Show the character List

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

Yes, this is awesome. It is HOLY SHIT LORD awesome.

But it will suck.

I tell you now, it will suck.

How do we know if a DM is online? EFUSL doesn't tell us shit.

How would new players to the server react? poorly I imagine, they see this character list and they click on us, and see no one! Is it possible to re-instate this, but merely blot out the levels?

[AKMatt]

If the problem is that new players will think nobody is online, maybe just have it show a couple characters with names giving a message along the lines of "Players Not Shown To Prevent Metagaming"

[ExileStrife]

This was certainly considered when making the decision.  We know some players like checking for DMs for a variety of good or bad reasons, but I think the simple truth is that it bothers us.  We could always show are DM avatars, we could configure the server to say that "DangerousDan has logged in as a game master," and we could show online DMs on efusl.  But we don't.  I'm not going to get into the philosophy of that decision.

As for the "new player" scenario, the server still shows the NUMBER of players online when browsing all servers on the server-browser, just not the level of characters in game.  Perhaps you're right, that wee little fact might in the end result in turning a handful of players away, but the ones who are not even mildly curious maybe aren't the kind of players we're looking for.

Also, watch your mouth, Thomas.

[Joe Desu]

I think it is great that this is not seen. I normally do not look at it, but once I was getting into a duel in Sanctuary's arena and someone told me that I was crazy as the guy was F6/B2, ...
I do not want people to metagame to determine whether they want to fight someone or not.
I do not want people to get on only if there is a DM.
I do not want people to stear clear because a DM is on.
I do not want someone to know whether a character is a fighter or a bard, I want to learn IG.

[ExileStrife]

Oh, and a double also:  Yeah, the original hope was for hiding just the levels and builds, removing DMs and possessed creatures, and locking portraits for polymorphed characters.  The work I stole to get this accomplished was however done in a way that only allows for an all-or-nothing approach.  I don't have the knowledge required right now to make that wish happen in a reasonable amount of time or effort, so I'm going to move on to other things.

[Ommadawn]

Personally, I think it's a great step. No more metagaming, woo!

[Caddies]

This is an incredible addition, and should stay!

[Pup]

I *bleep* love it.  I'm totally serial.

[PanamaLane]

I like the change.

[putrid_plum]

Down with metagaming!  A great move, I am pleased greatly.

[efuincarnate]

A good choice, all around. No more playing it safe!

[Daemonic Daz]

A good choice, all around. No more playing it safe!

[Jasede]

I am very afraid of this new challenge. I will end up PvPing a level 2 by accident in the wilderness and then get banned because I wasn't supposed to "grief" someone so low-level. (Of course I am sure it wouldn't happen like this, really, but you know what I mean. This will force me to treat level 2's and 3's like everyone else and might end up ending interesting stories too early.) Also I must honestly admit that it really, really isn't fun to ask EVERYONE to go on quest X only to have them tell you they're not in the level range - a terribly silly OOC thing that could oh-so-easily be avoided with the list.

Honestly, I think this is a good change if we want to be a "Hardcore RP Server", strict and "elite"; but I never thought of EfU as that, really. Playing here shouldn't be stressful, it should be fun- isn't that why we don't enforce perma-death for everyone, or make it so you have to apply for every character, and DMs let players have alts?

I will really, really miss the player-list, a very handy OOC tool that saves a lot of needless IC silliness (Asking ten people to go on quest X, only to find out they're all level Z); not to mention sometimes it is really incredibly handy to know a DM is on. (But I can actually see the benefits of not seeing it; but this is, after all, a message board, so I may as well write what I prefer!)

[Letsplayforfun]

I like the change, and only have one critic about it: when i log on to quest, i like to know what other people are so as to know what pc i'm gonna log.

When there's a lot of people on, it doesn't matter.

But when there's few people on (timezone issues again), knowing class and lvl is important not to waste time. The side effect will probably be tells like 'what class and lvl are you?" or "wait, i'll log another pc so we can quest together".

Beside that, it's cool to judge pcs on what they do and say, and not become famous overnight just because you hit lvl9.

[lovethesuit]

I am ambivalent. I don't like it, personally, but its value to the server is unmistakable.