I'm curious if anyone wishes to express their opinion as to what kind of things we as a DM team should focus on.

Examples:

More scripted quests or module content

More "meta" plots.

More focus on running DM quests.

Or whatever else you'd like to suggest.

I'd like to see a big, server-encompassing plot such as Slaal'teesh or the Formian invasion! Both of those events really got the whole server forced to work together, and with such a divide in politics having one now would rock.

I think some old things need to be looked over.

In fact, reveiwing locations like the Residential District or New Dunwarren, the Southern Alleys, or even the Underdark itself is a good idea, lately it seems that it's either Montezzi or nothing.

Also, I think some DM attention has to go to PC factions, the Greycloaks, for example, have litterally nothing other then a cloak and some RP chances, and there should be something.

The Ubelites, they've been awfully quiet, they should be causing at least some trouble for Montezzi or the Upper.

The Choosen have really just stayed in their holes, and by this time, I would of thought they rebuilt by now

There has to be some Unseelie survivors, they'd be intresting to tussle with again, especially if Vengence is their goal

At this point though, I think the Choosen need to take the stage of Team Evil again, get the focus off Montezzi and let Montezzi take a break. I think that if we don't have a new bad guy group come in, Montezzi will get old REAL fast, and they're a great group, we should allow them to have the option of letting another group take the role of Team Evil lead.

But I'm just rambling now, but I do make those suggestions respectfully, Montezzi was a great concept, I think however, they should take a break before they become bland and nothing new with Montezzi happens, it'll make their defeat well, bittersweet and like 'yeah, OK', since they'll of lost the emotion running with them.

Again, no disrespect to Montezzi, the DMs, any player, or anyone here, but I feel that we should bring some old hats back occasionally to bring a intermission from the new.

New things are fine, but sometimes, you need to go back to the old briefly, just to keep yourself from getting bored.

But In the end, yeah, we need some Meta-plots

Most of my suggestions hinge on the idea of more DM-driven story lines. Lately, there seems to be a certain hands-off attitude and players are left to advance their own plots. This is enjoyable to a point, but would be much more so if the storyline was more DM driven.

More meta plots would be really enjoyable. Like SkillFocus said, the Formian invasion and the Sslal'teesh plot were both extremely enjoyable events that stretched on for just enough time to keep tensions running high.

A return to the pre-Tigereye revolt state of things in Lower, and a shift to an uneasily united Sancutary would be nice. That's obviously not going to happen while the Montezzis are around, but the Upper-Lower divide does seem to be getting a little stale and prolonged. Most of the factions that would have opposed such a reintegration are dead, and there doesn't seem to be too much left that's keeping the fire burning.

A lot more tension between the Watch and the Spellguard, and more intrigue within and between the two factions. It could be that I enjoy seeing corruption and intrigue a little too much, but the Watch seems brutally straightforward with Azzam in charge. While he's one of my favorite EFU NPCs, we all know what to expect from him and the sort of intrigue that I enjoy seeing seems rather uncommon.

More creative energy put into cool NPCs would be nice as well. The likes of Gaeseric, Matterhiem, and Adelia Tyrell's hat haven't been seen in a while, and some more badass NPCs driving conflict along would be great.

Expect to see more DM driven metaplots about very soon.

The cogs are turning.

I would also be very interested in more DM run quests, especially metaplots.

I'd really like to see things implemented that have an impact on and alllows ALL players to participate in some way (speaking mainly of time zone issues here). Quite often players in the quieter time zones miss out on much of the server changing plottage and quests simply because most of the DM's are sleeping/working/whatever (which are all very valid reasons but doesn't change the fact that most of the interesting stuff happens in US evening times).

Scalesexy A lot more tension between the Watch and the Spellguard, and more intrigue within and between the two factions. It could be that I enjoy seeing corruption and intrigue a little too much, but the Watch seems brutally straightforward with Azzam in charge. While he's one of my favorite EFU NPCs, we all know what to expect from him and the sort of intrigue that I enjoy seeing seems rather uncommon.

There is an IG reason for this. And, rest assured, this is not gone. It's simply much less visible.

Anyways, I'd like two things. First and foremost, I'd like to see more ways for groups to grow. This doesn't necessarily mean DM quests, too! While combat and fighting and raiding are all key parts of NWN and EfU/Sanctuary, there aren't nearly as many gains made through peaceful resolutions etc.. NPC interactions where rare things are sold, or where you can negotiate deals to aquire something special (a port, a boat, an enormous rothe bull)... social interactions with NPCs, simply put. Or just to build something yourself with your PC's bare hands and get some real results (this is one of the neatest things about gardening, imo- it's all your doing!).

Second, ditto the notable NPCs presence. Even if they just react in the forums, or just IG, these "other people" really bring the world to life. Armies of ants or zombies or... whatever, can only go be so "life-like".

More random NPC possessions.

From guards yawning, to Rak yelling at someone to buy a drink or get out, to the tailor walking around town trying to drum up business.

Seeing an NPC shouldn't make our reflexes go, "Oooh, DM! Must be a quest starting!"

[channel Denis Leary]

Jafar getting the pie himself Macasta strolling into the Last Stand Cyrus asking PCs to do a job for him acolyte in New Dunwarren preaching about Tyr Sugriam/Norma/Hans/Jordian striking up a convo Hrunpar stomping around the Dark Lake NPC beggars fighting over a coin in Lower

You get the point.

Thanks for asking!

I keep getting promises from DangerousDan and DeputyCool that the things I want to see are coming.

I miss seeing really interesting NPCs to interact with, Gaeseric, Starag, and co.

I have felt since the mass kill of of NPCs (Bhast, Yorrick, Gaeseric disappears, etc) that the greater focus on PC driven plots has left a huge whole. It almost left me wondering what the purpose of DMs was on the server since the focus for them seemed to be mostly administration and over-seeing PvP (which sucks a ton of energy out of anyone). In my mind, DMs are there to get the metaplots rolling, to provide situations for PCs to react to and to shine or fail in.

So I really do miss those options. I see some amazing potential in some of the things Howland has been introducing via the north shores.

What I also like about the north shore is the possibility of seeing the landscape changed, adding more places to explore.

I really feel the ruins are only half completed for exploration in Dunwarren. The sewer system never seems like it got completed. There are many caves to explore, but I'd like to delve more deeply into the Dark Lake too, see more of the unique islands through the ship system and the Lake Beast.

Short story: More meta-plots and more areas to explore.

There are so many quests that I've never even done, I don't feel a need for more right now. Although, perhaps some play with the current ones--move traps around, switch up monster abilities and spells, move secret doors, give some extra options for how to finish. Etc etc.

(Semi) Random NPC Possessions I think that thread from a few weeks ago regarding random NPC possessions was right on. I got to see quite a few in the aftermath of that discussion, and really enjoyed it. I haven't been around as much lately so I'm not sure if this is still rolling along, but regardless that's my main endorsement. Re: Some earlier comments To my knowledge alot of the stuff people have suggested is going on, but very much behind the scenes. Not sure if it always worked that way, and now I'm finally in the loop. Maybe making sure there are enough plots that aren't quite top-secret so that they can trickle down to involve more players would be a good thing.

Call me a quest munchie, but I'd like to see another open quest that all levels can participate in.

I'd like to see a solo quest for those quiet times, that will scale for any level. Lately it has seemed very hard to get a group together for anything. The solo quest I envision consists of a new, small settlement that would only be found out there by wandering characters. They need help to beat off waves of attackers, similar to Rat Barricade. The Settlement could become part of the server if a certain amount of waves is successfully beaten off, and DMs could award xp or an item as they see fit to those who did this quest - no reward need be scripted except some sort of token awarded by the settlement for success, merely to keep track of who is doing this quest.

I'd like to see more religion, perhaps a powerful DM faction could arise that is religious - based and seeks to convert PCs.

More of Dunwarren being explorable without needing DM dropped keys / actually having some of those keys dropped.

Plots relating to the amazing mysteries EfU has going on already, in Sanctuary, rather than new ones way off and away.

More support for current PC [edit: and NPC] factions. While Johannes has taken to running the Spellguard by himself, it would be nice if every faction got that type of constant attention that is required. Plots mean little when meaningful player v player interaction can be had.

Short DM plots and quests.

I personally hate really long running meta-plots, if it extends beyond the life of your average character, say 1.5-2 months it's to long.

Short stuff, however is spectacular. The Unseelie stuff, was freaking great. It didn't drag on for ages, was action packed and very well done. More plots like this please.

Personally, I like the little things that gives the server a sense of detail and liveliness. Random DM possession of NPCs is great, like Gwydion suggested. I'd like to see some more words exchanged between Private Meekins and Batts for example.

But I also would love to see more intense, conflict situations like the recent giants pounding on the gates. Even something silly like a rat (a normal rat, not a chosen, but maybe a dire rat) with incredibly high AC running around the streets of Upper getting a bunch of PCs chasing after it in an attempt to kill it would be fun. Or a group of four or five goblins running through lower and kidnapping a beggar child.

Basically, not everybody will be able to go on epic, massive, long DM quests for a variety of reasons. But things like these would still give DM attention and some extra lively flair to PCs who aren't so into the server due to issues of time, low level-ness, and such.

I support the idea of more metaplots, etc., although I think I've seen, if anything, an increase in such lately, mostly driven by players.

As far as doing stuff for the players in the low population time zones, I think DM-less DM quests were a great idea, but possibly due to obscurity and the danger of venturing out in small groups to go exploring, still didn't really catch on for the time zone they were intended to support.

I don't know if it's possible, but if NPCs could be scripted to maybe spawn into a few of the major areas like the Crone or Town Hall hiring for these kind of quests at a certain time of day, or when the population hits a certain minimum threshold, the idea would accomplish more of the original stated goals.

One thing that's hard about this is that often during these lulls in population you might only have 1 or 2 people IG. It would also have to factor in resets, and the population anomalies associated with such.

I remember thinking the idea sounded awesome when I first heard it, but I never have found one of these.

Another thing that I think would be cool is more puzzle-solving on quests. I know there's a certain DM who loves scripting, and scripting puzzles that manage to be different on each instance of a quest would be quite the challenge as far as that end of things goes. Once I get back from the trip I'm currently on, I will be happy to help brainstorming mutating puzzles that could be implemented in NWNScript (next week sometime), if the DMs think it would be a good idea to put a few things like that in.

It would also be cool to have some super secret quests hidden somewhere, with pieces of maps to them dropping very rarely from the easily accessible quests. Maybe a combination of map pieces and keys would help you arrive at what would essentially be a suped up quest for all levels, maybe with some of the elements expected of the DM-free DM-quests, but repeatable if the map pieces/keys/whatever else are collected again after the completion of the quests.

As far as the timezones where DMs are active are concerned, I really like all the suggestions already made about metaplots and random NPC possessions.

What I would like to see, is a new DM, or old one, assigned to "the little guy".

On EFU we have Awesome people. These people get a lot of attention, yes. They deserve it, because of the awesome they create and others can feed off of. But newer players/less awesome people generally get much less love than these people. Not to say they dont get love, but Either I rarely see it, or they don't talk about it.

basically, I'd like to see a DM who spends their time chilling, doing random things for the PCs/factions who don't normally get a lot of attention, as opposed to people like Montezzi, Spellguard, or other major factions/groups, etc. This kind of help would really make these peoples stories come alive, and possibly gives them that chance to ascend into the awesome. And it helps liven things up from the general scripted quests/RP if there is a DM driven motive/spice to it.

Personally, I would've suggested RwG for this role, if a new DM was needed. He was always able to include anyone to his stuff, no matter what their race/class was, and give them something interesting to do. His plots were awesome, and could fit anyone in and nobody was ever left out (that I saw, if he could help it) But alas, He's gone.

Nevertheless, a DM devoted to the forgotten would be awesome. Aside from that, More plots, More spice.

More morally testing situations. A person is playing a cleric or paladin? Test their faith. This gives them a chance to either shine, or fail their god, either way, it is interesting.

i would enjoy seeing more conflict inducing meta-plots like "collect the secret pieces of the super item" and what not that involves 2 factions against each other, violently or not

these type of things seem like they would spawn a lot of interaction if done right, with people choosing sides, spying, beating each other up, eating sandwiches together etc.

I'd enjoy seeing surprising spawns in the scripted quest. Not so much lots of creatures, but the occasionnal chosen in Mary, necromancer in Boggs, ettin mate in goblins, etc.

The thing that you just spawn on logging, and then do whatever it is you do. That'll have players on scripted quest be much more into the quest, wondering if a dm is actually here or not, and what other surprise you've spawned.

As has been said repeatedly, I would like to see more little things. Rak yelling to buy something or get out (been said), NPC Watchmen reacting to conversations, or even better, NPC Spellguard Agents appearing out of nowhere with opinions on discussions and such.

DM quests rock, but the little things really give the server flavor IMO.

I agree with the main sentiments of Oro and SFP.

Big meta plots like Sslatenesh are ace, and also NPC's turning up e.g I remember once Gaersic turning up for a Crone fight night and whooping everyone - excellent, totally unexpected!

As has been said the Montezzi's have/are awesome for interaction, PVP etc. but something that totally rocks upper and lower and is 'external' would be great.

In regard to 'what' the meta plot could be i would urge the DM's towards changing/empowering 'known' enemies/rivals rather than some brand new power. How about a House in Traensyr makes a grab for Sanctuary and its wealth of slaves? Maybe one of the Duergar Clans that are IG does the same.

Or maybe even one of these NPC factions is removed by another... Fort Mur is razed to the ground but is replaced by something much worse... Ghaunadaurites or somesuch?

Elf999

Or maybe even one of these NPC factions is removed by another... Fort Mur is razed to the ground but is replaced by something much worse... Ghaunadaurites or somesuch?

I for one am still eager to welcome our new illithid overlords.

I agree with a whole bunch of these ideas. I think switching up scripted quests a bit to keep people on their toes, particularly the kind of standard fair, Goblins, Gnolls, Gnomes... (Interesting, never noticed they all start with G....)

I agree with both of Cruzel's points. Particularly though I think it would be very cool if there was some priest/paladin faith testing going on. I think most people would be quite ticked if their Paladin became fallen but some would really thrive in the RP of how to recover their faith and would most likely involve a number of others along the road to doing so.

More scripted quests with the level range 3-7. This is an excellent level range for the higher levels to interact with lower level, newer players.

More spice on quests, and more scripted quests in the 2-8 range.

Please!

AnonymousInterviewer Personally, I like the little things that gives the server a sense of detail and liveliness. Random DM possession of NPCs is great, like Gwydion suggested. I'd like to see some more words exchanged between Private Meekins and Batts for example.

But I also would love to see more intense, conflict situations like the recent giants pounding on the gates. Even something silly like a rat (a normal rat, not a chosen, but maybe a dire rat) with incredibly high AC running around the streets of Upper getting a bunch of PCs chasing after it in an attempt to kill it would be fun. Or a group of four or five goblins running through lower and kidnapping a beggar child.

Basically, not everybody will be able to go on epic, massive, long DM quests for a variety of reasons. But things like these would still give DM attention and some extra lively flair to PCs who aren't so into the server due to issues of time, low level-ness, and such.

YES.

I don't have much play time right now, and things like this would be fantastic. There are those of us who really want to be involved in the efu world, but we can only put in around 1 hour a night. By the time you log in, meet up with your group, and spend a minute chatting, half of your night is gone. Maybe you have time for one quest. Things like this would be great.

Cruzel hit the nail square on the head. Nuff said.

I will probably be dealing with the one-shot DM quests and plots for a while, to address some of the requests in this thread.

In addition to what others have added (and leaving out the section where I usually talk about how NPC commoners should throw crap at me) I'd like to see more of what Howland showed me the other day, in a long, drawn out "quest" that involved no dm areas, no new NPC's and no fighting.

I've always been slightly anti the idea that the only way to earn xp is to harvest it from a goblin's chest. While there is no question you can earn xp from RP alone, the idea of an entire group earning it through puzzle solving and smooth talking is a good one. Indiana Jones said that 95% of archeology is down in the library, why earn xp only for that other 5%? Especially when that other 95% of research and investigation has potential to be so much more rewarding on a personal level just then killing another monster.

Maybe I'm getting off track with the xp. The xp is not important. I'd like to see more quests that don't involve killing. DM run and scripted. Things like the Tyrell quest and so forth, there should be more of these tests of our characters minds and souls, as well as their bodies. Alternate endings to these kinds of quests also could lead to algn shifts and so forth. I don't know, there are a lot of options.

Anyway, keep up the good work! You guys are doing great.

There are quite a few things, suggested that would improve the server. Like random NPC possession (maybe a random kid just throwing rotten fruit at the Montezzi fortress right in front of the prince), and more dm quests. Recently, that drow coming in and slaughtering basically everything that got in its path? The giants: Stealing the body of Bolgar (and Allister so I'm told), and running off with it, then PC's tracking it down, and killing it? Genius.

What I would like to see is more things like this. Maybe even having a lich, come against Sanctuary, for revenge. Probably with a hoarde of undead with him. Sending a dracolich to attack? Something like that, in making a small, unimportant war come to the gates of Sanctuary, looking for a fight. That'd be great, and would give a great plot to work at, IMO. Something that would make a wobbly alliance between Montezzi and Upper, against a common enemy? Anything that would lead to RP and interaction, PC and NPC, would be great.

Still pretty new here, but just putting out what the DM's at my old server never did. Great job, guys. :D

Okay...

I'm just going to throw this in here, because its something that has been burning me out the past week. Its undeniable that this server is much easier to level up on then it has ever been in the past. Reaching 9th, 10th level is not beyond the realm of possibility.

And now– this is nothing against the events I personally got the privilege to play through. However.

It would be extremely cool to see some of the higher end DM quests, less epic in nature. Epic is awesome, sometimes. I would love to see more quests tailored to telling a characters personal story, rather then combat. I'm sure that might have been mentioned somewhere in here, but really, I don't intend to read it all.

Dm attention is just so much better then (insert quest), it has the possibility to shape the very Rp of a character. Which is the real reason I've played here. Anyhow, just food for thought.

Bring in team evil NPCs, team evil should be runned by Npcs, it get alot more fun! Like, tigereyes, and the diffrent gangs around lower. (That was there before)

I'd like to reiterate - more solo stuff, more broad level range stuff. This is because lately the server has seemed to be divided into the Montezzi or the druid guardian-slash-watchman camp, if you're not one of those, it seems nigh impossible to meet anyone or do anything.

Both of these groups don't need anybody along that isn't one of them, it isn't as if they need to compromise to get help from anyone, or admit anybody because they need some skillset they don't have.

There has to be a better answer than to roll up a character made for the purpose of joining one of these groups, and I believe it is more flexible quest parameters, including a few solo ones.

I'd like an apocalyptic plague that leaves no living humanoid creature alive. That would really give us the pioneering feeling for the tentative new arrivals to this ghost town :wink:

kingcod I'd like an apocalyptic plague that leaves no living humanoid creature alive. That would really give us the pioneering feeling for the tentative new arrivals to this ghost town :wink:

Been there, done that. :) (Approx 2 years ago?)

My recommendation is for the DM's to have as much fun as they can without doing anything illegal. That would be more than enough for me.

I would like to see a Dm Supported an evil faction that gives salary persistent Storage and an HQ as well as goods with reduced price similar to the watch.

Dr Dragon I would like to see a Dm Supported an evil faction that gives salary persistent Storage and an HQ as well as goods with reduced price similar to the watch.

Lol, isn't that the Spellguard? :twisted:

Seriously though. The watch and Spellguard both arn't 'good aligned'. Heck, I'd wager most of both Organizations are Neutral, and likely more there are more Evil then Good, for those not neutral.

For my own wishes, I'd agree with most, "non-epic" questlines that help flourish out our own characters would be wonderful. Simple DM events give a non-normal sense of excitement, and can bond a group together, or tear them apart, and inspires a bit of good role-play in everyone. Hopefully some of this sticks around after the event, and can give people more to talk about/plan for then just the normal daily quests.

What I would like to see, is a new DM, or old one, assigned to "the little guy".

On EFU we have Awesome people. These people get a lot of attention, yes. They deserve it, because of the awesome they create and others can feed off of. But newer players/less awesome people generally get much less love than these people. Not to say they dont get love, but Either I rarely see it, or they don't talk about it.

basically, I'd like to see a DM who spends their time chilling, doing random things for the PCs/factions who don't normally get a lot of attention, as opposed to people like Montezzi, Spellguard, or other major factions/groups, etc. This kind of help would really make these peoples stories come alive, and possibly gives them that chance to ascend into the awesome. And it helps liven things up from the general scripted quests/RP if there is a DM driven motive/spice to it.

I ditto that, big time.

And what Dr. D said, yeah, that'd be cool. When he said evil I'm sure he meant like an assassin's guild or sumthing like that. not something evil, but disguised as good.

Sternhund

kingcod I'd like an apocalyptic plague that leaves no living humanoid creature alive. That would really give us the pioneering feeling for the tentative new arrivals to this ghost town :wink:

Been there, done that. :) (Approx 2 years ago?)

That plague didn't kill anyone at all. Not a soul.

Sternhund wrote: kingcod wrote: I'd like an apocalyptic plague that leaves no living humanoid creature alive. That would really give us the pioneering feeling for the tentative new arrivals to this ghost town Wink

Been there, done that. Smile (Approx 2 years ago?)

That plague didn't kill anyone at all. Not a soul.

It did.

It may not have killed a lot of PCs (because we would've received a lot of complaints), but it did kill a lot of people.

Plagues suck I got some slime plague a few weeks back.... that was a nightmare.

I would like to see more quests that start out as innocent requests, "Like find out how to recharge magical items and the like," And turn into disastrous situations, "Like a hole gets ripped in time."

I would like to see more random possessions, in terms of NPC Monsters, Characters, and Quest Spices.

I'd actually like to see Sanctuary be destroyed or at least occupied by one of the slaving races or some other mysterious force. Its been a long time coming but for it to actually happen and see what the outcome of it is would be interesting to see, not to mention that it'll force everyone to work together to work out a solution or none at all and be enslaved and be treated as a breeding ground for slaves.

And as Oro mentioned eariler, more areas to explore in the dark lake and the north shore would be greatly appreciated :D

Daemonic Daz I'd actually like to see Sanctuary be destroyed or at least occupied by one of the slaving races or some other mysterious force.

Hum... alliance with Shadow tribe gone... Lawful Evil order in Lower... Canal Ward picking up... Spellguard attracting Drow attention...

Be patient, IMO you might just get what you're asking for...

"IMO" I'm quite aware of whats going on right now thank you, I just thought it would be useful if it was actually mentioned OOC so plots could be guided more in the direction of Sanctuarys Destruction.

You know what I think would be totally cool?

If sanctuary DOES get taken over by the Montezzis or whoever, the watch becomes like an anti-law enforcement group, kind of like an underground movement against whoever's in charge. It'd be cool to turn the tables like that.

I cant remember when I saw a regular spicing of a quest. Personaly I would love to see more of the oldschool spicing of a quest, since it brings more chanllenge to the standart quests.

P.S this should also lower the lvl of EFU by a bit, I have seen alot of lvl 9 and 10 lately.

More Quest Spice!

Especially for the little quests, I would like to see the typical 2-4 quest to turn into something epic for the lowbies.

petey512 You know what I think would be totally cool?

If sanctuary DOES get taken over by the Montezzis or whoever, the watch becomes like an anti-law enforcement group, kind of like an underground movement against whoever's in charge. It'd be cool to turn the tables like that.

Now THAT was what I was thinking!

It'd be quite epic, heck, it'd change the nature of the server completely! Team Good is now like the Rebel Alliance. . . the only bastion of freedom in the Underdark has fallen. . . I see a lot of RP opportunities with that.

I love the little (sometimes not so little!) one-time DM quests or mini-campaigns with plenty of risks. I love good olde Dungeon crawls or ruin explorations.

Mort I love the little (sometimes not so little!) one-time DM quests or mini-campaigns with plenty of risks. I love good olde Dungeon crawls or ruin explorations.

Beat SOO's Dugeon damn't.

For DM events that take place around the city, i.e.; giant spiders running around, giants and/or Dragons attacking the gates, etc.. I think the DM should pause the game once or twice and make sure that everybody there is actively in the main party. To many times I see people running solo in these events. I personally have asked “//invite” numerous times only to not get one and end up helping solo and then be forgotten when reward time rolls around. Now mind you I’m not just in this for the XP, but risking death in these events should be rewarded. And the fact that nobody invites others or me into the main party isn’t really the fault of the players that may not feel it’s their place to invite.

Perhaps in these type of events the DM should take the time to ensure that all PC’s present are invited into the main party.

~PAUSE~ DM> Is anybody here NOT in the main party!? PLAYER> //I’m not DM> Party leader, invite that PC into the party! ~UNPAUSE~

I know game pauses suck, but so does risking it all solo while surrounded by more than a dozen PC’s.

RIP, send a tell to one player, not "// everyone", that has better chances of getting you invited. If you ask everyone, all will think somebody else is going to do it, and in the midst of chaos, no one notices.

Letsplayforfun RIP, send a tell to one player, not "// everyone", that has better chances of getting you invited. If you ask everyone, all will think somebody else is going to do it, and in the midst of chaos, no one notices.

That’s what I do now (but I had to learn the hard way). But for those new-bee types and maybe those that just aren’t into the OOC thing. A pause puts you into OOC and insures all are present and accounted for in the event.

I wouldn't mind seeing more random minor raids by monsters. My favorite bit on my Gnome Fighter so far was discovering a bunch of Gnolls attacking the gates when I went to deliver Helmite supplies (lvl 2, literally 1/2 hour after creation), rushing off to put a sending out and raise the alarm, then joining the huge mob of armed Citizens turning up to repel them, throwing like fury and looting anything useful.

I'd personally love to see a horde of goblins realise why they can never hold on to those caves and deciding to deal with the problem by attacking Lower through the "friendly" goblin camp. :D Thad would be a wonderfully chaotic fight.

Obviously gate attacks have been done a bit recently, but a sewer spewing out Chosen? A lurching horde of zombies sharmbling out from the Mausoleaum, maybe?

Rather than internal intrigue, external monstrous threats, it'd be nice to mix it up a bit, give the internal Watchment some exercise and new chars a reason to run for cover.

More:

Succubi.

Erinyes.

Nymphs.

Dryads.

Elven maidens.

Kobold Heroes.

Kobold Maidens.

Kobold Destroyers.

Kobold Warships.

Kobold Castles.

Please get on this DM team. I'm at wits end here and I'm not sure if I even want to play here anymore.

More aberrations.

More Ordithids

More Ghost of Bocho.

MOAR

I miss the NPCs that have all died. There, at least from my limited perspective, seem to be less prominent NPCs with a degree of mystery about them than there was. Probably because the cool ones have died ICly, or perhaps more likely, they only seem really cool to me in retrospect. I do like the recent gearshift towards the server's mysterious past, and I do like seeing the politicial machinations of other "states" brought about by player and DM actions.

Moar Hello EFU.

There are a few things that could really add to the server. I hope this post isn't taken as a criticism or stab at anything the Dms are doing.

-It seems like the main DM factions are fixed and invincible. I'd like to see some fall apart. The Watch, the Spellguard, the Seekers, should be done away with if its warranted. However these factions seem so strong and so persistent that it gives people little hope of ever firmly wiping them out. -I'd like to see less FD, more - captures, kidnappings, ransomings, interrogations, conversions. Faction heads, controlled by DMs, can easily guide their underlings more along this path. There are more options to PvP than "lol FD in total silence."

-A quicker pace in some things. PCs in important positions who endlessly dither, cheat, lie, whatever, and just delay issues instead of making desicions should be harshly dealt with by their respective npcs leaders. These PCs are holding up server change and holding up conflict. The slowness of any Council desicion is legendary. We, the lesser players (peons, if you will) see something going on that looks very intresting - and maybe a month later something will have happened on it. Its a bit frustrating. Please start cracking the whip on the backs of sluggish PCs more.

-More consistency. It seems that PCs are free to rewrite events in any way that suits them and makes them look good. This is unrealistic if its something that NPCs would've witnessed or known about. People talk about what they see and it becomes common knowledge quickly in a small town.

-And finally, more accountability. So the PCs in charge do make desicions that gets the gates attacked again? Well, they don't feel it. The lower levels and those with less consumables die, the PCs in charge get loot and xp. Lousy or stupid desicions dont hurt them, nor apparently does endless procrastination.

A quicker pace in some things. PCs in important positions who endlessly dither, cheat, lie, whatever, and just delay issues instead of making desicions should be harshly dealt with by their respective npcs leaders. These PCs are holding up server change and holding up conflict. The slowness of any Council desicion is legendary. We, the lesser players (peons, if you will) see something going on that looks very intresting - and maybe a month later something will have happened on it. Its a bit frustrating. Please start cracking the whip on the backs of sluggish PCs more.

I'd like to point out that a lot of what the council does goes unnoticed by the adventurer population, so far this term, which is only three weeks in or so, our forum has 400 posts. Additionally, people in these positions are people, we still have outside lives and sometimes can't get to things. Sometimes DM's can't get to things. Just chill, it'll happen in time. If you want to speed things up, take the lead on something and set a pace.

-And finally, more accountability. So the PCs in charge do make desicions that gets the gates attacked again? Well, they don't feel it. The lower levels and those with less consumables die, the PCs in charge get loot and xp. Lousy or stupid desicions dont hurt them, nor apparently does endless procrastination.

If you are lower level in these manner of attacks, you should do what any reasonable person would, dig in and wait it out. Trust me that highier levels die too. The last charge I made lost me every piece of loot I had, custom loot, all of my gold and a level. Montezzi, probably the single most powerful character on the server, just died in one of those attacks. Death happens to all. And if you don't think that the council is held accountable for what happens to its citizens, take a look in the town hall, not too many happy people about.

On a final note, if you think you can do better with your PC, then take the lead and do so. I assure you, if you wanted to get rid of the Seekers, the Spellguard or the Watch, its possible. Stranger things have happened. The Tiger Eyes were essentially taken down by one man. Sure, it'd be more difficult with these historic factions that have exsisted for over 150 years because they have gained a -lot- of power in that time, but its possible. I learned pretty early on in the game that waiting or counting on other people to change things is never as effective as working toward those changes yourself.

My apologies if things aren't as I see them or if events beyond player control are affecting them. This was in no way intended as a criticism of any player - just a general observation that a slow pace can get really frustrating.

I respect that your character led a deadly charge and actually suffered for his city. It is something that should be more well known and praised than actually seems to happen.

No offense taken of course, just trying to give you that extra push to take some of those concerns into your own hands. Be well!

A quicker pace in some things. PCs in important positions who endlessly dither, cheat, lie, whatever, and just delay issues instead of making desicions should be harshly dealt with by their respective npcs leaders. These PCs are holding up server change and holding up conflict. The slowness of any Council desicion is legendary. We, the lesser players (peons, if you will) see something going on that looks very intresting - and maybe a month later something will have happened on it. Its a bit frustrating. Please start cracking the whip on the backs of sluggish PCs more.

The Council is acting extraordinarily fast. I've never seen a Council pass things so quickly. In fact, there have been PCs who want to SLOW us down because we get a lot done, much quicker than ever before. It may seem slow, but it really isn't.

Last term, quite oddly, I actually sent an IC memo out addressed to the DMs just as much as the other PCs on the Council because nothing was getting done, or at least not in a timely fashion. The DMs recognized it, and all hopped back into the issues. Things have been proceeding swimmingly since.

I have to echo Panny here. If you don't like the pace of how the Council reacts, you have three good options.

One, complain IG. Of course, as he mentioned, keep in mind that we have lives of our own outside of the game! It takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to play a Councilor, and a lot MORE to be a good one.

Two, RUN for Council. Make promises of efficiency. And good luck delivering.

Three, take initiatives on your own. The town isn't that big, as you said. Get enough people interested and you won't NEED the Council to get something done. Really, the Council is not needed for half of the stuff PCs ask it for, such as favors and real estate. In fact, please, don't ask for real estate. Talk to the DMs about that, as it's almost entirely out of our control.