OoC Area - Resting

[Feronius]

A very simple and straightforward suggestion - Allow characters to rest in the OoC area.

Currently there are no free resting spots in Sarshel. And new characters are required to rest first before they are able to use their spells and abilities after first entering the server. If your character uses heavy armor and a shield or expensive weaponry, chances are they are already (near) broke when entering the actual world and can not afford to pay for a room at the inn.
For veteran players this may be less of an issue, as they know where to find alternatives.

The simplest solution to this problem would be to just turn the OoC area into a resting location. It already has comfy sofas?
There are no doubt other scenarios where this could help players out of a pinch, but for me this is definitely the main one.


Thoughts?

[Silver Snow]

Yeah, I like it. Why not? We've slowly had some nice amenities in Sarshel taken away from us, and one of the hardest to hit was free resting. Letting people do it with new characters or upon resets so they could go to one of the portal locations and join other players swiftly, makes sense to me.

[Loreweaver]

New characters already get a free rest when they first enter the server.

[Feronius]

New characters already get a free rest when they first enter the server.

They do? Where/ When? Does it occur when you actually click to enter the world or something?

[Loreweaver]

No, they can rest in the ooc area if they like. After the server resets though, they're held to the same standards as other PCs.

[Feronius]

Ah, so that's why I could not rest on my character then. Would it not be easier, and possibly better, to enable resting in the area?
If you can only rest after a server reset (and only once every 30-60 minutes) I doubt there is much, if any, room for exploit anyway.

I am probably not the first person to take more than one log in session to set up their character and outfit(s). And I won't be the last.

[Loreweaver]

In my estimation, there are a number of options available in addition to the free rest when a character is first created.
- Not spending all one's coin is, of course, a good way to afford an inn. Otherwise, selling some of the starting items works in a pinch.
- Going through starting dungeons gets you coin. If it's too dangerous to go far due to a lack of spells, one can dip inside for easily accessed containers only.
- Asking other PCs for room and board also works.
- If there's no one else around and dungeoneering without rest is just not feasible, a level 1 PC also gets a free rest after respawning.
- Using @work to get the coin is a safe option.
- There are many free resting locations in the wilderness, several right along roads.

It can be unfortunate to find out you didn't rest when you had the chance and can't afford an inn room, particularly when you aren't at all familiar with the server yet, but there are these solutions.
A resting zone in the welcome area would be one too, but not any more foolproof than the others. After all, you can leave the welcome area without resting first and then can't come back to it until the server resets, perhaps many days later. Because of that, I don't think it's the easy answer to a problem, and the measures we already have in place are at least as effective.

[Feronius]

- If there's no one else around and dungeoneering without rest is just not feasible, a level 1 PC also gets a free rest after respawning.

C'mon, that is not a solution. That is quite possibly the worst advice you could give someone.
The majority of those 'solutions' would be unknown to new players or likely to get them killed.

Most servers allow you to rest wherever, so the thought to keep money on hand for an inn room would definitely not have crossed my mind when I first entered the server. And doing dungeons, even just dipping in, is seriously risky without any prior knowledge of the server and when you do not have any of your spells or abilities available - due to not having been able to rest yet.
And most of those solutions do not address the issue of not immediately having access to your spells/ abilities upon entering the world.


What would be the harm in making the OoC area a resting zone by the way? It still seems like it would be the better, and the simplest, way to avoid unnecessary grief or headaches for new players/ new characters. Why is everyone given just the 1 rest at level 1?

I understand it may not be a high priority suggestion to implement. But is there actually a reason not to consider it?

[Loreweaver]

I wouldn't recommend needing to respawn as a way to get your spells back, but if dungeoneering does go wrong you're not locked into restlessness. That's why it's on that list.

To me, the main reason not to implement an OOC rest zone is that it doesn't address the issue being raised. It is possible now to lose your free rest, that is still possible with the resting area. It adds another way to correct it, certainly, but as I tried to indicate earlier I think there are enough ways to get yourself rested already.
Something like extending the starter's free rest beyond resets until the first time they actually sit down would make much more sense to me.

[ljuslek]

To me it's a matter of convenience. After a server reset we're allowed to choose from a list where our characters will reappear for the same reason; convenience. To be able to join in the activities that are at the core of the server quicker. The choice of where to reappear presupposes that our characters haven't stood idle, that they have moved around. It stands to reason that they might've rested during that time as well.

Allowing characters to rest in the OOC area makes just as much sense as allowing them to zone in to an area other than the one they logged out in. Associating a cost with resting in the OOC area (to reflect the cost of the character renting a hypothetical inn room) might be a good idea, however. Either way, allowing players to more quickly join the fray of RP and dungeon running with their characters can only be a good thing.

EDIT: To clarify; a free rest or just free OOC area resting across the board for level 1-2 PCs should still be a thing.