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Author Topic: Community Building  (Read 8767 times)

jadewillow

Re: Community Building
« Reply #60 on: August 06, 2012, 09:57:35 pm »
I know the team is working on this, but new drops would add some spice that might attract some of our older players back.
 

Guardian 452

Re: Community Building
« Reply #61 on: August 07, 2012, 01:15:48 am »
What about a way for people new to Layonara to kind of get a feel for the place... almost like a training grounds... super low threat of death. Yet at the same time teaching people how things work in NWN, and in the world of Layonara. Lets face it... not everyone who is interested in Layonara and Roleplay knows the functionality of NWN, and some of the things we veterans take for granted..... Something a solo player can do. Come out of it and have picked up that second level (maybe even a third level too).. before being "tossed to the wolves" in Center and the rest of the Layo world.
 

miltonyorkcastle

Re: Community Building
« Reply #62 on: August 07, 2012, 09:41:13 am »
It's true that NWN is now an old enough game that unless they have played the single player, they will not have had a tutorial on how to play within the game client. And then, of course, there is a huge number of other unique Layo things they will encounter right off the bat, such as the language ears, quests, LORE, etc, etc. So yeah, maybe offer an NWN tutorial option and a Layo tutorial option, with one or both leading to enough experience to reach level two or three. Of course, G-452, someone would have to build these tutorials... are you volunteering? :p
 

Guardian 452

Re: Community Building
« Reply #63 on: August 07, 2012, 10:57:08 am »
I dont know the codeing aspect of it but I will give what I do know to the project... making areas, NPC's and anything else I can do or be taught to do. so yes I am volunteering
 

Shiokara

Re: Community Building
« Reply #64 on: August 07, 2012, 11:46:18 am »
Quote from: miltonyorkcastle
So yeah, maybe offer an NWN tutorial option and a Layo tutorial option, with one or both leading to enough experience to reach level two or three.


This is an awesome idea, particularly on the Layo side of things. Let's face it: if a veteran submits a new character in Layo, we all know how to hit level 4/5 within the span of an hour just by doing the fetch/delivery quests and hitting up the PoI's along the way.

A new player likely spends a great deal of time dying to packs of mobs he or she can't handle because the starting items don't really prepare one for any sort monster bashing at level one. Even killing packs of rats is rough for the lower-con characters. With only 400g, a player has to figure out armor, bandages, and a weapon.

Layo is an RP server primarily, and the difficulty encourages socialization. But if a new player logs in at a time when the server is empty or its few players are busy, then it is a pretty hard start.

I can give this useful OOC advice to new players:

Start at Center. Pick up healer and falcon delivery quests. Get garlic from area behind healer quest giver. You can (probably) kill the owls, but avoid bandits at all cost. (Optional: pick up message board xp in crafting hall. You might want to hold out on this, though, because you get much more xp for reading the signs later on.) Go North to Wayfare. Go North. Go West (follow the zone wall in Hallowlight). Go North to outskirts of Krandor. Pick up PoI, then get parcel delivery quest.

That's the start of it anyway. I know that by using these two quests in an intelligent way, the player can pick up PoIs at silkwood, krandor, silverdell grove, err...that one in Farmer Part's zone, and one in Central outside the temple (which the player can get by going for the relatively risk free aloe that's near there for the healer's quest). It was likely the designer's intent for the player to pick the aloe up from the kobolds from the fetch a stick quest, but those mobs can really hurt a new player. Additionally, the player can use all the back and forth from the fetch quests to pick up cheaper versions of the quest items (from Hemp/Vehl/Center) for Lieutenant Jursen's quest.

By this point, a player should be able to solo some of the other Hemp/Center/Vehl quests. After that, the player will really need to start collaborating with others.

Edit: This game's difficulty and tutorial is on the level of Dark Souls, but that's why I love it.
 

lonnarin

Re: Community Building
« Reply #65 on: August 07, 2012, 12:00:12 pm »
While it has been stated that soul strands aren't going away, I wonder if numbers would improve if we did a few weekends here and there of Soul Strand Loss-Free weekends.  Everybody rolls 100 on the loss check for 48 hours.  Maybe a double-xp weekend?

We also have maybe 4 active quest GMs including myself.  Could stand to recruit a few more.
 

Guardian 452

Re: Community Building
« Reply #66 on: August 07, 2012, 12:19:29 pm »
Agree on all counts Lonn. adding a few more Double XP weekends or week days. (not everyone can play weekends folks) and it also has been a year + since the last GM recruitment. And Im most certainly for anything that has to do with the SoulMother going on Holiday... LOL ;)
 

Teo

Re: Community Building
« Reply #67 on: August 07, 2012, 10:15:41 pm »
Maybe when you complete a quest, the NPC could refer you to a few more, like "My friend in the craft hall needs help with some bugs she found in her cellar" if you complete the crypt quest in Center, to keep newer characters knowing about quests.
 

miltonyorkcastle

Re: Community Building
« Reply #68 on: August 08, 2012, 09:39:46 am »
Quote
Maybe when you complete a quest, the NPC could refer you to a few more, like "My friend in the craft hall needs help with some bugs she found in her cellar" if you complete the crypt quest in Center, to keep newer characters knowing about quests


I like that idea for the 'newbie' scripted quests.
 

Dremora

Re: Community Building
« Reply #69 on: August 08, 2012, 02:14:11 pm »
Just implement dialogue informing the character to check the job board in the craft hall. It already points out locations of other quests I believe.
 

Guardian 452

Re: Community Building
« Reply #70 on: August 09, 2012, 09:47:20 am »
Quote from: Dremora
Just implement dialogue informing the character to check the job board in the craft hall. It already points out locations of other quests I believe.

 
My friend Drosk brought this to my attention. How does a person get to these other areas with low level'ish quests (like Krandor, or Vehl)? We have a very poor way of navigation in game, and the maps on LORe only help so much.. since much of what is on the map we cant add in game.

We need a few road signs, at least in the Center, Hempsted, Vehl, Wayfare regions of Mistone... so people know where they are going. Ive taken this for granted with each new character ive made.
 

gilshem ironstone

Re: Community Building
« Reply #71 on: August 09, 2012, 09:52:35 am »
Quote from: Guardian 452
My friend Drosk brought this to my attention. How does a person get to these other areas with low level'ish quests (like Krandor, or Vehl)? We have a very poor way of navigation in game, and the maps on LORe only help so much.. since much of what is on the map we cant add in game.

We need a few road signs, at least in the Center, Hempsted, Vehl, Wayfare regions of Mistone... so people know where they are going. Ive taken this for granted with each new character ive made.


I always used the compass and map and I got around nicely.  I always thought it was a nice piece of immersion exploring that way.
 

Guardian 452

Re: Community Building
« Reply #72 on: August 09, 2012, 09:55:27 am »
Sure, and im not asking for hundreds of signs either. Like billboards plastered along a busy highway. Just a sign here, and a sign there nothing major, nothing that honestly wouldn't be there anyway, right? How does the general populace of Mistone get from A to B when they havn't gone that way before?
 

gilshem ironstone

Re: Community Building
« Reply #73 on: August 09, 2012, 10:05:26 am »
I hear you.  Honestly, I am not sure how common signs would be.  People would likely not travel across the continent often, perhaps even out of their county (or equivalent).  I assume there would be a lot of road following and oral tradition used to navigate, as well as landmarks.

That being said, signs here and there would prevent the accidental wandering in to the Dark Peaks of the Watcher (I did this), and I mean the dark part.
 

Alatriel

Re: Community Building
« Reply #74 on: August 09, 2012, 10:09:57 am »
There probably is a much higher illiterate population on Layonara than literate.  And, as far as the Dark Peaks go, there's a guy outside of that area that says not to go in there and beware.
 

gilshem ironstone

Re: Community Building
« Reply #75 on: August 09, 2012, 10:22:01 am »
The Dark Peaks was brought up to be illustrative. There are lots of areas, near safe areas where a character, not just low-level can die pretty fast if unaware. Personally I like this, but the occasional sign might not be a bad idea. I know there are some on Alibdor and Belinara already.
 

RollinsCat

Re: Community Building
« Reply #76 on: August 09, 2012, 10:22:24 am »
as another option, there is a lantern in Stormcrest that I know Acacea used to man (woman?).  When it was on guides to wherever were available.  Perhaps we the players, myself included, should start lighting that lantern once and a while and show the newer players how to get around.
 

Rowana

Re: Community Building
« Reply #77 on: August 09, 2012, 10:55:04 am »
There are others who have that lantern as well and it was designed as a semi sort of unspoken guild. The creator was Chongo and a handful of aged characters. I'm reticent to repurpose his efforts without feedback from him though someone could PM him about it if interested. I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for the team to pass out a few new lanterns to new guides.

~row
 

Chongo

Re: Community Building
« Reply #78 on: August 09, 2012, 01:00:01 pm »
People came to Layonara because NWN was popular and there was inherent  traffic deriving from marketing on NWN sites.  That doesn't exist  anymore so the entire community and team need to come to grips with  reality and stop treating this like an mmo or even a traditional PW.

Adapt.  Do what Milty is saying.  Coordinate the world into an  adventuring company system.  Come up with an outreach tool for all the  old players to get them committed to that one night a week.  And make it  worth their while.  You're delusional if you think you can compete with  anything else out there for folks to do maintaining the mindset that  the 'game' is the draw.  It's going to be old friendships that drive  it.  It's going to be ease of new integration.  Alter the GM team to  expand it into a sub category of adventuring company story masters.   Make it easy for them and empower them.  Give them story options that  aren't utterly flaccid.  Let players start at level 10 and just give  them a bloody shop with fun gear for their new start.  Come up with a  list of simpler code changes to enable this transition, and someone like  Dorg just commit to one hard night of work.  No more, no less - just  plan it all for that and stop entertaining suggestions that don't fit  into that one night... because you and I know full well they aren't  going to get anywhere.  You're not going to rebalance the physical world  because you have no one willing or able to do it.  Make the PC's more  powerful through simpler code changes.  Stop dreaming that you can do  anything else.

Most of the existing players here are creating as much of a problem as  the diehard 'this is a grand grand world' folks on the team.  You need  to stop clinging onto the past.  Commit to a true change and don't turn  back.  Adventuring company server.  You all get so darn sidetracked and  never commit to true changes.  Someone suggests changing xp rates and  the choir of clinging to past efforts burst forth in the song of 'But I  but I but I!'.  Someone says make gear more available and the choir of  crafters crafting alone for no one sing 'but I but I but I!'.  Someone  suggests progression alterations and the choir of world leaders sing  'but I but I!'.  You're not a world leader talking like that, you're the  mayor in the town of 2.  Be a leader and let your people flourish.

Go with Milty's idea and commit.  And don't let the old songs of 'but I'  creep in slowly as they always do and corrupt the whole darn thing.  If  you want real ideas on how to make it happen, I'll tell you them.  I'm  nothing special but I do know what was built in this game and how it  works.  Second I hear that choir though... ugh.  

It's simple.  If you can't adapt to bring back the old players by way of easily  acquired community, then you don't deserve the population you seek to  have entertaining you.
 

RollinsCat

Re: Community Building
« Reply #79 on: August 09, 2012, 02:09:39 pm »
Perhaps this is a superfluous post, perhaps not, but I see a theme here and it bears repeating.  What is Layo, and how do we market to maintain or grow it?  I think that was the original question.  The answer I see here is that we fill a niche for players who want gm-driven/world-altering gaming.  We have become, as Milt said, the weekly gaming session for people who don't have weekly gaming sessions anymore and miss that interaction.  That is the niche, and it's exploitable, even in this old game medium and certainly in future ones.

Whatever is done to gain/retain players, we should drive that theme.  A dedicated starting area is a great idea, as is more soloability and adventure companies with gms heading them.  In the end though, we are roleplay with consequence and growth, and people that respond to that are the people we're going to keep.

In that vein and tying to the idea of publishing some of the forum content, why not blurb some of the quests going on.  There is a lot of good roleplay in several long-running quest threads that might get a roleplayer sniffing around.  

More to say but it's redundant so I'll leave it at the above.