3. Server Meeting

Server Meeting


  • We will be starting up a (hopefully) monthly server meeting again like we used to do in IRC. Question and answer time for anything the players want to ask the DM's.

    We will have another channel made to keep it organized and out of main chat rooms. You have any questions? Ask them there or send them ahead of time if you can't make it. Logs will then be posted after the meeting to the forums for all to read.

    If you send a question but don't want your name on it, that's fine. Just specify that when sending the question to a DM.

    Sunday November 4th, 5PM EDT (Or EST by then, no idea)


  • There will be a server meeting on Discord on Monday June 3rd, at 9am by Australian Eastern Standard Time (AUS EST, +10GMT). That's...

    11:59pm Sunday 2nd in London
    7:00 pm Sunday 2nd in New York
    4:00 pm Sunday 2nd in Los Angeles

    Please submit your questions to me via Discord, or via a PG if you would prefer. Please let me/the PG know if you would prefer to remain anonymous.


  • Log from Server Meeting on Sunday April 28th, 2019

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Welcome all to our townhall meeting for April/May
    We have a few bits and pieces to start the meeting off with...
    Firstly, a reminder of the rules.
    As Meta has said, speaking out of turn will get your comments deleted, so please don't do that.
    Feel free to respond to anything that is said with emotes, it helps us know how you feel and that you're actually engaging here.
    If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me, or to a PG if you want to keep them anonymous.
    Next, let me say that I really appreciate the willingness of our players to be helpful and positive around the item changeover. It's gone very smoothly so far, and it's made my job much better than I feared it would it

    Andelas
    I would like to say first up that I have a massive vote of thanks to our devs.
    Thanks to their hard work, we have new monster models for some things and various other cosmetic things are being worked on.
    We also have potion making in game
    As well as having our first Hak Pack installed without any real issues
    Some bugs are being ironed out but in general it is working
    There are new monsters and new areas and new maps in some locations - I will not say where but leave it as a surprise
    I have personally met one of the new giants with one of my PCs and nearly died to it
    We have several new players please make them welcome; start new characters of your own to help them integrate into the server
    OK onto questions and answers

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Kerby:
    Gem Tumbler. The idea was to install one in the crafting halls, so that miners could put rough gems into them and have a percentage chance to get a gem out that can be used for enchanting or RP. How far along on this are we?
    Andelas
    I have no aversion to there being a gem tumbler with a low chance of success provided it's easy for the devs to implement

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from a few different people (adjusted for clarity):
    At the moment, Peltarch has a stranglehold on adventurers because it has the best shops for selling your loot. Is this something that will be addressed, or is the team happy with how things are currently?
    Andelas
    I think it's a good idea to increase the sale values in Oscura and Norwick to say 90% of what you can get in Peltarch to increase the viability of those areas. We will discuss this in DM forums forthwith. In addition we will start running more events from places other than Peltarch so you can expect to see increases in the other towns.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Kerby:
    Any chance of getting a town/area that is as wild as Narfell is in the original campaign setting? By the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (3rd edition) Narfell is part of the frozen north and is populated by Barbarian tribes and has abandoned settlements... the largest settlement is supposed to be a tent city that pops up seasonally
    Andelas
    Our server population is quite low and you can quickly get to Norwick, a small barbarian town. In addition it may be that Norwick may become even more barbarian focused. Remember that although we have our time stuck on one year in actuality 200 years have passed and this part of Narfell is much more "civilized" due in large part to player actions.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from anonymous:
    With a rise in people going AFK in dangerous areas, and not roleplaying whilst out adventuring (often it seems due to use of Discord voice chat), is there any intention from the team of addressing this?
    Andelas
    This has been discussed in DM forums and we are now much more aware of it and are reminding people in voice chat continuously to rp in text in game. If you go afk in dangerous areas alone you could easily die. In a group it's up to what your group do with you. Sam's Hill was named cos the player of Sam would go to sleep there and random people would keep him alive till a DM came on.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from anonymous:
    Can we please get clarity on how the team is viewing and implementing alignment, as there has been of late disagreement from amongst the player base as to how it should be viewed.
    Andelas
    We run alignment according to the third edition players hand book - alignment is cut and dried it's not a subject to debate, Rei Jin know this really well and will address it further .

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from anonymous regarding alignment:
    Are DMs considering providing greater clarity on why a character or characters have received alignment points?
    Andelas
    No - happy with DM team discretion as it is now - if you have an issue with points given take it to a PG and it will be reviewed. We should probably drip points more often.
    On complaints and feedback please if you have an issue take it to a PG we don't punish people for feedback or complaints. We need them.
    This is in regard to anything, any matter that you wish to provide clear, constructive complaints and feedback.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Follow up question re: alignment:
    Is it OK to ask for alignment points if you feel you're deserving?
    Andelas
    Yes only for DM events or major interactions DM moderated. If the DM doesn't do it move on.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Hen:
    What is the DM teams opinion on the issue of some zones being highly untraveled due to lack of incentive, being either loot or EXP?
    Andelas
    We constantly adjust spawns, if an area is never used we look at it. Also things change in relation to plots.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from anonymous:
    How do DM's feel about the state of guilds and their importance to Narfell? In the "glory days" of the server it was hard to find a character not part of one. Now due to a smaller playerbase and most of the activity in Peltarch, the guilds that are left aren't very active. Do DM's want this to change? Or do they feel it's on the players of those guilds?
    Andelas
    We have discussed it - it is likely that most guild will become orgs very soon. I have unilaterally made the Phoenix an Org and it will be starting up again and recruiting.
    At the moment, we only officially have like... 5-6 Guilds. All the others have already been made orgs, and the ones that are currently listed as guilds really aren’t operating as such.
    Part of the issue with guilds is lower server numbers. Part of the issue is the availability of stuff that guilds used to have as almost exclusive (guild items, enchanting space, crafting facilities, etc.) Part of the issue is that levelling is easier than ever, and people therefore don't spend as long on each character, accomplishing their goals more easily.
    In short, guilds are part of how Narfell USED to be.
    By having open enchanting and crafting facilities, by having enchanting open to everyone, and by having better levelling progression, we've in many ways made guilds redundant
    About the only other thing that guilds did mechanically was offer persistent storage, and we're working on that.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Dwin:
    First, glad to be back! Just wondering if there is a current fundraising need? How’s our treasury?
    Andelas
    OK at the moment there is a donation page on the webpage
    Dorakhan mostly and DrD for the servers with Jerrick paying for facebook and advertising. I think it's time we prioritised paying for more of it with extremely active people. We will discuss how to do this in DM forums and get back to you v soon. I am not saying you will need to pay to play at all. Our current costs are only $50 a month all up.
    The idea of setting up a Patreon account for Narfell has been raised: we'll discuss it as a team and get back to you.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Wywerniwin:
    Are there plans for more level 6-10 optimal spawns? At the moment the spawns worth experience on those levels are rather restricted.
    Andelas
    We are planning this as the next dungeon. CR50-80 if people know what those mean. CR in Narfell is multiplied by 10.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Shalvenay:
    how are we supposed to justify "imported" knowledge of the world&lore on new chars, given the emphasis on level-matched parties these days? it either makes for OOCish awkwardness in a "how does your character know that" sort of way, or restricts what you can do with character backstories in a way I don't find particularly desirable? (or you wind up with the blind leading the blind, which means that creating lowbie chars is a waste of effort in one sense (certainly not all, though!))
    Andelas
    You can use lore or general knowledge for where your character comes from
    Write a back story - if you post it you will also get xp and maybe even dm plot hooks

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from anonymous:
    Can the loot drops on more dangerous spawns be increased? At the moment, the best places to go for gold are the kobolds, the kuo-toa, and the goblins. Risk vs reward means that a high level PC is better off clearing out the goblin coal mine than going to the bugbears.
    Andelas
    Yes

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from anonymous:
    There have been occasional new players that have not immediately fit in well whether it be: a blue gnome, a woman from Russia, or trollish characters, all of which are rather disrupting. While amusing for a minute at most, it seems a lot of staff/players prefer to just laugh it off and go with a "they'll probably leave anyways", meanwhile they just run around and break immersion.
    Is there a way we can be more concise at identifying these people and either pulling them away to help incorporate them, or remove them if they show no signs of improvement?
    Andelas
    We are generally reasonably fast. Outright trolling or nastiness gets immediate bans.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from anonymous:
    While the current size of the playerbase would suggest additional starting towns should not be added, is there a concern among the DM team that having only Norwick and Peltarch (mostly Peltarch) that newer players may get bored with that after some time?
    Andelas
    No

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Atel:
    Is the Harper class something that might ever be implemented in Narf? Or would we go with a class that’s similar but custom?
    Andelas
    We have been discussing PRCs we are "thinking" about opening up all PRCs including some homebrew ones, with some changes to overpowered PRCs. That means all PRCs without application
    As an example, Shadowdancer is currently functionally banned, but we are working out how we could open it up. It would involve Hide in Plain Sight being limited in its daily usage, or possibly put back to level 8 of the class, or a timer.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Hen:
    Has Random loot drops and/or bosses been further delved into by the DM team?
    Andelas
    No - we adjust loot and can adjust loot easily but completely random would not happen
    The strongest item in game is enormously powerful and v expensive from a boss, although it can’t be used by PCs due to usage restrictions.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    And now, a message from our sponsors, err, the dev team:
    While we understand not everyone is able to code, we are still keen to hear about expressions of interest for helping out with other areas. In particular, at the moment and relevant to the mention of low level areas, we are looking at revamping the Peltarch Sewers as a low level area. If people are interested in helping, we'd welcome you to make a single paragraph design idea for what could be done for them. (Post to forums please!)
    In future we will be looking at putting together a set of standards and guidelines for map makes to follow so if we accept help on something, people will know the minimum requirements and standard of quality we need for you to be helpful.
    Finally, for those of you who are interested in learning to code, we are more than happy to answer questions and point you to resources that can help.
    The biggest part of the developer workload is code based, and while we do have a certain standard of quality that has to be met so we don't create more problems for ourselves, none of us necessarily know everything about everything. We all started somewhere and learnt and built up our knowledge over time.
    And finally, a general reminder that if you find bugs and other issues, please please please use the bug reporting reporting templates on the forums! Even if it seems like the format makes no sense or is unnecessary, it really does help us immensely to follow a standard format and sometimes what might not make any sense to you, actually does give us some insight into a problem that would otherwise have been missed!

    Andelas
    OK a final word on plots
    The Creel plot is ongoing and things are happening but will ramp up when i get back from holiday nothing has been predetermined a lot depends on what players do and one thing that players did recently co-incidentally majorly affected the Creel without the players realising that this would happen.
    This will happen on 18th and 19th of May and will be major, with several DMs involved, and split parties of different levels.
    I do not know what will happen because it depends upon you BUT I have very specific numbers of bad guys available and they aren't all going to die or throw themselves at impossible odds
    Oh and as a gentle reminder
    Not all PCs are on your side.
    I am on Holiday for just over a week from this Friday night
    Thank you again and remember Narfell is all of us we are a community it's not just those on one side of the curtain.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please send them to me
    The next Town Hall meeting will be June 2nd for you US folks, June 3rd for us Aussies
    Thanks all, and have a great day


  • Log from Server Meeting on Saturday 9th February, 2019

    Andelas
    Hello everyone, welcome to the server meeting.
    Our intention is to make these meetings monthly as it helps to improve communication and clarify any misconceptions

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    As with our last server meeting, please feel free to respond to messages here with emoticons

    Andelas
    Before addressing any questions just some news about what's going on behind the scenes.
    DrD stepped down to sort out some real life things, these had been building up and he had been largely absent for a few weeks prior.
    There are a couple of server wide plots starting and discussion of others, becasue these are plots you need to find out about them in game.
    Please use the forums to post news and information. also please be aware what you find out in game may not be true as misdirection and outright falsehood is used in these plots and some of that comes from the player characters themselves.
    Further to this, please speak to other players and groups in game to find out information. Examples include the Peltarch Defenders/Farscouts, the Druid Circle, Norwick Militia, the Legion, etc.
    These groups exist for a reason
    On the nuts and bolts side I have been looking at CRs (the amount of xp a monster gives) as have other DMs and we are discussing changing quite a few, mostly in the upward direction.
    We have also been looking at items and item power.
    There are some quite frankly overpowered items in game.
    So we are looking through DM items and changing out items that are overpowered for those of lesser power . Sometimes without changing name or description because many old items have a lot of sentimental value.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Example: On Val, she had a helm with SR 16, +4 Discipline, +4 saves vs disease, and 1/day remove disease. By the new DM points list, on which EVERYTHING is given a value, it was a disallowed item
    As it is over 15 points
    Another item that she had that was removed, was a harp with 1/day Greater Restoration, which is a level 7 spell

    Andelas
    On the flip side we have also designed jewellry and leather items which will make it more advantageous for people to enchant their own items

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    The Jewellery is already in game, the leather items are in game in limited numbers, and will be made more available over time

    Andelas
    Currently these are dm drop but we will likely also put them up for sale in NPC shops.
    On the down side most of our dev team are currently on a break or semi-inactive
    We encourage people to apply if they have dev skills
    On the subject of old overpowered items in players hands we are discussing what to do. No decision has been made.
    On the subject of CEP the devs have been given full decision making on what to implement and I which order. I understand it is modular.
    We have just started discussing exploration XP
    One suggestion is to cut it by 75% but make it all renew monthly, which would get people out adventuring
    These discussions are very preliminary and no decision is even near.
    OK we are going to start dealing with questions

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Before we do, our PL Jerrick wanted to say something

    Jerrick
    I'm Jerrick, your Player Lead: A notice Re: Conduct -
    Dear players. In the interest of transparency and building a stronger community, I wanted to share a rough statistic. In the last calendar year, I've handled more complaints about behaviour than I have in the last 5 combined. These have come from all kinds of people, about all kinds of people, but universally, they all have one thing in common. Everyone needs to remember that there's a Real Person behind each character, with their own life, hopes, dreams, preferences, issues, and goals. Be respectful IC and OOC of that, so that issues never have to come up to my level. If everyone can do that (Including toward your DMs!), then my job will be mostly informative, rather than disciplinary, which believe me, is better for everyone. Thanks!
    I have to go home from work now, but be aware that I say that because the tolerance for repeat offenses has gone down some, out of necessity. Burnout is real, y'all, especially with DMs, PGs, and PLs being no exception to that statement. I know many of you have heard me joke about this, but none of us get paid enough for this job, when it's dealing with people being jerks to each other, or us.
    Thank you, and enjoy the rest of the Town Hall.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Corinthio, who couldn't make it today:
    I would like to ask if there’s any plans to work on letting newer players know where to go. Chandra and I had to assist a new player that wandered into the sewers. Maybe something that at least gives them some sort of hint as to what the leveling area progression is like? Just a suggestion.
    Andelas
    I think we should put a sign in the starter are with suggestions about what to do - the area is OOC
    so 1. do the starter quests, do not go to the sewers, go to the swamp do not enter any cave - that sort of thing and not much more

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Wolfhere, who couldn't make it today:
    (1) How close are we to having automatic downloads working?
    (2) Have the DM / DEV team targeted any specific content for it?
    Andelas
    See comments about CEP and dev availability - and invitation to new devs
    Devs are likely to do cosmetic stuff first as that does not require huge script changes.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Sc1olist:
    How can we as players help to improve the server?
    Andelas
    OK the big thing here is being friendly to one another and respectful
    You can have a massive amount of fun with character conflict as long as you are also communicating behind the scenes
    Get out do stuff, look at plots, react consistently for your PC, if a DM knows roughly how you will react we will push your buttons and when a new player comes in be helpful and inviting
    If it is ooc for your char do it in tells
    Don't leave it up to the PGs
    I will switch to a low level character often just to give some help - be aware many you will never see again
    Be adaptable change due to the things that happen to your character
    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Another thing to be aware of, is that forums are a very useful tool for fleshing out your character and helping us as DMs to know about your motivations, goals, fears and concerns. Post a background in Historical Archives, keep a Journal in Tales By The Fireside, post on town forums about things that happened there, and interact through the guilds and orgs that you are part of. We do reward these things with RP XP and with events
    Andelas
    Also be very aware that especially for big plots nothing is set in stone
    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    We are a 24 hour a day, seven day a week server. No one person can be online constantly, not even us DMs. So if it only happens in game, we may miss it. Putting it on the forums helps us all have a chance of knowing about it
    Andelas
    Things change depending on what character do or do not do and sometimes depending upon what competing npc factions do (i will roll dice for some of that behind the scenes)

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Sc1olist:
    Please can we 'trial' other PrCs as a balance test preparatory to maybe making them non-application? (Contentious)
    Andelas
    alright - no to shadowdancer and shifter with how the classes currently are - will think about it for all other PrCs, and we may make modifications to both to make them viable.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Sc1olist:
    At the November Server meeting it was said that Summons Spells and Planar Ally/Binding would be reviewed for how they could be implemented usefully. How has that progressed, and when might we see it IG?
    Andelas
    it has not progressed, i am hoping that we finish our discussion on CRs implement that - this affects everyone - then we can look at allies/binding - we are limited by dev time

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Anonymous:
    What is the Team actively doing to make our server more appealing to new players? How can they do it better? (What do they need)
    Andelas
    Well there has been some use of social media, we also hand hold when new players come in and the new player lobby is a great improvement.
    Our issue is the age or the game and the engine
    The biggest draw to our server is the community
    Which is to say all of us

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Anonymous:
    It has been noticed that a number of those listed as staff are inactive, or not very active. It has also been noticed that there are different attitudes within the staff team around a number of issues, and that expectations can differ from staff member to staff member. As a team, what actions are being taken/considered to help things to function more cohesively for the good of the server?
    Andelas
    The team members are voted on, most decisions are consensual, we have a very diverse team. Inactive people actually have very little influence.
    We discuss a lot of stuff - sometimes to death - when a decision is made we all stick to it.
    Sometimes we make mistakes and then have to take stuff back or change back and this does cause issues.
    Discord and facebook help us communicate a lot.
    One personal note
    There is a downside to this communication when things go wrong and players are making a lot of comments about team members where DMs can lost their motivation - take into account the comments about being friendly.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Shalvenay:
    With recent rotations in the DM team, what options does one have for continuing a storyline that was being run by a DM that has since departed?
    Andelas
    Talk to me
    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    In other words, if a DM is doing a quest for you and the DM drops out due to RL, please talk to the Head DM, which is Andelas, and he can address it

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Darkspyr:
    I notice that no one has posted a "help wanted" trip in over 3 months on the forums...and only the moonlighters as a group going on a regular weekly basis or so. How helpful is it to the team for the players to push hard at more of these types of events?
    Andelas
    Very helpful - i drop in and dm moonlighter stuff on an ad hoc basis for example
    If a large group are out doing stuff and a dm comes on they will likely get attention
    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    We are aware that at the moment, that Players cannot start a discussion there. If you send a request to post something up to a DM, they will do it for you. This is being done to keep it neat and tidy
    Andelas
    If everyone is sitting in the commons sometimes dms will simply log-off again

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Darkspyr:
    The constant crashes are frightening when out in the field, especially if you do not have an active DM on. I would hate for people to be leery of doing much because of that but is there any solution from beamdog or what not to give one hope?
    Andelas
    that must be player crashes as the server is very robust now
    the best response here is always go out in a group
    also being in VC is very useful as you can say i crashed and everyone knows immediately
    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    We are aware of NWN:EE having memory leak issues, and that it has compatibility issues with some chipsets (my own is particularly bad), and that these can cause the game to crash. Go with a group, flag it in Discord when it happens, take screen shots where possible, and as DMs we are open to giving out True Rezzes should something happen that can be verified. Note that if this is abused, it will cease.
    Andelas
    but hey i adventure with Merlynna as a tank and his old sinclair spectrum drops every second hour and Merlynna. so much so that (MC) = Merlynna Crashed

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Anonymous:
    With item rules being considered, what concerns if any does the team have that removing 1/day items (as an example) will make it harder to form a well-balanced party, and therefore make adventuring harder, especially considering the lower server numbers that are the norm with NWN these days?
    Andelas
    None

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from R0n1n:
    Is it possible to manually rebalancing some weapons like we did to make spears one handed despite the rules being different in PnP?
    Example: Making Heavy Flails one handed but require Exotic to do so. (Doable with a 2da edit I believe)
    Andelas
    It is possible, we will consider it for weapons that are basically never used because as implemented they are awful. We will not do it for favoured weapons
    BUT
    Heavy flails will not be made one handed

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    There are two things I want to say. The first relates to some concerns that have been raised around PCs farming spawns, and perceptions of that.
    Firstly: We do not punish characters for "farming". We do not.
    Farming, for those who are unsure, is continuously going to the same area for loot, gold, potions, XP, whatever.
    What we DO do, if we notice a character/characters continuously going to an area, is make the area more diverse by changing the spawns, moving them, making them harder, etc.
    And if a character is going somewhere solo continuously, we might have a chat with them about it to try to understand why, and work with them around it, as it's not helpful to the server overall.
    None of this is punishment.
    Using exploits IS DIFFERENT and WILL GET YOU PUNISHED
    If you are unsure if something is an exploit, ask a DM
    We do not bite
    The second thing I want to share regards things that help players get the most out of Narfell. This is not an exhaustive list, but it WILL help.

    • Imagine your character is a real person. What are their hopes, dreams, and goals? What are their fears and concerns? What drives them to get up and go?
    • How will you interact with people? Friends and allies are essential, because enemies will come for you
    • this server, whilst based on roleplay, uses mechanics, and those mechanics matter. Learn what you can from the NWN Wiki and from the Narfell Wiki. Talk with more experienced players, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
    • If you are going into melee, you want to have AC equal to your level +20 when possible.
    • If you are not going into melee, work out how you will avoid damage, and do it
    • The higher in level you go, the more your saving throws matter. Aim for saves equal to your level where at all possible
    • No one PC can be good at everything. You can be a versatile generalist and be okay at everything, or a specialist with great strengths but also weaknesses. Choose, and accept this reality (see point two)
    • Gear will not drop from the heavens for you, and most of what you want is not sold in stores. Craft, enchant, quest, and you will get what you need, as long as you're willing to invest time and energy into it.
      One last thing regarding item power and such...
      We will be posting a list of BANNED PROPERTIES on the forums for public consideration. Items with these properties will not be given out by DMs at all. This does not mean we are necessarily removing any items with these properties, or removing the properties... decisions are still being made about this.

    Andelas
    OK folks thank you for attending if you have more questions we do consider them at any time. We are here to have fun but not at the expense of others. So go out and have fun.


  • Log from Server Meeting on Sunday November 4th, 2018

    DrDreadlock
    If you have a question, I will be unlocking the channel for people to ask their questions and so long as things stay on topic, all will be able to comment on the question at hand.
    Please PM your questions to Rei-Jin, he will be organizing the questions so we don't have multiple questions at a time.
    Please do not blurt out questions. Wait for Rei-Jin to say your name before you put your question up.
    If you have a question and don't want your name known, you may also PM Rei-Jin that and he will post it up.
    For this first server meeting, we will likely be capping it at 2 hours in duration as I'm sure we would all rather be IG anyways.
    We will try to have this type of meeting monthly, so if your question doesn't get answered this time around. Next time it will. If you feel it is very important and we are out of time, please forward it to Rei-Jin and the team will do our best to get you an answer.
    If you are uncomfortable with your question/concern being submitted to the DM's, they can be submitted anonymously through a PG as well. motions to the PG's

    MojoJoe
    I heard rumors and speaking of a possible item purge, pretty much any items that do not fit a proper criteria of 15 points and under or have rediculous effects will be removed, and may or may not replaced. Just rumors? If not please elaborate!
    DrDreadlock
    Alright. There are several aspects to this.
    First. We are currently reviewing item power levels. We are trying to assign a point value to each and every item property to make it more across the board in regards to what power level of items DM's will follow when creating loot.
    How this will affect characters.
    So far it will only affect them if any items they have contain a banned property.
    The full list of banned properties is not complete yet, so I can't answer every question in that regard just yet.
    If your item has a banned property, the item will not be "purged".
    It will be changes a bit is all to remove the banned property and replace with something not banned.
    However, for DM's, this new ruling coming into effect will have a different purpose.
    All DM PC's will now be limited to a maximum of 15 point items for their PC's to stop any and all favoritism complaints in the future in regards to DM PC item power levels.
    15 per item that is.

    Sciolist-Caling/Keira/Aoife
    Can we have a Suggestion Box? Something that's a single place to send things to as Ideas etc? A thread in forum is ... publicly visible... and the old narfellstaff@gmail address is apparently the worst contact method - so... Something that's easy to submit to - and easy for you lot to discuss. Not necessarily Player public visible - spoilers "Wouldn't it be cool if Kara Du Monte was secretly teh big Evil! lol !!!!"
    DrDreadlock
    Yes, the staff email is not always checked. However, a PM can be sent to any DM at anytime as well. However, if you wish a thread for some less secretive things, that can be arranged.

    darkspyr
    In regards to permanent storage. I heard a rumor that due to a brazillion things being in storage it lags things. Is it possible to revamp chests so that they are 1 screen instead of 20 and limit individual storage to be able to spread it to more people?
    DrDreadlock
    This has been discussed recently. We are looking into it. Several options have come up in the discussion. I do not know if we can actually limit pages. So we have thought of other ways of doing it, based upon trust. Having players use only X amount of pages.
    We have also thought of making Droibo like places in Norwick and Oscura.
    It is being discussed and we would like to find a happy medium in regards to server resources and opening it up for all players.
    What that is at this moment. Still undecided.

    darkspyr
    Housing....again I know it is a sore point and I know it in the discussion list. But any hope at all on this one? A time frame for a decision even on anything being done?
    DrDreadlock
    Yes. I would like to see more "apartment" type housing. Like in Peltarch, but in all the towns. But again, our devs are strapped and doing server wide matters so I won't force the issue at this time.
    But it will come.

    Hen|Sneaking
    Does the DM team have any plans for the future magic level of the server in terms of Item magical power?
    DrDreadlock
    We are implementing a cap on magical item power the same as mentioned above. Though the point value between DM PC and player PC cap will see the player PC on the higher side.
    We have done six months of work in spreadsheets regarding this, trying to track all point values for each property.
    So we can come up with a proper magic level that will be across the board.
    Hen|Sneaking
    What is the general consensus behind enchant for gear over earn the gear, I for one am finding less and less useable items (after not enchanting at all for myself) dropped by DM's and the answer always being 'Enchant if you want it'.
    DrDreadlock
    Item drops are always dependent upon the event you are in. DM drops vary is all I can say.
    I encourage enchanting until you get those drops after participation in events.

    SuspectDuke|Sven|Fenris
    A bit of a tough one but; What does the near future of Narfell look like, over the next 3-4 months - what can we expect?
    DrDreadlock
    As with always, we are constantly working to make more maps with more dynamic spawns and more reward for the risk PC's face. We are watching Beamdog closely and any changes they are making and we are really looking forward to things such as auto-hak downloads to improve many things on the server.
    Again though, we have three devs currently and they do great work but we cannot have things to appear in a hurry.
    We work on their schedule.

    St.Croix
    The Edge has asked for an internal remodel...... the masters for potions and stuff... and three new rooms which can fit... gold is not an issue. One room for an enchanter, we have enchanter on board and two new workers at least
    DrDreadlock
    Has the .erf for the changes been submitted?
    St.Croix
    okay will get theaon to re-do it he did the first work
    DrDreadlock
    Then send it to us for approval and be patient on getting it imported, as with anything. Server wide changes first on the list for our hard working devs.
    St.Croix
    thank you

    Anony-mouse
    I have heard that cleric/divine character RP is being cracked down on? Can you comment please?
    DrDreadlock
    RP has been lacking of late it seems in regards to cleric/divine characters and DM reaction has been lacking as well in regards to enforcing it. We are all equally to blame perhaps but we will all equally be expected to fix the issue.
    This is an RP server, you play a divine character, thats a lot of responsibility to hold a gods power.
    This will be server wide.
    Not against any one player.
    We will work on an appropriate post in regards to clerical RP, to clarify expectations.

    Sciolist-Caling/Keira/Aoife
    Is it possible to have random loot drops in places like Orc Caves etc. so that there are some variable treasures for getting to the end?
    DrDreadlock
    We have certain chests around Narfell, the orc cave included that DM's stock with loot.
    Problem I see is. We stock in based upon the risk vs reward of the area. Now when a level 15 character goes down and takes all the loot when it should go to level 8's, DM's tend to stop stocking them up with anything of too great of value.
    Although, there have been discussions with the devs about random loot. If you open the chest, it reads the levels there and places loot that should be there.
    AGAIN, it will depend on our devs time. Even if a chest is stocked by a DM, places like the orc cave is farmed a million times a day. So, might have missed it being stocked.
    Anyways, random loot would be awesome and its on the table.

    R0ninX3ph|Uly
    Was just wondering whether the team has devised a system on how to decide what haks will be used once we have NWNSync fully operational, will there be a forum thread/voting process for everyone, or will it be at the discretion of the DM team?
    DrDreadlock
    It was mentioned I believe by Dorakhan that when this comes up, things will be implemented bit by bit and tested for compatibility with our server. As always, players are free to make suggestions, we will even put up a special thread for it.
    The final decision will be made mostly by our devs and compatibility issues.

    TheSpaniard*
    Is there a way to make stacks go to 99 or something? or 999
    DrDreadlock
    From what I'm told, it is possible for it to happen. Though if it will or not, that will be discussed.
    Dorakhan
    Stacking sizes can be made to at least 999 if not arbitrarily large.... functionally. As DrD does not have a direct answer, you might note that DMs have not discussed this yet.
    However, inventory space consumption IS a balance consideration.

    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    Question from Voice Chat to be kicked around...
    Whilst we have more players now due to the release of NWN:EE, server numbers are certainly down from the earlier days of the server when we had multiple settlements. Whilst losing a settlement can come with negatives, it could also see players brought into more contact with one another. Is there value in consolidating settlements, and if not, is there something else that can be done to help with this?
    DrDreadlock
    Jiyyd, Gypsy Camp. Removal of settlements has historically not turned out well for player numbers.
    Also, to help streamline newer players. When someone creates a new character the only starting option is Peltarch. This helps newer players to the server as Peltarch seems to be the main gathering area at this time.
    Other than that, there are no current plans for removing towns.
    Rei_Jin aka DM Skippy
    So to the other part of the question, other than consolidating towns, is there anything that could be done to help bring players together more easily, that is worth considering doing? Is there anything on the agenda? Are we open to suggestions?
    SatansAdvisor
    There is a GPS item in game if you are interested in that Avenue of consolidation. Aside from that we havent really discussed anything.
    We will, of course, listen to any suggestions.

    TheSpaniard*
    Will it be possible to grant benefits for citizenship?
    For example, and I may be way off in terms of degree, but like granting bonuses in shops. That way as NPCs you can can control the population, incur taxes, etc. Make citizenship a less passive endeavour. Give good and evil characters reason to fight against a deranged bureaucrat putting the squeeze on everyone in the city. Mine's more of a suggestion looking forward. Maybe even have different tiers of citizenship
    DrDreadlock
    Alright, we will discuss possible options for making citizenship more beneficial. If you have any specific suggestions, please feel free to send them along to a DM.

    SuspectDuke|Sven|Fenris
    What are the chances of bringing back the continual flame spell, I understand that it was previously removed to prevent items from being sold dramatically higher than their original value. Is it possible at all, to when; having Continuous flame cast on an object, it becomes plot and thus non-sellable. I understand there are a few hiccups with that idea due to the possibility of griefing. But surely we have a community that understands griefing is dumb.
    In addition to that, things like poisons and Alchemist Fire flasks etc.
    DrDreadlock
    Items you can equip only for Continual Flame, flags it plot. Already done, as confirmed by Head Dev.
    Alchemist fire is grenade like only. Poison duration has been talked about a bit.

    Filfred/Carendur/Sabrum
    Heyo. Dora spoke a while ago about an implemented but unused compromise to summons not being great, using a system similar to spell crystals. I don't exactly remember all the details, but is there any chance of that actually being used? Sorta vague question I know lol
    Dorakhan
    So both summons, the planar bindings, and planar ally spells are all pending DM/dev review. Basically the idea is that banned spells need to be tweaked so that they are not banned...
    The hardship lies in getting balance accurate.
    Also moderating resource constraints... for example, the last modification series to the summon system reduced it from 72 to 3 scripts.
    We like to do these things without making a mess
    But to summarize - under review and consider the thread "bumped."

    DrDreadlock
    Alright. Thanks for coming everyone, we hope to do this monthly.
    We will look into any issues brought up and see what can be changed to better the server.
    Thank you for keeping it all organized for the meeting too.