2020 Campaign Announcement and Player Input

[DM Theophanies]

2020 Campaign - Year of the Worm - 1356 DR
Announcement and Feedback Session

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Hello everyone, Theo here. I'd like to start with a short announcement. At the end of this current campaign, we will be ending our focus on year-long mega-plots. We haven't quite finalized a new model but tentatively it will revolve around shorter time periods (3 to 4 months) and narrower scope. Our hope here is to rotate fresh DMs in more regularly, encourage an environment of collaboration, and keep the plot duration shorter. We'll likely rotate between themes and areas, depending on the feedback below.

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With that in mind, I'd like to initiate a conversation and elicit feedback from the player-base about what they would like to see for the upcoming year. Please provide feedback to help us shape how the DM team approaches the new campaign and what that story may involve. Let us keep the discussion constructive and focused forward to the future and the new year. Ideas can include themes you'd like to explore (eg. more economy, adventure, intrigue), places you'd like to see focused on (eg. Moonshae, more local), type of events (heavy combat, festivals), or anything in between. So again, please let us know what you, the players, would like to see for the new year!

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One last thing, as the year turns over, we'll be looking to construct a "Year in Review" wrap up. So please, if you have anything you think should be included, you can forward those messages to the DM team directly for review.

[Winterborne]

Some things I personally would like to see:

- Variety. A lot of the major plots can feel fairly similar (Especially given we've been dealing with a war with Dragonspear for 2 years now). I would like to see different aspects to them more regularly to attract and allow players from a variety of backgrounds and focuses to be involved without having to shoehorn themselves into one specific type of events. This will also need to mean. . .

- More frequent, smaller events. This will allow many players to be involved, with a variety of schedules, and will allow DM's to have more manageable groups per-event. I still understand the need for specific advance scheduling (as per the end of the year stuff) for plot capstones or major things. This is of course down to DM motivation and availability.

- More transparency for how to get involved. Having contacts of some sort where someone can go to to talk to (whether these are players, NPC's, or some mix) to find a way to involve themself is desperately needed as far as I know. A lot of the plots have been obscured - not deliberately, but just due to the nature of high stakes events and plots being secretive in the way military secrets are - by people who are "in the know" through their guilds or other friends, and I would desperately love an easier way to drag new players in to things, even if it was as a sort of "questgiver" that took a NPC role to send them to do something/talk to someone/have an adventure. I would like to see more involvement that initially arises from happening upon things in game, rather than sending a PM and forum post chain, as well. It would be really cool if the town crier NPC could be used for this in some way.

- More varied things, in terms of what is available to various alignments. I think team evil and team UD need some love, and things to do, and I think that those things should be able to exist independently of what team good is doing, without necessarily opposing one another or forcing good aligned folks to tolerate or accept evil folks (and also giving evil folks a chance to be genuinely evil in terms of how they handle events). I do not have an easy solution for this, because it would likely require multiple simultaneous things happening. But I would like to see say, Evil players being able to take over a village/do evil things/summon evil things/whatever, and also allow good players to save people/be heroic/do things/banish evil from an area, and to allow those things to not necessarily be in opposition. Both sides can win if they are fighting different battles, as it were.

- Recognition of actions of players being reflected in the game world somehow. Celebrate great victories with festivals (Maybe with merchants coming with limited stock items available to all for the duration). More players should be able to feasibly attain titles (not just nobility) and other recognition. Villains who have committed evil deeds should gain some manner of notoriety and infamy beyond player word of mouth. This could take the form of wanted posters/signs, NPC's (City Watch/Fist, for example) Being permanently hostile to them, etc. It could even be flavor text similar to how the NPC's in Beregost yell at Tieflings "Away from me Demon Spawn!".

- More non-combat events. My personal favorite events are ones where I can use my billion skill points to play a crime scene investigator/detective role, and I will unashamedly request more of those. But I would like to in general see things where success does not always come down to how well you powerbuilt, or how much gear and UMD you can afford to blow against those crazy DM spawns, but more on how you roleplay and use your skills to solve problems.

In sum, I would like to see the world react more to things that happen, both positive things and negative things, and to allow players to be recognized for those things as well for how they were involved in them. Some of the most meaningful roleplay I have had on the server has been in being assigned by Thedran to watch over and care for the Ilmateri temple and Orphanage, and then reading and learning about the story of Saint Merielle. Things like that, that are known and are able to be learned about ingame without needing to only exist via word of mouth, are the way that actions get remembered.

[Leramak]

I am 100% with what winterborne said above. I've played on bgtscc for a while now. I primarily play villains. I love the tention between good and evil but seeing some consequences of those actions taken by either side and how they shape the sword coast would make the rp more immersive.

[Wade]

This summer's Winding Waters campaign for me has become the golden standart of how campaigns should be run. In short:


— Accessibility and self-sustainability. It all was happening at one accessible map rather than at DM areas. Everyone could join in and RP there no matter if there was a DM event at the moment or not. We often didn't know if there was going to be an attack or not and -that- was awesome. The map was populated 24/7 and something was constantly going on.

— Inclusiveness. Beside the avaliability of the map itself, Golem and other DMs working on it were trying to notice other players' input and involve them into RP. Like when Marah purified the well, Jalib was building moats and barricades and earning recognition with the Fists, Ebon Blades were running combat excercises and coming to agreement with the Fists, Golden Wheel company was building towers, Ulric getting abducted by the devils and returning under geas, etc etc. Everyone with a good idea and dedication could make an impact, not just courtiers and members of core guilds.

— Actions that matter. Players failed to defeat an army of trolls and devils attacking the fort? Its walls are in shambles and it barely stands the next day, everything burns. Some mages spam Vampiric feasts on the frontline or summon undead? They are getting personal invitations to the Fists HQ. Your characters consistently spend their time at Winding Waters? They're becoming recognized by the Fist soldiers on sight. The duchal meeting where commanders of operations were ICly appointed after talking to duke Eltan was just so good.

— PCs shape the story, not NPCs. There was a constant feeling that your actions matter. That you're not riding the railroads, but rather actively forging the story with DMs' assistance. PCs played the key role in the story and their actions and words were changing the winds. Devil armies were being defeated by PCs with NPC assistance, not the opposite, and I want to make a heavy emphasis on that, considering an arguable experience that followed after Golem's retirement.


I understand how much efforts does it require to repeat such amazing experience, but DM team could still adopt some of this philosophy. What happened to the DM team in december is unfortunate, but it was inevitable and I see it as a rather positive thing. It's an opportunity to change and AT LAST listen to the playerbase. An opportunity to become more open-minded, transparent and flexible. And I actually appreciate Teophanies starting this thread and being eager to read the feedback.

Long story short, the key to the amazing next year is the right philosophy, and I'm sincerely optimistic about the server's future!

[Hoihe]

Personally,

I would prefer if the next metaplot was less apocalyptic - or the very least, gives players breathing room to do as they wish without it feeling like a breach of character.

Whatwith the devil threat, it took quite some mental gymnastics to justify not being at winding waters 24/7 during summer, limiting people's ability to play their characters as they enjoy them. In fact, those who wished to do more than just be there were often given IC ridicule. Which does make sense ICly, I would say it would be preferred if situations like that would be reduced.

Simply put, a metaplot that didn't force certain character achetypes into a single avenue for RP without being forced to pull some grand mental gymnastics to be able to pursue RP they enjoy, while still keeping true to character would be great. Massive apocalytic events, things that create a constant atmosphere of tension and upcoming doom, innocents constantly in danger, or even, one's own homeland being under siege kind of kill any RP except for those that directly relate to the plot in question.

It's quite hard to justify having a character that is of jovial, but responsible personality when their region has been under siege for the past few months or even years - and playing a depressed, over stressed character is not everyone's idea of fun

Something more akin to Darkshard's recovery plotline, where nobody felt compelled to participate 24/7 would be the best, with much less sense of dread and doom.

[Max Hatchet]

Everything Winterborne said

Nice and easy post! Don’t need to add anything!

[gotesu]

With accordance to what was said above I wanted to emphasize/add :

1 - Having more events that don't revolve around combat (Or even heavy skill checks emphasis) but challenge players to use their head and storytelling abilities.

2 - Storyline "events" - Maybe harder to call these "events" but IMO having more dm controlled story-lines which could be pursued by smaller scope dm interactions IG along with forum rp might enable (again, IMO ) more elaborate stories.

3 - Open ended (and not just binary open ended - failed/succeeded) events/storylines - This is only a personal feeling and might be already happening (and if so, please excuse me) but having events and even more so entire plotlines whose outcome really depends on player choices (from faction leaders to your Joe average) could give a sense of impact plus foster creative out of the box player thinking.

4 - Low level events - Despite the fact the above points can make even low levels impactful in events, having events which are especially tailored for low level characters could do alot to having new players and new characters become more relevant. this could be even made by creating a need for higher level characters or factions to employ lower level characters to solve/confront some problem.

5 - Mingling - This is more faction related, but having dm guided storylines that require different factions/cliques to co-operate or even conflict on/over something might also help in refreshing the scope of interactions established characters have.

Thanks for all the thought and effort put in this in past and present.

[Lockonnow]

Those time plot's sould't have been in the first place ,Ill
have been wait for years for Iron Throne and now you stop this Servere time plote

[Rask]

The only input I have for any of this is this:

Please try to have some events that are a bit later. The server used to cater a bit more toward the PST crowd, but these days all the events are within normal (9-5) working hours for PST time zone. I have been in 1 events in the last 1.5 years because all of them have always been either morning PST or early afternoon which are impossible for me to get to on most days, especially since I often work on weekends. I know I am not the only one either, most of my RP group have left the server because of this exact reason

[gedweyignasia]

I would love to see the DM team focus on helping players bring out things from their backstories. I realize this is fraught with concerns of favoritism and such, but I think the rewards are great enough that it might be worth the risk. DMs taking a greater interest in the stories players have created and helping to bring those to life in BGTSCC seems like something that would really make our server feel special to players.

[AlwaysSummer Day]

I look forward to reading about the last campaign. All that I know currently is devils invaded near boarskyre bridge and people fought them. I think a village was displaced or something too. I tried getting involved but events were mostly eu hours.

[Steve]

... we will be ending our focus on year-long mega-plots.

Fantastic. This is the best decision for the immediate future, though should the Server culture change in the far future, something grand and collaborative like Server Wide Campaigns of the past, would once again become meaningful.

However, this by no means precludes a DM(s) initiating on their own a long-form storyline, or adventure, or investment in a set number of Player Characters. And with a solicitation of suggestions, I would offer such an investment could be a good thing.

And related to the above suggestion, I believe there is a common occurrence of Players putting everything into PC creation, and background, and Role-play...only to find that this Character is a square peg going into a round hole, in regard of how to "fit in" with Community, both IC and OOC. Thus, I suggest as well that DMs consider offering storylines to a set number of Players to create new PCs precisely for that storyline.

In my opinion, the name of this game is role-playing, NOT digital reflection of Real Life Self in fantasy avatar form. Translation: the challenge and fun is RPing something you are not, for a set-out reason. And so, with a DM offering a storyline, a Player can pick out a specific Role and attempt to take on that Play, with others, for a specific experience. This also means that effort comes form both Players AND the DM(s), to create a worthwhile experience, not just a situation were the DM has to perform or setup "situations" that satisfy the Player, or, just answer Player Requests with interest (or worse, just ignore Player Requests!). Essentially, emulate as best one can the table-top D&D model and experience.

But in general, my experience has been that Players enjoy: concise Adventures with clear beginnings and endings; random NPC encounters; random Mob challenges; receiving XP for Skill-based, Character-based investment and RP application above engine-based Combat scenarios; and earning status or acquiring things that are beyond the IG mechanics and scripts. Make of that what you will.

There is likely a tendency to think that big changes need to be made or had in order to create memorable experiences on BGTSCC. But really, what creates a more memorable experience is when consequential gaming and Role-play are given place to have—or not—an affect on the Environment. If small-form scenarios and storylines are offered, and different levels of complexity and consequence are offered, I think it really wouldn't matter if it happened in East District of the Gate, or Beregost, or Greenest, or Sshamath, or the Moonshaes or the Moon for that matter, it would honestly give a greater depth of experience of The Game.

Cheers.

[Hoihe]

... we will be ending our focus on year-long mega-plots.

Fantastic. This is the best decision for the immediate future, though should the Server culture change in the far future, something grand and collaborative like Server Wide Campaigns of the past, would once again become meaningful.

However, this by no means precludes a DM(s) initiating on their own a long-form storyline, or adventure, or investment in a set number of Player Characters. And with a solicitation of suggestions, I would offer such an investment could be a good thing.

And related to the above suggestion, I believe there is a common occurrence of Players putting everything into PC creation, and background, and Role-play...only to find that this Character is a square peg going into a round hole, in regard of how to "fit in" with Community, both IC and OOC. Thus, I suggest as well that DMs consider offering storylines to a set number of Players to create new PCs precisely for that storyline.

In my opinion, the name of this game is role-playing, NOT digital reflection of Real Life Self in fantasy avatar form. Translation: the challenge and fun is RPing something you are not, for a set-out reason. And so, with a DM offering a storyline, a Player can pick out a specific Role and attempt to take on that Play, with others, for a specific experience. This also means that effort comes form both Players AND the DM(s), to create a worthwhile experience, not just a situation were the DM has to perform or setup "situations" that satisfy the Player, or, just answer Player Requests with interest (or worse, just ignore Player Requests!). Essentially, emulate as best one can the table-top D&D model and experience.

But in general, my experience has been that Players enjoy: concise Adventures with clear beginnings and endings; random NPC encounters; random Mob challenges; receiving XP for Skill-based, Character-based investment and RP application above engine-based Combat scenarios; and earning status or acquiring things that are beyond the IG mechanics and scripts. Make of that what you will.

There is likely a tendency to think that big changes need to be made or had in order to create memorable experiences on BGTSCC. But really, what creates a more memorable experience is when consequential gaming and Role-play are given place to have—or not—an affect on the Environment. If small-form scenarios and storylines are offered, and different levels of complexity and consequence are offered, I think it really wouldn't matter if it happened in East District of the Gate, or Beregost, or Greenest, or Sshamath, or the Moonshaes or the Moon for that matter, it would honestly give a greater depth of experience of The Game.

Cheers.

I'd rather we not encourage even more throw away characters. Due to a particular recent update, it's already dubious if it's worth investing effort into characters you meet since they might randomly disappear on you. DMs encouraging such behaviour will make any stable, long term RP and sense of stability near impossible to have.

[Mallore]

I always liked big stories where many people from all over could get involved. I do fear smaller stories or micro events may become a bit of if your luckily around at the right time or get trapped among private groups.

On the positive things that be grand.

— some DMs at USA late night. I’ve not seen one on in months. I know the answer is the DM team is thin right now but a priority perhaps on filling out time zones be great?


— stories more focused on player goals and wants and less of “I have an idea I want to run”. While the later is fantastic it usually is a dm idea and players need to fit into it sometimes. Rather then “ah player x has this or that happening “

— let things change lore, grow or evolve things, far to long the server has felt it’s been stuck in a status quo of sorts or story as written is religion. The “books” are guide lines not guarnteeed outcomes. Let the journey to get there be intresting? I am proposing more flexibility in stories to come?

— finally everyone needs to have fun, even the DMs. So hope something that focuses on the fun will happen for all.

[JIŘÍ]

What winterbone and gotesu wrote is perfect summary.

I'd liek to add, that beside making known villains also to keep in mind the opposite characters. A well known paladin being taken into account by evil factions and alike. And as havng someone to prove himself a stunning villain known across all lands, have also those from other banks having an opportunity to prove themselves as notoriously known do-gooders and helpers (yes, i am looking at g-aligned drow or others).