Post
by magistrasa » Mon Jul 16, 2018 10:54 am
I've read through this whole thread and I can't find anything that really reflects my experiences, so I'm sharing my thoughts in hopes that it's conducive to the original goal of understanding how the changes have affected people's roleplay, as well as the later developed goal of contributing ideas to "fix the problem" - it does kinda get away from me at certain points, though. While the tone may at times come across as trying to tell the reader how they should think and act, I'm purely trying to convey my own mindset, with a taste of bewilderment at the fact that my take seems so out of place here.
My personal experience with writs:
I've been back on the server after an extended break, leveling a shiny new lowbie in the UD, and I didn't even realize level caps were implemented. Even before the cap was in play, I can't really recall an occasion in which writs were being conquered with PUGs where a member of the group was more than two levels higher than the rest of us. Writs are built for areas in a level range. If you're putting together a party IC and you say, "Hey, I'm going to explore this area!" the people who are going to be interested should, in theory (and practice, from what I've experienced), be in the suitable level range. Which isn't to say I didn't go out with high level characters often - it was impossible for me NOT to back in the day, all my friends were maxed out and dragged me into epic hell for hilarious hijinks, I was exploring the lowerdark at level 9 for God's sake - but we weren't doing lowbie writs together.
On my present character, I had one person message me IG asking what level I was, but that's only because he was a few levels over me and was going from a zone I was completing a writ in, to a zone just over my level so I didn't have any writs for it. I went with him anyways! Why the heck wouldn't I? Not only was it decent XP, but I was done with my writs for the day and wouldn't have been able to go to that zone on my own. (Speaking of which, how is the fact that you can only take 3 writs a day factoring into any of this discussion?)
Back before the cap was put in place, I never had high level characters dragging me through my writ zones - though on the occasion that a friendly epic wanted to help power grind me into epics, the way that happened was by going to high level zones, not grinding low level writs. I did, however, play the role of writ guardian a few times for a friend of mine that I was trying to get into the game - but without that OOC investment, I would have never even considered intruding on their quest. Once they got a hang of the game, I would actually invent new quests for them and the lowbie friends they made from finishing writs once they had no more writs to take - things like, "There's a shrine somewhere deep in this area, I'll pay you if you go check on it and make sure it hasn't been desecrated." There's still reasons to party up and head out that isn't entirely dependant on what level you are and what writs you have.
The only thing that I would have a problem with is if I had been questing together with this one roleplayer and really enjoyed their company, only to realize a level gap had grown between us and we could no longer use writs as a backdrop for our shenanigans. Which has happened before for me, on the occasion where the gap grew so large that we couldn't accept the same writs. But at that point... if you like playing with this person so much, just... do it anyways? And you can finish your writs when they're not around. If you don't do all your writs every day, there's a point where you just gotta say, "Oh Well!" and just do whatever you want, regardless of optimal XP gain.
When someone in my group is unexpectedly high level and they start killing the XP, it honestly just makes me more interested in the roleplay, since lack of payoff in XP means less investment in NWN's simple, repetitive combat - and that investment gets poured into something that can never be dampened or diminished by game mechanics and limitations. Though it's worth noting that when people are killing the experience, they usually bow out anyways! People be chill like that yo. And that's my Personal Experience™
Opinion piece:
From an OOC perspective, the lowbie's not really playing the game when they're sitting back and letting the epic character one-shot everything, and the epic character isn't experiencing anything new because they've probably grinded this area into dust a thousand times and my God it's probably stale at that point. From an IC perspective (purely looking at combat, at least - dialogue aside), the lowbie is going to sit there either feeling bored or utterly impotent, while the epic character is... Well, to be fair, they're probably enjoying the feeling of high-and-mightiness.
I've been mentee and mentor in that sort of uneven power level roleplay relationship, and typically the most entertaining (and educational!) areas for that to take place are the areas where you are vastly underleveled for writs, but comfortable enough to where you won't die in one hit (probably - hopefully). Like what was mentioned before in this thread, there's a comfortable middle ground where XP just so coincidentally happens to be halfway decent for BOTH parties involved. So for the people who are clinging to mentor scenarios... I dunno, try the shadow plane? Guide your lowbie friend to NEW areas they wouldn't be able to get to on their own? Even outside of mentor roleplay, if you're realizing you're too strong for whatever area you're in and you're with a group of strong people, try branching out into new territory, not just cutting your way through the same path as always.
Also, I dont know about the argument for higher level folks having a hard time finding parties. If you went through all those levels without making any adventuring buddies or developing any awareness of who's around your power level, I really don't know what to tell you. (Though maybe I'm just saying that because I play in the UD so I'm constantly hyperaware of who can and cannot curbstomp me when I'm being snarky.)
At the end of the day, the game is what you make it. You can make it a mindless grind fest, you can make it a daily quest speedrun, you can make it a roleplay adventure, and you can make it any combination of those things and more. If you can't complete a writ because of your party, you need to own the decision you make upon that realization. You decide what you're making the game in that moment.
To be clear, I can see why people can get so dedicated to The Grind because they see leveling as a means to an end - lots of people on the server have told me that roleplay begins at level 30, after all - so getting set back from that goal can be really frustrating and it's easy to see why people would want to circumvent those setbacks and seek mechanics that facilitate their advancement. But for me the game has always been about the journey. Arelith has such a vast and beautiful world and the writ system has honestly helped me explore it. I think the most engaging sort of roleplay is the roleplay that puts you in situations you've never been in before, and you're forced to adapt to it. You learn a little more about yourself, IC and OOC, in those new situations. The fact that arelith has such a big world and hosts so many different players makes it the perfect venue for those new situations. Writs are a feature to help your character progress in power, but they're not central to the arelith experience. Writs shouldn't be viewed as a limitation, but as yet another backdrop to your personal story, a springboard for your own quests of discovery and self-discovery. They shouldn't stop you from exploring places and meeting people. They DON'T stop you from exploring places and meeting people. The only thing that stops you is you.
Roleplayer-side solutions:
- If you need a party, hang around the writ keeper and ask people where they're going ICly. If you're headed the same direction, you're probably the same level. Mystery solved. (Can't you see player dialogue with writ keepers now too? If you're really desperate yet socially anxious, just wade through the chat logs.)
- Hang around the area you're trying to complete a writ in. Long shot for higher levels, but there's been plenty occasions where a party found me rather than me finding a party.
- if you can't do a writ... Maybe don't take it?
- if it's a consistent enough problem, maybe only pick up the writ after you've got a party together for it and you know you all can do it
- if you really really want to do a writ and can't find folks for it, post a message on a board somewhere and see who bites. You're not the only level 17 character on the server and from how this thread makes it sound, you're probably not the only one having a hard time making friends
- Have fun and be yourself
Developer-side solutions:
- Widen the acceptable level range, or maybe tweak it and adjust specifically for the more difficult quests? No reason why a lv1-6 zone quest should see a lv9 character being necessary for the writ, but maybe a lv15 character is having trouble making friends for this one really hard writ so they call in their lv19 druid buddy and all their 8 billion summons to come together to kick this dungeon in the kiester before bedtime
- make it so that you can drop writs without being prevented from picking up another writ to replace it. Like, let us only complete 3 writs a day, but swap them out when we see they're too hard (or too easy!)
- remove writs for like a month and see how people like it. Give us all a painful reminder of the Dark Times. (I'm joking don't actually do this)
- I believe in you
I'd be okay with writs dying forever but only after I hit lv30 kthx /thread
× Career Sharran × MILF Supreme × Artist (Allegedly) ×
› Will Trade Art For Groceries Again Eventually ‹