Some help

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

People of EFUs.

For two years I have played, and I must admit, I have had some bad habits, shallow characters, overly complex, and simply trying to much. Recently, I have been metagaming, speaking spoilers on IRC, and using party chat and power questing. It has gotten to the point where I have had players ask me, "What happened to you? You were once awesome, now you are jaded."

I did some soul searching, if I have one, and talked to some players on the IRC through Pm's. and have come to this conclusion, I need some help.



In this, I am asking for your help. If I ever go off on a limb, use Party Chat for stupid reasons (like making fun of someone) etc...stop me. If I begin to see as if I power quest, stop me. If I look like I am metagaming, stop me.

I have had my vault wiped, and all my current characters destroyed. I am going to begin fresh.




I hope I will become a much better EFU player in the future.

[Dr Dragon]

I will help this dosent mean gareth is gone does it!?

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

It does.

[tooh]

don't all this, but don't forget the game must be fun, must envolve, must continue.

[Letsplayforfun]

Recently, I have been metagaming, speaking spoilers on IRC, and using party chat and power questing.

Metagaming: we all do to a certain degree, don't let it become too much
Speaking spoilers: bad bad bad, that spoils other's fun.
Party chat: some people enjoy exchanging OOC stupid things, just check with your party mates if that's ok with them beforehand.
Powerquest: cf. post about that, there's little to be sorry about if you enjoy it, without griefing others.

Bottom line: i'm not sure this post is deserved, unless of course i'm missing important data.

Just making this post makes you a better player than many of us. Anyway, the point is not to be a "better player", but to have fun playing a very neat game.

[efuincarnate]

A note on party chat: Unless things have changed recently, I am fairly sure party chat is spammed in the DM channel, and it can get a bit annoying for them to have our runnning  ooc quest commentary burned into their eyes. If you enjoy the ooc commraderie, I suggest useing tells. It also preserves the immersion for any in your party that do not welcome such. (I for one find it much more enjoyable with the commentary, but I do see how it could be distracting and annoying) sorry for High jacking your thread Thomas..

[erglion]

Playing on a server like this is a curious thing.  Everyone has their own objectives as a player (have fun RPing, bashing monsters, collecting loot, making friends...) and as a character (list of endless IC goals).  I think there are some fundamentals, which most players could agree to, that make the server a better, more enjoyable place for the collective community.  

Here are some sage words that I unearthed the other day, by chance, and which resonated with me at the time.

What follows is a brief list of things I as a player aspire to, and which I believe help make the server a better and more fun place for everyone. Other players and DMs are more than welcome to post here if I'm wrong or incomplete about something.

(1) Be OOC (out of character) respectful to your fellow players. This is incredibly important. The line between IC and OOC is the first thing you should learn.

(2) No cheating (item passing, exploits, etc.) Do not grief. If you are playing to cause pain or annoyance to other players, log off. If you are specifically targeting low level PCs in this manner, you don't belong on the server.

(3) No meta-gaming. This means that under most circumstances the experience of a scripted quest is "new" for your character, and predicting spawns or traps is inappropriate. This also means that knowledge one character may have is not shared among your other characters. You don't know someone's name just from hitting tab key, and don't know what sort of immunities or stat-bonuses a PC or NPC has from "examining" them. There are many other examples of this, the key is to focus on what your character knows and not what you know.

(4) Play your character. You chose an alignment at the start of building the character, and you should keep that -- changes to it can be made, but it's inappropriate to act as however you see fit in a specific situation. Lawful Good characters should not murder, loot, or steal. Chaotic Evil characters should likewise be acting in an evil way and pursuing evil objectives throughout the character's career. If you selected the evil alignment, it should be far some reason: not because you just want to loot someone's body when you know you'll get away with it.

Likewise, you should play your stats. Low charisma characters should not be skilled in personal skills, have a strong force of personality, or easily adopt leadership roles.

(5) Be familiar with the setting. It's perfectly acceptable to ask OOC questions at any time through use of tells. I certainly knew very, very little about this setting when I started. However, it does improve everyone'se sense of immersion if you make a gradual effort to familiarize yourself with the basics of the setting knowledge.

(6) Play an interesting character. That doesn't mean outlandish or attention-hogging, but try to come up with an actual character as you might find in a novel or movie. Attempt to convey that character through dialogue, the choices he/she makes, and the goals he/she pursues.

Don't be a wall flower. It can be helpful to develop "tics" that a character might have that conveys his personality. You may have the most optimal build in the world, but if you're not entertaining me with your RP I'm not going to particularly want to quest with you again.

(7) After level 10**, the DMs have made clear that it is expected for a character to be actively working on major goals or taking major steps to "give back" to the server and involve other characters in interesting RP that go beyond doing scripted quests. Goals should of course be pursued throughout a character's career, but the expectation for level 10+ characters is particularly high.

Working to develop organizations and a social network is an excellent goal. However, if you find yourself enmeshed in such a group make a conscious effort to include new people and entertain others beyond yourself and your small network of associates.

Be proactive about your goals, and don't expect plots/DM attention to "find" you. Don't be dependent on DMs to accomplish these things, or for the excitement of the server to find you. Actively go out there and make an effort, and you'll have more fun.

(8 ) Be a gracious winner/loser. Sometimes your character will "win" and sometimes it will "lose." It's natural to be exulted when a goal or victory for your character is accomplished, just as it's natural to be disappointed over a set-back. Accept that your character is not the hero or central character of a story, and does not have the "right" to be victorious in all endeavors.

Sometimes Law will "win" and catch a criminal or punish a crime. Other times, it will be the opposite. Sometimes, through no fault of your own, your character will be framed for a crime or suffer really bad luck. The key thing is to try to keep your own personal ego entirely separate from the successes or failures of your character.

(9) Don't get attached. I find the game more fun if you stick with a single character for large blocks of time and don't "hop" from character to character, but it's important to always have an eye towards the "ending" of your character and be willing to let go when it's appropriate to do so. Would you rather your character end in a last stand battle with his enemies, or a duel with his arch-enemy, or in glorious defense of the city, or in an epic quest to kill a dragon, or being murdered by some dastardly assassin VS. dying to some lag on a scripted quest and losing all your equipment because of a crash?

(10) Embrace risk and excitement in your character's story. It's fine to RP a coward, just be sure it isn't your own OOC cowardice getting in the way of your character's actions. Pursue the big goals, even if you know you won't succeed. Don't be afraid to take non-optimal groups on a scripted quest. Don't shy away from excitement and high adventure. Of course, don't always expect to come out un-scratched either.

I think this is a useful list, a good reminder at the very least.  I know there are similar things posted on these forums, but this particularly struck me since they were written from a player's perspective.  Every player can have fun however they like, but they should do so while contributing to the atmosphere and the community in a constructive way.

[SIZE="1"]** personally, I would say this strongly applies at lvl 7/8 for EfuA

Read the original here, and note again this was originally posted years ago for another server, http://coa.ender.com/viewtopic.php?t=26565[/SIZE]

[dragonfire9000]

*hugs*

[Garem]

Howland for president imo.

To Tom the Younger:

I don't feel as if I'm qualified to make any judgements about your behavior, but all the same it's always a good thing to take action to improve your game.

[Sternhund]

You've been improving and you continue to, which is awesome since (frankly) a lot of players don't seem to have that upward trend of success.

A general tip, try reading some books on your spare time. Books are a great way to learn about character development, and every time I read a book I can usually walk away with an extra hint or tip on how to make my character more of an interesting person.

[dragonfire9000]

Sternhund Said:

A general tip, try reading some books on your spare time. Books are a great way to learn about character development, and every time I read a book I can usually walk away with an extra hint or tip on how to make my character more of an interesting person.

Agreed. I'm currently reading The Hobbit, and I got the best concept for this... hobbit! But really, books have given me all of my best character concepts. Heck, my monk (who could have been so amazing if my computer hadn't turned traitor on me) came straight out of a History of Western Civilization textbook!

Good luck.

[PanamaLane]

Thomas, you're not allowed to be jaded until you can order a beer. Now, go have fun and don't give a damn about anyone else.

[p00d33m]

*hugs and say*

Thomas,

As I always said to you keep it all IG and remember to have fun.
But don't forget to enjoy RL, you maybe feel like this because you are spending to much time focused in just one of them.

You are a great kid, we had (and I hope will have more) great time playing.
No doubt you are evolving and I must say you are far ahead others in your age. (I have been there too)

Sorry to hear that about your vault.
But see this as a new beginning and if you need help or talk find me IG or on IRC I don't mind jokes or your cleavers observations during the game.

Take care!

[Aldrick Tanith]

I'll just reiterate what I told you last night on IRC.  You play the game to have fun.  So long as your fun does not grossly undermine the fun of others, then you should continue doing what you enjoy.

You should not allow the opinions of others to force you to act in a way that you feel is unenjoyable.  Although, it is always important to listen and consider the opinions of others.  (The key is to do such without becoming defensive, as the opinions of others are often helpful - but not always.)

I've been playing with your PC's since you started out here on EfU.  As Sternhund said I've noticed you've grown and gotten better over time.  You'll continue to grow and get better.  No one is perfect, but everyone can strive toward perfection.

If you've honestly evaluated something about your playing stile that you dislike and want to change - that's great.  I'll help you however I can.  But don't let the opinion's of one or two others have a negative impact upon your enjoyment of the game.  In the end you're here to have fun, just like everyone else.

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

I asked for the vault wipe.


In the end, I really need to get my act together. I sense that lately, it's been more about, "Who has the best loot, can do the most dangerous quests with small groups...etc..."

It's getting to the point I feel like I don't know why I play, and it's to tell a story.

You cannot tell a story if you just powerquest.