Possibly the newbiest question ever about PWs ;)

chevalier

Bear me with, I know almost nothing about PWs and have never logged into one.

According to my understanding they are supposed to be essentially multiplayer modules but sort of like working 24/7, with the world state changing independently of you. Sort of like playing WoW or ToR, I guess (not that I ever have ). They seem to be mostly played by teams of people, but there seems to be nothing preventing solo characters from logging in and doing some quests.

So, are there any PWs operating on the premise that I can join at any time the server is online and I'm inclined to play, then walk around, enjoy the view, do some shopping, kill some monsters, save some maidens, finish the quest, log out and come back tomorrow or in a week, without having to commit to a regular party schedule (which is impossible for me due to completely irregular work hours)?

So basically playing solo (PvP preferably excluded), perhaps with a DM, on a persistent server, in irregular, random hours, at irregular intervals. Is this possible?

FreshLemonBun

That seems to describe the vast majority of persistent worlds currently in operation. It's actually more difficult to find the niche that significantly deviates from that trend.

One small detail is that most don't actually do much to save world state, it's usually static and restored at every server reset. This means that monsters and treasure respawns and towns and other features are still as they always were unless the builders release a new module with changes made in the toolset. So you typically wont find a persistent world where monsters don't respawn, where monster populations migrate, where treasure is finite, death is permanent, and the environment gradually changes outside of a set loop.

Success while solo on typical persistent worlds depends on how the builders tuned the difficulty and how much grinding is needed to advance.

chevalier

Thanks. Are 'kill steals' a problem? Or someone with a fresh character stealing your look when you're done fighting, have your spells/abilities depleted and need to heal? And can soloing PWs be an enjoyable experience overall, given the world resets?

Chreelister

I haven't had kill steals, xp steals, PPs or other types of similar problems in like the last 13 years of NWN. Now when NWN first came out in 2002, I did. It is like the player base got more mature and grew up, in my opinion. On resting, most servers use rest spawns for areas, like a certain % chance to spawn creatures to disturb your rest, the harder the area, the harder or more chance to get them. Other use timers, like say 8 gaming hours or 16 minutes real time. I love to solo in PWs myself. Most, I would say all servers use timers, so say you kill a creature, it is set on a timer, say 10 minutes real time and it respawns. Most servers I have played it is easy to get in a groove, clear out and area or 2, rest, rinse and repeat. Go to the shops and sell when your inventory is full and next thing you know you have leveled up and gotten better gear. Which works good for me, if you have only time for say 1 or 2 runs, I don't usually have time to RP, find a party and do some 2-3 hour quest. But some RP servers are against this type of game play. Some servers are party required, like FreshLemonBun said, due to the difficulty, like you can't progress past a certain level or point, because you have to do a certain quest for access, but it is just too hard to solo.

Old_Gith

chevalier wrote: »

Bear me with, I know almost nothing about PWs and have never logged into one.

According to my understanding they are supposed to be essentially multiplayer modules but sort of like working 24/7, with the world state changing independently of you. Sort of like playing WoW or ToR, I guess (not that I ever have ). They seem to be mostly played by teams of people, but there seems to be nothing preventing solo characters from logging in and doing some quests.

So, are there any PWs operating on the premise that I can join at any time the server is online and I'm inclined to play, then walk around, enjoy the view, do some shopping, kill some monsters, save some maidens, finish the quest, log out and come back tomorrow or in a week, without having to commit to a regular party schedule (which is impossible for me due to completely irregular work hours)?

So basically playing solo (PvP preferably excluded), perhaps with a DM, on a persistent server, in irregular, random hours, at irregular intervals. Is this possible?

This is pretty much how World of Greyhawk operates. Good action with light-hearted roleplay, make your own hours, persistent database, join a party or make your own. Often there will be regularly scheduled parties but just as often you have folks who solo and enjoy the freedom it offers, but still like making guest appearances in some major events and party play.

chevalier

Old_Gith wrote: »

chevalier wrote: »

Bear me with, I know almost nothing about PWs and have never logged into one.

According to my understanding they are supposed to be essentially multiplayer modules but sort of like working 24/7, with the world state changing independently of you. Sort of like playing WoW or ToR, I guess (not that I ever have ). They seem to be mostly played by teams of people, but there seems to be nothing preventing solo characters from logging in and doing some quests.

So, are there any PWs operating on the premise that I can join at any time the server is online and I'm inclined to play, then walk around, enjoy the view, do some shopping, kill some monsters, save some maidens, finish the quest, log out and come back tomorrow or in a week, without having to commit to a regular party schedule (which is impossible for me due to completely irregular work hours)?

So basically playing solo (PvP preferably excluded), perhaps with a DM, on a persistent server, in irregular, random hours, at irregular intervals. Is this possible?

This is pretty much how World of Greyhawk operates. Good action with light-hearted roleplay, make your own hours, persistent database, join a party or make your own. Often there will be regularly scheduled parties but just as often you have folks who solo and enjoy the freedom it offers, but still like making guest appearances in some major events and party play.

Thank you. Sounds just like what I need, especially if you can also party up ad hoc or on short notice (for those rare occasions when I know I'm going to have several hours undisturbed).