Alt Characters- Orc

[Toddo]

What about scaling a weekend befor anyone pays. Say its all made for apl 15 then post that it is a alp 15 weekend. Dont tell people what they can or cant play. But then people might bring a Pc close to that level. Or they might npc or whatever. If people bring ubber pc Mcthunderfist then they can get the "high level" mods if they are not getting the good hard fight that they are looking for. And If you want to make it a harder fight for " X " fight then you know to make it apl 18 or 19 (because its a alp 15 weekend ).

Tim

I am intrigued by this idea, but unfortunately there are times when the Base Goblin wave battle is required by the weekend plot. (Or the Gryphon fight on the other end) APL does get calculated before events based on pre-regges, and that's what at least the wave battle statting is based on. (most wave battles are "pre-bagged" cards)

Moral of the story: Pre-reg. Save money and make sure your level drags down or boosts the average!

 

[Toddo]

Toddo... are you implying, in some fashion, that softball is a less hardcore sport than baseball? I'm shocked and appalled, and will be writing customer service to complain about you. Volubly. Every day. On the hour. Every hour.

:twisted:

Human Resources has mandated that I issue a formal apology to all the sissy softball players. There. I'm done now.

 

[Gunnar]

*cracks Toddo with a softball bat. Cus they're not wood; and they usually take longer to break*

Nothing but love plot buddy.

-Ali

 

[Ezri]

3. The impression that "low level" = "low challenge". We ran a split wave battle at the Troll weekend and a small but vocal minority hated it because it was a tough fight and required them to expend skills/production to survive.


#3. Discouraging from a plot perspective. As a plot writer my job is to provide challenges for the players to overcome, not to just have NPCs walk up and hand them treasure. Perhaps we should start a survey about what people feel should be the appropriate challenge level for the game. I can throw softball plot if I have to.

-toddo

To address these as well:

A- There may be times where you -need- to expend resources to achieve your goal - even if that goal is just survival. If potions scrolls and other items weren't meant to be used, we wouldn't put the darn things in the game. Some folks like to hoard treasure like they were a dragon. It doesn't do you any good sitting in a box in your cabin. But if it helps you win a mod or take down a big bad, you just might get a little glory, a little fun, and a little more treasure.

B- This drives me nuts as well, because the people who pass those up are invariably the same ones who complain that there was no low level stuff or that they were bored because they couldn't affect things.

99% of all modules we run at HQ are scaled. And if they aren't you'll be warned. So guess what - if you bring other low level pals with you on your module, you get a low level module. If you freak that you might have a hard time and bring a bunch of high level pals, then you're going to raise your APL exponentially. You just shot yourself in the foot.

The key to success in any level module is to be prepared and have a good variety of skills in your group. If you don't have a healer, you might be kinda screwed. If you don't have a person with legerdemain that trap or locked box might as well be Fort Knox. If you don't have a celestial caster, certain creatures are going to be much harder to take down.

Bottom line is that this game is about three things: teamwork, adventure, and fun. If you are so unwilling to go on a module and risk a little bit, where's the adventure in that? If you pass on every opportunity, you're giving your slice of fun away to someone else. Not everyone plays on a team; sometimes that "Team" only exists for the expanse of one module. That's ok. Stop worrying about a fake person dying and get out there and have fun!

 

[Walgar]

I get how the rules work but i still feel thats its kinda crapy that if you have someone that kicks butt then you are just going to fight harder stuff. So there is no point to take someone really skilled Ig and that "should" be a good thing to take with you. And Having 7 or more people also gets you killed. I know its a game but aint there something that we could do to make it feel less fake.

Tim

 

[Robb G]

go on more unscaled mods.

 

[Hammerfist]

I get how the rules work but i still feel thats its kinda crapy that if you have someone that kicks butt then you are just going to fight harder stuff. So there is no point to take someone really skilled Ig and that "should" be a good thing to take with you. And Having 7 or more people also gets you killed. I know its a game but aint there something that we could do to make it feel less fake.

Tim

But Tim the idea of scaling is that while you may bring <insert epic person here> overall it probably will not bring it up enough to really make that much of a change. Also the idea of only 6 people makes sense as it prevents the well lets just go get the whole town for this fight response. (FTR my team on more than one occasion has rolled into mods 9 deep and taken the level hit as we did not want anyone to feel left behind--nobody rezzed and we had a lot of fun fighting our butts off)

That being said however you always have the option of ignoring the above statements as they are not rules. There are only a few occasions where ONLY 6 people are allowed to go. Or you are ONLY allowed to bring certain adventurers really it is "a guidline" that makes the game mechanic work the best. So bottom line is if you don't like it, ignore it and play the game the way you want to, heck take only 2 people on the next mod you are hooked for and it will be scaled correctly for you.

 

[FOIGofWar]

Maybe someone can write some low level modules and encounters? Let the low level players and newbies get more involved?

a thought.

~Erica

1- The is a dedicated low-level storyline in-game. It was there last season, it's been there this season, it'll be there next season. You can't even participate in it if you're over lvl 8. I know, I write it.

2- EVERY MOD that is not an unscaled mod has the potential to be a low-level mod. The mod is scaled according to the APL of the (usually) 6 players present. If those players are level 2, 6, 3, 7, 1, and 5, the APL of the mod is 6. Viola, low level mod.

3- Most town encounters/fishbowls are basically RP encounters. There's no level requirement to roleplay.

4- It seems to me that about two seasons ago, there was a group of newbies in town. Before any of them were too high level with their first characters to be able to attend a lowbie, they had amassed over 100 gold, half a dozen rit scrolls, a score of comps, and another half a dozen magic items. Three years before that, Glory Road did the same thing. A year before that, the Irregulars had about half that. Two years before that, the Keepers of the Way had about the same amount as the Irregs.

I may still be the "eternal newbie", but I've learned one thing from NERO (which we'll assume carries over to Alliance): You get out of the game exactly what you put into it. Meaning no offense, if you're not getting much out, the answer may well be inside, rather than outside.


Tom H
"That Guy"

 

[tieran]

2- EVERY MOD that is not an unscaled mod has the potential to be a low-level mod. The mod is scaled according to the APL of the (usually) 6 players present. If those players are level 2, 6, 3, 7, 1, and 5, the APL of the mod is 6. Viola, low level mod.

You are never allowed to calculate the APL for any module in which I participate.

 

[Ezri]

As a point of order, there are two low level plotlines running. One that you have been running since we moved to the FP site, and one that Ali started this year. That doesn't even take into account the random lowbie stuff that somehow the lowbies seem to keep missing. In fact, some of the players that have been enjoying your plotline will soon be too big for it, so it'll be changing hands soon I think.

And yep, if a whole bunch of lowbies get hooked for a mod, guess what? It's now a lowbie mod.

I've had a different problem as well - even when we go in to hook a lowbie mod specifically (say goblins, kobolds, or some other crunchie monster) and mention to the big guys "hey, I think this is something the new guys can handle" none of the new guys wanted to admit to being new! It took me 45 minutes to hook a low level mod once because at first nobody wanted to admit that they weren't big and bad, and when they finally did, they were dragging their feet debating on which high level player should be their babysitter. I mean really. It's bringing that babysitter along that fubars you - every time. Because now that mod is no longer a lowbie mod.

I don't want to have to say "OOG this is a lowbie mod" and completely decimate whatever roleplay and mood was there. But if the hook says something like "yeah they don't look too tough but there was a lot of em" or "I think it's something a new adventurer could handle" etc... those are hints that it's a lowbie mod. If you're a lowbie, jump in. If you're not I'm sure you know who the lowbies are - go tell em there's something their size running around in the woods for them to smush.

Resist the urge to bring that babysitter along. Even as my primary, on our very first event we went on the oracle module - and all six of us were LEVEL 1! One of my first events as plot I ran a mod for three new players, their levels were 1, 1, and 2 (one had NPCd then brought two friends to the next event). And they ROCKED that mod, got a rit scroll and a bunch of other good stuff.

You only get to be low level once. Enjoy it while it lasts. The high level game is also fun, but it's a different feeling entirely.

 

[Robb G]

is it safe to assume

level 1- 10 is considered low
level 11 - 20 mid
level 20 -30 high

i just always wondered

 

[Ezri]

I get how the rules work but i still feel thats its kinda crapy that if you have someone that kicks butt then you are just going to fight harder stuff. So there is no point to take someone really skilled Ig and that "should" be a good thing to take with you. And Having 7 or more people also gets you killed. I know its a game but aint there something that we could do to make it feel less fake.

Tim

Is it really that fun to play sidekick and go on a mod with one high level person and let them win it for you? To me that sucks. If I want to watch the action I'll go rent a movie.

 

[Ezri]

is it safe to assume

level 1- 10 is considered low
level 11 - 20 mid
level 20 -30 high

i just always wondered

Generally speaking yes. The cap for the lowbie event has always been 8th level, though lately we've been using a soft cap and not counting things like craftsman skills or production toward the limit (except blacksmithing 1 and alchemy up to lv 3 because they affect combat).

 

[Walgar]

I Rp like would act in RL. If i am someone thats does not want to get killed then I would stay with people that know what there doing. ( And I am the guy that played a barbar for a few years going after things why over his head. I am just talking about how the oog rules dont make much sence IG. )

Tim

 

[Hammerfist]

Maybe you just hit the problem on the head. This is not RL, this is a game every decision that you RP is an IG decision not a RL one. The game has rules and guidelines that help it function and while those rules are ever evolving we must operate within them. Perhaps you need to work harder on suspending your disbelief until such a time that the rules and guidelines change enough that you don't need to as it sounds like it is interfering with you enjoying the game..