Characters, NWN2 and thoughts

[LoganGrimnar]

Pseudonym - 9/21/2006  12:16 AM
-'by invite only'
-'friends of character X only'

Quests marked like these are usually CDQ and WLDQ, in which case it involvs 1 person, and whoever they want to come, these is not a normal quest its something speacil for one person. You two can have a CDQ and invite your friends, or you can invite random strangers onto something that is going to effect your chars life, i personally wondent want some people i dident know along, be they lvl 2 or 35.

'returning players only please'

Alot of times if you see this its becouse its a continual quest being run over a course of 6 months or so. Alot of time, if it says that, it is becouse of there the last quest ended, for example, middle of the ocean, middle of the Abyss, locked in a dungion. Now the lock is there becouse there is no way anyone is going to randomly pop up in these locations and be all "hey can i come yada yada" Inless maybe your a sea elf.. and you jump onto the ship.. or a tifling and live in the Abyss or something.. but odds are, due to the RP, new chars joining the quests just wont fit.

'restricted to levels 20+'

Now these are becouse of there the quest is going. Most people under lvl 20 have no place being on the east server. Or whatever foe the quest is focused on, is something that a lower lvl char just can not handel becouse your going to die, again and again, and the party is going to have to raise you and wait, and drag on about it. So GM's let anyone come on any quest, which works i think, but the 3 death rule usually stands, as well as Calem rule. After 3 deaths, your forced to auto respawn as the system makes you, and your out of the quest for that day, alot of times if you doing something constructive your welcome, but if your just along for the ride, and saying nothing, they will makes sure you die, or they will ask you to leave becouse all you end up doing is sitting invisable in the back milking exp.

Ive noticed that were in kinda a dry spell for quests, alot of WLDQ are currently running, i belive that has a big factor in it. I know ive seen some months where there is a quest going every day, then this month there are a few days without a quest, or at least an open quest. It happens, give the GM's some time to site back relax and be creative so they can come back next month or whenever and have some interesting new long quest to throw at you.

[Pseudonym]

Maybe I didn't make my point particularly well . . . I know all the reasons why they are restricted, however, that doesn't change the fact they still are restricted, especially affecting newer players, does it?

Option 1 would, for me, address that to a degree. If GMs weren't so busy running WLDQs and the such maybe there would be a lot more time for open quests?

[LordCove]

The above may be true.....but what with the new powers being bestowed upon WLs, you may find yourself actually questing with them and gaining XP for your role play rating. Also, once you reach the dizzying heights of Level 20, and have put so much time into your character, you'll be overjoyed to have the chance for a WL position or a CDQ.
Or of course, get in early on a GM quest, and you'll find yourself Locked IN the quest, never needing to worry if you'll have a place tonight or suffer a really bad roll for a slot. I certainly dont think theres any lack of GM quests....I've been on many, at differing times.

I've probably posted already here....but here it is again. Option 1, a complete wipe, but transforming possible WL characters into quest giving NPCs.

[Dorganath]

Pseudonym - 9/21/2006  3:18 AM  
  Option 1 would, for me, address that to a degree. If GMs weren't so busy running WLDQs and the such maybe there would be a lot more time for open quests?

 Eh....that's a little unfair, don't you think? I'd wager if your character was at the point where he/she could qualify for WL status that you'd be thinking differently, especially if you'd spent 1-2 RL years building and developing that character...but I digress.
  The fact is that there are more CDQs being run (which can be run at any point after 10th level) than WLDQs, as there are relatively few potential WL's with requests in the pipeline, there are even fewer GMs who are qualified/approved to run a WLDQ (not all GMs run them, either by choice or by experience), so they're really a minor contributor to the quest schedule.  
  It's also important to note that very few quests have ever required level 20+. It's extremely rare, and in fact most quests have low or no level requirements.
  Lastly, we just added 5 GMs and when they get up to speed, I'm certain there will be more quests available for all experience levels. These kinds of things go in cycles as GMs come and go. It really can't be helped, but we do the best we can.

[Pseudonym]

Dorganath - 9/21/2006  10:37 PM    Eh....that's a little unfair, don't you think? I'd wager if your character was at the point where he/she could qualify for WL status that you'd be thinking differently, especially if you'd spent 1-2 RL years building and developing that character...but I digress.

 I'm sure I would think differently then . . . I thought the point of this thread was for Ed to get different opinions from different perspectives on the matter of a nwn2 changeover? I was trying to point out, FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A NEW PLAYER, my perceived advantage of option 1. Obviously I would have a different perspective to that of a 4 year player!!  People who have characters who have been running for years can post as they see fit on this thread with their own motivations and reasons for doing so without the need to justify such opinions to me!! My post on this matter is my opinion only!

[Polak76]

Right you are Pseudonym...youre entitled to your opinion and I agree with your comments also.

However I can add from my experience spending 1-2RL years on Layo that option 1 is still the right one in my opinion and that all current epics after submitting a concluding bio should be remade as NPC's that can be used on quests or whatever.

[Dorganath]

I was not trying to shut down your opinion regarding the best course of action if and when we move to NWN2. I was, however, trying to clarify that WLDQs are not the main contributor to a lack of open quests. If anything, WLDQs get put off more than regular scheduled quests, and there are far fewer.
  Anyway, if you felt I was trying to shut you down, I apologize. I was only responding to what appeared to me as a cause-effect conclusion based on an inaccuracy.

[Pseudonym]

*looks up at Dorganath's post*

Who ever accused me of being argumentative? *grins* I was just contemplating the perspective of a first day player who rocks up on the server after reading somewhere that layo runs 40+ GM quests a month, looks at the calendar for September and sees; 4 x CD Quests (char levels 14-16), 4 x Mid-High Level Quests (levels 10-20), 15 x long running/locked party/invite only quests, 12 x WLD Quests and only 3 x Open quests.

Anyway, if Ed is still reading this, can I change my vote over to Option 5 ... sticking with NWN1?

Fom the other changeover thread it seems the main advantages of NWN2 are ones of graphics improvements but as the premier RP server ... who cares? The apparent disadvantages (Mac/Linux issues let alone the mountain of work required for content) seem, to my mind at least, to outweigh the advantages!

If antone wants to PM me with the errors of my ways . . . feel free! Sorry for getting thread off track!!

OPTION 1 or 5!

[jrizz]

LoganGrimnar - 9/21/2006  12:59 AM

 they will makes sure you die

All I can say to that is hmmm

[Polak76]

Problem we have Psuedo is that we're from Aust and you're probably not gonna get on many quests regardless of the lvl's they service.

At best when Pan and Storm were running some in our time zones you might have picked up a couple a week.  Now it's probably only Dez that you'll get on.

anyway I'm not complaining with that.  My time commitments wont allow for much quest activity unless they're relatively short in length, so I'm happy.  Anyhow I digress...


cheers,
Polak76

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Sticking with NWN1 actually seems like a very good idea, though I'd look forward to jumping the campaign forward even without a game change.

[EdTheKet]

Can we try and keep this on topic please Thanks!

[LordCove]

I'll vouch for that. Stick with NWN1. If its not broke.....why make another?
Bring another campaign out.....the world is full of new characters making progress....I would be gutted if Febuary came and we all swapped to NWN2. Yeah, sure, it would be great to start again on NWN2.....but I cant find any fault with 1 yet.

[Shadowblade225]

Right...another random blurt.  If the transition to NWN2 happens and a character chooses to play a descendant of another previous layonara NWN1 character, it should be requested, and this should be common courtesy, that you get permission from the player whom played the character you wish to play a descendent of, before submitting the character for approval regardless if that character was a low or high level character, WL, ect..., .

[Niles09]

What really annoys me about a wipe is, Ive come to enjoy playing Zan's character and develop her story, I would really like to finish it, but its not like Im ever gonna reach lvl 21 before next year. A wipe would really destroy many good stories and characters.

[Nuzatch]

An interesting thing about setting it far in the future is that you can "Phase Out" a lot of areas and focus on new ones.  Instead of Hlint being the main hub, everything could be designed around a new little town.  *Throws a dart at the map*  Like Shard for example.

What does this have to do with characters?  Well if you phase out certain areas and cities then you can phase out characters heavily associated to that city or location too.  Lar could become a bustling mining and crafting city, and the Blacklung family has become engrossed in the process and politics.  Leilon is hinted at in the lore later of once having a great inn.  Etc. etc.

Basically give the "important" players a tangible place in the lore and history of Layonara.  And potentially allow bloodlines.  Just require a large amount of background in the character submission.  No doubt that being adventurers (And thus the "Sports stars" and whatnot of Layonara, they're bound to find a girl and bear offspring.  As long as that doesn't infer preset power, then I see no problem in wiping the slate clean and allowing some bloodline characters.

This also allows people to play a character who is very similar in his goals and ideals to their original character.

So, I say wipey wipey, but with privelages.

Having said that, fairness be danged, I want Ozy to be able to be Ozy =P  Hehe.

[ThrainSil]

I think it really depends on what the people who create the world (DMs) want to create.  

If its the current world transposed to NWN2 then we need some formula to transfer characters given the 20th lvl restriction in the new game (cut the characters lvl in half comes to mind).  

If we wipe then we start again but I think most people will just be playing thier favorite characters all over again.  I will be playing a dwarf fighter or human ranger just like ive done in D&D for the last 27 years and I imagine that most people have a favorite char that they play most of the time.

Both seem fine to me. it all depends on what world the DM wants to create.  Ill be back either way.

The options that might keep me away are the compromise ones that seem cheesy to me.  Why do we need a whole tribe of decendents running around?

Wipe or continue I think.  If continue then cut all char lvls in half to stay under the lvl 20 cap.

[EdTheKet]

A decision has been made, please see here:
http://www.layonaraonline.com/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=30619&posts=34&start=1

Thank you all for your input!