Listening Tour...

[Diz-e]

Also, at the risk of making suggestions that are self-beneficial, some of the nerfs to the alchemy/herbalism system have been a bit too great.

I agree with this. The system is great as it is, but I believe it could use a more updated review in regard to the resulting product (weights, uses, effects), cool-down times to create them, etc. I might also point out that even though Howland did update the herbalism portion by assigning an Underdark relative (thanks Howl!), there are still at least three fields of herbalism that are only accessible with surface plants (this may be intentional, so to limit it to characters that have access to those plants, but I digress; merely bringing it to mention in case).

RwG's points about advancement are interesting; I would say allow the CAB to level 6, but only for non-hardcore mode PCs (if this is possible).

As far as DM XP goes, I would like to see more permanent xp given overall, though not all xp given by DMs is really a reward for doing something extraordinary. Sometimes, a DM will run a little side adventure or whatever and you're getting an xp reward befitting, similar to going on a scripted quest. It really should be left to the DM's discretion, as always.

[Random_White_Guy]

Valid points, fair enough.

[VanillaPudding]

Quests: I agree with the ideas that support bridging the gap between the "high end" quests and the average server level style quests. It sort of jumps rather instantly from using rather little and earning rather little into needing a good amount of supplies (or highly effective group, which is another topic) in order to not bankrupt yourself or die.

- Increase reward some on the lower content
- Add in (or simply bring back) a couple of "bridge" quests of similar difficulty to old Gnolls
- Expand the high end quest options and/or bring back a few of the old goodies people loved. Coral Cove could easily be adapted to the setting, the old renegade conclave quest to the Spellguard, Trolls, etc. These were well balanced quests that with a little tweaking could be brought right back once more!

Character Advancement bonuses: I also fully support the character advancement bonus being increased, though I think it could be done with some real flavor beyond simply handing it out. A system that rewards a static amount is just great, but add in bonuses for being (non afk) in certain areas such as taverns and other "spawn" points, including bases people can claim / spawn in,so that if people are roleplaying in said areas (as the afk system looks for now) they will be rewarded more than doing so in some open square area or unfrequented place.

Factions - I feel like each and every faction should have one or two scripted things they can do at all times. These things would support their more basic outward goals and baseline agendas and never require a dm. Further, there should be "stages" of these that support all level ranges of a faction. While Watcher beat patrols and Druidic patrols are nice, they're also a bit bland and I think that we can do more than having people walk to invisible objects that never move for little hits of xp. The aberrant heart objective for the Society, however, is more in line of what I'm suggesting for the factions.


Secondly, all DM factions should be supporting the faction xp wage that was once operating rather efficiently. It seems mostly non-functional from what I had seen and may need to be tweaked to support the smaller number of players within said factions. Further, any additional dm factions might benefit from being added / removed from this as they come and go. (Duergar / Orogs when they were around, DIs faction, etc)

Random areas, Special spawns / encounters etc: I've said it many times over but always feel the need to say it again because it is really one of my favorite things. Wandering around the server and finding these things is truly awesome. Patrols are fitting for a vast number of factions in many different areas of the server, and I think that expanding upon the areas in which they spawn, the frequency, the type, and all other aspects should really be at the forefront.

With that, I'd also say that adding a means to "close" out the random areas after they've been completed should also be an option.

[Pentaxius]

Character Advancement bonuses: I also fully support the character advancement bonus being increased, though I think it could be done with some real flavor beyond simply handing it out.

I feel this is a very valid point. Area-based XP over time ticks is a subtle yet effective way to nudge the playerbase into environment conducive to storytelling.

I would add that forum work should be, in my opinion, also rewarded. Writting quality tomes to reflect on a wizard's research, keeping a log book of your experiments, or stirring conflict through some well penned and risky letters should be more rewarding than the evening quest train.

Overall, I think there is too much incentive to engage with static, scripted-content (which is risk-free for a significant portion of the playbase, aside from some rare instances). Now, I'm not saying that scripted-content related rewards should be lowered, as we know this leads to other ills (optimized groups, informal vet gangs etc, decrease in "quest group" conflict RP) - Rather that we should focus on reward activities that correlate with storytelling in non-mechanical contexts.

[Kinslayer988]

I would add that forum work should be, in my opinion, also rewarded. Writting quality tomes to reflect on a wizard's research, keeping a log book of your experiments, or stirring conflict through some well penned and risky letters should be more rewarding than the evening quest train.

I remember being rewarded for work in EFU:A/M for writing some books and plays and would like to see more of this as a person who loves giving back with tomes that are silly, conflicting, and further the server/brings some joy to DMs and players.

[VanillaPudding]

I'll add one thing. Server up-time over the past few months has been slightly absurd. It is consistently hitting 30-40+ hour up-times and it -directly- impacts how many people are playing. Reducing that definitely helps keep player count alive in the night time US hours that lack any dm presence at most times.

[Knight Of Pentacles]

Redo the questing system to allow cooldowns.

[Pentaxius]

I think some of us dread the beginning experience where you need to run all the back and forth errands on behalf of the same NPCs. Now don't get me wrong, It's great to become acquainted with the server at first, and for sure of great value to new players as it introduces key concepts and areas of the setting - but personally I'd rather jump directly into the action and be passed that stage.

On the other hand, suppressing this early game psychological barrier could back fire and cause people to create more alts and increase PC turnover.

That's why a tool could be created to "wand PCs" who have reached a satisfactory closure on their previous PC. This supervisory system would allow to bypass the risk of increased PC turnover while vastly improving the first 5 hours of the EFU experience.

It's also a way to incentivize reaching closure on a PC's story that goes beyond the vague notion of "App Karma" -while- not impacting overall server balance.

[Blue41]

Journeys to the Lowerdark either go one of two ways, someone described to me- they are bland or utterly terrifying. I think the possibility of what should be the strangest, most alien, most dangerous place in the server ever feeling familiar is one that should be avoided. Adding more explorables- or maybe just upping the frequency of them appearing in the LD, if that can be done, because I'm sure I haven't seen all of them- would go a long way towards adding to that factor of unpredictability. One of the reasons the LD is banned by law is the danger of enthrallment, but the more common occurrence to PC groups traveling there illegally is a TPK on some quest or another. It would be cool if the LD allowed for more opportunities for:

-Alienists, ritualists, cultists, etc. to deepen their understanding of the aberrant- or try to. Whether that comes through forgotten tomes with secrets better left unread, dead aberrations to autopsy or dormant planar rifts just waiting for the right spellcraft roll, players should have the option to experiment. Consequently-

-Provide scripted opportunities to let them make mistakes, and play them out. A player discovers a shallow pool filled with strange, many-eyed tadpoles, fails to catch one, and contracts some form of aberrant parasite. Thralls in service to some power beyond the planes could find the means to contact them, however briefly, through some aberrant scrying focus or portal. Slaying certain aberrant spawns coat your PC in a strange viscous fluid which provokes conflict upon their return to civilization. On that note

-Add more varieties of spawns to the Lowerdark. I love the idea of having the opportunity to fight something different and out of this world every time I go down there.

I think a lot of this could be applied to the Machine as well- I feel like it's seen as a place people go to find baublium (and only then if you possess the right item) or to try their hand at solving That One Puzzle instead of the giant mystery that it is. Maybe it would be cool if, like the mist paths (though not implemented in the same manner of course), there were a few passageways available to take every reset that appeared and disappeared with the shifting of the Machine. They could appear in different locations each time, or be blocked off by debris or unlocked by baublium or something.

[snot_rocket]

I wish faith and gods were a bigger and more important aspect in the server.  It's supposed to be this big mystery but to me I feel the gods are largely ignored.  No one respects most clerics because either they can crush them PvP wise (with this OOC knowledge that they can) and give 0 respect.  In Forgotten Realms the gods are a real true force and fear/respect should be given.
 
Clerics got amulets but were abused greatly and removed.  I wonder if there's another way to boost the respect given to the class.

[Pigadig]

To be fair, the really prominent and lasting clerics tend to get more respect (and/or fear as appropriate).

People rarely respect new PCs until they know what they're capable of, its not restricted to just clerics.

[xXCrystal_Rose]

Underwater!



Also some more thematic stuff for the Lowerdark would be nice. Maybe some actual reason to brave its dangers and the sheer amount of time it takes to get there, time spent there, and to get back. Like Blue said though it can either be a light experience or it will murder you outright. Some more creepyness, alienness and ambiance to sort of set the mood would be fun. Doesn't mean ramping up the deadlyness but just giving some things to do or see to enhance the theme.


Above all else though what is really, really, really needed is DM factions to have active DMs.

[PanamaLane]

Factions - I feel like each and every faction should have one or two scripted things they can do at all times. These things would support their more basic outward goals and baseline agendas and never require a dm. Further, there should be "stages" of these that support all level ranges of a faction. While Watcher beat patrols and Druidic patrols are nice, they're also a bit bland and I think that we can do more than having people walk to invisible objects that never move for little hits of xp. The aberrant heart objective for the Society, however, is more in line of what I'm suggesting for the factions.

I think something easy that could improve this and would be desirable is if the patrol points spawned in maybe one or two random locations per reset with a larger xp reward for finding them.

If you want to get more complicated with it, add a story to it. Maybe instead of something you click for xp, it is a faction/class/alignment only transition into the scene of a crime, or a dark unnatural ritual, or strange machine occurrence and on and on. I like the idea of word of mouth, with players telling other faction members to go to this place, or alternatively have to actually search around to find it alone.

I actually rarely even walk the watcher beats anymore, kind of just a time sink. I hit the ones I happen to pass.

[Random_White_Guy]

Move the Society to Lower Sanctuary. They can have tentative ties left to the Red Guild by proxy of Gould or similar but honestly I feel the Society as a whole has been this weird  issue with all of EFU:R

Having both played in the faction and fought against it as PCs in opposite factions it just feels like some "Great in theory poor in execution" development of an Anti-Dread faction reviving an age old EFU1 favorite.

1) They're supposed to be an in-shield dissenting presence against the Spellguard but there's been almost nothing in a year in a half coming from that as part of any DM plot.

2) Director Kingsley is one of the most under utilized and vacant NPCs in EFU history. Even the Aberdeen and Caermyn heads (Neither of which ran a DM faction) and the bartender at the Grotto have had more impact and presence. I've seen more DMs possessing and communicating with PCs as Chuckling Bill of the Crone than one of the allegedly most influencial women in Sanctuary, the Head of a DM faction, and a Director.

3) The extent of their potential PC vs PC conflict is almost non-existent. There has been a handful of dissidents away from the norm but through out all of the PCs of EFU:R there's very little reason for anyone to go "Okay let's attack the Society".

I feel wholeheartedly that moving the Faction to Lower and allowing their more zealotous nature flourish, battle with gangs and struggle for influence and territory, raising funds and equipment for the crusade, recruiting amongst the desperate dregs and so much more potential comes from the Society in Lower Sanctuary.

It replaces the void created by the poorly implemented Sojourners and it brings more of a counter-balance to the Upper vs. Lower situation in terms of DM faction presence and influence. It would also remove Society from the crippling yoke of Bureaucracy and giving damn what the Directorate thinks about their battles with the Spellguard or any other threat beyond.

Borderline criminal activities for the greater good against the dread, Witch-Trial having aberrant hunts and burnings in the street, zealous conversions, violent military oppression of Lower Sanctuary and more would just add so much to the server and see Lower ignited further than just "The lawful hoarran minor faction against every group in lower".

Because right now as a PC who has been in the society and tried to battle them in the past it is just this amorphous blob of AMPLE DM INFLUENCE AND REPUTATION but really it just remains this amorphous blob.

I mean to be completely frank the short lived Scrappers faction did more than the Society in the grand scheme of EFU's plots and against the Spellguard.

[Faux News]

I feel like the Society moving to (or even going in Lower in the first place) is a huge continuity error. Are we all just pretending the Society didn't fight on the side of Upper in the Workmill Revolution? Like there isn't a painting of a bunch of Ordinants who were involved in reclaiming Gould's mansion?

I agree that there could be a lot of neat stuff done with them in an 'outside of Sanctuary' environment, but I also don't see your average Lowersmen being chummy with the Society.