EFU:A the DMless?? or is it?

[putrid_plum]

Okay.  I have played on this server for a long time.  I have seen its up and downs.  Recently all I see is everyone wishing to change everything about the server.  I remember when people where content with what EFU was and very much enjoyed it.  As a player I hear other players talk behind the scenes and many are not so happy with the direction EFU has gone.  Our player count is lower than it has been in a LONG time.  Don't take this the wrong way as I am in no way bashing the hard work Mort, Snoteye, Howland, and other put into making this server.

I often feel as if many of the short comings could be fixed with a more active DMing team.  We have a HUGE list of DMs yet I very rarely see more than 1 or 2 online if any in my play times.  In fact I mostly see Mort/Germain/Gippy ((recent)) IG on a regular basis, of course maybe I am wrong.  

The thing that brought me over here, as well as a few others I know very well, was the fact it had no haks yet was always having DM spice and events and DM interaction on an extreme level.  Now I am lucky if I can even get a DM for something minor.  I know that people will say you should try to do things without a DM but sometimes you just need one or you are tired of doing quests or exploring the SAME area without a DM to show you what you cannot see via limitations of the graphics, etc.  If they are on IRC just chatting away they are often 'to busy' chatting to help IG which I feel that if they wish to DM they should take on the negatives ((plus I do not see how these are negatives, helping palyers with issues)) as well.  Sometimes DMs say they are overwhelmed, well perhaps get rid of old DMs that don't wish to and find players that want to?

Also this new party system, I'll keep it short since it's been covered.  This is a game.  I play to have fun.  This new system is so frustrating it's beyond funny.  I take a shit in RL should we add that in too?  I am here to interact with friends and enjoy myself.  I honestly doubt it has cut down on any metagaming.  You can send tells or use IRC as always to locate you friends or set up whatever you want to.  Some people have HUGE LCD screens that can set high resolutions and see very far while others cannot.  I often lose my party members from slow zoning and lag.  With no parties I often feel as if I am just hacking my way in a single player module.  The aspect of group and companionship is gone.

These are my own personal views and concerns for a server I very much enjoy and have played for years.  Feel free to share what you think.   Perhaps I am totally wrong...

[Verybigliar]

I get what you mean Pudrid. I truly do. I also remember even we used to have good amount of folks online during Euro evenings, but nowdays I only see same amounts -if- something is going on.

However, our player base consists of seemingly around the same amount of players as the servers max capacity is, and they are all from different timezone.

It is summer, or end of it, and most are returning to schools, or they are spending their vacations still, and they generally have a lot more to do than playing. This often goes for every game out there.

I frankly like efu as it is, and I can manage with any features it has. I loved new party system, but hey, if it brings more activity and more players, sure, lets return to old one. Dm activity is another thing, which is same everywhere. I just wanna play with people, and hopefully the numbers pop up a bit after vacations and new school years start.

[Disco]

What can I say.. I agree.

[sylvyrdragon]

No matter how I try to word this it sounds like whining... so never mind.

[Letsplayforfun]

I would rather agree to this post, to some degree at least.

The thing is, when you're not a faction addict, suddenly the server seems DM empty. Now i don't mind much, because as a player i hardly ever call for DMs (like thrice in a year), but obviously that's probably important to many.

I get many whines about 'geez DMs don't do the little things anymore'. I'm certainly not in a position to say if it's justified whines or not, but it seems to echo putrid's post. On a side not: I would certainly like people to contact DMs rather than players for this sort of opinions, because, hells, what can other players say/do?

I do see very much less DMs than when i started playing. I've had people asking me (of all people!) if i ever saw a DM on EfUA. So of course i help the people out and advertise for the server, but truth is, apart when i was zapped in the DM area for a ban check up years ago and what seemed like 6 DMs were glaring at me, i've only seen like 1 or 2 DMs logged in at once (baring Eleint War).

Now i'm probably not in a good timezone, but that matters too. Since the change to NWN 1.69, then change in setting, my timezone's been rather empty. And when there are only 5-6 people logged on, the religious-racial-alignement-city/wild oppostions make it so that only 2 people can actually 'get together', meaning quest is ruled out as soon as you hit lvl5. Or if there are 4 people, suddenly we realize there's 2 mages and 2 rogues, and people refuse to quest without a warrior. (and that's starting to annoy me seriously).

I just hope it's summer lowering the player count and giving this kinda more empty feeling nowadays.

On the other hand, we all see the amount of work put in the server lately, so the OP title is a bit harsh. But maybe the message plum is trying to convey is 'more in game presence rather than 'excellent scripting/building', i dunno. Maybe i'm misinterpreting.

[Gippy]

I have been true to my word and run one DM quest a day while I've been here, (thus 5-6 DM quests in the last week) but to be sure there's been less DM attention this week then usual. The huge list of DMs is misleading as many are MIA. I will allow that one reason you've not seen DM's IG plum is because you're not IG very much and when you do it is to wander around (friendless) before logging off. However, I do recall running your palemaster quest just five days ago, which is I daresay a bit more attention then many PC's on the server receive.

I am willing to receive any sort of feedback on my DMing or how to boost numbers. Letsplayforfun, it has always been the EFU tradition to run a quest for new players that have just joined the server. I admit that once upon a time I could pick out new players with the utmost ease but I have less time now to devout to awesome sleuthing skills so if you invite or know of a new player find me on IRC or send a DM message IG and I'll do my best to accommodate them with something interesting.

[Jayde Moon]

I would like to say that more than anything else, strong IG DM presence is what will carry this server.

Those DMs who do get in game and run shit, it's generally in the realm of awesome.  No one is saying that when DMing happens, it's not up to par.  And I don't think Plum is trying to imply that there isn't any DMing.  There certainly is.

However, getting MORE DMs actively DMing on the server at all hours of the day and night would be a huge plus.

Even when I'm not able to get into game, I check EFUSL often and it is rare, this week, last week, or in the last month, to ever see more than 2 DMs on at one time.  Not to say it doesn't happen because it most certainly does.

I guarantee that getting more active DMs in game will raise numbers in general as well as mitigate negative feelings towards difficult changes such as the new partyless playing system.

More DMs in game = more current players in game with them.  More players in game = higher 'stats' in the server selection screen on gamespy.  Higher 'stats' = more walk ins.  More walk ins = growth of player base.

More DMs in game = growth of player base!!!

Also, change the name of the server for gamespy to Archipelago.  It starts with A.  First server to show up with 30-40 players is a pretty huge advantage.

[putrid_plum]

Jaydemoon pretty much got my post right on.  

Gippy: I wander alone because I am an exile, a stargazer, and the fact that when I play about 5-8 players total are usually online.  I wont get into details about players quitting PCs for certain reasons but yeah I often am alone so I get bored alone and log out.  I am not going to play to much when there is no one online to play with or no hope of doing something I want/need to do.  I often explore and have made large groups with players, as they know who they are, and invite people out and around on the many characters I have.  A bit silly to say I just wander or sit around alone always.  Also, I am not meaning less activity for this week or month I mean in the last 6 or more months, player count is far down from how it was and used to be.  I am in no way bashing you Gip!  You are doing a great job! Infact I would like to see MORE of what you are doing by other DMs.  Maybe we could redo the DM list then?

*EDIT*

Also, I made this not for me, but for the server as a whole.  I am not seeking my own personal DM attention but wish to better the server by saying something that I know some players think, publicly.  If my little quest for palemaster was more than what most players get it only re-enforces my point that MORE DMs IG are needed more often.  I feel like you are attacking me and my playing personally Gip for a valid opinion about EFU:A.

[Letsplayforfun]

No matter how I try to word this it sounds like whining... so never mind.

Sylvyr, the DM are big people who know what to take from a post and what to leave to the whining category. It's best you phrase what you feel, it can only help make things even better. No one's going to pick on you for saying there are things you like less, or even things you don't like. Sometimes what you write doesn't come out the way you meant it, but you can always rephrase.

And to Gyppy (and all DMs), the irony is that whil i was reading your answer, you were supervising the Riser pvp in Jergal temple. Just don't take this post as a 'DMs are not doing' their job, because you are. But something's changed -it's bound to happen as years/month go by- and it's probably more old timers feeling and commenting on that change.

If we do get to identify what's happening, maybe it can help go back to "50 players hells i can't log in tonight". That's be great. If it's just nostalgia, the thread will die of itself.

[Disco]

What got me hooked with EFU waaaay back, was the random dm spice. After a few weeks of playing here on EFU I had seen more DM interaction than I had gotten over 6monthes on a certain other server we know so well.
Sadly now I see random spice very seldon, this really makes me a bit sad since random spice will SPICE up a quest, and defenatly also the RP on the quest. Im not saying it need to be big spice, just a dm possesing a monster or two often make a bigger impact than you would know.

[Gippy]

The DM list for people that will run you quests is: Wern8, Gippy, Mort (though busy moving) and NC.

[Yalta]

What Disco said. Best server i have ever played on, and i have fantastic taste.

[Kotenku]

I stopped reading here:

I remember when people where content with what EFU was and very much enjoyed it.

This never happened.

EfU has always been a work in progress. As Buddhists live their lives in a pursuit of enlightenment so that they can achieve perfect oblivion, EfU is worked on constantly to achieve a state of perfect awesome.

Every change that's made or requested, is made with that goal in mind.

[Meldread]

I agree in part with some of Plum's post, but I believe Jayde hit the nail on the head.  I believe the lower population numbers can be linked to inactivity among the DM's.

As someone who has been on EfU for years, there have been times like this in the past.  DM's experience burn out and real life just like everyone else, and it takes a lot of energy to do awesome things.  The more energy you pour into the server to bringing the awesome, the more time you spend, and eventually it's like a second job.  A second job that you end up doing for free.

Then you can add to that all the things that virtually no DM signed up to deal with:  bitchy players, managing the server, etc.  And that begins to cut into what they really signed up for:  to provide the awesome.

Hence the burn out.  Combine that with real life issues and it's quickly apparent why there are so many DM's MIA.

So in my experience there are periodic droughts on EfU, but generally speaking when the rain starts - it really begins to pour.

All that being said, I think the question should NOT be:  What can the DM's do for the server?  

It should be:  What can ***I*** do for the server?

There is a lack of active DM's right now, and the reality is some of the DM's who have gone MIA might not be back due to real life or just generally moving on.  This means that there is room for people like you.  I'd suggest anyone interested in DMing on EfU:A fill out a Statement of Interest.

After all, the standards are -obviously- low right now.  Just look at the newest member of the team!  If Wern8 can do it, so can you! :p

[Ommadawn]

I understand plum's points and feelings as well, with a few caveats. I've also been here for years and, as I play in one of the worst times possible, see very little DM activity or large player numbers. It's not something I have any control over and it hasn't stopped me enjoying myself (mostly), but it does have some impact on how I play - I have a stargazer PC for example, but I gave up playing him very quickly when I realised I would be playing on my own 90% of the time. So I made and play a PC that can get involved with the others playing when I do.

Having said that, the elevation of Gippy back to DM'hood has been like a breath of fresh air for me. I have seen and been involved in more DM stuff in the past week than in the past six months prior to that, so kudos to you Gip!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that sometimes you have to modify your expectations to match the way things are, but don't despair as things are always changing and will get better. In the meantime, you might have to also change how or who you play so you can get the most of the times you can play.