Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Suggestions Should Be Posted in Their Respective Categories

Moderators: Moderator, Quality Control, Developer, DM

User avatar
Wolfrayne
Recognized Donor
Posts: 647
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 10:21 pm
Location: Geraldton, Western Australia

Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by Wolfrayne »

Im starting to get a little bit tired of hearing about "casual strolls" through the underdark... Drow should stay below and other races should stay above. It is supposed to be the place of nightmares. Not somewhere you go for a casual shroomlit walk along a pit of doom.

I litterally heard the words "Drow are ok as long as you meet a nice one" and "I go to the UD All the time for dinner its no big deal" like its some kind of resturaunt for the rich.

I actually miss the good old days where nobody went down there without some big RP reason to do so (Like some of the evil guilds/DM events) There is honestly no other reason to be there....


P.S if you play a Drow main, Please please kill every single surfacer you see without any remorse of mercy.... The UD is a joke.
Reiker Vexx - "Fortune favors the bold"
Cyrus Raviin - "Veritas Credo Oculos"
Sun Wukong
Posts: 2837
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 3:05 pm

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by Sun Wukong »

Wolfrayne wrote:... It is supposed to be the place of nightmares. Not somewhere you go for a casual shroomlit walk along a pit of doom. ...
The underdark is a place of nightmares. They speak drommom there. Honestly, I feel like shoving rusty forks into my eyeballs whenever I see another drommon speaker go: 'Usstan nusta vendui bendui pusta husta, me no know how to spell gusta.' Or something like that.
Wolfrayne wrote:... P.S if you play a Drow main, Please please kill every single surfacer you see without any remorse of mercy.... The UD is a joke.
It actually takes a bit of effort to reach any city in the underdark, especially if you do not know the map. I am not really seeing how some level range * or ** is going to beat a level range *** surface character. For example, it took me about until level 21 to find a way to the surface.

My drow will stay on the surface.
" I am no longer here, the elves of the Sword Coast are just far too horrible... "
- Elminster, probably.
User avatar
samb123
Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:05 pm
Location: Texas
Contact:

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by samb123 »

Wolfrayne wrote:I literally heard the words "Drow are ok as long as you meet a nice one" and "I go to the UD All the time for dinner its no big deal" like its some kind of resturaunt for the rich.
Isn't this a violation of the following rule:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=36831
– Surface/UD Travel!
-You can be on the other side, but have some roleplay reason to be there (not just an excuse to grind or PvP). races from the surface and the Underdark, respectively, are not permitted to live on the other side without DM approval. Expeditions to the other side have a clear set start and end period for a particular objective with the character returning to it's home setting after the period is over. Stating that you are there to defeat such and such creature, or to test your skill is not a valid RP reason, that is grinding. We also do not consider general exploration, or Drow raids on the surface as a valid RP reason, although such can be fodder for DM moderated events. Please PM the team regarding this.

Valid RP reasons outside of the above are defined widely and do not require prior DM approval. Examples include meeting another PC to trade, or to RP over religion, or to establish contacts with another guild. We would ask however that you are able to state your reasons when a DM asks and abide by any decision that is made. Please note that it is not valid to grind once the reasons for travelling to the surface or Underdark are complete. Stating that you are meeting a PC in Sshamath to acquire via trade rare and valuable items is a valid reason but grinding afterwards with your trading partner is still grinding. Both surface and Underdark races are permitted on Upperdark maps and full RP outs are required to initiate PvP (no KOS on Upperdark maps). If slain in PvP on the "other" side you may be issued a permastrike as a result.

We also ask that players are respectful of the setting given the leniency of these rules. On the surface NPCs should be regarded as universally hostile to Underdark PCs and so maps with NPCs should be avoided where possible without DM supervision. In the Underdark, the peculiarities of Sshamath's lore should be respected and the Underdark itself should be considered a dangerous and hostile place. While we wish to facilitate roleplay between surface and Underdark we do not want to erode the setting and so may intervene in RP that is immersion breaking.
I mean, it's pretty damn immersion breaking to act like you can just hop over to the UD for lunch. Sorry, it takes weeks or months to move between them, in lore. Your happy butt ain't just teleporting over like it's not a big deal. :lol: :lol:

On a similar note: you may as well assume there are ZERO nice Drow. None of our characters get to be Drizzt Do'Urden. You shouldn't treat them as such. Drow are KoS on the surface, and surfacers are KoS in the UD. Don't try to act otherwise.
Malign Ashmeddai, tiefling and "Fellblade"
Biography | Fell Epiphanies
Ilzsa Murnyethara, tiefling and "Hexmage"
Biography
"Betrayer... In truth, it was I who was betrayed [...]" (Illidan Stormrage, The Frozen Throne)
User avatar
professiondude
Recognized Donor
Posts: 194
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 4:59 am

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by professiondude »

The underdark is a joke and surfacers are too welcome within the weak fragile rules of the city that is Sshamath, may lolth take over and bring fear to surfacer hearts who dare go near it!

YAShASHUIN
Zae'lin the blood collector
Sun Wukong
Posts: 2837
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 3:05 pm

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by Sun Wukong »

professiondude wrote:The underdark is a joke and surfacers are too welcome within the weak fragile rules of the city that is Sshamath, may lolth take over and bring fear to surfacer hearts who dare go near it!

YAShASHUIN
And another example of why no one wants to play in the underdark.
" I am no longer here, the elves of the Sword Coast are just far too horrible... "
- Elminster, probably.
User avatar
Snarfy
Posts: 1403
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2011 12:14 pm

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by Snarfy »

Sun Wukong wrote:
professiondude wrote:The underdark is a joke and surfacers are too welcome within the weak fragile rules of the city that is Sshamath, may lolth take over and bring fear to surfacer hearts who dare go near it!

YAShASHUIN
And another example of why no one wants to play in the underdark.
It's far more appealing than this type of crap. :?
Wolfrayne wrote:Im starting to get a little bit tired of hearing about "casual strolls" through the underdark... Drow should stay below and other races should stay above. It is supposed to be the place of nightmares. Not somewhere you go for a casual shroomlit walk along a pit of doom.

I litterally heard the words "Drow are ok as long as you meet a nice one" and "I go to the UD All the time for dinner its no big deal" like its some kind of resturaunt for the rich.

I actually miss the good old days where nobody went down there without some big RP reason to do so (Like some of the evil guilds/DM events) There is honestly no other reason to be there....

P.S if you play a Drow main, Please please kill every single surfacer you see without any remorse of mercy.... The UD is a joke.
I'm pretty sure I've ranted about all of the above... several times over even.

When it comes to surfacers RP'ing about going to the UD like it's a picnic, I just walk the other way. When my main sees characters coddling drow, or drow-sympathetic behavior on the surface, he takes a big mental note of those characters. When I'm on my UD character, I surround myself with quality RP'ers who treat the setting with respect. If by chance I encounter "nice" characters in the UD(and by that I mean: the kind that greet you warmly, or offer to unlock chests for you while referring to you as "Lad"[yeah, that actually happened]), as if it were all rainbows and puppy dogs down there, I also walk the other way. Subjecting yourself to repeated immersion shredding behavior will only make you a bitter old sour-puss. Trust me on this, I should know. :shhh:

I sincerely doubt the upperdark will change any time soon, so do yourself a huge favor and just exit stage left when you see nonsense that runs contradictory to the setting.
There are no level 30's, only level 20's with benefits...
Sun Wukong
Posts: 2837
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 3:05 pm

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by Sun Wukong »

Anyhow... about 50% off the upperdark areas are in the CR 0-3 range.
" I am no longer here, the elves of the Sword Coast are just far too horrible... "
- Elminster, probably.
Israe
Posts: 433
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2012 3:22 pm

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by Israe »

Upperdark does need to be harder. Secondly, does Sun ever stop bashing drow players? It's getting (do-me) old. If someone wants to flaunt their drow language cool, you have the choice to interact with them. Shut up about it already please.
Sun Wukong
Posts: 2837
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 3:05 pm

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by Sun Wukong »

Drow players? :lol: Please, talking gibberish does not make you a 'drow player' - only a gibberish speaker.
" I am no longer here, the elves of the Sword Coast are just far too horrible... "
- Elminster, probably.
Sun Wukong
Posts: 2837
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 3:05 pm

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by Sun Wukong »

Sun Wukong wrote:Drow players? :lol: Please, talking gibberish does not make you a 'drow player' - only a gibberish speaker.
The gibberish that is spouted is just eye-cancer.

It slows down role-play and provides no actual benefit. Just imagine a slow typer trying to use some outside translation service to generate a sufficient number of gibberish words in order to fit in with the supposed 'drow players'... It takes so often minutes just to get a single five to eight word reply out of them.

This is the one thing that year after a year drives people away from the underdark, they just cannot be bothered with the constant eye-cancer gibberish. Thus the underdark player base remains low, which is the source of the other underdark problems. Because there are no players, drow want to go to surface. On surface, if you friend plays a drow you bring your surface character down to be with your friend.

As long as the gibberish is allowed, the underdark will remain the dead part of the server. Honestly, underdark has the most grind friendly areas of the server, the easiests quests to do, the largest chest per area ratio, the biggest concentration of merchants in any one area and those merchants offer you more gold than on the surface, and it has the prettiest areas of the server.

The underdark should be the best part of the server. It isn't, because of the gibberish speakers. The gibberish speakers drive away everyone else who is not a gibberish speaker.

EDit:
Want to fix the underdark-surface interaction problems? Ban the gibberish.
" I am no longer here, the elves of the Sword Coast are just far too horrible... "
- Elminster, probably.
User avatar
Tekill
Recognized Donor
Posts: 902
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 10:12 am
Location: BC, Canada

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by Tekill »

You could crank up the difficulty on some areas of the UD. But due to the population issue down there, it very hard to do anything but solo for the players down there.

We underdark players are caught between a rock and a hard place...literally even.

There is always going to be bias against UD RP. Some people do not like Drow and some people do not like Chaotic Evil. Woe to those UD RP'ers, that run accross the people tho do not like either.

The dynamics of the server and also the setting of Sshamath city itself, makes it difficult to be truly wicked and evil down there.
Would the players rather a Lolthite city? Should slavery RP be allowed there? Should the PVP rules be different amoung the UD players?
Ive heard that that on this server the UD was once a dark and deadly place, but it definately is not that now. Being evil on this server is an uphill battle to begin with. This is a point we can argue, ad nauseam, but in the end my arguements in the past have oftend ended with people politely reminding me this is a PG server.

Its frowned upon (to say the least) to do any UD/Surface RP. A good argument can be made to support no UD/Surface RP, but it also ruins a lot of great opportunites. It also polorizes the server, and further limits what the UD players can do.

The population. It is as low as it is NOT because of lack of interest. It is because of the current situation it is in.
I miss the UD, but it is broken and many people want to get rid of it. At this point, maybe that is what we should be talking about.
Malodia - Bae'qeshel - The Dark Minstrel - https://www.bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=76945

Gilthisanthilas - Pryat of Helm - Everwatch Knight

Skagrot Skullsplitter - Mountain Orc Warrior - The Last Skullsplitter https://www.bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=79740
User avatar
samb123
Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:05 pm
Location: Texas
Contact:

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by samb123 »

The problem isn't Drow, as a race, nor is it "Sshamath won't let me be evil" or CE players. The problem is the attitude of a lot of players. Keep your stupid "Ustan feel this" or "Jaleel that" crap out of it. It's grating. Keep the idea that there's some weird Llothite thing going on, because "we're all Drow down here, Drow and scum", out of it.
Evil RP isn't about being a Saturday morning cartoon villain and never has been. Drow RP shouldn't be a cringe-fest, either. It should be about subtlety, plotting, and executing plots effectively. You're here, just like everyone else, to build a plot. Unlike Skeletor, you shouldn't be coming back after being foiled for the Nth time.

But a lot of the attitude in UD is exactly that. It's playing a He-Man enemy ( https://comicvine.gamespot.com/he-man/4 ... 3/enemies/ ) and using Drommon.


Now, do I think all of the UD players are that way? No. Do I think there's surface players who do this kind of crap too? Yes.
Malign Ashmeddai, tiefling and "Fellblade"
Biography | Fell Epiphanies
Ilzsa Murnyethara, tiefling and "Hexmage"
Biography
"Betrayer... In truth, it was I who was betrayed [...]" (Illidan Stormrage, The Frozen Throne)
User avatar
mrm3ntalist
Retired Staff
Posts: 7712
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:31 pm
Location: Skala Kallonis, Lesvos, Greece

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by mrm3ntalist »

Jaluks
Image
IS EMOTIONAL KEKW - GIT GUD

Mendel - Villi of En Dharasha Everae | Nikos Berenicus - Initiate of the Mirari | Efialtes Rodius - Blood Magus | Olaf Garaeif - Dwarven Slayer

Spelling mistakes are purposely entered for your entertainment!
User avatar
Progressive-Psy
Posts: 1092
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:10 am
Location: Denmarkian!

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by Progressive-Psy »

mrm3ntalist wrote:Jaluks
Image
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Fingal Darius.
Retired to Waterdeep with his wife - Might visit.

GMT +2
Israe
Posts: 433
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2012 3:22 pm

Re: Make Upperdark Harder... like impossible to solo harder.

Unread post by Israe »

Once again, it's your choice who you interact with. An elitist attitude towards drow RP'ers who play their character how they want is part of the problem, as is treating them as a separate community.

It's tiring seeing people who haven't committed to the UD talking about what the UD needs, I personally have put a ton of effort into it and population builds, only to dwindle when you hit the stand still of not being able to execute your plots. Cranking up the uppercase would help, as I also think it should be openly hostile between surface and UD as KoS both ways. I'm not going to bring my Faern over there to watch some surfaces insult me and "RP Out" of it.

I personally don't use drommon in the UD but when speaking actual common on the surface I do. For those players who use it in the UD work with them without an elitist mindset and you will get somewhere. I used to use drommon and Whistler explained some things to me, which made sense so I quit doing it.

Not everything needs to be approached by a "Oh, you're one of -them-" mindset. Being friendly ooc'ly goes a long way, and flipping out about it repeatedly in the forums is just as tiring to many of us as seeing drommon in the UD is to you.
Post Reply

Return to “Suggestions and Discussion”