Where does everyone go?

[Yaldabaoth]

I've noticed something strange on CD as of late.  I would have let it pass without comment, but I noticed a few other posts on this forum that featured complaints about this issue.  I could actually get to the point and address the issue, but I find it more interesting to ramble on and on.

Anyhoo.

Whenever I log on, I will see anywhere from 10-20 people logged onto the server.  And yet, when I actually get into the server proper and hunker down for some good ol' fashion RP, the place appears to be a ghost town.  Nobody in the square.  Nobody in the Seraph.  Nobody in any area that shows up on the meeting spot locator.  So, my question here is, where is everyone hiding?  These days, I tend to log on, look around, see no one, and then I log off, because I don't particularly feel like spending my free time fruitlessly hunting for people.  Nor do I feel like badgering everyone with tells.  I suppose it's entirely possible that every single person on the server logs on, finds themselves a special friend and immediately heads off to some place quiet for some alone time, but I don't find that scenario particularly likely.

P.S. The "S" key on my keyboard is acting very sscrewy, so I do apologize if I appear to be speaking in parselmouth. I tried to remove all the extraneous instances of "S", but, well, i'm busy saving the world and all that rot.

[Ogre Time Yay]

I don't like sitting in an empty square for long periods of time neither, so when I'm not in the square I'll likely be at the Ogres Keep, the one with the Pit Fiend and Chessboard. If I'm not just attempting to pass time, I'll likely be playing as Hydaro with some White Cloak Academy RP going. If that's the case, I could be -anywhere-.

But yeah, I won't usually stick around the square any longer than 15 minutes these days if there is nothing going on there. I'll usually take other players with me on trips if it's not White Cloak RP related.

[The Red Mage]

There's a lot of people nestling into Stonehaven right now. The Teleport Key is simply Stonehaven.

The rest from what I saw were mostly newer players out and about exploring.

The in betweens are a small handful, maybe, that will stick around Arabel or may be out in the Semberholme.

[onivel]

From a DM perspective I actually view this as a good thing. People -should- be out and about.

That said... the meeting spot locator probably should be expanded to include places like the exterior areas of Highmoon, the ground levels of Velethuil, Stonehaven, the Vineyard and perhaps a few others.

[Deleted]

I'm not trying to be sarcastic, but here goes.

Either we have complaints about "everyone sitting in the square/Seraph/etc" or "nobody's around!"  This is when the harmless metagaming is fine.  Send a tell.  Ask about.  Poke someone and ask what's going on.  Maybe there's a fight in the arena.  Maybe people are gathering elsewhere.  Maybe there's a lot of private plotting/planning/etc.

But please... let's not assume the immediate answer is to give up.  (Or worse yet, start just sitting around again.)

[jixjum]

Keeping the gardens of Eveningstar beautiful and clean, wandering Highmoon and its nearby regions or roaming the King's Forest.

[Vincent07]

Jan 2, 2014 17:32:03 GMT -5 onivel said:

That said... the meeting spot locator probably should be expanded to include places like the exterior areas of Highmoon, the ground levels of Velethuil, Stonehaven, the Vineyard and perhaps a few others.

This is on my list.  I just have to recode the thing so I can more easily add spots.  At present it just looks at the bind locations.

[Yaldabaoth]

Jan 2, 2014 18:38:11 GMT -5  @belladonna said:

I'm not trying to be sarcastic, but here goes.

Either we have complaints about "everyone sitting in the square/Seraph/etc" or "nobody's around!"  This is when the harmless metagaming is fine.  Send a tell.  Ask about.  Poke someone and ask what's going on.  Maybe there's a fight in the arena.  Maybe people are gathering elsewhere.  Maybe there's a lot of private plotting/planning/etc.

But please... let's not assume the immediate answer is to give up.  (Or worse yet, start just sitting around again.)

I...wasn't complaining?  I just wanted to know where all the action was.

On the topic of the Meeting Spot Locator, I recall asking once before about the possibility of expanding it's functionality.  I also wonder if it isn't possible to add an anonymous toggle to the meeting spot locator.  Many are the characters that don't always wish to advertise where and when they choose to have a drink.

[vaesi]

I'm standing around waiting on you!!  Where are you!?

[morwen]

I was encouraged that people are moving their RP all over the place and in that regard Stonehaven is very much a welcome addition.

[Nymera]

I prefer hanging out near the campsite near the Forest's Edge Inn.

Really, as has been said before, it's okay to poke someone OOC and ask where all the action is!

[Etanu]

Honestly, it's because we see you coming.  If you aren't in the know, here's how it goes down every time.

"Fuck!  It's hotrod.  Everyone hide, quick!  You!  Hide the hookers!  And you, over there!  Yes, you!  Hide the blow!"

[trylobyte]

If I'm not in the Arabel Square, I'm probably off killing something, sitting in the AFK room playing another game, or chatting with someone in a random location.

On a related topic, I'm not really fond of 'splitting up' all the roleplaying.  If you subdivide a small playerbase too much you risk speeding the development of exclusionary cliques, creating 'dead times' where nobody's around in certain key places, and creating the erroneous perception of a dead server for new players.  It's not a problem when you have a larger playerbase, but when there's only 10-12 people on having them split into 3-4 different places can really mess with things, especially if those places are hard to get to without teleporting or knowledge of the server's shortcuts.  Personal opinion, though.

[dom101]

Ehhh ... people complain when you sit in the square all the time.  Then they complain when no one's in the square.  It's just how it is.  I'm not saying Hotrod is complaining, I'm aware what they're saying.  Regardless the size of a playerbase, people are going to play with whom and where they want.  Having a server center doesn't mean everyone online will be going through there.  Wasn't an issue when 5 out of 10 people online were elves, and never came to Arabel, but stayed in Velethuil.  Hell, they even have a person that buys loot.  Not everyone wants to afk in the square all the time.  

[morwen]

That's about it.