Tools of a DM vs Immersion

[Rain]

I really don't think this boils down to simple rewards gained from DM's after events izzul. I believe the main topic of concern here is the one that OP of this thread posted, which was how he believes DM events should be diversified a bit better to compensate for players who don't have extraordinary combat builds and players who are specifically built to be lore and skill focus friendly. And of course the concern of what the DM team themselves bring to the server, and if what they give is what we want as players. . .

While i'm not one for belittling the DM team I am one for constructive criticism and what I would say is a currently a problem with how the current DM team operates is how and when events are run. I feel that the DM team is way to formulaic with their events, in which they plan out a date and time with a small group (usually a dedicated guild) and set things in motion for that group for that specific time and date. And while I can agree that is a great idea and helps build plot and story for the DM and the group it does not add to the immersion of the server. . .

Many people come to play NWN2 in an online setting for a reason, to enjoy an immersive environment that only the DM client can give. An environment that is open and unpredictable that leaves players turning their heads and wondering what is coming around that next corner. And as of right now the current DM team is lacking all of that. The server is lacking the immersion, unpredictability, and sense of dread that the setting and the DM client COULD offer. This has nothing to do with the old client or how jank it is nor rewards given by DM's either, because I myself used to use the client, make maps on the editor, program and code spells into new spells books and all sorts of things for another server. And trust me it IS possible to make a server immersive without a single reward given to the player base at all. It simply requires dedication and creativity with the editor and the DM tools to make what the DM have for -ready sets go's- work.

Maecius said it himself:

The DMs are overworked and underequipped.

And with this it comes to me that the DM team simply just need more teammates who CAN filled that role of simply maintaining immersion on the server. Because I think ive already proved my point that players are really thirsty for DM's like that given by my thread ->here<- that by itself as one player has created so much drama, RP, story, and conflict that was only created 3 weeks ago.

Yumi even said it himself:

I guess i'm trying to say that we don't always need the DMs to generate awesome RP. Put in that time and effort and it will go a long way. I logged in last night and heard something about a 'doctor' (evil toon) going around killing people leaving I.O.U messages. It was totally 100% DM-free and generated so much RP and buzz. Think we need more proactive players like that.

Now imagine if it was a DM who did this and not a player.

Now again i'm not trying to stroke my own ego or talk down about the DM staff and the way they do things. I myself as a former DM know what goes on behind the big curtain and it is a large messy file cabinet filled with cob webs, junk mail and old forgotten promises. I know it's hard and non of what the DM team does is easy but I can also say for myself that I believe that DM team needs to step it up.

I can say this because DM Theo's reply here:

To answer your question: "Why does dealing with DMs always appear to be counterproductive?", I think it's quite simple. Your expectations of this game are not aligning with what the DMs are able to provide for you.

Even with him being a DM all the way back from 2011 I disagree with. Because the DM's can provide anything and the client has enough to grant these things on a scale that players have yet to see or probably have not seen in a long time because the current team doesn't know how to give that.

So I wanted to touch back on this topic after my post of it to get my point across to what I was fore-telling and advertising in the topic of player vs DM immersion. It's something that I think doesn't get talked about often enough especially in the current state of the server and I felt now would be a good time to show an example of what I consider good vs bad immersion governed by DM vs player initiative from something that happened last night.

Now again please do not take what i'm about to say as harassment, belittling, "talking-smack" or boasting. This topic has nothing to do with that and is mainly being brought up to address the current state of -immersitivity- (yes I just made that up) and for constructive critisism to the current workings of the DM team and their roles.

So last night a DM logged on as normal and requested if anyone needed help or assistance a good thing to do to start your day and I see no problem in it, in my opinion the problem lies in what he did after that:

Deleted image per rule 3


Now listen i'm all for a DM helping out players with advertisements and growing their community in what is already a very low population game. But I simply can't get behind the way this was handled and outputted into the community from this prospective. The DM simply asked if there were any guild leaders online presently, people reacted to this shout and thus he began to shout -rumors- of guilds and how they were -recruiting- for new members. The problem with this is it's plainly obvious the players themselves at the time did not put in any actual IC initiative for these shouts, they didn't RP hanging any flyers, they didn't write a small post in the guild RP forums with a "here ye here ye", they didn't walk down the streets of the FAI with banners held high of their servitude. . . The players themselves did nothing and put in no effort to warrant these rumors through IC initiative. All the DM did was simply go down a stack of note cards and read off the guild names in question and threw in recruitment -rumors- for said guilds.

Now to me this is almost on the level of MMO ridiculousness, "Pay $3 for a microphone token and shout your guild info in game today!" Really though to me something like this should not happen. Especially because even if the DM was doing what he considers a good thing what if that player who requested the shout has not in put in any effort at all to recruit UNTIL THAT MOMENT and on top of that WAS ON AN ALT AT THE TIME. That means he or she did put in no time to get their guild name out there from their own hands and especially did not hand out flyers to cause these rumors to erupt out of thin air about their guild.


Now where am I going with this you may ask?

It all revolves back around to immersion and the current state of immersion on the server. To me I feel BGTSCC is a great community filled with amazing artist, story tellers, dreamers, and master minds. But all of this potential that could be put into great plots, stories, rumors, drama, and flare is 80% of the time throw out the window due to what I consider is lazy excuses for immersion like this. To me if BGTSCC had the immersion that I truly believe could be achieved (If talked about and addressed in a meeting among the staff) it would be far more successful then it already is. And it pains me to see the team has yet to see this and / or has not been addressed to the opinions from the community of what their team lacks.

Ive already given some examples of what I believe would be a great topic to be discussed amongst the current team:

Totally agree! I would adore more DM events but my god finding them is like a gold mine!

I do think that the players kinda have to put themselves out there a little and try and RP with each other, think it would make it a lot easier for DMs instead of expecting DMs to do everything for us. I found joining a guild helped, and I am hoping to arrange a non-DM event myself.

I guess i'm trying to say that we don't always need the DMs to generate awesome RP. Put in that time and effort and it will go a long way. I logged in last night and heard something about a 'doctor' (evil toon) going around killing people leaving I.O.U messages. It was totally 100% DM-free and generated so much RP and buzz. Think we need more proactive players like that.

Yeah I actually had a long conversation about this with a friend of mine. We were saying how much better the server would be if perhaps there were different divisions of DM's. The mid and high tier DM's being in charge of plot and server wide events. Then simply a smaller tier division of DM's who are in charge of simply giving and maintaining immersion to the world with small event's here and there that occur depending on actions players take daily. Such as xvarts retaliating when groups of people raid them, or the undead getting riled up due to people using positive or negative energy at the fields of the dead. Hell even the giants continuing their raids on Nashkel would be a fun commodity. Would even be nice if the DM's were simply present so people could interact with different NPC's that would normally be inanimate such as guards, temple priest, locals, non predator wild animals etc.

I used to do similar events and favors for my players back when Sundren used to be a relevant server.

So now the question is what do the rest of you who are a part of this amazing community think?

/// Please be considerate to the topic at hand and do not grief the DM in question for what he did. Im not advertising this post to get the DM in trouble or for people to harass him on something he did in-game he was merely used as an example and should not be harassed due to this.

[Mallore]

I think what the dm did was great and should be seen again.

Not everyone hangs out on the forums. I rather be in game then reading a forum myself. Anything that encourages group growth is great.

I do come from the opinion Role Playing is better with an audience.

[Rain]

I think what the dm did was great and should be seen again.

Not everyone hangs out on the forums. I rather be in game then reading a forum myself. Anything that encourages group growth is great.

I do come from the opinion Role Playing is better with an audience.

Understandable. I too don't always look to the forums all the time either and sometimes when I do just tend to skim through things because I enjoy the IC roleplay and -in the moment- aspect of actually being logged into the game. Thanks for the reply ill give what you said some thought.

Much love <3

[Mallore]

I also changed my defaults so DM shouts don’t appear in my rp box. They go off into the side box with combat stuff. . Thus the shouts and tells don’t break my rp.

[VDub]

I think you probably could have gotten your point across without calling out a staff member. I understand you wrote a disclaimer and all, but that doesn't change the fact of what you posted.

I see it as that DM was trying to give those guild leaders a hand. That in itself should be commended. Just because it doesn't fall in line with what you feel is right, doesn't make it wrong.

If you would like to start a player ran plot, then do so. Many of them have been successful in the server's history.

If a staff member has done something that you feel is wrong or detrimental to the state of the server, the correct path would be to contact the HDM's or the Admin's through a PM and discuss it there. Calling them out on the public forum is in bad taste, IMO.

[metaquad4]

While I do see your point:
-Players should be advertising their guilds ICly or on the forums. DM time is better spent elsewhere.
-Shout channels break immersion.

I can agree with the Shout channel going misused sometimes. I don't think finger-pointing is necessarily a good way to demonstrate this, but we all know it DOES happen. I'm not sure if DMs have an area chat, but that might be a better tool. I do remember some DMs using something like this, though.

Yeah, players should be advertising their guilds ICly or on the forums, but I think DMs are restricted more than enough. They don't need more restrictions (less IMO) if that is something that might come from this thread in the future.

1) The DM wanted to do this. If they were stopped, then they might have not even hopped on. Players weren't denied actual DM stuff necessarily. So no worries on that score.

2) Yeah, the shout channel is irritating sometimes. BUT you can turn it off (I often do). Honestly, unless you are in an event, I'd recommend always turning it off. It reduces people metagaming to find events (this is sort of like players stopping themselves from MGing), bloating events, and it also removes the need to see DMs who use the shout channel to speak about their events to their eventees. To me, the shout channel is the DM equivalent of a player walking into RP and typing in slashes for a few minutes.

----
I do know that Haven recently created a separate PM window. Essentially, it was a window that was minimized and you could maximize, with a list of names of people you had active PM conversations with. Sort of like an instant messaging window, but in game. I think that sort of thing could be useful for our shout channel, as it would eliminate the breaking immersion issues that some people have. That is just a thought, though.

----
Ultimately, it doesn't really bother me too much. I've found my own coping mechanism (turn off the shout channel) and it works just fine for me. If it bothers you, I recommend giving that a go.

Edit: Putting shouts (and PMs?) in the combat log is also not a bad idea. Though I usually disable them to AVOID them (when I feel like avoiding them), I'll try this when I have those two enabled.

[Rain]

I think you probably could have gotten your point across without calling out a staff member. I understand you wrote a disclaimer and all, but that doesn't change the fact of what you posted.

I see it as that DM was trying to give those guild leaders a hand. That in itself should be commended. Just because it doesn't fall in line with what you feel is right, doesn't make it wrong.

If you would like to start a player ran plot, then do so. Many of them have been successful in the server's history.

If a staff member has done something that you feel is wrong or detrimental to the state of the server, the correct path would be to contact the HDM's or the Admin's through a PM and discuss it there. Calling them out on the public forum is in bad taste, IMO.

Im glad you replied, and I have taken in what you said but for a follow up question to the topic. Is there anything you think we as players could give the DM's to improve on what they already do and might be beneficial to server immersion both in game and out of the game? Do you think more staff should be hired? Have philosophy of how ADM's and DM's work flow could be altered a bit? Maybe have an idea for how players could drive a more atmospheric agenda to the server? I see you post alot on the forums so I actually am curious on some idea's you have considering the topic.

[Rain]

While I think I agree with some of your underlying points - guilds could be more active IC both in game and on the forums - the ego stroking makes it hard to tell.

Your way is not THE way it is A way.

The DM did a favor, extended to all (even those calling themselves a guild without official markers of such) and your response is to point at it like it's a bad thing?

We aren't all in game 24/7. We aren't all in the forums 24/7. Our characters ARE in the world 24/7 so it would make sense that they hear and pick up on things - rumors of guild needs and hires, etc - easier than we would.

It is up to the player to accept the information and decide whether their character would have heard the rumor. It isn't up to you.

I also wish to throw the same question to you as I did VDub if you don't giving your thoughts on it of course.

Is there anything you think we as players could give the DM's to improve on what they already do and might be beneficial to server immersion both in game and out of the game? Do you think more staff should be hired? Have philosophy of how ADM's and DM's work flow could be altered a bit? Maybe have an idea for how players could drive a more atmospheric agenda to the server?

Also thank you for your replied opinion of the topic.

[DaloLorn]

While I think I agree with some of your underlying points - guilds could be more active IC both in game and on the forums - the ego stroking makes it hard to tell.

Your way is not THE way it is A way.

The DM did a favor, extended to all (even those calling themselves a guild without official markers of such) and your response is to point at it like it's a bad thing?

We aren't all in game 24/7. We aren't all in the forums 24/7. Our characters ARE in the world 24/7 so it would make sense that they hear and pick up on things - rumors of guild needs and hires, etc - easier than we would.

It is up to the player to accept the information and decide whether their character would have heard the rumor. It isn't up to you.

*nods* There are often things that a PC can pick up off-screen. Sometimes, this can even be retconned as having happened when their player was only partially OOC, grinding in the Graveyard for the umpteenth time or something. (To clarify: I'm fine with being seen in the Graveyard or wherever for the umpteenth time, and I can usually come up with some kind of excuse for why I'm there. But if nobody shows up to kick me into a fully-IC state, whether my character was actually there is left in the air until I explicitly reference the events of that period... and if they weren't, then that can also count as off-screen time.)

Yes, this can be taken too far, resulting in metagaming. But to completely deny this principle requires every PC in the game world to be blind, deaf and dumb for periods greatly in excess of the time they spend sleeping - even worse, in fact, since there's a lot of stuff that could reasonably happen on-screen if there was an entire army of DMs controlling the various NPCs throughout the server.

I think you probably could have gotten your point across without calling out a staff member. I understand you wrote a disclaimer and all, but that doesn't change the fact of what you posted.

I see it as that DM was trying to give those guild leaders a hand. That in itself should be commended. Just because it doesn't fall in line with what you feel is right, doesn't make it wrong.

If you would like to start a player ran plot, then do so. Many of them have been successful in the server's history.

If a staff member has done something that you feel is wrong or detrimental to the state of the server, the correct path would be to contact the HDM's or the Admin's through a PM and discuss it there. Calling them out on the public forum is in bad taste, IMO.

Im glad you replied, and I have taken in what you said but for a follow up question to the topic. Is there anything you think we as players could give the DM's to improve on what they already do and might be beneficial to server immersion both in game and out of the game? Do you think more staff should be hired? Have philosophy of how ADM's and DM's work flow could be altered a bit? Maybe have an idea for how players could drive a more atmospheric agenda to the server? I see you post alot on the forums so I actually am curious on some idea's you have considering the topic.

More staff would be nice, certainly. But let's be realistic for a moment - this server has hundreds, if not thousands of different NPCs. A DM can only control so many of them at a time. Unless the players are outnumbered by several orders of magnitude by the DMs, you will not be able to solve the issue you presented in your OP.

[Rain]

While I do see your point:
-Players should be advertising their guilds ICly or on the forums. DM time is better spent elsewhere.
-Shout channels break immersion.

I can agree with the Shout channel going misused sometimes. I don't think finger-pointing is necessarily a good way to demonstrate this, but we all know it DOES happen. I'm not sure if DMs have an area chat, but that might be a better tool. I do remember some DMs using something like this, though.

Yeah, players should be advertising their guilds ICly or on the forums, but I think DMs are restricted more than enough. They don't need more restrictions (less IMO) if that is something that might come from this thread in the future.

1) The DM wanted to do this. If they were stopped, then they might have not even hopped on. Players weren't denied actual DM stuff necessarily. So no worries on that score.

2) Yeah, the shout channel is irritating sometimes. BUT you can turn it off (I often do). Honestly, unless you are in an event, I'd recommend always turning it off. It reduces people metagaming to find events (this is sort of like players stopping themselves from MGing), bloating events, and it also removes the need to see DMs who use the shout channel to speak about their events to their eventees. To me, the shout channel is the DM equivalent of a player walking into RP and typing in slashes for a few minutes.

----
I do know that Haven recently created a separate PM window. Essentially, it was a window that was minimized and you could maximize, with a list of names of people you had active PM conversations with. Sort of like an instant messaging window, but in game. I think that sort of thing could be useful for our shout channel, as it would eliminate the breaking immersion issues that some people have. That is just a thought, though.

----
Ultimately, it doesn't really bother me too much. I've found my own coping mechanism (turn off the shout channel) and it works just fine for me. If it bothers you, I recommend giving that a go.

Edit: Putting shouts (and PMs?) in the combat log is also not a bad idea. Though I usually disable them to AVOID them (when I feel like avoiding them), I'll try this when I have those two enabled.

You have alot of great points. Yeah Haven's PM system was a great idea, perhaps something they should think about porting over perhaps or at-least something similar.

At-least then you know how to diversify what is considered IC (World) knowledge shouts and what is IC (Local) knowledge shouts, would also help with immersion if the shout was only seen in that area instead of the whole server unless of course it was server specific like a dragon flying over the realm.

+1 from me thank for the reply aplethoraof

[Rain]

While I think I agree with some of your underlying points - guilds could be more active IC both in game and on the forums - the ego stroking makes it hard to tell.

Your way is not THE way it is A way.

The DM did a favor, extended to all (even those calling themselves a guild without official markers of such) and your response is to point at it like it's a bad thing?

We aren't all in game 24/7. We aren't all in the forums 24/7. Our characters ARE in the world 24/7 so it would make sense that they hear and pick up on things - rumors of guild needs and hires, etc - easier than we would.

It is up to the player to accept the information and decide whether their character would have heard the rumor. It isn't up to you.

*nods* There are often things that a PC can pick up off-screen. Sometimes, this can even be retconned as having happened when their player was only partially OOC, grinding in the Graveyard for the umpteenth time or something. (To clarify: I'm fine with being seen in the Graveyard or wherever for the umpteenth time, and I can usually come up with some kind of excuse for why I'm there. But if nobody shows up to kick me into a fully-IC state, whether my character was actually there is left in the air until I explicitly reference the events of that period... and if they weren't, then that can also count as off-screen time.)

Yes, this can be taken too far, resulting in metagaming. But to completely deny this principle requires every PC in the game world to be blind, deaf and dumb for periods greatly in excess of the time they spend sleeping - even worse, in fact, since there's a lot of stuff that could reasonably happen on-screen if there was an entire army of DMs controlling the various NPCs throughout the server.

I think you probably could have gotten your point across without calling out a staff member. I understand you wrote a disclaimer and all, but that doesn't change the fact of what you posted.

I see it as that DM was trying to give those guild leaders a hand. That in itself should be commended. Just because it doesn't fall in line with what you feel is right, doesn't make it wrong.

If you would like to start a player ran plot, then do so. Many of them have been successful in the server's history.

If a staff member has done something that you feel is wrong or detrimental to the state of the server, the correct path would be to contact the HDM's or the Admin's through a PM and discuss it there. Calling them out on the public forum is in bad taste, IMO.

Im glad you replied, and I have taken in what you said but for a follow up question to the topic. Is there anything you think we as players could give the DM's to improve on what they already do and might be beneficial to server immersion both in game and out of the game? Do you think more staff should be hired? Have philosophy of how ADM's and DM's work flow could be altered a bit? Maybe have an idea for how players could drive a more atmospheric agenda to the server? I see you post alot on the forums so I actually am curious on some idea's you have considering the topic.

More staff would be nice, certainly. But let's be realistic for a moment - this server has hundreds, if not thousands of different NPCs. A DM can only control so many of them at a time. Unless the players are outnumbered by several orders of magnitude by the DMs, you will not be able to solve the issue you presented in your OP.

What I presented is something that will not be solved by a simple request it is something that would very much need to be discussed, planned, tested and executed to see the results and how it effects work-load. I am in very much in agreement that at the current time and with the current staff having NPC's react 24 hours of the day would be impossible. But considering ive done it myself in a community of about 20-30 active players on weekends. With the right demonstrations, plans and briefing it's something I know myself can be done at a mild level and enough to allow players who wished to interact with the environment a chance to do so every so often instead of once in a blue moon.

[VDub]

Im glad you replied, and I have taken in what you said but for a follow up question to the topic. Is there anything you think we as players could give the DM's to improve on what they already do and might be beneficial to server immersion both in game and out of the game? Do you think more staff should be hired? Have philosophy of how ADM's and DM's work flow could be altered a bit? Maybe have an idea for how players could drive a more atmospheric agenda to the server? I see you post alot on the forums so I actually am curious on some idea's you have considering the topic.

1. Is there anything you think we as players could give the DM's to improve on what they already do and might be beneficial to server immersion both in game and out of the game?

I think that players should rely less on DM plots and start more player ran plots. I'm not saying that DM's shouldn't get involved in them, but the DM team shouldn't have to shoulder the burden of entertaining us as a whole all the time.

I think players should use the forums more. It is an excellent vehicle to gain interest in what you or your group is doing in game. Again, this can always be enhanced by DM involvement, but shouldn't rely on it.

2. Do you think more staff should be hired? Have philosophy of how ADM's and DM's work flow could be altered a bit?

There are always drives from the Admins to gain more staff. They hold time slots that are announced on the forums for folks to submit applications.

As far that their work flow goes... They are volunteers. They give up time both with friends and family to breath life into the server. We as players should be grateful for any time that is given, however much or little. The staff we have right now is great. There are an abundance of plots that go on in game and over the forums. Some are one offs, and some are epic campaigns that span months. The staff is pretty good about allowing all to get involved.

3. Maybe have an idea for how players could drive a more atmospheric agenda to the server?

I personally find the forums as a perfect place to tell a story. Set the mood for your character or guild. This allows others to read it and carve a path IG and IC to get involved with what you are doing. It also serves as a perfect place for DM's to read about what is happening IG. Not all DM's can play in everyones time zone. The forums allow those DM's to interact via forum post with that person or guild.

------

These are just my opinions. I'm not staff, just a player that tries to tell their characters story IG and on the forums. I try not to burden the staff too much. (Sorry if sometimes I do. ) You just need to learn to take the good with the bad and do your own thing. Sometimes it goes nowhere.. Sometimes a few forum posts act as a springboard for an epic tale for your character or your guild. The DM's aren't here to serve us. They are here to enhance our player experience if they can and have the time to do so. It is up to us, the players, to tell the story.

[Rain]

Im glad you replied, and I have taken in what you said but for a follow up question to the topic. Is there anything you think we as players could give the DM's to improve on what they already do and might be beneficial to server immersion both in game and out of the game? Do you think more staff should be hired? Have philosophy of how ADM's and DM's work flow could be altered a bit? Maybe have an idea for how players could drive a more atmospheric agenda to the server? I see you post alot on the forums so I actually am curious on some idea's you have considering the topic.

1. Is there anything you think we as players could give the DM's to improve on what they already do and might be beneficial to server immersion both in game and out of the game?

I think that players should rely less on DM plots and start more player ran plots. I'm not saying that DM's shouldn't get involved in them, but the DM team shouldn't have to shoulder the burden of entertaining us as a whole all the time.

I think players should use the forums more. It is an excellent vehicle to gain interest in what you or your group is doing in game. Again, this can always be enhanced by DM involvement, but shouldn't rely on it.

2. Do you think more staff should be hired? Have philosophy of how ADM's and DM's work flow could be altered a bit?

There are always drives from the Admins to gain more staff. They hold time slots that are announced on the forums for folks to submit applications.

As far that their work flow goes... They are volunteers. They give up time both with friends and family to breath life into the server. We as players should be grateful for any time that is given, however much or little. The staff we have right now is great. There are an abundance of plots that go on in game and over the forums. Some are one offs, and some are epic campaigns that span months. The staff is pretty good about allowing all to get involved.

3. Maybe have an idea for how players could drive a more atmospheric agenda to the server?

I personally find the forums as a perfect place to tell a story. Set the mood for your character or guild. This allows others to read it and carve a path IG and IC to get involved with what you are doing. It also serves as a perfect place for DM's to read about what is happening IG. Not all DM's can play in everyones time zone. The forums allow those DM's to interact via forum post with that person or guild.

------

These are just my opinions. I'm not staff, just a player that tries to tell their characters story IG and on the forums. I try not to burden the staff too much. (Sorry if sometimes I do. ) You just need to learn to take the good with the bad and do your own thing. Sometimes it goes nowhere.. Sometimes a few forum posts act as a springboard for an epic tale for your character or your guild. The DM's aren't here to serve us. They are here to enhance our player experience if they can and have the time to do so. It is up to us, the players, to tell the story.

Thank you for your reply Vdub that was a very worded and insightful message. You drove alot of good points and I commend you for them especially the one about how players themselves should take a the initiative of starting stories that do not need DM help to get them going or see to their end. I find this a big deal especially in the evil toon scene as alot of words behind closed door is that evil toons should get more attention from the DM's and their plots. This is something that I truly believe as a public enemy #1 player is a mindset that should be changed. Given what has been done and could be done with the right initiative taken by the player and their groups.

Thank you Vdub +1.

[VDub]

One more thing... (I'm obviously an advocate for the forums )

I would suggest to both veteran guilds and those young, up and coming guilds to take the time each week (if not more) to post something in your guilds forum, or the area forums from which your guild operates. It gives your group visibility to both new and old players. I'm not saying you need to post some long, lengthy post.. Just something about the guild or its activities so players and DMs alike can see you are active and out there telling your story.

I truly believe that if you are not using the forums, you are only experiencing half of what BGTSCC has to offer.

[Yumi]

You do make a brilliant point OP, the 'rumor' shout outs do feel kinda cheap sometimes -- but I have respect to the DM who was simply trying to help out the players even though he maybe didn't do it in the best possible way? Might have been a bit better if the DM picked some random guildies to arrange a event focused on recuritment instead? Maybe a walk around BG with gifts etc... etc...

The DM team is so much bigger than it was last time I was here, and I do wonder why the server still feels as empty and static as it was a few years ago. Really, as I said in my last post I think the only thing keeping the server a float is the creative players pushing their own storys and ideas forward like the plague Doctor I do have a theory though as to why we have so many DMs but not a lot seems to be going on story / event wise and I have a sneaky suspicion it has something to do with a post another DM did on the other thread. You guys ready?

Work load and Politics.

Yep yep, thats my theory at least. Could it be we have such a huge turn over of DMs is because of the work load? I also know they are scared to death of the word favoritism maybe that has something to do with it also? Just my two cents, maybe some dialog with the offical DMs now would shed some light on how they feel about how the server is run? (as long as we keep it polite and friendly)


SIDE NOTE: Maybe blurr out the DMs name, out of respect for his privacy?