Explaining EFU

[Howlando]

How would you describe EFU and this form of NWN persistent world roleplaying to someone with no experience with such things?

[Drakill Tannan]

EFU is something slightly similar to a MMORPG in it's basics. The game is a sandbox where your character is free to do as he wishes, or not do anything at all. Unlike a MMORPG however, it is less focused in "spend time here and give us money" and more focused in combat and roleplaying. This means the combat sistem is quite decent, and the combat itself can be very challenging sometimes, so one can have fun on EFU as they would on diablo II: Beating the levels, get the bosses. However, EFU:A is mostly a roleplay server, this means the main goal of the server is for you to create a storyline using a charater of your creation, to make an epic novel with everything that it includes.

One thing in wich all Neverwinter Nights Persistant Worlds are supperior to any MMORPG is the player's interactoin with the gameworld. While in WoW or Runescape all NPCs say the exact same thing when spoken to over and over, and work more as postcards than real characters of a story, on EFU:A DMs constantly "posses" the NPCs to make them act as if they where players. In MMORPGs the world is completly static, and nothing out of the expected can happen to you, however the DMs can cange the gameworld to make any event happen: from a random comoner to start talking to you, to an orc invasion at the gates using catapults and other siege equipment or a dragon decending off the sky to demand tribue or whatever. While this events are uncommon (you can't rely on this for 100% of your entrtainment) they do add diversity to the world, and allow you to sometimes be able to do a small quest where you really have no idea what will happen.

Another thing that i find particulary good abour EFU:A is the ablity a player has to influence the gameworld. If a PC is meritorious enough, he can gain a position of power within the city, command NPCs, have his own castle even (yes, it has happened) influence the NPCs as if they where PCs, etc. Above all there is always the chance you can affect the gameworld as you could if it where real life.

[Drowel]

"A world of tense conflict and extreme roleplaying a place where pcs can aspire to and acomplish whatever they want."

[derfo]

it's this mmo'ish video game where people sort of make a story with their characters, it's pretty fun you'll probably get it once you sit in there for awhile, just reinstall nwn fag

[Howlando]

I'm also curious if many of you guys ever have explained EFU to people like teachers, parents, non-game-playing-friends, etc.

[Divine Intervention]

Efu is like one great play or story where all the players are actors playing roles ever changing and evolving.  Basically an interactive story but instead of a few characters everyone has their own story.  Most interesting game ever by far.

[Nihm]

EFua is an ambitious attempt to offer an environment in which players can pursue adventuring, crafting, politics, magic, treasure, guilds, and intrigues in a more meaningful way.  It is difficult to survive and unlike most games, death is a mechanical setback and often permanant.

[Pestilence]

Many of my friends disapprove, but many friends also approve of EFU because I never stop wanting to play or talk about it. One of my buds, BigX2 also plays EFU. I try to explain it to my friends as:

"Efu is like a never ending story book. The DMs play as the narrators and story tellers. You the player are the character in the story. Other players will go and influence your story as it is being told by the narrators."

[Kotenku]

Escape from the Underdark: Archipelago is not a game in the traditional sense. It makes no attempt to be  fun on its own, and "mechanical balance" is one of the least important  aspects of it.

World of Warcraft is a game where any player can accomplish any task, as long as they spend enough time on it. The result is that no accomplishment in World of Warcraft is meaningful. Anything you do, a thousand others have done already, and a million others will do before the year is over.
 
What EfU:A tries to do is create a sandbox fantasy world, where players  with talent, creativity, and dedication are rewarded. EfU:A is genuinely the only place where a player can play a villain whose very name inspires feelings of uneasiness in other people. It is the only place where a hero's victory has meaning. It is the only place where a player's actions become the stuff of legend, as a story grows, and grows, with every retelling.

I could go on, and delve into specifics, but I think explaining EfU as a concept is the best way to describe it in truth.
---

I've tried to explain EfU in real life on two or three occasions. Two co-workers didn't understand the concept of roleplaying, and I tried to convey the sense of freedom that came of being a Councillor in Sanctuary. It was clumsy though, and while one of them later gave EFU a shot, he didn't get far past making characters whose names were thinly veiled dick jokes.

The other time was a girlfriend, to whom I tried to explain the Underdark setting to, in a bid to get her interested in playing EfU. Eheh. Didn't work out. Lesson learned.

[Disco]

"I'm also curious if many of you guys ever have explained EFU to people like teachers, parents, non-game-playing-friends, etc."

I tend not to tell anyone that I am a nerd XD.

[gaunlet]

Let me take a crack at this, since I have had to explain it to some friends and family members (mostly non-gamers).
 
I basically tell them its like theater, on the computer, with other people online. There's some really tough monster fighting, and some people that oversee the whole "production" (aka DMs), and the world and characters in the world are changing, and dying, all the time, based mostly on improvisation by the people involved.
 
And that's it. When I actually show them a bit of it, they find the mechanics and customization interesting, but then laugh when there is RP. In fact, one of my brothers thought that it was probably the computer script when another player was talking and emoting (you know, like a cutscene). And when I explain that its actually a person acting as if they were in the character's shoes, they find it ridiculous. "Why do they do that? What's the point?". Then I tell them that its to create a more immersive and realistic gaming world, they just think I should play the more modern games.
 
Its much easier to explain it to someone who has played and enjoyed paper-and-pen DnD or similar games. I tell those people that EFU is basically that same game, but on computer, and with people you (probably) haven't met before. A DnD world that runs 24/7, with no limit to number of PCs (its not just the people you can gather at a house). Of course, these people find the most interest aspect in PvP, which while usually allowed in pen/paper DnD, its rarely ever done.
 
That's all I got. So yeah, on most occasions, I opt to just not even mention it to save myself and those around me a headache.

[Pup]

I'm also curious if many of you guys ever have explained EFU to people like teachers, parents, non-game-playing-friends, etc.

I have, actually.  I explain it most basically as playing Dungeons and Dragons over the internet with other people around the world.  Sometimes I get a closed-minded reaction, but most people know me well enough to see through the stigma of D&D and actually start to ask questions.  I then usually describe some of my favorite chars to them, along with their exploits.  One of these discussions actually led a friend of mine to go out and purchase NWN about 2 years ago and start playing EFU.

Unfortunately he was rudely run off by a DM who is no longer with us.

As for the the more ambitious aspects of EFU, I usually don't get into that with people who have never played such games before.

[Nihm]

he didn't get far past making characters whose names were thinly veiled dick jokes.

His name is Fong?

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

Better than Sex- or so I am told.


In other news, I have tried, but no one seemed to care much! :)

[Letsplayforfun]

I've explained it to quite a few people. Some PnP rper who went 'aww, i wish it was in French'.

Other complete noobs that needed to be explained what RPGs were, and what a multiplayer computer game was.

Big times.

RPG:
It's like theater, you play a role. The play setting depends on what a gamemaster has made up: futurist, medieval, etc. Your role is limited by realistic rules, laws, etc. You can't just do anything crazy. You can use cards or dice or whatever rule to determine if something you try succeeds or fails.
The fun part is that you don't have to play 'against' other players, you can cooperate to achieve any plausible goals.
What goals? Save a princess, become famous, build a castle, become a lord, save the world, collect poems, explore weird areas: whatever you want, you can try for.


Multiplayer-computer game:
There's other people out there in front of their computers who are moving the small guys you see on the screen. They make the small guys talk, act, in a vitual world. Me, i'm moving this guy. No, not the one who just said 'fuck you' No, don't touch the screen.

Why can't you stop?
a-Tell the truth: because i'm addicted
b-Lie: because if i quit, the other characters i  team up with will die. Other players will lose month of work, and hate me for it, and they'll never want to play with me again. You wouldn't quit on a soccer game just because someone's calling you, would you? See, it's the same here. I've got to play a couple of more minutes. I'm not just playing on a computer. I'm playing with other players.

Isn't it silly?
a-Short answer: Yeah, isn't it cool?
b-Long answer: Not at all, it's a creative game where the player develops many skills. RPGs are now used as educationnal tools in every major university. They develop the sense of anticipation, creativity, tactics, tolerance, the use of English, teamwork, etc... bla bla bla...

I read RPers commit suicide because their character dies.
a-Short answer: yes, of course. Wouldn't you?
b-Long answer: Actually, there suicide rate amongst rpers is twice as low as the national suicide rate. This can be explained because the game acts as a psychotherapy.... bla bla bla.

Aren't RPer satanists?
a-Short answer: actually, i worship Orcus.
b-Long answer: RPG allow the player to rethink the origins and organisation of religions, and thus develop a deep sense of Right and Wrong, of universal values that are shared by all mankind... bla bla bla.

I think people play in virtual worlds because they are afraid of real life...
a-Cynical answer: So they should be. Read the news.
b-Change the topic: Not at all, they prefer to exteriorize virtually emotions and violence that society would frown upon if it was done for real. They can learn by a series of virtual mistakes without paying for it in real life. Bla.. bla.. bla..
c- Long answer: Everyone has experienced the need to test another life, be someone else, live someone else's life. It's a natural feeling, and rpg answer that human need for change in an entertaining and safe way... bla bla bla.

Alright, i'll try, but don't tell anyone: they'll think i'm a nerd.
a- Short answer: Welcome to the club.
b- Long answer: Although RPG were frowned upon in the 80s, there is now millions of players around the world. The first gamer population has grown up and turned out to be normal people, so the initial fears spread in the medias has tuned down. More: these people now have kids, who are playing stupid video games, and old games were much better. ;) As far as knowledge is concerned, you can point out that The Lord of the Rings books are studied as classical litterature. (But yes, the movie sucks). Conan, Labyrinth (lol), Time Bandits, Krull, Excalibur, Willow, Princess Bride, etc, have opened the way to heroic-fantasy being just another cinematographical theme.
c- Probably answer: Don't worry, i've invited Bill and Sue, and they play too, and guess what: they like it.

Geez, it's really nice. But it takes so much time.
a- Yeah, it does.
b- Well, you could do that on top of other things, if you didn't wake up at 12:00
c- All good things need time to be done.

Why is it alway boys playing?
a- Short answer: Because girls are busy playing barbie-doll.
b- Long answer: Because most civlizations have clearly defined gender-roles, and gaming experiences do not escape this social division of genders. Bla bla bla...

That about sums up some very usual discussions about EfU-esque games.

Now if the goal of the OP is to find elegant ways to admit to your girlfriend that you're playing when you promised her you'd stop, then you're in deep shit. ;)