So here I am, one of the 3 main sents on GodSpire, and few regulars left, posting about recent discussions and problems.
There has been a lack of people on GodSpire, a lack of players in general, and I have been told the same complaints again and again from new players, old players, regulars, and other sents. Previously the lack of players has been thought to be
from:
1. NWN Becoming Boring.
2. New Games Needing To Be Played.
3. Regulars & Sents Not Being Very Nice To People.
4. The Area Change
What about these?
1. So Let's Try To Keep It Interesting.
2. The Inevitable.
3. It Is Easy To Get Frustrated With Randomers/Noobs, So We Should Work On That Right?
4. Many People Dislike This. See Below.
From recent discussion with regulars and other sents, it has been identified that these things aren't the main issue, but a very small part of the problem. New people to GodSpire complain that the rules are too strict and are out of line. This, I do not believe to be true, but I have heard over and over. The new areas and changes to GodSpire, are confusing, pointless, and even annoying.
---Aman: Has no purpose, gets players lost.
---The city: Is unused, gets players lost, and is too far from the halls.
---The Docks: Are a great starting point, the boat to the city gets players lost.
---Angband: Needs to be easier to find and is not recognized as a randoming area, some Identification of this is needed.
---NPC's: Most of them do nothing and get in the way, the others have options such as wings/tails that dont work and need removing, and the new duel manager option needs to be fixed. The booting from an attack is also unnecessary as it may boot new players, who wont come back after that, fighting back is enough. The things they say need to be changed to suit each individual npc, and there are too many of them, they should remain in one place as well. They also need to stop taking rule books from a player when they get new equipment.
---Healing Lights: They should be as they used to be, they aren't often used anymore because no new players know what they are.
---Sentinels&Regulars: The fooling around because of boredom needs to be put at a halt, new players that watch this think it is ok and begin to do so, and when told to stop, do not understand because everyone else was or still is doing so. To fool around, sents and regs should go to Angband to show players that is where it is permitted, a sign would be helpful.
---The Rules: These may need some revising, I dont know, but besides that should also be put as an entry in the journal. Players are often used to seeing the rules in the journal from other servers, plus it makes a sound on entry, as such players often look there to see rules etc. Also a Sign at the entry to the halls saying the rules, whether in the description or when clicked on, or both, is something that may be very helpful, and might even do a better job at getting the players to read them, than the journal, or the books.
---The Library: This place is too hard to get to, nobody ever visits anymore besides myself and the random lost person. It has been expressed that it can still be a valuable area, if it is placed somewhere easy to find and get to. Along with that, some people decide that they will be noobish and take books from the shelves and resubmit them to other shelves or submit it again to the same shelf, duplicates have been in the shelves for months now, if possible a script to prevent a book with the same title from being re-submitted or submitted to other shelves, would solve this problem.
---Hall of Portals: The hall itself, is fine. The city is a bad place to have the portals, nobody goes there, and the people that do, are lost. A good place for the portals would be right in the halls of illuvatar, either having the area in the halls somewhere, or having the portals in a certain area of the halls.
---House of the Bear, Marauders Base & The Smiling Horse inn: It has been said that the house was too small of a base for the Marauders, it has also been said that a different area should be made for the Marauders. In either case two inns are not needed and both are too far off in the halls.
---Spellhold: I cannot think of the name for it, but that matters little. When this area was accessable, it wasnt used, and it has been expressed that it isnt needed.
---Dungeons: It has been said they are too hard, and are only good if you are bored from the server being empty, but since it clearly cannot be done alone, does not work as such. It has also been said it was a fun thing at first, but once gone through is old and doesnt really serve a purpose.
---Angband Gates: In Angband there is an old area with gates etc. this no longer has any purpose and can be removed. But it is my thought, that since some Marauders want a new base, and this is already present, that it could be transformed into a suitable base. Though, this isnt entirely important.
---Map: All areas should have proper map notes identifying the area, and in some cases, a little about them. For example on the map, in the halls, a map note where the door to Angband is saying: "Angband, Randoming Area" or "Angband, Randoming Allowed" etc.
---New Areas: New areas should probably be brought up on LM with a poll, and with feedback for the new area. Then this way the areas can get needed changes and or additions/deletions before it is even created, and even after creation.
---Items: The items being dropped and disappearing is something that I myself like, others may not agree on this. I believe though that the items in barter should not disappear, if getting rid of the script when items are dropped will fix this, then it should be done.
I believe that covers many, general problems, and things that people have brought up, discussed, or mentioned. That certaintly isn't everything, and I am sure I missed some things, but I did my best.
The main factor in all this is competition, GodSpire is losing it's old players, but not gaining any new ones. The Antediluvians Homeworld is doing better, but not by alot, and are losing players to other servers as well. Places like Chaotic World, Antiworld, and even Combat Central are getting more players than GodSpire, and are the main reasons for that. Chaotic World alone gets 40+ players at a time, and Antiworld, although I dont know its capacity, was full earlier today, and that was the reason some of it's players come to us, CC, the last time I checked was in the teens, and even CM has been getting more players than we have, the other day I seen 14 people there, while GodSpire was empty. As such GodSpire needs to keep up with the times, and draw in the crowd, it isnt so much that nwn is boring, with how many players these servers have, it certaintly doesnt appear so. Quoting someone else, "GodSpire is old, and is out of date." This is something that can be fixed, that is why I am here expressing the opinions of people who love GodSpire and dont want it to be empty and hollow like it has this past month.
Although many people have said these things and talked about them, I was asked to be the one to bring them up, and so I am doing so.
These are the expressed opinions of myself, DarkJimbo, other sents who I will not name, out of respect, since they did not know about me creating discussion about this, many regulars, and random new people to GodSpire, or even to the game, who have visited the server and expressed their opinions on it.
Alright, I know this was long, sorry for that, but it couldnt be said in two words.
Discuss...
