Skal to Guldoran - Why it's not Working

[riffraff]

Wow. I did NOT expect my post to cause such a furor.

First, let me apologize to any Guldoran players who were insulted/upset by my post. I did try to point out that I am a very new Arelith player (new to persistent worlds!) and I just wanted to offer some insight into what I thought I was seeing.
<snip>

I hope you're not disheartened. Your feedback is valid, whether people agree with it or not. I think it's just sparked a broader discussion about Guldorand and how it could be improved, not just for new folk, but in general. I personally think that's a good thing!

As another newbie, I also appreciate seeing someone echo some of the issues I've had regarding more veteran players sort of assuming knowledge you either don't have a way of getting or have to really dig to find on the wiki or tracking down NPCs. I think it's always good to have specific reminders of what those of us knew to the game don't know and have trouble finding out.

[AstralUniverse]

Wow. I did NOT expect my post to cause such a furor.

First, let me apologize to any Guldoran players who were insulted/upset by my post. I did try to point out that I am a very new Arelith player (new to persistent worlds!) and I just wanted to offer some insight into what I thought I was seeing.

Your feedback was solid (I may not agree with every word in it but it was still solid. Good feedback) and you didnt attack any players. Pointing out player behavior in regards to what the world itself facilitates and what sort of player tendencies the foundations of the world encourage and ultimately result in is not bad feedback, it's not offensive and simply paints how the city's infrastructure and layout affect gaming. I dont think any players, officials of guld or not, are responsible for any of the feedback you're offering nor they should take it as a criticism over the 'player end of things' so really dont worry about it. you're all good

[If Only]

First, let me apologize to any Guldoran players who were insulted/upset by my post. I did try to point out that I am a very new Arelith player (new to persistent worlds!) and I just wanted to offer some insight into what I thought I was seeing.

In my opinion, most of your feedback is very valid and I hope that some changes can be made dev-side to improve the situation for new players. With added awareness from established players in Guldorand, I really hope that the transition from Skaljard can be made easier for arriving characters. My reaction was reserved for old players using the opportunity this forum post gave them to push for a very old agenda OOC without knowing the current situation IC.


re: Openly evil characters in Guldorand

There are a few openly evil characters in Guldorand right now, doing their thing, some of which seem to cooperate with Myon just fine. If you take the time to understand what the concept of the city is meant to facilitate, it's really not that difficult to come up with an evil character that can live in Guldorand. Not working against the Charter or making Myon your enemy (as you both live in the same city) is a good starting point.

Personally I think the situation with the Charter and Myon is perfect. The Charter makes Guldorand more neutrally aligned by design, allowing pirates, evil faiths, etc. in as long as they don't bring violence. And Myon acts as sort of a corrective, as it being a part of the city prevents Guldorand from becoming outright evil.
Will there be tension? Yes, good.
Does it have to be constant bickering about trying to remove Myon / constant PvP? No, bad.

[SaintPhilosopher]

I like the idea of making Guldorand have content ranging from 1-16 and being a new starting area option. It would complete the ecosystem of Guldorand.

My question is this; what would be the issue with implementing this? If any.

[AstralUniverse]

I like the idea of making Guldorand have content ranging from 1-16 and being a new starting area option. It would complete the ecosystem of Guldorand.

My question is this; what would be the issue with implementing this? If any.

Probably just the fact that it's entirely against irongron's vision of how Guldorand should be (a mid-high level focused settlement, opposed to Cordor's low level focused environment). It also means that you need to add.. what.. 5? 15? new dungeons to cover these level ranges? A lot of dungeons.

[SaintPhilosopher]

I like the idea of making Guldorand have content ranging from 1-16 and being a new starting area option. It would complete the ecosystem of Guldorand.

My question is this; what would be the issue with implementing this? If any.

Probably just the fact that it's entirely against irongron's vision of how Guldorand should be (a mid-high level focused settlement, opposed to Cordor's low level focused environment). It also means that you need to add.. what.. 5? 15? new dungeons to cover these level ranges? A lot of dungeons.

In a scenario where Irongron does not change his vision for Guldorand; we could ask "Why don't Skal players stay in Guldorand once they arrive and what can we do to increase their retention?"

Perhaps we can try some things now as players to have more Skal players stick. And/Or some area changes which don't go against Irongron's view.

[JustMonika]

It's an issue of the playerbase being too thin.

There's not enough people in Guldorand, so people arrive, find no people, and go elsewhere.

You need a critical mass of people so there's that regular consistant online presence before more people stick to it, but you typically only get that around spawning points - Which is why Cordor, Skal, and the Underdark are the regular population sticking points because new characters will always be appearing there.

[Subtext]

That said, things in Guld have been improving a lot in that regard lately. It's not Cordor but I see folks hanging out and RPing in the square pretty much every evening lately...it's definitely on the right track.

[Exordius]

Unfortunately the new city was doomed to fail from the start and indeed this was predicted years in advance of the city being built, anyone good at math could see that it was not going to work and as predicted it is not. The player base is simply not sufficient for two major cities, Its sad but that's the way it is, people from skall should be sent elsewhere.

[AstralUniverse]

In a scenario where Irongron does not change his vision for Guldorand; we could ask "Why don't Skal players stay in Guldorand once they arrive and what can we do to increase their retention?"

Good question. I dont have a clue. When I arrive from Skal I just go do my lvl 15-20 writs in Minmir or Sibayad. I dont really like suffering with very difficult mobs (relatively) when I can get about the same loot and writ rewards in older dungeons. If I play a character that just takes writs in guld as soon as they get there, it's because I chose to challenge myself and Rp that my character doesnt know the rest of the island enough to go find writs elsewhere. I cant speak for other players tho. Some say it's too big so it's hard to find players and also takes ages to get from one merchant to another when you sell loot etc, which I agree with. Why would I waste all this time walking when i got *all* merchants I need in sibayad in the same screen, and pretty close to a two-way portal. There are probably many more reasons and it's a very individual thing that changes from player to player.

[JustMonika]

I like the idea of making Guldorand have content ranging from 1-16 and being a new starting area option. It would complete the ecosystem of Guldorand.

My question is this; what would be the issue with implementing this? If any.

Probably just the fact that it's entirely against irongron's vision of how Guldorand should be (a mid-high level focused settlement, opposed to Cordor's low level focused environment). It also means that you need to add.. what.. 5? 15? new dungeons to cover these level ranges? A lot of dungeons.

Yet, ironically due to the portal literally inside the city, Cordor is in fact /closer/ to all the high level dungeons than anywhere else on the entire island...