What discourages you from playing/making a main PC in UD?

[adobongmanok]

Aside from the ECL +2, and the stat attributes that doesn't fit in your build as well as the recent game mechanic changes. I would like to hear your opinions.

[Aspect of Sorrow]

Nothing. My main is in the UD.

[kleomenes]

Nothing. My main is in the UD.

He is not about so much anymore though! It might be fruitful to say why you make surface chars as alts if the OP agrees that is within the topic of the thread.

[adobongmanok]

Nothing. My main is in the UD.

Right. I wanted to hear the other people's opinions who has yet to explore UD.

I just want to grab some data from some awesome individual:

Source: viewtopic.php?f=136&t=61769&hilit=some+data

Let's hear from the others.

[LISA100595]

My Main reason is that I have 2 mains on the Surface and I love them both.

The darkness used to be my main gripe, but since getting that darkvision override that is more of a "white" light than grey, I'm golden.. I can see where i'm going and no more depressing blackness !!

To note: I very VERY much enjoy playing my drow in Bregan.. super fun and fantastic RPers. Just wish I had more time. <3

[aaron22]

prefer menzo style RP

not much variety in the playable environment.

would go there strictly for RP and do not think that is fair to the community that strives there already.

everyone knows each other down there it seems and feel a bit like a black sheep at first.

[Dagesh]

I have been of the mind since NWN 1 that drow shouldn't be a playable race. It consistently remains awkward in every server I have ever seen. Add in the mechanics where a level 30 drow has an effective character level of 32 (among other mechanical advantages), and it becomes a headache. I'm not fond of the setting either.

[kleomenes]

Answering for myself, I have tried to make Daug my main a couple of times in my time here. The following were the main barriers for me:

1 - Lack of population. It was not possible to just "log in and find someone". Solo grinding and questing is often all there is to do, or idling in Gloura's until someone happens to log on. OOC means to arrange RP make it easier but its still like playing on a mini low population server....

2 - ....without the consequent access to DM activity. DM events and plots down there are rare, and when they exist they are often quite wide in scope to include many factions. These used to often get swamped with alts made by people with surface mains. I've DM'ed the Underdark before and number one impacts number two. Its the same for DMs, its hard to actually find players to DM. Note I am speaking generally, not to denigrate the DM experiences I have had, and am having, down there. Its a question of scale, really, not quality. And being more reliant on it than is good, really, given the low population.

3 - The nature of the setting, the low number of players and the lack of DM support mean it is not reactive. The vast majority of the interactions with Drow NPCs seem to be the Conclave interacting with the latest Lolthite bandits. The city itself does not often feel alive, and low player numbers mean that there is no real faction dynamics - nor are there internal dynamics between NPC factions often. Not day to day at least. Again, it DOES happen, but its just a question of scale

4 - Consequently, there is nothing to do. Its grinding, solo or in a group. Some mild party dynamics between a bunch of evil characters who hate each other. Most starkly when I tried to replace Ameris with Daug during the month Ameris was hanged/incommunicado. Its hard to retain interest for sustained RP without a lot of drive and a good group or guild as a lot of the time even when you find people there isnt always something to interact about. Note, drive and a good group CAN and DOES prevent this.

5 - Hyper aggressive Lolthite PVP drow. Its been a feature before, not so much recently. The Underdark SHOULD be a dangerous place and my own PC isn't a nice guy, but there have been bouts of entirely PVP focused play (perhaps to generate RP, I don't want to suggest its all PVP pwnage), and when that has got too intense or too OOC its just cut the already small community into pieces. I mean even when there is no OOC Drama, if the people online are just your IC enemies, its like there's no one online!

The relaxing of the UD/Surface rules back in 2015 and then Glowfire making a sustained effort to play Vesche in Bregan as a manipulator vis a vis surface factions saw a flood of RP in the UD. She had able help from a number of skilled RPers too last year. Add to that the event line Flasmix ran. Between them it gave the UD a new lease of life for a while, largely because it countered 1 and 4, and to an extent 3 (with the jostling between the now more populated factions)

Thats my take. It adds up to no easy answer as to a fix, to me.

...mechanically I have really enjoyed the place. Spawns used to be tougher than the surface, I loved it.

[Steve]

Every other year, I create a UD toon. But after a number of experiences seeing Events fall through, and Players disappear, then most times a zero population...I usually give up. Until maybe the next year!!

My main goal in playing a Character is one that has the possibility to affect the world around them. That desire is already extremely difficult on the Surface, and in my experience, non-existent in the UD.

And since I'm not really into grinding levels, it just feel stagnate down there. I also don't have any desire to play an Elf, so its either Svirf, Duegar or Imaskari—I'm finished with Orcs—and when you choose one of those non-Drow races, it seems like you're even more on your own, in term of like-equals-like.

That's my two cents.

[kleomenes]

Join Bregan Steve! Duergar welcome

[Steve]

Join Bregan Steve!

After I resurrect Kraak Helzak!!

[NegInfinity]

Aside from the ECL +2, and the stat attributes that doesn't fit in your build as well as the recent game mechanic changes. I would like to hear your opinions.

There aren't enough people, and it is hard to see a thing even with both nightvision AND brighter nightvision mod.

My current character ended up being in UD due to accident, and I decided to roll with it, but I'm unsure if this is a "main" character, or if I even have a main character at this point.

Also... the setting does not strongly appeal to me. There are some nice moments like Rockrun map, but I'd be much happier if I could simply start as a baatezu or cambion in Avernus. (Because devils + lava)

In the end, I think my issue is low population and darkness. You rarely ever meet anyone. So you dramatically kill stuff in caves, alone. All the time.

Another minor issue is dealing with drow. Those guys think themselves to be master race, and they're running the show in sshamath. So as a non-drow, the usual best course of action is to nope out of the area as soon as a drow is sighted. Because you never know what kind of thing they're up to. That makes conversations - with drow - awkward.

[kleomenes]

Another minor issue is dealing with drow. Those guys think themselves to be master race, and they're running the show in sshamath. So as a non-drow, the usual best course of action is to nope out of the area as soon as a drow is sighted. Because you never know what kind of thing they're up to. That makes conversations - with drow - awkward.

Join Bregan!

..I realise turning this into a Bregan recruitment thread is off topic

[Aspect of Sorrow]

Nothing. My main is in the UD.

He is not about so much anymore though! It might be fruitful to say why you make surface chars as alts if the OP agrees that is within the topic of the thread.

Vithsiris returned from Ulcaster's shadow plane in December / November of last year after taking a RL/IC hiatus to reflect on his studied investment (3 months) - an ongoing personal plot of the past couple of years.

He's been around, publicly visible in Gloura's tavern the past couple of weeks (DarkerThought, EmpoweredFan, Keeshe, have been some of the players that have interacted with him in passing, and those are the most recent encounters even as soon as this week). The Que'llars, Bregan, etc doesn't see much of him as none of them have anything to offer Vithsiris, it's difficult to convince him that their machinations aren't insignificant, petty, and or juvenile due in part to the amount of dust that's collected on this old boy's shoulders over the decade of the module's existence he's been a part of. If he doesn't want to be seen he has no problem doing just that.

[Steve]

Join Bregan!

..I realise turning this into a Bregan recruitment thread is off topic

But that is actually THE THING: if a set of regular, dedicated Players get together, this is what should move the Server, in terms of alltheaboveyoucanthinkofthatmakesRPandServerFUN.

It may end up being a bit lopsided in some ways, but it can be a force for change...and at least the change of diminishing the "lack of population" turn-off.