Atlantic Roleplay Community Boards

Ekoth Ilzaeum · Seasoned Veteran Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Posts: 412

I have tried a couple RP-only freeshards in the past, and I was only able to find one that really stood out and kept me playing for years. One night, the shard crashed and never came online again. This was years ago. Even when I was a part of this shard, I was still RPing on the official servers. I spent a couple years on Baja (still have characters there), finding some incredible roleplay, but that shard died and is now deader than ever. It's sad, as I had countless memorable experiences there. But I came to Atlantic, and have never thought twice about switching official shards again. The roleplay here is and has been some of the best I've ever found, with one of the strongest, most active communities. I've been away from UO for several months now, with WoW, mainly, and trying to see if another decent RP freeshard existed. None satisfied me. So I'm back now, and the community is still thriving.

Okay, I'm probably babbling on now. I guess I'll get to my point. This shard has such rich history, much I still don't have a clue about, and it's continuing to be built upon to this day. I love it here, but I also loved it on an RP-only freeshard. To see it all combined would be... quite something, if done right. The thing is, I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't care to join, although with the talented minds in this community and the history that's been shaped, there is serious potential. If the idea were to become a reality, I'd gladly help. However, I know it would be magnificently difficult to persuade most people to hop over, myself included if things aren't done right. An added bonus would be to get away from all the idiot non-RP guilds we have here. Seriously, there are a lot of douchebag non-RPers. Oh, and "free" is a nice word too.

tl;dr -- I love the ARPC, I love UO, and I once loved an RP-only freeshard that was done almost perfectly. To see it all combined would be miraculous, but it would be quite a challenge. However, I'm all for whatever is best for RP. Without RP, I would have permanently quit UO long ago.

Oh, and I don't really expect something like that to happen, and I'm totally fine if it doesn't. Things are already great. Just something to throw out there. I'm sure many will disagree.

Darrien Church · Honored Member Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Posts: 1810

Having been a Europa rper and a member of the Atlantic community in four different incarnations now, as well as having played a part in the ARPC reformation the reason the ARPC does so well is this:

1- Quality GMs. Respectful, forward and friendly.
2- A majority of us are friends, and if we are not friends we don't hate one another.
3-We are not afraid of new blood, or people shaking things up. With the large influx from Great Lakes, everyone was overjoyed, not a single person fearful or excluding.
4-A willingness for the most part to embrace a wide variety of RP. Our rules are pretty bare-boned and are not sacrosanct, the collective GMs run and shape the community and the rules exist to avoid chaos that in the past nearly destroyed us several times.

That being said, I always thought an RP free-shard, in order to work, would require a very dedicated staff and not-UOish leveling system time wise. I believe Kuja had a concept way back using much less land and such and I really liked it.

The common concern is always "It will take people away from the actual shard!" and to be honest it might, but given the different characters and nature of the two as well as the current activity on Atlantic it may not. Who knows such things?

Gerek Darkheart · Visitor Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 2

I'm impressed with all the optimism and postive comments about ARPC that's been subscribed to this thread. And I'm impressed by the Great Lakes people making the mature decision to move from another shard to this one to improve RP.

Although I've been spending some days looking through this forum (and other guilds forums) and at least on the guilds it seems like there haven't been too much guild activity. I'm not sure if people report about their intern guild events elsewhere or if there isn't any for the moment.

What I mean to say is that I don't really see any more activity going on here than there is on the Europa shard. But I move would still be intresting in my opinion.

Although I don't think that under any circumstances would any of the guilds from CoRE (community of RPers Europa) going to agree to the ARPC rules of conduct. It'd probably end up with the Europa players to start the same as what they we're doing on the Europa shard.

As some of you mentioned, RP is a bit stricter on the Europa shard. In Character is one thing for an Atlantic player, and probably a whole other thing for someone from Europa.

Unless people wouldn't mind the RP community would infest the regions they have on Europa (Cove, Vesper, Trinsic and Yew) on the Atlantic server. I don't see it happen. I see the problematics as the rules are really so unlike I wouldn't believe anyone would agree to adapt. Not to speak about taking over Regions.

And if there wouldn't be any interaction between the Atlantic and Europa people, there's no point ot it. Except that there might be more potential recruits for the Europa guilds(as atlantic probably has more players than Europa in total).

I'm thankful for all entering this discussion, I've learnt a lot from it =)

/Gabriel

Darrien Church · Honored Member Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Posts: 1810

Garbriel as someone who RPed on Europe, let me give you my take...

The one REAL difference in RP is that inter-guild interaction is a constant. While the stories on these boards may not be frequent, every night there is a good deal of mixing, matching and in-depth plots we are not wise to unless in the thick of it.

The real reason for this I gather is the lack of restrictions on transit spells. I don't think Europa RP could fuse with Atlantic. Both have their pros and cons, the GMs of the ARPC get my "well, on Europa..." rant every so often. I think it's more then just rule-set, Europa seems to enjoy a much more realistic and low fantasy setting, with the ARPC really has quite a few races and RP points that would not fly on Europa. (and our variety is not always a good thing, only usually!)

I'd say the best bet for an Atlantic/Europa cross-community would be a free-shard, and I've said it before, run jointly by the GMs of the two shards. But such a thing would be...frightful to organize to say the least. I've always felt in terms of RP experience, everyone who has the time should dive into Europa and vice-versa. You have two very different styles of RP, and two very different groups of people and there is a good deal to be learned from simply experiencing how it goes on the other side.

Ceinwyn ab'Arawn · Transcendent Spammer Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 5017

Umbra will gladly absorb the Undead guild from Europa. (If nothing but to stop the GM of it from asking me to join.. Razz

kidding he only asked me 4 times)

As I have a few europa RPers in the guild (I have RPed on euro before also), I think it wouldn't be a problem to get them up to speed about how we do things here.

Tay Thormear · Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 10:58 am Post subject:

Gab, as Adrien said, there is alot of nightly rp that the boards here don't see. The guilds that have sections on these boards, don't really use them to communicate. They're just here to..present guild names to visitors. Sort of a recruitment vessel, if you will.

Another point, I think Adrien may have made, is that Europa has more inner-guild rp than Atlantic. And Atlantic has more guild-to-guild rp. Because of the more realistic type of rp on Europa, its less convenient to wander back and forth to every town/facet/village etc.. for tavern nights, meetings, and random rp. I know, being a former member of BoC, that there is alot of rp within the guild, but very rarely with other guilds. (Minus the odd raid)

ARPC finds itself more intertwined with eachothers guilds than alot of other shards do. Alot to do with history, politics, etc..

MTC for one has a ton of nightly RP, along with Umbra and a few other guilds. (Those are the only two Im in, so I can speak from experience) But very rarely are stories posted of that nights RP. Each guild has a number of traingings, etc.. MTC has nightly drills. (I always liked posting patrol reports so people could see the constant activity..but, they dont!) But aye, there's alot going on that you'd have to mix into.

I...for one, don't think it'd be a major deal if Europa blended in. Cove, Vesper, Minoc, Trinisic etc.. It would be HUGE rp for politics, and perhaps even battles..as far as land claims goes. Or alliances, truces etc..

The only major problem I see with that, is some rule settings. Europa doesnt allow necromancy or magic armor or 2/6 casting. While alot of us are adapt to this type of game play..it'd be unfair for a guild that has never used these items or skills to join and hope to fight off other guilds. BUT - a Pro to that, would again..be communication with other guilds..good relations etc.. Everyone could help everyone.

Merci d'Rue · Babbling Loony Joined: 18 Jan 2006 Posts: 2810

I rp'd my butt off last night, juggling between a few things but I had fun, I think this community is doing well we have alot of life(no offense to the undead). being infused into it, while at the same time those who have been here a while like, Ceinwyn, have been busy bees generating good rp.

At this point I am optimistic and will remain so as I want to see interaction between the guilds improve and I personally want the guild we are building to do alot of rp outside its borders so that we get a chance to meet with you all.

As for combining into one huge rp community, its like anything. It has humongous positives and negatives. Its best left to the individual on whats best for them.
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May destiny guide you...

Morio_Kitsune · Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 12:52 pm Post subject:

I also speak as an ex europa rper... the guild I was in was Duchy of Trinsic, and thou of all the guilds this was the one with the highest of the fantasy guilds it is right that while interguild rp was high but no cross guild, generally I got bored with the tavern night after tavern night with an ic market in the mix...

with the whole rpers coming to alt... eur rp armour and weapons are strictly gm made, no runics, no mods such as dci or hci... also skills and spells are limited for example Lightning Strike, costs 5 mana can hit for 35, the gms saw it as too much of a damaging move that they forbid it... also I will also point out that it took me some time to get used to mods on armour and stuff, there are those that are in DoT that don't fully understand which mod will help their template and why, also Core has an aweful lot of rp lore... such as the battles and wars with Naeloth, with the republic of Vesper and the constant 3 way wars with Vesper, Cove and Yew all for the sole control of Minoc.... (Last time I was on and rping on eur Minoc got renamed West Vesper....)

Cein as far as UD goes.... I hadn't seen them around for a year or more from when I was last rping on eur....

bah now I am babbling....
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cezanna "No, he is a fair and faithful man, Ranna"
Ranna "That's how kitsune are.. well.. I dunno about Iruka.."

Darrien Church · Honored Member Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Posts: 1810

UD to my knowledge is long gone, when I left Europa about a year and a half-ago they were maybe-possibly-almost coming back. Never heard anymore.

Cal Hurst · Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 1:54 pm Post subject:

All in all, we can agree that a "blending" of RP communities would be a something that would require a full-time job to fully coordinate in order to make everyone happy, if it is even feasible. What we of ARPC have suggested is that Europa players come and join us in this community.

My personal suggestion is this:
Test our waters. Make some random characters, come along to a few events (Tavern night, Protectorate meeting, tournaments), lurk a bit (Moonglow has nightly activity, Umbra does as well), and judge for yourself if a move is worth it.

I realize the time zone difference would be a bit off, but I see this as the possibility of only improving things. I would love to be able to log in between classes on MWF and jump on for an hour or two's worth of roleplay, because our European friends are online and bustling with roleplay. Perhaps, though, that is selfish of me.

I think I am rambling now. What I'm getting at, ultimately, is that I would like for you and your's to give us a try. Lurk a bit. And if we aren't what you are looking for, then that's that. I do wish you luck, though, and hope you find what you are looking for in an RP world.
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Teh Glouris Lrod Kujabis · Transcendent Spammer Joined: 29 Dec 2003 Posts: 5740

Miller · Visitor Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 10 Location: Illinois

Hello all, I'm Miller, a former GLRP'er. I was mentioned on the first page as the fellow who is in the process of creating a RP free shard. I don't mean to come here to advertise or anything. This topic caught my eye and I thought I'd weigh in on it a little if permitted.

I had to quit UO when I graduated college and moved back home. My wife and I live in a rural area where broadband is provided by satellite - and those high ping times make online gaming virtually impossible. We're building a house now, though, and will be moving to an area with DSL access. In the meantime I've been lurking around the UO world just enough to keep abreast of what is happening. I have to admit, if I were playing GL at the time of the exodus, I would have gone to Atlantic as well.

So, I am creating a free-shard while I am waiting to get back to a "real broadband" connection. I'm trying to make UO:Resurgence into everything that UO had the potential to be. Where gameplay would compliment roleplay, not frustrate it.

I've played on some freeshards. Most are geared toward powergaming (a "you want it, you got it" PvP slaughterhouse) or strict roleplay. Let me rephrase that... "script" roleplay (you know what that means). Both types of shards fail to attract a person who has put time in on an official shard because of the seriously drastic gameplay changes. If a RPCommunity merge is to actually make it, it's got to be at a place that provides familiarity and enhancements, not a completely new world.

Also, people have to be willing to make a fresh start, gameplay-wise. A move to a combined shard does not mean that you'd have to come up with a completely new backstory. Heck, if wholesale guilds moved over it would be very easy to keep the same characters in place as far as roleplay. If we're honest, the phrase "time put into a character" a lot of times really means the "time put into finding just the right pieces of armor to go together to make my suit superior". If people are willing to start on a level playing field and attain a maximum status in gameplay that is readily achievable, and let the roleplay take care of the rest, then I really believe a merge could benefit the community we have left.

My point is, roleplay rules and regulations have generally split as a result of EA's annihilation of the roleplay crafter. Some adapt to the gameplay by leaving the crafter behind and seeking out the game mechanics advantages, while others adapt by restricting certain available game mechanics in an effort to keep patched together all types of roleplay into a single community. If given a shard where the game mechanics compliment roleplay, wouldn't it be a logical move to merge the roleplay rulesets into something that works and is acceptable by the community at large? I don't see this as something that is too hard to implement, given the right circumstances.

Which brings me to the freeshard idea. I can create it, and I'm in the process of doing just that, but I'm obviously going to need help actually running it. That's where a decent and respectable roleplay playerbase comes into frame. The dream shard is one where GameMasters are rarely needed. GuildMasters take care of the day to day gameplay of their community, only requiring GameMasters to assist in event handling or rare instances of a bug.

I know this post is getting long, so I've split out the section where I rambled about how the freeshard idea came about, and how I decided what changes needed to take place to stop all of what inhibits good, meaningful RP in this game we've all come to love over the years. I hope some people read it and get excited about it, obviously, but the more important stuff is above here. The stuff about actually implementing it and attracting those who normally wouldn't ever think about moving from the virtual land they now call home into a blank canvas world that's ready to be shaped by community minds.

- Miller

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The time away from UO post-graduation did give me a great opportunity, though. I did a lot of thinking about how I loved the game back in 1998 and pre-AOS. Don't get me wrong, there are things about AOS that rocked. Necros and Paladins finally being implemented in the game mechanics caused much, if not all of the playerbase to rejoice. But with AOS came what I believe was a huge blow to Roleplay: The fall of the crafter.

You've got to admit, when magic items became so powerful and so prevalent as loot, the crafter couldn't keep up. Blacksmiths were relegated to collecting and filling BOD's and making repair deeds, not filling guild merchandise orders. A carpenter trying to sell a GM quarterstaff would be laughed at. Tailors had it okay, if they could get lucky with the "roll of the dice" style crafting on a barbed kit.

RP adapted and thrived, but it took a hit. More PvM events were held on GL. On Europa, more RP restrictions were made as to the useability of the magic loot. (I did attempt to RP on Europa for a little while but the time difference made it difficult for me). On GL, at least, a lot of our RP community was too busy farming Doom to have time to actually roleplay.

Then came Samurai Empire. And along with it came a smattering of RP goodness (metal armors could now be color coordinated with the pigments - guilds could have "uniforms" again!), but with more and more of what took RP to its demise. Treasures of Tokuno farming had replaced Doom farming for awhile. Another large landmass meant you now had five facets to look through to find some RP activity.

Then, of course, came Mondain's Legacy. Elves were finally introduced (though it appears they're all grey or bluish skinned - no normal skintones?), so those who RP'd drow became happy. Those who RP'd drow mages, anyway. Drow warriors would rather stay "human" if left to a strictly game mechanics choice, right? And then along with ML came even more of the quest for mindless item hunting. I swear, a person would spend so much cash buying a super-suit of armor, or would spend years hunting items and losing out on actual community roleplay in order to get one. Except for Europa, of course, which would pose restrictions and then have to bang their heads against a wall to adapt to the changes in game mechanics that were forced upon them by EA.

Seriously, though, when it comes to gameplay in UO wouldn't every RPer like to play back in 1998? Sure there'd be some drawbacks. All of the new things introduced that actually help roleplay would be gone. Also, to extent, it takes more skill to PvP in UO now than it did then, so to revert some good gameplay decisions would really be a step in the wrong direction. Because even 1998 (Pre-Renaissance) UO had its drawbacks too.

So I thought about what a shard would be like that kept in place all of what has helped RP but takes out what has hurt RP. What immediately comes to mind? The crafter-killer: the need for mindless item farming. So what should have been? Without the gear modifications, the combat systems are far too advanced (a'la Europa's ban on lightning strike). If we revert the combat systems, we take a lot of diversity out of available RP gameplay. The solution: provide that the best items come from crafters. Balance tailors and blacksmiths again. You want super-armor, you can get a 70's suit from exceptional quality crafted armor - no runic hammer needed.

But then what about those who like to hunt monsters for loot? What would be the point if armor from loot is usually worse than what you can make as a crafter? Aside from fame and karma, which players used to respect and revere, loot is where you should be able to find augments. Augments are items, usually gems, that you can add to player-crafted armor to make it better (think mana regen, stamina increase, etc.). And augments can be found anywhere - not just on Doom bosses. In fact, treasure hunts and fishing up SOS's are guaranteed to involve finding augments, so that makes those long-forgotten professions viable now too.

And what about all that land? Shrink it down. No Malas. No Tokuno. No Trammel. Just Felucca - the original UO landmass was large enough. (Though, Felucca is still under a Trammel ruleset unless the playerbase deems itself capable of policing itself so as to disallow the grief and general disruptions that generally come from a lot of non-RP players). Will that be enough room for adequate housing?!? Simply, yes. Unless the playerbase gets absolutely HUGE. In that event, we open up another facet.

Right now it's an idea. An ideal. And it's coming along nicely. So I had to learn how to program in C# on the fly in order to create and customize the thing. It was a small sacrifice, with hopefully a big reward.

Teh Glouris Lrod Kujabis · Transcendent Spammer Joined: 29 Dec 2003 Posts: 5740

Personally, if I was choosing a roleplay shard and I saw that it was Trammel ruleset, I would assume one or more out of a list of things: The staff/creator does not trust his/her players, the players did something immature enough to cause it to be switched to trammel, the players are just plain trammies in general and dislike conflict (which, in my opinion, is the most interesting source of roleplay in whatever form - physical, political, conversational, etc), or the staff/creator is so inattentive or anti-change or some other silly reason for refusing to switch it.

None of the above are good. Full PvP ruleset does not mean that there will be 'more PvP', it just means that it CAN happen, as opposed to a ruleset that was designed for an MMORPG setting, not a roleplay setting.

I am also confused about your comments regarding characters not needing to start over - are you suggesting something high magic about them finding themselves in a new world, or saying that you can use the same concept sans the history, or that the characters just assume they were all in the same Britannia to begin with? Just asking for clarification really.

I also totally agree 100% with your point on 'needing help running a shard' meaning that you need a playerbase, not a staff of GMs. A lot of owners bulk up on moronic staff that run around handing out cookies and generally being disruptive and unintentionally stomping all over productivity and roleplay immersion.

Always interested in chatting up freeshard concepts if you have any comments on my post.

Miller · Visitor Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 10 Location: Illinois

I actually like the idea of a full Felucca ruleset myself. I've been afraid, though, that a full Felucca ruleset will attract griefers whilst warding away some of the RP community that has gotten used to the Trammel ruleset. I mean, on GL most of the RP was through guild warring and occurred on Trammel. Is that not the case on Atlantic?

As of now there is no playerbase to trust or distrust. There's only a potential playerbase to appeal to. And this is one of the things I have asked people who may be interested in the freeshard concept to provide input on. Maybe it's better to pose that question here. If you were transferring to a shard with one facet, would you prefer it to be a Trammel or Felucca ruleset?

About not needing to start over: Roleplay creativity should not be limited by game mechanics as far as a player's back-story is concerned. No character starts out physically as a babe, unable to feed himself in the game. Sure, there's a limit on a player's skills, but the player is generally an adult. From a character's day 1 there already exists a back-story. Each person can decide what his or her character's back-story is, and if that back-story involves any of the history from a prior world or if that character's perception of the world simply continues. This is not something that I would dictate - it's a player choice.

Just to reiterate a point, and I agree wholeheartedly with you about some shards having staff run around handing out things, even events should be player run. When something is run by the RP community, it's open for fluid play - no scripting of moves, just concepts and objectives. GM's should assist only upon request, and only to the point that the assistance does not introduce anything game-changing into the world (i.e. a monster with 1 mil gold checks as loot is game-changing; simply pulsing or providing normal spawn isn't game-changing)

Teh Glouris Lrod Kujabis · Transcendent Spammer Joined: 29 Dec 2003 Posts: 5740

Griefers are a possibility, but there are always countermeasures for that. If you are in the planning phase now, you have more than enough time to implement some.

It is the case on Atlantic that it is Trammel and PvP is done via the warring system, but that is because the alternative is roleplaying in felucca, and being on an official server that is shared with (and primarily) non-roleplayers, that'd be annoying and suicidal. With a freeshard you do not have to share with those people. Also, griefers... Unless you start people out with max or nearly max skills and good equipment, nobody is going to go through the effort of grinding up to be a crazy PK. Even then, just ban them. And if someone tries to walk the line of 'roleplaying a murderer' just to be an ass, well, there is always staff-induced permadeath. Fastest way on RunUO is to simply turn their player tag false, because a Player=False player character is disconnected and deleted upon death Wink

As for your question, you are asking it the wrong way. "If you were transferring to a roleplay shard run by roleplayers for with one facet, would you prefer it to be a Trammel or Felucca ruleset?", IMO.

I think I understand what you mean about starting over. It really comes down to you letting or not letting people directly use their characters from other servers; not just the same name and personality, but I mean, the "I am from a place called Atlantic, I woke up one day and found myself here!" with all their memories intact, etc.

And yeah, GMs assisting player events is great. Not that there is anything wrong with a staff-run story arc, but I've seen a server die before because the players were entirely dependant on them. A direct quote that helped kill the server was, "We would roleplay more if you ran more events!"