It's lonely in Menzoberranzan

[Mele]

We actually have a fairly good (for us) drow base. I even ran a roleplay with 6+ members who joined just last week. Kind of disheartening when negativity is the only highlighted thing on the forums.

A good rule of thumb before posting is asking yourself two things: Does this post add to the thread? and Does this post give a poor impression to new players?

[Ungtar]

I'm not trying to be negative. I'm just asking questions. One of the things that kept me from trying it so long was the lack of information.

[Tyeslan]

Best way is to jump in, and try. That way you can experience the knowledge first hand. Also use google/wiki for drow information, just make sure it isn't 4th edition when applying it in game.

[Ungtar]

Best way is to jump in, and try. That way you can experience the knowledge first hand. Also use google/wiki for drow information, just make sure it isn't 4th edition when applying it in game.

Good advice. I did, and I loved it. Only problem is I don't know much about their history or roleplay. Same with elves. Oddly enough, I know more about illithids than elves.

I'll be watching for more drow to log on and track them down to rp with to help me learn.

[Yemin]

Best way is to jump in, and try. That way you can experience the knowledge first hand. Also use google/wiki for drow information, just make sure it isn't 4th edition when applying it in game.

Wasn't intentionally being negative either, only posted my direct experiences and outcomes.

Drow are some of the funniest races in FR. Essentially the boogie men of Torel they're devious and dangerous and still run head first into mirrors because of reasons. Granted it only happened that one time, in that one book but i'll never forget.

More seriously, the wiki is a good resource for factual knowledge but I don't think I could ever understand a drow's mentality unless I read homeland in the legend of drizzt, or war of the spider queen, or Sword of the gods - spinner of lies.

Drow rp on FK is pretty good all things told. Just be aware that if you do read deeply into drow people here for the most part are nice enough not to be TOO drow if you get my meaning.

[Vaemar]

I'll be watching for more drow to log on and track them down to rp with to help me learn.

If you play a character from Skullport you can get a peek of how are the drows on this mud and even see some drow rp if you are lucky.

That said I am hoarding kismet to bring on FK an old drow assassin of mine. I am at present at 231 and I hope that at 300 I will be able to finally roll a drow rogue. So, see you later in Menzoberranzan.

[Vaemar]

So I have finally got my drow. So far I can say that I am also pretty satisfied. Here some impressions:

So, as stated in previous posts, I wholeheartedly confirm that the area of Menzoberranzan is beyond awesome, extremely stylish and original. It isn't however very noob-friendly, although that also explains why playing a drow requires kismet, although, all in all, it doesn't seem to me tougher than Skullport. I am actually glad in fact that I created a character there, it was a great way to practice.
Basically the rp is pretty nice for what I have seen until now. It is nice to see a place where not everyone is kind and cheesy and, more importantly, where the skills/level of a character are only a factor in determining his or her position and generally not the most important, social class and gender being definitely more relevant.

I do find a bit confusing, though, how female commoners vs. male nobles interaction should be dealt. I have looked in the fora, but found contrasting opinions and neither the lore has helped much in this regard. However I suppose it's maybe as it was between male commoners and female nobles in the European middle ages, only with roles inverted.

Basically the biggest obstacles I have found were two and the second is mostly my fault:
1)It was tough before someone, an old drow character, showed me the ropes. I stood for a day or two (rl!) in the pits against the goblins, who gave very little experience. In fact while I was exploring the city I mistook the area actually used for leveling by new characters, i.e. the Moss Bed, for a kind of merely aesthetical place, without thinking it was meant for leveling. And even when I went there, though, I didn't know against whom to fight to level up efficiently. Once understood that, I found leveling-up, despite the high ECL, to be pretty quick! So hear me right here: THE LEGEND THAT ECL 5 IS A PAIN IS FALSE! Okay, perhaps leveling up will be a bit slower, but personally, since I do not strive to have high-level characters I suppose it will be more a way to enjoying my low-levels longer, rather than hampering my enojoyment. Long story short, leveling up from 5 to 10 with the drow seems quite easier than with Vaemar (CN thief) in Skullport! Note also that both Vae and my drow have cha 14 and wis 10, just for the sake of facts.
2)What, in comparison, seems on the other hand definitely tougher is joining the thieves guild as a drow. I don't want to say much but let's say that Vaemar was already guilded at level 4 and did the quest practically in the matter of a few minutes. With my drow, maybe it is because I am still too noobish, but the quest looks way harder! Also much more entertaining, though, but I won't say more than this. In any case rogues are a difficult class and so this is in part my fault. I can say, however, that for the rest even playing a rogue isn't too bad in comparison with my human thief.

An extremely nice thing that I really didn't expect, on the other hand, was the possibility to have little slaves of cool races. I have a soft spot for goblins so I took a little goblin, and I find this quite cool since practically it is like having two characters in one. In particular if you are a wizard you can even move it while invisible and the same with rogues and stealth if you tinker a bit with speed settings. This was a particular joy first and foremost because I didn't expect it at all, and secondly because it allows to play some interesting scenes like master vs. misbehaving slave, which I really find very funny, especially when the slave involved belongs to a cool race like the goblin. In addition to goblins, though, there are several slaves and mercenaries of different non-playable races. So, basically, if you want to rp, say, the kobold, well make a drow and you'll get two in one! Oh, and if you are tired of roleplaying a certain slave you can always change it for a cooler one. The possibilities are really endless. The only thing is that it's not easy to play at the same time your character and the slave and answering promptly to everything that happens, but that too is to be expected.

My only disappointment is that I have noticed with the behaviour of drow players. Basically, with the exception of the character who showed me the ropes, they tend to keep their characters alone and don't want to rp too much, which seems to me a bit unexplainable. I don't know, maybe I met them in a moment when they were too busy in RL or they were multi-tasking, or what else. Fact is anyway that when I approached them both IC or OOC, they have either declined or sent my character away. Just to give you the idea, anyway, when I started writing this post there were three drows online, including my character, on a total of 11 players in the whole mud. So a considerable number, but yet I didn't meet any of them in game before they logged off. Maybe I'll have more luck in the next future.

I hope this post can be helpful for those who wish to play a drow.

[Larethiel]

My only disappointment is that I have noticed with the behaviour of drow players. Basically, with the exception of the character who showed me the ropes, they tend to keep their characters alone and don't want to rp too much, which seems to me a bit unexplainable. I don't know, maybe I met them in a moment when they were too busy in RL or they were multi-tasking, or what else. Fact is anyway that when I approached them both IC or OOC, they have either declined or sent my character away. Just to give you the idea, anyway, when I started writing this post there were three drows online, including my character, on a total of 11 players in the whole mud. So a considerable number, but yet I didn't meet any of them in game before they logged off. Maybe I'll have more luck in the next future.

The question is, what did you expect from drow players? Menzoberranzan is a big place and while one drow might be in the Moss Beds or other places in the city, other drow might be somewhere else, in one of the places that are accessible for drow to level or quest in. Or maybe they are even more far off, minding some other business. The Bazaar is usually very quiet with few people even passing through and why should, for example, a tough warrior or established rogue lurk around the Moss Beds or other places that he can gain little from? It is not very uncommon to be sent away by other drow, drow are no truly social beings in their very nature, especially when higher ranks and standings are involved. My drow commoner has been sent away by more important persons more times than I can remember for whatever reasons. But that's okay. He is just a commoner, another day, another try. With only a few drow online at a time (f.e. 3 out of 11), going out to find them to rp is usually tough business and a bit of a game of luck. Either you happen to find one or you don't. And then it doesn't mean that the person you find is eager to have company, depending on their PC and whatnot.

[Dranso]

Concerning Vaemar's question about rp between female commoners and male nobles; I have always role played my noble as higher up on the food chain than a female commoner, unless she is a priestess. Don't worry if you mess up though,the rp can be very intricate, but is very easily corrected by the high priestess' whip.

[Vaemar]

The question is, what did you expect from drow players?

The same I expect from human, elven, dwarven or bunny players, that is just to roleplay, not necessarily nicely or anything, but just to interact. I took a moment before answering to see what happened next and if I was luckier or not. I can say now that what I had written in my previous post seems to concern mostly noobs who created their drow characters relatively recently. So quite unrepresentative of the drow player base.

I have had some nice and entertaining RP's with the old drow characters I have met and they have given to my character interesting ideas for future meetings. Then of course it is also understandable that these PCs have limited reasons to hang around my character, or else, that in the end they'll just tell me that "You have to grind to get out of here, baby", which is in the end actually true.

So yes, I guess it really depends by who you meet and by your luck. Just to give an idea, yesterday and the day before I was able to meet almost by chance two characters and I did a nice bit of rp, while a day before I was not able to make any rp, despite there were 4 other drow online, three of which in the Moss Bed, and two of them of about the same level as my character and yet I was not able to get any significant rp on that occasion.

Anyway, I think it is relevant to the discussion to note that the number alone of online drow characters is not a grant of any way of rp.

P.S.
I have also managed to guild my character at level eight, so that too was definitely doable.