Don't judge me for the title. I felt I had to flavor it up a little given some responses in the old thread which is located here ->
https://www.nwnravenloft.com/forum/index.php?topic=29774.50Now I know the original poster of the prior had a set opinion, most did not agree with, but soem valid points were made in the Thread in reading that Thread you can get a lot of history of the servers responses and the people then and I like to say to some extent POTM has gone a long way in the good mind you. I don't agree with the Carebear approach nor do I agree with the Grumpy Bear approach either. You need an equal amount of sugar and salt as well as bit of honesty. Take some one's opinion with a fine grain and try not to attack them for just having an opinion. Everyones approach and experiences to POTM is unique but you have to wiegh the good and the bad. So I'm going to to give my honest opinion on a Review of Potm in my view and I encourage others to share their views to hopefully in a cordial and relatively fair manner let out their voice. Though we as human beings don't often tend to listen to each other very well and are set in our beliefs and opinions even though tis amazing when we can set diffrences aside and achieve quite a bit we often don't do this. We don't always have to agree with another but we are living on this same world with the same crap together I just don't see why we outta make it worst for each other when we can do better. So if my words inspire you to write something awesome! If not well put out your own review and give your opinion its an open forum lol.
Right that aside lets say starting in POTM is with out a doubt confusing, hard, and frankly not all for everyone. Though Swet Sweet Soren is Awesomesauce and may put up that hyperlink from IGN POTM is literally one of the few surviving games from a genre and era long past and was lucky to be a survivor. Staff can boast as well as Soren they made it. But, there were a lot of games before them that were also very awesome for their time such as Wanderers of the Western Heartlands, Gate Keepers, Paradise Island, The many Nordocks, KOTR for the Star Wars fans, Middle Earth, DragonLance - Rise of Tiamat, and many other old forgotten servers that had equally just as much to offer as POTM. Being the last coconut to have fallen from the palm tree doesn't make it a great exception that when this game was about it average 11-45 players at a time before the rise of the Great Beamdog Ressurection. Needles to say in those early childhoods POTM ranked up there with Aerlith and some of these other titles before the revival and it wasn't to bad.
I'll never forget my first time in POTM as a young Meliekki Ranger who randomly walked into Vallaki during a werewolf attack and called out for any god to grant him something to fight back the evil that befell the outskirts. A cool dm put a +4 bow in my hand and I tried for the life of me to shoot down as many werewolves as possible to help people and lay the image of Ezra before him. This would inspire a long an rewarding immersion I could not thank this DM enough for a good first impression of how entertaining the server could possibly be. But, now having been in POTM for several years now I admit that spark is missing these days especially given a lot of experiences though I can't deny things now are better run than its early inceptions where things weren't so grey or white. One of my biggest concerns then, though people hate cliques, is when I inadvertantly got in IC confrontation with a group and things went a bit ooc. This changed my view of POTM as I was a bit pushed out of events and ongoings due to not agreeing or getting along with the popular kids so to say. Ironically it got me to be a bit of an underdog and I got to roleplay with a lot of talented and not so known folks which was awesome cause they were the most uncanny folks to roleplay with. This also got me to experience my first DM reprimand which was extremely harsh and to this day I feel Staff lacks the quality in sitting with a fellow player and talking with them instead of consensus descisions done behind the player's back outside of their opinion or defense.
Would that make me bias? As some have used this word it seems many are bias of thier opinions and that's only natural we only reacted to our experiences and hope others will listen. This is just my experience but the collective experience of others is what does make this server good. I know you are all saying "Crazy Alan. What yah talking about again?" And you are right I am crazy as I reread the old Thread and listen to the new responses you just can't sit back as an old player and not give the pluses and minuses of Ravenloft: Prisoners of the Mist. Now this review is just my opinion you don't have to agree with me but I encourage you to write your own broader view which helps not just us but newer players to the community to get a good idea of our little game even though it belongs to Soren and the Staff with out players there be no game to play and if there were no game there honestly be no players lol.
Honestly I have to give credit to the diverse design in using this old tileset game editor to make the enviroment of Ravenloft come alive especially the mechanics of the contribution of the players who make the enviroment immersive. As a roleplaying game few who play Roleplaying Games understand the term often considering MMO (Massive Multi- Player) titles to be the approach. POTM brings back the warmth of a LARP (Live Action Role Playing) and Table Top on somewhat easily accessible platformall thanks to Beam Dog and Bioware. The attention to detail graphically to the enviroment gives you that foreboding horror especially when night falls. Overall your experience is what you make with it as a hack and slash with friends with acting or an immersive play with other actors. Sadly the negativity of this enviroment of POTM is its longevity in character development for a player as many factors outside of mechanical can also effect their progression. The addition to Factions, Communities, Cliques, or Discord groups can make or break a character wiling or unwilling and it makes the months of grinding worrisome as reworking a character from a failure is time consuming. So this is not a rewarding game if you expect a good long haul as its fret with peril on a mechanical, role play, and community level.
This said POTM is not a quick Hack and Slash and is not friendly to short term character development. It is engrossing with a lot of mechanical details from your class, loot, equipment, fianances, faction participation if opt in, lore, and crafts which offers a wide variation of possibilities but all very time consuming. So don't expect to sit an hour a day and expect results hours with devotion are needed to get involved and roleplaying interaction is neccisary for progress. In which the Community can make or break you depending on your outlook or experiences with involvement to the game itself. Aside from the common OOC Dramas any game of this caliber possesses dramatic change since its early days of toxicity and hostility and if a player or staff tells you otherwise you can find some juicy stuff on the forums if your into that thing. But, on the bright side the Community/Staff and the fact it has a Community Council is a plus given the semi-friendliness of people and with a Discord if that's your thing you can talk with folks and chat it up giving you multiple facets to communicate and experience diffirently a much changed POTM from then. What I do find difficult of this game and a put off is the Rules some of it is not always clear and some of it is very contradictive to other posts and statements on the plus though the Staff are working in clarifying and expanding information so its easier for folks to find the answers needed even allowing players to speak with Staff, Community Council members, and fellow players.
Bias is a big thing here, not in a bad way, as some folks are set in their opinion same as staff as everyones time is precious. You either love or hate POTM and few in the middle I went from loving it to hating it to just "Meh". Overall if you want a game to roleplay and hang out with friends its not so bad. I highly recommend just doing that than trying to get involved with things as I have tried for years and either I fail at achieving as others or simply I'm not qualified so don't waste your time trying or expecting a DM to help you in achieving anything that won't happen here less you put in effort or come off interesting to them or others. Which reminds me I forgot about talking of Prestige Classes recent changes some of them you can fiddle around with others are set behind Applications to get them. Which when it comes to Applications in my experience is the worst concept for classes as how can any one try a prestige class if they never have acces to it or get an application through. For some its a bit easier than others but most can admit its a rough processes which pushes that grind and longevity of play to get anywhere making this game a time killer to the grave and not get to experience all it has to offer. Oh and another plus there are Monstrous Races you can play! But, that's behind an Application system as well which thankfully isn't a $4.99 DLC fee so bonus on that.
Immersion is great on POTM as I mentioned you get to act and interact with players delving into the mindset of your character, enviroment, and setting. The progressive nature and behavior of your character is solely up to you and your involvment with others on your concept. However some concepts are not as easily played out and being Villianous isn't as easy as one may think. In this again a long grind to understanding the game and its lore is challenging and often overwhelming and intimidating as some interactions with fellow players can make or break you, especially when it comes to ooc involvements or misunderstandings, so try to take things with a grain of salt and focus on having fun or find solutions to settle disputes we are all human after all. Which is a key features to the Community Council I mention which I got to admit as big as this game got since its old days was a great idea. Though the players are offered to elect Community Councils it is concerning that when changes occur there is not much to do on playerside when our electees are no longer there. As told to me by a staff memeber once. "This isn't a democracy" and most things are done via consensus by Staff which is a bit hard to understand player side so you have to hope Staff has the best interest for the Community and tis Players though overall the Game is the most important.
And when they do occur New Character Events are a great way for everyone to experience humble beginings, make allies/friends, make enemies/haters, and maybe meet a DM (experiences may vary). I'm a bit bias but don't expect to get involved in too many DM Events as given my experience. "I spend time with those I'm interested in. So why would I spend time with those not? My time is limited and precious to me." if and when you can enjoy them I recommend it they can be fun and don't concern to much about DM events or requests there's an Application for that as well and a long wait time if you are lucky. Think I'm still going a year for one or two of my requests but that's just me. Though you can hold Player Events read the rules carefully on that though you may also aquire a random "DM Appears" on those possibly there's no worry because you did something interesting to garner attention (Experience may Vary). Maybe? Happens some times which isn't to badly often or not (experiences may vary from player to player). Expect to be ignored on some requests though and leave room to put effort on your own. Helps if you are in a faction or involved with popular folks if you crave the DM Attention otherwise do your own thing with your own crew and try to be welcoming and low-key if you don't want the attention.
In Hindsight between the Community, Council, and Staff there is a solid foundation for players to get involved with things and multiple facets of mediums to communicate questions or concerns including their Discord. Genuienly if you can't find a DM or Community Council memeber most players can answer questions or gear you to the right part of the section on the forum even though I think the Journal in game is a bit out of date and finding all the cool emotes and stuff like writing and in game custom stuff is a hassle till some one points it out. There's so much to POTM I simply just can't cover int in a review and almost wish there was like a Player's Handbook for the game itself or at least a Strategy Guide in how to get through everything. Thankfully most of the information is in the forum if you can find and sort it out, mostly, so no worries and best case ask a lot of questions when you can most folks are friendly and will take the time to answer you if they are available. There's so much that can be reviewed but this is just my opinion I like to see others view and Ravenloft: Prisoner's of the Mist is a good game for the most part so I recommend in giving it a try.
Overall my Meta-Bias score of Ravenloft: Prisoners of the Mist is a 3/5Graphics: For an Old Game far more stable than Godfall (4)
Child Friendly: :3 *heee (2)
Online: Experiences May Vary (3)
Fame: 4 (5 out of 5 Fortniters did not know what Ravenloft was) (4 out of 5 MMO players recalled NWN)
Stature: 3.7
Volume: ?
Staff: 3.5
CC: 4
Community: 3
Customs: 5 (A lot of Stuff to Customize Characters)
Aggregation: 4
