So what you're saying that it wasn't worth keeping the server up for the 3 of us.

Let me tell you something.

Do you know how it feels when from the beginning I've had RP relationship with a toon. Then have her locked up, have her locked up again. Set her free. And when I finally have a schedulet time to bring those two together. I find that the server is down, since no-one is playing and it's not worth it.

Heck sure I'll propably get other changes, but it still friggin pisses me off.

This rat has left to eat someone elses cheese.

it feels terrible, and that is the issue here....thanks for saying what you did about your character and the importance of reliable development in their lives.

really there is no other point to playing on an rp server, and the most important thing is reliability, it is hard to achieve long term for PW's but it is key.

sith talked about "if the demand was there", we need to think more along the lines like "we must create demand"

samm

i have a question... how are we supposed to create demand for something we dont have yet? we have tried advertising the current dlco, or at least i know i have, but it is hard to get ppl to leave the places they call home already. yes i am sure there are those out there that are not happy with their current server and those that have yet to find one, and then of course those that have yet begun to even play nwn and hopefully will eventually. i dont really know what else to do to advertise what we already have. i have gone onto the nwvault and searched how to do it and maybe im a dumbass , but i cant figure how, perhaps im just not seeing the big "click here" sign. i dont know. but some assistance in this would be gladly welcomed. i would like to build up the team more because it is fair to no one if they feel like they are holding most of the burden. yes, i put that burden on myself because no i am not an owner, or builder, or dm, or whatever, but as a player and someone that loves dlco dearly as my first d&d home, i feel it is my responsibility to make it better. maybe i messed up in some ways but we all make mistakes dont we? i am just as willing to put it back up as sith is and would love to see it back to the way it was even with all the bitching, at least there were ppl playing. we were just like a big italian family arguing then laughing then arguing again. i for one can look back at those times and chuckle while shaking my head in amusement, because even if it was fighting, it was still entertainment. that is what this is supposed to be. a way for all of us to get away from the real every day hum drum lives we lead. a way to break out of the box. let us band together , all share our ideas and accept other's ideas, and decide on a course of action. it is sith's decision whether or not to put it back up without the player base and i support him in whatever he chooses, however i would very much like to see it up again if we can just get out there and at least get the old players back then work on getting new players, teasing them with what is to come with the mod samm is working on.

just my thoughts on everything and hope i didnt offend anyone.

~Des

A lot of players have wandered away to other interests, some due to R/L issues and others because something here was not of there liking.. Those players still exist, they havent vanished,, so the clever part is to get em to come back.

Here is a list of things that will attract players.. followed by a list of things that will send em packing

Positives

1. A visually awesome module. Unique and well thought out.
2. Clever scripts that WORK. error free.
3. A DM Team that FOLLOWS THE RULES and promotes happy friendly game play.
4. A forum that is free from stupid arguments and bitching.
5. Continuity of service.. a 24 / 7 hosted server with few down times

Get these 5 things and you will have a large, regular player base for some time to come.

Negatives

1. Lack of organisation.
2. Lack of unique features in the module.
3. DMs that DONT FOLLOW RULES.
4. Public arguments ( in game and OOC ).
5. A server that is not there when players want to play.


I am the first to admit that when i was the owner of DLCO i screwed up on 1 of the points above.. I had a dm team that involved people ( including myself ) that didnt follow the rules set down in the DM charter. Although it didnt lead to Players leaving it did cause some to be upset..

I may have mellowed over the years but i still have a fire in my soul that burns for this module. And if i get a little pissy at times and vent my fury, its cos i hate to see the module i lovingly helped to create and nurture geting a rough time.

My Suggestion is this..

Give 100 % total control of the Mod to Solinari. He is the creator and as far as im concerned will always be the NUMBER ONE C.E.O. Let Solinari make a Version 2 of DLCO and help out in any way we can.
Solinari knows who can help in each way needed and will Organise everything as is needed.

thx for your time

well, thanks for the vote of confidence scorp....lol

I don't look at it like any one person owns the mod, but at this point we all need to think practically and do whatever it takes to keep DLCO going.

the lists scorp made are a great reference too, cause it is that simple, and when i read those lists I am reminded of how many of the positives this mod and community still have.

as to des's comments, we all know how tireless you are as an advocate for DLCO, so don't think that we don't appreciate all you do.

as to advertising the community, a few things will really help with that:

1) a new page on the vault (i can handle this np)

2) new screens all the time, and put these screens up on alot of DL sites, not just ones for NWN, there is an official DL site that M.weiss even frequents.

3) frank and open sharing with other DL mod communities, especially KTOD, i have opened a dialogue with Fizban, a DM from that community and will have him and some other staff into the New DLCO mod in a week or two to show them what we are doing, this is important because we can get crossover players, those who may not fully commit to DLCO but will come now and then and help get the server pop up.

4) if there are any staff or players that can leave their toon logged in even when they are not playing, that really helps, new players always gravitate to the servers with more players.

5) we need to figure out the hosting and what we want to do with that, we can rotate hosting around the community until the new mod is ready, or we can assign a full time hoster (i can do it, as well as others) , the important part is to have the server up 24/7 as scorp said.

6) we need to start recruiting from the vault for builders/dms etc....just go fishing....

7) the build staff needs to get in touch with all those other moders and builders who have made the haks for here, get the word to them we are using them, impress these people, get them to start advertising for us on their sites.

8] we need to go through all of our contact lists, get ahold of anyone who might have played NWN in the past and talk them into coming to DLCO, aggressively.


as to the leadership question, i have always felt that a builder, not a dm, should lead any mod, this is because they are the ones who can answer most questions about the mod, they are the ones who know what can and can't be done with a mod and they are not in the dirt with the dm's taking flak from players, meaning, a builder can be more objective in the sense that they really only care about the mod and its workings.

If it were up to me, and it isn't, it is really up to the whole community and should be put to some form of a vote, but if it were I would break down present staff as such....

solinari - head builder
rider - lead scriptor/builder
john - builder
hdm's adm's - scorp and sith
dm's qm's - same roster as now, and Des should get back into dming.


if run properly and with the right set of rules for the forums and for how decisions are made (primarily by vote whenever possible) then questions of leadership go away by themselves, people are simply too busy for it and teams start to become more solid through busyness alone.


samm

sorry, forgot to mention this part,

I would love it for people to come and see progress on the new mod, I have Solace finished, and it is light years beyond what it was last time, same mechanics...unfortunately still haven't found out how to make the raised walkways walkable for players, but looks wise it is much better.

I would take some screenshots and post them, and I will in a day or two, but my mac here doesn't have a print screen key....lol, can't figure out all the keyboard commands with this mac running win xp.

anyways, when players want to come and have a look at the progress they will need new haks, here is a list of what you will need.

CTP v1.5 full - http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Hakpaks.Detail&id=59539&id=6992

CEP 2.2 - http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Hakpaks.Detail&id=7665

skyboxes - http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Hakpaks.Detail&id=7359

mystics tile pack - http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Hakpaks.Detail&id=5098

CRAP wilderness tile hak - http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Hakpaks.Detail&id=5228

calans horse system - http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Scripts.Detail&id=3232[url][/url]


we only need the one CRAP hak, not the base haks and such like before..... for any buiders just pm me and i will send you a full breakdown of the hak stack order.


samm

If I am considered fraction of ‘all’” - then I am inclined to answer Scorpio’s original question. Yes. I have been continually checking the forums to see if anyone has posted concerning the offline status of the server.


Moving on…

Personally, I have immensely enjoyed the role-playing experiences your server has provided me. Being that Dragonlance 4th age and role-playing are the reasons I am here, I can say, without question, that I am satisfied.

Des and Sith, I found you both to be incredibly helpful and extremely welcoming to me when I first arrived on the shores of Ansalon, not long ago. If not for your hospitality the first day I logged in, I would probably be playing somewhere else. Thank you both for that. I can tell you are both committed to making this server a great community - for each and every player/dm/builder/scripter. This is not an easy feat whilst raising a family.


I understand that some people are upset. I do not know why, and, truthfully, I do not wish to know ‘why’.

What I do not understand is how people think that sarcastic slights aimed at one another benefit anyone in this community - other than to release their own frustrations.

When you post or converse with someone from the community - try to do so objectively. Certainly wait until emotion has cleared from your mind before doing so.

Then, presenting a logical perspective that offers solutions, you can contribute to uplifting the community instead of furthering its demise.

Des, the people you want around your community will realize that these things happen on every multi-player server at one time or another and will be able to see with a more global view.

Thus, try and worry less about what new players think. After all, I'm still here, right?

I have not really encountered any threads that I would consider flaming but I’m sure there are many things I’ve missed. What can be said is: furthering this community is something you all want – so do it.

As for this pending redevelopment, include everyone; do not leave members of your community in the dark. People seem to think being secretive protects others from becoming upset. Yet in the long run it causes more strain on the community as a whole. Be as transparent as possible at all times.

On redevelopment in general - it has its merits, just get everyone on board to help out – everyone can have a purpose.

I believe that in order to create a functional persistent world you need to use more than the prearranged nwn scripts or using annoying script generators on the vault. It can be said that scripts are the fundamental part of any persistent module.

What direction do you all intend to take?

While roaming within empty shells may be dandy for some - without the life blood (scripts) they are nothing more than beautifully drawn portraits. Thus, I am compelled to ask. I hope I am not overstepping my bounds.

- Dragonology101

great points dragon,

as to the new project, and any apparent secrecy, you are right of course, but all things in good time, especially when conversations at the beggining of the proposal to do a new version were not all warm.

as to scripts, we have several of what i think are some of the better scripts off the vault, of course like with any PW there needs to be many in house scripts written to get the most unique approach, and of course the most reliability.

some scripts that are included in the new basemod are:

shayans treasure system, simple but robust

axes killer death system, should work just the same as the crap system of old but can be tweaked easier to allow for softer restrictions if wanted

we will be using the same adventuring xp reward system as before, have to merge some event scripts first but should not be an issue.

would like to introduce a map tool for players, so they can access better maps of DLCO IG

have a few prefab tradeskill options to test, but we need a system for that as well.

as to help from the community, and involvement, really, there is not point in moving ahead with all this work if it isn't wanted.....



samm

Deleted by HDM Azmodeus


The author of this post no longer associates himself with DLCO, as a result, his post was deleted for it did nothing but instigate a potential war of words; which we are trying to get away from.

Ok, it really doesnt matter who did what, who does what, or why they did it. I know there are a few players that have taken an issue with me for one reason or another. I personally, do not have any issues either personal, or server wise with anyone.
I have sent Solstice a copy of the mod and server vault. She has the capability better than I do at the current moment to host the mod. So she has it running for the players to have fun in.

Many of us, have let ego's; or personal thoughts about how the server is supposed to be run get in the way of the most important thing for the server. That most important thing is the players, and the fun times we used to have.

If I am alone in the want to get back to just having a fun time and for a while at least, forgetting R/L issues, then I will remain alone in that want. However, I hope that our players forget, and forgive the total BS crap that has gone on recently. It is not only me involved, it is several others, and we all know who we are, and none of us are innocent in this. There are a few exceptions to this. We know who they are, as do they do. If you know this does not pertain to you, then dont worry about it. But if you know it does pertain to you, and you just disregard it, and continue business as usual, then no server; no matter how grand it is, will be successful. My hope is that DLCO will thrive, and that the new mod under construction will succeed as well.

As Scorp stated, I am the one that went to him and got the go ahead to keep the mod going; based soley on the fact that the mod built was unique, and pretty damn cool as far as I was concerned. The people, and storylines that we all created were excellent, and the good times far outweighed the bad vibes we sometimes had. I grew to think of this place as my server home, so I was bound and determined to keep it going. Now, there is a way to host, without me having to worry about my bills getting in the way of the servers operation.

Now, the way I see it, we can all do one of two things. We can either forget the crap, and let DLCO resume, and get back to things as they were; or we can continue griping and complaining; and taking pot shots at one another about who did what to who for how many cookies. I believe it is time to just forget all the BS and get back to having a good time.

Samm, I have sent a PM to you about the new mod you are currently working on, and my involvement in it as per our discussion.

Everything else, as it relates to the server is working itself out gradually. It will not be utopia at first, but we can all make it worth while; if and only if we get over ourselves, and maintain a spirit of gaming that Gary Gygax himself would shed a tear over. Is anyone with me? I hope so.

Sigh... so much violence...


A group hug people, please!

Sith you are amazing. I love you

~Des

Seriously ...what are you people talking about...its all good so remove the offending post and move on ...what are we yelling about? Woo-Hoo server here we come! For people who don't want to fight , you keep talking like it...
Yea everybody! Let's play!
I think Paige'll make a song right now....*trails off singing*