It's been a while since I've written a post on building and other information that is critical in module design & creation, and though some may not like my opinions or perceptions, I offer them freely, like them or not...
Balance is critical to a good module...
I had the priveledge of logging on to a server a while back ago, which after getting some cool looking (yet bland) starting gear (with no properties on them), started venturing out to find monsters, which ended up killing me in one hit... Lame? YOU BET!
What player would want to play on a server that has uber monsters?? There are some who like this style of play, truly, however, there is a fine difference between challenging players and overwhelming them..
If you spawn 6 monsters on ONE player, they are going to be overwhelmed, even if the monsters only deal a measly 6-18 dmg, especially if they are hitting the PC consistently, besides the more monsters you spawn, the more lagg your going to be creating, and the worse your server is going to perform. Furthermore, spells that have a high DC, because the caster is high level, even if they are weak are more or less going to kill the PC fast, which IS BAD!
Therefore scaling your encounters in balance, and balancing the challenge are critical to a good module, all those who can't or won't playtest their module with normal (weaker) rogue or monk characters are going to have to deal with those new players which are complaining a lot and then just leave very dissatisfied, so why risk it eh?
I'm not saying make your module easy, what I am saying is make sure it's not overwhelming to the lesser classes and new players... This is Important!
Are you tempted to power up gear, weapon damages, or Spell's Damages? Don't be, your going to create a major headache for yourself, not only that, your going to have to playtest your butt off to ensure it's a quality change!
Remember that the base system is +5 AC Items (WITH 5 TYPES of AC<< Critical) & +5 Weapons, so if you want balance you can add +6 AC items IF you add at least +7 up to +10 Weapons (Going beyond that will only create yourself a headache!) Remember there are 5 Armor Types so +6 = an additional +5 AC to the base system, therefore if you want to keep in balance you would need +10 weapons. (to be true to the +5 Base System)
Don't forget, base classes like Rogues / Monks and some prestige classes don't have a good AB to start with, so if you go handing out +10 AC items to fighters, those fighters will be superior to low AB classes (From a PVP Perspective)... this is something you should weigh carefully! As making classes worthless only show you have no building skills...
Don't Be the Fool! That statement has to do with fooling your players, or at least you may think you can fool players, players are not fools, they can tell and sense the changes to a module, so if you continue to make it harder, will the players be fooled? NOT ONE IOTA! More than that, if you make it extremely hard, all you will have is a bunch of experienced VETS, which aren't easy to challenge, who will only stick around as long as your module evolves, the moment it stops evolving, they think it's stale or boring then leave, and because all the new players think it's too hard to begin with, your server WILL DIE.... (I'm not stupid, listen and learn!)
Having hosted & built quite a few server modules, I've made a lot of mistakes, it takes a wise person to listen to experience and grow, the fool stomps on wisdom / experience without listening, so mark well the words in this documents, for I'd hate to be wasting my words on deaf ears... Open your mind to the post, open your heart to reason.
The reason why Server modules often fail is because THEY DON'T CONSIDER THE PLAYERS FIRST! If your not willing to consider the players first and above all else, your not going to have a great server module, nor will people like your single player module for that matter, making a good module all stems upon that base fact... You have to consider the player above all else...
Now, there are some things that seperate the better modules from the lame ones, obviously that is where art comes in, for those who spend the time making high quality areas, designs, and systems, there work speaks for itself, for anyone can download a module from the vault and host it, and that's more or less unoriginal...
Players like original content & custom content, especially when servers use popular and nice systems, for example, I've met many players who love Mandragon's Body Tailors, and other cool systems, you should try your best to put good systems in your module, WHICH BENEFITS PLAYERS. (Of course, after you have playtested them THOROUGHLY)
A module worth doing, is worth doing correct, the first time, don't rush yourself, take your time and playtest, playtest, and playtest some more, if you need help, ask friends to playtest with you, just make sure you check the feedback yourself, and that means verify what the PCs / Testers are saying to you! Don't rush to add recommendations either, for often players will make suggestions just to gain a very unfair advantage..
I actually had a player suggest I make arrows deal more damage, am I'm thinking AA is the ONLY class that consistentlyl hits most of the time, therefore the balance is, because they hit more, they should deal less damage, for if they delt more, they would be by far the best class in the game. (and that would be unbalanced)
The balance lays in this, no one class should dominate, for then it would be a fighting world, or a mages world, but every class needs weaknesses to ensure that everyone should party to help themselves advance, for going it alone should have it's price, and that price of course is, it's much harder, if not a deadly mistake...
Making it hard, without overwhelming is still important, for rogue SHOULD be a playable class on your module, if it's not, you have balance issues... A monk & a rogue should hit the monster too, what fun is it to swing on a monster always missing, but the monster is never missing you?? UNFAIR 100%!!!
If you make lame monsters you will hear the players complain, and if the complaining gets too loud, though you can bann the complainers, if your not listening and making changes, then your server will die! I've tried to tell this to multiple servers, many of which STILL have no players...
I'd like to quote a great builder here, (Funkyswerve) - "We need quality, not quantity.", for it makes no sense to spend 3-9 months on building a module only for it to be lame, if it's out of balance bad, then you realize that you have made some major mistakes, you will have to most likely start over... It's much easier to make changes to a good balanced module than to remodify a poorly balanced module...
Keep everything in balance as you build, continue to playtest AS YOU BUILD, and after your done building, and ready to start hosting, ask friends to playtest with constant feedback, but make sure you weigh their words carefully, don't just accept everything as truth, but consider the words... Why are they saying this? Is this true? Obviously, if it's a gross error, your going to correct it right away..
The Point of No Return....
Then of course there are modules which have reached the point of no return, these modules are so poorly designed and out of balance that, it would take a major overhaul, and thereby too much work to fix, so they are often best left alone. (in the trash bin) Of course we want to NOT make this mistake, and again, it's all about the beginning, during creation, and consideration of these important facts I've layed out in this rather lengthy discussion here...
Don't be afraid to start over, you will make some mistakes, that doesn't mean don't try, not at all.. In fact, I'd like to encourage would be builders to make smaller modules, to start, before they take on a huge project of a server module, for if you look at some of the server modules out there, your up for a VERY challenging & time consuming task to even compete on the level of those servers, for some are very indepth, with literally hundreds of areas, thousands of items, and more custom content than you could throw goblins at...
'> (And I do love throwing goblins)
However, another major mistake that I see, which is
quite common is, putting 2 encounters on a very large map, this is
actually 2 major mistakes, first very large maps require long loading
time, so if a party of 6 were loading the map, it would be killing your
bandwith pretty bad (cause lag), and they would then become disgruntled
having only found 2 small encounters on the map.. Players love action,
at least most of the players I've played with..
I think every module should have a large array of well made monsters of all types, as long as they stick to the theme and stay true to the monster's domain, e.g. Giants don't belong in the often cramped underdark, they belong outside, in mountain or hill areas, with lots of room to throw those nasty big rocks... (or very large caves)
The problem of course with this is, it eats up your available Palette resources. You would do well to read the Lexicon 1.69 on building Server Modules (Especially the part that talks about reducing lagg), often servers make the fatal error of populating there servers with lots of NPCs which stand around firing heartbeats killing the server with lagg..
Even if you dynamically spawn NPCs in, there should be over 5 per map, 20+ is a major lagg on the server.. Some make the fatal error of populating the server with literally thousands of placeable objects, this too is a major stress on the server, especially if your using any script with GetObjectByTag() for it searches ALL the objects in the module to find your object by tag... and this would be a serious error in scripting / module design..
Finally, let's talk about fun, for the true design of any GAME essentially is to make it fun, for by something being fun we learn, for who can learn with someone beating them down at the same time? It's hard for the players to learn or have fun, for that matter, if they are constantly drinking heals just to stay alive...
If the player group has to use more than 2 ressurections on any adventure (the whole adventure), then you have probably made the adventure way too hard, if they are constantly drinking potions to stay alive, you definitely have made it too hard.. However, there is a reverse here that we can learn from, if they are never drinking potions, that it's far too easy... (And this is truly where we builders / dms can see the challenge in game)
You need to be able to adjust encounters / monsters to fit the party it's intended to challenge, don't forget the soloing player either! It's not hard to scale encounters, it's not, so learn this critical skill before you set out to make a server module, even if your an experienced builder, this is an important skill to making a GREAT modle..
Players are no longer playing on those lame servers, they have moved on to the higher quality ones, so if you want players, bring your best work, or you will sit with an empty server, and THATS THE BOTTOM LINE....
Finally, on the ending note:
If your going to spend months and lots of time & money making a server module, ensure that you avoid the critical pitfalls / mistakes builders make, read well before you start, and playteste playtest and playtest some more to ensure quality, for quality is what the community needs, for thereare litterally thousands of modules out there, many of which are not liked by most players because the builder failed to do it right the first time...
Dont' forget a bad tendency of a builder is to be a tinker gnome, fixing / tweaking stuff till they break it, make a few changes, then playtest, then make a few more changes, then test a few times more, and LEAVE IT ALONE! Don't get yourself overworked, take breaks, for building a server module is an extremely exhuasting & huge task, especially if your going it alone.. no doubt...
Genisys (Guile)
(P.S. If you would like to ADD to the quality of this post BY POSTING YOUR OWN TIPS on Mistakes to Avoid, IF you can stay on topic, your welcome to, if you just make rude remarks about the post you will be properly ignored.)
Modifié par Genisys, 18 août 2010 - 02:55 .
