My review:
I like this game. I wish I had more time to play.
Review:
I enjoy this server and community much more than the community I had previously been apart of for three years. Been coming up to being here for a year now come February, and I have to say there is still a lot of things I want to try. A lot of idea that are still running though my head and a lot of character concepts I want to try out and have fun with while still having some fun interactions with other players to help shape the PC's I do decide to keep out after level 5.
All in all, 8.5 outta 10.
Would be 10 outta 10, but life of a responsible adult prevents me from goofing off for extreme periods of time.
it really, really feels like the DMs pick favorites. It really feels like the DMs favor their friends and leave the rest of probably a good 400 players high and dry. I'm not saying the team does this, but I am saying it feels like it. . . . It certainly feels like the DMs are trying their hardest to make us all play the same way. For example, outcast RP sucks. And iirc a dev once said "well being an outcast isn't supposed to be pleasant, you signed up for this", but the problem with that logic is, and I can't stress this enough, what's the point of playing something if it isn't fun? Why do you even allow outcasts to exist if you don't want them to be fun to play?
Do you want your players to have fun or is this a sick game?
it really, really feels like the DMs pick favorites. It really feels like the DMs favor their friends and leave the rest of probably a good 400 players high and dry. I'm not saying the team does this, but I am saying it feels like it. . . . It certainly feels like the DMs are trying their hardest to make us all play the same way. For example, outcast RP sucks. And iirc a dev once said "well being an outcast isn't supposed to be pleasant, you signed up for this", but the problem with that logic is, and I can't stress this enough, what's the point of playing something if it isn't fun? Why do you even allow outcasts to exist if you don't want them to be fun to play?
Do you want your players to have fun or is this a sick game?Spoiler: show
As to the last point, I suppose this becomes a matter of perspective: some people choose to play characters on the margins of "civilized" society precisely because of the marginalization and persecution they face, since they want to RP that type of flavor. Others might want to play a half-orc or tiefling because it is fun, but don't want to deal with all of the social baggage that comes with that choice -- unfortunately, the negatives come hand-in-hand with the positives, because all the other players and DMs alike are RPing the marginalization and persecution aspects whether you want to or not. Just like there is a lot of social baggage that comes with playing a wizard or sorcerer in Barovia. It should not be viewed as a "bug" but a "feature" of these types of characters.
Personally, my playstyle has evolved considerably over the years. I started out in my misspent youth as a dungeon-grinder, and things that got in the way of speedy leveling and dungeon runs were a powerful annoyance to me. As the years have rolled by, I found myself not caring much for dungeon running unless there was a story behind it, and gravitating more and more to more detailed RP with other players. Thus, for my playstyle, rolling up a caliban and dealing with societal abuse would not be disconcerting to me (in fact, it would be fodder for some great RP opportunities, although I would also have to accept the fact that I may level up more slowly than others do). I recognize, however, that players who may not be as devoted to the RP aspect of these types of characters might like to be able to interact normally with the humans of the world, but unfortunately the rest of the world (with some exceptions) are not likely to break-character that way.
I've been very critical of the staff over the years myself and have largely only interacted with them when I've committed some infraction or another. I've even been wronged, mocked, or otherwise antagonized in the past, though make no claim to complete innocence. However... while the DM team does not actively engage the community, they -do- open invitations to more controlled events all the time. And whatever generation of DMs that are currently active seem to be friendly and helpful, though I've never accepted any broad-faced invitation for whatever reason. I feel like a dog whose been kicked too much and just prefers to avoid 'the masters' and focus on what fun can be generated between myself and others in my social strata. Toward that end I love the community, but have grown weary of much of the PvE content. I'm almost purely RP focused these days. If the PvE was more... thematically dynamic dungeon spawns, rather than the static 1 (or 2) variation style that exists, I'd likely lace my boots up again and incorporate those acquisitions.
Its hard to rate Ravenloft due to the varying facets you can engage and focus on.
PvE... 3/5 (dungeons get old when you've ran through them a few times- but there are a lot to discover.)
PvP... 2/5 (due to the nature of corpse hiding, and no holds barred entry- its intense, but often dissatisfying to the losing party. There's no method of meaningful escalation and squirmishes. Its eat or be eaten unless you thoroughly vet your 'dance partners'. In the case of AMPCs.. I'll give a 4/5. The culture tends toward proper escalation. i.e. no immediate corpse hiding.)
RP... 4/5 (the mechanics support and enhance RP through the roof. Its just a shame that many systems and rules stifle creativity and antagonization at the gate. And without meaningful conflict, RP suffers)
Learning Curve... 2/5 (staggering amounts of info, and no effective 'intro' or 'tutorial' area for new players. They are dumped in the outskirts and happenstance.)
Staff/Public Relations... ?/5 (I've actively avoided them for years due to past experiences. So I don't feel its fair of me to rate. That said- 2/5. Would love to see more 'behind the doors' instead of being treated like untermensch.)
Community... 4/5 (no other collective of artistic minds exist in a gaming community to my knowledge. Only hindered by certain cultures of misgiving or the illusion of exclusion.)
Overall 10/10 would spend another decade here. I'm also bad at maffs.
A tiefling or dragon disciple might literally have no way to get into tailoring, anywhere on the server. Do all the outcasts just steal new clothes whenever they need them? How do many of them survive the Core's harsh winters like that?
Similarly, enchanting has no underground alternative to the University and Red Academy. Enchanting. There's all sorts of mad mages running about, building sophisticated laboratories throughout the Core, but not one magical outcast in the history of the Core has ever thought to even half-ass an enchanting station, even for their own uses?
whilst the event boards and shout channels overflow with information about events supporting what usually appear to be the same small groups of French aristocrats in Port. I can't understate how appreciated it would be if maybe one in four of these fancy ceremonies, dances, galas, theatre shows, etc, instead went into supporting the little guys still trying to do Gothic Horror.
whilst the event boards and shout channels overflow with information about events supporting what usually appear to be the same small groups of French aristocrats in Port. I can't understate how appreciated it would be if maybe one in four of these fancy ceremonies, dances, galas, theatre shows, etc, instead went into supporting the little guys still trying to do Gothic Horror.
Not to deny your experience, as I've been in the GMT barovian wasteland myself, but many of those port events are entirely player run, and the DM support is literally a shout, and thats it. Or some brief set up help. Other times an NPC or two might come (and its highly appreciated!) but they are at their heart player run events and player driven events.
I just wouldn't want you to think that all the player driven activity in port is in fact born of dms. They are (kindly) supporting what is there. There are less Barovian based player events I find.
whilst the event boards and shout channels overflow with information about events supporting what usually appear to be the same small groups of French aristocrats in Port. I can't understate how appreciated it would be if maybe one in four of these fancy ceremonies, dances, galas, theatre shows, etc, instead went into supporting the little guys still trying to do Gothic Horror.
Not to deny your experience, as I've been in the GMT barovian wasteland myself, but many of those port events are entirely player run, and the DM support is literally a shout, and thats it. Or some brief set up help. Other times an NPC or two might come (and its highly appreciated!) but they are at their heart player run events and player driven events.
I just wouldn't want you to think that all the player driven activity in port is in fact born of dms. They are (kindly) supporting what is there. There are less Barovian based player events I find.
I honestly thought every shouted event had a DM interest in them. We as a faction hold events, and many other factions and singles also have, but never had the benefit of a shout so i honestly thought they were DM sponsored... it might have to do with the fact that the default place to be is vallaki and if something happens somewhere else Dm prefer to facilitate movement away from vallaki than the reverse i guess. Thanks for the information!It's usually because players request a shout for an event that we do them. Fat majority of the time that's all we do for these and we don't interfere any further.
I honestly thought every shouted event had a DM interest in them. We as a faction hold events, and many other factions and singles also have, but never had the benefit of a shout so i honestly thought they were DM sponsored... it might have to do with the fact that the default place to be is vallaki and if something happens somewhere else Dm prefer to facilitate movement away from vallaki than the reverse i guess. Thanks for the information!It's usually because players request a shout for an event that we do them. Fat majority of the time that's all we do for these and we don't interfere any further.
I honestly thought every shouted event had a DM interest in them. We as a faction hold events, and many other factions and singles also have, but never had the benefit of a shout so i honestly thought they were DM sponsored... it might have to do with the fact that the default place to be is vallaki and if something happens somewhere else Dm prefer to facilitate movement away from vallaki than the reverse i guess. Thanks for the information!It's usually because players request a shout for an event that we do them. Fat majority of the time that's all we do for these and we don't interfere any further.
Apologies but I'm curious. What of the requests of those non-popular? How often can one expect a prompt response? What does one do when a DM does not assist with a shout and sets them to do so with out aid? As my fellow community member mentions facts are people bemoan Port. Having been a member of the Dloo region before and somewhat ushered out. I can't completely agree with my fellow player as there are right concerns that you more often see and witness DM interference to such events. Many see this in concern for equitability so how do we dispell this misconception? I don't think it's entirely any one's fault but if this is the conception of several views is it not a concern for others to take responsibility for their rileplay in Dloo?
And this should be taken as a lesson to those who continuously bemoan the fact that Port gets more DM attention than Vallaki. It simply isn't true, but the way to make it appear as such is to create more player driven events. Unfortunately, I've rarely seen people take the initiative to do things out that way.
None of this is unforgiveable or wrong, and none of this is something the DMs should feel attacked for the discussion of, so I hope that's not the impression I'm giving. My suggestion is simply to put thought into covering an uncovered timezone, and maybe attempt to push more interaction onto players that might feel left outside in the cold.
My experience was that when the day came, a DM was apparently supporting an impromptu event in Port for some important PCs, and then dropped a 30m reset as soon as they finished there. This really badly disrupted our schedule, meaning we needed to desperately run up a mountain, rather than atmospherically climb it, and meant that several people couldn't attend it as they'd hoped to due to the disruption in time. No DM attended the event.
Server's got incredible potential. Players are mostly great, easily approached, and friendly OOC. Even in Port, surprisingly. Dungeon and world design is top notch, and my most fun was gradually exploring and mapping out as much of this world as I could.
Have had little to no interaction with DMs, and when I finally did, I ended up hitting burnout point due to circumstances mostly outside the DMs control.
Would love to see more GMT-time DMs, and effort to engage and support players outside the bubbles of Port and closed faction spaces. Alongside my own struggles to get any DM response to player-run events, I was aware of so many excellent RPers with great Gothic Horror concepts and deep, vivid RP skills that never get so much as a mote of DM interaction, whilst the event boards and shout channels overflow with information about events supporting what usually appear to be the same small groups of French aristocrats in Port. I can't understate how appreciated it would be if maybe one in four of these fancy ceremonies, dances, galas, theatre shows, etc, instead went into supporting the little guys still trying to do Gothic Horror.Spoiler: show
I do notice player support for player events in Barovia is lower.
Server's got incredible potential. Players are mostly great, easily approached, and friendly OOC. Even in Port, surprisingly. Dungeon and world design is top notch, and my most fun was gradually exploring and mapping out as much of this world as I could.
Have had little to no interaction with DMs, and when I finally did, I ended up hitting burnout point due to circumstances mostly outside the DMs control.
Would love to see more GMT-time DMs, and effort to engage and support players outside the bubbles of Port and closed faction spaces. Alongside my own struggles to get any DM response to player-run events, I was aware of so many excellent RPers with great Gothic Horror concepts and deep, vivid RP skills that never get so much as a mote of DM interaction, whilst the event boards and shout channels overflow with information about events supporting what usually appear to be the same small groups of French aristocrats in Port. I can't understate how appreciated it would be if maybe one in four of these fancy ceremonies, dances, galas, theatre shows, etc, instead went into supporting the little guys still trying to do Gothic Horror.Spoiler: show
There's a lot that bothers me about this post, and it's probably because I'm someone whose character often hosts events in Dementlieu. I've put a lot of time and energy into creating things for other players to enjoy while also pursuing my own IC goals. But let address a couple of things: for one, my PC isn't an aristocrat. She's an Outlander - or was, because she just obtained citizenship. I've been playing her in Dementlieu for about eight months, and that's been a goal of hers since her arrival there. It didn't happen overnight.
The shouts done for my events were done because I asked the Port-based DMs (typically Agony) if they'd oblige. And as Agony posted, even if she's not IG to do a shout, she's usually more than willing to do one in the Discord. But she doesn't write those shouts - I do. I try to make things as easy for her as possible. And if she can't accommodate a request, then that's fine - I still announce my events on the forums, in the #dementlieu channel, and in the various other game-based Discords of which I'm a part. Parchments are placed in the game world. I am proactive. I am the squeaky wheel. And then there are still people who say that they have no idea that X event is taking or has taken place.
Lastly, the emphasis on "the little guys still trying to do Gothic Horror" is flat-out wrong as well as insulting, because it implies that we who play in Dementlieu somehow aren't part of the genre. Dementlieu may not (always) be vampires and werewolves, but vampires and werewolves aren't the end-all-be-all of Gothic Horror. A quick Internet search of the term ought to shed some light on the topic.
I understand that there are players who don't like Dementlieu as a setting, and that's fine - it's niche, and everyone has preferences. But please stop with the assumptions and the underhanded insults towards those of us who do prefer that setting. Our RP is just as viable and valuable, and to imply otherwise is not being excellent towards us as fellow players.
TherapyCat
As suggested, bring on more DMs!QuoteNone of this is unforgiveable or wrong, and none of this is something the DMs should feel attacked for the discussion of, so I hope that's not the impression I'm giving. My suggestion is simply to put thought into covering an uncovered timezone, and maybe attempt to push more interaction onto players that might feel left outside in the cold.
So, how do you propose DMs cover an uncovered timezone?
QuoteMy experience was that when the day came, a DM was apparently supporting an impromptu event in Port for some important PCs, and then dropped a 30m reset as soon as they finished there. This really badly disrupted our schedule, meaning we needed to desperately run up a mountain, rather than atmospherically climb it, and meant that several people couldn't attend it as they'd hoped to due to the disruption in time. No DM attended the event.
Had you asked DMs to announce your event? DMs don't read minds, nor do they have time to scour the forums and every Discord looking for players who might need assistance. You have to be proactive and reach out, and perhaps a DM will have the time/interest to pick it up; if not, you make do without.
(yaddayadda)
We need more cosmic, light giving entities!
I'd opt for smaller, more atmospheric touches fo DMing rather than primarily larger events with a smaller scale.
Then I would say that the groundwork is what makes you let in when something happens, because you have become useful and known to be useful. I dont mean dungeoneering. Anyone can go dungeoneering. I mean chatting with people, making meaningful connections, talk about everything and nothing, so that at some point people will naturally come to you and gossip, or confide, and you will find yourself in many situations you didnt even ask for. More organically part of the overall dance, less "mom said i also get to play some or youre grounded".
I remember frequent minor interactions, from DMs dropping in to make a dungeon more engaging for small groups, to little encounters on the roads, or possessing random NPCs, even for total nobodies like me. This is from times with comparable player-counts.