Suggestion: Racial Starting Areas

[Anime Sword Fighter]

What do people think about making it an option to start out from a certain area if you are a race that can?

Along with the other standard creation message boxes, this also appears:

You have the option of starting your adventure at one of the following places-
Cordor (default)
Wharftown
Guldorand
[Racial area]

List of areas by race:
Human- Sibayad
Half-Orc- Sibayad
Dwarf- Brogendstein
Halflings- Bendir
Gnome- Bendir
Elves- Myon
Half-Elves- Myon

Picking an area aside from Cordor or Andunor automatically buffs you to level 3, voids/completes the messenger quests so you can't do them.

I don't know enough about the UD to suggest starting areas for the UDers.

[P Three]

Would be good, but as an elven player, Myon is often empty and to leave a lvl 3 will be squished.

[The Rambling Midget]

10RPR to make the option show up. Not because I think that there are people who will some how be cheeseballs with this, but because new players (who have no RPR) may choose the option without understanding its ramifications, and have a very bad time.

A level 3 character in Sibayad has the following options:

• Die
• Don't go anywhere until someone comes along to rescue you
• Already know exactly how to get back to Cordor, which is the only area with enemies that you can kill

[P Three]

At least 10 RPB is a good thought.

[Izaich]

And a healthy warning to ward off those that might pick it unwittingly. Some sort of confirmation dialogue.

[Katze]

Wasnt this tried before in the underdark?

[P Three]

And a healthy warning to ward off those that might pick it unwittingly. Some sort of confirmation dialogue.

+1

[If Valor Were Inches]

I don't agree with all the racial set-ups.

Firstly, are we going by "Sailed here" as inspiration for these spawn areas, or "I was born here?"

If the latter, half-elf could also be in Sibayad just as much as a half-orc.

I would rather just have options, and leave them open despite race, to allow concepts such as "Orphan raised by elf", elf touring amongst humans, drunk dwarf thinks he's a gnome, best race of all, and so on, so forth.

If sailed here, Bendir and Myon make no sense. Not even Guldorand ,since you'd spawn in a hostile dock area. I'd narrow it to Wharftown, Crow's Nest, Cordor, Brogendenstein, or Sibayad.

[What_Evil_Lurks]

Nothing stops you from being from any of these places. This is just your first time in Cordor.

[Hunter548]

I'm curious as to why you'd want to start in Sibayad. There's nothing there aside from the player shops and the one NPC who sells random RP items.

[Yma23]

I know it's an odd one, but I'd add 'Grove' to that list, for those playing druids who want to ah, start off hard-core as it were.

Other than that, I agree with the above - restrict it to RPR 10 or higher (to ensure only those who know what they'r doing choose it) and give an appropriate warning.

[Faye]

I agree with Yma, the Grove as a starting place would be good.

[Katze]

starting areas would hurt the adventuring feel.

[DirtyDeity]

Starting as a level 3 any non-Cordor settlement will cripple you painfully to the point where if you leave the gates you become instantly murdered to death, or take ferry/caravan back to Cordor.

That said, if you want to play a 'Wharftownian fisherman', for example, just save a hundred coin, hop over there, and there you go. I don't think a whole function is needed for this.

I would however say that if Myon could get a set of speedy quests and adjustment/addition to surrounding areas, it would be good, for two reasons:
-Elves are often very secluded.
-Myon is the only settlement that a low level character can not get to without escort. You can get anywhere else with caravans and ferries.

[Aelryn Bloodmoon]

-Elves are often very secluded.

That's because N-Tel-Quess suck. >.>

In all seriousness though, that strikes me as a by design thing, since they tend to, on the whole, hold their bastions apart from the other races.

[Rattus_norvegicus99]

I say no. It was tried before in the UD. I think it hinders more than it helps.

[P Three]

-Elves are often very secluded.

That's because N-Tel-Quess suck. >.>

In all seriousness though, that strikes me as a by design thing, since they tend to, on the whole, hold their bastions apart from the other races.

They do, but it's more that players either don't play their elves -there-, or they just aren't playing as many "elfy" elves, for lack of a better term. And yes, I know I'm one of them!

[Mr_Rieper]

I'll agree with this. It doesn't make sense that EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. on the Surface arrived by boat. Do we not have locals? What about if your character was born on the Isle? What about those scrappy farmers who decided to put down their hoes and take up adventuring? Did he get on the boat for a scenic ride on the sea before coming back to the docks and deciding that he would now be an adventurer from that day forward?

Put enough warning signs to discourage new players from doing it. Experienced Arelith veterans know what they're getting into and would make plans to survive no matter where they were put. It also allows us to see if another area would be more suitable as the default starting area. Cordor can stop being the status quo then.

[Artos13]

When you start the game, you are just standing on the boat. If you are a local, that could mean your story picks up from you standing on the deck of a boat. Its meant to be the most flexible and universal start, that's all.

No plans really for alternate starts. It fragments the people, and goes against what's really a good setup now, if you think about it. New players come through a city that has several guilds and a chunk of players. The new folks get to see its active, and the guild factions have access to new recruits.

By all means though, if you roll a new character and I'm on as a DM, I'll gladly plop you into some other really hard to survive in place, granted its somewhere you can bind a respawn to

[The Rambling Midget]

"Gee, this is a nice boat. Guess I'll go back to my house in the city, now."

[Katze]

perhaps a low class commoner who picked up a job as a boat worker?

[Artos13]

"Gee, this is a nice boat. Guess I'll go back to my house in the city, now."

Exactly.

[The Man of the Moon]

This suggestion is great only under the following requisites:

1. High enough player population so you could meet more people on the starting racial area.
2. Expand the maps to add starting areas with low level mobs and some quests.

If there is not fulfilled the point 1, then you are spreading so much the low level population so you won't find partners for RP nor adventures.

If there is not fulfilled the point 2, you will need to move to the original starting area by sail or risking for your life in a non sensical trip.