State of the efUnion

[prestonhunt]

I think RWG is spot on.  nuff Said.

[TheMacPanther]

I know it might be slightly off topic, but it is on topic enough I think.

Just wanted to bring up the fact that I think we have had more or a comparable amount of Lords/Ladys of the colony than First Honors.

[Damien]

What RWG and Craig said tbh, also it seems to me Stygians seems to be losing their value. At the moment it is literally stygians vs everyone, with the conclave deciding to act only in the moment. Also with the desperation of the colony and the failure of the Duke, especially by him gambling away all the money the colony had unless something happens soon it will become silly and pointless why the stygians are still in 'power' :s, it could also discourage any attempts made by pcs to see to overthrowing the stygians. Though you dms are much smarter than me and are always miles ahead on this matter ha.

Also when RWG was a dm he saw to creating medals of valor, etc for when a player in a dm faction had done something to benefit the faction. This could still be a good way to reward pcs.

[Paha]

There are good directions and requirements to earning certain promotions. This goes for every faction.

It's frankly that not many have earned them. What I see mostly are Stygians that join and hang around, doing the guarding, snatching some random baddies, but I don't really recall when there was one that actually strived and succeeded in getting anything bigger than that going.

What I am talking about is being proactive and just doing what you want to strive for. How your new situation in faction limits/changes the situation is only a quirk and a challenge for you to figure out.

In Conclave it may have seemed that some earned promotions well and good, but you got to remember that in most cases there have been two instead of one that push and work together, being active and chasing their own goals while making use of the faction resources and allies.

This can all happen in any other faction just as well. It takes one or more guy(s), who have an idea, activity and time (Yes, it usually takes a lot of time but that's just how it is). Then you actually chase this idea, wish, goal and gather what ever you need for it. Materials, allies, steal something, trade something or what ever it is that is required. You either succeed or fail, but atleast you are definitely involving other people and getting a move on. If you succeed, it usually means rewards of equal level to your efforts, if you fail, sometimes it also provides rewards for partial success in terms of materials/friends/allies/knowledge gained.

And just remember, as hard as it may at times be, folks rarely shine alone. They usually get to where they are by involving others and using the help they get.

[morva]

I'm down for a server changing event. Invasion, huge battle, lets do this.

[Nuclear Catastrophe]

It's quite frustrating as a player to come into this world that is claimed to be a "sandbox" and work from many different angles to build (See: 'How to rock my socks off' post) and create different things only to inevitably be "put back in my place" by NPC superiors.

What a ridiculous statement.

We as a DM team, if anything, have been guilty of UNDERPLAYING the influence that NPC's should have.  We've let certain PC power-play events transpire when, in reality, the NPC's power base (Stygians, Sharboneths, Order NPC's) might have been utilised by us in order to quell potential changes.

Think - the Inner Pier, the current situation in the Docks, the Order/nature factions.  The dwarves/fellhammer hold.

[Nuclear Catastrophe]

And as a TL;DR here, is it safe to suggest you could condense everything you said there RwG down to these two statements :

• Can the DM team condense your overarching stories down to a single thread?


• Can promotion within DM factions become quicker, or can the DM team as a whole respond quicker to ideas from the players in said factions?

A lot easier to read.

For the first one - well, no.  It depends on what is happening at the time, and what people wish to pursue.  There are lots of old threads which will never lead anywhere.

For the second - yes.  We should probably promote people quicker than we do, and I'll put it to the team.  I'll look in to it.

x x x Nuke

[Howlando]

Well, due to the holidays, I haven't been DM'ing recently. I think ShadowCharlatan is spot on. I think some of you other guys are not really.

Sometimes plots don't get resolved in a timely fashion, sometimes that's deliberate and sometimes not. Believe me I am more aware of anyone of how lazy/flighty a group of dm volunteers can be sometimes. But of -

- Sharboneth
- Ixpadia
- H'Bala
- Syndri / Nightrisers
- Razul's prohpecy stuff
- Mist raiders?
- Transcendental

Sharboneth - resolved.
Ixpadia - resolved.
H'Bala - needs to be freed by PCs
Syndri - resolved (epically)
Nightrisers - a plot to "contain them" occurred and was resolved, but they're a major part of the setting and not going to be permanently taken away easily
Razul - No comment
Mist Raiders - again, kind of a persistent danger and threat...
Transcendental - ???

There are MANY, MANY more plots though. I do think PLOTS need to be looked at in the context of a lengthier period of time, though. It's been all of.... two weeks since the Duke lost his gold. Two weeks is nothing! Especially considering it's been the holidays.

Some other reactions -

From the start you have a lot of authority (within reason) with every faction.

Stygians - They are clearly a faction in trouble. But promotion has never been easy. But although we may not have had many veterans, the way to become a Veteran is clearly spelled out with achievable goals and we've had lots of PCs get various honors (which are like mini-promotions). I agree though that most players aren't really talented or dedicated enough to get full Veteran status.

The Sons of Sabuth - It's definitely hard to become favored son.

Transcendent Conclave - Very easy to get promoted.

--

I do agree and understand what RWG is saying about how, at the moment, it seems like there is an overabundance of threats and dangers. All I can say is to roll with it IC.

Regarding the famine, NPCs are surviving somewhat off of things like rat meat in the sewers, and the whole apparatus of the Dominion is shaken to its core, but it's unreasonable to expect problems to be resolved (one way or another) in a time span of two weeks.

[SkillFocuspwn]

Both agree and disagree. Love the Conclave's promotion system, dislike the Stygian system of appearing to have 2 ranks for PCs, although that's just a personal thing. I wouldn't say promotions as a whole should be made easier, more that the Stygian system with the fact only a few players will ever get promoted may make a player feel that they're all the bottom rung, answering only to NPCs, all the time.

 As for plots, it does feel like in the Underdark a lot of plots (the fire giant, the return of Moander) that were digestible with definitive endings, but a great deal also didn't get ended until the surface or even haven't been ended yet (Etorix, Moander, Six-Fingered Lich bro). I would have to say that as a player I feel like a great deal more of EfUA's plots are of the latter source, though, which makes it feel at times like there is so much going on it's hard to take it all in.

[Yalta]

I agree that we as a player base have a huge amount of impact and that the server still retains a very "sandbox" element. Though as Shadow Charlatan excellently put it, there are a whole bunch of us throwing sand around in the said box!
 
The Stygians are a perfect case in point. They are currently at a low ebb, I certainly trust the DM's that they as a faction could go down (and maybe even out) if events went against them, or of course could return to be stronger than ever, and dominate the server.
 
I don't get IG as much as I would like, the only thing I would suggest to aid the various twisting plots is for a few more posts in the Announcements thread by the DM's. A few more tidbits here and there? I appreciate though that such things take time and effort from our volunteers!

[Divine Intervention]

Imo change the stygian rank system, having played a stygian for several months I found getting up ranks to really be jumping through hoops.  Other factions seem appropriate and conclave are promoted lots.

[Snoteye]

For the record, we have in the past discussed lowering the requirements for getting promotions in the Stygian Armada, but ultimately decided that they are appropriate, tough though they may be.

[12 Hatch]

The addition of an intermediate step in both the Sons and Armada could help dispel the helpless feeling of lack of forward progress (I know there are honors, but a new official rank might not hurt either!).

Something like "Stygian Adept", and "Proven Son".  It's fun to feel like you're moving on up the ladder.

[Semli]

Yeah yeah yeah

[Equinox]

I like the idea above. My only qualm is really with the Stygian FIRST HONOR.

I really think the way that it is earned is part luck, part timing, and really very little to do with skill or commitment. I've seen pcs play for months and never go up, and pcs do a couple of impressive acts -with other stygians there to see-. and go up in weeks.

I really think this is the only thing in the armada that could use adressing, as for the sons their ranking system is tough, but realistic, its not a military, theres the majority, a few who have really prooven themselves, and three big names. its a gang and that seems about right to me.