Comments and discussion revolving the roleplay XP change

[William Roberts]

For all the people saying it's a small change, let's put it this way.

Forcing anybody to wait for an hour and 12 minutes for just about anything in life is NOT a very small change.

I meant small change in the sense of how you appeared to be using it. That is, you wrote:

these sorts of changes should start small and grow from there.

In other words, we're talking about a change to a single feature of an immensely complex persistent world. The examples you gave in response are things like getting food, which would be more comparable to the Devs boosting the time between allowed rests by a real-life hour.

A PC can do all sorts of other things rather than wait for the caravan and can avoid waiting at all by arriving during the designated time. To use your own example, you do have to wait for food much more than an hour if you show up at a restaurant when it's closed.

[Voclain]

To use your own example, you do have to wait for food much more than an hour if you show up at a restaurant when it's closed.

To also use my example, we must now assume the restaraunt will only be open every other hour and closed every hour in-between. 

In the case of my examples, there are some characters who absolutely do make frequent trips in-between Tser and Vallaki. This is very much the case for lower levels as well. While I gave examples of things where you add an hour to something frequent like eating a meal, I also gave the infrequent example of being put on hold for a phonecall. I'm sure everyone here can agree that even a ten minute hold is aggravating. It all goes to say: there's a lot of variance in this server's playerbase. Some people frequent that mist barrier quite a lot, some not at all. Just because some people don't at all doesn't mean we should disregard the people who do.

In the end, I'll always be a proponent of reducing OOC stress, especially over scheduling. It's why we play games.

[Disorder]

*Redacted* I've misread the initial post

[Rocket]

Make it so that dungeons and Mist Camp offer zero rp xp and so it requires players to actually travel to places in the module to roleplay and progress the characters instead of macro-emoting or emoting fart noises as they dungeon.

This is possibly, a good idea.
Has problems and issues many would not like.
Its more of an extreme solution.
Only siths deal in absolutes.

It won't happen, but it has the goal in mind im in favor of.

[Death]

I think if you see macro-emoting and fart emotes, this is immersion breaking and should be reported. I don't see a point in having to punish everyone.

[APorg]

Yeah, the point about waiting an hour at a restaurant when it's closed is a little off, most restaurants don't operate on 72 minute open/closed cycles. And if I showed up at a restaurant and was told I'd have to wait an hour before being seated, I'd probably leave. Or log off, if you will.

[Anarcoplayba]

I am very late on this, but:

1) I think that the RPXP tick, even minor, is a good change. The main benefit from my point of view is allowing the CP cap to come down faster.

2) The changes in travelling are good. I fear only that they may not be enough to disencourage higher levels to solo and locust-swarm low level content.

Anyway, the initiative is very welcome.

[strangerinthealps]

I think if you see macro-emoting and fart emotes, this is immersion breaking and should be reported. I don't see a point in having to punish everyone.

What is wrong with macro-emoting? How is it inherently narrative breaking?

What is wrong with fart emotes, so long as the character is someone who would fart, and is farting in character?

[FinalHeaven]

I think if you see macro-emoting and fart emotes, this is immersion breaking and should be reported. I don't see a point in having to punish everyone.

What is wrong with fart emotes, so long as the character is someone who would fart, and is farting in character?

Absolutely nothing, keep them coming.

[William Roberts]

Yeah, the point about waiting an hour at a restaurant when it's closed is a little off, most restaurants don't operate on 72 minute open/closed cycles. And if I showed up at a restaurant and was told I'd have to wait an hour before being seated, I'd probably leave. Or log off, if you will.

The point being debated was the scale of the change.

In arguing that this was a big change, the other poster made an analogy to always having to wait over an hour to eat. That would be like having to wait over an hour every time you wanted to log in. (Big change.)

Restricting the in-game hours that the elixir is available, however is akin to a restaurant having a scheduled closing. You can eat elsewhere--do one of the very many other things on the server--or you can time your arrival for when the restaurant opens. (Small change.)

I do think you can see the clear difference.

As for farting emotes, what's wrong with them is the Devs have yet to implement a good visual representation.

[Death]

I think if you see macro-emoting and fart emotes, this is immersion breaking and should be reported. I don't see a point in having to punish everyone.

What is wrong with macro-emoting? How is it inherently narrative breaking?

What is wrong with fart emotes, so long as the character is someone who would fart, and is farting in character?

So what I think what Zyemeth was talking about, was people just blasting out farts in the middle of a dungeon and doing other random silly stuff that wouldn't make sense for the setting or scene. I think it's pretty easy to tell when this is, especially with how the player might handle this. It's easy to tell the distinction. It's not respectful to the setting when players do this.

For example, lets say someone walks into the mist camp and just decided to fart out the 'barovian national anthem' for the laughs versus a character who legitamately just rps themselves as being really gross and crude. But this isn't about policing people's rp, my point is if you see someone being what you think is immersion breaking and disruptive it should be reported, versus removing an entire portion of rp xp from the module, which is something I certainly wouldn't think fair for the majority.

[Haven Dee'pockets]

I too think this would be a great change. My highest level as most people know is Haven and shes above XP in Barovia. The only thing I do there is RP with the new Halflings and make little RP deals and add flavor.

If the big bad Vampires come swarming in I make sure that the lower levels are the ones handling it. I do not overly look to interfere. I just like being a little Vistani Camp greeter sometimes for the newly misted!

So I totally think this is a welcome change to many people! And even the Elixer sellers have to sleep sometime! Im surprised Priestess Liz doesnt get more rest then she does, expended all those spells over and over!

[myrddraal]

Make it so that dungeons and Mist Camp offer zero rp xp and so it requires players to actually travel to places in the module to roleplay and progress the characters instead of macro-emoting or emoting fart noises as they dungeon.

This is possibly, a good idea.
Has problems and issues many would not like.
Its more of an extreme solution.
Only siths deal in absolutes.

It won't happen, but it has the goal in mind im in favor of.

I disagree with this being a good idea at all.  People SHOULD be roleplaying in dungeons. "Hey check this out" for lore spots. "Huh, book on X on the shelves.."  "Look out, trap here."  Beyond the pure functionality of the conversation working through a dungeon, formulating plans, spotting traps etc, finding lore dumps for the sake of ooc knowledge, it is also a good chance to RP.  Especially in scenarios where a DM comes in and further highlights the dungeon for those players.  Mist camp is also a place where most people, regardless of their origin, can meet new people, talk about their adventures, etc.  If you're banished from Vallaki and dont want to be a port char, mist camp is your home basically.  It would be better to address the bad apples just "emoting fart noises and spamming marcros."

[remnar]

I feel like talking about REMOVING rpxp from areas is beyond the scope of this thread...

and also pointless and unnecessary.

[Death]

I feel like talking about REMOVING rpxp from areas is beyond the scope of this thread...

and also pointless and unnecessary.

Yes

[Wu Tang Dan]

Great change. I was always of the opinion that RP XP should be given in at least some areas in West Borovia.

However, the concerns mentioned by others above about real-life time limitations and not wanting to waste precious RP time waiting for an NPCS are valid.

I have a suggestion that may seem a bit extreme, but for some reason it works in my head:

Have the Vistani only sell one potion every 24 real life hours (more or less, exact number can be decided by the team). And the PC must drink it at the spot.

Other NPCS, such as Liz in the Morninglord Sanctuary, already have a "real time clock" limit with their services, so I am assuming this shouldn't be too difficult on the dev side.

This solution, in my opinion, makes travel between West Barovia and the rest of the world more difficult and less trivial, but it also allows a player to plan his RP sessions ahead of time and not rely on the game clock and unfortunate log in times.

I think having some form of cooldown would be preferable over only being able to buy it at certain times of in-game day.

[Rocket]

Make it so that dungeons and Mist Camp offer zero rp xp and so it requires players to actually travel to places in the module to roleplay and progress the characters instead of macro-emoting or emoting fart noises as they dungeon.

This is possibly, a good idea.
Has problems and issues many would not like.
Its more of an extreme solution.
Only siths deal in absolutes.

It won't happen, but it has the goal in mind im in favor of.

I disagree with this being a good idea at all.  People SHOULD be roleplaying in dungeons. "Hey check this out" for lore spots. "Huh, book on X on the shelves.."  "Look out, trap here."  Beyond the pure functionality of the conversation working through a dungeon, formulating plans, spotting traps etc, finding lore dumps for the sake of ooc knowledge, it is also a good chance to RP.  Especially in scenarios where a DM comes in and further highlights the dungeon for those players.  Mist camp is also a place where most people, regardless of their origin, can meet new people, talk about their adventures, etc.  If you're banished from Vallaki and dont want to be a port char, mist camp is your home basically.  It would be better to address the bad apples just "emoting fart noises and spamming marcros."

I would consider a change like this temporary. It would be like a punishment to the playerbase, letting people know we do not appreciate the behavior. We are stunting your XP growth until you make an effort to RP.
Then within like a month or 2, they would revert the changes and say something along the lines we hope you have learned your lesson, we hope not see such behavior again.
(no, this will never happen nor should it really, its more of a dream)
In fact, this could be a singular punishment to individuals caught breaking RP immersion! haha

[RickDeckard]

1. RP XP tick increase is good.

2. I am opposed to the traveling restrictions made as a compromise, I don't see why POTM has to always have some sort of debuff on something. Making people wait IRL time with those who have a time crunch isn't very fair, especially from those who do not live in the dominant timezone of the server and already spend days waiting for their time schedule to align with the active playertimes. I know for me sleeping in by one extra hour can be the difference between accessing peak time roleplay or not, and having an artificial wait time isn't exactly music to my ears as an Australian who works and has other commitments.

[Siobhan]

RP xp for all is great. Each zone in the server fosters different communities of characters - there is only one Drain. one Degannwy, etc. Very glad to see those areas back on the xp tick cycle.

I wouldn’t mind tying the mist wall passage to the day/night cycle if there was a reliable way for people outside the client to know what time it is. But since it is so unpredictable given server resets and difficult to keep track of given the longer than an hour cycle, that’s not possible. It will be really discouraging to people stuck on the wrong side by accident, and find that they can’t do the RP they planned.

And how often have players accidentally stepped through the wrong spawn point when logging in and been halfway across the server when they have an event or an RP appointment? I know I’ve done it a bunch, and then did the “whoops please wait” pm to the other player. This change would mean I would have to cancel, since having someone wait over an hour is no longer just being late.

I think having an internal cool down for how many elixirs a character can use in a day would be a cleaner solution IC - these elixirs can’t be good for you. Maybe if you take two in a IRL day (24 hour period) then the second one fails? That way, the vendor doesn’t need to change and it’s all about how the elixir is applied.

TL;DR scheduling is the true dark lord of PotM. Anything that makes meeting for RP unpredictably impossible is

[Knight of Rhodes]

RP xp for all is great. Each zone in the server fosters different communities of characters - there is only one Drain. one Degannwy, etc. Very glad to see those areas back on the xp tick cycle.

I wouldn’t mind tying the mist wall passage to the day/night cycle if there was a reliable way for people outside the client to know what time it is. But since it is so unpredictable given server resets and difficult to keep track of given the longer than an hour cycle, that’s not possible. It will be really discouraging to people stuck on the wrong side by accident, and find that they can’t do the RP they planned.

And how often have players accidentally stepped through the wrong spawn point when logging in and been halfway across the server when they have an event or an RP appointment? I know I’ve done it a bunch, and then did the “whoops please wait” pm to the other player. This change would mean I would have to cancel, since having someone wait over an hour is no longer just being late.

I think having an internal cool down for how many elixirs a character can use in a day would be a cleaner solution IC - these elixirs can’t be good for you. Maybe if you take two in a IRL day (24 hour period) then the second one fails? That way, the vendor doesn’t need to change and it’s all about how the elixir is applied.

TL;DR scheduling is the true dark lord of PotM. Anything that makes meeting for RP unpredictably impossible is

I support and echo nearly every sentiment here.

[konssaml]

I think if you see macro-emoting and fart emotes, this is immersion breaking and should be reported. I don't see a point in having to punish everyone.

What is wrong with macro-emoting? How is it inherently narrative breaking?

What is wrong with fart emotes, so long as the character is someone who would fart, and is farting in character?

This has been mentioned a few times in this post and now I wonder if there is a rule or something prohibiting it?
I don't mind it as long as it's done properly and it doesn't break my immersion as it's something our body does naturally but people keep mentioning like it's a huge offense.

[Holgard]

I think if you see macro-emoting and fart emotes, this is immersion breaking and should be reported. I don't see a point in having to punish everyone.

What is wrong with macro-emoting? How is it inherently narrative breaking?

What is wrong with fart emotes, so long as the character is someone who would fart, and is farting in character?

This has been mentioned a few times in this post and now I wonder if there is a rule or something prohibiting it?
I don't mind it as long as it's done properly and it doesn't break my immersion as it's something our body does naturally but people keep mentioning like it's a huge offense.

I'm willing to gamble money that people are not speaking about someone emoting it because it's natural and part of a character. And more about it being a ridiculous gag that detracts from the Gothic horror setting.

There is a significant uncomparable difference between:

a.) *Coughs, accidentally farting* Oops.

And

b.) Gets cut down by a vampire. *farts*

I've experienced this a lot on my AMPCs, where someone attacks me and gets defeated, they write stupid gags that detract from the tension and drama from everyone and ultimately harms the scene.

I also see it a lot from trolls that come on, pretending to be mole men, characters from Disney movies, Shrek, Among Us characters. These are the type of characters I often see role-playing like that, and I'm sure if you saw someone try to roleplay a Mouse and act like that it'd break your immersion too.

Maybe you can role-play flatulence with tact, or you know people who can and it contributes a lot to your experience, but I've never had a single positive experience with it.

This however is highly off topic so we should try to get back to it. I think the change is good, I play mainly characters that remain only in Barovia, I have one that never leaves except once a week so the Vistani change doesn't affect me, I can't talk on that.

[MAB77]

There are no rules against emoting a fart or even to act obnoxiously in-character, but to a limit. Common sense is required here not to be disruptive to the roleplay of others. Holgard 's post is spot on.

There is no punishment involved in this change. So it's nightfall and you can't go to western Barovia? There's plenty to do in Eastern Barovia or other domains regardless if you prefer roleplay or dungeonning. It's really a non-issue. I'd add that, thanks to CosmicRay's efforts, some of the Eastern Barovia content is being revamped to make it more interesting to mid-level players. There are always good reasons not to return to Vallaki.

[Rocket]

I appreciate the minor RP XP gains all around change. This will hopefully encourage the higher level bringing RP to low level that I have desired myself.

I do myself and like others, hold concern over the night time embargo on travel from East to West barovia.
Yea, when you have a personal real life schedule busy as hell, it can mean making it to events or seeing people you would like difficult.

If this is to stick, then it might mean players will be encourage to stick to an area versus traveling simply out of inconvenience, and less so because of what feels like a choice.

I feel like this change moreso harms the players with less time to play.
While the players that tend towards monotonous dungeon grinding with lots of time on their hands are hardly affected.
They can easily bend their play direction to fit in line with traveling through the pass at day break.
--------
I think a 12 to 24 hour timer on mist elixir use, or increasing the cost by character level could be another consideration.
If the cost increases, then players will be wary to travel East. And it will be more of a commitment if you plan to go East.

[MAB77]

I disagree with your stance. There is nothing you can do in Western Barovia that you can't do elsewhere. "Time constraints" is therefore not a factor at all. Now perhaps you prefer to do things in Western Barovia, but then, you could also have chosen not to leave. That's really on you to assume your own choices.

We are a roleplay server first and foremost, we can and will implement measures that will force players to pause and consider other options to what they may prefer. Not maliciously, but because we feel these measures are most in line with our design philosophy. This is one of them. Soren explained it very well in a previous post too. It's definitively here to stick. We even made it abundantly clear that if this mild measure isn't sufficient we will consider adding more (though we'd prefer not to).