Daz's amazing lootfest extravaganza

[Daemonic Daz]

Now that I have your attention....

I'd be interested in hearing the views of the players of the server for my own use as well other members of The DM Crew that want to make use of it. You've probably heard it a million times that "The Players make the server, not the DM's" so this is your time to shine and tell me exactly what you feel.

I would like to know what you think the server is currently great at providing, what you think as a player the server is currently lacking, and what you believe the DM's as a whole should currently be concentrating on as well as any other things you feel should/could be addressed.

All I ask is that you keep trolling/flaming/insulting/etc out of this thread and focus on the issue at hand.

As an addition, if you feel you don't want your opinions public, your more than welcome to PM me them with the thread title.  

Thank you in advance!

[Elytherin Dragonius]

Id like to see more people exploring the place.

I know its entirely up to the player to explore and find the secrets of Ymph but i guess if there was more of a reason to look deeper into some places it would encourage more exploration,

I guess if there were vendors found out in the extremes that sold items that were more powerful than what you could get in and around Zig and that are highly desirable it would drive more exploring.

Id also like to see more quests available for the nature characters to do at lvs 2-4 on their own or in small groups. It just seems odd that nature classes have to go into the zig to get a chunk of their XP down low lvs

[eliff]

Right now the server is great.  Plenty of conflict intrigue and PC interaction.  It's great there us usually atleast one DM on whenever Im playing.  One thing I think DMs could focus one is providing either IG support or scripted things to help futher uncover the mysteries of Ymph.  There is stuff out there I know but things like learning to change the weather, where do you start?  I've found plenty of interesting locked doors and I for one am intrigued by what's there and how it could be a place to expand.

[Pestilence]

I want there to be more stuff in the gobsquat because of:

"Welcome to Gobsquat! Population 0!"

I think that the gobsquat has now become a no-man's land. Nobody likes to go there, nothing is happening there, and nobody wants to go to the hanged goblin.I tried to start up the Hanged Goblin Plots and traditions once more, before the big war between gobsquat. Because of the War sadly, none of my tournaments were successful, and none of the events there were worth while.

[Random_White_Guy]

"[09:55] Rake in the Russayyy"

EFU needs many things, but I think most importantly it needs players to take more risks.

Risks = chances = conflict = intrigue = fun.

EFU is more life like and more thrilling to both watch and play, when PCs are doing more things to lay it all on the line to advance plots, goals, and agendas.

Whatever those plots/goals/agendas may be, get out there and don't be afraid to stir shit up.

[Kotenku]

I know its entirely up to the player to explore and find the secrets of Ymph but i guess if there was more of a reason to look deeper into some places it would encourage more exploration,

Exist in abundance.

I guess if there were vendors found out in the extremes that sold items that were more powerful than what you could get in and around Zig and that are highly desirable it would drive more exploring.

These exist too.

--
Not meaning to demean your suggestions, just thought I'd let you know.

As for what EfU needs, I'd say 'fewer trolls' for a start, though trolls on the low road would be great, also.

[Caddies]

Agree with RWG.

EFU's health is a direct correlation not with DM time or DM plots but rather with PC pro-activity! A dynamic atmosphere is made by players not DMs, always has been/will be!

I do feel as though quite a few players are being dynamic (having goals, pushing agendas, getting into conflict) at this time and I want to say, good work and keep it up.

[Perum]

Skills

I know the skill system is a back burner to alot of people but it seems pretty neat and I think it could use some added details in the journal and some new things added. (Extra recipes?)
 
I mean I don't want this to be wow where I am killing a dragon for a tailoring recipe, but I just think being able to create more might be good to.

[Drakill Tannan]

Id like to see more people exploring the place.

Me too. I remember when i first joined, this was the most fun of all. However not many people seem to do so. Why? maybe they don't feel it's worth their time, the chances you'll find something neat are low, and you can always find that one enemy that can kill your entire party if you are not prepared. Most of the RP can be done while staying in a single wild area, out of danger, and it also takes a lot of time. Plus, if you are near a PvP conflict, you want levels and lootz, more specifically potions, if the time for fighting your arch nemesis and win-or-die draws near, it's likely better to quest, that way your chances of winning increse.

I think incresing the frecuency of random events and sub-bosses could help making people more encouraged to explore. Speaking of sub-bosses, i usually find 3 enemies + the sub-boss, and the boss is not really intresting at all. I'd like to see greater mobs of weaker enemies surrounding the sub-boss, so the fight would feel somewhat larger and more worhty of having. This bosses should also have abilities that were easily noticable, usually it's just a strong version of the enemy. But what if you follow DIIs example and make bosses that are extremly resistant, give buffs to their minions, are extra-fast, have an aura that damages enemies, cast spells, teleport, etc? This would make the battles much more fun.

I also would like to see more consitent spawns in the wilds of enemies that aren't necesarily the bane of the party nor a bad joke. Add goblin hunting parties, or packs of weaker werewolves. Avoid the 1-enemy-that-can-kill-all and the joke enemies (like nightmare bats) to add spawns that are in between the two.

Speaking of werewolves, i'd like to see less elder werewolves. I think they should be rare, but are not really. Change their name and make the actual elders rare and more powerfull if you want, but i think elders should be rare.

Exploring asides, i'd love to see evil-oriented quests. Most quests are meant to recue, kill the baddies, save the village or cleance the place. If future quests added would be about killing good aligned monsters for evil purposes, it could make evil PCs feel more evil.

And on PvP conflict, i hate that the best supplied PC (the one who hoards potions) is always the winner. I find it lame TBH, since i am scared shitless of any PvP since i have no idea how you people make to find the stoneskin/inproved invis potions or how do you manage to store that many lesser spell potions. Powerquesting = victory in PvP as i understand it, but i find PCs that quest less usually more intresting. I wish the number of non-healing potions a PC can drink in a single amount of time to be restricted, maybe 3 per turn, enough to drink haste/blur/displacement or some other smart combination. The best supplied PC still wins, but not by THAT far. Also gives more credit to wand-users or custom castspell loot.

Speaking of this btw, i still think the prices of wands should be fixed. Offensive evoker wizards really don't get much of a chance of showing how offensive they are due to the spell limit, less they get an eternal chip of ice, that is cool but isn't too noticable. If magic missile wands, negative energy ray wnads, ice dagger wands, etc. were cheaper, more wizard PCs could look magical by unleashing magic at their foes at most times (not only on the large key-mob of the quest is in front of you and the wizard conveniently knows *coughs, metagame* it is there where he should use the fireball.) Same goes with level 3 wands, wich are simply not viable less you are the blur whore wizard who logs on time to recieve the orders.

Also, Offensive spellcasting loot should be reserved for wizards/sorcerers and maybe bards & druids. I hate when i see armors that cast melf's acid arrows, and items of Fear (7)/ single use usable by all. The fighter looks more magical due to the ammount of potions he drinks than the wizard. More wands and rods for spellcasters, that cast offensive spells.

I'd also like you to add a chessboard. Yep.

And more eggs in the sunken enclave. If i have to spend another 2 days killing eggs just to be killed by the symbioths that spawn out of nowhere, and return to level 2, it's going to take me a month to have the level and/or supplies to actually go to the surface and do real stuff. Especially since there seem to be no other risers atm, not on my gametime at least.

[BigBadThief]

I think I'd like to see a more 'steady' movement of plots. Sometimes they seem to stall for a long period of time or not ever get finished off at all and that can be kind of frustrating.

Also, when players have a major impact on those plots it would be nice to see that reflected in-game somehow. That mostly relates to large scale meta-plots.

[Caddies]

And on PvP conflict, i hate that the best supplied PC (the one who hoards potions) is always the winner. I find it lame TBH, since i am scared shitless of any PvP since i have no idea how you people make to find the stoneskin/inproved invis potions or how do you manage to store that many lesser spell potions. Powerquesting = victory in PvP as i understand it, but i find PCs that quest less usually more intresting. I wish the number of non-healing potions a PC can drink in a single amount of time to be restricted, maybe 3 per turn, enough to drink haste/blur/displacement or some other smart combination. The best supplied PC still wins, but not by THAT far. Also gives more credit to wand-users or custom castspell loot.

Firstly, your assessment that the best supplied PC wins is absolutely incorrect. It couldn't be more erroneous. I can't count how many times I have seen the massively supplied PC be beaten by a lower level, lower-supplied PC. I know several players who could be counted on to achieve such a feat nearly every time because they understand the dynamics of PvP, which I think you do not. I suggest you practice more, and in time you may agree!

As for the second point, where you ascertain that the most interesting characters are the ones who don't quest often, again, that's just wrong. There is no direct correlation between interesting and questing. You can have interesting PCs who quest alot (in fact most of the memorable PCs of EFU's history have quested often) and you can have interesting PCs who do not. There is no relationship there at all.

Just clearing some misconceptions up, back on topic. :p

[Capricious]

Not to drag this on, but you can create great conflict without going straight to blows. Sure it might wind up there at some point, however conflict shouldn't always be about bashing on each other. I think creativity goes a long way to making things fun.

But yeah, sorry to derail this further, I just felt the need to put that out there.

[petey512]

I don't know, I'm pretty awful at PvP anyway, but it would be nice if we could lessen the amount of potions people seem to be getting somehow, even if it's true that it doesn't help that much.

[ScruffyMcSmirkalot]

"[09:55] Rake in the Russayyy"
 
EFU needs many things, but I think most importantly it needs players to take more risks.
 
Risks = chances = conflict = intrigue = fun.
 
EFU is more life like and more thrilling to both watch and play, when PCs are doing more things to lay it all on the line to advance plots, goals, and agendas.
 
Whatever those plots/goals/agendas may be, get out there and don't be afraid to stir shit up.

I'm relatively a newcomer to this server, and so my words are like that from a foriegner adjusting to a new country, rather than a long-standing veteran with established views of "What EFUA Should Be".
 
But, since you ask of our opinions, I shall throw in mine...
 
As much as I like "conflict", I enjoy conflict on various levels. I often believe that battle is the climax of a conflict, rather than the whole definition of it. I enjoy all the subtle nuiances, the build up, the insults, the trickery, the backdealing, planning, the emotions of bystanders, collateral damage, the..... story. In a story, the tragedies and fortune that happen upon the characters mean nothing to me if I do not feel attached to them emotionally.
 
In the short time I've been here, I've seen so many factions and players rise up and dissapear that it's dizzying. Throw in events that tackle one in real life, and it's twice as dizzying. I'm enjoying my time here, but one of the things I can't seem to enjoy (yet, anyway) is the short lifespan of everyone and everything here, and especially in the context that game time is in "real time". Sometimes, it feels almost as if "Oh, here's the new flavor of the month or two" (And I mean to not offend people, really, but this thought has occurred more than once, and I've gleamed such on the Internet Rage Channel occassionally as well).
 
While I constantly hear conflict is the center of this server, has it always climaxed so fast? Has the what-seems-to-be average lifespan always been so "short"? If anyone else here feels things are rather "too" short, I would hear not only your voices, but your reason for that voice as well.
 
Of course, compared to the exceedingly long character and faction life I'm used to on other servers, it could be considered refreshing as well. Mirkali, my character on the server Narfell (which I hear is now a shadow of its former glory... a bit of irony if you know FR history), was played for about 2 1/2 IRL years, which I admit, I could have cut perhaps the last 1/2 to 3/4 of a year out.
 
Often people wonder why I keep making comparisons to the other server, and I don't mean to come off as saying "Be More Like X Server", but I hold it for comparison because it's the only server that made me laugh and cry; Multiple times... not because of some OOC obsession of bettering other players or being beaten by them... but because the character development and the multiple climaxes in his story were so enjoyable that they remain some of the fondest memories in my gaming experience. Ever.
 
I haven't felt that here yet. A few smiles, some laughter...
 
But I don't give up hope. Maybe I've only found the tip of the iceberg of EFU:A, and I shall find what I lost long ago and seek once more to this day. Though maybe, I've grown older now, and jaded with Persistent Worlds, and I shall never find the immersive, beautiful story that I lost. Perhaps, with my next character, I'll simply try things out the way that others seem to do things here, and see if that brings a different sort of enjoyment.
 
Either way, real life permitting, I plan to see more of this server as I'm able.
 
While I'm typing... a few requests (in no particulary order) to the DMs who create the server plots and theme...
 
*) The Houses were brought in with Trenada, and have had some things happen with them, but I think there's great potential for future plots of having more... .... involving conflict between the houses, more involvement of players becoming part of the established houses. It would be to the greater amusement of people I think if there were more cloak-and-dagger politics between these houses... as... at the moment they seem to me as "curtains" that hang with the scenary. If you can tell, I like subtle political intrigue. A lot. I hear this was popular in old EFU as well.
 
*) While "sandbox" player conflict is great, I've found a lacking of any plots recently with enemies that threaten the Colony's welfare as a whole for a while now. Maybe they're on the horizon, or some think them "stale", but I think a steady stream of these, with a variety of threat levels (As they need not all be "End of the World" scenarios) along with player conflicts would be more enjoyable, as I find the diversity refreshing.
 
*) Some events seem to drop by the wayside as far as being posted on the forums. I like to think that personally, that The Colony, with so little to do and what have you, is like a small town, and gossip would be rampant even with what most would consider "trifling" things. I'd suggest posting these more, or perhaps create a seperate DM-controlled post within the Ziggurat forum to manage less-server-wide-implicating-event-rumours.
 
Those are the three for now that I'd suggest.... "flavor-wise"? And do forgive me, DMs, if you find such insulting, as often seems to be the case here is that us players don't see what's behind the scenes or what may be coming, and if there's any subtle "cues", then I've surely not picked up on them.
 
Thanks again for all who listend to my two cents, and once again, it was meant to be helpful, as well as a view from myself personally, though naturally, being the foriegner here, I might be missing a lot.

[Ebok]

Scruffy is more right then wrong in my honest opinion. Character turnover happens, but it isnt productive. I'd like to see a couple things, and I'm well aware that they're not liking to happen.

First, more rumors. Rumors are great because they are NOT news, but snippets of "have you heard" or "so and so said that her friend was listening on a conversation between the Duke and one of Lords of the houses arguing!" My point: Little things make the server feel like more is happening behind the scenes, the there could be a world out there that has things happening in it that isn't all player controlled. Heck, It doesn't matter if these snippets had a historical reason for happening, it doesn't matter if they are true or false, anyone reacting to or talking about or hypothesizing what could be, what happened, what it could mean, etc are all reactions to little things. DMs can clearly inspire players without requiring quests or specific collectible items to collect In the same breath, we can do more to make these up as well, its just typically harder the smaller the base becomes. Fun times though.

Its just about the little things that maybe accidentally turn into that much more. Lies or truth, rumors about certain PCs could inspire allot of reactions, and reactions are fun.

------

Players need to live longer. Characters that last the 3-6 months are some of my favorite of all time. Questing kills a huge bit, pvp turned bloody first rather then taunting or physical warnings or the like. This is more to other players, and I'm sure many of them already know this. But simply because its IC to kill someone, doesn't always make it the best story producer. I believe people should consider how this could be done in ways that inspire more story from it, merely then gank-win scenarios. This hasn't been horrible lately, so maybe I'm over reacting.

------

Factions need to have other factions react to them. They need goals that makes them different then the guy next to them. Factions need to bump against most other factions, whether positively or negatively. The more gray that happens the more interesting. If everyone just goes, there are two teams, and chooses a side--its boring. If everyone gets along, its dead and horrible. If everyone is fighting then things are happening all the time. ICly Peace is cool, OOCly peace is meh quest then. I'd also say that factions should represent a part of the server, the more alien a faction is to the world its being played in, the more stretched out the player base is. We don't have enough to spare :P

I'm just talking. Daz didn't really make clear what he wanted to know, but I figure it'll make sense. I'm not bothering to proof read this, so if stuff's backwards, then so it is.