State of the game poll

[musashi]

And my all time personal favorite since tdesc went in ... barber! 

[Lukoyin]

As of the last few months or so, I should change my vote to stale.

The who command returns upwards of 60 PCs online during peak, and usually between 15 to 25 off peak, yet PCs I've had in both Tuluk and Allanak struggle to find interaction of even the most basic things, let alone any actual plots. Taverns seem exceptionally slow compared to their normal levels. 3 to 5 PCs (who aren't link-dead/krath-struck or just idle) in the Gaj or Sanc during peak times? Barely passing people on the roads when you go looking for interaction at other locations?

Am I really just this unlucky as of late?
Are alot of people hiding in apartments/compounds?
Are the D-elves/human tribals overflowing with PCs?
Are there sekrit meetings taking place in Red Storm of some 40 PCs each week that my own PC hasn't caught wind of?

[HavokBlue]

For the record, I think everybody wonders where at least 50 of the other 60 PCs are, and who those 40-50 new PCs a week are.

[Bebop]

As of the last few months or so, I should change my vote to stale.

The who command returns upwards of 60 PCs online during peak, and usually between 15 to 25 off peak, yet PCs I've had in both Tuluk and Allanak struggle to find interaction of even the most basic things, let alone any actual plots. Taverns seem exceptionally slow compared to their normal levels. 3 to 5 PCs (who aren't link-dead/krath-struck or just idle) in the Gaj or Sanc during peak times? Barely passing people on the roads when you go looking for interaction at other locations?

Am I really just this unlucky as of late?
Are a lot of people hiding in apartments/compounds?
Are the D-elves/human tribals overflowing with PCs?
Are there sekrit meetings taking place in Red Storm of some 40 PCs each week that my own PC hasn't caught wind of?

No, I agree.  I think the peak amounts of players are down as well from a few months ago they were hitting seventies now they are lingering in very lower fifties to forties.

[Pale Horse]

As of the last few months or so, I should change my vote to stale.

The who command returns upwards of 60 PCs online during peak, and usually between 15 to 25 off peak, yet PCs I've had in both Tuluk and Allanak struggle to find interaction of even the most basic things, let alone any actual plots. Taverns seem exceptionally slow compared to their normal levels. 3 to 5 PCs (who aren't link-dead/krath-struck or just idle) in the Gaj or Sanc during peak times? Barely passing people on the roads when you go looking for interaction at other locations?

Am I really just this unlucky as of late?
Are a lot of people hiding in apartments/compounds?
Are the D-elves/human tribals overflowing with PCs?
Are there sekrit meetings taking place in Red Storm of some 40 PCs each week that my own PC hasn't caught wind of?

No, I agree.  I think the peak amounts of players are down as well from a few months ago they were hitting seventies now they are lingering in very lower fifties to forties.

It's not just you.  I've been noticing this for some time.

[Bebop]

Hmm... sounds like its time for shit to get real.  *begins to plot*



But for seriously.  Don't take a leadership gig if you don't gots time for it.

[BleakOne]

I have noticed the bar scene is not as active as it has been in past months. Not sure why.

[Erythil]

I observe the non-city scene as being particularly lively atm, which may explain boring cities.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

I was pleased with how many people I've seen in a small village recently. As far as the state of the game, indies have always been less involved in large plots, yet at the same time, they see smaller parts of more plots than many clanned folk do.

I've always wished that clans provided a better life than being independent. Unfortunately, it does not regularly provide as much enjoyment, and though I think that could be fixed pretty easy, this is not the thread for that.

[HavokBlue]

I think particularly with an upcoming, large RPT, you might be able to find lots of activity outside the cities.

[valeria]

Also.  It's spring.  And it's exam season for a lot of us.  The number of unique logins per week seems to have pretty much held steady at 260, so maybe people are just playing less (and in the less obvious locations other people suggested).

[Taven]

Also.  It's spring.  And it's exam season for a lot of us.  The number of unique logins per week seems to have pretty much held steady at 260, so maybe people are just playing less (and in the less obvious locations other people suggested).

I think the nice weather and possibly spring exams might be making the player number less. We always see an upswing again in the summer, when people don't have classes.

Also, Gypsyfest is coming up. I expect that player numbers will climb higher as that gets closer, and we'll have a great turn out for the actual event.

[Dresan]

I was starting to think it was just one city state and i was planing of starting anew somewhere else. I guess it is everywhere though.

I can't help but get the slight impression the game and its players have become more PK oriented then it was in the past.

In all the time i've played this game i think i've only killed two or three people. One by complete accident, another by mass gank during the copper wars, and one ...actually i didn't manage to kill him...i tried so so hard, (i had trained hard, had him outnumbered, had him in a good location...etc etc.etc) to the point the staff told me that they couldn't understand how i managed to fail and to just kill him next time to avoid so much trouble (through an NPC)....but the guy still got away at the end.

That was three or four years ago though. With the shift in policy to more player based plots, the players with the energy, time and the talent to put effort into making the big plots happen or cause meaningful trouble tend to stand out more.  Of course there are PC out there who will want their characters dead for whatever IC reason, both quickly and without trouble to themselves. This is fine and all but all you end up with at the end is quiet long-lived PCs who are waiting for something exciting to happen. Well hope you're patient....

I wonder if PCs these days are too quick to kill other PC over trival matters then they were in the past. I can help but think because there aren't any large visible plots/conflict for PCs to get involved in, they often resort to planning murders since it is an easy way to have fun. While killing is often the only IC thing to do in some cases, but perhaps if there were more PCs who ICly believed that having someone kicked from the clan, shamed infront of their mates, stripped naked and tossed out in to the desert was a worst fate then just a quiet quick death somewhere remote, then maybe we'd have more plots and people in the taverns to drive them.  

I don't know this is just a small lingering thought right now which could be completely wrong so take it with a grain of salt.

[jhunter]

I actually feel there's less killling going on than there was in the past.

[SMuz]

I think PKs only depend on where you are. It doesn't quite seem so bad from my angle.

I did all my PKs on only one character, think he killed about 2-5 characters or something. He was actually the nicest of all my characters, though merciless if ordered to be, especially if it interfered with his focus. It's not really something I enjoy OOC. He did have one character he didn't like knocked out and stripped like you say, though that character just calmly woke up and walked back into the Gaj and not caring and I regret not dumping him deeper in the desert or in a well

On the other hand, I've had 2 raider type characters, 1 psychopath assassin, and none of them killed any PCs. They just taunted and teased their prey, giving them a chance to beg or give a reason not to be killed, and even then, they try to knock out those characters if all they want is the loot.

PK is often a last resort. I think very few Arm players find any satisfaction in PK, especially since you can already 'win' against them in so many other ways, and having a PC rival naked at the bottom of a well wanting you dead is so much more fun.


On activity itself, I did notice quite a few taverns fill up. Interestingly, I've had characters up in every starting location, and I've seen characters travel from literally the other end of the map to the other, so it's often the exact same characters tavern sitting. There's far more visible activity in Red Storm and Luir's because people can only meet in one small location, and it's not split into tons of clans and taverns and apartments and other quit spots/stables.

Heck, one thing I've noticed from my off peak times is that people will travel further to socialize when there's nobody. I noticed that migration pattern in my own characters and some of their friends, where they would move further when they can't interact with the people they want to. Someone would go "X clan is dead, I'm moving to Y clan." Where these clans are often dead only because clan members aren't online at the same time.

But hell, sometimes I wonder where those other 20 characters are most of the time. And sometimes I wonder if some rogue sorcerer hiding in a cave is actually enjoying himself. Or how long he can hide in that cave before getting bored.

[Riya OniSenshi]

I think it's sad that so many people equate tavern-sitting to things/events happening in-game, but I guess that's just a self-perpetuating cycle.

[Ghost]

I intend to make vague references to doing something (or not seeing things done) that I can't talk about, so like find out IC, but I will subtly drop references to at least three different parts of the game so you don't know wtf is going on.

i...

i think i am in love

i live in dallas

[Dresan]

I intend to make vague references to doing something (or not seeing things done) that I can't talk about, so like find out IC, but I will subtly drop references to at least three different parts of the game so you don't know wtf is going on.

i...

i think i am in love

i live in dallas

You said you thought you were in 'line'.... don't go cheating and changing the clues now. I was on to your master plot!


Derailment aside,  what riya and Jhunter said depressed the heck out of me. I thought the people being killed where the master plotters who tended to stand out.

[SMuz]

I think it's sad that so many people equate tavern-sitting to things/events happening in-game, but I guess that's just a self-perpetuating cycle.

Heh, yeah, it's sort of the opposite. I only tavern sit when nothing happens. But if you're not tavern sitting, you're probably having fun in some small group that I don't interact with.

[a strange shadow]

I think it's sad that so many people equate tavern-sitting to things/events happening in-game, but I guess that's just a self-perpetuating cycle.