Arelith Player Portal feedback thread

[Beneidalus]

Don't see how the information on Cih's could be any more or less informative/creepy than the normal portal. Just makes it a little more convenient to figure out what the observant purveyor of the official portal could already find out.

My only real gripe is the forum's bloody time-zone! Some how make it to where *whatever* portal is used, it can show one's own time-zone so we don't have to bother with conversion?

[Durvayas]

I actually vastly prefer Cih's version of the portal, as the scry function is incredibly useful for remembering who played what character in the past(super useful for the IC storytelling forum and remembering names) without requiring for said character to be logged in. It not needing to be refreshed is also great.

Being able to figure out who is disguised as what is actually a good thing, as it aids the average player's ability to identify people for rule violation reports, saving the DMs the time of having to isolate who someone is by trudging through logs. Right now the only ways to identify a disguised culprit are to either:

• Have really high spot and be within 15 feet.
• Use the portal or Cih's list and the process of elimination.
• Get them to say something, either IG, or through a tell, so that their portrait can be clicked on and their username revealed in the chatbar.

Being able to see who is online even when they are disguised is also helpful for knowing when your friends(who may be disguised) are online without having to ping them over discord/skype/whathaveyou to ask them if they're on. If anything, I think less reliance on third party communications can only be a good thing.

Edit: The Arelith portal is actually also useful because of it being so static and needing refreshing, because if you are putting in a report about someone who did something against the rules and logged off quickly, the name remains on the list, frozen in time. I advocate for a toggle to allow the page to either be viewed as static, or real time, to maintain this usefulness.

[Yma23]

I don't tend to use Cih's version at all, so have no feelings about it one way or another.

On the current portal the two things I think might be useful are:

- Something giving the In Game Date/Time on both servers.

- A togglable option for DMs to be noticable. This would be something a DM would need to toggle /ON/ but something they could use when they're happy for players to know that there is a DM out and avaiable. If the DM does not toggle it on (it resets each reset mark you) then they remain invisable on the portal.

[DM Apollo]

Thank you everyone for your feedback so far, all your feedback will be considered as we work on the changes to the portal.I am surprised by how popular the request for a mobile friendly version of the portal is, so it should be mobile friendly at launch.

One potential idea that has been discussed is the idea of showing RPR:
- Show something (flag, or border) indicating RPR level if 30 or 40 RPR
- Potentially Opt in/opt out
- Potentially make it 40 RPR only

The reasoning for this would be to allow newer players to find our 30s and 40s for mentorship as they enter the realm of RPing/NWN/Arelith. Of course, there are issues with showing RPR as well.

Please, share your thoughts on this idea, and please keep it civil - there are no right or wrong opinions on this!

[PinataPlethora]

One potential idea that has been discussed is the idea of showing RPR:

I guess it's worth a try, but you better have emergency services on standby to put out the fires, because that's gonna get ugly fast.

[BegoneThoth]

I strongly encourage public rpr listings.

[Baron Saturday]

The idea of making RPR public makes me extremely uncomfortable.

I do, however, like the idea of an opt-in "mentor" flag on the playerlist, and agree that it should not be available to just anyone, to prevent abuse.

[Durvayas]

The idea of making RPR public makes me extremely uncomfortable.

I do, however, like the idea of an opt-in "mentor" flag on the playerlist, and agree that it should not be available to just anyone, to prevent abuse.

I'm in agreement on both points, and think listing RPR is a terribad idea towards generating goodwill among the community.

[JediMindTrix]

I guess it's worth a try, but you better have emergency services on standby to put out the fires, because that's gonna get ugly fast.

You're gonna have ppl trying to police other ppl, constantly reporting 30 and 40 RPR's just outta spite, etc. It'll just drive the RPR wedge a little deeper

[Tathkar Eisgrim]

Thank you everyone for your feedback so far, all your feedback will be considered as we work on the changes to the portal.I am surprised by how popular the request for a mobile friendly version of the portal is, so it should be mobile friendly at launch.

One potential idea that has been discussed is the idea of showing RPR:
- Show something (flag, or border) indicating RPR level if 30 or 40 RPR
- Potentially Opt in/opt out
- Potentially make it 40 RPR only

The reasoning for this would be to allow newer players to find our 30s and 40s for mentorship as they enter the realm of RPing/NWN/Arelith. Of course, there are issues with showing RPR as well.

Please, share your thoughts on this idea, and please keep it civil - there are no right or wrong opinions on this!

Please, please can we consider adding:

- A 'Looking for Roleplay' flag (LFR). For those times when you are really in the mood for RP chat and meeting new people, as opposed to being left alone to craft / skulk / grind.

- A 'Player Help' flag (PH) (or Player Advisor). If you are in the mood to offer sage advice to fellow players.

Switch commands that a player can use IG to toggle on / off would be great.

[One Two Three Five]

I think showing RPRs would be an equally bad idea as showing DMs on, for different reasons, but still.

And: Yes, please, please, PLEASE allow an opt-out option so you don't show up.

[Cortex]

i'd harshly oocly judge 30s and 40s

[magistrasa]

With claims that Cih's portal is "creepy" or that public RPR might lead to abuse, I can at least see where people are coming from - but why is it a bad idea to show how many or which DMs are online? Maybe it's because I don't have the same history with the server as some of you guys, but I don't understand the problem there at all. To me it seems like a helpful indicator, or at its worst just a benign little statistic tacked onto the portal. What adverse effects are people predicting from its inclusion?

[PinataPlethora]

As Tathkar and Baron said, I could definitely get behind some sort of tagging system, so that experienced player who want to help can make themselves known, and newbies who want help can let everyone know they want it. Sending random tells and just hoping that someone will be willing or able to help can be frustrating.

[One Two Three Five]

If one wished to, hypothetically, break some rules or do some exploits that they didn't think they'd get reported for, one might, again hypothetically, wish to ensure that no DMs are on to see them do it.

This could, assuming all goes well for the rulebreaker/exploiter, ensure they do their nasty business with no chance of ever being punished.

Alternatively, I've played on servers that showed when DMs were on or off? People get buckwild when they know DMs aren't on. Not every time, not every server, but it does happen.

[Teshil]

I doubt a team member needs to be online to catch rule breaking. They have extensive logs here.

[Nitro]

If no DM is on, they could however cause much more trouble before one logs on to catch them than if one was online secretly.

And I am strongly against publicly showing peoples RPR anywhere. There's already some elitism between different groups of players, the last thing I'd want to see is people being judged for having high/low RPR.

[Twily]

I wouldn't be against RPR's being public if their nature shifts away from what it is now.
The state they're currently in and the way they're viewed will pave way for a lot of spite as others have said.

- People avoiding those who aren't 30/40 with the hope of being noticed(or thinking other players inferior)
- Giving an OOC motivation to gain a 30/40 that doesn't directly promote, reward or encourage good roleplay (wanting to be seen on the player list)
- Will open the players with 30/40s up to harsh judgement and OOC treatment/bias if players(regardless of their RPR) think the 30/40s aren't "fitting for the rating"

And many other issues of that sort.

[Tourmaline]

Having been a DM on a server where DMs were visible in the player list, it's not just that people break rules when they know a DM isn't on, it's also that there are a lot of players who get pissy if they see a DM is on but their requests to the DM channel aren't acknowledged. (If a DM is running a quest for example, they don't want to stop what they're doing for little requests that can wait, but if a player feels repeatedly ignored when they know DMs are on resentment builds.)

And.. please don't make RPR public. It's far too arbitrary and dependent on things like time zones and personal opinions. Also, I greatly suspect if RPR is made public and made more important, people will take less chances in playing characters outside their comfort zone.

[BegoneThoth]

I want RPR public so I can learn from example what good RP is.

Right now I don't know the difference between good and bad because it isn't expressed to me via numerical value.

[Thanatosis]

I want RPR public so I can learn from example what good RP is.

Right now I don't know the difference between good and bad because it isn't expressed to me via numerical value.

pretty good post on why this sort of thing should never be done

A little baffled something like this is even being considered, tbh. I like Baron's idea of tagged "mentors" a little bit more, but even then if you want an OOC system for helping new players, why not direct them to that public Discord channel? They have a "mentor" tag there if I remember right.

[Gods_Kill_People]

Honestly this is something I have seen done in Narfell, select players are offered "Mentor" status IG and when they are IG they have a wand they can flick which sends a OOC shout (kinda like the OOC notice when resets are happening) for the server that X player is a Game Mentor and can be messaged if anyone has questions or concerns. This was designed to cut back on the need for DMs.

[Hunter548]

What possible benefit on god's green earth would there be to publicly displaying RPR?

[Yma23]

I agree with the above- the idea of RPR's being shown makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. I much prefer the Mentor system. Heck, if you really want to tie it to rprs, make it so only 30-40 players can 'opt in' to that Mentor system. But having everyone's rpr avaiable? Just seems a bad idea.

[MalKalz]

Things that should be on the portal:

• Headings for each server: Surface, Cities and Planes, and Distant Shores
• Account information: Player Name, Username
• Server Status: Uptime, Player count versus capacity, toggle-able DM indicators
• Distinguishable artwork for each.
• Flexibility to have control of which portals you see (click the title, it adds or removes it. So you can view one, two, or all if you wanted).

Things that should never go on the portal (personal opinion):

• RPR - This is a thing a player has earned, and does not need to be displayed. It puts unnecessary attention on players, where others will be critical of their roleplay.
• Alternative characters / accounts - players are entitled to their privacy. This would be too invasive.
• Constant DM tracking on the portal that is not toggle-able.

A good thing to remember: A tool is most often successful when it meets its needs, rather than creating a mass of extra features. The portal now functions well, it just needs a face lift. So I would stick with that. Otherwise, we breach into territories of privacy and placing the feeling of discomfort among our community.

Adding mentors is not something that should be done as well. This would lead to the idea of favoritism among the player community. The DM team has a large enough pool to fill this role as they have since the beginning of the server.