Stuck at 9th

[NEXUS7]

Ok I know this my brack some rule about asking about doing things in Layo
But this is getting me down now.

See all the time players zoom past me in levels
Hi 1 level pc
2 weeks later
Hi 6 or 7th level PC
2 weeks later
Hi 10+ Pc

Im going HU! now ok you can do Dm games and get EXP and you can spand 24/7 online and craft/kill for XP
But I have had Spugly (some might know him) for some time and
his 9th level and I half gaint (yes know about the EXP peneltys)

But I have seen others with (E2 and E3) zip past me in levels.

I play when i can I have a job that has mad hours

So GM games are out I just can not make the time
I come in when i can and jion groups when I can.

I have done a lot of group stuff but the

640,00 exp for the next level has killed Layonara for me
Its just after 8 weeks at 9th i still only have 356,00 exp.
At this rate I should hit 10th in the year 2009

Now i could spend my few hours crafting but to me thats bot RPG thats just Pocamon
my lifes better spent paying with PCs.

My point is this

I like Rollplaying
And I do this out of sight of GM games
Id ont wont to go off into the server land or spend my game time crafting alone just to go up levels.

Ask any one if my PCs are dull, they all work with groups talk to others and spend time i hope adding to Layonara
but for me to get any better I will have to stop this to do stuff thats well not RPG to get any better.
I know what your going to say find a group meet up and go to gever, but thats not my playing style.
I can not book to be "there" as my real life makes it so I log in and play when i can.

What I feel is that there should be a way for GMs to look at players like me how try and add to the game
but just can not comit to the time for EXP colecting and say. Hay they have done a grate job just RPGing
on a day to day way. Heres some EP for work to the comuity.

Now in my book thats EXP that you have to work hard for but is just the kind of stuff a player like me would work hard to get.
RPGing with players online ion game.

I do so hope you can read this with my bad spelling

[s0ulz]

Since you are level 9 +2 via ECL, you are at one of the toughest points in every characters life concerning XP. I myself am a slow leveler and I think getting to level 12 took the longest of all the levels. Now, levels come quicker.

Concerning the fact that you cant make most of the quests, well it happens. If the schedule doesnt allow it, you're out. Trust me, you're not the only one who has that problem. And I admit leveling without participating in quests is a lot slower.

About the suggestion of giving XP for brilliant roleplay, I think it would become way too subjective to be used properly. If someone gets rewarded with a decent amount of XP, the others would either feel bad for not being good enough or would start demanding XP aswell... I dont see it working. Like most things, those with more time have an easier time advancing. Besides... since you like RP, which is good, then levels shouldn't be your first priority anyway.

[Dorganath]

Those are tough levels you're at there.  For my own main character the 8-10 range was pretty slow.  It takes time and patience...Really that's the main things. I've also watched other characters shoot past mine in levels.  I know it can be frustrating but then I've also seen a lot of these characters stagnating or no longer being played.
  XP are awarded for good RP, though it will likely never be enough to level someone, regardless of how long they RP. Layonara is not all about leveling.  My personal advice is to not worry about your levels and instead worry about developing your character.  A well-developed 9th level character is more interesting than a shallow 18th level character, for example.  And yeah, levels are fun too, make no mistake. 
  We have several new GMs on the team now, and a few of those are in time zones that you may find more friendly to your schedule.

[miltonyorkcastle]

hey, man, don't feel alone.  you are not the first to express such an issue/complaint.  As it turns out, this place revolves around DM quests.  That said, I was in your boat when I first joined Layo.  I had maybe 10 hours to play in a week, on a good week, and that was never for more than 3 hours at a time.  I couldn't make quests, I hated crafting (though I tried), and since my play times were sporadic, I couldn't just meet up with my 'tried and true group' to go adventure.  And you know what?  It was some 6 months before I even broke level 8 with Cole.  And I was crazy.  I ran off alone all the time, killing anything I could and dying almost as often.  All my contemporaries had busted level 13 by that time, and I felt completely left in the dust, and in some ways with Cole, still do.

The honest truth is, this game is a game that requires _time_ to advance.  If you don't have the time, you won't advance, period, the end.  It's a bummer, but it's true.  In terms of advancement, time best spent on Layo is time in a quest, but that often means you have to adjust your schedule to squeeze in the 4-5 hours for the quests.  

If it's truly the RP you like, then you don't need much more than level 9, as much of the RP takes place around the low level areas.  You can try heading to Pranzis on Dregar and waiting for some wandering toughies to let you into their raiding party, in which case you'll get more XP from the tougher enemies, but then, you have to survive, and you still won't get as much as quests give, particularly with an ECL.

I hope this doesn't discourage you too much.  If it's at all possible for you to make one quest a week, you will advance.  I'm not sure what else to say but that, you're not alone.

[FlameStrike]

Level 9 is a very tricky level to get past, i've also used to see people going past me, and this happened while i had a lot more free time to play, since i now have a job.

 Patience is really what you need, and trust me, while trying to get past level 9, as an ECL 2 character, i stopped caring about levels at all, and just wanted to have a good time rp'ing. Eventually the levels came, they are nice and all, but what makes me enjoy the game is the excellent community we have.

 People have to wait anyway, until they've been here for a year so they can have their ecdq, why rush it? Having fun while they are here is what matters most.

[Eloyn]

Milton is right.  For you and other players like me that just don't have the time to go on quests, leveling takes a year heh.  Yea it sucks that your friends pass you in levels, in a month their way up there and your stuck at the bottom, but thats just the way things are >.<

[Niles09]

I gonna comment this one!
A few of you may know that Ive posted a thrad like this too, and things have changed since that. Lvl 9 is not a problem for me, I dont think its as bad as lvl 8, but i guess that differs from player to player. The most annoying thing about lsow progress is when players speed past you, and sometimes (grumbles) even acts like you're a newbie while you've been in Layo for the last six months. but Im past that. Nexus was makes this games great, what makes me stick on to it is, that Ive met players that I really enjoy adventuring with. now, the only situations where it really sucks, when people race past me is, when it is someone I know good, I cant play much more with cause he/she always are on Dregar, but luckely there a a few chars that lvl's in the same slow rate as me, so instead of looking at all the 2 week players, I just stick to chars like Spugle that lvl's in my own rate.

But well as I said, 8 is for me the worst. Now Im already nearly half through 9. Well one thing is, that I (ofcourse it might just be the times I look) in the time ive gotten xp, I havent seen spugle around but only Max, if you want spugle to lvl you must concentrate on him, I dont create a new PC cause it would be too much. If you cant make it to a quest, I dont know what to say, but should you ever have time for one, it gives about 40.000xp now (and a little more for good RP )

And besides what makes it fun, for me, to play lvl 9 (8 was not very fun) is that I just got enough strenght to start going to Dregar and look around (its a lot better than Mistone). If you have time (it doesnt take much time or money to et to Dregar) go there, if you ever see Zanirth on the play list, just ask if you need a sidekick;)

And another thing is, if you want a quest for your time, well I still think it would be good with a CDQ or quest for the giants brigade.

And well... Spugle is very well played, I wouldn't see any problems in that a DM gave him 100k for good Rp thoughout the time

[NEXUS7]

What you have said is all true, Make more time, dont worry its a fact of life with Layonara, put up with less RP for the sake of levels
or RP and forget the levels,

I have GM'ed a lot in my 40 years and I mean a lot, and some have said im good at it.
I have run evry thing from DnD to Amber Im not grate but i am good, doing things a lot will make you that.
I make a few notes, I roll the odd NPCs and I dont folow all the rules.
I GM for the players my Aim is alwasy that they have the best game i can give them.

Now any good GM will tell you the secrat to a good game is the stady "chaling" + "risk/Action" + "reward" of RPG
all inside a grate story told well.

Thats it, make player think, make them roll play and keep them on there toes with a good story and at the end if
you and they feel like they have acheved some thing like a good game hand our rewards that will lead to more RPGing next game.
That rewared should be a stedy drip drip it was keeps the games fun for all.

But what i hear here is that the tap runs, then stops then runs.
There is a drouet at 8th to 11th level which is know about
And is there for a reasion? but why
That drout is killing Layp for me.

Big L can I ask? is it there to try and make playes like me comit to GM games or puting more time?
If so then as Uber-GM that your call on the PW eliment of Layonara and as you know a lot more
about this then me then I must defer to your expectise in working with 100's of players not 10.

I would say this I have 4 PCs now all stuck in the same part of the story yes I do
like RPing not if its becomming the same RP over and over and over.

I just wish there was a way of making the story move on for players like me.

If not then its the praice players like me have to pay for thows who can move one to a deep level of
world interaction.

[Niles09]

NEXUS7 - 1/12/2006  5:15 AM

That rewared should be a stedy drip drip it was keeps the games fun for all.

But what i hear here is that the tap runs, then stops then runs.
There is a drouet at 8th to 11th level which is know about
And is there for a reasion? but why

good point... I would like an answer for that too

[Leanthar]

"...But what i hear here is that the tap runs, then stops then runs.  There is a drouet at 8th to 11th level which is know about  And is there for a reasion? but why  That drout is killing Layp for me..."
  Do you really believe that this is done on purpose? What in the world would be the reason for doing this sort of thing on purpose?  There is none.
  It is there, but it is most certainly not there for a reason. Part of the problem is that at around 7th or 8th level you need to start venturing further and further away from Hlint--and not many people do that. Rilara has tougher creatures, and thusly more XP--but it takes a party and not a single person.  So you have a few problems, now you need a party and you need to spread out to new locations with tougher creatures--so that you can get a larger xp amount from a kill.
  Every single MMO out there has some sort of leveling curve that happens at some level or another. Rather it be from the players inability to find a party, the players inability to leave a 'home area' or a design problem (though that is not usually the problem).
  There is little to no way I (or anybody) can help you (or anybody) with this problem, you need to move further from hlint and quit attacking the same 'now low level' creatures that you had in the first 8 or so levels. This is why we put a ship in Leilon that goes to Hurm, so people will spread out. This is why we have housing portals that go to all servers, to spread out. This is why we now have 3 portals at Morakens tower, to spread out. The areas around Hlint, and Mistone in general are meant for levels 8 and less.  You want more xp and you want to level then get a party and spread out.

[miltonyorkcastle]

Right on with the leveling curve.  I honestly have found that even in PnP DnD there tends to be a slow point around 9th through 11th level.  I've noticed this as both a DM and player.  It seems that is the major 'bend' in the XP curve under the DnD/d20 system.

Part of it, I think, is that the monsters you typicallly run into are easy and give little XP, while the monsters that offer good XP for those levels are much more rare and particularly deadly.

[NEXUS7]

>Do you really believe that this is done on purpose?
>What in the world would be the reason for doing this sort of thing on purpose?  There is none.

Leanthar I did not to inply it was there on perpused I just asked if it was.
I did not intend to sound flipent.
(Ya lknow we all Love ya BigL )

>Part of the problem is that at around 7th or 8th level you need to start venturing
>further and further away from Hlint--and not many people do that.

If what you say is true then yes that would be the main problem, open empty areas of rach EXP all going to wast as the playes
stay in the (what they belive to be and in doing so make) a rich PR zone of low EXP.

If that is true the I am giulty of making my own cross to bare as is very one who complaines about this.

It could be biuld into DnD 3.x as well which would not help the matter.

Next time I will take up Big9's pffer and head of into the blue.
That should give me my RP fix and some EXP.
If it works then Look for Spugly seting up Package Tour bussness.
)

PS
Thats for your Input Leanthar it dos make scence
Thank Big9 ill look out for Zan

TTFN

[Rotagon]

I have some ideas for those of us that play at odd hours, and do not have the time to devote to the game that others do.  It is a bit of a stretch, however, we could use a part of the forums to facilitate some of the RP that we feel is necessary to get our characters together in the first place.  This would then make it easier for us to just jump on the bandwagon when we do meet in game.
  Also, if we start a thread, or forum, or something along these lines, for times that individual characters are usually on the server, we could then target individuals that we could gather with and even start the RP portion of this in the forums mentioned above.
  Lastly, if we get all of this together the right way, and we then have a "gaming" group or groups that are together regularily and semi scheduled, we could ask for some DM participation for short periods of time.  Scheduling for DM'd events is what it is all about due to preperation needs, time frame for the quests, player participation and many other things.  If we provide them with the scheduling, participation and outstanding role playing, we might be able to draw their interest as well! 

[Ne'er]

I can definately relate to the whole slow leveling thing. It took me about a month to get from level 10-11 and another 2 months to get to level 12. However, I have noticed that 12 is going very fast and already I'm almost at level 13.

But a lot of it, as stated above, is definately time, where you travel, how often you can get a party together, and if you can make a GM quest event. I've noticed there have been times where I can't get a party together, or can't think of anywhere to go, so I get very little xp for a long time. But then there are other times when parties are easy to come by, and xp just sort of jumps at you.

However, it all really comes down to one thing. Yeah, it is cool to get new powers and be able to go to new places. But really, if you are happy with how you play your character and enjoy the roleplay, how much do the levels really matter?

[Dorganath]

@Rotagon and others....
  Utilize the player calendar...that's why it's there...to help coordinate player-led groups to go out and explore, mine or whatever. 
  http://www.layonaraonline.com/forums/calendar/calendar-view.asp?calendarid=3
  And sometimes...not always...but sometimes, a GM may drop in and spice things up.
  This world is all about what you do...the world is shaped in no small part by the actions of its players. The world won't always come to you...sometimes you have to go to it.

[miltonyorkcastle]

@ Rotagon:  There already is multiple places on this forum for setting up events just like you mentioned.  The primary place is the _Player Calendar_.
Then, of course, you can leave notes about things in the Wild Surge thread, Trade Hall, etc.  I would encourage you to come up with your own adventures at the times you know you can play, post it on the _Player Calendar_and see if you can get some others like yourself to join you.  And I'm not just talking about a 'Hey, let's all go here and kill things' meet up, though there can certainly be good times with adventures like that.  I'm talking about everything, like, post up a party at the Surge to celebrate your character's birthday, or a meeting of young wizard's to discuss each other's focuses and talents, etc.  there are lots of ways that you, as a player, can initiate things here on Layo, and I promise you, the GM's are watching, and if you make a show of it, they will, too.  *grins*  I've been around for a good little while now, and I promise you they are watching not to police, but to see what good the players are making of the world, and how they can help those players along.

[Glassman]

Heh, I actually have the reverse problem now. I have finally decided what direction I want to take Lan and fear I am running out of time. I know that if I want to multi-class I have to have level five in my two secondary classes by the time I reach level twenty. Im almost at level 10, which will be my last Ranger level. I would like to be in the position where I can take my first level as a cleric by level 11, but that will require alot of character development, and I could reach level 11 before Im able to change classes.

[Niles09]

ok, Ive made a event or whatever its called on the player calender.
Now, dont come and tell me you dont get a change for xp and adventure
http://www.layonaraonline.com/forums/calendar/event-view.asp?eventid=1626&year=2006&month=1

[Gilmh]

Well, I'm also at 9th level and I've also seen people I've met at level one blowing past me in a month or two.I am also unable to be in most quests, but I think that this way, when you finaly level, its a much greater victory and you feel much better. At least that's what happened to me at 8th level (in which I were for a LOOOOOONG time.).

[miltonyorkcastle]

@ Dorgy.... bloody beat me to it.....