Making a server Newb friendly
TemplarDrake
Member Posts: 44
Hi guys,
I run a server with some NWN friends. It is called Bastion of Peace. We are not a big server but always looking to expand and better ourselves. We are a server for everyone and every playstyle.
We see a lot of trafic, but we also see a lot of people log in and then gone the next.
We have added several things to welcome new people and older players to keep retention. But thought I would reach out and get everyone's opinion.
What makes you log out from a server you just entered?
(I know that how many players are online on the server matters as well, but someone has to stay on to get the ball rolling.)
We have:
- A welcoming area with usefull information (Which could probably be better)
- A guide to all the systems in the first city
- A NPC that hints towards relevant hunting areas
- An active discord
- Easy XP for the first few levels, including no death penalty on the first 3 levels
- Easy quests for the first levels
Any tips and suggestions are welcome.
- Drake
I run a server with some NWN friends. It is called Bastion of Peace. We are not a big server but always looking to expand and better ourselves. We are a server for everyone and every playstyle.
We see a lot of trafic, but we also see a lot of people log in and then gone the next.
We have added several things to welcome new people and older players to keep retention. But thought I would reach out and get everyone's opinion.
What makes you log out from a server you just entered?
(I know that how many players are online on the server matters as well, but someone has to stay on to get the ball rolling.)
We have:
- A welcoming area with usefull information (Which could probably be better)
- A guide to all the systems in the first city
- A NPC that hints towards relevant hunting areas
- An active discord
- Easy XP for the first few levels, including no death penalty on the first 3 levels
- Easy quests for the first levels
Any tips and suggestions are welcome.
- Drake
1
Comments
Your list looks very good and it seems EE PWs suffer from the same thing old non EE PWs did, nobody will try a good PW with no one on it and everybody will play a bad PW with a lot of people on it, for whatever reason.
People put up with a lot if there is a larger population but there are almost 150 servers with no (0) players and I'm sure many meet that list and then some. Many have similar features to the most popular persistent worlds but it didn't help them any.
PW Action: I absolutely do not want to be on a heavy role playing server. I prefer playing solo most of the time but I enjoy the PW atmosphere and encountering and sometimes partying with other players. That means soloing needs to be reasonably viable. I like getting up to dungeon crawls, slaying mobs, and generally have some good old fashioned hack and slash fun. I don't want to deal with not being able to speak in ooc chat, rules against grinding mobs, perma-death/level-loss from death, or dealing with "realistic" systems of needing food/water/bedroll etc. I just wanna be able to explore, do quests, enjoy a good story, slay mobs, and take their stuff! Encouraging RP is fine, and I like seeing players in character, but making it mandatory and actually designing systems (like food/water/bedroll) for "realism" kills the fun for me.
Consensual PVP Only: I have no desire to engage in pvp. If a PW has pvp it has to be consensual for me to even consider playing there.
No Timed Rest Restrictions: I'm ok with resting being limited to designated safe spots but if I play a caster I don't want to have to tab out and watch netflix waiting till I can rest and recover my spells. Making me wait 10-20 minutes until I can continue my adventure is a non-starter for me. Even in pencil and paper D&D the gm will gloss over the time with a simple "you rest and time passes". They don't make you sit there staring at them for 20 minutes of real time before they continue with the story.
Character Build Freedom: Don't tell me I can't take a level of Paladin with my Sorcerer. Don't tell me Monks aren't allowed to multi-class. Don't tell me I have to stay within a certain range of levels with each of my classes if I multi-class. I can get behind respecting alignment restrictions like no mixing Paladin & Blackguard, but otherwise I want to be able to build my character how I want. If you want to put a reasonable cooldown on HIPS that's fine, but don't tell me I can't take only one or two levels of Shadowdancer.
Give Me A Story To Follow: I like having some "on the rails" stories to follow. I can appreciate sandbox freedom, but I like there to be quests to do, stories to take part in, npcs to meet, and quest rewards to collect. Quest rewards shouldn't be the best gear but they should be decent for the level of the quest and maybe in the case of particularly hard or hidden quests, close to top end gear for the level of the quest. It's always nice to get a surprisingly powerful or useful item from a quest... just not from every quest.
Balance: If a world starts you at level 1, it better have encounters that are reasonable for a level 1 to overcome. That means, that first encounter shouldn't be with 4 kobolds that use shortswords that can each deal 6 points of damage when that's my max hp. Better still, for me at least, is to start players at level 2 or 3 so they have some HP to with.
Gearing should also be balanced, with a design philosophy on what kinds of items will and won't exist in the mod decided before the world ever goes live and made known to potential players. Spells should be adjusted with level 20-40 in mind as well with changes made where necessary to ensure that casters can compete and contribute as well as physical classes. Mobs should also be designed around such gear, spell changes and potential AC's and AB's players can reach. I would also suggest avoiding perma-immunity, perma-freedom, perma-true seeing, and perma-haste items since such gear can invalidate class build features, and/or consumables, in a significant way. Why choose the Haste spell on your Sorcerer if you can just wear perma-haste boots? Immunities and Haste from consumable sources (spells, potions, wands, etc) is fine.
I recommend that PW builders make a variety of character builds, from average to overpowered, equip them with the best of the best gear and see what their AB's and AC's look like, and establish minimums and maximums for endgame mobs and work backwards from their. If those uber Arcane Archer and Weapon Master builds top out their AB with your best gear at around 65, and your mid-tier AB classes (monks, rogues, etc) top out around 55, then I would set the absolute limit of endgame mob AC's at 70. The high AB melee and archers should hit regularly and he mid-tiers should have a "better than one in twenty" chance to hit before factoring in buffs and debuffs (like say a bard songs, curse songs or called shots). Players working together using buffs and debuffs should making fighting challenging foes easier, not just barely possible. Similar consideration should be taken for Stealth potential and the potential to counter it by determining what the likely top end for Hide/Move Silently is and Making sure that with equal investment someone can have around the same Spot/Listen, with mobs following the same potentials.
Level 40 and Level 1-40 Content: I want to be able to reach level 40, it doesn't have to be super fast (but it can't take 6 months either) and there needs to be a plethora of content along the way. After I make that uber level 40 character and get them some gear, I want places to go and things to do with them.
1. Rushers
2. Spoilers - like the 'Mr I know what Happens next' twits in the cinema.
3. Player Killers/Town Killers/Griefers - exasperating, childish.
4. Munchkins/'Gear' willy wavers whether in game or PC equipment - wearisome, not everyone can afford a £2000 water-cooled PC with an N-Vidia Titan-X videocard
5. Snootiness/Cliqueness towards new players
6. Not Role-playing properly in a strictly RPG module
7. Players arguing the toss with the DM/Rules Lawyers
8. Cheaters/bug exploiters to get better equipment
9. Weirdos/Nonces/Perverts
10. Leroy Jenkins types.