Rpt always 8-10 pm server time.

[Krath]

This.

As an Off-peak player, I have to agree with Ves' statement. In addition to that I can tell you this, there are RPTs that happen, and happen frequently off peak. I think the one thing we as the players can do is try to incorporate as many other pcs and clans as possible.

More often than not, and I might get docked some karma for what I am about to say, I will break character and do everything possible to come up with any reason to include either indy PCs or other clans in RPTs or just normal daily activities. 

As far as support from the IMMS, It is there, and plentiful for the offpeakers. You actually get faster response times because there are less people asking for assistance to die help and animations. They will support RPTs, and will help you the entire way.

Also a tip, if you meet a PC in game, simple ask "Hey are you around normally during this time of the week? I'm looking for some reliable help."

Basic stuff yeah, but K.I.S.   Keep it Simple.

[stoicreader]

Never mind

[Scrumpkin]

I think the staff does a great job.  Even though mother fuckers are dying, they are dying to great events that shape this world.  I listened to that Rogue radio, Sanvean motivated me.  I could actually hear her get excited to talk about the subject of total Armageddon.

[MarshallDFX]

If you build it (hire leaders) players will come ...

Hopefully

If you imagined the off-peak arm was it's own separate game, how would you grow the player base?

Not a rhetorical question.

[Dar]

If you build it (hire leaders) players will come ...

That's dreadfully wrong, I'm afraid. Plenty of times there is a sponsored role with zerrro followers.

Question to staff.

if a storyteller of GMH, with no active GMH membership currently online, sees a dude in Byn who quiet clearly has nothing to do. How difficult/strange/unacceptable/discouraged is it for the GMH storyteller to use the Byn tools (ie byn npcs) to give some content for the lonely bored Byn player to do stuff with?

[MarshallDFX]

If you build it (hire leaders) players will come ...

That's dreadfully wrong, I'm afraid. Plenty of times there is a sponsored role with zerrro followers.

I'm sure that's true, I just don't know how to escape the vicious circle.  As pointed out earlier it's obvious that this isn't something for NA timezones to "fix" .. so hence my question

[Nao]

If you build it (hire leaders) players will come ...

That's dreadfully wrong, I'm afraid. Plenty of times there is a sponsored role with zerrro followers.

GMH members and nobles - got to put in some effort to recruit, I guess. But for clans like the Byn Sarge? Not having one before or after peak is a problem, and if they're available and at least marginally engaging, there will be players.

I know staff support has come up as a concern before, but the off-peak crowd is used to making their own fun and pretty self-sufficient. I don't think that's prohibitive.

One role where this seems to work well at the moment is templars. They seem to be around at pretty much all times of the day, and it's a massive improvement over when I last played - I couldn't find a PC templar if I tried. Now there's plots and various things going on (not going into too much detail here), and it's pretty great.

[Suhuy]

The plays that were held IG a little bit ago required 4 or 5 people to do it, so that everything made sense.

This actually required 7 PCs in total. If a single one of them had failed to show, it would have required NPC animation to pull off (or get cancelled). So when someone says that an RPT requires the availability of key players in order to pull it off, trust me it's very true.

I understand that for some newer players it may seem that every RPT is almost always held at peak hours, but there have been multiple-day RPTs where some of the fun was scheduled off peak. I seem to recall a period of time where arena events were always in the early afternoon EST. That might not suit every player's availability, but it was nice to see something being held at a rather unorthodox time for a change.

A long time ago (late 90s, early 2000s) Arm was a very, very Americentric game. I remember some staff in those days literally saying if you aren't able to login during peak hours they won't consider you for a sponsored role. Fast forward to today and it's not uncommon to see off peak merchants, nobles, and templars. I think that's pretty cool. If none of them are running off peak RPTs, maybe their underlings could suggest it. And maybe that person is you. Give it a try.

There's a whole host of players in Asia and Australia these days that didn't exist before. You used to see the who list close to 0 for large portions of the day. Nowadays I can see 20 people online during those same hours, which is nothing short of a miracle (yes, there's still a point where it's close to 0, but it's not as long of a time frame as it once was). From that angle, this isn't time to complain about things. It's hail mary time.

But, okay. Y'all want to see more things happening at odd hours of the day? Fine. Get ready for it. But also just bear in mind that the "be the change" advocates in this thread have a pretty good point. These things are often a community effort, not an individual one. So while you may be upset that there aren't as many off peak RPTs as you'd like, next time you do see one please do contribute somehow (either through your sheer presence alone, or some other IC means that make sense for your character).

[Nao]

It's technically true that there have been RPTs before 8PM server, but I just checked the player announcements to make sure - the last one was an auction in October, a bit more than half a year ago (and yes, I was there and there didn't seem to be a lack of attendance). That's one out of 20 or so events in that timeframe, they are exceedingly rare. And it's not because off-peakers are just too lazy to get off their asses and organize one.

I understand that it's not possible to move them, but I don't like the dismissiveness in this thread.

[Suhuy]

I don't think anyone's dismissive. They just disagree with you.

I'm one of the first people to roll their eyes at the whole "be the change" line. It's a lot like the old "Find out IC" thing. A piece of advice you are almost always and only given when it is 100% not IC to even try to "find out IC" in the first place. It's a catchphrase, a buzzword used to silence anyone who wants to closely examine the dynamics of the game through discussion.

But these phrases do have their place. Just... really really rarely.

I think when it comes to wanting to run an off peak RPT, "be the change" (for all its clicheness) applies pretty darn well. And if you feel others are being dismissive by saying it, well, I'm not. Most people running RPTs put a lot of time and energy to pull them off. Sometimes a player's character dies while they are in the midst of preparing one even! I think it's understandable that most players want to maximize their efforts, rather than risk a turn out of 2 or 3 PCs only. When the who list says 20 people are online you can guarantee that at least half are the type of PC who would never have an IC reason to partake of your RPT in the first place (be they desert elf, or raider, or defiler, etc). So I don't necessarily blame the ones running RPTs for picking the times that they do. I've seen pretty large scale RPTs held during a time when the who list says 50 and only 10 PCs show up. If you only get a fifth of the population to arrive during peak hours, can you hope for more than 2 or 3 at any other hour of the day?

I'm just saying. As someone who is largely an off peaker myself, I still get why this is the case. Nevertheless, efforts are being made to bring more RPTs to the off peak world soon. Hang in there.

[Jihelu]

I woke up at like 8-9-10 am for an event once as my noble because I had agreed IC to go.

Me and the other noble showed up and literally no one else was there.

I was kinda glad because I got to go back to sleep.

[Riev]

People are allowed to disagree with your opinion on a subject and should have more respect than being told they are "dismissive" of the problem. Its not dismissive, its an abject disagreement with the notion that you are putting forth.

I think it might be pertinent to determine the difference between "RPT" and "HRPT" and when an RPT is just a small social clan gathering and when one is like the Smouldering Ivory that involves numerous clans and arena events.

It was touched on earlier that "RPTs" that are just simple gambling or card games or whatever "don't count". So is it true, then, that the complaint is that only "big RPT" events count? Because if so, I think a lot of times those do involve so many PCs that the Peak Play Time has to still include a lot of western-hemisphere players.

Like Suhuy said, there are (likely) things incoming for earlier RPTs. But I wouldn't count on them being multi-clan world changing plotlines.

[Nao]

That 3PM RPT in October didn't seem to have an attendance problem. As long as it's not the middle of the night, people log on outside their usual times if they know something will be happening, so the pool of potential attendees isn't just the usual 20s or 30s that show up every day at that time. I know I've tried to stay up for the 3AM ones, it just tends to result in a zombie character because I'm too tired to play adequately.

I went into how the vast majority of the typical off-peak roles (indies and grunts) are in a terrible position to run events earlier. They rarely live long enough, or have the resources. Which has been shut down with 'you don't NEED to be a leader, or in a clan', with no acknowledgement of how much that actually helps. But I give up, we clearly aren't going to agree here.

[SilkyBoi]

Perhaps you should get into a leadership position to facilitate? Having been in a leadership positions, sometimes nearly unwillingly, for years upon years, it's not altogether impossible to do.

[AllanakiLackey]

I feel like the lack of off-peak RPTs is a self-perpetuating problem. If nobody makes RPTs, no one will attend them. If no one attends them, people feel like it's not worth their while to make them. If nothing is going on in the city, people don't make characters there, which are the kinds of characters who create RPTs and lead clans. But since I can't play at 1 PM ST on a weekday, I can't be the person who changes that.

[Grapes]

I happen to like off peak players, so much so I've lost countless hours of sleep staying up ALL night just to interact with them. Just me an one or two, maybe three others? That's MY ideal RPT, not a dozen people spamming says, talks, and emotes (thanks to those who use hemotes instead to cut down on screen-spam), all of whom are exchanging idle pleasantries and OMG noble everybody bow! OMG Templar! Everybody bow! OMG someone didn't bow, trip to the cuddler, then back to the party. The screen-scroll makes me nautious, and I tend to skip out early, even if it tics off my PC's employer because damnit, I was supposed to BE there.

Those RPTs, I find difficult to get into. There's too much going on to take an interest in any individual character, could be a shakespear-quality performance, but I don't want to watch the entire works run side-by-side all at once. So, what makes a good RPT? I am not sure, I'm not even sure what an RPT is besides incomprehensible word-spaghetti, if major events are any indicator.

But, I've also, seen some examples of PCs being passed up for promotion, BECAUSE they play off-peak, even seen one get off-screened because a lot of PCs took issue with their lack of availability to fulfill a specific role, and the discussion eventually resulted in the statement I sigged, which you can see below.

ETA: This isn't meant to be negative. Major events just, aren't my thing. This also isn't meant to trivialize off-peakers possibly wanting in on something that isn't my thing. I just prefer to hear about the important bits from outside sources and roleplay around them accordingly. I appreciate all the effort people put in to organize and attend major events.

[Shabago]

If you build it (hire leaders) players will come ...

That's dreadfully wrong, I'm afraid. Plenty of times there is a sponsored role with zerrro followers.

Question to staff.

if a storyteller of GMH, with no active GMH membership currently online, sees a dude in Byn who quiet clearly has nothing to do. How difficult/strange/unacceptable/discouraged is it for the GMH storyteller to use the Byn tools (ie byn npcs) to give some content for the lonely bored Byn player to do stuff with?

I can't/won't speak for EVERY ST on staff, but I know I've full endorsed messing with my clannies if I'm not online to do so, as have others.

[Delirium]

Sorry I sounded so brusque. I do feel that it's important to consider others' possibly limited playtimes, but I am very happy to try and run all-inclusive RPTs when I can. Back when I ran a group, saturdays between 12-3 seemed to net the most success where that is concerned, though it is still touch and go.

I do want to reiterate how much work a lot of these RPTs can be, not the least in working out the scheduling. It can be a little tough to hear complaints that you didn't schedule an RPT for a different time when it was all you could do to pull the whole thing off in the first place.

[Dar]

I propose another nosave command

nosave messing    (at first. I wrote "molestation" but as I wrote the post, it got weirder and weirder)

It's a nosave that automatically turns off whenever you log on. So by default, you are ALWAYS saving against messing.

Turning it 'off' however signals that you're bored and you're eager, hoping, and praying for the world to come alive and some bored staffer to ... umh. Well ... mess with you.

This doesnt actually protect you from being messed with. Not really. It's just when you turn it off, then you're signaling that you want it be messed with.   It's  sort of like wishing up and going "We're going on patrol. Come Kill us". Except without spamming this.

So when a storyteller is done with whatever else he's doing and is deciding what to do next.  They can just type <who> see who is flagged as mess with me and ...  go do that .

[Grapes]

I have had plenty of occassions playing off-peak where storytellers have taken another boring, off-peak clan routine, with no more than two or three people, and POUNCED (heck, one day I was alone playing in a clan stable with dung and sawdust when an animated NPC came in to discuss an object). I've even seen it unclanned. I would think it's possible that you're even more likely to see it off-peak because there are so many fewer PCs around needing things done, or who are being watched, even if there are fewer staffers online.

[Suhuy]

There's too much going on to take an interest in any individual character, could be a shakespear-quality performance, but I don't want to watch the entire works run side-by-side all at once. So, what makes a good RPT? I am not sure, I'm not even sure what an RPT is besides incomprehensible word-spaghetti, if major events are any indicator.

An RPT is (or shouldn't be) as many PCs as you can cram in one room. I agree, that's not the most enjoyable way to play the game. In fact, the more PCs there are in a single room, the more inclined I am to conjure up an IC excuse to leave it because it is daunting and difficult to follow.

An RPT should ideally attract lots of players, but to a specific region of the game, not just a single room. This allows players a chance to get in on some action at their convenience. If someone held the right kind of RPT in Cenyr, people would surely travel there, and for no other reason than they know that for once they'll actually encounter other PCs there. A Cenyr RPT should populate the village, not the tavern. How do we do this?

A good five years ago staff were running what you might call an HRPT. It was held in a military camp and multiple clans were invited to travel there and stay during the build up the event. Pretty much everyone was trapped inside a small encampment for weeks of real time. There was a tavern, there was a shop or two, and a couple other rooms that could be publicly used. Some clans had their own wagon or argosy as well. But the limited space meant you were destined to encounter more PCs where ever you went. You could really feel the "multi-user" in the acronym MUD here. Honestly, I thought it was the best strategy for the game. Rather than seeing 45 people on the who list but every tavern in Allanak empty, you could see 25 people online and easily encounter a dozen or more.

To me that's what an RPT should do. Facilitate interaction. A lot of players like to roll their eyes at party and festival style RPTs since they are purely (or seemingly) only social in nature. And I can see how just cramming a single room with a bunch of PCs and dropping three casks of spirits in the room isn't the most exciting sounding way to spend your online time. But that's not the real intent behind them. I use the HRPT military camp experience above as a template for running RPTs. It was a great idea, whoever came up with it. Imagine if every single PC in the game were trapped inside Red Storm or Luir's Outpost for a week. If you don't want to be spammed by a crowded room, you still have places to go seek solitude, but seeing 50 players online would really feel like there's 50. If you wanted to be alone, you'd have that option, but if you wanted to interact you would have that opportunity around every corner.

The next time you want to run a social RPT in Red's Retreat, hire clans to have different things going on in different parts of the tavern. You've got at least 6 rooms to play with. Rather than cramming as many as you can in a single room, try instead to just fill up the tavern as a whole. Imagine how fun it would be if some crisis in the city temporarily barricaded all exits to Red's Retreat and for several days of real time everyone stuck inside had only the rooms in that tavern to move through. I'm not saying that's how the game should be at all times, I'm saying that's how it should be for a specific period of time. This kind of experience is otherwise known as an RPT.

[stoicreader]

There's too much going on to take an interest in any individual character, could be a shakespear-quality performance, but I don't want to watch the entire works run side-by-side all at once. So, what makes a good RPT? I am not sure, I'm not even sure what an RPT is besides incomprehensible word-spaghetti, if major events are any indicator.

An RPT is (or shouldn't be) as many PCs as you can cram in one room. I agree, that's not the most enjoyable way to play the game. In fact, the more PCs there are in a single room, the more inclined I am to conjure up an IC excuse to leave it because it is daunting and difficult to follow.

An RPT should ideally attract lots of players, but to a specific region of the game, not just a single room. This allows players a chance to get in on some action at their convenience. If someone held the right kind of RPT in Cenyr, people would surely travel there, and for no other reason than they know that for once they'll actually encounter other PCs there. A Cenyr RPT should populate the village, not the tavern. How do we do this?

A good five years ago staff were running what you might call an HRPT. It was held in a military camp and multiple clans were invited to travel there and stay during the build up the event. Pretty much everyone was trapped inside a small encampment for weeks of real time. There was a tavern, there was a shop or two, and a couple other rooms that could be publicly used. Some clans had their own wagon or argosy as well. But the limited space meant you were destined to encounter more PCs where ever you went. You could really feel the "multi-user" in the acronym MUD here. Honestly, I thought it was the best strategy for the game. Rather than seeing 45 people on the who list but every tavern in Allanak empty, you could see 25 people online and easily encounter a dozen or more.

To me that's what an RPT should do. Facilitate interaction. A lot of players like to roll their eyes at party and festival style RPTs since they are purely (or seemingly) only social in nature. And I can see how just cramming a single room with a bunch of PCs and dropping three casks of spirits in the room isn't the most exciting sounding way to spend your online time. But that's not the real intent behind them. I use the HRPT military camp experience above as a template for running RPTs. It was a great idea, whoever came up with it. Imagine if every single PC in the game were trapped inside Red Storm or Luir's Outpost for a week. If you don't want to be spammed by a crowded room, you still have places to go seek solitude, but seeing 50 players online would really feel like there's 50. If you wanted to be alone, you'd have that option, but if you wanted to interact you would have that opportunity around every corner.

The next time you want to run a social RPT in Red's Retreat, hire clans to have different things going on in different parts of the tavern. You've got at least 6 rooms to play with. Rather than cramming as many as you can in a single room, try instead to just fill up the tavern as a whole. Imagine how fun it would be if some crisis in the city temporarily barricaded all exits to Red's Retreat and for several days of real time everyone stuck inside had only the rooms in that tavern to move through. I'm not saying that's how the game should be at all times, I'm saying that's how it should be for a specific period of time. This kind of experience is otherwise known as an RPT.

This