Potentially returning player with some questions

[Ayamane]

I'm considering coming back into the game after a year long absence, but to be perfectly honest, my past experiences with the game have left me a little...disheartened. The last couple of times I've tried to play, I've either burned out from intense RP or had so little interaction that I got bored and left. Don't get me wrong, Armageddon is awesome, and I really want to enjoy it, mainly because I love the idea of an unexplored world that always has something interesting to be found, if you have the means to go out and find it. I think I just keep setting myself up for failure.

So, on to the questions.

1. Would it be better to pick up my old character, or store him and start fresh? Keeping in mind that lack of interaction due to incompatible timezones was the main reason I quit last time. I already stored one character, the burnout one, so I'm a little wary of upsetting the devs, but then I probably already upset them by disappearing for a year.

2. If I did start a new character, what would be the best starting point for someone who a) wants a middle-ground between intense RP and complete lack of interaction, and b) lives in the UK, so is limited to GMT playing times. (Namely noon till 10pm UTC)

The more RP intensive roles are the ones that appeal to me, but I just don't feel I have the RP skill to live up to them. A less intensive role would be nice until I feel I've developed that skill enough. But not so much that I get bored.

[Rhyden]

Here's my advice:

#1 Store your old character and start something fresh. You want a middle-ground between interacting with PCs and solo rp? I'd suggest making a mobile type character. Perhaps a travelling sales person, a caravan guide, or a worldly hunter. That way you can travel into the cities (Allanak and Tuluk, which are also the best starting points to answer #2) to find interaction but just as easily leave whenever you'd rather be alone.

Welcome back and good luck!

[MeTekillot]

Tuluk has a lot of nuanced social interaction that can be a little hard to get into for people who aren't familiar with the area. However, the surrounding wilderness is much easier to survive in due to its comparatively lush nature in contrast with Allanak's.

Allanak's social interaction is probably a bit easier to understand, but the surrounding area is much much harder to survive in due to the toughness of critters and scarcity of food-bearing plants.

[Ayamane]

Here's my advice:

#1 Store your old character and start something fresh. You want a middle-ground between interacting with PCs and solo rp? I'd suggest making a mobile type character. Perhaps a travelling sales person, a caravan guide, or a worldly hunter. That way you can travel into the cities (Allanak and Tuluk, which are also the best starting points to answer #2) to find interaction but just as easily leave whenever you'd rather be alone.

Welcome back and good luck!

Are there any organizations active in the GMT timezone that such a character could regularly interact with, if they so desired? That kind of character actually ties in with the part of the game I like most, the traveling and exploration. I just worry that nobody would be around when I'm on, and my desire to play would stagnate again.

[Barzalene]

Either city will rock for you - in different ways.

Pick one, either one. Go to a. bar or two. See who is active. Join them. Play a human or someone who can at least pass.

If you're worried about your rp skill level you're making the effort and you're thinking and trying. This means you will do well. No need for performance anxiety.

[Rhyden]

Are there any organizations active in the GMT timezone that such a character could regularly interact with, if they so desired? That kind of character actually ties in with the part of the game I like most, the traveling and exploration. I just worry that nobody would be around when I'm on, and my desire to play would stagnate again.

I actually have no idea which clans are most active currently, but you have two options.

1.

Pick one, either one. Go to a. bar or two. See who is active. Join them. Play a human or someone who can at least pass.

2. Submit a request at the homepage http://armageddon.org under Clan Related then Question/Request. Ask the staff which area would be best suited for your play time, your preferences, and character type. If anyone can recommend the best clan for you currently, it's staff.

Hope this helps.

[Ayamane]

Are there any organizations active in the GMT timezone that such a character could regularly interact with, if they so desired? That kind of character actually ties in with the part of the game I like most, the traveling and exploration. I just worry that nobody would be around when I'm on, and my desire to play would stagnate again.

I actually have no idea which clans are most active currently, but you have two options.

1.

Pick one, either one. Go to a. bar or two. See who is active. Join them. Play a human or someone who can at least pass.

2. Submit a request at the homepage http://armageddon.org under Clan Related then Question/Request. Ask the staff which area would be best suited for your play time, your preferences, and character type. If anyone can recommend the best clan for you currently, it's staff.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll do #2 now, putting in a store request first.

Edit: It's asking for a specific clan to send it to, should I just put unclanned?

[spicemustflow]

Edit: It's asking for a specific clan to send it to, should I just put unclanned?

yeah, unclanned. (assuming you haven't sent it already)

[Fredd]

Byn are active across all time zones atm I'm finding. it's a good time to be Byn.

(i don't think that's to ic, since I'm not saying who or where, but if it is, Nyr will cover me, I'm sure)

But an unclanned warrior/ nomad or merc is a very strong "be by myself" setup.

[Ayamane]

Alright, I sent the request to the unclanned staff, we'll see what they say.

As far as playing a Byn goes, that's what got me burned out the first time, so I'd rather avoid that. I basically asked the staff for a concept that allows for some freedom with the option of interaction in my timezone when I get lonely.

[RogueGunslinger]

Alright, I sent the request to the unclanned staff, we'll see what they say.

As far as playing a Byn goes, that's what got me burned out the first time, so I'd rather avoid that. I basically asked the staff for a concept that allows for some freedom with the option of interaction in my timezone when I get lonely.

Hunter for a Great Merchant House. Salarr/Kurac/Kadius

[Lizzie]

Alright, I sent the request to the unclanned staff, we'll see what they say.

As far as playing a Byn goes, that's what got me burned out the first time, so I'd rather avoid that. I basically asked the staff for a concept that allows for some freedom with the option of interaction in my timezone when I get lonely.

Hunter for a Great Merchant House. Salarr/Kurac/Kadius

1. Kurac doesn't hire hunters; they're a military organization with -strict- rules about leaving the city/outpost unattended during the recruitment period (which is more than a RL month).
2. Being a clanned GMH hunter comes with restrictions that aren't very playable for an off-peak player when their clan doesn't have any other hunters in it. It might have 20 PCs in it today, but tomorrow 18 might get killed, 1 plays a different time than you, and the other only logs in once every 2 RL weeks. It is often either an iso role, OR a high-profile high-RP-continually role. It's rarely inbetween, which is what the OP is trying to find.

[CravenMadness]

play a grebber... I had a lot of fun just wandering around, finding stuff I thought was junk, and then finding people or shops to sell to.  But, expect to die ... That will save you the disappointment when you do die.  Lots of individual motivation, going out and finding people / places to sell your junk to, so you aren't always burdened down.  Keeping stocked on the junk that found people buy... Finding new junk that you need to get valued... Haggling with pc buyers using prices you've found from npcs through travels... talking in bars about all the cool random places you wander to...  And the always awesome, finding someone's dead body in an out of the way area not often traveled.

[solera]

I've always assumed that 6 weeks in the Byn gives you some survivability, if you want to go a-wandering. 
Also , if you do have a Sergeant on the same time as you, it gives you some ic and ooc experience of surviving (or not) an encounter with the wild life.
Maybe more importantly, it leaves your PC with contacts all  over the known.
Remember, don't spend all your starting sids on a Wish List.

[James de Monet]

I'm not certain what you mean by being burned out by intense RP (and its almost always best not to go into specifics on the GDB), but your survivability, both as a new player and as a new character goes up dramatically when you are in a clan. Trying to get over the learning curve of this game and into the sweet, sweet fields of awesome is a very daunting task without help.

If you find clan RP to be overwhelming for you, you can always frame a character to help with that.  Make a character who's too dumb for intense politics, or who's too much of an asshole to care about anyone else's problems much. Then, when a certain bit of RP becomes a bit too much for you, your character has a perfect IC reason to get up and walk away.

As you go on, you'll have to balance this tendency with maybe walking your character away from some conversations you'd rather stay for, because of this trait, but it could be just the out you need to get you over the hump and into the game.

[Ayamane]

I'm not certain what you mean by being burned out by intense RP (and its almost always best not to go into specifics on the GDB), but your survivability, both as a new player and as a new character goes up dramatically when you are in a clan. Trying to get over the learning curve of this game and into the sweet, sweet fields of awesome is a very daunting task without help.

If you find clan RP to be overwhelming for you, you can always frame a character to help with that.  Make a character who's too dumb for intense politics, or who's too much of an asshole to care about anyone else's problems much. Then, when a certain bit of RP becomes a bit too much for you, your character has a perfect IC reason to get up and walk away.

As you go on, you'll have to balance this tendency with maybe walking your character away from some conversations you'd rather stay for, because of this trait, but it could be just the out you need to get you over the hump and into the game.

Let's just say I was involved in one of the more infamous Byn incidents a few years back and leave it at that. (I don't think that's too specific, is it?) It kinda put me off the Byn for the foreseeable future, which is sad, because the sergeant in question actually apologized OOC, despite the incident being perfectly IC.

I figure once I've become a little more adjusted to the atmosphere of Zalanthas and a bit better RPer I'll go back and try again. One of my main issues is that I find it hard to keep up with the speed of some of the more intense scenes.

[Barzalene]

The speed thing is sort of a cerebral muscle memory thing, that you develop. (Or maybe we all just get used to skimming)

[Harmless]

Make an independent Northern hunter, woodcutter subguild, or similarly woodsy type. Doesn't have to be Tuluki citizen, Luir's is fine too. Make sure you pick an age close to 25 for humans, a bit higher if you're going half-elf, higher still if dwarf. Don't roll an elf, it's a very different kind of RP and if your problem is being isolated that won't help things. Save elves for when you have more experience.

Then, come up with a character concept that makes it in character for you to be pretty much clueless. Imagine someone who would have no experience with the outside, but really yearns for that -- they have potential to do good in the wastes, but no talent in it whatsoever and a huge propensity for mistakes. This is your PC concept for the next 10 characters, as I promise, you will just keep on dying. But, if you make your RP believable, then people will love you anyway. In fact, you'll find it surprising how often you'll be able to find help, even if you're offpeak. Just stay true to your concept, whatever it is you decide.

Although, I still recommend picking an age close to 25 or so. Having ganked stats will make your learning experience shorter. Not necessarily less fun (maybe more fun in fact), but if your PC is older you'll get more chances to make mistakes and you'll learn the game a lot faster.

[Ayamane]

Ironically, my non-human characters tend to be the longest lived, counting active playtime, maybe because I like RPing a non-human personality. (I imagine a Mantis would be a blast to play, were they still available. Alas.) The longest so far has only been about 3 weeks though. I think the shortest was my first, about 5 minutes, courtesy of a Kryl. In fact, I don't think I've had a death that wasn't caused by Kryl. Clearly, I haven't played enough if I haven't walked off the Shield Wall.

[Booya]

Hello fellow GMTer!

Pretty sure you'd find a variety of characters to interact with in Tuluk at the moment, during the times you posted.

[ShaLeah]

Ironically, my non-human characters tend to be the longest lived, counting active playtime, maybe because I like RPing a non-human personality. (I imagine a Mantis would be a blast to play, were they still available. Alas.) The longest so far has only been about 3 weeks though. I think the shortest was my first, about 5 minutes, courtesy of a Kryl. In fact, I don't think I've had a death that wasn't caused by Kryl. Clearly, I haven't played enough if I haven't walked off the Shield Wall.

Here I am thinking my 4 month average per character over 12 years sucks. Thanks for that and welcome back!

Stay away from kryl, and stumps, and filthy longnecks. Maybe it's time you play a human?

[Ayamane]

Ironically, my non-human characters tend to be the longest lived, counting active playtime, maybe because I like RPing a non-human personality. (I imagine a Mantis would be a blast to play, were they still available. Alas.) The longest so far has only been about 3 weeks though. I think the shortest was my first, about 5 minutes, courtesy of a Kryl. In fact, I don't think I've had a death that wasn't caused by Kryl. Clearly, I haven't played enough if I haven't walked off the Shield Wall.

Here I am thinking my 4 month average per character over 12 years sucks. Thanks for that and welcome back!

Stay away from kryl, and stumps, and filthy longnecks. Maybe it's time you play a human?

I'm considering it. The 3 week character was a stump though.  And to be fair, I've probably only played a couple months total over the past 2 years. I haven't even hit double digits in my character count yet. Hoping to rectify that lack of play time shortly. At some point I really, really want to play a Desert Elf, but I don't know how viable that will be in this timezone.

Right now I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do, barring the staff making a wildly different suggestion I like. Obviously I can't go into any detail in this thread though. The waiting is going to kill me. 

[Harmless]

There is viability in desert elves with your timezone. Definitely.

And congrats on seemingly finding a concept you want. Have fun. 

[Kismetic]

1. Kurac doesn't hire hunters; they're a military organization with -strict- rules about leaving the city/outpost unattended during the recruitment period (which is more than a RL month).

Incorrect.

[RogueGunslinger]

Alright, I sent the request to the unclanned staff, we'll see what they say.

As far as playing a Byn goes, that's what got me burned out the first time, so I'd rather avoid that. I basically asked the staff for a concept that allows for some freedom with the option of interaction in my timezone when I get lonely.

Hunter for a Great Merchant House. Salarr/Kurac/Kadius

It might have 20 PCs in it today, but tomorrow 18 might get killed, 1 plays a different time than you, and the other only logs in once every 2 RL weeks.

I'm sorry buts that true of almost every single clan I've ever been in, and is in no way limited to the GMH's. GMH's howver have the benefit of letting you leave the damn city when it gets boring, giving you the much needed freedom to go die to a Carru.

They're great for something that allows for some decent solo RP/exploration/combat experience during the times when no ones around.

[Jenred]

There is no good way to guarantee interaction as an offpeak player.
You are best off reconciling the likelihood of somedays finding no other PCs.