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Author Topic: Back after absence  (Read 131 times)

PsychicToaster

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Back after absence
« on: July 25, 2008, 08:29:30 pm »
Hey folks

Some folks remember me. I know Acacea did! Haha, I'm flattered. I was bit by the NWN2 bug and bit hard. I got set up on one of the first RP servers for NWN2, had the only PC to rise to level 20, even did a period as head honcho and designer for a bit. Then it came time to relaunch to clean up the mess from rushing the server to be first in Nov '06, and the tone of the server changed with a new playerbase and it was my time to step down. NWN2's player base is drying up (it never had critical mass of PW players, and now too many servers split the population)

Well, now I'm back on NWN1 and visiting the old haunts to see if anything fits. I was pleasantly surprised to see the visual overhaul of so many areas, and it seems like XP isn't quite as punishing.

It'll be an adjustment, being on the bottom once again after being on top of the player government, and then the staff. I guess my biggest concern was the tone of the WL thread. Is it really becoming like MMOs, where the game starts at 20+ and everything before that is a treadmill?
 

ycleption

Re: Back after absence
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2008, 08:41:38 pm »
Well, welcome back....

To answer your question, I would say it depends on your perspective more than anything. I have happily played a character who is getting close to level 12 after  about a year and a half; I also enjoy the challenges of playing in higher level areas with my level 19. RP can be found at all levels, but if you level more slowly, your characters may have to make new friends frequently if you want similarly leveled traveling companions. In my opinion, there are a lot of lower level areas that I think are a lot of fun, there are fewer good mid-level areas, but then high-level areas flourish again.
People complain that there are too few of low, mid, and high level areas.

People complain there are too many low level quests.
People complain there are too many high level quests.

Bottom line, if you are content to be lower level than a lot of the server, you can have fun at any level. If you have a competitive streak, and want to be a high-powered killing machine, you're going to be spending a lot of your time doing mindless grinding. But whichever attitude you have, you will be able to find like-minded people here.
 

Acacea

Re: Back after absence
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2008, 09:01:04 pm »
The WL thing is basically the same old ECDQ minus the level cap. Before, we capped at 20 and you had to do the approved epic quest to get over it. Even then, because of that Layo was never balanced or intended for epic levels. Because after all this time there were a lot more people around 20 wanting epics for no other reason than to get to 21, and not so many GMs to run them, basically there was a giant disgruntled clog in the pipe. The cap was lifted so that people who want to, can level past 20 if they can break through the XP wall that exists between it and 21. Those wanting the power and influence that tended to accompany ECDQs now apply for "World Leader" which is basically just an epic level series of CDQs for a greater role in the world. It's not the most successful of systems, but it serves a purpose for the most and acts as a nice goal. If anything though, the WL system is rarely a "beginning" of a new game - just a title and reward, at present. It has an imperfect implementation in some cases, but is something to strive for, for the quest/plot-minded...

You can still have CDQs and plot involvement before 20. There was just a lot of love given to post-epic areas because of their total absence, before. There are still low level quests (some will always say too few), and high level quests (ditto), and level-open quests (ditto and then complaints about the mix :D), but it's mostly the same old cycle.

As for remembering you, how not! Your characters were always fun to play with. Defending your necromancer from angry dwarves could, along with Matilda, be considered some of the first sparks of Lucindite in my little Shadonite, hehe. And your Rofireinite had an interesting reaction to Acacea's outrageous bluff about being queen of the plane of Az'thahazk (dwarven for arserag), on one of her dress-up days... with Aleister and Key trying to back her up. Not a lot of people play along with poor halfling dress-up.
 

PsychicToaster

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Re: Back after absence
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2008, 11:55:25 pm »
Hehe, wow, you have a great memory!

I still remember the opening of the Leringard Arms Inn with the bardic night, being the opening act for Acacea (the character :P)

As for the EL/WL thing, I know how that goes. The concept behind the server I played on/ran(briefly) for NWN2 was that players were the movers and shakers, the people who ran the government. Player initiative was king, and the primary method of advancement between 12 and 20. Essentially every level you gained a "token" for running something as a player that involved other players.

That system ended up getting bogged down by one-upmanship in which each person wanted to do something bigger, and DMs started expecting greatness from level 12's on par with level 19's. It also slammed the builders because players invariably wanted their efforts to change things in the world, which was the intent, but there was always too much work to be done.