If there is a time jump, I'd imagine we'd see some updates in layout, some expansion (or destruction, reduction, etc.) depending on how successful a faction/city has been during that lapse. And it might be a fine way to introduce new ruling NPCs such as the Sullivan, mayor, etc. A new revamping of existing places will, even if on a small scale, bring that new server smell that folks like.
My following suggestion is hardly tied to the looks and themes and direction of the new server and is instead meant to encourage more administrative things. Our little server here has had a number of Grand Exodus'es in it's time. People have made stances and statements and left in droves until the server had a handful of active players, a handful of DMs, and not really much to do as the content was designed with group play in mind. The suggestion, then, is for the DMs to be more actively engaged with the player base and for the players to have a place in which they can give feedback on their experiences and have a dialogue in which those experiences can be seen, addressed, and effectively alter the server for the better. It will require more work with an active and public changelog, it will be a hassle to keep up with everyone's whining and complaining about something that someone made and is very likely proud of and will be hurt that it isn't enjoyed. It's the hard part of running a Persistent World instead of a social RP hub.
I have seen that there's an effort to bolster DM numbers and engagement. There have been drives to corral new players into the lobby and waiting room of this revamped server. It's nice and it's refreshing. Good job on that! If it goes well and launch is relatively stable, I'd even throw in to try and get some more advertising so that when fringe folks fall off, we've still got a glut of players here who can do the real hard work of entertaining each other between events and server story ongoings. Sure would be nice to hop in and see someone else running around!
Factions are always a point of contention. There has to be DM involvement to make joining a faction worth while in the long term, and it needs to be more than mechanically rewarding. Roleplayers already have a habit to form subgroups and pockets and cliques. We like to write with people who fit well with our own writing styles, we like to play with people who play at the same time, and we like to chase themes with people going after similar themes and goals. Given that this place is something of a frontier in design (and assuming it still will be), I'd suggest letting factions be some sort of overarching metaplot interaction option while encouraging player posses and smaller groups to have the ability to hunt down their own shared goals in a more minor aspect of the story. Everyone wants to have an impact. Everyone wants to leave their mark in some form or fashion, even if it is just in the memories of the other players. And by encouraging the existing nature of cliques and small groups that happen within larger groups, you can have events tailored to a specific theme with a manageable number of players and those players are already engaged and interested in the content of the event as it is made for them. Trying to force everyone to get along and to roleplay and write at different levels usually just causes schisms anyhow.
Monster Races. Whew. Talk about a tough thing. The implementation of the last version of monsters was... interesting. Had there been enough engagement and DM driven activity for the monsters to enjoy being more than vaguely stronger mechanically in some cases, I suspect they would have been played a bit more and for longer periods. I personally think that, if they are even going to be an option to choose (and you know that I would choose them), they need to have something happening. And it's going to involve even more of the DM teams time and effort for a more niche subgroup of the server. So, unless a DM group is willing to tackle being almost entirely monster focused, I think they should be swept aside as NPCs and the previously monster centric area be transitioned to an evil-centric area. This way, there's no alienation, no sort of limitation, and no need for DMs to thin themselves even further. Focus on what gets players active and involved. If monster race options aren't it, even more reason to trim the fat in favor of building better flavor elsewhere.
A server wiki would be amazing. That's the sort of thing that helps people see what options there are mechanically, it gives an overview of the server, a place to put maps and guides, and it encourages people to jump in and help on the editing. But this would have to be started by DMs and it would mean constantly having a changelog that is up to date, accurate, and is in essence a living document. For a wiki to work, we need transparency and documentation on mechanical changes as well as area overviews. It's an undertaking and is not exactly exciting or flashy, but it means people can poke the wiki, theory craft a build that matches what they want to do at whatever level they want to be, and nobody is surprised by changes that ruin their plans.
One aspect that every server has to deal with is economy. While the design of an economy by someone who isn't both a learned economist and a seasoned persistent world player is incredibly difficult to bail down, I think utilizing player feedback and suggestions should help pretty well. People like banks, it seems, but are split on things such as coin weight, expected prices, etc. For the purely player-driven, I can suggest at least one thing: legacy items. When adjusting the level of power, price, and utility of items, some will eventually be found to be too powerful or outside of the theme. In that case, it would be best to remove it from the loot tables but leave the existing items in the hands of players. They will either trade/sell them around and keep money flowing until the items are nabbed up by collectors or until they get lost with the death of a PC/leaving of a player. But this also needs to be bolstered by rotating in new items as well. They don't all have to be massively powerful, and they don't even have to be good. Cursed items that don't really do anything catch the eyes of people who like them and they'll pay good money to collect them. It can even be a story point for them. Weak items and one-off consumables and all of that can get used. Then, everyone in a while, try to assess the items least used/owned/purchased and phase them out, too. Keeps the stores clean, it focuses on what players actually enjoy, and it can even by a seasonal or cyclical thing wherein people will actively want to participate in various quests, events, etc. just to get what could become a collectible/legacy item that they can sell for big money.
Lastly, honestly, this one kind of is a tiny bit of an attack. But hopefully one that encourages togetherness against a united enemy. Don't let people get bored. Don't ignore criticism. Don't try to sweep the people who leave and their reasoning for doing so under a rug. If people are complaining and their complaints aren't addressed and taken care of, eventually they will leave. If people see that the administration does not address or fix complaints and people leave because of it, they'll leave under the assumption that their own problems will not be addressed or fixed. And then you create the ever popular Death Spiral. Trying something new, inventive, and important leads to failure. So fail up. Learn from the mistakes of the past to make today better. Learn from today's mistakes and make tomorrow better. And learn from tomorrow's mistakes and make the day after better. It goes on. You will get egg on your face, you will get called out for bad behaviour, for bad design, for accidents and typos, for player preference, for sneezing with your shirt halfway on. If you can address those complaints (even if it's just a "This [problem] is not seen as a problem by the Dev team and was implemented with a purpose." Or "There is a solution, but it may be difficult to do and we are focusing on other, more critical problems at this time. We have added it to our public to-do list as 'Eventually.'" Or "Oh, shit. Sorry. I made a mistake in editing a file. That will get fixed with the next update and thanks for catching it!"), the player base will be more happy, more trusting, and more willing to give both leeway and feedback. And more feedback that is utilized and more trust from the players means that when a problem strikes, folks don't leave all at once but stick it out in hopes and expectations that a solution will be made and implemented.
I am certain there are a great many more opinions and suggestions I can give and I will do my best to give them. But I do think tackling the systemic issues and flaws will help build a stronger foundation for the server to be built upon.
Topic: Step into the Future - Questions and Suggestions (Read 70988 times)