[Ongoing Event] Drow Roleplay Days

Velius · Post by **Velius** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 4:44 am

If it makes you guys trust Drow PCs more, maybe you can make the drow race application only (In the application people would let you know how a drow should act). I'd be in favor of that, only because the drow down in Menzo are little too power-hungry. I was always confused as to why I'd always have to bow every other half-second and act as a puppet to every priestess I saw... and being followed into melee-magthere in several occasions... and I'll stop ranting.

I agree with Selveem in that deleting them would be ridiculous. About them being RPed wrong... compare them to the pointy-eared humans of the surface world. I'd keep the drow as an option, if someone really wants to play a drow than they should be able to. But just don't spend anymore time on improving their areas.

Also, I'd like to add that it'd be a great idea to open up UM before I head off. A lot more opportunites for surface roamers and drow alike.

Dranso · Post by **Dranso** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:02 am

Maybe we could open an intermediary area, where surfacers couldn't go down any farther and drow couldn't go up any farther and the two could interact. Or you could just open up the underdark to surfacers and not let the drow be able to access the surface. I think either of these would create a lot more interaction with other characters.

As a side note, I don't think its the lack of characters that log on to their drow that make the race so boring to play, I think its the lack of diversity down there that makes them so boring.

Kohadon · Post by **Kohadon** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:23 am

I agree about opening UM up a bit. In the books, Jarlaxle had many contacts and such on the surface he kept in contact with. I don't believe we should see dwarves or anything walking around Menzo, but with Skullport being something of a neutral place, maybe make it a bit more accessible?

Horace · Post by **Horace** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:33 am

There already is a lot of crossover areas - the problem being that, in character, there are so very few reasons that the drow would want to travel outside the underdark...or that the humans would want to go visit drow territory.

For all intents and purposes a drow and surfacer would never hold a conversation - even a good aligned drow around a good aligned surfacers, in canon, it took an incredible amount of time and circumstance. The only one I can even see it remotely feasible with, is one with a reputation like Duranamir, to those of the persuasion to be his clientèle. It's just not something that should happen in game with a reasonable consistency.

It's like marvel and dc crossovers - it's cute now and then, but if you keep shoveling out batman vs punisher, it gets lame. They're separate worlds.

I'm sort of with the staff on this one. Close it off, see if it can survive without a novelty drow character created out of boredom here and there while waiting for a jail sentence to end...if it can, open her back up - if it can't, leave it for some crazy IMM/Admin ran quest.

But if it is closed off, I think the current characters should be able to get that mechanical ceiling taken off eventually if they continue playing...as sort of a thank you for supporting a very interesting part of forgotten realms without having much support down there from us surface only players. I'm sure you imms can come up with some reason to break it for a good few of em...without it becoming campy

Kohadon · Post by **Kohadon** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:55 am

...Not on topic, and don't know if it was an actual fight or anything....but batman kapwns punisher

Velius · Post by **Velius** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 3:44 pm

Aye Horace, there aren't many IC reasons to go to the surface at all, and if someone did have a great reason to go up there, good luck getting there. Even the great Zaknafien feared traveling through the Underdark to the surface, and Drizzt himself barely made it up there alive (and he is the greatest fighter around, and he had Guen with him).

But, the option should be open. When I said opening up UM would be great for drow and surface-dwellers, I meant that it'd be nice to see the surface-dwellers coming to Menzo (Merchants looking to make bank defended by the great Helmite guardian RP). Drow are the only race locked up in the Underdark (except for yours truely), I agree with the others in saying that the place should be a lot more diverse. Deep Gnomes, goblins, orcs, ladidadida. Instead of wiping the drow, why not make other races to RP with:

Imagine this, the game is in reverse, the only surface race you have to play is the Elf, and in the Underdark there is a massive wide variety of races that you can play including Drow, Deep Gnomes, Goblins, Orcs, Mind-Flayers, ladidadida I can go on all day. The elves of the surface are RPed by some as pointy-eared humans, but other have the RP mastered, but unfortuneately only 3 elves ever play anymore. Would either A) delete the elves or B) Allow them more opportunities for RP, making the surface world diverse, maybe making humans and centaurs.

Note: I do understand that the drow have been given great opportunites to RP (thats why the thread was made in the first place!

), and the Imm have tried to spur the drow to life again, but don't remove 'em.

Horace · Post by **Horace** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 4:07 pm

Just remember that drow enslave all sentient races...and most monsterous races that they come across. The RP would be little more than that Thunderdome scene scene from Mad Max 3 - which is a double edged sword...on the plus side "It reminds me of Beyond Thunderdome", on the down side "PVP causes more player complaints and frustration than anything else".

Unfortunately I have been instructed by the IMMs to no longer base any of my decisions off of what the Road Warrior says...which just leaves "pvp zone = bad"

Velius · Post by **Velius** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:31 pm

Well, I'll see what I can do in the future about bringing the race back to life. I'll see what sort of events I can manage to put together and whatnot, it may take a few weeks though, and I'll need help from my fellow players. I don't know where to start.

Selveem · Post by **Selveem** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:43 pm

Velius,

While I appreciate that you would like take ownership of this situation, you need other players to follow your footsteps. Other players, too, need to come up with ideas for RPs. And, really, I'm sad that that's even the case.

In the entire world above, you don't need to have a specific RP planned out for people to attend to have RP. You just RP.

The problem is, currently, that we have a small player base. Drow have no backing. They just kind of 'get what we're willing to give you.'

There's no interaction (or, at least, very little) between surfacers and Drow. Drow have few spells available to them. Why is this? Drow are mostly Wizards.. You'd think they would have access to better spells than are available.

The people who go down and spend time with Drow are often chastised for doing so. I took Selveem, a Tempurian fighter, down there to meet Duranamir. I got nothing out of the trip (that I can remember). Nothing that I didn't already have, certainly. I wanted to spend more time down there because they have some very pretty areas. Especially Ched Nasad. Yet, I was ICly asked to leave because Drow are dishonorable in nature, though none had shown me any of that in actual battle. (Not directly, but the echo indicated such action "should be" taken). I left even though I very much OOCly disagreed with the circumstances.

Why would Drow be driven to play when all they can do is idle? Those they would like to meet would be driven out. I could bet you if Halaster decided to walk around UM that the Priestesses wouldn't allow him to be hindered. There's intelligence in these creatures, the Drow, that would barter safe passage and wares for the chance at similar trade. If that were not the case, Skullport wouldn't exist at all in the first place.

Give the Drow a fighting chance. They've been stunted the entirety of the time I've been here.

Jzexleth · Post by **Jzexleth** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:09 pm

Jzexleth is my favorite character. I really enjoyed playing him when he was first made, and when I started building, I built for the Dark Dominion because there were so many 'things' that the drow areas were missing. But like most of us, after time, I grew disillusioned with the limitations faced by the drow. And since I never really ever played on the surface, I kind of lost interest all together and disappeared for 4 years.

What brought me back was Bane and his RP. One night of true RP in Menzoberranzan was enough to get me hooked again on FK. Things didn't really work out the way we hoped they would, and now here we are.

What's funny is that the discussions we were having about the drow areas four years ago are the same discussions were having now. The area has changed and grown some. Solaghar has made a ton of interesting contributions and Skullport has grown and become more visited, but most of the problems the areas face still exist.

I do not want to sound critical of the admin and the imms. You guys put an amazing amount of effort into FK and I appreciate it immensely. You work uncompensated for the love of Forgotten Realms and of roleplaying and the player base reaps the fruits of your labor. We (I) can sometimes be ungracious and overbearing, and I apologize.

Now, that being said... I really feel like many of the policies of the Realm stand in opposition to successful drow roleplay. I don't have a strong position on access to the surface. Jzexleth already has access to the surface, but I don't ever use it. The time he has spent above, he cowered in the Westgate sewers scared for his life.

What I do have a problem with is this: The idea that working on drow areas is not fair to the playerbase as a whole because far more players play on the surface. It's a chicken/egg argument. People don't play drow because of their limitations. Remove the limitations and people will play drow.

You might even argue that the players of drow characters are more dedicated to true roleplay. They're obviously not in it in some kind of effort to become 'King of the Mud', because being stuck in the Underdark, it'll never happen.

The last thing I want to say is this. I proposed a drow RP using applications and it was shot down. And to have the very people who shot it down complain on this forum that we ought to be creating our own roleplay... That hurt a little bit.

I'm not the most tactful person, and as some of you have already seen, I tend to go off half-cocked. (Sorry Kelemvor) But in defense of myself, I have never wanted anything but the best for FK. I believe in the community and it's players. I'm in it for the roleplay. I believe firmly that the drow regions of FK CAN be salvaged. And I would be devastated if I ever lost Jzex to a closing of the drow areas or a pwipe of the drow characters.

Sorry to be long winded.

Lew

Player of Jzexleth, Tregor, and Velana

Velius · Post by **Velius** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:09 pm

Just don't want to see the whole option of playing them removed.

Jzexleth · Post by **Jzexleth** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:15 pm

So in my last posting I stated the problem without really stating any proposed solution. I have one, a very simple one, and one that I'm pretty sure has been proposed before.

If we want to see people playing drow, we need to give the drow access to things that people on the surface need and do not have access to.

Whether it be raw materials for crafts, spell components, high end magic armors and weapons, or training in spells/skills that surfacers can't get, the only way to drive drow rp is to drive surfacers to Skullport to trade with the drow. And since players/characters on the surface already have access to the best of everything, no such supply/demand relationship exists.

Drow can't train half their spells. They have to trade with the surface for half their spell components. The have access to a tiny fraction of the quests and magic items that surface characters have. The only way to make them a desirable option for a PC race is to give them access to something that everybody else wants or needs.

Create an economy and let that drive the rp.

Duranamir · Post by **Duranamir** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:35 am

I was part through a really long post about the Drow when i actually thought about it all.

The point is this, are people having fun playing Drow ? If yes keep them. You don't gain anything by removing them.

As long as the Drow as players can do that without harming/upseting other players it is all good.

Should they be treated differnently to any other group of players ? no, not really but that cuts both ways.

Could it be better ? The position of Drow as far as areas and support is the best it has ever been. Thankyou to Dalvyn, Solaghar and various others for that. But of course it could, no MUD is ever going to be perfect or finished. This being an RP mud anything that encourges interaction betwen players is positive. So the idea of more commerce and RP's around it is a good thing. And maybe a few things like a message post so that Drow can communicate better. But in the end the players have to drive the RP and the building.

Do i think the isolation on Drow shoud be freed up a bit to roughly the same level as orcs, i do, but then i think most people know my opinion by now.

So in summary keep them, if builders feel like doing work for them do it. Over all just have fun.

Duranamir (the Drow and enjoying it still after 4+ years)