The Wisdom of Luke Sullivan- THE SOLUTION

hey I understand completly no one wants more restrictions

but IF and a Big IF the solution to the level creap is more NPC's then you can just ask for more people to NPC and hopefully they will
you can use a carrot like giving more freebies but that will make the level creap faster as if you give more exp or items or waterver character goodness it will make players more powerfull
or you can use the stick.

paying the NPC's could only be done by raising the price of events as there not making much on the game already and some chapter owners are running at a loss but keep going for love of the game!

I dont know if the anwser to the level creep is more NPC's but there are few ways to get some one who dosnt want to NPC to do so
or to get someone who already NPC's to NPC more.

FW
 
chriso said:
NPCing also will often allow for the use of skills and spells which one's character might never otherwise use.

Necromancy, anyone? ;)

ChrisO
Click to expand...

Personally I NPC to learn the healing incants, I have been known to call upon Chaos to restore people's legs... Not one of my prouder moments. But I'm a dirty necromancer. (anyone want to play in the mud with me?)
-toddo (Leader of team Evil Genius)
 
That's another thing. Chaos Storm? Sexiest thing ever.
 
But here's the thing about NPCing. You are more than welcome to tell monster desk the kind of roles you prefer - and most often monster desk will do their best to fit you into those roles( Not counting the guy who wants to constantly play the biggest monster of the weekend). The whole point of NPCIng is that you are volunteering to entertain players. If you enjoy what you are doing, you'll do it better, and thus both you and the players have more fun.

Now yes, you are still a volunteer and as such we -will- call upon you to help us do things, but nobody is going to ask you fight if you're not feeling well, are injured or in some other way aren't able to participate. That's just how NPCing is.

-Ali
 
my first event I had to go back inot monster camp a bunch of times
people were pratice fighting some playing music some dancing some hanging out chatting
Im actualy looking forward to my next game where im NPC'ing and can see how the other half lives!
every time I had to pass through monster camp they all looked very happy and it was like a party!

Im going to try my best to get out as often as possible and be beaten on by as many players as possible
I have seen some SUPER roleplaying some NPC's stick out and I rember more then some players
Still love henry the mads pesant that was worried about his family hearloom and the great first timer (cant rember her name just her heavenly voice) who was a fantastic little girl that almsot had me crying over her plight
and I cant forget the Wine merchants who "Dont crush the grapes with our feet!"
and scotts dwarf that can make a stone elf laugh
and the two mercinaries we hired to fight the one guy was funny as all heck!
these people I hope to be half as good as

FW
 
Frank Wiccan said:
I dont think I explained my idea well...

lets say at level 10 you would need 5 NPC points
so when your level 9 (not a newbie) you start playing a NPC to earn points for the requirment
lets say every NPC day is 2 points so you NPC 3 times to get 6pts and when you get to level ten you use 5 npc points and you haev one left
then lets say you play more and your almost level 12 and that level 12 needs 6 NPC points you only have 1 so you NPC a few events and earn more
the Higher your level the more NPC points you need to earn so you have to NPC to be able to get the higher levels
just as an example chart
NPCing one day = 2 NPC points earned

level 10 requires 5 NPC points
level 12 Requires 7 NPC points
level 14 requires 9 NPC points
level 16 requires 12 NPC points
level 18 requires 15 NPC points
level 20 requires 18 NPC points

So actualy higher level players would be Needeing NPC points to advance and you would get more high level players NPCing not more low level
and whith high level players needeing to NPC a lot to get more NPC points you would haev less of them playing as PC's at the event and a lower APL

new players wouldnt haev to NPC at all untill level 9 then they would haev to NPC 3 times to "unlock" level 10

the only down side is when you force people to NPC there might be less then happy NPCing

FW
Click to expand...

Honestly, Frank? This would mean me not really being interested in coming to game. The nearest chapter to me, Chicago, is a 6-7 hour drive. If I'm going to make the investment in two tanks of gas, plus the time off so I can go play, I'm interested in PCing. Forcing me to blow weekends unwillingly NPCing is going to lead to two things, one of which is above, the other is that even if I do NPC, I will be a very poor NPC. It sounds selfish, I know, but this is recreation and stress relief for me, not a charity. It might work better out on the EC, where you can drive to most of the chapters in a couple hours, but in the Midwest or the WC, where we're pretty solidly 300 miles between chapters, even getting out to NPC is a pretty big effort.

Asking players to help out by NPCing is cool, and most often we will. Especially if we can do it in shifts that allow us to PC the event as well. Telling us 'no, you can't advance your character unless you do this for us first!' is just going to result in more 'Hey, WoW doesn't tell me I have to get slaughtered for other players' amusement to level, why bother with all this effort to go be tooled all weekend?' as a player mindset.
 
From a person who manages volunteers as a profession:

Your worst volunteers are those who are forced to be there for whatever reason. Volunteers should WANT to be doing whatever it is they're doing. Whether it's because they need school credit or "npc points," those who are there for the wrong reasons are a manager's nightmare. They don't put full effort in to what they're doing, they don't provide the proper experience to the audience (whether it's zoo guests, patients or paying players) and they suck the morale of everyone else down the tubes.

So speaking as a professional, as well as a HoP, I don't want anybody in my monster camp that doesn't want to be there for the right reasons.
 
yes I agree thats why I said for some people Requiring them to NPC wouldnt be good

you could use the system I sugested and allow people to Sell there NPC hours to those who would rather just buy there way out kinda like the rich people did to keep there kids out of the war but...

there is no easy solution

FW
 
JP, I would be willing to buy a level 10 PC for a 1 year (or more) campaign of at least 6 events a year. Get 19 more like me and you would have a lot of money to facilitate a potentially interesting campaign.
 
Alavatar said:
JP, I would be willing to buy a level 10 PC for a 1 year (or more) campaign of at least 6 events a year. Get 19 more like me and you would have a lot of money to facilitate a potentially interesting campaign.
Click to expand...

What would you be willing to pay?

Were in for some tuff times ahead a lot of people cant afford to come to a game now

if NPC's were paid (again paying some one isnt the best incentive) lets say $5 an hour and you paid them for a ten hour day thats $50
now lets say there are 20 NPC's thats $1000 and two days $2000
6 games $12,000 that devided by 20 people is $600 for your level 10 character willing to pay it now?
(add the event cost of $60 an event $360)
*(and note this is totaly illegial )

at this point I would like to thank all the people that NPC
its due to your work and the other people behind the curtan that make the game great fun!
Im looking forward to NPC'ing myself soon!
 
Also, a lot of people already NPC out of the goodness of their hearts or (hopefully) because they find it fun. $100 may bring in a LOT more NPCs, but I don't think you would have to pay them that much. Maybe the amount of a game - about $50 or $60. Remember, it's not an hourly wage, it's an incentive to volunteer.
 
20 people paying $22k for me to let them play 10th lvl characters over the course of 6 events within one year...

$12k for 6 weekends of site rental (seems right, but I may be off a little)
$6k for 20 actors paid $50 per weekend.
$4k for props, weapons, etc.

And then I'd still have the income from the non-bought PCs attending, some of which would probably go towards feeding the NPCs in the very least. I think it could be done. I'd love to test it out. But honestly, until we get more players that could afford such, it's something of a pipe dream, I suspect.

As a player, I honestly view all of the other PCs as my NPCs. They're there to be my foils, compatriots, allies and enemies, and I theirs. If someone buys up a tenth-level character, big whoop. They're not much different, in my eyes, from the tenth-lvl noble that is prissing about with his bu font hairdo and shiny new lederhosen.
 
Mevima said:
Also, a lot of people already NPC out of the goodness of their hearts or (hopefully) because they find it fun. $100 may bring in a LOT more NPCs, but I don't think you would have to pay them that much. Maybe the amount of a game - about $50 or $60. Remember, it's not an hourly wage, it's an incentive to volunteer.
Click to expand...

On the other hand, if you pay them at all, then is there not the liklihood of entering into the world of minimum wages, payroll taxes, and other wonderful things that most games would prefer not to spend time and money on now?
 
There's a way around that - call it volunteering with a stipend. :)

While I personally don't advocate paying NPCs I do wish there was something else we could reward them with. Gobbies are good, but maybe something else to spend them on?
 
they deserve every reward that can be give but given them some in game items will only make the level creep faster
 
Precisely, which is why I'm trying to think of something that would be cool to buy with gobbies that we don't already have in some form and that wouldn't affect the power level of the game.
 
you'll kill me for suggesting this... but maybe npcs could trade in thier gobbies for special plot for thier PC or something. like an extra special action between events, or even an extra action... or a module to be redeemed next event they PC or whatever. i dunno how this would mess with how things are done already so maybe it wouldn't work at all.. but since it would cost only plot brainpower and time and wouldn't effect the power levels in the game, i thought i'd throw it out there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top