Suggestion: A System to Reward Roleplay with XP, Prefaced by Personal Experience & Observations

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Aethereal
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Suggestion: A System to Reward Roleplay with XP, Prefaced by Personal Experience & Observations

Postby Aethereal » Thu Oct 07, 2021 11:21 am

Hello everyone, I just wanted to add some sentiments I've had about TER lately. Firstly, I need to preface that when I do get to play, often it is in a timezone where few people will be around which in itself can make it very limiting (and that's without taking into account TER's low server population in the first place). But I feel mostly that I can no longer progress with my main character as a result. He's had some big advancements with his report and survey, but it seems impossible to actually further conduct it because it's so difficult to coordinate with others or just hope you'll meet up in-game by random chance in those few moments when other people are also online.

The problem is that TER is very unforgiving (especially for a wizard – but I will not not be a wizard either!) and I do not want to risk solo adventure either IC or OOC being so squishy but also that solo adventure is not what I'm aiming for in the first place (despite making alts to try it). I also think that dungeoneering/exploration/adventuring should not be the sole means of acquiring XP or character progression (which is represented by XP) and I find that TER presently has no support or incentives in place for those players/characters like myself who are very strongly roleplay-focused to the point of not rushing out into dungeons or exploration.

I've been trying to have Eldaereth explore more areas, but being the sort of player I am, I always put the roleplay first and often we become distracted with long conversations and never really see anything. It's come to the point where it's disheartening - because I do not think roleplay just means: talk, talk, talk. Which is something I've started to feel about my experience (and I think it’s sad that that’s become the case because conversations between characters, discussing their experiences in the gameworld etc is the heart of roleplay). I think it's compounded by feeling powerless as a character to do things others seem to do with ease - because I am a new player and don't know anything about anything location-wise, build-wise, or pretty much anything. Kilaana does her best to assist me, since we share timezones, but it also seems like we've run into a barrier there. (Also a special thanks to Talisman for making an awesome effort trying to help me out! As well as a few other players.)

Don't get me wrong though, variety is the spice of life and roleplay should be ongoing even during adventures, exploring, and dungeoneering. It is just that a heavy RP focus should at least contribute to some feeling of progression/achievement on par with that of other playstyles, especially in cases where (as I think my character showcases) a character has gone out of their way to incorporate other player-characters and the setting itself in their efforts.

I am thinking of ways to counteract this disheartening experience - and I can't really think of anything besides that TER might benefit from some alternate way of progressing a character which goes beyond just exploring/dungeoneering but also rewarding roleplay developments. I do not know how XP rewarded for roleplay is meted out in TER, but as I have received none, it seems it may be strictly through DM-events, but what then happens when there are no active DMs, or as at present, they have very little availability? I wonder if it would then benefit from a scripted system in place. One that would at least encourage the roleplay-heavy characters and contribute to a positive experience on the server.

The idea here would be to provide small 'ticks' of XP (maybe 5XP either static or scaling with level) every 20 minutes spent logged in as a character while being active doing something (may need a way of detecting if people are AFK to then turn off this benefit until they resume activity), up till perhaps a certain level (level 5 or 6?) where it can be expected a character has accumulated enough experience and understanding to pursue bigger things or simply have obtained a sufficient safety net where the final two levels require taking bigger risks etc to achieve them. I do believe this would still be in line with the vision of TER, which needs to consider the reality it is a very low-population server and any incentives it can provide to keeping people logged in is a good one.

Level 1 is its own safety net where characters can explore and encounter danger with reduced risk, so it would be best implemented from level 2 to 6.

Anyway, those are my thoughts so far. I think conversations like this are valuable and please keep in mind that I am very much enjoying the server and the community, so my feedback comes from an overall positive place but I think there a few things that ought to be given consideration when taking into account the new player experience and a very small active community (not to even mention the spread across timezones). I also suspect these things I've mentioned may be things which veteran players do not encounter of even experience anymore as I keep hearing about how things are so easy and should be made even more difficult/dangerous all the time...

Aethereal
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Posts: 115
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2021 6:00 pm

Re: Suggestion: A System to Reward Roleplay with XP, Prefaced by Personal Experience & Observations

Postby Aethereal » Thu Oct 07, 2021 1:34 pm

After a discussion on Discord, I have determined there were some things I was not aware of regarding the server culture which may have been barriers in setting up groups and starting adventures:

In particular that OOC coordination/communication to organise adventures/sessions is both permissable and to a certain extent encouraged on TER as to help facilitate play - this was something I was unused to as the server I mostly played on in the past had some strict rules to the contrary to the point of being a bannable offence.

I also was not emphasising or encouraging that there be a way to progress XP outside of adventuring (exploring/dungeons) so much as perhaps venting my frustrations with progress from XP coming to a halt as a result of not being able to explore or anything, in part due to not using all the available resources: i.e. coordinating with other players.

Thanks to the people from Discord on their input: Kerstman, QM Meshin, Lady Crimson (Talia Reaver+), Lady Crimson (Talia Reaver+) and blatob.

I might leave this suggestion up in case the idea still has merit or it might be helpful for newer players to understand some of the server dynamics. But I think to some degree I was venting my frustrations here as I know I may have ruffled some feathers in the beginning since my feedback may have come off the wrong way but it almost felt necessary in order to understand how things are a lot different here than I'm used to, and it's sort of just overcoming cultural shock and starting to adapt to the way things work here (and truly, I do think for the most part they work well.)

I expect things to go more smoothly now armed with the tools and information I've been given. The discussion may have been relevant in particular with what Kerstman added:
Hey man, first of all I fully agree it’s always good to discuss. Pretty much about anything and even more so when things are not going ideal for you. I believe there have been several discussions of some sort of roleplay experience system before, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be picked up again after a few months or years.

A big question is: what is progress? It may seem obvious that such is XP, but in truth I’ve discovered this varies greatly from player to player. I like XP gain, but it is not the only way to progress if you ask me. Think also of reputation (among PC’s and NPC’s) and character growth. A completely different case than your main, but my main has been capped on level for quite some years now and I still love to play her because of those two aspects of progress. Another great example of how to progress without XP is a dwarven PC we’ve had. He very slowly gathered XP and never made it beyond level 4 after about 3-4 years of play, but still his name resounds with plenty of PC’s and he has made an big impact on the server as a whole. The DM team may be understaffed, but you can always reach out to them, also for personal quests / plots regarding your PC.
Full discussion: https://discord.com/channels/2343518808 ... 0506874891

Aethereal
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Posts: 115
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2021 6:00 pm

Re: Suggestion: A System to Reward Roleplay with XP, Prefaced by Personal Experience & Observations

Postby Aethereal » Fri Oct 08, 2021 3:08 am

Loreweaver wrote:I think that the traditional xp belongs with combat, because that's what most of its improvements go to. I'm happy to support noncombatants, but I'd like them to progress in a different way.

In my experience, xp for existing leads to many afk logins, xp for typing to nonsensical chat, and any attempt to judge contribution quality is either biased if governed by people, or elitist and restrictive if coded. So I've never found a good way to implement bonus xp as a fair and worthwhile system.

@work was intended to give xp if you weren't alone in the area, but I don't believe it currently does.

When we have the resources to work on NPC faction standings, trade routes, crafting systems, strongholds and all that, the PCs who aren't bristling with weapons and magic should have better opportunities for development.

The earlier discussion about buying feats (or skillpoints) more or less fits into that, but it's a distant future for the moment.
Loreweaver summarises the vision of TER quite well, and appropriately. Highlighting that XP is tied to combat, and so too then its progression. With the plan for other modes of progression being tied to something other than XP which may be pursued by characters who may not engage in combat for whatever reason. This would also mean that one character can also focus on multiple forms of progression at once; which I think is how it should be in a ideal world, both in terms of your status/presence/reputation in the setting as well as your combat power.

It would also be lame for people abusing something like a passive bonus to XP as per my suggestion, though in an ideal world you'd make it so there's nothing to abuse (limit the maximum level, keep it a minimal amount) and it might be more viable in a server where XP loss actually exists so as to recoup XP from deaths etc.

I think that's something to remember, that TER doesn't have XP loss (which a lot of other servers do), so in some ways the scarcity of XP can be justified.

With that said, target dummies do exist now. What if we introduced something like a knowledge test done in-game, as a way of providing minor reward for reading books. A literal reading comprehension exercise where a character has to answer questions in a quizz in-game, with 1 XP or something per correct answer but can only be done once a day or something. It might even teach people things about the server or the topic in the process.

Now, I wouldn't want to put the burden on such a task on anyone though. It's just a fun idea that might actually lead to real world learning if we introduced obscure but relevant topics to both setting and real-life. And if the idea is ever considered for implementation, I'd be happy to contribute content.


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