles into an area looking to steal the show.

This sort of thing makes DMs hesitant to have non-guild events, or at least it has in the past.

V'rass wrote:Need more shout announcements...

Why? So people of all levels can flock to an area they wouldn't otherwise be in, around people they wouldn't normally be around? If DM's want to run discreet, one-off events for pcs or groups of pcs, why should they feel the need to invite the whole server?

Maybe that is a sign that people who are not in guilds or who are in guilds without dm support are desperate for some sort of dming? Personally I wouldn't metagame something like that if I felt like there was any other way to advance my characters goals.

Individual DMs have individual tastes. There are a couple who do like the mass player events, often announced with a shout about a battle erupting or smoke billowing over the Cloakwood, etc. Most of the time these events play out as almost an MMO-style raid to take down a "boss" or survive a horde of monsters. These can be a lot of fun, though, and they offer a sometimes welcome change in the way the game is engaged -- so there's nothing wrong with this approach.

It's also fair to say that many of the server's past military campaigns (Capture of the Temple of Bhaal/Friendly Arm Inn, Amn-Gate War, Undead Siege of Baldur's Gate, etc.) have been events of this type, by sheer dent of the numbers of players involved. More involved RP has been encouraged in these instances by taking a more "campaign"-based approach, where the maps change and players create their own RP around what's going on -- and DM events within that broader picture are handled in smaller groups or large battles in-between the more map-based "setting," and with multiple DMs at the steering wheel.

I think the majority of DMs feel that RP begins to break down after seven or eight players get involved, however; which is why shouts are not often the preferred route for recruiting.

A shout for a specific level range or alignment or even class can work, of course, if trying to throw together a group as a DM.

Another route that works is putting together a group and approaching the DMs, preferably with a starting point or idea. Some players have had variable success with this in the past. But again, it sort of relies on finding a DM who's interested in doing a "weekly session" type campaign with an established party of this type.

It's definitely true that many DMs do prefer DMing for guilds. It provides them with a ready-made party that gets along fairly well together in terms of coordination. Everybody knows their roles, it's a bit easier to schedule since the main requirement is just that a number of guild members show up (not that everyone in the guild shows up), and it allows the DM to very easily affect the political landscape of the server by shifting power away from or toward whole groups, instead of trying to measure the influence of individual players.

At the end of the day, it comes down to what the DM is looking for out of their event.

As players, the best way to get involved is to contact the DMs with your ideas, or to rely on the luck of being at the right place at the right time. I also know of many DMs in the past who, when looking for inspiration, hop from place to place to try and find people roleplaying in dungeons and other locations. If you're walking and talking, and not just grinding, there's a higher chance you'll wind up the subject of a spontaneous event in locations like these. Starting a DM event in the middle of a grind is much more difficult, though, so it's rare you'll find yourself in the middle of a DM event if you're on a loot run or grind. I've tried, myself, to establish events for players in full-on grind mode before, and unfortunately the players almost universally run right past my event setup/NPCs without even pausing. They're totally zoned out to anything but efficient XP/GP gain in the shortest amount of possible time. Which is fine, I've been there myself, too; but it makes DMing for players in that mode of play all but impossible (or at least pretty frustrating for the DM).

Planehopper wrote:

V'rass wrote:Need more shout announcements... too many good events people miss cause they dont know its happening. Obviously guild related stuff should be kept secret but if its not faction specific it should be announced so all can enjoy if they choose. The only surefire way to find events now is with the scry, if you see a ton of people in a specific area and a dm is on you should investigate... often times it means there is an event.

As a former DM, I always thought this sort of behavior sucked. It is metagaming, it makes events awkwardly large, and it can lead to lag as everyone dog piles into an area looking to steal the show.

This sort of thing makes DMs hesitant to have non-guild events, or at least it has in the past.

You're quite right. I solved this by shouting four simultaneous, vague rumours once. Which made people spread all over the server and I got a handful of people at the one that was a legitimate rumour.

Anyways, I've not been on much the last few weeks due to holidays and other IRL stuff. But I also prefer running group/guild specific events and plots, as it creates deeper immersion and interest from the people involved, whereas the larger, open events often tend to end up very hard to run and some people certainly come mainly just to get the XP reward. Controversial thing for a DM to state like this, I understand, but we all know it.

I DM for myself.

Aspect of Sorrow wrote:I DM for myself.

Pshh, then why do you put Valerie in those bushes?

Maecius wrote:I think the majority of DMs feel that RP begins to break down after seven or eight players get involved, however; which is why shouts are not often the preferred route for recruiting.

Everything breaks down after 7-8 people are involved. That's why meetings with 20+ people are chaotic and achieve little. We're just not wired to act socially in large groups - we act like a mob.

Frankly, after a few experiences of the huge DM events, I started avoiding them like the plague. No fun for me at all.