It feels like quests fill up too fast

[Jazzmyra]

Adding to what Morena said... not all quests should be visible for everyone, not even close. Drow plots, general evil quests, some personal stuff that by nature of characters involved need to be hidden away... there is enough reasons the transparency has to be halt at some point. Not to mention activity of people being publicized in general can be quite uncomfortable for some, and it would definitely invite constant comparison, counting who did what how much, and accusations of favoritism.

[Edge]

I think this thread has more or less run its course. Going to go ahead and lock this one down.

Those who have provided useful and helpful feedback, we appreciate it. We are always looking to improve the server and community and every bit of constructive criticism is part of that. If you have further concerns, critisims, or comments, please send them to the SDMs (Fox, Nokteronoth, and Melody) and Admins (myself, FireWraith, and Vincent) via PMs using the form provided here: forums.cormyrdalelands.com/index.php?topic=10353

[Fire Wraith]

So, there's a lot to discuss here - let me try and wrap this us as best I/we can.

First, let me make clear that we as DMs want to run quests for as many people as we can, and to spread involvement out as best we can. We don't like leaving people sitting on the bench, because we understand that DM quests/events are an integral and necessary aspect of participation on CD.

That said, we run into two general hurdles:

One, we only have so many DMs with so much time. For instance, the reason we can't just add more players to the main plot groups right now is that we already have something like 150 players signed up, and 8 DMs working to keep them all plotted and involved. We actually had to shift more DMs on because the others were starting to burn out from the load. 
And that gets to another important aspect, in that as DMs we're just people, and we only have so much time/energy/enthusiasm. We're volunteers, not paid, we do this for fun. If someone makes it "Not Fun" whether that be players involved, or me as Admin telling them they have to do XYZ, that adds up and eventually it's too much - and a DM who quits runs zero plots. 

Two is that adding new DMs is not a simple thing, because we need people who have suitable skill at running events, whom we can trust not to abuse the powers/etc granted, and whom the rest of the DM team gets along with. It doesn't do us any good if someone applies who, if we accept them, multiple other DMs are going to quit, to be blunt. 

So ultimately, we grant the DMs a fair amount of leeway in choosing who they want to include in their plots. We're not going to tell someone "yeah you've got a great idea for an epic level adventure, but you have to run something for newbies instead because we've got too many high levels being quested right now", or similar. We can and do say "hey, seems like we could use more of X type of quest for Y type of players" but that'd suggestion rather than imposition. I for instance have at times run plots where I specifically post in the signups that preference goes to people who haven't been involved in (a lot/any) quests recently. I haven't done so of late because I've had my time taken by helping with the main plot and with other responsibilities. That said though, I can't/won't force others to do the same, because DMs work best when they're having fun, not when this becomes work/stressful (at least any moreso than it has to be).


So, what now then?

Here's what I would suggest, because I know there are players out there who are newer to CD, have had trouble getting involved, and would like to participate more:

One, be as social and interactive as you can. The more people you talk to/know/are friends with, the more awareness we have of you, and the more likely you are to get pulled into something, or have people want to invite you along. Joining guilds or factions is also a good way to do this, though certainly not foolproof. Conversely if you just hang out in private with a couple of friends, the assumption tends to be that you're busy, don't want to interact with others, and people will leave you alone to do that.

Two, make things fun for the DMs. We're human beings and we respond to things as expected, so someone who's sour grapes and complaints and is a pain in the ass to/for us in quests isn't someone we want to be around, and will probably avoid or even refuse to quest again. On the other hand, people who are a joy to quest for has the exact opposite effect - it makes us tend to want to run more quests, and we may even go out of our way to come up with and run stuff for them. This goes both for interactions with the DM and for with the other players on the quest, too. I strive to be the latter sort of player, even if I make mistakes at times, and I recommend that everyone do so too.

Three, you can also volunteer to DM. Note that we can't take everyone, but if you have the interest, and get along well enough with the rest of the staff, there's always a need for more of us.