Explaining EFU

[AllMYBudgies]

I have told a few people about EFU. The people that didn't glaze over were those that understand it to be a 'community creative writing project.'

[General-shadow]

Who cares, ether someone will find the magic undereath the dark dank swamp known as the gamers land or they will drown and be stuck on MD or WOW forever, lets not worry too about it to much, we have a server to destroy, an order to topple a duke to slander and bring down, an undead army to stop, giant orc hords of death are coming, a golden alliance made up of Hitler and Skeletor burn towns and teach intolerance to the masses, why should we care for the none players when they care so little for us?
besides that list i just mentioned, so much to do people and so little time.

[core]

Once, a couple of friends came over just as I got into some pretty heavy PVP. I tried my best to explain it away, though in hindsight it was pretty much in the manner of a bizarre serial killer caught in the act. They smiled and nodded but the look in their eyes...

[Semli]

Still haven't told your girlfriend what you do on the computer Howland? I don't blame you. My advice? Keep it that way.

[derfo]

are we supposed to be explaining it for what it actually is, or in such a way that they don't think you're a weirdo for playing old dungeons and dragons games super seriously?

[Wafflecone_Hiatus]

In order to explain EFU I must first explain NWN. NWN is an MMO maker in a box, an engine with the D&D 3.0 rules set in it and a creator that allows makers to build, code, and polish their own modules that grow into true persistant worlds, similar to your WoW's and what have you. These persistant worlds are active so long as the server is active, like any MMO, and your progress is also persistant.
 
EFU is different in that it is a Roleplaying Focused partially automatized server. You'll encounter MMO style quest givers, instanced quest area's, and challenges that require raid style tactics and thinking. Ontop of all this EFU is RP from the get go- you create a character, set in the world, and you proceed to pretend to be that character, acting out their ups and downs, their virtues and flaws, in the same way one might roleplay Pen and Paper game. The primary experiance of EFU comes not from it's MMO trappings but from it's story, a story you creat along with dozens of other players, backdropped against scenarios provided for you by DM's that manage and tweak the world.

[SkillFocuspwn]

I surround myself with only nerds so I don't really get looked down upon for playing an old Dungeons and Dragons game on the computer with worrying fanaticism, but when I describe it I tend to do so in terms of a book; we are the characters in a grim underground city / feudal fantasy novel and act as if we were the characters themselves.

I have introduced 3 of my friends to EfU over the course of my play (more, but 3 have found it their kind of game) and I mostly do it through telling them it is like playing as if you were in a fantasy novel. Although as I said, all my friends are massive nerds.

[Underbard]

I don't actually know anyone who uses a computer for any reason other than to play solitaire.  All my friends are in the bar shooting pool right now, as it is Saturday Night.  I gave up the bar scene a few years back, so here I am.
 
If I told them what I was doing right now, they would gank me.




P.S.  I can still beat them all at pool.

[Coldburn]

What I would find more interesting is how a person, who has never roleplayed before, would explain EFU after having seen it for a couple of hours or days.

Any experience with that?

[Coldburn]

Still haven't told your girlfriend what you do on the computer Howland? I don't blame you. My advice? Keep it that way.

"Yeah honey, I'm browsing some porn please don't open the door!"

[DangerousDan]

An interesting note: Halfbrood has a lovely, beautiful lass who cradles him in the night as he weeps for his just-FD's characters. She's a beaut! Don't believe the cynics.

[Howlando]

Still haven't told your girlfriend what you do on the computer Howland? I don't blame you. My advice? Keep it that way.

She's well aware of its existence, but it's still a significant challenge for me to explain what this project is and why it's different than most computer games. It's a very difficult thing to explain to someone with no background in computer gaming at all.

[Damien]

If you are trying to explain it to your girl then just dont, call it a hobby and leave it at that. If she has no gaming background then obv she isnt into that kind of thing and will not care and would be a bit wierded out about roleplaying D&D I'm sure. Having said that she'll probably care...but only care because you care.

[Semli]

"Yeah honey, I'm browsing some porn please don't open the door!"

I honestly think this would go over better in most cases, to be perfectly honest. People really don't want to get this stuff, I've tried a few different approaches. I actually had a group of people doing PnP at one point and it was going great, then one dude who got there late wandered in and was like "lol this is gay." It was like he spammed dispel magic on my fully buffed cleric or something. Everyone pretty much gave up on it and the night devolving into a drunken video game stupor as the evening wore on.

[TeufelHunden]

It's like a movie with all improvised acting and everyone is the main character. That is how I explained it to CaptLars and he started playing and I have two other friends interested but they are
Both people who've never role-played haha.