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I would like to know if the criteria for DC's has been tightened or something?

I have been playing my toon for a while now... I am lvl 28, and with all the RP I have done, have yet to even catch a scent of a DC... while other people more well known, and quite frankly, buddy buddy with certain DM's and the like, simply sneeze and get a DC. I am not the only one to say this... I guess I am the only one to openly say it here on the forums.

So can someone tell me what the deal is? Has it come to a point where the clique toons get DC's, while others have to suffer in obscurity?

LordSithaelon wrote:

I guess I am the only one to openly say it here on the forums.

Search maybe?

Not the first thread of such kind, and I bet my last dime it's not the last as well.

I have noticed that you have to be incredibly lucky to have a DM randomly stumble across your RP. My best tip is that if you're involved in good RP, use the green wand to signify that something is going on. The DM's don't always show up and spectate for obvious reasons, but they often do.

I'm mostly shy with my wand usage but when I notice people using them it mostly pays off!

Alaria- wrote:

I'm mostly shy with my wand usage but when I notice people using them it mostly pays off!

Me too. Frankly, I hate it. I understand that DMs cannot be everywhere, but waving the wand just seem like "Hey, look at me how I RP pretty over here!", and that's just not working for me.

Luckily, others I RP with do use it. So I guess i'm just one of them guys who flow with the tide. Without them, I would be possibly stuck with barely a handful of DCs myself.

I wouldn't say there's a lack of DCs being handed out, but rather a lessened amount of DMs randomly popping on to see how things are going. I think a few months ago you couldn't go a whole reset without a DM being online. But now it's almost like once in a blue moon.

Though that could just be me not paying attention to the player numbers up in the corner there.

I think 666 has the right of it. There aren't as many DM's online with some formerly active DM's taking a breather.

Quote:

while other people more well known, and quite frankly, buddy buddy with certain DM's and the like, simply sneeze and get a DC. I am not the only one to say this

Thats a handy tool you have I never got. I can only see the DC's I got myself.

I used to issue tons of DC's, but I've been struggling to find consistent time to get on and play, with schoolwork reaching some pretty high levels, and me finding entertainment in other activities.

(I still work to help in other areas most folks will hopefully never see me in, but my IG time has admittedly dropped lately. Though I am also working to change these things).

The absolute best way to get a DC yourself, is to use your wand on another player and try to highlight his or her RP. The end result is the DM watching both of you, and most likely rewarding both of you. If you use it, I see it, and follow through with actually watching the RP-- and its good-- you start to build a kind of street cred with me. I know that when you use the stick, you mean it, and that I should hop down there to take a peek. Because RP Voyeurism is fun. (Rogues know what I'm sayin'.) There is a careful balance between using it excessively and using it to highlight other players great RP.

The best thing you can do as a player is to think of the stick as a way to reward your fellow RPers, rather than yourself. I know I just stated that it has great personal gains as well, but the trick to balancing its use it to use it specifically for another person. If you can keep that in your head, you'll have a balanced outlook on when to use it and when to not, in a way that we know isn't simply self-gratifying. Then, your fellow players will do the same to you when you give great Rp-- and everyone will enjoy a genuine circle of gratitude and reward.

I hope this helps!

I don't see a single DC since the last month but that's just because I don't wave that green wand to gesture a DM, or it happens that they aren't online/where I am. That's just the flick nature of the DCs!

I use the wand on anyone who entertains me IC, and hope it entertains the DMs as well. People can usually tell when you're wanding them, and It seems like a good compliment and reinforcement that keep doing what they do!

I wish the wand let me wand more than one person per reset. It's frustrating to want to say 'This guy and this guy especially hit the funnybone for me today in two seperate rps' and then you can't.

Never used the wand even once. Maybe I should start doing it more but I probably wouldn't know whom to wand then.

It's just that time of year. I've noticed that event/player/dm traffic slows down in Spring-thru-Early Summer. People are busy with schoolin', exams, work, vacations. That's just what I imagine the reasons are though.

Aiseth wrote:

It's just that time of year. I've noticed that event/player/dm traffic slows down in Spring-thru-Early Summer. People are busy with schoolin', exams, work, vacations. That's just what I imagine the reasons are though.

Earth is round, we have winter here.

More on the topic - yeah, it's 50% luck, 30% waving your wand and 20% involving in proper groups/events. I can be wrong about the percentage though.

Laiquendi Ohtar wrote:

Aiseth wrote:

It's just that time of year. I've noticed that event/player/dm traffic slows down in Spring-thru-Early Summer. People are busy with schoolin', exams, work, vacations. That's just what I imagine the reasons are though.

Earth is round, we have winter here.

More on the topic - yeah, it's 50% luck, 30% waving your wand and 20% involving in proper groups/events. I can be wrong about the percentage though.

But how much concentrated power and will?

My point to this was, that I see alot of time, the more well established characters and /or players getting rewarded with the little green circles under them for a few seconds.. (and that is the tool I use to see it) and then talk about getting a DC for minor RP. Talking about the weather and stuff like that.

I can also see getting the DC's from events... but it seems that some things are centered around a few select groups at times... at least in appearance.

As far as people saying time of year.. or real life stuff and whatnot... I dont think it matters.. because it is the same people on all the time, and this is happening now. Unless what you are saying is the time of year affects who gets DC's... which really blows my mind if thats true.

And as for searching. I have been here for a year or so... and the server goes back how long? Yeah... too lazy to go that far back.

I also forget about the little green wand alot, because if I am in RP, I am thinking about the RP. Not opening my inventory to search for that thing to use it on someone... and by the time I think about it... me and the person are on different ends of the server.

Show me how good your request is (why you want DCs) and I will give you some of mine for it! Otherwise, what you're portraying yourself as is someone who needs DCs to RP. That's just silly! You should RP for yourself, not the potential reward. Because that's all it ever will be-- potential. DCs are never guaranteed, no matter who you are or what group you're part of.

Back in ye olden days this was massively timezone-dependent, since DM:s usually play in their local prime time.

Just give everyone DC for X time spent in-game. It's the only way it would be fair; some of us play a lot and carry just a handful of DC's. Of course, you shouldn't RP in hope of DC's, but some people would like to do nice requests, but they lack the budget.

And suddenly Cory builds an entire dimension with his dream coins.

mirvala- wrote:

Just give everyone DC for X time spent in-game.

I'll leave it to you to realise how easily that can be abused.

I know it can be. But as it stand, people feel "punished" for not being on at the same time as DM's. Or involving themselves in frequented areas. It's an idea; if we want to come up with something to solve this issue, we have to brainstorm, and especially not spit on the first idea that comes out. It's a tought, like that. Food for tought.

No matter how many man hours are applied, you can't turn a mud pie into a cherry tart.

Dream Coins reward RP, not boss grinding, crafting clothing, standing afk, ect. That's the way it should stay even if it will never be perfect.

mirvala- wrote:

Just give everyone DC for X time spent in-game. It's the only way it would be fair; some of us play a lot and carry just a handful of DC's. Of course, you shouldn't RP in hope of DC's, but some people would like to do nice requests, but they lack the budget.

I agree with a good deal of that statemen but I can't say I agree with the X time spent = X number of DCs, but I will say this however: For the last 1-2 months, I have been playing on Amia for about 7-8 hours per day (sometimes more, sometimes less... I pretty much have no life these days) and the total of DC I got during that time period is 2 (I think).

1 DC was given to me very recently after an event as Saya was brought to the abyss with a group of players to randomly buy an item there.

1 DC was given to me when I randomly walked on a group of people RPing in the Dale

During that 2 month period, I have been roleplaying a whole bunch (even when I rarely get invited to a "boss grinding" group I RP along the way), and I have joined some events, participated and yet didn't get DCs.

Does that mean I am not a good roleplayer? Does that mean DMs decided to do an embargo on giving -me- DCs? I don't think so. But I can at least say that DCs are indeed not given out as often as they could, or that since I know that some other people get showered by DCs all the time, AND that I am not the same witnessing the rarity of DCs, even though some of these people (at least I) play -A FREAKING LOT OF HOURS- that PERHAPS it would be nice to start going around and watch other people than the same group of people all the time.

Given these observations, the only logical conclusions I can get are that the same players get all the attention all the time and/or DMs simply forget to hand out DCs.
-----------

I also am not a huge fan of that wand DC. I feel opportunistic or even parasitic when I ask for a dm to reward another player with a DC and then receive one as well. I mean, I won't go crying and contest the DC since I really do think I don't get as many DCs as I should considering the time spent AND constant RP, so getting one I think is justified.. but it still feels like I'm begging for these dcs and that's not my intention. Then again, I don't play on Amia to get DCs to random stuff.. just it'd be nice if I had the opportunity of doing it or being in the position of being able to help with those from time to time, but when my ratio is 2 DCs for 2 months, and that one of them was handed out by mistake.. MEH

I do not like DC's.

Requests should be free - and have shit-ton-a-fuck-a-lot higher criterias

Very_Svensk wrote:

I do not like DC's.

Requests should be free - and have shit-ton-a-fuck-a-lot higher criterias

I agree.

I havent gotten many DC's lately because im busy in life and my rp isnt steller at the moment, I admit that.

Good example;

Person X has this FUCKING AWESOME HOLY-JESUS-JOSEPH-AND-MARIA concept.
He lays it out and ... BEEP! NOT ENOUGH MINERALS DC's!

So now he can't play/use/get that super-awesome character/feat/spell whatever because he hasn't hogged DM-events enough/Spammed the green wand or scheduled enough with the already busy DM team.

GG.

I too don't think the DC system is perfect, but having free requests would be ludicrous.

Becaaaauuuse ... ? I'm sort of waiting for an argument here.

Very_Svensk wrote:

Becaaaauuuse ... ? I'm sort of waiting for an argument here.

Because 5 minutes from that ruling, I could open my "Manage PM Drafts" and request like 5 items, 3 custom spells, and other stuff. And I'm just one person.

No thanks

Needled247 wrote:

Very_Svensk wrote:

Becaaaauuuse ... ? I'm sort of waiting for an argument here.

Because 5 minutes from that ruling, I could open my "Manage PM Drafts" and request like 5 items, 3 custom spells, and other stuff. And I'm just one person.

No thanks

So? If the request is good, and I mean shit-ton-a-fuck-character-impact-server-wide insane good : why shouldn't it fly?

People said free healthcare was stupid in the start, too, and look how awesome we have it!
Edit: MY BAD! FORGOT THE WORLD WASN'T COMMIE-SWEDEN!

I’ll go ahead and say the insensitive thing. (That’s what I’m here for!)

I’m terrible at billiards. I’m not a very fast runner. I could not fix an ailing computer to save my life. I don’t tell jokes well, can’t draw anything more complicated than stick figures, and try and try though I have, I can’t make a loaf of bread from scratch that doesn’t come out all hard and tough.

Some people are not world-class RPers.

Please, please do not interpret this remark as a condemnation of any specific individuals. The people posting criticism in this thread are largely people who I haven’t RPed much with, so I couldn’t accurately comment on the quality of those certain people’s RP even if I wanted to. All I mean to observe here is that RPing is a skill, just like any other skill, and even in a community of dedicated RPers, some people will be better at it than others. I think this is a relatively non-controversial statement.

So my question is, if you think your RP isn’t getting the recognition it deserves, have you considered the possibility that maybe there’s something you could be doing to take your RP to the next level? It’s commonly said, and I truly believe, that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If we are not happy with the feedback our RP is getting (in the specific form of DCs), what are we willing to do differently in order to change things? It’s easy and tempting for us to assume that we’re all already awesome and that the fault is entirely with the DMs just arbitrarily failing to recognize our awesomeness.

But operating under that assumption, even if it’s justified, will not change anything. It will not obtain for us the outcome we want (more DCs) because we don’t have any control over the DM side of the equation. They have always awarded DCs, and will always award DCs, each according to their own unique, undisclosed criteria (which is as it should be). We can only influence the PC side of the equation. If RP + DM observation = DCs, the only variable directly within our control is the RP.

So my point is this: if your awesome RP isn’t netting you DCs, make it awesomer. Do something different. Do something more, or do something else less. Do it in a different part of the server, or with a different character.

When I first started on Amia, I was an embarrassingly awful RPer. I mean, I sucked. Abysmally. But I enjoyed RP, and wanted to be better at it. The way I went about changing my RP was by latching onto better RPers than me, hanging around with them as much as I could, and shamelessly modeling my RP after theirs. I explicitly sought out people who were getting positive feedback for their RP (I’ll go ahead and name them here: Qirlan, Voronwer, Thysaeryl) and tried to understand what they were doing that I wasn’t. And I think it has largely worked. I’m a way better RPer now than I was four years ago. I’d score myself as slightly above average. Not top-tier, but better than okay. And correspondingly, I get way more DCs now than I did then.

That’s what worked for me. Maybe something else will work better for someone else. The essence of my opinion is: if you want things to be different, *you* need to make them different. Just asking the DMs to make things different on your behalf is not a reliable or effective road to your desired destination.

Very_Svensk wrote:

Needled247 wrote:

Very_Svensk wrote:

Becaaaauuuse ... ? I'm sort of waiting for an argument here.

Because 5 minutes from that ruling, I could open my "Manage PM Drafts" and request like 5 items, 3 custom spells, and other stuff. And I'm just one person.

No thanks

So? If the request is good, and I mean shit-ton-a-fuck-character-impact-server-wide insane good : why shouldn't it fly?

People said free healthcare was stupid in the start, too, and look how awesome we have it!
Edit: MY BAD! FORGOT THE WORLD WASN'T COMMIE-SWEDEN!

I guess in the end it comes down to a couple things.

1) I don't think all RP needs to be shit-ton-a-fuck-character-impact-server-wide insane good . Infact, I'm fine when it's not that way. I don't see why RP has to be significant or important all the time, when a large part of the interaction in a characters life is supposed to be insignificant. Our PC's are not all heroes all the time.

2) I see DC requests as goals, and treat them as such. They take time, sometimes months of ideas and RP to compile and put on the table. I don't throw them out lightly, and I commit to them more completely, because I'm throwing DC's on the table.

3) You open the door for favoritism complaints when requests are treated like a popularity contest. Communism implies that the wealth is shared amongst everyone equally. Your example appears to be just rewarding people by treating it like a writing contest.

In my opinion, it has nothing to do with favoritism, the age old horse we all beat. When I'm top side, I'm always looking for immersive interactions with the world and those around you. If you think your crew is up to some awesome stuff, even just sitting around a table drinking and talking? Well, I know one sure-fire way to get my attention:

USE THE DC WAND.

Get our attention by recommending people for good role play. I usually see that sort of thing rewarded.

Last edited by IronAngel on Fri, Feb 28 2014, 21:16 PM, edited 1 time in total.

What Liz said. I would be suspicious if some people didn't consistently get more DCs than others, because that would imply the criteria are arbitrary and not a real (if imperfect and not entirely representative) reflection of people's performance.

Svensk: Your idea has a lot of problems. The biggest is that the request standards are already too high. The last thing we want to do is make them higher. DC goodies are rewards you can buy with your accumulated RP cred. If I want a cool new spell or a fitting item for my PC, I don't want to write a novel about it or conform the RP to someone else's expectations. I expect to have earned it with my RP already, and what's left is some balance and lore tuning that needs approval. The way I go about achieving it in game or in writing should be my business, based solely on what's fun for me. I understand the need for some standards, but we really cannot and should not start demanding players for even more elaborate justifications for something trivial. If I play a Breach Gnome and want a custom feat to represent it, the RP reason is that I play a Breach Gnome. That's pretty much it; artificial criteria of justification do no good.

RE: DC Wand. Would be nice if there was a shout command for it. I find it very awkward to use it when people can see. If instead I could type /s DCW_PC [PCname] or /s DCW_ACC [PlayerLogin], I'd probably do it a lot more.

Last edited by Kamina on Fri, Feb 28 2014, 21:17 PM, edited 1 time in total.

Liz wrote:

So my question is, if you think your RP isn’t getting the recognition it deserves, have you considered the possibility that maybe there’s something you could be doing to take your RP to the next level? It’s commonly said, and I truly believe, that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If we are not happy with the feedback our RP is getting (in the specific form of DCs), what are we willing to do differently in order to change things? It’s easy and tempting for us to assume that we’re all already awesome and that the fault is entirely with the DMs just arbitrarily failing to recognize our awesomeness.

I'm QFEing and adding that I had this thought process and, upon working on improving a character without making the entire server solely about them, I noticed DMs were more quick to give DCs on non-event based RP (such as conversations or well-laid RPed hunts).

I will add a concern which was mentioned in another thread about a lack of daytime EU and Australian DMs, as it stands being American or someone from the EU with insomnia/girlfriends who should be pissed off you're spending 4 hours in to god knows what o'clock doing the finale to an event series you've been a part of when you promised to spend the day of being just you and her but she loves you enough for you to RP *breathes in* then you're at some sort of "DC disadvantage". I know right now I have some goals lined up, but due to me trying not to stay up until stupid o'clock, I'm barely seeing any DMs about.

But hey-ho, right now, in terms of no action taken, listen to Liz. When there is a roaming DM about give them reason to hand you a DC. Actually, this reminds me of a conversation I had last year of a player to which I'll echo the advice: "DMs will give you DCs if they think you need to be rewarded for RP. Nearly all of the time you won't notice or know that they're watching you, so always RP to a DC standard. Not only will you probably net more DCs, but you'll start becoming engrossed in Amia's RP." or something to that extent.

But before this thread joins the pit of locked threads that have come before it, I'll just add:

Needled247 wrote:

2) I see DC requests as goals, and treat them as such. They take time, sometimes months of ideas and RP to compile and put on the table. I don't throw them out lightly, and I commit to them more completely, because I'm throwing DC's on the table.

Good advice Liz.

I think there is something to say as well about commitment to having a main character too. I stopped paying attention to my DC count for a reason. A lot of the time, DC is about being in a certain place at a certain time. It doesn't extrapolate how well you are doing as a player, that's not it. DCs have no mark of power, or progress, they aren't indicators of how awesome your character is. Really they are just tokens for getting involved with the NPCs or with moments of interest underwatch. If you are playing the game to be the toughest and bestest dude, then you're going to get frustrated. You should just be playing to have fun or to find a niche that works for you. I do however think there is a correlation between DCs and returning characters on stage, (Main characters) but that is just a side that comes with getting involved. Sometimes you got to take steps to organize things yourself, which means yelling to the DMs that you want to talk to some NPC about some quest involving a nefarious red cloud. Or whatever.

Also! Say you are frustrated with not having the right amount of DCs for Request stuff, which is a fun part of DnD, to have custom stuff, I know it! Just make the request anyway. Even if it gets approved and you are short on change, you can save your coins up later when you /want/ to ask a DMIG. If you have your heart set on a request and have the DCs ready but it doesn't get approved, this can be discouraging.

Anyway. My advice is to not care so much about dream coins. They get dispersed when they get dispersed, and you might even be surprised how many you end up with when you stop paying close attention to your dream coin hoards. That's just me though.

Last edited by Liz on Fri, Feb 28 2014, 21:38 PM, edited 1 time in total.

Aiseth wrote:

Also! Say you are frustrated with not having the right amount of DCs for Request stuff, which is a fun part of DnD, to have custom stuff, I know it! Just make the request anyway. Even if it gets approved and you are short on change, you can save your coins up later when you /want/ to ask a DMIG. If you have your heart set on a request and have the DCs ready but it doesn't get approved, this can be discouraging.

I think this is probably good advice. Requesting a thing that you can't pay for yet is like submitting yourself for review, asking the DMs for their ongoing attention and evaluation of your RP specifically.

IronAngel wrote:

RE: DC Wand. Would be nice if there was a shout command for it. I find it very awkward to use it when people can see. If instead I could type /s DCW_PC [PCname] or /s DCW_ACC [PlayerLogin], I'd probably do it a lot more.

I am Liz and I approve this message.

Can a new Amia player / Old, old NWN player chime in? If so:

This is the same on every server that has such rewards. Some servers call them "tokens", but a common occurrence is threads like this. I've been here almost a month and didn't even know I was getting Dream Coins until I asked for "Rebuild" but settled for a "DeLevel" by DMIG. The DM asked me and I replied "Uhh..?" "Yes, you have X Dream Coins"

(I decided to just take the free delevel) I didn't even know! And that's the approach I continue to take. Expect nothing and you're rarely surprised; when you are surprised, be happy and move on.

Now! The ONE thing (among many, many beneficial things) that separates Amia from other servers is:

gorgometh wrote:

USE THE DC WAND.

It might be rude to say but "You don't know how good you got it here" There's a WAND to let the DMs know of awesome role-playing going on and they WANT you to use it?!

Hell, I might even start using it now!

I sympathize with Liz's statement. Its a tough statement to make, but its honest. I like to think of myself as a fair DM, even if I struggle with activity. But there are certain qualities of RP that I am not personally a fan of.

However.

Not receiving DC's isn't a punishment. Receiving DC's is a reward. Think about that for a bit, and think about what it would actually look like if DM's were punishing players for poor Rp.

My personal favorite styles of Rp, the kinds that I reward frequently:
- Evil, conniving Rp.
- Religious political.
- Environmentally immersive
- Character flaws/weaknesses

My least favorite types of RP
- Excessively silly/lighthearted RP
- Godmoding and its lesser variants
- Mary Sues

You won't see me often rewarding DC's to the crowd of folks who fall into the categories of the RP that I don't enjoy, or find to be quality. The good news for others who do fall into those categories, is that I'm not the only DM. There are numerous others out there who have different opinions on quality Rp.

But even if I feel as I do, I still don't actively punish those characters/players and their Rp. If folks grow upset, and say, "Well, its punishing me by keeping me away from DC's." Well.. frankly, DC's are rewards for those who go above the standard. Receiving DC's is not the standard itself.

Again, this might be rough to hear, but I'm trying to afford you all honesty. Hopefully with enough logic and countermeasures to help ease any fears of tyranny of hopeless defeat. I've seen players change dramatically on this server. I myself did as well. Don't ever think that you're trapped into a certain stigma. There are so many examples that I could offer of great roleplayers who were originally trouble-makers or mary sues (But I won't to spare them embarrassment of their original form.

)

Edit:: For lolz, if you were to search on the forums and find the Mary Sue application thread, where folks took a test based on their characters and received Mary Sue awards... You'll see that my score was record-breaking Mary Sue. Allll of us can improve. And some of us, including myself at the time, really should. ^_^

Mr. Hackums wrote:

Not receiving DC's isn't a punishment. Receiving DC's is a reward.

RE: Svensk - I would agree with free requests. Really, but only on certain items. Not on anything that directly affects PvE and PvP combat, for example, so no weaponry, nothing wearable with über stats.

But I have no problems at all to see "random tent" or "boxing bags" (in a loving memory of LetumLux and CoA) for free, if supported by valid RP.

Yossarin wrote:

And suddenly Cory builds an entire dimension with his dream coins.

Yeah.... DC for play time is a bad idea for one as Yoss pointed out I would get a ton (imperial not metric)...based off how you did the math I would get hundreds if not thousands of dream coins because I have over a year play time on Cory Shadowflame (yes....over 9000 hours) and I would have not earned most of them because I AFK a lot!

So then you got AFKers earning DCs so then DMs have to start kicking people who AFK, or add in some kind of AFK booting script

Also then all the DC prices would skyrocket because people would have a lot more of them so more people requesting things so more work for the DMs, just look at scripting, we had to put it on hold because we have no scripters free to work on anything, now if the server was flooded in them everyone could be buying stuff at the current DC prices.

Don't get me wrong, though. I'd be interested in seeing a Coryverse.

Coryverse.

While humorous, let's not devolve the OP's topic into offshoots like these.

Personally, I've never had to much of a problem finding DMs online during the sun-up hours of EST. Usually just go to a hub for RP (Cordor, Bendir, Kampo's, etc) with people and RP with them. Yes, if someone is RPing their little butt off in front of you, green wand them! It works quite well. But mind you, if the server reads 57/65 with 2 DMs online, they can't be everywhere and frankly I would rather those DMs follow around legitimate newbies and interact and reward newbies (that is actual new players to the server) to get them hooked and coming back over and over than a bored veteran player sitting around some city. Mind, I do think us veterans should get attention too, just less prioritization of them in relation to actual newbies.

My biggest issue is that there are long stretches of time on the server where DM presence simply almost never exists. As I said in another post, this is problematic for folks in timezones other than US who like to RP and would like to get something done requiring DCs to do so. I and others I have met who play in offtimes habitually have been playing the server for years and still only have single-digit DC pools have little injokes amongst ourselves that someday we'll get that familiar reskin, maybe before the server finally dies! Then we meet the occasional primetime player with insomnia who casually remarks something like "Oh, I have 47 DCs and started playing 3 months ago" who can't even be bothered to punctuate or capitalize when their character speaks and we get annoyed at the system.

I can't really blame anyone for that. It isn't reasonable to expect a DM to get up at 3 am their time and sit around looking to DC people. They are volunteers and all. The system isn't perfect unfortunately because humans aren't perfect and it is entirely human driven. Perhaps there needs to be some other option for folks in offtimes, like if a DM hasn't been online in X time and your PC is RPing with others, there is a % chance of getting a DC awarded by the system every Y time increment with a cap of Z DCs a day or something.

I can't really say I'm a fan of the "get rid of DCs altogether and let people request whatever they want but make it nearly impossible to get" approach. That just screams favortism, bias, and pulling the ladder up after you. That is, you've already got yours, screw everybody else. At least the system as it is is fairly consistent in what is possible for those DCs, just not in opportunity getting them.

Mr. Hackums wrote:

My least favorite types of RP
- Excessively silly/lighthearted RP
- Godmoding and its lesser variants
- Mary Sues

It all comes to sense now...

Now the constructive part to justify the existence of this post:

FREE REQUESTS! No! No, no, no. No. DCs function as a regulation in this server. Yes, it is limiting, and yes, even if we perform the awesome RP for many things, perhaps we won't have the DCs for it when the time comes to shake the purse, but it is a necessary evil. DCs function as a -voucher- that the player carrying them deserves a mere retribution for being good at what he does, or at very least participating in some larger event. If you take that away, then not only everybody with some ranks in literature can write as many requests as he wants with essay-length, but you could be silencing the voices of those who don't want to write a request because it feels like a bloody competition of who is the fanciest on the keyboard.

Everything that is for RP is cheap anyway!

And then again, if you -want- to, you can get as many DCs as you like. Waving the wand and getting some batteries to step up on the RP will get you a dc with 99% of chances. Being in the right place will get you a DC. Talking about cassowary pets will get you a DC.

Now, if we are talking about reducing cost of (even more!) pure RP things, I would be all thumbs up, but that's another topic.
Or even, before I hit that mean submit button: There -are- some exceptions to the DCs cost, sometimes even entirely nullified as part of a plot or chain of events. I wouldn't mind if this exception could extend further in some special cases.

Mr. Hackums wrote:

I sympathize with Liz's statement. Its a tough statement to make, but its honest. I like to think of myself as a fair DM, even if I struggle with activity. But there are certain qualities of RP that I am not personally a fan of.

However.

Not receiving DC's isn't a punishment. Receiving DC's is a reward. Think about that for a bit, and think about what it would actually look like if DM's were punishing players for poor Rp.

My personal favorite styles of Rp, the kinds that I reward frequently:
- Evil, conniving Rp.
- Religious political.
- Environmentally immersive
- Character flaws/weaknesses

My least favorite types of RP
- Excessively silly/lighthearted RP
- Godmoding and its lesser variants
- Mary Sues

You won't see me often rewarding DC's to the crowd of folks who fall into the categories of the RP that I don't enjoy, or find to be quality. The good news for others who do fall into those categories, is that I'm not the only DM. There are numerous others out there who have different opinions on quality Rp.

But even if I feel as I do, I still don't actively punish those characters/players and their Rp. If folks grow upset, and say, "Well, its punishing me by keeping me away from DC's." Well.. frankly, DC's are rewards for those who go above the standard. Receiving DC's is not the standard itself.

Again, this might be rough to hear, but I'm trying to afford you all honesty.

Evil / coniving RP:

Most of the evil RP/characters I've seen so far were "wearing black", "wearing a hood", "chuckle", "say bad things for no real reason". Not quite my taste of "quality RP", especially if there's no real motive behind it (there are some very awesome evil characters out there though guys! I'm just throwing a generalization)

Religious/political RP:

I find that boring as fuck. Basically take a d&d book, read the dogma, copy paste - very little room for creativity. Or well.. yeah.. politics......

Environmentally immersive:

Not even sure what that is. Screams "all star" domain, because those who get involved in such are -very- often the same characters that get de-facto invited in those big "server changing" kind of events, with a bunch of satellite sides not-so-important people around to make the stars look more interesting. It also seems to me like "politics" goes hand in hand there.

Character flaws/weaknesses:

I totally agree with that one!

Least favorite RP:

Excessively silly/lighthearted RP:

Because people like Rosary clearly aren't quality RPers.

Godmoding and its lesser variants:

I agree, but that "quality" of RP is actually what I call "cheating" to some extend. It's not "least favorite RP", it falls under POOR rp.

Mary Sues:

You mean those who are affiliated in big politics / environmentally changing events?

(ok, maybe not, but often!

)

---

With that said.. please understand I am using a humoristic tone here, and I understand these are your preferences - and YES there are other dms*. HOWEVER, what I read from your post is the following:

1 ) You do have a selective way to reward RP based on your preferences. Don't claim you are fair if you put together the "silly lighthearted" RP along with godmodders and people who can't RP their weaknesses and want other dms to deal with rewarding what is very often the most creative RP on Amia (the one that does not reference d&d books for every word that is said)

2) Most of the points you brought up in "what you like to see" usually falls down to what "All-stars" fall under. They very often are either the big bad evil guys pulling the strings, or they're the political leaders in factions that get 3-4 dms watching them do stuff all day, or they're the ones that keep having their tentacles into absolutely every events that have impacts on the server, OR they are the solution to events that end up longer/bigger than intended and which started with smaller random group and less "political/power heavy" (like how that plague in Bendir started randomly for an unselected group, and then will most likely be solved by the same elite that solves everything)

--

*NOW! I know there are other dms, but the big problem comes when you have 4 DMs on and 4 of them are taking care of the same players every day, or all 4 are busy with closed events that are selectively made for the same players every time. Yes, that's a dead horse subject, but no matter how many times these topics appear, the same problem is brought up - maybe something can be done to fix what is obviously a recurrent problem?

As to Liz's comment about "some people fail at RP - get better", I don't quite think that's the problem here. Not everyone is top super insane roleplayer, no, but DCs are not handled to super awesome RP either. I've seen people literally sit in events and do nothing (not even whisper) and still got their DC for being there. I've seen -freaking awesome and hilarious and creative RP-, constant, every day, that goes unnoticed and gets no DC even though there are 4-5 dms on, all busy at the same event with the same 5-6 players every day. Some players I hang around with and tell myself "they're awesome!" have a total of like 40 DCs for several years of playtime. Some players get that per month and I find myself having a hard time to roleplay with them for more than 1 hour <.<

DCs are -> Matter of timezone, matter of who you are hanging around with, matter of which dm is on, matter of if the dm forgets to leave a dc

MY point was simply to say "Please DMs, just go around and check on other people instead of 4-man ganking an event - maybe send 1 or 2 out to at least check on big groupings, ones that aren't discriminating on what kind of RP is shown as long as it is quality. You don't have to reward everyone present or stay there for 2 hours either.."

Personally, I really do think lately the DCs are getting rarer for those not part of factions. I used to get like 2-3 DCs per week with less playtime, and last 2 months I got 2 or 3, so surely there's less roaming around, because I've been on for about 10 times longer than I used to with as much if not more RP put onto my character.

PS_EDIT: THanks a lot to the current dms we have though, you guys do a good job still!

DC Droppage

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