Lothar's Lair

I started playing Rift and saw it was different than any other MMO I’ve played so far! I love the soul system within the main classes with the exception that with ony 66 points one really can only (effectively) put around 30 some points into any one soul within the class otherwise the soul use is really not worth it’s points assigned.

I like the ability to have pet classes,although the pets really don’t do enough damage to PvP (Player vs.Player) with and to do any real damage and survivability one needs to invest around 30+ points into just the pet part of the class. As seen as described above this creates not a 3 part (soul) class but a 2 soul invested class (Unless one splits the other 30+ into the other souls making neither one of those particular souls very strong.

PvP to me is very nice to have in an MMO, The developers seem to believe that players like to either, kill other players too quick for it to be an enjoyable fight or to get killed so quickly it takes the fun out of the PvP experience. Not sure why they won’t balance the warfronts so as to facilitate a more enjoyable MMO in the PvP area. Some things I would like to see implemented-PvP equalization in the areas of rank and tier at 50th level/warfront, Ability to “hire” NPCs to help with PVE areas when a server is slow and not enough other players are willing/available to complete ones quests.These NPCs could be handed weapons/armor/items from ones equipment for the quest completion after all this is supposed to be a role playing game and it makes sense for ones character to have the ability to employ “Hirelings”, I would enjoy an ability or an NPC ability one could buy to add “texture” to ones equipment as well as label/name their weapons and armor, various “companions” are found and or acquired but unable to be re-named-they need to allow one to name them.

I will say the game needs improved upon and hopefully the developers will take good advice and follow my suggestions.

I see the ranking system is so un-equal in warfronts the rank 7-8s sweep lower ranks so fast it is not only disappointing for the lower ranks but no doubt boring for those upper ranks.  The devs need to match (within no more than 3 ranks) ranks of all war fronts. If that would slow the queues down then they could allow a pop up to inform of long queue times and to just accept nominal xp/favor/prestige…etc for the amount of people who had queued based on ranks and bonuses. example-if normal queue time is 3 minutes but because of rank equalzation makes it 10 minutes+ then the pop up window announces that the player can (if they click the yes box) to just accept the nominal rewards that particular war front would have given, they can however stay queued and possibly win the warfront and gain extra or the total normally given for a winning side in that particular warfront. Also it seems there are so many different types of currency that it is getting very complicated and unreasonably complex to buy items and or abilities..etc. Let’s cut back on all the currency types. My suggestion-Rift currency (one type) for rift reward items..etc. Dungeon currency(one type) For completing dungeons and rewards within them, Crafting currency-(one type) for crafting recipe acquisition,items for crafting..etc.,PvP currency for buying PvP items for rank related items (each rank has or gives a complete set of armor/items, not split up as it is now) World event currency-(one type) for world event items.

All types should be able to be “bought” with either planerite or platinum.

The “rewards” for the veterans of the game are a bit lame, especially the potions which once used cannot be re bought.Some of us veterans can only get queued for PvP 3x an hour and win or lose the potions like the xp and the favor get wasted because of queue times. Very little reward there. The “good ole boys group” can get all types of items and mounts just because they have a group that can be online together which makes it favorable to them not the people who don’t have those small groups of real life friends that game together. Guilds seem also to have those small groups within them as well so guildies are not the answer to getting the “good” stuff. Rift needs to reward solo adventurers as well as groups with better(useful) items. Chronicles tried but failed.

Jesus may have been the first gamer. He hung around with a small group of all male friends except one or two gamer chicks.They met in a park and talked about fantasy adventures. He may have been in a LARP being a Mage/Cleric. The group very infrequently bathed.Had long hair.Lived with his mom and step father till he died.Never really held down a decent job.Disappeared for awhile “On adventures”. Never got married.Had anger issues that was never addressed and he let off steam by disrupting organized business places.Books were written about his adventures and thoughts. Talked with invisible beings (may needed medication). Only kissed a girl once but no one knows where he kissed her because that piece of the scroll went missing…uh huh..People referring to things he said argue alot about the “rules” he and his buddies decided on. Hmm. well again gaming could extend itself into even a “real” religious aspect….lol

I have in an extreme amount of D&D campaigns over the years. I have played with people from all over the world.Presently I am playing in an online virtual tabletop type of campaign using MapTools for the visuals and Ventrillo for the voice com. The players are Br,Ga,Cl, and a new guy who I haven’t had any communication with. A guy we will call him Ps has been recently running his game.

History-
This game we are playing in is or was based entirely from my original campaign in the “Wyrmworld campaign” of which was started near 1989 at our condo on the dining room table. using the standard core books and a smattering of additional books written for the game by other companies than the big WotC/Hasbro/TSR. Over the years as our group of sometimes ten to only four played the various editions of the game we started seeing more and more exciting variable ways to incorporate magic and the natural abilities of our characters. In fact we had found out that there was a guideline written in the DMs book on how to take some creatures we had always thought was an NPC (non-player character race) and allow it for play within the confines of the written material we always had been using. This was a fantastic idea, because so often we had wondered what it’d be like to play one of those types of characters but didn’t have the knowledge to fit it within the game world (mechanically). So, I believe this was right before our “epic” campaign where characters were going to be allowed to go to eventually become 40th+ in levels.
This part of our campaign went nicely over the yrs. with the normal amount of people having to stop playing due to work schedule conflicts, moving out of state,college attendance, joining the service…etc.So after the majority left for one reason or the other we were down to 3-4 and mostly just three. So we put flyers up and notices in various hobby stores but we were finding fewer people wanting to play D&D. We talked it over and figured it’s due to online gaming and the internet in general. So as we would continue to look for new players (which we are still doing), we found that most new players didn’t like the high level so much or that they were un-used to the power of those character levels. So we discussed toning it down and creating a more lower lever game using regular rules rather than the epic rule system. Then as luck would have it I found a free software utility called “MapTools” in which on can build maps,roll dice,have character sheets, and play without using a webcam focused on a vinyl mat as I was doing. This for the most part, revolutionized our play style, at least mechanically. So this went on for a year or so and the players downloaded the tool as well and we all found it to be usefull and smooth, however different so we all had to adjust the way we built maps and encounter areas. It took longer to build maps, it took more thought as to the layout of areas, it took hours of learning the use of the different tools and what they could and couldn’t do. So the player I’ll refer to as Ga decided to hive off from the campaign world we had been using that I originally created from scratch. We put our thoughts together and I expanded one of my fantasy continents in my gaming world to contain an area he wanted to run the group of players through. So it was, I played in his setting using a character I built and enjoyed the game with the others as we could all play as PCs in Ga’s area. So time past and he changed the area and then one day said he was going to run the game in a city called “Ptolous” which is a pre-designed game area designed by a famous writer- Monte Cook. In asking Ga where this city is or the world in which it is located he said he didn’t know really and it didn’t matter at the time. In my opinion, Ga found that to do the work I’d been doing in a campaign world took time and interest and so much work he didn’t want to invest in that immense responsibility. So I was disheartened in the fact that he pretty much gave up trying to be original. We all enjoyed the game and all, but again maybe a year later he changed again, and used another pre designed area called “City State of the Invincible overlord” Still no world creation from him, still no histories from the fantasy area, just plop! there it is across the bay from “Ptolous” whatever bay that was or where it was on what planet, who knew? I was also finding he wanted to change things nationally, as various concepts I had implanted in my original campaign that he was using as a backdrop. I explained that it’d be nice to ask me and talk things over prior to just making assumptions and exploiting my yrs. of creation. He then stated one day, “Well, it’s no longer in my world then it’s somewhere else and not for me to worry about any changes”.

Slap!! So this is how it starts...Friends glean off someone till they feel confident about themselves enough to exchange friendship for notoriety. In this case it was small and of no “real” tangible thing. But the knowledge, my time,my friendship was put aside, why? so he could seemingly have the limelight? So he could call the shots without the need to talk anything over with the guy he’d been friends with for over 20 yrs. who knows? Ok, I thought it’s just something he’s going through and he’ll make a nice world to adventure in and I shouldn’t feel all broken up about it after all I was the one he’s trying to copy and I should feel praised and feel some accomplishment. Months passed and we lost another player to working needs and money making, all understandable reasons. So “Ga” puts on a forums page that he needs more players in his game and a couple people started playing. The game then consisted of “Ga” who was running the game, Cl,Co,Ps,Br, and myself and another player who is an entire story all together I won’t mention here. The game was going well but I started hearing complaints about the “power level” the “high stats” and the unreasonable high level NPCs we had to encounter to give us a challenge. Looking back this was the start of the end of my interest in the play style of Ga and later Ps as a dungeon master. The guys without any acknowledgment from me or very little discussion with me as a player or an ex DM, started contorting the guidelines as we were used to them. They cut out things that made the races and classes strong. They subdued abilities/traits, and overall power of the races in which we found we could play and loved to play because of those same abilities and powers and traits…etc. Ga claimed players said they were not going to play in his campaign because they were uncomfortable playing with such high powered races. He claimed they stated that the reason they didn’t want to join his campaign was because of template usage as well as creatures as players combination. During this debacle Ps said Ga and him had talked it over and that he was going to take over as DM fo awhile to let Ga play. In my opinion, Ga saw that the game is failing to be fun anymore and didn’t want to be responsible for a declination of interest. So now Ps is running and again no world background,no world back story, nothing…just plop! there the party is without so much as a reasonable explanation. No world work up no real campaign history…etc. No remarks when asked “Hey, where are we? what world are we on? What do our characters know of each other, or the continent…etc. This is an example of a “new” DM they don’t care to flesh out an environment or consider anything other than roll the dice when the encounter occurs. It is sad that they wouldn’t even ask me, or talk it over with me, I have the time and the energy to help them but IMO they don’t care as long as they are in what they see as control.

PRESENT DAY-Ps still is running Ga seems to be creating rule contortions acknowledged by Ps who is using Cl to apply them to the utility “MapTools” program. At least three sets of different character creation processes have been issued one more less powerful than the last. I email them regularly for updates and in several weeks I get some type of minimal response that does not completely cover what I asked or tried to discuss. I get “corrected” during play as if I had started playing yesterday. The friendship is seemingly gone from any relationship Ga and I had, Ps and my relationship was purely a gaming one since he had never seemed to want to actually befriend me socially outside the game. The others I never have met face to face and therefore don’t know at all socially. I at this time feel my fun in this game is gone. I will take a hiatus and possibly drop in the game in several years to see how it has changed. It is a sad day indeed.

I am looking for people to start in my game world and to evolve a nice friendly social/gaming party,where friends can talk and discuss daily lives as well as gaming information. I will continue to use my Wyrm world campaign and adjust it according to play style of the group not just my rules s I have always done. If anyone is interested contact me via–lotharlocnar@columbus.rr.com I look to run every other Saturday from around 1 pm to midnight or eleven pm. I can use vent,yahoo messenger, or any other voice program that’s free. I run a 3.5 edition D&D campaign setting.

Well, I have been playing Allods online since the closed beta test, and have noticed a sharp trend in more and more complexity that is not needed. This patch in July has created various unnecessary problems.My personal objections are as follows-In the game now if ones character dies he/she could possibly have their items “cursed” which means all of the bonuses turn into negatives for the characters stats. If one wants to remove the effect the person has to buy (with real money) at the Gpotato store a scroll that “purifies” the item in question. One can get around this effect if they buy with real money a set of “holy charms” which when a character dies a charm is used so nothing is cursed. So it is not financially frugal to put ones self at risk. Hence people won’t group with you if they are not almost guaranteed that they will live through the ordeal. Also the more rare or legendary that item is that might get cursed the more real money one has to spend to get it uncursed. The cost of the most gpotatos is 50.00USD for 5500 Gpotatos. The price for 500 holy charms is 475 Gpotatos.
My next problem with Allods is- there is now items that “can” have a rune slot etched into them so as to receive runes. These runes give items either better defensive abilities or if put into weapons, offensive power. However when the game came out if one took a rune out of an item whether the item was bought or found, one could put a different rune into the item which met their perspective patron’s symbol. Same goes for now too, except that there are items that state “this item can have a rune slot etched into it”. Ok fine, untill one finds that, yep, your right, ya have to pay real money to buy Gpotatos to pay for the “rune etching kit” depending on the “level” of rune one wants to put into the item. The higher level of the rune the more it costs for the ONE TIME use of the kit. I bought a level 1-4 rune etching kit and clicked on it then on an item I found that stated clearly it could have a rune slot etched into it and got a message that this item cannot have a rune slot etched into it (even though on the item it states it could), this cost me 50 Gpotatos (steel rune slot engraving kit) So I bought a better one just to see if it was just a one time glitch, it wasn’t!!

So now the only possible good thing I see the new patch did was to allow less PvP ganking in a zone called Assee Tep (or some such, as well as many other zones) because unless the other guy wants to risk dying and having to loose a holy charm or having to buy a “Purification” scroll they might leave your character alone long enough for it to at least do the PvE quests in the area. However They increased the difficulty on most NPC enemies and gave some even new abilities to kill ones PC with. There is an item called Incense which increases ones damage dealt and healing done as some other minor things, before the patch they lasted till used, now they (in ones inventory) only last 7 days. So one can spend 350 in Gpotatos for an item that is not permanent and one hasn’t even used or had reason to use.

A lot of people have quit the game and moved on to lesser expensive free to play games. So the economy is getting tough when ya see things like this occurring to MMORPGs that’s touted to be free to play. Sure they are free to play but one will not have the enjoyment of seeing their character level nicely as the people who have the disposable income to invest in the items needed to just get their character leveled in a reasonable time.

Date:Sept.27th 2010

I have continued playing Allods online, but now I’m hearing the people who have stuck with the change are saying things like “It’s boring to attack so and so, because it’s too rough trying to beat them, they spent too much money on their character and hence, too hard/difficult, especially when they stay near a safe zone/spot they run to when sorely injured. Also, I’m finding out that the “scrolls of knowledge” are just a way to “buy” ones levels for  they give +100% extra xp for killing mobs as well as +100% reputation from the different factions a player is trying to get the rank of “Respected” in, which allows access to the best items that particular faction has to offer, which are generally rare items (blues). So it seems with the available purchase of potions of stat increases/scrolls of knowledge…etc. A player with more disposable income will legally be leveled faster and have the best of items he/she can get faster and easier than people that just play the free to play game without spending money (as it was supposed to be played, hence, free to play)!! Also they have increased the time limit from 7 days to 30 days on items(scrolls,incense,potions) bought, since last update here.

I have found it extremely annoying to be trying to kill the mobs that a portal quest gives and marked on ones in game map, only to find that the portal guardian (the entity to which one is killing the mobs for) asks for something completely different from anything listed on the map or in the original quest.  When this happened to me at first it was an incorrectly named wolf species, ok, so they may have mis-interpreted the name from Russian to english, and I didn’t think any more of it. Although the more and more I adventure to other Allods and new zones to acquire more portal access I am finding the names aren’t even close. For instance the portal guardian for a portal quest for the Inn wanted vultures in a zone called Coba Plateau, but on the map markers no vultures are even listed(listed are jackles, and Rhinoceros cows, and one other I can’t remember)  in the zone there are several types/species of vultures. So the naming is completely wrong, it isn’t any more of just a different type of the same species, or a translation problem.

The game is definitely a game that NEEDS a lot of work!!

Update as of 10/13/10

I was in a guild for around 3 months called “OCEANICEFFECT”, they seemed to be a nice guild at first with a character named Tofudream and another named Gibbonic both Gibberling archetypes. There were others in the guild but these 2 I had the most contact with. They were helpful and respectful of me and anything I said. However just today one named Riveria(sp) created a problem of what we were joking around about which centered on an old joke and something I’d heard on the Simpsons. He/she took offense to it and the Guild Master (of whom he refers to himself as a Regent) asked for me to leave because “several” guildies were too thin skinned and didn’t like the way I said things. Gibbonic” is the Guild Master,aka regent, and we talked it over saying that they are not too worldly and are easily offended, if it was just us he’d have no problems. However, my character is 5 levels away from the max level of 42 and only 2 of the guildies are 40th. So in my humble opinion when the others saw me raising in levels faster then them, getting the help to level more than them, having better equipment better than them, they got jealous and wanted to find something to kick me out for. Being retired and having a lot of time I game a lot more then they did. It is my conclusion that guilds are nice if, and only if most people in the guild are in and around the same time zones, have enough max level characters that can help up and coming guild mates close to max level, are not concerned with JUST helping their real life friends more than any other guildie. In many other MMORPGs the same is true, If 2-3 people play regularly together and form a guild they seem to be the ones that decide to normally keep it around their own levels or below, so it seems they are helping people level and gain items, etc…But, if a person is not in their clique they tend to either ignore them or boot them out relying on any possible reason to do so.

When the Guild Master cannot treat everyone equally and starts singling people out on the whim of other guildies it definitely is time to re-think being a Guild Master (regent). So in my book, Oceaniceffect is a narrow minded guild run by “sheeple” who just follow along and have no mental ability to be morally tough enough to stand for the rights of freedom of speech. When I nor anyone else talked negatively toward any one guild member or any thing except the re-telling of jokes accepted in the mainstream of society and the Guild Master says people didn’t like the way I talked, it’s a sad guild to be a guild member of.

My advice is do not become a guild member of Oceanic-effect unless of course you are a sheeple and will not say things that might in any way be offensive to narrow minded youths!!

Oceaniceffect is a guild on North American English server of Allods(tm)

My feelings about the economy and what the government needs to do is nothing short of going bankrupt.
If a company goes bankrupt they can change their name and keep on going.Why can’t the USA?
If we consolidated our 50 states into 5 10 state areas and rename the USA into something like (United Federation of States, National alliance of federated states,United Coalition of States…etc) Then each separate set of states would/could have their own uniform federal government like system and then break that down to each of the states have their own state government within that group. That way they all can micro manage the small areas interdependently. If they have problems managing their own areas then there could be a spending council to oversee their expenditures. The President could/would still be the President except there would be 10 small units, each to govern their own affairs within the continent not abroad. Anything that is overseas belonging to one of those 10 groups is watched and overseen by the security commission of that particular small group. I could go on but my limited ideas and in depth knowledge of our government is very sparse indeed…this is just a conception to correct government spending and get the USA out of hock.

Well, I been thinking about this over the years, and have come to the conclusion there are real life issues that I have learned about society, people, and certain choices that I have definitely learned from gaming.

One being that if you are by yourself somewhere that seems a possibility for violence from nefarious individuals, remain quite, hide in shadows, prepare an instrument of defense/offense, be aware of your surroundings, look for an escape route that YOU can negotiate without much effort.

Two, being that if you hear a noise in your home or where only you should be don’t say “Who’s there?” or “I have a gun”/Sword”..etc. Just hide in a place you may observe any forgeign entity skulking around where they shouldn’t be. Be ready to defend yourself if found. However One might say “I have conjured demons to protect me” You have been warned, life forms here other than myself are in danger of being cursed/possessed/or die horribly from the various traps I have set”.

Three, look at how people appear, I’ve seen some real rogue looking individuals, in a hoody, short, lithe, shifty, always looking around at other people up and down as to size them up for who knows what. Large tattooed(all over their arms/legs/face…etc) bald, that stare at other people for long lengths of time then just sortta grin. These people I put into a barbarian class or certainly an uneducated fighter type with little or no social graces. They can be easily mentally manipulated especially if drinking or had been drinking by intelligent other individuals that do not act superior to them.

Four, watch for the guy or gal that smiles way too much and seems to have the latest fashions and a sort of glare in their eyes. These people most probably are in sales and so conditioned to act the way they do that they do not even realize it. Usually these people are some type of religious zealot as well for they have been “sold” on whatever religion they tout. Sometimes they will probably have that little fish sticker on their car/vehicle as well. They want you to believe that they are just like you and are trying very hard to fit in(too hard), they have 2-4 children and feel that is what “people are supposed to do”. These people can be dangerous as well, because once they find that they are not correct or that whatever ideal they have immersed themselves in is not “‘real” and when they see themselves as “plastic” or fake they get uncontrollably violent or act in a sudden outburst of anger, sometimes lethal. Also when one talks to them logically and makes a point they cannot or will not even consider because of their belief all they can say is “That is just my faith” As if faith is the cure for stupidity or being irrational.

Large obese men and women that are odorous and impolite usually have no real social life. Nor want one. When one talks to them of dancing,nightlife,social drinking,having sex with the opposite gender, they will change the subject as fast as they can while looking at you like your speaking another language. But sometimes even more scarier, they will ask very strange questions and actually want you to be their leader in teaching them about those subjects, which makes one feel one must escape from their attachment to ones presence.

People carrying weapons (not pepper spray,tear gas, tasers…etc) but large knives or any weapon not considered in society as normal for modern self protection. Usually lack the ability to actually use the weapon in a martialy intelligent trained way. They want others to awe them and comment on the weapon and possibly feel they gain respect from people that do. Normally this is male gender based but there are probably women that do this as well, unfortunately I personally have not observed this.

Cigarette smokers usually have short attention spans, possibly high school graduates most just have a GED, few are well educated. Seem to feel that smoking gives them some type of elitism, will act as if the action of smoking is actually some ritual that takes precedence over whatever else is going on bordering on religious fanaticism. Normally not commenting on the new type of cigarette they are currently trying because of the blend or the rarity of that particular type of tobacco, or the various flavors of tobaccos they enjoy.

Well educated gamers (college graduates and better) usually game in a completely different way than non-college grads. They seem to look for ways of overcoming problems in a more cohesive less chaotic pattern. They can become predictable in their approach because of the linear thinking processes and ways to negotiate with NPCs (both in game and out)…lol. They are or it seems are open to more ideas from others and willing to try various different classes and races, but generally stick to a base class or a certain set of classes/races for ease of play. They are ready to help other players (friends) to a point, but I’ve seen some that separate themselves from a party or group and play and live that way as well.

Anime gamers and furry game/LARP participants-Usually non committed to any one real game, they are even geeks to role-playing gamers,they will wear ears/tails/fake feet/paws…etc Feeling they are “cute” Sometimes they will stand around and bounce in place. They make references to anime movies and that genre that are for the most part like name dropping to impress other that they know about that sort of thing. Normally they aren’t seen at the bar or dance clubs. Real life seems too intense for them and older ones of this genre have many children and are more over weight than “roleplayers of the table top variety” Or they are very skinny, few social graces, and when watched during a convention sort of drift from one group to another desperately seeking attention…IMHO.

Has anyone seen real life things that are attributed to gaming? If so I’m interested in hearing about them.

In every game one takes on a personae as a character he or she has made. The way one does this is as simple or as complicated as one wishes. However there are some common understood or hopefully understood rules or guidelines to follow. These include but not limited to; Sexual content if at a table of under aged players, Real life religious toe stepping, real life negative gay/straight lifestyle innuendos at a table of under aged children or people of certain strong beliefs, Real life racial comments…etc. These subjects and those related to them can create a real disaster in a game. As a DM the subjects and flow of the game is typically in your hands. You can guide the game and role playing as you wish and only you will know (if you know your players and their beliefs etc.) what can of worms one can open and have the game still be fun for all at the table. Same goes for the players at the table. If a player starts roleplaying their character in a fashion that makes the group uncomfortable as a DM you should dis-rail it quickly. You should allow humor obviously, but if the subject matter starts getting personal to other players it should also be averted. The characterizations and/or the roles one portrays as a character should be in a light tone at first to judge the reactions of the group (even their facial expressions and any negative side glances)so one can continue to play their character to the best as they can without any Real Life (RL) negative assertions. I’ve had a transvestite at the table before and for a gaming group it was a tough situation to control. I was in a gaming group as a player where the female DM (Dungeon Mistress) seemed to have an affinity to play any demon as being a violent male homosexual that during combat would try and rape the male characters in the group. Ok, so this was really strange because it would happen time and time again and if the player seemed to be ignoring it or show no response she would choose someone else and invest the time and effort to try to demoralize them next. I ran games where all of the players were Military police officers (20-28 yrs old numbering 18-20 at the table) where all the side jokes were related to military affairs or military actions of some nature or another. I had also I played in the RPGA (Role Players Gaming Assoc.) I played next to a guy that always played a young female mage of around age 10-12 in human appearance, using alter self spell. Not sure why he did that but when any subject came up that was adult in orientation he would play his young female as offended and acted that she wanted no part of whatever action the group was engaged in. It made the game interesting but at the same time also hard to deal with. In summing up, get a feel of the group one is playing in find out beliefs and strong convictions of the players and DM play a neutral role and get to know the character well, then invest the time to ascertain the various things he/she as a character wants to entertain as related to subjects and actions taken during a game to make it fun and a good time for oneself and others at the table.

Hope this helps and good gaming.

In alot of the games I have run I have players who will roll up a character, outfit it, even describe how the character looks and sometimes in great detail. However when it comes to role playing, of which the game is about, the person will say “My character does such and such” or “I ask the tavern keeper what is on special today” This IMHO is not role playing!! This is the player trying to tell the DM/GM what actions his/her character is taking. Role playing is when the player speaks as his/her character I call it “Being in character”. Now, don’t get me wrong here, there are times when as a player I need to ask the DM what something looks like or smells like or what sounds my character hears and as a player I expect a complete description of what my character sees,hears,smells…etc.But to tell the DM/GM what my character is doing in relation to dialog between an NPC and my character I should totally be immersed in being my character. I know that the English accent and or the Scottish brogue accent is the most common way to let all know that it is your character speaking and not the player. But players don’t have to put on an accent at all, they just need to be in character when speaking to NPCs, when speaking as their character to other PCs…etc. As a player I most certainly set up the encounter with an NPC while describing to the DM/GM how my character walks (swagger,saunter,skip,lope..etc) how his/her demeanor is (dour,happy,sad,jovial,sneaky,suspicious…etc) whether his/her arms are folded,hands on the hilt of a sword, stroking his beard…etc. Then speak in character to the NPC while looking as a player to the GM/DM to, as close as I can, the way my character would to the NPC, or to an other player if speaking to them. I don’t have to get out of my chair or approach the other player or GM/DM but if I felt it would be better played I could. As a player/DM/GM one can create facial expressions to help in the characterization and the look of that particular character as well. As a DM/GM one can look suddenly up at the ceiling or down to the floor as if noticing something and as the player follows suit you may roll dice to see if the NPC successfully feinted so as to facilitate a “+” on the die roll to leap to the shadows or pick that pocket/pouch while the player was looking where the NPC did, after all we are in character. Just some ways to help players stay/get in character.

I hope this helps and until next time, Good gaming.

Lothar Loc’Nar

There are players of table top games (D&D,GURPS,Role Master…etc) that I’ve tried to play the game with that seem that either they do not get the flow of the game or they take an exceedingly long time to make descisions as to what their characters will do on their current turn. It’s usually not a situation that’s tricky or complicated just a descision of where to move,what to cast,who or what to shoot…etc. The turn sequence is usually the same during the fight and some people cannot seem to grasp the ability to pre-think their next action(s). They will be talking to other players at the table and or skimming through books for “cool” items or class/race combination’s for their next character conception. After the fight or sequence is over and they seem to have been forced to make some type of decision they will complain that “I would have done this or that if I would have had more time to think about whatever” or ” If I’d have known that the spell or item didn’t do this or that I’d have done something else” They take the time to whine about what happened to the player next to them but they could be looking at the next situation or possible situation and scheming to figure out what their PC would/will do if such and such happens. These individuals take other players time and energy discussing how the DM/GM “made” them do something in a hurry and how better it would have been if they’d been allowed more time to resolve a situation in their heads.

Now I’m talking about a players turn taking maybe 5-8 minutes sometimes maybe 10 minutes just thinking of what to do next. I’m not talking about a player looking a spell up or an item’s ability or a rule clarification here. I’m talking about a player that looks blankly at the scenario map and when the DM/GM asks the player to tell him/her what the PC is doing they then start thinking about the situation and rummaging through books and their character sheet to see what they have for the situation and possibly ask questions like”where did the monster move from last”? “What does that monster look like again, I didn’t hear you”?..Where everyone else is perfectly fine with the whens.wherefors,and the tactical situation of the grid mapped placement. This person wants another complete rundown of what just transpired and not during the re-explanation but only after it, will the player start looking at his/her sheet and books to decide what to do.These types of players seem to me that they are a bit infantile when deciding on their PC’s predicament. I found I cannot tolerate the actions of these people during a game nor put up with their lame excuses of why they play the way they do. I believe they are uncaring and really are disinterested, for whatever reasons they are off in their own thoughts of whatever else and are taking the game and the people around them as secondary trivial interferences with their own mental agenda. If they are playing a game with others that have taken time to attend the game to give the game their time and effort then everyone should be respectful or all in attendance whether it be in person around a table, or over an internet web cam, or even a internet based virtual table top utility. If the game is 4 hours,12 hours or however long, the respect of others time,care and interest in the game should be somewhat exhibited to a point of knowing what class/race etc. to role play so that one is confident in their characters so as to facilitate a smooth gaming period for all in attendance. Ask other players after or before the game (not during) on how you can improve your play style and or what to look for so you won’t slow the game down.If you find youself always searching for the right spell or skill/feat on your character sheet, write down spell lists for different occasions if one is a caster type PC. Or skills/feats the PC has for special occasions or even a regular routine of what his/her PC will do is certain situations (before the game or after a game not during). Maybe this will improve ones style of play and allow for good game flow.