More DM's?

[Steph]

Some of the DM's have moved on to other pursuits and only make "guest" appearances. Some have simply disappeared. Some just can't be on as often as they'd like.

Do we need anymore?

This is a preliminary poll only. If you choose to pick one or more, please also list your nominations. You can choose anyone (even yourself), however, if everyone nominates themselves, it'll be up to the current DM's to decide who to pick.

A good set of ideas on how to nominate are:

1) How well-known is the player? This is a plus.

2) How has the player contributed to the world of Itropa? This is a plus.

3) Does the player stay in character for the most part? This is a plus.

4) Is the player a "showoff," trying to be the center of attention all the time? This is a detriment.

5) Does the player have several characters with their own personalities? Or are they all pretty much the same character, just in a different wrapper?

We'll leave this open for a while, gather info, watch the players in game, and then maybe hold an election

[aszhra]

I would like nominate p1erxor for a DM, cause he is on late in the evening and I doubt there is anyone else up that late, except for,

EvilBobAlmighty, whom is the second player I would like to nominate, only cause he admits to having no life ( ;D ) and that he perhaps has fresh new ideas.

Personally, I would like to see a DM per faction.

1 for aliens
1 for the inner eye
1 for botco and all things connected to it
1 for general creatures

As for me, I do not know and have not been on here long enough to even come close to nominating myself. I do however, have a well of ideas for quests and events, and I will continue to offer my ideas.

Morgan

[kredisha Demia]

I would nominate p1erxor for a DM as well, he definitely passes all of kravs posted questions. He is also on late (eastern time zone that is) and that seems to be when there is no DM present (most of the time).

I would also nominate Aszhra cause she is also logged on in the same time frame as mentioned above. She also passes all kravs posted questions.


Niki

[joanzy]

To be perfectly honest, I'm not too sure that Itropa even needs another DM. Krav, Surge and Matt seem to be holding the fort down alright and I don't really see a problem with the way things are now, but, looking at the poll, not too many share my sentiment, so I'll throw some names out.

Again, to be honest (and maybe a tad diplomatic) I wouldn't mind seeing a lot of the players of Itropa try their hand at DM. We're a pretty well rounded bunch. None of us too crazy trollish or boring, at the very least. But for the task of DMing...

The best people for the job, IMO anyways, would probably be Kosmic and WorldsVictim. Both of them are great roleplayers, and are pretty creative in the ways they play and the characters they create (especially Krimson. More chars than the eye can see!) and would probably make fair DMs.

I can see this turning into a popularity contest, and if it does, they have my vote! ('Pick Flick', anyone?)

P.S. What happened to WhiskeyJack?

[Soon to be really old]

I'll put myself forward. As I'm in a faily unique postion of being stuck at work for long periods when I can be on, and so don't have to give up my free time. I'm also sometimes about during the day GMT time.

[Steph]

WhiskeyJack has RL personal things going on.

[sixofthree]

i voted zero new dms myself...

the reason is simple...

we dont need anymore dms.
at least ways... untill the players who are online learn cooperation.
cooperation and also appreciation for what they do have.

in this... i dont think that a dm should be elected as a popularity competition.

i think the dm should be picked by the other dm's... perhaps even tested without that player knowing its a test.

but again ... right now we dont really need a new dm. shoot we dont even deserve one till everyone shows appreciation for what we do have.

[Hazmatt]

sixofthree said:

i think the dm should be picked by the other dm's... perhaps even tested without that player knowing its a test.

And that's pretty much how we usually do things... and we discussed it at length in the admin forums... but we thought we'd try this for once.

Which brings up another bit of caveat - this poll is for research purposes only. If "2" wins out, that doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to have 2 more DMs next week. Right now we just want to see what the demand is.

When we know for sure what is wanted/needed, we very well might use one of these polls to elect the new DMs. But don't hold us to that.

[tatonya]

My vote is for two more DMs. I have several reasons for this. First the only DM I ever see actually running events is Krav. I apologize if the other DMs do still run events (and I know life happens) but I certainly haven’t seen any. So effectively that means we have one active DM. Now I love Krav's events but she is only on two evenings a week due to her life so that is a very limited amount of time in which things can happen. Also I would be very interested to see what direction different DMs take.

My main reason for wanting more DMs has to do with RP. Now RP can certainly go on without a DM around, but things can get far, far more interesting when a DM is involved. RP between two characters is limited to only that which the characters are capable of directly effecting in the game. You can say that you are going to do something dramatic but without DM help very little can be done that will have any lasting impact. And without actions having impact on the world around you the world becomes stale and repetitive.

I’m not saying a DM should be there to accommodate the whims of every player just that it can make the game much more interesting if sometimes they can help out RP to make it seem more real.

I agree that the choosing of new DMs should be completely up to those who are already DMs since they know more about the backroom issues that happen then anyone else.

Though it is also nice to be able to make suggestions as a player, and on that note I think Krimson might be someone to consider, I also think Listy could be a good choice.

[sixofthree]

interesting point tatonya....

for example... when a dm is around... you can use the "explosive device wired to my lifesigns" routine....

if no dm is around people will always call it as a bluff...

[aszhra]

I am aware that on some servers, DMs have their appointed times that they are on, events are posted and some such. Sometimes though, ther is an overlap of DMs and things get a little nuts for the player's characters.
I do agree with tatonya that, when there is something that you wished to do with your character, be part of the character development or more a sociological or pathological extremism, its good to have a DM present

something else to consider when talking about more DMs, is the DM stable enough in their RL scheduling to be dependable and responsible
those interested to becoming a DM, I have found on other servers submit a possible event to be evaluated by the existing DMs and GM.

[Krimson Blood]

Hmm,

I don't know if I am warm to the idea of DMs having specific bailiwicks and or time schedules to adhere to. I am more of the school of thought of "Hey there's a bunch of people on, let's do something". Sponataneity is good, I have seen it from Lord Surge, Krav and Whiskeyjack. I've also seen sponataneity with underlying plotlines from Roger and Krav, most notably with the alien invasions as well as Krav's Inner Eye Blockade event.

Basically a DM in a PnP game gets to RP the rest of the universe as well as act as arbitrator and plot mover for the players. A good DM can have plots built up and be ready to go with them at a moments notice. Mostly these are seeds, which may or may not pertain to a specific story arc. However, a DM should also consider that players can move their own stories forwards and in some cases not even need a DM. This is particularly true in the NWN verse.

Its weird though, since online the DM has to act as a chatroom moderator as well, since unlike PnP games, you get things like trolls (and not the good kind you can smite with an axe) as well as other undesirables. Though on a server like this one, playing playground monitor is a rare occurance, though it does happen.

Back to gaming though, I see there being a need for a balance of options. For one, the DMs on the server often like to come on as players. This means that multiple DMage is not going to happen often , except for some purpose. I also see a need to establish mood from time to time. Events have a way of drawing people in, and allowing them to explore their character. This is true in the sense that a DM run game has control of something very important - pacing. Proper pacing can help keep a balance between role play and action, as different players crave both in different amounts.

The nice thing about role play is that its slower paced, and the DM can accomodate the players more readily. With an action oriented game, there is always the risk of the players outpacing the GM, not to mention foiling the DMs plans in one fell swoop.

Also DMs can fill the gaps in the game where lack of built in material may occur. For example, a DM could come up with a "boss" for a lower level group as well as have suitable rewards ready, if there isn't a suitable one.

If I were to do something like this, then my main focus would be keeping the mood and working with the established universe to flesh it out and make it seem more alive. More intrigue with the Inner Eye. Raids by Hell's Fury. Exploratory Expeditions for the Knowledge Society. Pilgrimages for the various religions. Whatever seems best to work with at the time. Not to mention possibility of larger plots or story lines.

Just my two cents.

[aszhra]

I did state that I have noticed such on other servers, it is not something that will work for Itropa, given the irregularity of the players. Perhaps when it gets bigger than it is currently. It was more an observation than a recommendation.

I remember for the conventions where a table was setup for PnP, there was the DM and the referee. What the referee does its up for debate. What I do know of the responsibility of the referee, is that the ref is responsible for miscellaneous encounters and treasure. Also to deal with player disatisfaction to a roll that DM had done. A referee is much like the DMs online, where as the GM, is the one that sets the general mood of the world or campaign they have created.

I agree with you kosmic, that more needs to be done to develop the various factions, guilds and satellite groups.
One aspect I would like to see, is the crossover and the conflict that I see among the other characters. Eg. being an agent of the CBI and the Inner Eye.
There are just so many possibilities.

It may be seen as being a little over the top to suggest, but there is a psychology to being a monster or creature. This could even extend to the npc guilds, which do little at the moment other than being a source for characters in play.

[Steph]

kosmic said:

I don't know if I am warm to the idea of DMs having specific bailiwicks and or time schedules to adhere to. I am more of the school of thought of "Hey there's a bunch of people on, let's do something". Sponataneity is good, I have seen it from Lord Surge, Krav and Whiskeyjack. I've also seen sponataneity with underlying plotlines from Roger and Krav, most notably with the alien invasions as well as Krav's Inner Eye Blockade event.

The spontanaeity is what I try to achieve. As you say, there are generally so few players on, that it's boring to just sit there and watch the screen, thinking, "What would (this character) say to that?"

When I come on, I look to see how many players are on, then decide whether or not to come in as DM. If our server was constantly full I'd be on more as DM.

One of my little tricks, Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone.

[fred]

Well.....If I were more well-known and frequent, I'd nominate myself!

But, I still have a long way to go. If anyone, I'd nominate p1erx0r. Awesome player with passable RP.