Cue extended random personal thoughts. As always, apologies for any text formatting issues that may make this post look like a dog's breakfast. At the outset I’d say when in the mood, roleplaying with NWN is so much fun and so immersive that it makes even considering playing anything else almost impossible.
RP focussed servers require regular creativity and effort on behalf of players and staff alike to make them
fun. This is not an easy thing to maintain, even if you are fortunate to avoid
some of life’s banana skins.
Additionally, RP servers require a critical mass of players. Fall below a certain level and it can become stale,
with an ever decreasing circle of fresh interactions and associations. This understandably becomes more of an issue as more casual players drift away from an aging game and more new servers are made, diluting the existing player base. Add in the fact that game mechanics requires adventuring parties to be within a set range of levels (e.g. a level 15 partying with a level 1 is about as much fun as getting poked in the eye) and this problem is further exacerbated as it makes mingling new and old players on your server more difficult.
As a personal perspective, I also think I detect a trend of the years for playerbases to continually push for things to be easier and more instantly gratifying, primarily around increasing XP gain. I know of a number of places that have increased XP gain in an effort to attract more players. This invariably doesn’t work and removes the satisfaction that comes from a hard earnt level progression for your RP creation. Increased XP gain also appears to coincide with players make a flurry of multiple characters. This leads to a glut of characters who aren’t fully fleshed out and may fail to form strong bonds with other characters. For me, generally if a place starts to average more than 3 characters per player, its not a good sign. I do have difficulty putting my finger on these issues though (or perhaps am imagining them) but it does seem to coincide with things getting stale.
I only have a few possible solutions to the above issues that have been raised by others in the past I am sure, and are sadly easily countered by reality!
i) RP server hosts to collaborate with other teams. Perhaps encourage forum and server hopping between a small community of servers that are broadly similar in their rules and preferences (i.e. they are likely to attract a similar type of player). If a DM or player gets burned out in one server, they may find a month or so in another community a shot in the arm to keep them interested in the game, reducing the chances of them drifting away forever.
This was tried with a server I was involved in many years ago and another fine server. DM’s switched over as players on the other server in both directions, player communities mingled and for a time there was a definite benefit. People tried another place they wouldn’t have otherwise tried in a million years. In the end it probably failed because of a lack of genuine spirit of cooperation, but at least folk tried.
Any closer cooperation, like servers combining their efforts in making a module are probably unrealistic and utopian, as nobody wants to share their “baby†with strangers or compromise on rules and game settings.
ii) More readily hand out DM client access to trusted players on the understanding that they will not initially have a say in the overall direction of the server (e.g. ruleset).Nothing attracts and retains players like some DM attention, even if fairly modest. There does appear to be
a terror in the breast of many server admins about the consequences of a bad apple entering your DM team and ruining your server. I think this fear, although understandable, is a bit exaggerated. If a player has been kicking
about on your server for 6-12 months, you’ll have a good idea if they are at risk of morphing into a moron when they are given the DM keys.
Hire Assistant DMs on a trial basis with no voting rights and on the understanding that they will return to
the player base at the end of that period. Only consider hiring more fully if positive feedback is received after the trial period.
It is a myth that there is a giant divide in skill set between a DM and a player. Probably about 90% of what
they do overlaps, the former just requires more creativity, ability and better OOC people skills. Consider having a “guest DM†every two months or so, taken from the more longstanding and trusted elements of your player base. Maybe to run just a single campaign revolving around a part of the module that that player is particularly involved in (e.g. a guild or a race). DMing is not everyone's cup of tea ( I for one seem to far enjoy playing) but there are going to be folk in every player base who'd welcome a chance to have a pop at it (especially if aided by existing DMs).
Plus, DMs have more fun when other DMs are online. By restricting your DM team and preventing fresh blood joining the DM ranks, even on a trial basis, you are consigning all but the most abnormal, incredible, Terminator-esque DMs to a future of burnout.
iii) Consider DM anonymity Consider shared DM accounts (both avatars and logins) to provide a degree of anonymity with the player base. Some people (and only some) seem more amenable to hopping on as a DM if they know they won’t get inundated with a bunch of questions and requests from their pals in the player base. Similarly, this allows the DM to hop on as a player from time to time for a change of pace, without getting hassled with questions for DMs. For some people the biggest causes of DM burnout appears not to so much the need to be RP creatively via the DM client, but more having to wade through requests and questions.
If DM accounts are anonymous then players are more likely to channel their questions and requests through a forum or perhaps just accept that they aren’t going to be perpetually spoon-fed by the team (made an error in character creation? Go and remake them rather than ask a DM to tweak them).
Obviously, you’d have to have mechanisms in place so that the host can identify which person has been logged
on as which DM account at a given time, so that you can identify who was involved if a player raises a complaint.
iv) Create or modify servers to have smaller level rangesServers with smaller level ranges (e.g. a server with a minimum of level 5 and a maximum of level 10) are rarely,
if ever seen (except for zombie survival ones it seems). The smaller the level range, the higher the proportion of characters that can actually venture out on an adventure together. Characters far apart in levels, that can’t adventure together will struggle to bond, regardless of who is playing them. As a new player, how inviting is it to log onto a new server and find out the other three players are all levels 10+? Not very. Imagine if you logged onto a server with a modest player base, knowing that you’d be able to go out and about with existing characters, without players having to switch to secondary or low-level friendly characters (which many players are not interested in doing). "But a narrow level range is boring" I hear you cry. Well, I and others rarely trouble double digits of levels on any RP server and have plenty fun.
The alternative of allowing or encouraging wide party ranges to party up, doesn’t, in my experience work. The adventures become tedious as either the low level can’t hit anything or the high level may be in no danger.
Modifié par Fergoose, 01 mai 2011 - 04:20 .
