Another update, another character sacrificed

[Curve]

This is what I wrote in a thread some time back,

I have a pattern on Arelith.

1) Get excited and start a character
2) Get that character to 6th to 16th level.
3) Loose excitement and roll that character.
4) Repeat steps 1-3 several times until a character sticks.
5) Invest deeply into developing that character.

This is my method, and it's been so since I started playing Arelith almost a decade ago. It has historically worked for me and led to some successful (by my own metrics) characters. The thing is, of the last year or so I have added an additional step into the process.

6) Character/Server faces a large mechanical change and I start again at step 1.

That is a big change for me and one that I am often frustrated by.

In my time on Arelith I have never played a character past their expiration date. I have always tried been cognizant of my character's presence and how that affects the server, be that positively or negatively. I mention this so that when I say the following it registers that I am aware of and working against the Bored Epic troupe.

All I want to do is invest into a character and tell a good story for about a year, roll that character, and start again.

The pace of changes is affecting my ability to play a long term character. I should probably be better at being able to swallow minor and drastic changes to my characters. I have an expectation that Arelith and NWN is a more stable game than it has been for some time. When my expectation meets the reality that we are in a constant state of flux I am often disappointed and find it hard to summon the motivation to invest deeply into a character.

The following is not fact, but a theory I have formed watching the server progress over the past couple of years. The constant state of change combined with the rapid pace of leveling and the rise of better means of OOC communication has led to a trend of PvP and build obsessed players to whom realism of character often takes a back seat to a race to 30th level where you can participate in the current meta before it drastically shifts and we begin the process over again. This style of play lends itself to forming groups and alliances out of game as much as in game.

I do not have a solution to offer. I love the attention that has been given to Arelith by the talented and caring DEVs, DMs, and Contributors. I want people to care for, and shape Arelith in their direction. But, the same things I love and am grateful for could be unintentionally moving the server in a direction that I feel powerless to change.

I am happy to hear ig say that he is aware of the issue and would like it to stop. Like the above poster I am grateful and thankful to the DEVs, DMs, and Contributors but sometimes it is very hard to summon the umph to continue playing a character that has been radically changed, or to make a new one when you are so invested in the current character.