Gathering Places

[azure]

Hello! I'd just like to share a thought I've had for a bit now, this is mostly a suggestion to the rest of the player base, since we all of course choose where our characters go on our own.

The singular gathering place of the Square in Arabel is quite nice, and certainly convenient. However, lately I've been feeling that A) sometimes it gets WAY too crowded, and I can't follow a singe conversation to save my life. And B) it gets harder for me to suspend disbelief the longer I spend with characters just milling about in this one little patch of grass and trees and flowerbeds (not to mention boring after awhile; don't get me wrong, the area is quite well done, my sincere compliments to whoever designed it, but there are definitely prettier zones in the module, and staring at any one, relatively mundane thing for too long eventually gets boring) when there's an entire beautiful module to explore.

I often have my characters roam around solo on tasks they'd logically be doing anyway, elsewhere in the module. The rangers go on patrols in the wilderness, the priestesses spend time praying in their temples or shrines, etc, etc... And, I must say, when I do, all the other zones very often have a lonely, empty feel to them simply because everyone tends to congregate in the square or nearby. This seems a shame, to be frank, because there's so many other beautifully-designed zones in the module. It also just...doesn't feel very natural, nor does it help the world feel very 'alive.' Npcs being around in these other zones helps, but you can't really interact with them unless a passing DM just so happens to take pity on you, which is rare.

So, my proposal to my fellow players is this: find other areas to congregate too. Don't abandon the square, but don't rely on it exclusively for running into other people. Park your characters in places it makes logical sense for them to be. Send them about what might be their natural IC routine in other areas -before- you go to the square. In particular, consider that the module is called "Cormyr *and the Dalelands*", and yet, the only main gathering place is in Cormyr. What about the dales? Or, more accurately, the primarily-accessible one in this particular module: Deepingdale. If your characters happen to live there, why not sit around somewhere in Hgihmoon for a bit sometimes? You might just get bored eventually and go to the square anyway, but you might also run into someone for more organic, interesting rp that doesn't rely on "we all walked into the Square in Arabel" as a premise, which from a storytelling perspective is right up there with the "we all walked into a tavern" cookie-cutter beginning to far too many D&D campaigns. If more people try this for a few minutes when they log in, overtime, other gathering spots might form organically. They could be secondary to the Square, of course, because I do recognize the value of a single, central meeting area that everyone visits at least from time to time, but I'm also rather fond of the idea of more organic, natural-feeling rp that takes place all over the module, planned or otherwise, and I feel there must be some kind of happy medium we could achieve if enough people gave it a try.

I'd also like to remind you all that you can change your bind point so that you don't always spawn in the Seraph (aka right by the Square) on a server reset! There's an item in your inventory for it. "CD bind stone," I believe. You can't bind just anywhere, but I think you can do so at any Inn in the game, and I'm willing to guess a lot of players (especially newer ones) don't know about this. Binding yourself to an inn near wherever your character lives/works/etc would certainly be a start towards facilitating organic rp all over the map.

These, of course, are just my thoughts on the matter. I'd love to open a dialogue and see what the rest of you think of this thought. Please do reply if you have thoughts, whether in favor, against, or expanding upon this idea. <3

[littleblueman]

I saw the Bind Stone when I joined the server but I didn't know you could set a different spawn point, so for that alone, thanks a bunch!

Totally a personal preference by I am not a big fan of "One RP Hub To Rules Them All", but I feel it's inevitable and serves a purpose. I also feel that for other places of gathering to be created and used organically, it takes more than just asking/suggesting. The /listpcs command helps some in that, but I think the key is a Discord channel. "IC Rumours" or something of the sort, where I could, for example, post "(Insert PC name/description here) is seen walking to the Dancing Dragon with (Insert PC name/description here) as they talk about having a meal and drinks, preparing for an adventure". I'll actually suggest the channel on Discord now, I think.

[azure]

It does serve a purpose, absolutely, which is why I'd favor some kind of happy medium. Some people gathering in other places too, but everyone still go visit the Square now and then all the same. I don't think other gathering places need to be created, either, I think they exist in potentiality all over the map already, it's just a matter of getting people to gather in them. The discord channel idea is a good one, too.

Glad I could help share a lesser-known server mechanic. ^^

[JadeDragon]

Best suggestion I can give. Ask to take characters with you to other areas. Roleplay it. Ask people to go elsewhere.

[azure]

And I do! All the time. But in this, I'm encouraging others to do the same, and circulating the idea that maybe it's nice to meet beyond the confines of THE Square sometimes. :)

[Rei Jin]

The Bind Stone is a cool thing; thanks for sharing about it. I've just set my Bind Stone location to somewhere OTHER than Arabel for one of my PCs, but I "think" it only works as a spawn location upon server reset. When I used my Teleport Crystal it took me back to Arabel like normal.

Would be helpful if there was a little guide available about how it worked, and gave a list of locations where you can bind yourself to spawn from.

[Nokteronoth]

The teleport crystal is the Seraph only. It is an item to fix bugged areas and places where you are stuck. It's also been allowed as a roleplay convenience item for 'We walk back to Arabel'.

You can bind in most 'inn' areas on the module.

~BR

[kingofaquilonia]

This sort of thing is kind of on us as a player base. We gotta start gathering in other spots. Also if you want other people to join you there ... make sure you aren't on hidden 24/7

[azure]

I pretty much never keep my status as hidden, and I specified this was a suggestion to the playerbase rather than the staff in my initial post. XD

[winterhawk99]

Lauriella is fairly new and has a lot on her plate and mind. She would not mind traveling with one of your good/neutral characters as long as they arnt too chaotic. She'll leave if any kind of shenanigan's start up or she'll try to break things up and calm them down. Couple more levels she'll be ready to do her work here. She needs undeath to death the spell and plans to do some training as a thief to pick up more people skills, intimidate, bluff, and persuasion if she can find someone she can train with that isn't the typical thief (someone that uses the thieving skills for more honorable purposes, She's set up as NG(L). She plans to start an organization specifically to defend cormyr and the dale lands from mages that and others that use magic against the realm or in an abusive way. That is unless dms sidetrack her. That's never happened to me as a player, HEH!


She hasn't decided whether it will be a private organization or integrated with Arabel, cormyr, and the families of elves in the dalelands but shes working on what the best approach is. So an opportunity to start a new congregations spot, if you wish to speak to her and learn about her goals and ambitions.