Arelith

The jaded adventuer. Of allllll the qualities I really dislike that one the most. It instantly sucks the life out of a plot or story. It Invalidates player actions and reduces everything to a trivial joke. It's hard for villains to escape jaded adventuer.

It drags everyone down to be just as jaded because then you feel silly not being the same. But the whole point of playing is for like 'drama' bold actions and like okay maybe OOC you know that things can be respawned and maybe actual war isn't possible due to server design but like using that OOC jaded outlook to just devour all the plots around you is so so annoying imo.

KT28 wrote: Wed Aug 12, 2020 7:31 pm Personally I think the distinction of whether a character is new or old and how important that is for "a healthy RP environment" is over-exaggerated.

I have seen "old" characters that are incredibly fun to RP with and continually add to everyone's fun by meeting new people, investing in new characters' stories, and empowering others. I have also seen "old" characters who cling onto power and refuse to share it, hole themselves up in circles they never break out of, refuse to accept losses, or steamroll over other characters' RP. Similarly, I have seen plenty of "new" characters who are fresh and fun and full of energy and fun for everyone, but I have also seen plenty "new" characters who still have a lot of room to grow towards creating a fun RP environment for others.

I think the age of the character is much, much less important than the attitude and playstyle of the player behind the keyboard. As long as a player is open-minded, open to change, open to losing and winning (which we all should be!) I don't actually think the age of the character matters that much. In fact if anything I find some old characters to provide a very unique RP experience because they possess so much history within them - old rivalries, informed perspectives, old alliances, old loves, failures, victories, decades of growth... there's a lot to uncover if you get the chance to get to know them.

I actually think right now the server incentivizes cycling through characters too quickly. I wish more characters would stick around longer.

I could not agree more. Thank you for this well written post.

I've played long running characters, I've played short lived characters. Interestingly enough, characters who I intended as throwaway characters often took a life of their own and made me return to them despite my initial intentions, whereas concepts that I considered cool at first and wanted to take my time to delve into more seriously, I often ended up abandoning after growing tired of them before long.

I do not think that there's a right answer to this topic. While the detriments of long lived characters have been brought up and criticized so many times, personally I consider them really bad only if their prolonged lifespan also taxes server resources:

a quarter/shop owned by a single character since the dawn of time
a position of power continually claimed and guarded by a single character since forever (whose entire reason for being often becomes keeping said position)


However (!) I consider characters ending their journey prematurely something that can be just as (if not even moreso) detrimental
(they have also one thing in common and that's Kevin Spacey! More to that below):

have you ever stopped and wondered why Frank Underwood (House of Cards) - yeah, that guy nobody likes and nobody voted for, runs Cordor again? Could it be because the rightfully elected chancellor who nobody has heard of before they reached lvl 30 and maxed bank account appeared just in the nick of time to charm everyone right before elections, fulfilled their personal character goals and rolled quickly before things could get any less than outstanding for them?
have you ever been frustrated by John Doe (Se7en) - a notorious villain who ruined so many lives (fulfilling their own personal character goals - often at the expense of others), and who has chosen to end their journey quickly before they could be made to face the music ? (denying closure to their victims and therefore adding insult to injury)
have you ever shed a tear over Lester Burnham (American Beauty) - a fundamentally flawed, but otherwise endearing character whose journey has abruptly ended just as they were starting to win everyone over, wanting them to see more of what that character had to offer?

While the above arcs work perfectly for movies and TV shows, it's partially because their runtime (and interaction with the audience) is obviously much shorter than what we're expecting from a multiplayer RPG.

have you ever shed a tear over Lester Burnham (American Beauty) - a fundamentally flawed, but otherwise endearing character whose journey has abruptly ended just as they were starting to win everyone over, wanting them to see more of what that character had to offer?

Is this always a bad thing though?

The most impactful character death I ever witnessed happened many years ago. I was part of a new faction, and I made friends with... I guess you could call him the 'Lancer' - the second in command. The Lancer and my character were very different. The Lancer was laid back, fun, goofy, immature. My character was strict, proper, prim, a bit broken, and angsty. They butted heads but basically got along, and I enjoyed the rp between them. Over the weeks my character knew them, a bond started to form and I always loved their interactions.
Then one day we ran across a hostage sitaution with some Evil Bad Guys. We tried to stealth around to work out what was what. But the bad guys came out of their hidy hole and attacked us, killing us both.
I accepted the raise, but the Lancers player didn't. He said he'd end this character after three pvp deaths (or something like that) and though I implored him to think about it, but he decided to delete.
My character ended up returning the broken staff of the Lancer to the Leader of the group, in a event that was emotional and impactful.
The group dynamic was never the same again and I felt a real sense of OOC loss. Almost as if someone I'd known in real life had died. Because - as XXX says, the character was just winning me over. I saw how much there could be. I saw how many interactions and developments we could have had - all snatched away.
It is the closest for me that an Arelith Death has ever felt like a real death. Because it had that measure of the shocking, the unexpected about it. Like real death, the pain lies perhaps not so much in what has been but rather for all the things that will never be.

Now this is by no means is a statement that all pcs should die after three pvp deaths, or that they should randomly roll whenever, or the average life of a PC should be... two months and one day or whatever. Definatly not!

But I am saying, however, that sometimes an unexpected death can have a huge amount of impact by itself and should not be ruled out.

The GrumpyCat wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 5:16 pm Is this always a bad thing though?

Of course this one in particular is not always a bad thing! I perceive it more as a personal pet peeve much akin to Marsi's example of having their immersion suffer whenever they're dealing with the same long-lived character on their sixth alt in a row.
Along similar lines, getting repeatedly invested into another player's character story only to see it abruptly retired for the sixth time in a row can be slightly demotivating at times.

This is often further compounded by the fact that not all characters conclude their journey in some sort of epic story or cathartic finale. Very often you just learn about it from the Kudos thread instead.

Daedin has shown me that an expected death never, ever carries the same weight of an unexpected death. Honestly it's one of the most powerful things a player can do - and also probably, really hard.

"waiting for a perfect ending" really is a player thing, not a character thing, and you should acknowledge you're ripping away agency from your character to create a fictitious narrative arc that satisfies something immaterial to the game world.

Seven Sons of Sin wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 5:41 pm Daedin has shown me that an expected death never, ever carries the same weight of an unexpected death. Honestly it's one of the most powerful things a player can do - and also probably, really hard.

"waiting for a perfect ending" really is a player thing, not a character thing, and you should acknowledge you're ripping away agency from your character to create a fictitious narrative arc that satisfies something immaterial to the game world.

This is very true, and as you say.. very hard to do!

I've had quite a few characters I been playing for 2-3 years. (Cuchilla, Fraya Stensamler - now librarian in Andunor, Ivory Bushdigger, Fadriatta Nilphukir, if anyone still remember those?). The main reason is that I like to play support characters, and as long as there were anyone around they could support (mainly settlements - Cordor, Blingstonhold, Bendir or Udos), I found there were a reason to continue playing them. All these characters of course also were personalities.

The last many years I haven't been able to play that much, for personal reasons. Besides, the development of the servers is so dynamic, that I find it hard to keep a character for more than a year. Things are changing much too fast. Which isn't a bad thing, on the contrary, it is just different from what it was. But I still have found much fun creating chars where it makes sense playing them on and off, coming and going. (To mention a few examples: Greensleeves, Goirin and now Biarray).

The long and short of it, Yes and None of your business. The real reasons, (mind you I am teasing so bear with me) I have Three Characters who fall under the long term , One a Wizard, pure and simple, - Tower fun no.. No one is ever one when I play my wizard, My Barbarian - fighter Why cause smash Everything and Walk around nearly NEVER encumbered due to Stat advantage and Booze... And lastly My Hin Ranger/rogue TO join the hawkins, Why NO because when I am playing The only people at Bendir are tallies... * sighs* , The Irony of all of my Long term playing characters are a very simple plan, Play till it is no longer fun, It doesn't matter if it level 12 or level 20 or level 30 If the fun runs out, Pop the character. DO I always have Long running characters no.. I had a Slew of short lived level 10 characters who either Died from foolishness and MoD. Are all of my characters MoD.. No About 50% of them are yes. This does three thins for me PERSONALLY - ensures One I truly do Want / Need to go to that place so I gather a Group to go there, Two keeps my silly Mash button win mentality to the safety of town Unless I have -said party- And lastly but Not least - It allows me to Engage with MORE RP.

So that is the jist of why I keep playing long term characters.

Having played characters of long, middle, and short length I can empathize with both the positive and negative aspects being pondered here. I do have a long-term character (wizard) from approx late 2015 that I have a gratuitous amount of hours spent on both IG and OOG (writing books, descriptions, and making fixtures for example). I had one primary character before that, and a handful of half-serious alts in between.

I've privately asked several people a similar question after threads like this (or their passive aggressive alternatives), and the answer is usually the same: well what does this character bring to the collective table?

I keep playing the character for mostly two reasons: because I enjoy fantasy-intellectual RP around magic and history, and because other people want me to keep playing the character. History especially appeals to more people than I think is usually mentioned. Many people here rightly want their characters to have an impact on the world and its occupants, but what better impact can one have than in the memory of other characters - particularly ones that will be around a little longer?

I think the server needs, and benefits greatly from, characters of all durations.

There are going to be shortcomings for old characters, yes, but I think if we spend all our time outlining and stereotyping all the things we dislike about old characters while ignoring that new characters are just as capable of 'poor performance' is not a healthy way of discussing server issues.

Personally I don't think a character's age is even really that relevant to the ultimate scope of generating healthy RP.

You could be a super ancient shop owner with the same shop for three IRL years full of wildly overpriced necessities. You can also be a new character that scoops up a shop, slaps a 'coming soon' sign on it, and leave it empty for three months because it timed out two weeks after you rolled because you didn't care enough to release it.

You could be an old character with lots of prestige/power/gravitas that stands in the way of other plots and stories. You can also get to level 30 in two weeks with a sweet build and run around rofl-stomping people in pvp to get the same effect.

You can see the same old character several times across multiple of your own PCs. You can also establish a ton of potential future RP with multiple characters and then abruptly disappear because you just weren't feeling it.

Characters should be individually judged on their merit and contribution to RP/Arelith and not their age.

Like others have said before, over the years I have seen it done both incredibly well, and incredibly poorly, for the same reasons other folk have already pointed out. I don't really have much to add in that regard.

It is interesting, however, how perspective changes over the years.

Back when I started playing, (15 years ago, now?) a character with a lifespan of two or three RL years was considered normal. Anything below a year and a half was very short. Considering how long it took for most folk to level up back then, this only makes sense, as the overall level progression used to fit along nicely with what one tended to achieve within that time span, rp wise.

As for me personally, I think I only had one character who was around for around three real life years, from the moment of creation to the moment I deleted him, which was Borin, but even then, if I account for long breaks, actual play time must've been closer to barely two years.

Which fits pretty much into the average lifespan of all my main characters.

I wish I had a specific reason as to why this is, but I don't. So here's some rambling:

I think it comes down to a matter of taste and personality, in the end. On what it is I get out of the characters I am playing, and what it is I hope to achieve with them. Also the way I hope the world impacts them in turn.

I like consequences. I don't like repeated pvp deaths without ramifications. I like to leave a mark in the world, and nothing leaves a mark quite as much as the absence of something, of all the things left undone and left unsaid. I like history and legacy. Though I know that all the things my characters ever did have faded into nothing, their names and deeds forgotten by everyone, both ig and irl, there's always at least a bit of a grace period where they are remembered fondly, or scornfuly. I like to pay the same kind of respect to the characters other players retire. To speak of them to newer characters, to pass along tales they used to tell, to point out places in the game world that they made special. I like those layers upon layers we keep building together. Communal memory is one of the greatest resources we, as a group of players, share in this roleplay environment.

I almost always get to a point with my characters where I start to feel like they are aproaching something. It is not always clear what that something is, but it is always clear that whenever it happens, I will be ready to retire them permanently. Some I've found it easier to delete, specially if they got killed in pvp, even if I find it very hard to let go of the memories and unfinished projects afterwards. Others I have found very, very hard to let go of all together, like Urebriwyn or Borin. Mostly because I had hit such a perfect rythm and groove with them, such an ease of slipping into their shoes and producing cool and satisfying experiences nearly every time I logged on, that I cant then imagine being able to do the same ever again. Yet the urge and need to retire them also becomes hard to resist, because I start to feel like they've outstayed their welcome. They did what they had to do and it is time to go on.

It's weird.

There's also real life, throwing in wrenches into all of this and changing plans left and right.

So, yeah. Not really helpfull, all that, now that I read back on it. It's just what makes sense in my head.

Splatting on here - because I wasn't sure whether to put this here or in the kudos post itself...

For an example of an old and long running character done well?

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=29750

This guy.

I have long running characters. Right now I am playing a drow mage I started in ’08 or ’09 and a human rogue that I created not long after joining which means fall ´04. I also have a lvl 30 druid in my vault that I dust off from time to time (my only lvl 30 charater to date).

I like characters with long story arcs. I also joined back when reaching lvl 30 was a looong process, even if you could dedicate a lot of hours every week. Min-maxing was frowned upon and the mechanics were not as well known as they are today. XP from adventuring was lower, no rpr-ticks and the respawn penalties were a nightmare.

There is a stubbornness to the characters I’ve stuck with. “I’ve spent too much time on this character, not letting go now”-type of feeling. Mostly what keeps me coming back is that my more successful characters are easy to pick up after long absences and they work well if I just play an hour here or there. This means: they have stuff to do, they have an easy time finding stuff or people to interact with.

The best characters have a story that makes them what they are but also do not constrain them or limit their rp avenues too much.

It’s also a certain feel of connectedness, knowing how this character’s general outlook and mood is, how do they communicate and relate to others etc. It’s easy to insert myself into the world via these characters as opposed to other characters that either feel to bland/empty when just popping up or too complex (introvert, connected to certain plots/characters that seem vital to their story and place in the world but have little meaning to those around them,) or just bad builds that have become worse with the amount of updates.

I might feel different about my high level characters if I’d joined at a time where you could easily get to the epic levels within a couple of months or if I had more time to play these days. Having 7 or 8 years getting to lvl 30 for the first time I’m not about to just flush this character even if I -do- want to try and play a Firbolg or what have you.

As an addendum I have deleted/rolled three characters above lvl 26 so far. One had reached an abrupt but fitting end leaving meaningful impact in its wake and so far has his final resting place on a wall in the Devil’s Table library, the others I deleted simply because they no longer made sense – they’d been disconnected from the IC relations, places and stories that made them fun. The possibility of getting an award via the retirement system played a part in this, otherwise they’d probably still be lying about in my vault.

How would I motive a higher turn-over? The team is doing stellar work adding new races, classes, areas, spells etc. That must be a motivating factor for a lot of people. The tiers of awards and the guaranteed award after certain levels also helps (I know I’ll get something, it’s not just all or nothing like back in the day).

Still, right now it seems you either go for the big buck (5 %) or nothing at all. More interesting minor/normal or even greater awards would be the place to start I’d suspect. An award that allowed more minor gifts, special (special = flavorful/interesting, not necessarily powerful) gifts that required an award or the like. Starting with an elemental stream (like genasi), even one of the planar streams (not the rarer/more powerful ones of course), other spell like abilities tied to reward tiers and with appropriate ECL adjustment (flare, acid splash, minor healing, monstrous regen, shield, remove curse, neutralize poison, dominate animal) different skins for animal companions/familars selectable at startup, feats like use poison, trackless step or even choosing an extra bonus language at character creation. But I am getting too much into actual suggestions.

'Jaded Adventurer Syndrome' is a trope that can be used for good or bad. Even if your character's 'been through it', it's important not to belittle the importance of events to other people.

If anything, an older character should be stressing the importance of these events - they've been through it, so they should/could have a first hand account of how dire the situation is. "The Xuexue House is upon us once more? The terror returns... We fought them off once, now we must fight them off once more! Together, with me!"

As for the actual core question, I've had a couple long-lasting characters in the past, and I can say with certainty there's two major reasons why I stick with them:

1. I can make an alt, write backgrounds/descriptions/details for days, make plans and hopes and theories... Only to burn the alt down to the wick within a couple of days. If I make a character that I get attached to that I can find a lot of narrative potential in? I'm digging in deep. I'm devouring every scrap and morsel I care to sample. And, comically, this mostly happens with characters that I don't plan out - my druid Sarah was a one-off I made with a friend who became my long-running main for a few years. An old warlock that lasted over a year was as straightforward at first as 'she wants power'. Hell, Tilly was originally a comic relief side-character to my scoundrel Jetwyn Vuji, until I honed in on the philosophy side of things.

2. It's really, really great when you find a book, statue, painting or whateversomesuch that feels like it depicts a part of history. Something that's been around so long that it's a part of the atmosphere. One of my favourite examples is the time a one-off line Rhaeg once said to Tilly leading to Tilly spending a few days looking into the story of Clea Stormfall, discovering a rather unique thoroughline of history that most people don't need to or care to know, but what I/Tilly found enriching.

You know what feels better than unearthing/discovering a hidden facet of history? Being it. Being present for those historic events. Making the monuments, writing the reports, spreading the word. Taking part in the tapestry that makes Arelith so uniquely fabulous compared to anywhere else I've roleplayed. The world feels lived in, so why not live in it? You can get a taste of that with a character that lasts less than a year, sure, but provided you aren't hogging the limelight too much or detracting from someone else building up a character's legend, why not linger just a little longer?

I'm a little late to the thread but I wanted to post still anyway.

I agree with what some others have said; character longevity doesn't really mean anything. There's plenty of great and less-than-great long lasting characters. There's also plenty of great characters that only last for a month or two, and there's plenty of characters that only do 'writ rp' so that they can roll for an award and move on.

I technically have two characters over a year old, one being nearly two years old. Though I don't play either of them very much.

Kalia Aerlin being closer to the two year mark, a character that I pop on occasionally and enjoy poking around on. It's fun to play a character that knows things, and can recount old 'historical' events on the server with a first-hand perspective. In a way it almost feels important in that without older characters carrying the information along, it effectively ceases to exist. The only other way that information lasts outside of older characters is if it's put into a book that's added to the loot matrix, I think.

I've never rolled Kalia because I stopped doing really anything grinding or writ related in teen levels. Her adventure XP ran out ages ago and I don't really play her enough for the flat ticks to level her. She's up to 25, and is almost in range to roll, but I don't know if I'll do it then either.

Isandra is over a year old but I haven't played her in nearly a year. I think she had around a good 6-7 months of play with thousands of hours logged. Likewise she's a character possess a ton of knowledge of older history. I never rolled her because maybe I'll want to play her again someday, and there's not much to get from rolling characters.

Essentially, in my opinion, a level 30 character is worth more than a normal award. Much less a level 30 character that has good equipment, and millions of raw gold. There's just very little incentive to delete the character, especially when everything that'd be fun to play with is a greater or major award. A normal is just -2 ECL, and, of course, getting anything other than a normal is a dream.

My average character length is... Somewhere around 6-9 months, before I shelf them. I only roll characters when it makes sense in the roleplay, or when I'm absolute that I'll never play them again. It's simply too crushing to delete so much XP and GP just to see a normal.

First I'd like to say there are some really good points here and a lot of things I now understand I have to take into consideration given I play an old character, things I have not necessarily given much thought myself but could certainly be or become an issue if I don't start.
Holding on to a faction would be one of them, in my head it's not a right that I get to do this and I'd never think I somehow deserve something just because I've actively done it for a long time, but I can see how there might be a risk that it discourages other players from giving it a go, as a character might get cemented into the very building after a while and thus harder to replace, or at least giving that impression.

I play Derristan Barley, who's been First Axe of Guldorand now for about two years. It's a Commander's rank, which means it's not really mine to hold on to but it's up to whoever's Mayor of the town, and given my toon has been played for about 2.5 years now, it's certainly been a few of those. So far no one has wanted to kick him out, but with that said I should be open to the idea of being replaced and in all honestly, I think I am, certainly OOC but also IC as I've had him express how he's ready to be replaced if that's what's needed but if that's the case, someone should express an interest to, so far no one has.

As for why I play an older character? I have fun still is one of the reasons, I enjoy playing a character that grows older and the challenges and rewards that comes with it.
It's also far from the same character it was 2.5 years ago. The young soldier coming to Arelith has now morphed into an older, greying and at times (often) grumpy veteran. Who has new worries, experiences and who has changed due to the many amazing meetings and events taking place in Arelith. He's experienced love, friendship, betrayal, joy, victory, defeat, pain, etc etc etc, the list is long.

I see why there can be issues and everyone with an older character should keep the things brought forward in this thread in mind.
To make sure they're welcoming, open to new characters and concepts, That they're not just sticking to their clique of friends and remains the very same. The latter we often see with new characters too though but a completely different discussion!

A question that maybe can be bit of wisdom for players who are not easy to depart from their toons, why should you play a new toon? Aiming on players who did play toons for long only to find changing and playing new things more fun...thank you!
................................................

on the matter...

i agree with most what was said, specially the point of DM Grumpy, I also think we shouldnt attach ourselves to the characters as much to the story, as its story we are all about here, issue is We players sometimes think character is a story , it is..but we all work on one HUGE story called Arelith, and it is what it is thanks to players, with all this books now people make we do have events noted, and one day some toon will read them and inspire, or just read them and mock them-both is equally FUN!

I had terrible ends for some toons, but when i take break from them i see them actually as perfect end for the toon, as thats life-end is not pleasnt, death for certain, also if you die/depart people you made all fantastic things will contribute more to that compared to those future who you will inform what happen before but wount "feel" it as good as your companions from coal mine or Skal, will.

Issue why playing one toon for over a year i felt on my own skin, sometimes those people have that "picture" and deeds behind them that my toon doesnt know of, and my acts could be seen as those that wish to undermine that while actually they are not, and from that missunderstanding sometimes bad things happen with not much RP pushing people to rather pick another server or a game.

OOCLY thing: if your toon is major important political factor, if you play over 1-2 years people start to dislike yo ooclyu not because you do something wrong, but because i played lets say Cordor 10 months ago and now i log in and see...nothing is changed...i find that boring, i like new stories be they good or bad., i simply like to see "change" as that motivates me as a player and make me world more immersive thinking what is next and how can i contribute to push it forward.

Old toons, well i have one 12 years old, a drow that i keep as it was my first toon, and as i believe he is now in old age and simply wanted to have such toon in my vault. However when i take it out usually is only for 2-3 RP sessions, passing the legacy, or simple supporting some story with more depth by being there, but if not in event he for sure might die of old age Oh and yes, its complete different character now compared to before, his prime is behind him.
Other toons i stop after a year, some i keep, some i roll...because adventuring with new toons is always extreme fun.

Quarter hoarding is...well....not good, please dont, but if you do make it worth it with many events open to many.

My two cents.

P.S.
As for player of Ghestald, as someone mentioned, ask that same player-would He do that run again? LOL!

P.S.S.
Only one toon i would miss from playerlist and thats Spets even as we dont RP for years now, however, remember there is only one Spets!

I have had two periods of playing NwN before coming to Arelith, namely on The Three Kingdoms back in 2003 to about 2008, and on Amia from 2014 to around the time NWN EE came out. At both places I essentially played one character, with the occasional alt when the fancy struck me. So for me, playing the same character for years is the norm. The reasons as to why vary, but usually comes back to the OOC friendship made with other players who also run long-term characters, and my desire to explore as many aspects of my characters personality as possible. But most importantly, my own age and life situation.

Back on the The Three Kingdoms I was in my early teens when I started, and the character in many respects grew with me as I made my way to adulthood, and was my fixture in the otherwise uncertain, baffling and confusing experience it is for most people (I assume) to leave childhood behind. And RL friendships that I have kept to this day was forged there. I would of course never have made that kind of character today, a bit too angsty, stereotypical "I hate half-orcs because they killed my family" type of elf, but it would be unfair to belittle 15 year old-me for not knowing what I do today. But with him, I made real friends, discovered what RP is, and developed a taste for writing in general as there was much IC-forum conversation to complement in-game activity. All that made me keep playing him, and never really putting an effort into trying other characters.

I started playing Amia after a long hiatus from NwN following military service, closure of the Three Kingdoms and completion of university. This time I fiddled about quite a bit before settling on a character that I ended up playing for the better part of my time there. A much more mature character who was more about exploring the world and making events that others would also enjoy. I rebuilt him a couple of times when he got stale and I wanted to take him in another direction. I think both comfort and a drive to see how far I could go with him made me stay. But I also made, and played more alts there; more real world experience and less time available to gaming made me less attached to that one main character.

After yet another hiatus when NwN lost its allure I picked it up again a bit after EE came out, and the only real alternative for an RP-focused PW was Arelith. Now in my early thirties, with a full-time job, other hobbies and obligation, I at best only have a few hours a day to play, with the occasional splurge on empty weekends. I have now played the same character for almost a year, but involvement in factions (Guldorand) and leveling (now 26) have only picked up in the last few months, so I don't consider him "old" in the regard that he holds any position of power or influence. I am also much more detached about this character, in the sense that I have always been ready to roll him if it makes sense IC, and I feel little need to "win" on his behalf.

In many ways, I am still much more attached to the character I made almost 16 years than any I have made since, and if he was on Arelith, I don't think I would have the stomach to roll him. Even today. Not for IC reasons, but for the memories that character represents. And that I think can explain a few long-running characters. Some of them are simply too precious for the player to let go.

Now I'm not saying that is healthy, neither for ones own play-style or the server in general, but I can understand why some characters are kept around for those reasons.

Now that I am older, wiser, and with a lot less play time, I find it much easier to go from one character to the next. But that comes with a loss too; I will never experience the same level of immersion, with it's ups and downs as I did when I played a character I could not let go.

That whole “growing with the character”-thing really struck a nerve with me. And the urge to keep a character simply because the memories and experiences that character is connected to are very powerful

I have a couple long time characters. One character who is was retired early this summer was started in AR71. The ranger, Orion Stormwood. I've shelved Orion twice before, while I focused on other characters... including an AA that I played as a main from AR105 to 121. I've played some other alts up into the teens and early 20's... mostly elves. I played a goblin rogue for a while, that was a blast.

I have been thinking a lot about what I have read above, and what other people have wrote, and for me... I think why I keep my characters around for a long time... well...

I have to disagree with people who have written that long-surviving characters breed stagnation. And that things need to constantly change in order to stay fresh. I disagree, not EVERYTHING needs to change. Some things that remain constant are good.

Two things that are important to me in D&D games (and in a NWN server!) are tradition and legacy.

New characters come along, and "learn" from the elders. The IC knowledge becomes a chain. Legends get forged.

Someone above wrote that they thought it was better that things are written down instead of being passed on verbally.

I don't know if I agree with this. I spent the better part of the past RL 2 years meticulously documenting and preserving written history for my faction that I was part of the leadership for.

When my grad program got real serious this past spring, I had to step away from the game to focus on my thesis.

When I got clear, and rejoined the game in Mid June... after being away since Feb... What I found was all that written knowledge that I had worked so hard to preserve.. specifically so that others could benefit from that information... was lost.

Archives, history, knowledge, events.... from AR126 throu AR158. Gone. No one asked me to take on this task, this was my own choice, and I enjoyed the task as it was ongoing. I felt I was doing my faction, and my fellow nature-walkers, a service by contributing to the written history. But, someone else felt that this work was not worth keeping, and dumped it.

And this isn't the first time. Years ago in the Heartwood... we had been preserving all the sign-in boards so we had a record of the names of characters who had come through the Grove. And one person decided that the "past" needed to live in the past, and that information didn't matter... and litterally bashed those archives into nothingness.

We were flabbergasted when we found out. We lost the archives that dated back to AR64.

I mean.. THIS is history! This is Legacy. It's just cool to be able to read over the names and deeds of those who came before. It SO puts things into perspective of what goes on currently, and helps us shape our decisions on how to deal with future (similar?) events.

This is IMO the strongest argument for having characters survive long periods.


..that.. and just elves and dwarves specifically... who are old as dirt... are just wickedly cool! I wish we had more of them!

There is a bit of issue to accept "death" when in UD as it often happens dramatic (not usual of old age), and mostly for bit silly reasons or little RP to it so i understand that those players dont accept perma-death and continue to RP, and is PERFECTLY legit to do so, however good would be to change something, in apperiance and behaviour of the toon, it can give so much to the character and for you to play it. SCARS are best thing ever to add to your toon.

My last three toons (all in UD), died in unexpected PVP:
- The drow was killed with no special RP, actually a bit death to force me to quit, i was a bit bitter, but ppl of UD show another aspect of RP , three different groups work to preform (by DND rules) resurection and gaved the resurection awesome story that actually showed me how if returning to life someone even after silly PVP can be fun, but again most important after it is to alter your RP, i let to lose very exclusive quarter, ranks, faction fall appart...but "new me" was even more fun. So sometimes no need to shelf/roll, but altering toon to let the story go is fair thing to do.

- Second was in clumsy PVP, i had minus rest and i lost even as i initiated(lol), but decided to remain dead what turned to be great as person that won PVP accept his lost later that was outcome of our conflict and actually gaved memorable story to it that i am really proud of, tragic but a beauty.

- Third was death of my toon that i accept as it was part of the wide-scale conflict, i wasnt satisfied with RP durinig it but i accept to lose to let the story go forward in hope that those in conflict would follow the example, unfortunate they didnt even as my withdrawal open more story paths to them, and thats a bit issue on the server. I also wish to add that player in question of this PVP after a few moths talk with me about it how he was sorry not giving more to it, to me talk with him was a true reward of playing this toon coz i got a good friend now with who i play on the new toon and have incredible fun.

I didnt tell this stories in order to maul PVP or force people to act the same, but to show how accepting " hostile end" even as its dull can be good for health for YOU as a player, can get you new friends, and for sure give more health to the server.

...if nothing, at least if you ride a long ride remember there are other kids in line that would gladly also sit on that horse and have a bit of fun with it, dont be that guy we all knew or met in our lives at least once

I dunno if Olwin qualifies because I take breaks where he's presumably off doing something stupid across the Multiverse.

I think I keep him around as a blend of cautionary tale and punching bag because, even at lvl 30, he's very capable of taking an L and walking it off in character because his life is such a disaster.

I'm hopeful that he's the useful kind of high level for new players because he'll enchant/craft/identify things for cost price (since he's awful with money and never charges), hands out Arelith/FR lore because he's a gossip and will tag along with more battle focused, tough guy characters who're ten levels lower than him for "protection" because he's the ideal blend of lazy and cowardly. I like to think he enables everyone else to feel cooler because he casts buffs on them and spouts out RP lore/travel banter at everyone as he goes.

Plus, due to his longevity, he knows a lot of people and owes a lot of them money which is usually good for some fun RP where this high level wizard is sweating and awkwardly trying to avoid paying his debts. Also has the right personality to butt into conversations and meet new people. A problem I've found on most of my alts is that they don't tend to be the "Hey, I'm gonna just barge in here" personalities and it hampers meeting new characters.

That's probably more a specific why I'm playing THIS long lived character.

Fallout wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 8:28 am - The drow was killed with no special RP, actually a bit death to force me to quit, i was a bit bitter, but ppl of UD show another aspect of RP , three different groups work to preform (by DND rules) resurection and gaved the resurection awesome story that actually showed me how if returning to life someone even after silly PVP can be fun, but again most important after it is to alter your RP, i let to lose very exclusive quarter, ranks, faction fall appart...but "new me" was even more fun. So sometimes no need to shelf/roll, but altering toon to let the story go is fair thing to do.

This is Jahzard right? See, I have an entirely different perspective of this event as the one that killed him. Jahzard's death had lasting effects for Veszgloth, and he identified his execution as the beginning of the end of his career as the weaponsmaster of Auvryn'dal. He was petrified and turned into a headless statue, and my character frequently would stop and lament infront of that statue.

I know you probably never saw it, but his death meant a lot.

Thats amazing, there was lots of epic rp by many thats what i wanted to point out, and for me was refreshing as a player.

I recall Veszgloth, great and layeres character for a drow weaponmaster.

18 Con.





I'm here all week