I'm aware I'm probably going to get bashed, if only a little, by saying this (and it's perfectly justified), but I really think I need to get it out. So I'm using the excuse that I'm drunk and thus not thinking clearly.

From my joining the server to now I've been able to count roughly 10 characters with up to as much as 6 relatives in Sanctuary (none of whom were natives).

I'm not one to tell people how to play their characters - and that's not what I'm trying to do, either - and I'm certainly not trying to flatten anybody, just as I can assure you that I don't mean to offend anybody. I'm just slightly bothered by the fact that, out of ~1500 citizens, so many seem to be related in one way or another.

Mind you, I'm not too troubled about marriages; those things happen. It's the fact that every single brother, sister, uncle, best friend's mother's stepbrother's nephew's great grand mother, and her parakeet all seem to end up in the same little town, strategically placed between some of the greatest dangers of the Underdark.

The only solution I could find to this was to have a script that forces the same surname on all new characters when entering the OOC area, as well as a script that mimics inbreeding (think -4 to all stats) and randomly affects new characters. But I don't think that's really feasible. :roll:

I guess what I'm trying to say is, before having you brother's friend's mother's niece's dog randomly stumble upon Sanctuary... think it through a second time.

Commence the bashing (or the ignoring, whichever you prefer).

I haven't really noticed it, but maybe it's because I avoid playing with silly characters.

It's my personal opinion that characters with the same last names is silly, especially if a player keeps losing a character and keeps remaking it as a "relative".

Sometimes having siblings in Sanctuary can be quite silly, but I can think of TONS of situations where it would make sense - Sanctuary natives who grew up together, for example (There are families in Sanctuary, and it's been around for 150 years), or siblings who were taken captive together and hatched their escape from slavery plans together.

My major concern with things like sibling pairings is that it's an easy way to have an ally from day one that you don't really have to earn. But that's not always all bad, if done well.

i play Freddy Wilks and him and Brendan Wilks are cousins but they are native born

it aint silly having relatives it gives you a good friend and its like a "team concept" sorta, if you plan it right

having your relative stumble upon sanctuary and luckily find you there is highly unlikely though I reckon

This isn't characters who are natives in Sanctuary, that is why:

Snoteye From my joining the server to now I've been able to count roughly 10 characters with up to as much as 6 relatives in Sanctuary (none of whom were natives)

(Notice the part in the brackets.)

I am thinking it's more about those characters that haven't met their siblings etc. in ages because they lived in different ends of Faerûn and then one gets captured by drow blabla and the other arrives short after due to a failed portal thing that could have literally taken them anywhere.

On another note on this, again, I am also not trying to run someone down or whatnot, it is just out of general interest, but seeing those who have related PCs on the same account and then one of them suddenly starts to know stuff because "my brother(or whatever) told me", even though they can really -never- meet in game... Is that considered meta-gaming or fair game?

I'll take it at a sign of the quality of the server that we're worrying about issues as minor as whether or not playing related characters is "realistic".

Har!

-Cross

Is that considered meta-gaming or fair game?

It's wrong and hurts children.

Song of Orpheus ...siblings who were taken captive together and hatched their escape from slavery plans together.

If planned and coordinated, it's fine and makes perfect sense. I was addressing (or trying to address) the cases where the relative show up after a month or more, and oftentimes completely out of thin air.

Like:

MexicanGunslinger having your relative stumble upon sanctuary and luckily find you there is highly unlikely though I reckon

Crosswind I'll take it at a sign of the quality of the server that we're worrying about issues as minor as whether or not playing related characters is "realistic".

Snoteye So I'm using the excuse that I'm drunk and thus not thinking clearly.

Linelle ...one of them suddenly starts to know stuff because "my brother(or whatever) told me", even though they can really -never- meet in game... Is that considered meta-gaming or fair game?

As far as I know, that is one of the most classic cases of metagaming, taking information you know from another character and using either OOC'ly or IC'ly with a completely different character.