How to get in the loop?

[Ebok]

Rimmeke, I always enjoy playing with you. Even when we're butting heads like back in the WW days. I've always found that you like to cloister yourself away and sometimes it feels like you're actively hiding from what's around you. Not all the time! We've had epic conversations on server lore, gathering little tidbits and comparing notes.

I honestly believe there are three different ways to gain attention on escape from undeath.
[INDENT]1.) When the Spotlight of Attention is focused on your neck of the woods (either by you putting yourself there, or by PCs/DMs coming to you)... Act. Push the boundaries, have fun, but only do what is or could be in character. I'm not saying that everyone should be acting out when DM's are around, but holding back or being shy about what's going on certainly isn't going to draw that attention to you.

I should note, that doing this when other influential PCs are around is exactly the same thing. Those that seem to have the power in efu, tend to employ it in places where their attention is drawn. That power manifests into action which we then involve ourselves and roleplay within. It does not always have to be conflict. But bravery / some risk is always necessary.

2.) Have FUN. If you can entertain yourself and others around you, people will want to play with you. If you are having Fun, then its all good. If you aren't then you need to  change your style to see if perhaps another one is better suited for  you. Not faction, not theme, but style. Loner Rover scout bores you?  Don't just jump into a stargazer. Try someone that wants to BEND the  World to their Will, etc.

3.) Be consistent, but allow yourself to evolve alongside the other characters around you. Personally I love keeping track of my character's emotional states / vulnerabilities because it helps inform a consistent play style to which other characters and DMs can recognize. This recognition is essential as it tells them what they can expect, and thus react accordingly. Also it allows you to know when your character will BREAK, when they will just flip out and react badly to a situation. Wearing these changes through emotes contributes to a greater detail that often draws others people. As well, search for others doing this too. ( not everyone is afk or ignoring you, I promise )

The ability for a character to change, adapt, or make rash decisions is essential. When you notice yourself being a pariah, Act. Have your character approach others (enemies or the allies keeping you at arms reach) and force a confrontation. During these confrontations you have the opportunity to see what is keeping them away from you. You can try to change for the better, to abandon (slowly) a fear or uncertainty and put trust or faith in the other character's agenda. You can attempt to change the other character by being persuasive. And finally you can turn against the faction or inter faction group that is treating you in this way and see it as a personal insult. Then you can dedicate your time into having conflict with them, speaking against their beliefs, teaching your own, zapping them, or otherwise put yourself in a struggle for dominance. These are fine now and then, >_> but change is more often the way to go. Just know where to draw the line.Its okay for a character to fail, or to die. Try to enjoy that part too.
[/INDENT]
If you dont know the server, take a moment, and learn the paths. Find the quests. Write them down! Take notes, directions, etc. The quests are fairly static, so you really only need to do this once and then go to them a few times to get it down pat. If you forget where it is, do a sending saying a there are horrible rumours of such and such going on, you wish to gather a group to pursue them. You need someone that knows where these issues can be found, and others willing to put sword to task. etc. ( sending only draw the currently free players within the level limitation, sometimes there just isn't enough. )

Anyhow, Good Luck. You can always grab me on irc.

[Ebok]

If I were to guess, I'd guess that the plot that inspired this comment is something to do with grain trade with Caermyn and the Order... but here's the thing: grain plots make me, and probably most DMs, start to fall asleep... surely there's more exciting stuff out there to deal with?

In the past Grain has been a primary motivator that have hamstrung any events around it to which does not deal with the issue in some way. Most players are also bored with the idea of dealing with grain.

However, if an emphasis is placed on the lack of it, starving people, food shortages, factions being told by npcs to do something about it. Then whomever put that into the module needs to allow for some sort of solution, or at least make it clear that there isn't one in an IC way. I cannot imagine it would take too much time to for an npc to say, we dont have enough grain for anyone else other then here.

-- OR --

You can put a very expensive grain bundle item at the port, and let players Buy them and bring them to *donation* boxes at certain places around the module. This would remove the need for DM's oversight, as well as allow players that are interested in using food resources to RP doing this. If the DMs keep a counter, they might see a consistent and interesting way to show change with but a single post. There is also the idea of finite food, where the totals for an area can be compared with the totals of the other areas to determine the % of food. Which could be repped by NPC dislogue saying why are these people getting food and not Us.

Sorry... Tangent.

[Kotenku]

I'm not an expert. I'd say my last PC is the most involved I've ever managed to get without luck.

I'm not sure how to tell you what you need to hear, Rimmeke, so I'll tell you what worked for me.

For the first several months that I played Scrave I had no goals and no direction, except to be a huge buffoon and challenge people in bizarre, made-up competitions. Duels, tournaments, thumb-war -

I once logged in to IRC once and grabbed ScottyB while he was around. I said "Hey, ScottyB, you should help me run a boulder-throwing contest. All I need is an @area to hold it, with 10 meter markers, and a couple of single-use items of greater bull strength so that anyone can compete. I'll handle the rest." He was thrilled to help, and what came of it was a really fun and memorable event that I think people really enjoyed.

I just took what somebody said before, "If you want a DM's attention, make it so we practically can't say no."

Another time, I grabbed Dash and told him "I need supplies, so here's an idea for a cool dungeon crawl. We'll say Scrave found this place out in the desert, a tomb of some ancient bedine warlord, and he wants to plunder it but needs help." I gave him some other cool fluff, a background for the Boss, a thematic hook for him to go off of. Basically did a good chunk of the creative work, and Dash said "Cool, I needed an event where I can drop this plot relic for some of my other players, so this'll work great."

That stuff is all less about getting involved, than it is about making your own fun, though.

After I did those things, I took a break, and when I came back, I decided that I want to actually get involved. I love exploring the server, seeing new areas, and figuring out awesome secrets.

I know that the best way to get DM attention is to have other cool people around, and the great news is that almost everybody who plays EfU these days is amazing.

So what I did, every day that I could log in, for the past couple weeks, was go straight to Muskroot, and make a sending. "Scrave ventures out to the Withered Lands in search of forgotten knowledge and powers. He invites courageous and clever companions to join him."

Two things held true every time I made this sending:
1) Somebody would always show up.
2) I would always follow through on the expedition.

Mostly I used the Bastian Gallenheart maps to set a destination. When I couldn't, I'd ask other people where they wanted to go. If they didn't have a cool idea, then I would take them to places that I know exploration areas spawn a lot. The North coast, the Bog tunnels, the Underdark, the Morass, , Old Port, or Nebezzdos. Basically, anyplace dangerous, and steeped in mystery.

Eventually, I started getting repeat companions. People who enjoyed the expeditions and always wanted to be present. So I wound up with a proper questing group. They wanted to get me involved in their plots, and my answer was always "Yes".

Pretty soon I had people showing me incredibly secret places that are basically unknown by 98% of everybody. We would talk, and craft theories about what and why things are how they are.

Soon I was developing goals organically; Gather the Stargazer totems, summon and speak with a Mist Dragon, get a better answer than helping the Nightrisers... Of course things didn't work out like that, but on the way I found myself questing with a purpose other than XP and supplies, which was getting me out to the obscure parts of the server in itself.

I guess what I'm saying is: don't be shy. Get out of Mistlocke and do cool stuff. Don't worry about XP, or supplies. That's what you're going out there to get - exploration areas are great for those things, and they've often got secret lore to find, too.

I guess the best answer I can offer you is to figure out what's fun for you, and then make it happen. Don't wait for somebody else to make your fun for you, or you'll find yourself wandering around the regular haunts, listening in on conversations and being bored and lonely.

There's so much about EfU that's good right now, it'd be a shame for anybody to be kept out of the loop, especially when pretty much everyone is playing phenomenally well.

[Nuclear Catastrophe]

You want to get in the loop?  Log in riiiight about now... (as of 11pm GMT 20 May 2013)

[HalflingPower]

Now that's some solid advice.

[Knight Of Pentacles]

Get in the loop or die. -- Canzah

[sylvyrdragon]

I can relate, I often feel totally lost, even when I'm "involved" in a faction or a plot.  I know a big part of it is I just don't have the time to devote to playing.  So things happen when I'm not around and I'm left playing catch-up every time I log in.  The feeling sometimes gets over whelming and I log off and sulk.

But, I have found, if I find other characters / players that I truly enjoy playing with, be it RP'ing or Questing, I don't so much mind not knowing everything that is going on.

I would advise finding your niche, that one thing about EFU that brings you back time and time again.  For me part of what I love is the ever changing world.  The new characters to get to know, the places to see, etc.  Don't worry about the Big plots, if you get involved great, if not find something you enjoy anyway.  

There are a lot of smaller groups you can join right now that will instantly thrust you into some of the plots going on.  Two right off the top of my head are the Summer and Winter Courts of the Fey.

[efuincarnate]

1.) Don't be afraid to get your character killed.  Take risks.  Sometimes they don't pay off, and your labour of love disappears into the ether, but sometimes they pay off in spades, in this character or the next.   Not saying you have to be suicidal, just know that every character will die.  This is ymph, no one gets out of here alive.- Well Some have, but I digress.

2.) This took me years to learn. Play 1 character. No alts. IF you get bored, frustrated, whatever, take a break, and come back, the server is populated by amazing and dynamic players and DMs's much like the weather, if you are not satisfied, just give it a few days, it will change. Nothing stays the same here for long!  The longer your character is around, the more he/she/it will become known, by deed, reputation, or longevity.  Alts, I think, are the bane of a characters development, at least from my experience.

3.) Timezones. Be aware of them.  I miss a ton of cool events, due to mine, but I also have some great DMs that flesh out my play time.  Find folks who play in your regular tz and plot with them, concept, create!  I am lucky enough to freelance for work, so I sporadically hit just about every TZ depending on my sleeping habits that week.  I have only ever seen the server  empty once or twice and it lasted mere minutes. Use IRC, PMs, Tells, whatever, don''t shy away from a little OOC coordination.  It can go along way in game.  

I hope that helps.  Also, take a page from Sylvrdragon- do what you like to do!  IF your not having fun, you might want to switch things up, try a different angle, etc.  

FFS- wrote  alot more then I intended..I hope some of it is usefull.

[Capricious]

Something that I've always felt to be true, and has been stated before, is that you must do what you have fun doing...period. Don't do what you think will most impress the DMs, do what's fun for you. Create the character you want to play and play them to the hilt, without worrying too much about success or achieving your goals.

This is the way you get involved because if you're having fun then your character will reflect that. It will be more dynamic and enjoyable to be around, and if people want you around you'll find yourself in demand and in the middle of plots.

Fun is contagious, so have fun and it will rub off on others.

[Rimmeke]

Firstly, I’d like to thank you all for kind words andencouragement on the forum and on IRC. You’ve all offered tons of advice andsuggestions (admittedly, I cannot utilize all of them, for example, I cannot in good conscience log on at midnight for an event and appear on work with amassive gaming-hangover), which I’ve studied and written down ( along withmetropakt’s solid advice of never running into combat).

I think there is a difference, though, of knowingabout plots- one can freely read about a lot of them on the forum- and being able to find a fitting group to hang with/pursue plots with.   It seems to me that I’ve too often ended up a solitary figure, no matter what goals or concepts I have tried tofollow. I’m not seeking others to entertain me,  but however much I like the character I play- in the end this game is (for me) about playingwith others-  because playing alone is not fun.

I’ve been fortunate enough that Howland’s taken time to give me excellent hints and advice on what/how to play- so I hope that, thistime, I shall not err. Thanks again for all your kind words!

[Mira]

For starting out in EfU as it pertains to your specific concerns, here is my advice:.

1. Roll up a PC, I'm talking build here. Keep personality very general and don't worry about goals.

2. Stick with this PC for more than a week. Allow encounters to begin to shape his/her personality. This is growth. You do not need to spring fully formed right out of the start area. Take note of the PCs who seem to be played consistently (as in, staying power). Of those PCs, take note of who is currently "prominent", seems to be involved in and driving plots (which may simply look like busy/leaving town a lot and vocal) and plays when you do.

3. Of those prominent PC's, decide which ones your PC could stand behind.

4. Minion/sidekick it up.

There are a few very public and lasting prominent PCs you could make a sidekick for without even playing the guessing game... those in politics, the great druid, etc.

Often there are way too many wannabe chiefs and not nearly enough indians. By playing a sidekick you will get involved with plots and better learn the ins and outs of how EfU works. Inevitably you will get to know the player you are minioning for and when they learn you are new and trying to figure it all out, they will take you under their wing and happily help you along on your journey. If they don't, they suck and you should find someone more awesome to minion for.

[Letsplayforfun]

See who plays regularly at your playtime. Get in touch with the OOCly to try to organize events with them. If you don't have a regular group it's harder to play. Try not falling into the reverse: playing only with OOC buddies and ignoring others. Take into account what others want, too, and how their PCs may fit with you goals.

[Halfbrood]

This is a really great thread. For the past year, I've been on and off with EfU due to my personal circumstances. I've often felt cut off from the plots, even as a DM, in the first few days of returning. I think the best advice for getting 'in the loop' is just to interact with anyone and everyone you see. Ask questions, OOC and IC, read the forums, and just generally chase interaction! Interaction always leads somewhere... and with my most recent return, I'm going to be doing a lot more of this!