Roh's guide to making Das fun

[rohenna]

So I was going to have a rant in the negative on what was bothering me lately regarding things a lot of people have complained to me about, but instead I'm going to put this in the positive and tell you how I make my time on Das fun. My characters are rarely at a loss for RP, or for storylines, and in the case of Shayde, she has so much going on at once all the time that its hard to keep up. (Sorry, yes, I AM getting round to replying to that post, I promise! )

In my experience on NWN servers, being in the Aussie timezones previously meant no DM’s and few other players. I came to Das because there were always a few people logged in most of the time in my night time.

For those of you who are struggling with this, or struggling for RP, or with anything that keeps you somehow from logging in, here is what I do. You can take it or leave it, it may not work for you, but I hope it gives a few of you who are struggling some ideas because frankly, I miss a lot of you not being around for various reasons. (This post is entirely selfish)

1. I don’t rely on DM attendance for any of my stories. DMs have lives too. It’s great when they show up, it makes things a lot of fun, and creates opportunities for new stories/friendships, but I don’t rely on one to further my story.
2. I make sure my characters history and background is clear in my mind as it evolves, so that it can create new opportunities for stories. Shayde’s violent ex husband was made up on a whim, and has filtered through SO much of her RP.
3. I have a character to cover all spectrums/moods. Shayde is my main, but Bronte is for when I am in a cheeky, wild mood; Mouse when I have high energy and feel like a bit of slapstick humour; Morrigan when I am dark, grumpy, sassy or full of attitude. If I’m not in the mood for one, I swap to another.
4. My RP evolves organically. I don’t log in just to see another player usually (though at times its needed due to timezones etc) but when I log in to play Das, it’s with an open mind. To see what comes up.
5. I CREATE stories for my characters that can involve other players. Shayde had a storyline lull recently, so I have made a storyline where she now knows her long lost elven father's name. Now she can see if she can find him. She can now approach ANY elf and ask about it, opening up new character friendships and entry into other peoples stories. Or I can hold off on it again until there is another lull.
6. ALL my characters listen/ask questions. You can jump into others stories if you find out enough about them, then you have this wonderful situation where you are then co-creating new stories together. Shayde has often been accused of asking too many questions, but its amazing how many people complain (IC) and answer them anyway! Be curious!
7. Sometimes I feel left out. We all do. So I go and explore the city, or go grinding while sitting in my characters head, wondering what they might think about, giving rise to NEW stories. A couple of times I have been lacking for something to do and so took a leaf from the book of Sahji/Silas/Krylan/FSMan and made up some stories on the spot to run with. Once Shayde took Orion and Darion across the rooftops of Cear - it gave Orion a new plot hook, albeit a small one, but nobody saw it coming.
8. I post my character stories on the forums so that others may read them and possibly become interested in interacting with my characters. If nobody knows who you are, you can’t always evoke interest. Some of you are masters at getting others interest without the need for forum stories, and its awesome to see. You don't need to read this, if you are one of them! Kudos to you.
9. Sometimes when I feel left out or my usual fellow players aren’t around, I take a risk and go and talk to someone my character has never spoken to before. Sometimes she gets abused, sometimes snubbed, sometimes spoken to, sometimes a new friendship is born. Its ALL RP. And chances are, that person was standing there feeling left out too.
10. While there are few people Shayde will not try to sit down next to and nut out what makes them tick (even Canites...well...some of them...) not all characters are designed for/suited to this kind of openness, and that is great, but remember even conflict can be enjoyable for everyone when handled properly. Karma and I are good friends OOC but our characters loathe each other. Conflict is the core of every good story, be it your characters own inner conflicts, or with another faction, or an ideal, or someone's way of seeing the world. Challenge each other!

I hope this helps solve some of the problems people seem to have been having lately. It works for me, and I am rarely at a loss for something to do. I'm also struggling to keep up with things, so it works in the negative too...

But please, don’t stay out of Das because you don’t think you’ll get rp, you don’t have any stories going, or you feel left out. There are always solutions.

And selfishly, I want more of you to meet/RP with too. This whole article is just written so you'll all log in more, and then I get to have more fun. Really.

I'd also love to hear what everyone else does to make Das fun. Constructive advice please. We've heard enough of what people don't like. This is about solutions.

[Jain Zar]

Hey girl,

First of all : I like this constructive approach <3

Many times when its about the "bad" things on Das, it ends up in less positive thoughts. We talked girl... and you know we did.
Yes, I strangled too myself for a period, sometimes saw things more dark when certain things occured... you know what I am talking about. But enough...

I have resolved to support this post and approach of yours, as there are many things in it I recognize and some already did in the past.
And those work...

Elvina is back btw and involving people in her plot (everyone who wants in!) while also listening to their stories and supporting whatever she (her inner) seems to like. That was by the way also the approach I ooc and ic have with Depheant. (although my char there sometimes got 'accused' of asking sooo many questions )
Whenever I have time (and not in other rp's) Elvina was/is one of the characters welcoming new people to Cear (did it at a time even for months). And yes, out of some of those contacts very amazing things can happen (rp, stories, friendship).

Although sometimes a dm is welcome in certain rp (to improve contacts, bring people together but also more speaking of real events), it are the players who create this world (ps: still amazed by the 'small' rp at the docks ).
So lets keep doing that... sometimes a talk even a bit ooc with each other helps, checking others players interests, etc etc.

I do realise we can't save 'them' all, if a player leaves, its because he has a damn good reason for him or herself (rl, ooc, ig...).

Even though Elvina/Depheant are my main, as for myself I keep different characters with different features in order to be able playing with others (levels, classes, factions, interests), but besides rp/plots also opens opportunities to quest. Sometimes a char is liked, sometimes not, sometimes its supposed to be like that ... but mostly I have a hell of a time (even though I maybe the only who is laughing behind his screen so much *suddenly blushes wonders now if others do too O_O *)

I guess all I just want to say,... I like your post Roh... and of course I like Dasaria and its inhabitants, so you got my attention and support.


One more thing, if YOU (*looks at whoever reads this*) feels left out, please talk ooc (here, or ig), don't leave yet or for instance don't simply change to another account to start all over again in the hope to get involved. And even though we also sometimes have our bad days, talk to us... please.

[hannahcoldkiller]

These are all constructive suggestions that are very helpful for players. This is not a new problem. In fact, it's been a problem since almost the very beginning. Most of your suggestions, though, focus on what can individuals do to increase interactions/RP with other players on the server. Individual players have by themselves contributed to Das in innumerable ways, but it's when players work together is when things start to really happen.

Das is very much a sandbox where all the kids can come hang out and do their thing. But I think what has worked better in the past is organizing "play dates," players who agree to meet regularly once a week with or without a DM to adventure together. These groups create their own storylines and their characters grow together.

With jobs, family, school, and all that, it's very hard to find time to play. Rather than popping in whenever you can, I think it's more efficient use of time to arrange PnP style meetups once a week very much like you would with friends playing normal DnD. I'm in UTC +8 (China). I would like to find a group to play with on Sunday mornings starting in the fall. I could roll a new character or use an existing one to party with people who are available then.

If any action is required of anyone, it would be to create a system that facilitated groups like this. We used to have a calendar that listed the meeting times of groups and factions. We have a listing of active factions, and other players have used the forums to start groups like this in the past.

That's my two cents is all.

[Rheia Althia]

This is a brilliant post, Roh! It's much of the way I've always played. When I played Maeve, I never had a lack of RP, ever. Usually there was so much that I needed to pace myself, haha.

Great post!

[Domina]

Bump

[Outbreak1992]

Moar death! Moar Misery! Moar grim dark!