DM FOE absent for a spell

Hey there Underdarkers! As you may have noticed I have been pretty unavailable on the client lately; RL has become super busy and will remain so for about another month or so. I will try and come on to DM periodically but in the meantime please bear with the temporary absence. As a side note I urge some of our new UD players to consider joining the two existing noble qu'ellars if you feel it fits your rp. Guidelines for starting a new Qu'ellar are the same as any other guild and can be found on the forum.

Until then have fun stabbing each other and remember Underdark rule number 1:

     DON'T GET CAUGHT     

Take care FOE, see you when we see you.

I know the feeling, my RL has been the same to a large extent this autumn.
I guess this will increase Neer'yl's burdens, she's already started drinking quite a lot to put up with the situation... 
I hope you can take a look at the forum rp occasionally.
 
Take care, and see you when you come back.

see ya around foe

*over throws the Yath while your gone muhaha*

No worries Mr Foe, we'll try not to burn the place down while you're gone.

In regards to the Qu'ellars though, is there much point? Aside from Demo'loth and occasionally Naralad, there are rarely if ever any members of these houses online. They seem sort of dead in the water atm tbh :p

I'd love to see these houses actually have some presence in the game, but without any of the high ranking members playing its not likely to happen T.T

I think each of the two houses have two players each that are kinda activite, and im sure after some recruitments the stage will be set for some Politics and playful rivalies

personally I think the nobil houses should be given parts of the city to run an look after, and if your character happens to live on their terf, you have more of a reason to join up or something.

I've tried to join both Houses on occasions, but despite interacting with representatives of them, it has not happened.

Starting a qu'el'lar of your own in the shape of a physical House costs 5 epic tokens and 1 million gold. But there were also talks some time ago, that starting a "house" without a physical building (hopefully to come later when gold and tokens are amassed) might be enabled as long as you have an ilharess, a first daughter and 3 prospective qu'el'lar masters (qu'el'faeruk, qu'el'velguk, qu'el'saruk?) or something like that. I was hoping to be part of a new one myself sometime ago (with Iseng), but the project failed due to internal differences... 
Whether an Ilharess must be a yath or not, has been the source of heated debates (can't find the thread right now). But regardless of position taken in this matter, there have also been talks of "merchant qu'el'lars", and Ilharess/leader position might be open for most classes (with decent charisma/intelligence) for such a House.

Rickshaw wrote:

I'd love to see these houses actually have some presence in the game, but without any of the high ranking members playing its not likely to happen T.T

Zau'Afins 'High Ranking' Members are controlled by one to two players who hold multiple ranks within the house that are completely and utterly loyal to one another.


Sooo...


You've got quite a few options:


Join an old House, Dabel'kith or Zau'Afin:
PROS- In-game Qu'ellar, crafting stations in Qu'ellar. A place to call home. A Surname of depreciating value.
CONS- Inactivity. Dealing with players who have indefinite or extremely solidified positions, little movement up the ranks. Zau'Afin doesn't have Crafting Stations and is an empty husk within the Qu'ellar. You will find players that will or may only make appearances to circumvent or foil your own plans/schemes. Then disappear afterwards until needed again. Positions are rarely given up and you literally have to wait for someone to quit or to make their Drow an Alt.

Join Qu'ellar Dhuuniv:
PROS- NPC/DM Controlled. Chances to Rise up/Promote oneself. Oldest Qu'ellar in the server Lore. Built-in Qu'ellar. Easier for DMs to run events. A place to call Home.
CONS- Qu'ellar has no teleportion to it. Walking is a long distance (All of them are.) DM supervision would be essential to success. Could run a server Qu'ellar, allows for more in-depth effects and DMs can better control the direction Szith-Morcane and Dhuuniv moves.

Join the Yath:
PROS- Position, Foundation, Guard your superiors or aid the weak until they are strong. No House Orientation or Allegiance; work for Szith-Morcane and place yourself above the Qu'ellars. For who is above the Yath? No one.
CONS- More Risk, more eyes watching you. Having no allegiance to a Qu'ellar "Could" displace you from others.

Create a Qu'ellar:
PROS- You and five of your friends suddenly show up with a bunch of level 1's with high ranking positions that hold little value in the server lore. Build up your reputation, raise your kingdom from the floor. Solidify a presence as you and your friends gain levels to the epics. Be a badass.
CONS- Who are you? Level 5 Ilharess? Being a level 5 who tries to order Epics around and then acts surprised when they get slapped like a water buffalo on a Tuesday. Find a Builder to make a Qu'ellar, get it imported into the Module. Maintain a constant presence. Needs dedicated individuals to keep the ball rolling. Trying not to act snobby at low levels so everyone doesn't dislike you before you hit high levels. Face-time is key.

Remain a Shebali:
PROS- No one cares about you. No one knows anything about you. Be an Enigma.  No Qu'ellar position, no Yath position. No responsibilities aside from staying out of the others way.
CONS- No one cares about you. No one knows anything about you. You're an Enigma. Get little RP if not inside a social-clique. No Qu'ellar position, no Yath position. Get called a Heretic, get treated like dirt.

Join the Church of Selvetarm:
PROS- Be a Drow Beserker. Do whatever you want. Slap things ranging from small nubile females to large omnipotent demi-beings. Get women. Get Loyalty from your brothers and Sisters of the Faith. Work with Lolthites in aiding Lolths ideals, but get shot-down anytime something productive might happen. Have a purpose of just murdering, killing, murdering, killing and more murdering until your ultimate destruction in which it's like a Viking rising to the halls of Valhalla (lol no jk. Abyss)
CONS- Get called a Heretic all Day errey day. Have your faith questioned. Have scripts built in that literally sear your flesh anytime you near Lolths presence. Have your friends kidnapped to try to get under your skin, have Lolth personally come down and slap you around while trying to kill your mate. Anyone who rises to challenge you and get crushed run to their superiors and use the social system against your immense strength. Kill a Demi-god, get no credit for it. Have too many women, which causes social angst that later gets your throat slit from a jealous one. Hangovers.

... More hangovers.

***************************************

I got a good chuckle from writing this. While it holds truth and a mixed view there are also facts you can't deny shoved in there. The UD is a slow moving place with a lot of concrete blocks layed down that make it more difficult.

If you all work together on an OOC and IC level you can get something beautiful going. The best times I had on this server was when you could log in and get like 5 [Tells] asking what was up, or how you were doing. Then told where to go hang out or asked where you were so you could catch some RP and have a blast.

If you see someone wandering aimlessly around, or logged on and you know they are UD. Make contact with them, the more welcomed they feel down here the longer they will stay.

 

_Selvetarm_ wrote:

Join Qu'ellar Dhuuniv:
PROS- NPC/DM Controlled. Chances to Rise up/Promote oneself. Oldest Qu'ellar in the server Lore. Built-in Qu'ellar. Easier for DMs to run events. A place to call Home.
CONS- Qu'ellar has no teleportion to it. Walking is a long distance (All of them are.) DM supervision would be essential to success. Could run a server Qu'ellar, allows for more in-depth effects and DMs can better control the direction Szith-Morcane and Dhuuniv moves.

 
 
I like this idea very much (well except for the first "con" parts ofc).

I actually really like the idea of a dm controlled house to.

maseoo wrote:

_Selvetarm_ wrote:

Join Qu'ellar Dhuuniv:
PROS- NPC/DM Controlled. Chances to Rise up/Promote oneself. Oldest Qu'ellar in the server Lore. Built-in Qu'ellar. Easier for DMs to run events. A place to call Home.
CONS- Qu'ellar has no teleportion to it. Walking is a long distance (All of them are.) DM supervision would be essential to success. Could run a server Qu'ellar, allows for more in-depth effects and DMs can better control the direction Szith-Morcane and Dhuuniv moves.

 
 
I like this idea very much (well except for the first "con" parts ofc).

Shadowcraft wrote:

I actually really like the idea of a dm controlled house to.

Take a walk down to the Dhuuniv compound and check it out. It's a perfect place for a DM controlled House and the complex is pretty vast.

Personally, both Qu'ellars need to be dissolved. They are inactive aside from the purpose of 'Well, I run this Qu'ellar when I get on/log on my alt/to this server." I think it's just a running joke now when all of the oldies just stand around and talk crap about the Refugee Days with some hearty laughs.

Merging everyone into Dhuuniv also places the small UD playerbase to interact with one another while giving them secondary Non-Qu'ellar positions in the academies of Szith-Morcane.

It also allows for the DMs to make a common enemy (Hell, make an NPC house that the player House works against.) and like I said, to run plots a lot smoother without invoking repercussions from one faction or the other.

Just my two cents to unite the UD.

I would actually really really like this, only thing that would need to be sorted though is the tokens and gold people pumped into the houses, if those players are still around that is.

Having multiple player run Quellars does only work when you have a busy server.

On a server with only at most 4 or 5 players at the same time then a DM controlled Quellar (with limited player advancement) would be best

I am not precious about keeping my Ilharess or faction. Also i tend to only play during the week (and euro times) as i work and party at weekends

If its decided to change things it might bring some freshness to the situation

We were all hoping that when Szith was recaptured it would re-energise things but that has not really happened

Its not a busy server either player-wise or DM -wise

I've been here for two years and had almost no DM interraction on the surface. I have had more in the Underdark occasionally but then long periods with nothing. I am not complaining just stating a fact. I have had hardly if any DM interraction on other servers too

By the way, and on a side note. There is no one running the Bregan D'Aerthe now. GraveZero used to, but I don't think he's online anymore? I guess it could might be a position "up for grabs", to lead a basically unaligned drow mercenary band (or be part of it).

While I am not sure about it and need to consult the DM team, I believe that Qu'ellar Dhuurniv is not currently a joinable faction. A player's plot got mixed up with it in the last few months but that was more of a plot device and it is not a technically active guild etc.

This could change if there was enough desire for it and if the staff feels it is acceptable.

Just an idea - although we dont fully know the nature of House Dhuurniv and perhaps it is indeed meant to play another role in the story - could there perhaps be a larger side plot where the players take over the House, or rather important positions in it, i.e. key figures are thrown out (killed) while sargtlinen and other resources are kept?
Of course, this would demand that evidence the House is somehow in disfavour or corrupt etc., that we can muster enough strength (probably difficult but then again perhaps not if there is some backing from the yath/the academies), that the other Houses are not interested...And that the newly appointed Ilharess is then a yath (dm-controlled) npc?
 
Just food for thought in the meantime, without trying to run ahead of future discussions and rulings/wishes of the DM:s.

Personally, I don't see the Quellar as an important aspect of the UD play. Yes, Xylan likes his fancy tower, but all it is is a fancy place to RP. Personally I'd rather see Dabel'kith be more accessible (for crying out loud, why does the Underdark suffer? YOU CAN'T GET ANYWHERE). I'd be all about bringing people in so they could play/live there, but generally people act like being a shebali makes them better than everyone. Kinda weird.

I don't think the Quellar need to be disassembled. Just leave things as they are and focus on driving the UD plot. The people/establishments serve the plot, not the other way around.

if there are no active DMs this is all rather academic

The UD is definitely in need of proper transportation options and easier accessibility. Even Szith-Morcane is a jumble, as all the interior areas are categorized under a single name, which makes finding people even more difficult.

People act like being a Shebali is something unique because there isn't motivation to join a House or a benefit from being in one. It is weird that someone would turn down a position inside of a Qu'ellar, but why join one when you and two of your friends can stay cooped up inside one of the remote Underdark ~ Interior of Szith Morcane and 'RP'.

I liked the Refugee Camp a little better, because it was a central Hub with little side areas. We'd have the entire UD in a small spot which allowed a lot more RP and interaction than a larger city with fewer people.

In the Refugee Camp, you were either in the camp, in your Qu'ellar Tent, Around your fire, at your Qu'ellar, or leveling. Not in a multitude of blank houses and holes.

I'd like to see a Caravan of some kind placed throughout the UD, allowing players to buy their way to particular spots as well as teleportation to the major hubs via portals.

Edit: and yes Max, it would help if there was more DM Activity... but just like with every NWN2 server... DM activity seems to be on a down-low.

Arjay wrote:

I'd be all about bringing people in so they could play/live there, but generally people act like being a shebali makes them better than everyone.

I've not seen many examples of this, maybe max 1 or 2?

Greetings Underdark Players. I have spoken to Foe and I have an event or two planned for you guys. However any time I am online I do not see any of you on. In fact the drow population seems to have dried up completely. I do hope I can catch some of you online to run events for. My events are generally spur of the moment so if your online I will be able to include you.

Regards, Stardust

I think some recent developments and threads caused some resentment among the players.
I myself have been focusing mostly on the Clan Grimfell project lately.

Hey all. Things have gotten super busy again and my schedule has shifted a bit.

We are gearing to get some UD fixes done before any major rp is started up again. The fixes have begun to drag so I think they need attention first.

Apologies if I am not ig as much in the next week or so and feel free to make PM requests and server suggestions in the meantime.