[kta]

Technically Melody would not remember what shit Kaiser already pulled... well so would Kaiser. That means he would probably make the same mistakes... :P

KTA

[Hellstrom]

Once again I've disappeared for a while. Sorry, but I do plan to return again when I can. Regardless, here are some of my thoughts...

I like the idea of continuing on into the undiscovered country of the future which, IMO, would allow for more freedom in the direction things go, and possibly allow some PCs to get into positions they couldn't otherwise because it would be breaking prescribed Thayan lore.

That said, I'm certainly not dead-set against a server reset and I'd continue to play here when I could whichever way this goes. Losing notoriety would be a bitch, but as I understand the scenario I think it's the only thing that makes sense, after all, these PCs would be completely unknown. I think you *could* offset that though by possibly making some changes to the notoriety system that would allow higher level characters to regain the lost notoriety more quickly. A personal example - a newly transported Cain Darkfist wanders around the wilderness and runs into a Balor Lord (or dragon, or Huge Elder Earth Elemental). Stifling a yawn he rides forward and chops the horrendous enemy down in three swift chops of his blade. That should certainly garner more notoriety than say, killing a sewer rat, and would certainly be talked about amongst the rabble more.

Other similar situations hold true for other chars in their own ways and with their own actions and quests. In reality, regardless of how the notoriety is being gained, I think it would be pretty obvious that most/all of these time travelers are not just run-of-the-mill newbs to Thay. Perhaps storing the old notoriety level and allowing a quicker gain until that old level is reached. Perhaps the gain could even be proportional to the amount still to be made up... so the bonus gain would decrease the nearer the old level the character gets.

[DarkRanger]

I think a timeline reset would hurt the most active players a bit too much. No matter what mechanical compensation they got, losing goals achieved and progress towards future goals would be a big blow. On the other hand, a non-canon approach would be great. So maybe instead of a time travel event, a campaign could be run from the current year, but with a "dawn of a new era" theme, where big players(like Zulkirs, Tharchions, etc) fall, power changes hands, new players emerge. That way the setting could be refreshed without everyone losing their current status

[Balanor]

I know players love to make their mark in a PW, and it is already possible here. Some goals will take much longer to reach than others however. If you aspire for a PC to become a tharchion or zulkir, do not expect the road to be short or easy. But with that said, regardless of whether a reboot goes forward or not, do not expect massive world-changing events because:

The vision for this PW has always been to present the world of Thay as it was described in novels and source material written for 2nd and 3rd edition D&D rules.

While it is very possible for certain PCs to reach realistic goals in the PW, the future will not mass-kill established lore NPCs, organizations, zulkirs, tharchions, sundering of Thay/Faerûn, and so on. Some of that could happen, but not on large scale. I just want to clarify that when I gave the option "We can move forward into the future and the Thay PW can grow an evolve as we make it.", that includes me as well. ;) And as I, with the help of many other players/staff members here, have painstakingly recreated much of Thay as it was detailed in the original source material within the limitations of the NWN game, I am very loathe to radically change it (hence why I dislike 4th edition so much). I feel there is ALOT that can be accomplished yet staying true to the setting/lore and still have PCs reach goals or having events that affect all of Thay.

[TheSupremeForce]

For what it's worth, I think a complete reboot would work better than the time jump scenario, but based on the responses thus far, I'd say that one's impossible. I'll offer a little of my reasoning anyway.

But hear me out anyway. It would have removed any issues of needing to juggle different levels/rewards/etc and replaced it with a balanced opportunity to start fresh and let the PC's grow up together. Currently, there seem to be "generations" of PC's. How many active PC's took part in the Salamander War, for instance? I don't even have a PC who did, because I retired mine afterward. "Rewarding" PC's who have been active up until this point could still be done, since it's not like there aren't plenty of perks available.
It's not like starting over would be crippling to anyone. XP and notoriety aren't exactly difficult to accumulate here, especially during DM active times (which those early campaigns certainly were).

[Balanor]

Heh - I like your thinking Force. ;) I was also tossing around the idea of a complete reboot as well (partially because that would make things waaaaaay easier on me as far as having to try and script a new starting point for existing PCs), and it is actually something I would prefer above all. But I felt it would be very poorly received, and I agree with your assessment that based on responses so far it appears it would not only be poorly received but violently opposed too...

Or am I wrong in that assumption?

[Animayhem]

It's not like starting over would be crippling to anyone. XP and notoriety aren't exactly difficult to accumulate here, especially during DM active times (which those early campaigns certainly were).

It would to active players, especially some of us who have to budget time and if you are in a faction or not a Red.

I think a jump forward would be the best and to me, a good reward for active to semi-active players. It would say thanks for sticking in there.
In essence ,Thay is already in the "future" as each time players come on things change. I came here because I saw another player I had interacted with on another PW
and did not know of the full history. Read the rules and basics of this world and dove in. :) and learned about past history from interacting with players who were here before me.
Some things I would have liiked to be in as well as some dm run events, but RL first. The current players and their characters would be the new Thay past. :)
Remember although part of NWN and Faerun history, it is a world unto itself. :)


As for the past option, could that be run like the Runes of Chaos was? Or presented as a smaller seperate module option?

[TheSupremeForce]

I guess it's a matter of priorities as to whether or not losing notoriety would be crippling. I've never considered levels nor faction status to be a huge deal, but I understand that I'm in the minority. I do question how big a deal such a status could possibly be at this point, but that's a different discussion. As I already said, I didn't imagine a scenario where the majority would accept a reboot.

Your past option suggestion is a good idea, but I doubt there's enough of a DM presence to want to divide things like that. At that point, it would be better to simply allow the timeline to continue as it is now.

I will say that a reboot would have been interesting from the perspective of seeing whether it attracted new players. Having the opportunity to jump in and be "even" with everyone else seems to attract larger crowds out of the gate than trying to get new blood to hop in once most of the regulars are near the level cap. Admittedly, it would have been keeping those people around that would have been the issue anyway.

[Hellstrom]

I tend to agree that if we're going to jump back to the past, that a full reboot would be better. It would be a bit painful, but somehow the time-jump/brain-wipe is just a little too "Who-shot-JR-Oh-it-was-all-just-a-dream". No offense intended :)

If we did do a complete reboot I'd be okay with it and continue playing when I could (though expect to see one or more of my PCs make a reappearance). I think in that case though we'd be in danger of losing some other regular players, and that would be disappointing and should be avoided if possible.

[TheSupremeForce]

I agree. I can't imagine it being a worthwhile venture if it results in people leaving. If a reboot was being considered, I imagine the best way to go about it would be to set a date and advertise like crazy.

NWN is at the point where its remaining players are more likely to "try" a PW where everyone's on the same foot. There's little incentive to try something new if the PC's running around on it are all ten to twenty levels higher. I'm not saying that people don't do that at all, but "new" servers tend to open with huge numbers for basically that reason.