Author Topic: Hlint (Read 1723 times)

Ravemore · « **on:** December 01, 2009, 01:45:42 am »

LOL, this probably will give Dorg a heart attack after the last prolonged discussions about tweaking Hlint, but I couldn't help myself.

I was driving on the freeway today and was pining for the days when Hlint was a hub of activity and roleplay. I of course know the people of Hlint are more than happy to be rid of troublemaking adventurers and am familiar with all of the reasons behind those feelings. Anyway, I was just thinking it would be sort of cool considering all of the destruction caused by tidal forces if the opportunity was taken somehow to shift things in the direction of how they used to be with a little town having all of the craft halls and other things that would cause us to gather in one particular area more often. Perhaps some sort of additional plot twist in the campaign... It was a lot of fun logging on at any point and time and having several people waiting right there to RP, or putting together expeditions, etc. I guess this is a little more like grasping at some nostalgia than a real suggestion, but what the heck. :rolleyes: And yes, I know all the arguments for doing what was done before as well, which were, and in some ways still are valid.

jrizz · « **Reply #1 on:** December 01, 2009, 02:04:18 am »

Again a post that I wish I could press the "thank you" button ten times for!

Masterjack · « **Reply #2 on:** December 01, 2009, 07:14:23 am »

I personally like the idea. I do not think it will be the same as before. Hlint is an area for levels 14ish and under. With the mass amounts of people rushing to get to level 20, Hlint would still be empty.

cbnicholson · « **Reply #3 on:** December 01, 2009, 08:21:51 am »

I disagree, Masterjack. There are plenty of older and newer players who have characters less than 14th that imo would find Hlint a perfect place to 'hang out' if it had more crafting available. I'm with Ravemore on this, but then I'm nostalgic too.

Hellblazer · « **Reply #4 on:** December 01, 2009, 11:39:25 am »

one word, amen.

Honora · « **Reply #5 on:** December 01, 2009, 01:52:28 pm »

I agree. Port Hempstead is just too large.

Part of what made Hlint work was the comfortable size, the spontaneity; at the right camera angle you could see most of the people in the zone, and by zone, I mean "by the bank". Those benches provided a perfect Cheers-like atmosphere. I looked forward to logging in to Hlint.

It is not the same. On those occasions I log Genna or Honora in it's a ghost town even if the server is busy. I might see someone making the long run from the bank through a transition to the next zone then through that transition to the hall itself, or making whatever transitions to the docks or their homes. But there is no central gathering space and no groups sitting around just chatting in Port Hempstead. And let's not even discuss Prantz, which is empty almost always.

Okay, okay, so that's my fault. But still

If Hlint is not to be ever again, then it would help to move the transition to the craft halls off the main fountain area in Port Hempstead? That would increase the traffic in that area. With the splitting up of the home cities, though, I think that's not really going to fully address it. We got realism at the expense of enjoyment.

Another idea is to add Hlint as a portal destination for all the portals, or maybe Stormcrest. That would make it pretty easy for people to end up in a central location to group and hang out.

Pseudonym · « **Reply #6 on:** December 02, 2009, 02:27:15 am »

I agree. Let's start using it as the default gathering point again. Do we really need Dorg to do anything? I'd have thought where characters hang out could be 99% player driven?

Ravemore · « **Reply #7 on:** December 02, 2009, 01:19:15 pm »

Well.. I think you're about 75% correct LOL. Unfortunately we have a large crafting player base which requires us to spend large amounts of time in areas that have the correct facilities. I know I have been hanging out more in Hlint myself, but it would create more opportunities for a larger amount of players if they are in the area for other tasks as a coincidence. On another account it would improve the market too. I remember Hlint used to be sort of like a flea market in the past because of the facilities and all of the crafters gathered in one area.

You do have a major point though, we DO have the choice where we hang out.

Script Wrecked · « **Reply #8 on:** December 03, 2009, 02:56:30 am »

Hanging out is one part, but Hlint will miss out on the incidental foot traffic due to the lack of crafting amenities, the merchant prices, and portal arrivals. Also, the starter quests are focused in and around Hempstead and Vehl.

Hellblazer · « **Reply #9 on:** December 03, 2009, 03:26:50 am »

I have to admit that each time I walk down Hlint there is a sense of nostalgia. There hasn't been the same feeling to any other place, not even the crossroad, as there was back then in Hlint. Where you could truly spend hours just rping with a lot of people at once, or consecutively, because every one just stumbled on each other there. Even though there was craft halls in other cities.

Dorganath · « **Reply #10 on:** December 03, 2009, 09:05:51 am »

Quote from: Pseudonym

I agree. Let's start using it as the default gathering point again. Do we really need Dorg to do anything? I'd have thought where characters hang out could be 99% player driven?

I agree, in concept!

However...

Quote from: Script Wrecked

Hanging out is one part, but Hlint will miss out on the incidental foot traffic due to the lack of crafting amenities, the merchant prices, and portal arrivals. Also, the starter quests are focused in and around Hempstead and Vehl.

This, and generally the point about density of "amenities" and such in Hempstead as opposed to how Hlint was, is likely the reason, meaning there is a choice over lingering in one place versus dashing between craft halls/merchants/etc.

Hlint was a high-traffic area, and now it's not. In truth, it's probably not appropriate for it to be one again (lore and other reasons). That's not to say an old-Hlint-like area couldn't be established, of course.

Lynn1020 · « **Reply #11 on:** December 03, 2009, 09:32:16 am »

But it seems the the destruction that has happened in Hempstead would force many to move else where? Couldn't this be a good time for rebuilding to happen in Hlint?

Acacea · « **Reply #12 on:** December 03, 2009, 09:51:16 am »

They are unlikely to move from one kingdom to another, let alone to a little xenophobic town way up the map, and Hlint is unlikely to ever be chosen as another place ever again because of how it has changed as a result of the old days. They don't want people there.

Far more likely than rebuilding other places as a result of Hempstead's disaster, is a rebuilding of Hempstead itself.

It's not Hlint, it's what Hlint had, which is a unified starting area that everything branched out from, and along with that a unified purpose from the moment you set foot there. Hlint isn't going to happen except for player driven hang-out, and they aren't exactly welcome by the populace when they do. But other places - "Hlint-like" as Dorg said, can.

Lynn1020 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 03, 2009, 10:08:10 am »

Then maybe Hempstead should not be so big? It is spread out across 4 or 5 screens. Hlint was two?

cbnicholson · « **Reply #14 on:** December 03, 2009, 10:42:03 am »

That's only part of the issue of 'spread outness' the other is that some pcs start in Vehl and are forbidden entry to Hempstead as well. While an interesting approach in terms of how pc's would start and perhaps should start, this fact hasn't helped what you see in game today at all. I'm not arguing it either way as this has been hashed out in other threads and can see both points of view, simply pointing it out. My personal feeling is since this restriction is more rp than mechanical other than the start point, I'd like to see it relaxed, not removed. Some pc's have earned notoriety and therefore should be excluded from a lawful city after all.

RollinsCat · « **Reply #15 on:** December 03, 2009, 11:04:49 am »

Then looking at all the responses below why not add two-way transitions to Stromcrest and the crafting halls. One to the magic hall and back, one to the regular craft hall and back and one to the 10+ hall and back. Maybe even a little group of merchants in Stormcrest like a traveling caravan so you can get your tanning oil and axes right there.

It might affect the cities, sure but it would get everyone in one place which would make us bards happy. It's not like there are tons of people in Hemp anyway. It's depressing to sing to an empty city.

cbnicholson · « **Reply #16 on:** December 03, 2009, 11:44:43 am »

I have a simple suggestion. What about a small open market outside the gates of Hemp? It could use the area outside the gates by the pond with perhaps a second gate into the city - a Merchants Gate. Its a highly trafficked area already, it simply needs a bit more to keep players there. The concept is historically accurate as this was quite common in city states where merchants, mercenaries companies, and other trades would set up just outside a city.

Serissa · « **Reply #17 on:** December 03, 2009, 02:13:58 pm »

Ferrit has set up shop there from time to time--quest chest and ox pack. There's a decent amount of traffic.

Ravemore · « **Reply #18 on:** December 03, 2009, 03:47:15 pm »

All of the comments have been greatly appreciated. I personally really like the idea of shrinking the city down to two screens and the market idea.

Gulnyr · « **Reply #19 on:** December 03, 2009, 06:35:42 pm »

Does the size of the city really matter? I know Hemp is big in-game, but it's a big city so it should be big. The size doesn't seem to be the point, though.

Consider the main places within the city most people will want to go: the bank, the craft halls, maybe the guild halls. There is one way into the city, so the main path is going to go from the pond, through the gate, wallow around the big eagle a bit, then bearing right around the fountain, through the transition to crafting destinations (yes, I have not included the kitchen). If there is to be a benchy gathering for RP, isn't that a reasonable place to find it, along that theoretically high-traffic path? The place to be in Hlint was on the benches by the bank, right? That was the high-traffic point. Sitting by the barn in Hlint wasn't going to get the same result. Does anyone else remember that Hlint had a barn? hehe

Yet it is rare to find someone sitting along that route in Hemp. I've had Jennara stand near the little pond to sell pies several times because that seems the best spot for passing traffic, and those times tend to be long, boring, lonely hours punctuated now and then with a few minutes of nice RP. Maybe Jennara isn't someone people want to RP with for more than a few minutes. Maybe people would rather be RPing in a more active setting these days rather than just sitting around to RP. If crafting halls are an important factor for gathering groups, why is Hemp so dead? Is it not a central crafting location? Why would anywhere else be any different with a crafting hall? I'm going off-point here, but I think those are good questions.

My point is that someone has to be the first to stop and sit if there are ever going to be "spontaneous," unplanned gatherings, whether in Hemp or in Hlint or at the Shack or by the portal-entrance at Wayfare or wherever. There aren't as many players as there once were so it may be a long wait, and maybe that's why no one does it. I imagine people would rather spend their time in-game accomplishing something and having fun, not sitting their characters alone on benches somewhere waiting and wondering what everyone else is doing wherever they are. But you have to try to know for sure, right? If anyone gives it a go, I wish you the very best of luck.