Pity Rewards?

[Aelryn Bloodmoon]

This is an idea based off of my own circumstances, that I'm unlikely to actually benefit from.

Maybe I'm the only one, but I've been playing around six years, and never gotten a reward. (To be fair, with my first few characters, when they were created it was much harder to get rewards than it is now). I've also yet to actually roll a character, so it's not like I'm complaining, because without rolling, I don't expect one.

Where the Pity part of this suggestion comes in is this;

IF Player A has RPR => 20
AND Player A has rolled at least two characters in a six month period (which were also created in that six month period)
AND Player A maintains RPR =>20 for the entire six month period
AND Player A earns no rewards greater than minor
THEN -> Player A has the option to discard all minor awards for one normal award on their next roll if it is less than a normal award.

There are some RP concepts locked behind normal awards periodically that I think a great deal of 20+ RPR players could do justice but just aren't ever going to get a chance to, because they can't stand the "grind, roll, repeat" playstyle. While I acknowledge the effort and skill put into grind roll repeat, I don't think the players who spend most of their time RP'ing deserve less of a chance to get these things.

Thoughts? Terrible, workable, liable to be abused (how if so so that the idea can be modified, please!)

[kiljaedon]

I truly believe we have systems and a setting that rewards less roleplay and more action gaming and needs to be changed. People state that putting 5% into the hands of dm decisions is a poor decision but we have this strange duality of where the dm staff has significant power in dealing with plotlines, server rules and more. It is a silly argument that the staff could play favoritism dealing with rewards based on rpr. That is a silly notion when the staff are tasked with half these decisions at it is. We should get rid of this grinding throw away humility characters and let rpr and dm choices matter in rewarding people with such mechanical rewards.

People who argue well it's not fair that people with low rpr won't get anything. That should be the nature of the server. We have tilted way too far into the action MMO genre and should take steps to put a greater balance back on the server. We need to trust the dm staff will be unbiased.

[malcolm_mountainslayer]

I truly believe we have systems and a setting that rewards less roleplay and more action gaming and needs to be changed. People state that putting 5% into the hands of dm decisions is a poor decision but we have this strange duality of where the dm staff has significant power in dealing with plotlines, server rules and more. It is a silly argument that the staff could play favoritism dealing with rewards based on rpr. That is a silly notion when the staff are tasked with half these decisions at it is. We should get rid of this grinding throw away humility characters and let rpr and dm choices matter in rewarding people with such mechanical rewards.

People who argue well it's not fair that people with low rpr won't get anything. That should be the nature of the server. We have tilted way too far into the action MMO genre and should take steps to put a greater balance back on the server. We need to trust the dm staff will be unbiased.

We trust human nature and that DMs are not literal gods capable of equally judging EVERYONE.

You saw the discussion when awards goy locked behind rpr 20? A lot of examples came up of great roleplayer who never got to 20 in months or even in the year. This problem is only exasperated behind higher tier things behind higher RPR.

You know what its like to be playing for years and to have a stupid number tell you that you can not handle rping as "x" thing (bunch of things locked behind rpr 30) and then told not to sweat it or you arnt rated properly because its just a bonus? Have friends you recruited to the game have literally twice your RPR(40) when all you do is rp characters under lvl 20 and never powergame? (Talking about a decade ago) and thisbwaa when the server was much smaller lol imagine with this many players

Im all for tilting away from an action mmo, but stressing about our rpr towards imperfect gods is not the way I would want to see that done.

[malcolm_mountainslayer]

that being said. I see nothing wrong with the "pity reward" other than if its currently worth the work of devs. As it just adds to grace to some rpers not take away from others

[satan]

I truly believe we have systems and a setting that rewards less roleplay and more action gaming and needs to be changed. People state that putting 5% into the hands of dm decisions is a poor decision but we have this strange duality of where the dm staff has significant power in dealing with plotlines, server rules and more. It is a silly argument that the staff could play favoritism dealing with rewards based on rpr. That is a silly notion when the staff are tasked with half these decisions at it is. We should get rid of this grinding throw away humility characters and let rpr and dm choices matter in rewarding people with such mechanical rewards.

People who argue well it's not fair that people with low rpr won't get anything. That should be the nature of the server. We have tilted way too far into the action MMO genre and should take steps to put a greater balance back on the server. We need to trust the dm staff will be unbiased.

Not sure if serious.

There are some major problems with this.

There is already a wide ranging sentiment that the dms give preference to their friends (whether or not it's true) and letting them decide who gets rewards would magnify that times a million.

Also, reward races are SUPPOSED to be rare. If they become common it's bad for the server health.

[Ork]

Have friends you recruited to the game have literally twice your RPR(40) when all you do is rp characters under lvl 20 and never powergame? (Talking about a decade ago) and thisbwaa when the server was much smaller lol imagine with this many players

It has never been the criteria for 40 RPR players to only do 1) stay in character & 2) never powergame. The criteria for 30s and 40s have been so much more. 20s you are staying in character all the time. The 30s and 40s revolve around your impact on this server. If you only roleplay with your handful of people, never make big waves, and are content with that - you will for sure remain a 20.

These discussions come up time and time again. Want that 30 or 40? Make big waves, shake things up, roleplay with EVERYBODY! If your character isn't talked about or the circumstances about them mentioned frequently, how can you expect to gain a 30 or 40?

I don't see rewards as a problem. While it does cost something to gain them, the reward races are not terribly imbalanced to give an unfair advantage to people that would game the system. Overall if you want a concept to work for these reward races, level a character and roll.

[kiljaedon]

I truly believe we have systems and a setting that rewards less roleplay and more action gaming and needs to be changed. People state that putting 5% into the hands of dm decisions is a poor decision but we have this strange duality of where the dm staff has significant power in dealing with plotlines, server rules and more. It is a silly argument that the staff could play favoritism dealing with rewards based on rpr. That is a silly notion when the staff are tasked with half these decisions at it is. We should get rid of this grinding throw away humility characters and let rpr and dm choices matter in rewarding people with such mechanical rewards.

People who argue well it's not fair that people with low rpr won't get anything. That should be the nature of the server. We have tilted way too far into the action MMO genre and should take steps to put a greater balance back on the server. We need to trust the dm staff will be unbiased.

Not sure if serious.

There are some major problems with this.

There is already a wide ranging sentiment that the dms give preference to their friends (whether or not it's true) and letting them decide who gets rewards would magnify that times a million.

Also, reward races are SUPPOSED to be rare. If they become common it's bad for the server health.

Yes im serious. If we have that many issues with staff then that speaks a different tone altogether.

And the abuse of the current system is worse. Farming humility druids for rewards is against the spirit of the system and should be scrapped. At the very least go back to how jj used to manually roll for the 5%. Removing the human factor was a bad mistake for any rewards. They obviously feel something is not right if they implemented the 20 rpr requirement just grew months ago

[Seven Sons of Sin]

Hot-take:

Get rid of Greater Awards. Make Normal Awards static, rather scaling.

Maybe the objective was successful, because I really do pity this suggestion.

edit: further hot takes, I absolutely loathe the whole narrative of "RP concepts that can only be done with awards"

1. What are these concepts
2. How many of them are actually not that good aka not trash

[Echohawk]

AND Player A earns no rewards greater than minor

Level a character to 26 and you won't get a minor reward. System is automatic and not lead by any bias or favoritism.
http://wiki.arelith.com/Epic_Sacrifice

[Zavandar]

hot take

remove 5%'s

[malcolm_mountainslayer]

Have friends you recruited to the game have literally twice your RPR(40) when all you do is rp characters under lvl 20 and never powergame? (Talking about a decade ago) and thisbwaa when the server was much smaller lol imagine with this many players

It has never been the criteria for 40 RPR players to only do 1) stay in character & 2) never powergame. The criteria for 30s and 40s have been so much more. 20s you are staying in character all the time. The 30s and 40s revolve around your impact on this server. If you only roleplay with your handful of people, never make big waves, and are content with that - you will for sure remain a 20.

These discussions come up time and time again. Want that 30 or 40? Make big waves, shake things up, roleplay with EVERYBODY! If your character isn't talked about or the circumstances about them mentioned frequently, how can you expect to gain a 30 or 40?

I don't see rewards as a problem. While it does cost something to gain them, the reward races are not terribly imbalanced to give an unfair advantage to people that would game the system. Overall if you want a concept to work for these reward races, level a character and roll.

I understand my friend had the privilege of being a legendary impact on the server while i have always been a nobody. There are a lot of reasons for that. My issue wasn't that he had 40 RP and I didnt, my issue was/is that rpr would be consider a valid system for guaging how good players can rp certain restricted concepts. I shouldn't have to change the world to prove I know how to okay a shifter. The nature of any world with lots of people is that not everyone is going to be important. I should not feel punished for already having less fun.

*edit* and i use to roleplay with everyone around me. Just wasn't active.

[Aelryn Bloodmoon]

AND Player A earns no rewards greater than minor

Level a character to 26 and you won't get a minor reward. System is automatic and not lead by any bias or favoritism.
http://wiki.arelith.com/Epic_Sacrifice

Noted- I knew it had gotten easier to get a reward, but I didn't know it had progressed to this point. I'm not trying to hand out majors for free, so the idea behind this thread is dead- feel free to continue discussing thoughts, but try to be nice to each other! This was meant to try to generate ideas for fun, not make everyone mad at each other.

1. What are these concepts
2. How many of them are actually not that good aka not trash

At present they are Derro and Trog. Neither to me seems to be hot trash or amaze-Pufferfish, but that was the whole point; my understanding is that concepts around what a normal award require shift slightly over time, and I didn't think it should require an endless grind-fest to get such things.

But since it already doesn't...

[The GrumpyCat]

Whilst the point about RPR rating ect is interesting, another reason for the 'rolling for rewards' system is to help encourage people to roll characters, and thus keep the server fresh and interesting, as well as put a limit (especialy on 5% awards) on how many 'unique' concepts there are.

[xanrael]

I truly believe we have systems and a setting that rewards less roleplay and more action gaming and needs to be changed. People state that putting 5% into the hands of dm decisions is a poor decision but we have this strange duality of where the dm staff has significant power in dealing with plotlines, server rules and more. It is a silly argument that the staff could play favoritism dealing with rewards based on rpr. That is a silly notion when the staff are tasked with half these decisions at it is. We should get rid of this grinding throw away humility characters and let rpr and dm choices matter in rewarding people with such mechanical rewards.

People who argue well it's not fair that people with low rpr won't get anything. That should be the nature of the server. We have tilted way too far into the action MMO genre and should take steps to put a greater balance back on the server. We need to trust the dm staff will be unbiased.

Not sure if serious.

There are some major problems with this.

There is already a wide ranging sentiment that the dms give preference to their friends (whether or not it's true) and letting them decide who gets rewards would magnify that times a million.

Also, reward races are SUPPOSED to be rare. If they become common it's bad for the server health.

Yes im serious. If we have that many issues with staff then that speaks a different tone altogether.

And the abuse of the current system is worse. Farming humility druids for rewards is against the spirit of the system and should be scrapped. At the very least go back to how jj used to manually roll for the 5%. Removing the human factor was a bad mistake for any rewards. They obviously feel something is not right if they implemented the 20 rpr requirement just grew months ago

I'm still of the opinion that character time played should be a factor both in RL time it has existed as well as time actually spent in game. It could be an automated system too. If both values are high you have a better chance for a reward and if one value is very low you have a smaller chance. You would want some cap on both to encourage people to roll as opposed to keep playing forever.

So rolling a character you've spent hundreds of hours playing over a RL year will have a better chance for something than grinding out a character or four over the span of a RL month.

[Scylon]

For myself due to my play time getting a DM (senpai) to notice is extremely hard. Honestly even getting in touch with one to fix a bug I had impossible. I was lucky to get my 20 RPR, as a DM (sorry, I forgot whom) Posted something up in the game and I requested a review. Getting a 30 or 40 for me Is highly unlikely as all the big bios play during my day time. I can make as many waves as I like, but if I'm the only one in the pool, who cares?

Regarding the 5%... I have to agree with the fact the system as it stands now, just insists you make a burner class. I don't know about others, but I'm not lighting on fire my character I have invested heavily RP wise cause I feel the itch to roll the dice.

[TimeAdept]

hot take

remove 5%'s

great take.

[Halibutthead]

And the abuse of the current system is worse. Farming humility druids for rewards is against the spirit of the system and should be scrapped. At the very least go back to how jj used to manually roll for the 5%. Removing the human factor was a bad mistake for any rewards. They obviously feel something is not right if they implemented the 20 rpr requirement just grew months ago

i think having a 20 rpr requirement is already a human factor.

i understand your concern, but i don't think it's warranted, really. how fun is a character on an RP server that you don't intend to RP with? PoE is free, and has plenty of combat and content. i hear buzzards is making a new diablo game to milk their fans, so that's probably going to be a better choice, too.

so, they grind up in a medium-action, (relatively) slow progression server for a greater award and do what with it? either a.) make a fun character that enriches the server, or b.) make a dud that nobody (even the player) wants to play with. no one else really loses out on anything. it's a lot of time to invest in something with bad faith, honestly.

[Tarkus the dog]

Don't beat yourself over it too much.

It's just a game, a free game. Enjoy it and make the best out of it. No one has it perfect in here, or anywhere else really. Not even 40 RPR players with hundreds of people wanting to be their best friend.

RPR is an immensely flawed and archaic system. A very open/honest DM might even agree with me.

Don't let it drag you down or make you devalue yourself in any way. Your measure as a story-writer, a player or anything else at all is not and never will be measured by any system in this game, or any other video game. No numbers or statistics can ever properly calculate a human's imprint in the world, whether it is in a small RP community or anywhere else in life.

Take it from me. I've felt awful about RPR for four years straight but I don't want to feel that way because I know my own value. No one is higher or above anything or anyone because of pixels forming a number on screen. Because of a luck factor. Because of a DM friend. Because of something absolutely random that has nothing at all to do with your ability to entertain anyone, even yourself. And sometimes the complete opposite, but that doesn't change my point.

People will tell you to "do more" in order to rank up in RPR, but this is not always true. An unfortunate stigma, something you've typed whilst drunk, or something completely unwarranted and unfair might be the reason for hitting the 20 RPR ceiling.

Same goes for the Major Rewards, and rewards in general.

I've played one. People both loathed and loved my character. I mostly loathed her, though. You'll find that by the end of it all the random elf that you've made two years ago will remain your favorite and most memorable character.

Be patient, kind and humble to your fellow players and their gratitude will be the greatest reward you can possibly get around here. And if on top of that somewhere along the road you roll a 20 when deleting one of your characters, then all the better.

[strong yeet]

hot take

remove 5%'s

I have two 5%s that sit unused and I agree heartily. Remove them, or gate things that are "strange" but not particularly uncommon behind them; deep-imaskari, tieflings, aasimar, etc.

[ReverentBlade]

I vehemently disagree with the entire premise of the 5% roll. We should be encouraging character investment, permanency, and long-running arcs, not disposable nothing characters. Its entirely counter-productive to an RP server, and there's nothing about the mechanical task of leveling a character that actually gives these players a deeper understanding of the lore necessary to play something unusual.

[MalKalz]

You may obtain a 5% with the present system but it doesn’t mean it will be approved. I rather reward the people who are RP’ing and bringing narrative to others than giving something that someone who just grinds rewards wants.

The system can and may be re-evaluated. I’ve made suggestions, as have others. So I would wait and see what has been decided.