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Weekend Madness*

This is a game for roleplayers. We want your ideas how how to build the better game. Post your suggestions here.
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Lu Chaos
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Weekend Madness*

Post by Lu Chaos »

A game suggestion for me would be to shut down threshold operations and make the nightmares around the city give out double or triple experience over the weekends.. Would inspire alot of dreamers to stop standing in threshold all the time and actually get out and do things.. What do you guys think?
jimhabegger
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by jimhabegger »

Lu, however much we might disagree about some other things, I’m with you in my frustration with how much the dreamers congregate in chat rooms. It feels like Habbo Hotel to me. I’m not opposed to your suggestion, but it doesn’t interest me, personally.
"What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone."

- Hal David, Jackie DeShannon, Burt Bacharach
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Arnaya
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by Arnaya »

Disagree, for a variety of reasons that pretty much no one cares about. But, the one reason that might be considered... it's another way to dictate how people should Roleplay. Not asking for reasonable boundaries in regards to treatment of ones self, or a character asking for reasonable restrictions in regards to conduct towards them, but an attempt to say: "I don't think this is roleplaying, I think its stupid. So you shouldn't be allowed to RP that way at all". So, disagreeing with this idea on that basis.

Not trying to be offensive, just blunt and to the point.
The most important lesson I've learned over this past year, is not to let anyone make you cruel. No matter how badly you want to give the world a taste of it's own bitter medicine, it is never worth losing yourself.
jimhabegger
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by jimhabegger »

Arnaya wrote: Wed Feb 06, 2019 8:22 pm Disagree, for a variety of reasons that pretty much no one cares about.
I don’t know what those reasons are, but it might not be true that no one else cares about them.
"What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone."

- Hal David, Jackie DeShannon, Burt Bacharach
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Yuritau
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by Yuritau »

Arnaya wrote: Wed Feb 06, 2019 8:22 pm Disagree, for a variety of reasons that pretty much no one cares about. But, the one reason that might be considered... it's another way to dictate how people should Roleplay. Not asking for reasonable boundaries in regards to treatment of ones self, or a character asking for reasonable restrictions in regards to conduct towards them, but an attempt to say: "I don't think this is roleplaying, I think its stupid. So you shouldn't be allowed to RP that way at all". So, disagreeing with this idea on that basis.

Not trying to be offensive, just blunt and to the point.
This hits the nail on the head. If the game that people want to play is talking to each other about whatever they want to talk about, then no one has the right to tell them that's wrong.

Besides, it would be kind of asinine to have an advancement system that one hundred percent requires and revolves around player interaction, and then try to come up with ways to prevent player interaction.
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PKChrisChan
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by PKChrisChan »

Lu Chaos wrote: Wed Feb 06, 2019 5:55 pm A game suggestion for me would be to shut down threshold operations and make the nightmares around the city give out double or triple experience over the weekends.. Would inspire alot of dreamers to stop standing in threshold all the time and actually get out and do things.. What do you guys think?
People would just adjust their behavior and find other sanctuaries to reside in. As far as experience goes, with the Gated Progression and how some people have been 5th sphere for 20 years. I don''t think that would make them move.

Personally, I think there needs to be some discussion on PvP, house wars, and the like. Also, to speak to and ask where our PvP community has gone to and why they don't play.
Lu Chaos
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by Lu Chaos »

Eh. Well suit yourselves. If you want to stand around in a chatroom all day. Keep doing what we're doing!
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Black Cloud
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by Black Cloud »

I can get in line with this idea, and i don't see how it dictates how anyone should roleplay in any way. The suggestion is not to make people hunt against their will, but just to give an incentive to hunt at a specific time. Also by keeping a short window you have an opportunity to a large group of dreamers together, where we can take advantage and host some events or even have big events take place which are crucial to building on the story arc. Additionally, with so many with restricted time schedules, including myself, i don't have hours on end to trap a sham with a friend and rack up xp. Its easy, but boring as shit. Id love to get the same excitement of hunting as 3rd and 4th spheres get.
OfF KiLTeR
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by OfF KiLTeR »

I personally like the idea of creating something for the PVP community. We even have specialized areas that were designed solely for PVP - IE: the DCA.

However, since I have been coming back, the DCA is just a dust collector - if code could collect dust. Perhaps it can, I don't know. Forcing PVP is going to fail, essentially. The reason people stand around in a room and talk is because, a lot of the time, they want to. Or they have to complete a task, or they have to catch up on gossip. Closing down sanctuary will move players to houses or other areas.

Driving meaningful PVP requires something more than picking fights or insisting that players do something against their will. It's the same with every event - there are competing events, but they tend to be a recycling of something or another.

I would suggest the following solutions to perhaps get people more engaged:

1: Bring back RPP's to allow for plateaus - at least to a certain point or starting at a certain point. Teaching is one of the crucial functions of the city - but it's also one of the most labourious. Having RPP allowed to plateau at least non-violent arts would be helpful. Basically - anything other than Forge, Sphere, or anything with an offensive evoke cone should be up for grabs with RPP - and an appropriate number of RPP for those plats. Less time spent on task-grinding opens up some free time to do other things. While a lot of the story lines are built around tasks, a lot of those same story lines are played out.

2: If you're going to have a PVP event be meaningful - put something into it. Swapping XP is not a good time unless there is something to be gained. Bragging rights may mean something to some players, but many of us don't feel we have to prove anything at this point.

3: Mare battles are good, mainly because that is what they exist for, but there is no real set time or any planning because everyone is a volunteer. Perhaps beef up the Player mares as well - it's hard walking into a room with more than 1 dreamer and hoping to have any luck in battle. I know that a PM Sham is a cakewalk for most players above 5th sphere - mainly because they have the capacity to take a few hits. Use 6th sphere as a benchmark so that a PM is a challenge at 6th or even 7th sphere. That way players have to gang up on a PM. One player isn't going to be able to do it alone.

4: Have broad-sweeping events that are large in scale across several planes - but have less of them. Quality over quantity. I can only "channel my ~~~~~" so many times. Some of the most fun I had was when the "Dreamstruck" players were fighting along with Zaxun. It was probably a HUGE commitment to coordinate - but it was one of the best story arcs and it had PVP qualities alongside some creative elements.

5: Re-evaluate the RP tools we have as players, and look into what we can do. Maybe there are some additional tools we can create to make RP's challenging and engaging.

6: New art ideas. This is a challenge, since they have to be invented - then the implications have to be determined whether or not it will have serious implications, then coded, then tested, then released. I know that this is a long, drawn out path, and we have had some great new arts invented and added to the mix. I honestly think this is where the guilds come in. They will need guidance, of course, but if they have meaningful outcomes to their work and experiments, then there's a clear path for people who want to work on the creative side and still have an impact on PVP.

I know that everything I suggest is not easy, though some of it may sound that way, but instead of putting everyone into a box of PVP vs. PVE vs. pure RP, there are ways to get people engaged. Forcing anything, however, has never been successful. You can't force people to want to do something.

My 2 cents, anyways...

On a side note: In Canada we abolished the penny - so transactions are rounded up to the nearest nickel. In Canada, 2 cents won't get you anything...
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Black Cloud
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by Black Cloud »

Good points OfF,

The RP Plats should be brought back to some extent. I my biggest frustration is having to do quests knowing i don't want to. And not just art plats. I feel perfectly happy at 6th sphere to be honest, so why cant i increase my DrS with RP. I mean there are other benefits to 7th, 8th and 9th spheres. Whats wrong with a beefed up badass 6th sphere? It adds a dynamic that remove the superiority of the higher spheres when it comes to battle.

At 6th sphere, PMs are a breeze alone. Its like fighting another 6th sphere player without any DrS elemens. If there's two or more dreamers, I'll use my flame because it's funner. Any more than that and ill take my blade out because, well 10k isnt really worth much for me to try in a room full of people. Then the PM turns in to an Ago and the controller loses interest most of the time. Once in a while they'll start hunting for energy energy but lasts like another 3-5 minutes?

XP is not even the motivation. I think most players are maxxed usually, and some dont have the same emotions to losing xp that others do. Since PVP seems to be a big topic and in a lot of people's attention recently, upgrading the PMs could serve as a solution to the problem. Those who enjoy sitting in Thresh or Sancs and doing their thing can do that while the other players who enjoy being outdoors and taking riskZ can be doing just that.
Lu Chaos
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by Lu Chaos »

Im not suggesting this be a pvp thing.. This is for an increase of XP on weekends. Takes entirely too long to get to end game roleplays. So far only a select few are dual and we know why. Lets make UL a better game. And not a chat room.
Uthanatos
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by Uthanatos »

Lu Chaos wrote: Thu Feb 07, 2019 2:16 pm Im not suggesting this be a pvp thing.. This is for an increase of XP on weekends. Takes entirely too long to get to end game roleplays. So far only a select few are dual and we know why. Lets make UL a better game. And not a chat room.
Kind of a weird thing to say, I mean increasing mare xp during certain times is a promotional, which would create a new peak time for those who can play it, I'm totally for something like that. The closing of thresh though, that affects newlies and noncombat players, those who are working on things that don't involve shooties. It would inevitably create PvP situations since it would eliminate the ability to move around without exposing yourself. That chat room is part of the game, it's where most of the true conflict is bred, where plots are hatched, plans are made, where people play into or manipulate others through information or social influence. It's as essential a part of the game as anything.
“Sometimes it isn't easy to be sane, smart, and responsible. Sometimes it sucks. Sucks wang. Camel wang. But that doesn't turn wrong into right or stupid into smart.”
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Arnaya
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by Arnaya »

Arnaya doesn't spend much time in Thresh, mostly because I'd rather be out in the game with my character doing something (though especially lately, she's been in high demand teaching and politics wise, so she's basically had to be more a less confined to sancs in order to hear those reports/write those quests without significant interuption, for the majority of my play time). That said, add a +1 to Uthanatos's comment.
The most important lesson I've learned over this past year, is not to let anyone make you cruel. No matter how badly you want to give the world a taste of it's own bitter medicine, it is never worth losing yourself.
jimhabegger
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by jimhabegger »

Arnaya wrote: Thu Feb 07, 2019 9:45 pm (though especially lately, she's been in high demand teaching and politics wise, so she's basically had to be more a less confined to sancs in order to hear those reports/write those quests without significant interuption, for the majority of my play time)
That makes me feel bad for you, but also grateful that you're willing to do it.
"What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone."

- Hal David, Jackie DeShannon, Burt Bacharach
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Tentacle
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by Tentacle »

Alright, after a solid 5 minutes of pinching the bridge of my nose.
  • People standing around and talking is core to roleplaying.
"Roleplaying" occurs AT ALL TIMES, when you're logged into the game. It is not a toggle on/off action which only occurs during a scheduled event or for a specific duration.

Could having a more active time for "mare" events be interesting, sure. In the past, the weekends could be counted on to have a lot of GM driven developments.

In other posts people request PLAYERS to be developing more, involving more, generally creating more content.... but we're also going to complain about chatting? See point 1.
"She spins her golden web between us and the dream." - The Matron ☼, Soulkeeper
jimhabegger
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by jimhabegger »

I'm not sure that other people's reasons for complaining about chat rooms are the same as mine, but it does seem to be an issue for some of us, and I don't see any reason not to try to clarify what the issues are, and what any of us might be able to do about it.

The problem for me is not the chat rooms themselves. One problem for me is people not being available for the game that I want to play. A lot of the chatting I see looks more like player-to-player chatting to me, than acting out what their characters might actually be doing and saying in the context of our stories. My annoyance comes from the feeling that the reason there aren't enough players available for the game I want to play is because most players would rather spend their time in the game chatting with each other as players, than acting out our stories. That may or may not be true, but that's how a lot of the chatting looks and feels to me. Another problem for me is that the player-to-player chatting detracts from the immersion experience for me. That is not limited to the chat rooms themselves. It affects the whole game environment everywhere, for example when I see people using locate to see where the chat rooms are, and breaking off in the middle of some rp story to run off and chat with their friends, or sailing through the room on their way to a chat room, with a wave or not even that. I'm not blaming anyone, I'm just trying to explain why it annoys me. It isn't just the chatting either. It's a lot of little things that happen all the time, and especially things that don't happen, that make it obvious that the rp is just a layer of frosting on an fps cake, and mostly the work of the GMs and a few other players; and that the only rp that most people are doing most of the time is being careful to avoid saying things that are obviously and blatantly ooc. Again, maybe I'm wrong about that, but that's how it looks and feels to me.

What I'm doing about that is just trying to do the best rp that I can, myself, and to learn to notice more the rp that others are doing and play into it. That gives me more than enough to do, to help improve the rp.
"What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone."

- Hal David, Jackie DeShannon, Burt Bacharach
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Tentacle
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by Tentacle »

To the point of the OP - I think allowing a great variety of content types, is the best idea. Activity both from the "Mares" and related story arcs and others. Team content, player content, let it happen. Consistency and regularity are key. Things feel alive when they are fluid.

Jim;

For what it is worth I absolutely agree with you.

There is a lot left to be desired in the character development department of some. Not all characters are crafted the same. Controllers have different goals and ability levels. Some of us want really intense; crank it up to 110%, feel it in your gut relationships between other characters. Some players, playing an average joe is what they do.

Underlight presents roleplayers with a spectrum.

Not everyone is into what I am into for my characters, and vice versa. It comes down to compromise. Different scenes for different characters. Different intensity levels. All of us let each other play the characters we dream of playing, within the three rules.

Make the character you want to play and focus on crafting that story. If something just isn't connecting for that character (such as your character being hard to communicate with) consider how he might grow as a character in a realm where anything could happen. Or, try out a different story with a different character.
"She spins her golden web between us and the dream." - The Matron ☼, Soulkeeper
jimhabegger
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by jimhabegger »

Tentacle wrote: Fri Feb 08, 2019 8:26 am ... (such as your character being hard to communicate with) ...
:lol:
"What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone."

- Hal David, Jackie DeShannon, Burt Bacharach
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Black Cloud
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by Black Cloud »

Tentacle wrote: Fri Feb 08, 2019 8:26 am Not everyone is into what I am into for my characters, and vice versa. It comes down to compromise. Different scenes for different characters. Different intensity levels. All of us let each other play the characters we dream of playing, within the three rules.
This. And its very true that there is a wide range of intensity that players demand. A good memory is when Lu and Cloud were on a hunting campaign. We got so in to it and slightly bored that we decided to blade Shamblixes. We basically play monkey in the middle, once the sham turns, you blade it, and continue until it collapses. We had chakrams and our flame arts to do this too, but this was a CHALLENGE! Sometimes we floated, but with every float we learned what we did wrong and tried not to make that mistake again. I haven't encountered anyone else trying to do this, and even when I offered the idea to someone it was turned down as if it was just totally absurd.

It's totally fine that players like to sit around and RP, and many teachers don't have a choice in the matter. But the vast sanctuary known as Threshold seems to hold dreamers for a little too long. I dont want to force anything on anybody, but this is something to think about. Why can't you sit outside of sanc and just return if a threat appears? Why do most people insist on staying out of harms way 99% of the time? I've suggesting moving large groups around because we had been sitting in a room for 2+ hours but nobody gave a crap to change the scenery. Otherwise, everybody is standing around roleplaying whispering in their friends ears while giving everyone else the stink eye, so I ended up hanging out with newlies because they were the only ones interesting in doing something outside of sanc. I've watched a ton of newlies leave because they're bored out of their minds, and not because of the game, but because so many dreamers just want them to "take a seat and start taking notes" about all this stuff. All they wanna do is move around and progress their character at first. But they've gotta sit around for an hour or two so memorize all the basics rather than learning through experiencing.

It would be interesting to see what it would be like it Threshold wasn't a sanc, just like the Library but without any restrictions. It'd be something different at least.
Dina

Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by Dina »

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
jimhabegger
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by jimhabegger »

Now it looks to me like the chat rooms in Underlight have always been an issue for some people, from the very start. In researching the different meanings that “true roleplaying” can have, I stumbled across these comments about Underlight in 1998:
Its a glorified chat room where you will usually find 10 - 15 people standing around chatting about nothing.  I spend hours and hours in the game, and no one was talking in character, and most everyone was bitching about the cruddy 2nd rate graphics and the lack of anything to do. ...
90% of your time will be spent walking from room to room looking for some *** with a halo over his/her head to teach you something.  Yes, master, may I shine your shoes or kiss your *** so you'll let me enter your house?
99% of the people there are extrememly friendly and fun to hang around with this is probably the biggest reason people play this game (though they probably won't admit it) =)
Now I’m starting to think that maybe the chat rooms are and always have been a big part of the attraction for most players, along with the fps, PvP, qrp and/or fantasy/feudal sandbox environment. The reason for my frustration, and maybe for some others, is that for a long time I misunderstood what “true roleplaying” means in Underlight, to its providers and most of its players. Now that I understand that better, I can see better what the possibilities are for me, and not be so frustrated so much of the time.
"What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone."

- Hal David, Jackie DeShannon, Burt Bacharach
jimhabegger
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Re: Weekend Madness*

Post by jimhabegger »

LOL! It looks like I have a common interest with some other players in getting people out of the chat rooms, because we can’t find enough people to play our game with us, but the game I want to play is very different from theirs. I’m looking for more people to act out stories with me, but they’re looking for more people to hunt with, and/or for them to hunt!

I think now that the in-game chat rooms are, and always have been, a big part of the attraction for most players, having places in the game where they can chat with other players, about the game they’re playing or whatever else they want to chat about, instead of having to use a separate app for that.
"What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone."

- Hal David, Jackie DeShannon, Burt Bacharach
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