Events/Quests vs Time and Effort vs their rewards

[ChaoticDivinity]

Hi there, I do apologize first off if this is more suited for the suggestions forum, than the general discussion. I just wished to bring this up, so that perhaps it can be explained properly too me, or other's insights will make it easier for me too cope with.

Now, this is no way meant too insult anyone in particular, or be insulting in general, but I've noticed the server seems too have...for lack of a better word, lack of appreciation too time and effort.

What I mean by this, for example the dwarf assault on the Orog event last night. Props too the DM who ran it, was a great event, rp was amazing, so this is at no way a fault of their own. But what I'm breaking this down too is.

Pros- Reward 400gp (Obsolete loot compared too regular dungeons, hardly no healing supplies returned) New friends icly.

Cons- Items spent- 1 wand of fireball 1 wand of summon creature IV, 4 invisibility potions, 2 blurs, 3 protection from evil potions, scroll of flame weapon, scroll of summon creature one and two, three purple healing stones, two svirnblen (Know I spelt that wrong) Healing devices, cold burst item, containment device (grenade thrown that summons animatron.) Also, lost 1 level in regards too this.

Now, I'm not trying too be blunt, but the con's had taken forever too acquire, where as in a 3 hours event? They were lost, with hardly no gain given. So hours of days work, aside from doing my RL day too day job, I have now lost far more progress than I had obtained. Not too mention if you have no healing supplies...you can't adventure, therefor you can't get more healing supplies, gold, etc too replace what was lost.

Pillars and Disks- Spent almost two hours doing it at level 5, gives a wine...

Time is sacred, and nowadays too devote time to a server that takes away progression, instead of offering something in turn. The server seems amazing, I love the idea behind it, and the effort put into it, but too lose days, upon days of effort in a matter of hours, seems a bit...absurd. (Perhaps this was just rotten luck, but it was a rather hard punch in the gut.)

[Blue41]

There's all sorts of posts on this kind of thing. Here's one.

[Falgrim]

The event you mentioned was very specific, -check your PM's for more detail, and not representative of typical DM quests. As to the rest of your post, check Blues Link.

[Heavyfog]

My PC also lost weeks/months of hard earned supplies on the  aforementioned raid, so I feel your pain...BUT: Look what was  accomplished!  All the PCs that left on the quest returned (a MIRACLE we  did not all die TBH), the battle at the gate was pretty darn epic imo,  WE ACCOMPLISHED OUR GOAL as we set out to do and REAPED THE REWARDS  (although the reward doesn't fit in your PC's pack).  There has been so  much work and build up to the Raid event I am personally overjoyed to  have seen it though AND survived.  I think one must look at the bigger  picture to truly appreciate what was accomplished last night as if we  had failed (which looked VERY VERY likely at a certain point) ALL the  work of MANY MANY players would have been LOST and the Dawnrise Brigade  would be no more.  The ENGINE that fuels the goals, quests, RP and plots  would have fell by the wayside should we have met with the level of  failure that seemed unavoidable and our story would have ended. I  personally will sacrifice anything my PC has to be part of something so  grand, rather than grind the same quests and collect the lootz.  I hope  the OP can see what the reward was for this event and look past the loss  of supply.  Epic goals require epic danger and epic sacrifice.  Thanks  to the DM(s?) involved in the event last night, I was pretty sure all  was lost at some points.  I personally had a blast! :)

[Kinslayer988]

Remember that supplies will fluctuate. You will have good days and bad days. A DM may not give much initially, but if you show good sportsmanship and stick with it you will be rewarded more and more for what you have done. This sounds like an awesome quest!

[granny]

I think that everything that was needed to be said was said already. Even so, I would like to give emphasis to the fact that it was a metaplot quest, one that would be of great importance to the continuity and growth of a faction. Storywise, these characters were really bold and accepted the danger of losing all that they had conquered in the name of honor and respect.

I wish I could have taken part on the conclusion of this part of their story, and I must say that I enjoyed scheming around it and to have been partly responsible for it to take form.

Whatever the reward was, the continuity of their tale is too meaningful to be ignored here. Alas, not all adventures end up with a pile of treasures.

[Faux News]

The best way to think of supplies is 'easy come easy go.'

If every DM quest gave you the supply you'd need to do another DM quest, then you wouldn't have much motivation to do anything else but those DM quests.   "Okay, now I need to put some money together and buy some more potions." should be your immediate thought not, "Oh man, I didn't get any supply or loot or anything." Sometimes you just don't. It sounds like you got some gold though, so use that to buy some potions and make a brewing friend!

It sucks when a quest bleeds you dry and you don't feel like you get much reward, but ultimately potions are there to be drank and charges are there to be used. If everyone was fully stocked all the time, how would there be any challenge at all to the game? How would potion brewers and wandcrafters make money?

[Pigadig]

The EFU experience has generally been that DM events are where you use up your supplies, and in between DM events are when you should save up said supplies, in my time here.

The static content is there for you to have fun and get what you need out of it whenever you can. Sometimes, yes, this does take a while, as due to my limited play time after some events I have spent literally a month or more re-obtaining what I spent.

If you have a solid group of questing buddies though it's far easier.

(Also don't do pillars and disks if its taking you longer than 20 minutes at best. It design is such that it's trying to encourage you not to bother after doing it more than a few times, and the rewards, while they can be nice, aren't worth spending two hours on it. Grab some friends with a sending and go do literally any other quest for a better time/reward ratio.)

[ChaoticDivinity]

Thanks all for the insight, I did receive some gold yes. Though why would a potion brewer buy potions? See this is where it get's annoying. You have a character that's already established as a potion brewer too clients, but now what do you say? "Sorry man, got a blow upside the head, and forgot how brew potions?" I don't know, I'm just going too bite my lip I'll pop in once and awhile and see what else I can do on the server. Over all though, I'm more of a...if I spend my last four hours after work, on a game, I want too keep my last four hours worth of progress type of person. I may just have the wrong mindset for this server is all. :) Either way, I appreciate all the time you guys had taken too respond too this, and will hopefully bump into characters of yours icly, or what not.

[CaptLars]

This honestly isn't that bad, yeah your in the red a bit, but that is a daily occurance. I don't know how many times I have been spiced or on an event and used every single thing I have only to get nothing at all, sometimes not as much a single xp point. That underscores the best part about this server is that it is -hard-. You have to be a bad mofo to play EFU, and be able to take lemons and that into about 30 csw and 10 blur and some other stuff and go beat whatever is thrown at you.

[Apocryphal Misconceptions]

When I was younger I skipped school to stay home and play EFU. It happened a bunch of times that I'd end up PVP killed or NPC murdered and I'd always say: ugh, should have gone to school today.

Time is precious and it blows when it feels like it's been lost. We've all been here. Let me say that again: we have all been there, and frequently experience these draw backs. After a while, it will definitely grow more comfortable on you and you'll learn that it is a necessary inevitability.

Ps. The higher level you become, the worse it gets! So you're in for a treat! The best advice anyone can give you is to just keep kicking your way forward and to try to take the bad with the awesome. It pays off.

[Pandip]

This sounds like an issue of perspective more than anything. I would argue that you're vastly undervaluing the importance of having a few new friends in character. Frankly? EFU is not for everyone. If your concerns lay strictly in the acquisition of loot, experience, and the 'progression' of your character's strength in terms of his or her supplies, then it's quite possible that you just don't have the right mindset. This is an old, outdated game. To make up for its mechanical faults, we (as a community) have created a server that boasts an incredible, dynamic roleplaying experience accentuated by a brutal setting that is merciless more often than it isn't. Instead of wanting to grind out quests for the sake of 'progression', your concerns should lay with developing your character and his or her effect on the server. Instead of wanting to hoard your supplies and doing stuff that only benefits the amount of potions and consumables you have, you should find opportunities to use those supplies to gain a leg up in whatever concerns your character -- politics, war, intrigue, subterfuge, world domination, etc.

This isn't World of Warcraft and it's not meant to emulate the 'grind grind grind to the max and never lose my progress' template of that game. Most of us are here because we enjoy playing a character, exploring their story, and interacting with the world.

Truly, I don't want to discourage new players from playing EFU -- it's an incredible experience even on the worst days -- but it's entirely possible that your mindset might not be compatible with the server, or you might be looking for something that's antithetical to its content. I'd maybe take a second to reevaluate what you want from your character and the server as a whole, and whether that's worth your time after work.

Also, don't do Pillars and Disks more than one or two times. You should never, ever spend two hours on that quest. <.<;

As for the whole "I'm a potion brewer, but I can't brew those potions!" you can come up with a number of solutions. "The last weeks' battles have left me drained, tired, and unable to conjure the divine power that I've been blessed with by an almighty being right now." Or, "I have to collect more reagents; I've exhausted my stores."

[MetallicSlime]

^ This, along with some of the pcs who are now indebted to you due to the aid you've rendered them >_>.

I can't blame you for irritation though. Time is important, and having to stare at the fugue for a half hour without any indication of what's going on makes dying even worse than it might normally be. I've been in the same situation before, sitting in the fugue for about a half hour without so much as a tell to let me know what's going on.

Losing a character you've been playing for hours a day for a month straight because of a lack of consideration is a pain, hopefully it doesn't turn you off from the server, though. Takes all of us to make this place what it is, so don't downplay your own contributions or assets :p

[Faux News]

"I have to collect more reagents; I've exhausted my stores."

And you can then go questing with people in order to get those 'reagents' (which are actually just EXP.) and emote gathering stuff while you slay baddies. That's what I did with my cleric, anyway!

[Vagrant Savant]

In my (comparatively short) time on EfU, I've found that a good philosophy is that one gets levels and supplies to participate in plots and spice quests, and less so the other way around.

For the specific, I can't blame anyone for being unhappy with spending an hour in the boring ol' fugue, and I won't pretend to say it's not all that big of a deal. But, it happens to all of us occasionally.