Guldostuff - Thoughts.

[HeyLadyOfDecay]

Okay, So I have been a bit out of the loop, I play more than browse the forum,
This often causes me to notice things a bit late or make a threat of something that has been deleted

Still, I have thoughts and opinions (Annoying right?):

I wanted to talk about new Guldorand and kinda want to adress each side:

First of all the players:

I get it, The new City is the most restricted place we had so far in Arelith history. It's a new boss we'll have to learn to battle.

And you don't have to.

Hells, There is a lot of content I ignore just because it isn't my taste, Because it's to hard, Because it isn't my style, Because it crashes my PC (I'm looking at you water plane, Bloodly &**&^%!!!!)

Irongorn and his awesome team:

You did kinda press reset on a settlement with the most freedom of all of Arelith with a massive amount of history and large playerbase and forced them into basicly RP shackles. (atleast I can imagine it would feel so for them)

But they shackles were needed, Not for Guldorand, But for Arelith, Cause we as a player base can go to far and make certain RP completely impossible and give new players hell for making certain choices.

I do, As I do always blame transparency atleast the lack of it, Something will be made, It isn't something that is an expension but more a replacement "Wait for it". I have often no idea what the Dev's will do, What the staff wants or doesn't want.
It can be a little frustrating. (What works for me is to pretend the server is ran by the republicans, This is not an insult, It just really keeps you out of trouble)

Anyway, I think when it comes to Guldorand they did so far an amazing job, I can't wait to explore the new city and I hope everyone just settles and find their place.

Thank you for reading my thought, Maybe late, Maybe irrelevant at this point. I just wanted it off my chest.

[The GrumpyCat]

I do, As I do always blame transparency atleast the lack of it, Something will be made, It isn't something that is an expension but more a replacement "Wait for it". I have often no idea what the Dev's will do, What the staff wants or doesn't want.

I think your points are interesting and well thought out, and I do agree with some - but I'm not sure about this?

We've been warning people about New Guld for the last year or so I think. We've had tours for a few folks - including patrons and members of teh Myon/Guld settlment - the new NPC laws have been known for a few weeks... I think we've been pretty transparent really of late?

Is there any way you feel we could have been more so?

[HeyLadyOfDecay]

I do, As I do always blame transparency atleast the lack of it, Something will be made, It isn't something that is an expension but more a replacement "Wait for it". I have often no idea what the Dev's will do, What the staff wants or doesn't want.

I think your points are interesting and well thought out, and I do agree with some - but I'm not sure about this?

We've been warning people about New Guld for the last year or so I think. We've had tours for a few folks - including patrons and members of teh Myon/Guld settlment - the new NPC laws have been known for a few weeks... I think we've been pretty transparent really of late?

Is there any way you feel we could have been more so?

Honestly, I've missed that all, I guess you could have a weekend "map" reveal on a test server for all the none mentioned above.

But it is more than that, Irongorn is at the weel and he is steering Arelith towards a vision, And he does it quite well on most points, I think. But it would be nice if we knew where he is taking us rather than enjoy the sighs.

Staying on that ship, Now we are about to harbor on Guldorand it seems a more NPC controlled server, Is that it?
Are we to expect more DM events and less player motivated movements or is this temporary and are we trying things out?

And do forgive me if I overlooked something, For like I mentioned, I do play more than browse forums, Specially with discord having taken over more and more.

[Dreams]

Have a look at: http://nwnarelith.com/index.php/news

There are a number of posts here that really outline what is coming up, insights into certain NPCs, factions in place, the way the city will work for players, the IC rules of the city, and so on. A huge amount of flavour to gobble up, but also a pretty decent look at Irongron’s vision.

[Irongron]

An NPC presence in regard to steering the theme and reinforcing the setting is the norm in Cordor, Brog and Andunor.

This isn't at all new. As I have already explained elsewhere, Arelith very much has a setting and is not a true sandbox. I have also made it clear in the past I do not think settlements should be run as private clubhouses for small OOC groups, directed by private Discords.

It should be absolutely clear why I believe server content should be for everyone, and not subject to gate keeping.

Both Guldorand and Myon were outliers in this regard, both insular, small settlements given to IC and OOC tensions. The new city gives both a more public face, and invites them to interact more openly with the community, while many, if not all, of the NPC rules and systems there are designed to ensure inclusivity for the broader community who might otherwise be pushed away by a 'this is just for us' mentality' (which could otherwise befall a new setting as player groups attempt to claim it in its entirity)

I very much believe for Arelith to feel try dynamic then we are better served by larger settlements. If playing only with only 8-12 of your friends is your intention, then use a guildhouse, not an entire settlement.

And, again to repeat myself - nothing has been taken away. The 'old" Myon and Guldorand remain, and have been significantly improved. The only difference they are likely to see is many more people visiting; and taking part in their settlement elections, which to my mind, is no bad thing.

These first weeks and months will be crucial to shaping the future role of the city, so I would ask rather than leap on a discussion of its direction, and preferred changes, please let that evolve naturally, and limit feedback to balance issues and bug reports. There has, in the past, been an unfortunate tendency to use the forums to court and influence public opinion in order to affect change in the actual setting before one even attempts to drive such changes in game and in character, just as there has been a tendency to object to changes before trying them out.

So for the next weeks, and certainly over the course of the next days I'd very much like players to engage, in good faith, with this setting. Nothing is fixed on Arelith, and no doubt the Guldorand of 2021 will look very different to that of 2023, but for now, at least, it will be what it has been designed to be.

I should also add, that while the team has been extraordinarily helpful the city really is 95% my own work, and quite frankly, I'm exhausted. Aside from fixing bugs I really hope to finally take a few weeks, if not months to simply play. I'm not about to invest hundreds more hours hastily reinventing the city based upon request and objections from some within the playerbase. While the above post doesn't do that, it has, elsewhere, already started - even before the city has been opened.

So...yeah - try it, and if you don't like it? The rest of the server is still right there to play on (including both the original Guldorand & Myon).