Grade the May event

[Frank Wiccan]

I actualy had to try and hunt for the small board to cross the stream in the dark the first night to rescue a little girl
but anyway I wont debate it you can ignore me and put it down to im old and grumpy or you might want to ask others
I only say here waht I haev haerd this weekend from a few people each complaint I listed was from diffrent people at diffrent times

FW

 

[IvanDrake]

<<< And dont shut up Eric If you dont make noise how will the kobalds find you to steal Ivans crown? >>>

Ha!



--- Eric Stehle / Ivan Drake

 

[IvanDrake]

Frank, I am not disagreeing with you. The game is all about balance. We need to balance the rough-and-tumble fights (for the rough-and-tumble players) with stuff for those less inclined to hike through the dark and fight in the mud.

That's the beauty of the game. We can cater it to all kinds of people.

--- Eric Stehle / Ivan Drake

 

[Frank Wiccan]

Frank, I am not disagreeing with you. The game is all about balance. We need to balance the rough-and-tumble fights (for the rough-and-tumble players) with stuff for those less inclined to hike through the dark and fight in the mud.

That's the beauty of the game. We can cater it to all kinds of people.

--- Eric Stehle / Ivan Drake

Fully agree!

and no offence taken, I know im old and slow

FW

 

[Kotual]

I've gone across the river and fought in the pitch black We had a whole team of us go down a sneak up on the NPCs late Friday night, great times. And I've gone running down the hills in the dark on a few occasions if I've heard battle.

 

[Kotual]

I've gone across the river and fought in the pitch black We had a whole team of us go down a sneak up on the NPCs late Friday night, great times. And I've gone running down the hills in the dark on a few occasions if I've heard battle.

 

[Gwendara]

Yep, balance is a good thing! I was posting just to show the opposite view (loving outdoor battles). I'm not saying we shouldn't have indoor ones by any means. I think you guys do a good job of trying to have battles for the rough and tumble players and the not so rough and tumble ones as well. I also look forward to when the landscaping is done, for while I may be young and recover quicker tripping on muddy ruts and banging knees still hurts!

 

[Duke Frost]

The plot team endeavors to have all kinds of battles and modules. No one is saying you should go out at night if you don't want to.

But it has to be balanced. Just as there are people who can't or don't want to go out at night and fight, there are people that do. People need to know their own limitations.

There will be mods and battles to challenge the more physically active though. You won't be dragged outside at night or across the river and up the mountain if you can't or don't want to go.

Does that mean sometimes people will end up in the tavern roleplaying? Sure.

And people can always bring lanterns with them. The medieval and fantasy wilderness weren't lit.

We will endeavor to have all kinds of encounters to suit all kinds of styles and comfort levels. But if you are less active or less comfortable in the dark or in the woods, you may miss some of them. We will endeavor for there to be enough other stuff to do.

Scott

 

[Mike Ventrella]

And people can always bring lanterns with them. The medieval and fantasy wilderness weren't lit.

Let me emphasize this point.

Long before Camp Lindenmere, we used places that had practially no lighting once you got outside of the main area. Everyone had a lantern/light stick/covered flashlight -- it's just what you did.

We need to get people into the habit of carrying lights at night. When a battle starts, you can put it down and it at least gives some light for you.

Besides, dark is creepier...

We will have electricity to the cabins eventually and perhaps a "lantern" can be at each door, which will help light the outdoors a bit more.

 

[Robb G]

I think people need to start bringing more lanterns and relying more on liquid light and light spells. that's WHY they are in the game.

i personally can't see crap at night because of my glasses and poor eyesight... and since i play a caster with no weapons, i don't participate too much in the night fights other than protectives and if someone breaks through the lines and comes after the healers i am protecting. HOWEVER, i like that night fights exist. i like that sometimes i get a shot off that helps the battle.. i just understand that my role is not as a front liner. plus, i like that there are still people in the tavern or whatever that are not in the fight. if the whole town gets rolled, i want someone left alive to tell the tale or rez us or whatever the circumstances.

 

[Ezri]

Personally, outdoor lights kill what little nightvision I have. I've noticed that I'm just fine when I'm on a module down by the river UNTIL somebody turns on a light. Then my eyes have to readjust all over again. We ran a late night module in the basement. It was extremely dark (literally couldn't see your hand in front of your face) so I used one flashlight, pointed at the cieling, to give just enouth light that you could see each other.

Outdoors there is more than enough light to see each other out on the field if you are within combat distance. No, you're not going to see that kobold coming from all across the field (sorry Eric - I had to), but where is the fear if you can see everything?

One of the best wave battles I've ever been on was in NJ a few years back. We were taking back the town and had broken into small groups to take a few different paths. There were maybe 10-12 PCs in my group. The NPCs were awesome and came at us from all sides - it was so dark we had no idea where they were until they were right on top of us. It was really immersive, and to me the more immersed in the game I am the better it is - whether it's fear, hate, love... whatever emotion. There have been several times in the game where I was moved to tears - NPC and PC. Those are some of my most cherished moments in the game, and that kind of emotion doesn't happen when you're only semi-involved.

It's really hard to be so immersive when there are more anachronisms. Flourescent lights are horribly anachronistic and the weird color light they emit just kills the mood. I used to curse the motion-sensor lights at Lindenmere. They killed so many rogue opportunities. I think that the landscaping improvements will fix a lot of the concerns with the lack of lighting, as will having more cabins. I'd be ok with a soft light outside of a cabin perhaps, once electricity can be done.

As an aside, it also drives me a little nuts when the PCs try to pull EVERY wave battle back to the tavern stairs. I know there is light there at night, but you're putting yourself in a FAR more dangerous situation up there on the stairs, tractor ruts and steep hills than you would be on the less steep hillside of the rest of the camp. You're also gimping your rogues and scouts by essentially turning the waves into big door fights. Not sure why you'd voluntarily back yourselves into a corner like that, instead of fighting on the field where you can maneuver better. I also feel compelled to mention the fact that it disturbs the only neighbor we have in a 1/2 mile radius - we really should be more considerate, especially given how late into the night we often play, and the tavern stairs are RIGHT across the street from their house. </rant>

 

[Robb G]

tell your npcs not to engage the pcs up there. i agree with you, i hate the stair fights.

 

[Gwendara]

Couldn't agree more. Lights kill my night vision, I am so much better when farther away from the tavern. As said scout I hate fighting on the stairs too. Door fights are one of my least favorite and unlike the poor rogues and adepts I have at least some effectiveness from the front with my profs. Also, I think those stairs are trying to kill me... To be fair the more often we fight on them the more we are killing them as well.

 

[Ezri]

The NPCs go to the PCs because otherwise we stand there and stare at each other - it happened all last season. I can't tell you how many times I heard "no we're safe here, make them come to us." I think we just need to make it an OOG rule not to fight on there.

 

[Robb G]

The NPCs go to the PCs because otherwise we stand there and stare at each other - it happened all last season.

haha, that sucks, but i can believe it. i really like fighting on that field across the little stream though.

 

[Ezri]

Yeah - we need to come up with some more inventive ways to yank you guys to that side of the field to fight

 

[Kotual]

As for the stair fights, they always leave the PC's stuck in various places either on top if the NPC's push to them and then you can barely fight at all or people get trapped at the bottom and there's nothing that can be done about it. I personally have slid/climbed down the hill to the side of the stairs quite a few times to get to people, but I can only do that when I can see and when it isn't slick with rain. And there are many people who would not be able to do that at all. As for lights... I liked those dim solar lights that were upduring the fall, they didn't ruin your night vision too badly since they weren't all that bright. And they helped define where the trail was so you didn't have to worry asmuch about if you were about to run off a steep side of the trail.

 

[Gee-Perwin]

On the topic of lights:
I was amazed at how many people didn't have any! When I decided to return, the very first thing I did was find a couple nice LED glowsticks. I went to this site which specializes in LED glow sticks for raving. If you saw me this weekend with one of them, then you know just how bright they were. I bought one super bright one for walking at night, and another not as bright one for trap disarming (you don't want to be blinded while disarming). The one for traps was this one, in green, and the one for night travel was this one in fluorescent green. The bright one has three settings--chasing, strobe, and constant. So when I used it, I'd quickly hit the power button 3 times so it would stay constant. These both saved my *** this past weekend, even when I walked to the bathroom OOG at night. I may just start a new thread on lights for Alliance.

Also, for those complaining about the lights blinding your vision, there is a simple solution. If I have the light and I'm with others, I will stand in the front, hold the bright glow stick over my head with my hand covering the entire back of the glowstick. This way the light shines forward. The only way it can blind someone is if they get in front of me and turn around. Yes, it's a beacon to monsters, but when you travel with powerful people, you don't mind if they come to you. I did this all weekend long.

Event grade: A-

-Lots of rogue friendly stuff. I can't thank plot enough for that. Traps and locks make the game so much fun for me, and pretty much anyone that plays a rogue.
-I was constantly being asked to go on modules by people. Ragnar gave me his spot a few times simply because he knew it's been a while since I played. I've never been on so many mods in one weekend, and they all rocked. The best was rifting in game and being asked to go on a mod not 2 minutes later.
-The fights were great, and I was amazed to see the town survive the one with almost everything swinging vertigo.

My only real complaint--people sleep in too long, and I'm jealous that I can't do it any more. :lol: I work until 12:30AM at my job, and my kids have me up by 7:30-8AM every single day. So even when I was up past 4AM the first night, I was still up at 7AM. I even took an OOG walk around the loop to burn off some energy and to check out the new (to me) site. I went back to the cabin to sleep, but I only could for about 30 minutes. So I just went in-game and walked around by myself for a couple hours until people started waking up.

That really is the only complaint I can think of, and it's a weak one. I love the new site, the NPCs were awesome, and I look forward to having time to play again.

 

[Gwendara]

Glow sticks I don't really have a problem with, especially if it's handled as Gee mentioned. It was mostly brighter electric lights that as soon as I went into the dark my vision was much better. Thanks for the light stick links!

 

[Ezri]

less spells thrown by monsters would be nice also
I dont mind the damage ones (well getting hit for 15's when you only have 14 hp is ruff) but not being able to battle becose your running away from the first second is upsetting
everything at the event threw spells that could completly take you out of action, fears were used in mass and even freshy baked pastry were throwing spells
its hard as a low level fighter when you dont get a lot of protective spells and one packet can make take you out of the combat


FW

To be fair Frank, you've also played two of the highest APL games we've run in a while. The usual APL at HQ (average player level) is about 14-15. The first event was 17, this past event was almost 19. And yes, that can be rough on a low level player. That 4-5 level jump is a whole lot larger than it sounds.

It all goes back to playing with other people. Yes, you don't have a lot of spells (or anything really) at low levels, but that's when you work with other players. You provide one thing - even if it's as simple as helping sweep kills, and the other player provides something else - protectives, or whatever. The game was designed to have people work together. Going solo is always going to be rough.