An appeal to the guild heads and heroes of Yliakum

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

Hello all, as part of my self-imposed dunce cap as Queen of fools I have been doing charity for the last four or five weeks since stepping down as Octarch.

The nature of this is simple; I aid new players in getting oriented on the server. I teach how to use brackets and controls etc, as well as some of the fundamentals of role playing. I also offer incentives for new players to go back and read the players guide and story of Yliakum before they start running around shouting and stealing things etc. It is, as I am discovering, hard work and sometimes frustrating but that is not your concern. Seeing this was impossible to do alone I created the Vespers of Laanx [in part] to aid me but more on them in the coming days. For now you can know that I have taught them a system of shortcuts to help with the handing out of quests whose intent is to teach the basics of playing planeshift as a character in an immersive world.

I need more donations; by far more is going out than coming in. I have seen dozens and dozens of new players now.

The good news is that there is someone doing this. Yes we all help new players casually but this makes it systematic.  Another benefit is that the Vespers are gaining experiences to aid us in learning how to do this more effectively. I am more than willing to continue. I am asking for aid both in donations and ideas to make this run smoother, as well as ways to integrate Yliakum\'s many guilds in the structure of what I am doing. If you would like your guild to be included in the retinue of quests I give out to the newer players please arrange this with me.

By the time most new players are done with me they are good candidates for guild inclusion so all could benefit from this without preference or prejudice I ask OOC what type of character an individual player imagines himself or herself to be and try to send them toward guilds who fit that bill. Those players who are loners are left to go it alone, those who wish to try out with a guild begin discussions with a guild leader that they think suits them. If it is a poor fit the new player is permitted to come back and I will attempt to find them another guild.

Where possible please respond in game IC to me as I enjoy the role play. Please do not make this thread about either the Vespers of Laanx or the Octarch; I only want advice here on how to make this work better and to let you know I am going broke.

Please Noble Leaders of Yliakum hear my appeal.

Also send me your huddled masses--

[sasek]

keep up the good work lady Xillix

i will come and drop off a donation as soon as i can

-Sasek

[Farren Kutter]

I\'ll give ya all my money as a donation... Which is only a little more than 18k

[Peacer]

it is a good initiative to take helping all the newb\'s who usually have the problems you mentioned. I have been there for a couple of donatins now and then and there will be more to come when i am in the area and haven\'t sold my loot yet XD. Keep up your good engaged work, and good luck with it

*bows politely and sends xillix an elven smile*

[Nilrem]

None of my chars is rich, so I\'m afraid I won\'t be able to donate money to the organization, as being it IC, it needs to have its founds given IC, even some relationship like patronage could be done.
That said,  players initiatives that have as a goal spread the roleplay, should be always welcome. Focusing on new players it\'s also a good thing to note, as some guidance is needed when one starts, and it seems to me that some useful hints are given, such as having a description, and read a bit through the settings.
The quests method seems also fine to me, personally, one of the most wonderful things that I\'ve done in the game, has been a quest made by another player, it was really an interesting experience. Apply that idea to discover new places, or provide with a deeper knowledge of the sorroundings seems a refreshing way to entertain at the same time that showing what the setting is. Just remember that  a reward for those quests isn\'t always needed, sometimes the fun you had solving it, or discovering things with it is worth enough. In that sense I\'d recommend that those quests should be done not single, but, if possible grouping (I don\'t know the guild organization, perhaps some elder member as a guidance, or even two new players teaming, that would enforce the teaming spirit, and normally knowledge comes faster and with more fun)
To finish for now, I\'d like to recognize other player works, such as the Yliakum Job Agency that Isra started, the different attempts of newspapers to reflect important news concerning city and sorroundings (first by Adyna Krystaline and later by Ogu) or the Tournaments by Proglin. While in some points they did mix OOC with IC, these attempts are a sign that things are alive and that there\'s people interested in bringing that live to Yliakum, thanks for adding flavour (even when sometimes I don\'t like it, perhaps there are others that do) and now as the end, remark that there have always been some plans on how to promote the roleplay, and, subsequently, how to guide or show to new players what can be done, as well as how to encourage them to play their chars, I think a full IC attempt has never been done, but, I guess it needs to be tried in order to find the possible flaws of it, in this case, all is in beta stage, but hopefully experiences like this should provide information on how to deal better with this, that said, good luck on your project.

[Zan]

I think this is a very nice idea and do hope you manage to make it work and keep it working. However .. why the need of funds? I\'m having a little trouble understanding how helping people get acquanted with the world requires that much tria. Well no, I do know you\'re using the money to reward players for doing your quests but if you think about it. Is there really a need for that?

We all like rewards but sometimes indirect rewards are much more suited. There are many quests available already, most of them can be completed by those who are new to Yliakum as well. If instead of giving your own quests and needing your own rewards you would use the quests that already exist and guide your students in solving them, you\'ll hit two clackers with one rock. You teach them how to interact with townspeople and solve their quests and you don\'t need to reward them from your own coffers anymore.

Guidance can be a reward in itself which also has another advantage, at least in my eyes. You\'ll attract less people who are only interested in your money and more who are actually interested in learning.

[r.guppy]

You will see me soon, keep up the good work.

[Robinmagus]

I think this is a very nice idea and do hope you manage to make it work and keep it working. However .. why the need of funds? I\'m having a little trouble understanding how helping people get acquanted with the world requires that much tria.

Well, I beleive they do quests as well, where they give people tria and have them do/buy stuff with them to get accuainted with the world. I\'d donate, if I had tria.

[Easton]

Lady Xillix,

I do agree with the cause you have put so much effort into. I try to help out anyone i see who needs help as often as i can. I think that the general idea of what you, and many others do is very noble. However, there is an issue that others have brought up. The issue is the large amount of trias that are put out into the economy. As you know, many businesses have been opening throughout Yliakum, and these businesses have a very tough time starting out. The incredibly low value of the tria is a huge problem for these young businesses.

I will give a hypothetical example..

Let\'s say the Yliakum Job Agency is giving out jobs to citizens who wish to find some adventure. Well, those citizens also would like to be rewarded for their efforts. However, since the Yliakum Job Agency is just starting out, they may not have the access to a large amount of tria that would be deemed as a significant amount to a normal citizen. While there are many ways to reward citizens for doing various jobs, i think everyone agrees that trias are a very simple, and fluid form of compensation.

My main point is.. Maybe we should rethink how we, collectively, help out the new citizens of Yliakum. Instead of throwing them a sack full of 10k trias, some weapons, and a few glyphs, maybe we should just point them in the right direction and make sure they are earning all of those vital things.

This is in no way a criticism of you, or the Vespers of Laanx. This is a general comment to everyone who helps out newcomers, which is a very large amount of people, including myself. I have had a few people come to me about the economy and the failure of many businesses, so i felt i should just bring it up. Please do not take this as a criticism to any one person, this is a collective problem throughout the land, and we all should do our part.

Xillix, i wish you the best of luck with your endeavour. You have my support.

Stay Safe,
Easton Ghent

[Proglin]

@ Xillix:

Easton does have a point there. The yliakum Job Agency pushed people in the right direction, they made them work hard for their Trias. Giving stuff to people, makes them lazy.


@Easton:

/me looks at Easton, smiles and says: Will meet you in the tavern soon my friend.

[holmj2674]

As a new player I have found the help of veteran players, and members of the guild I joined to be indispensable in becoming oriented too, and acquinted with the game. The first time I was in Death Realm my srcreen was so Dark in places I could litteraly not see anything. Only the patience and good will of something like five people at different times (server kept crashing) got me out (Thanks everyone!).
Anyway, I\'m not sure if trias are needed or not, I know I could use more, but so could we all. A good weapon or two, and I new character should be set to go earn their own tria (slowly but surely...) what I really could use is a guided tour of the countryside. I\'m still trying to find Oja\'s so I can sell my rat hides, and the map in the library is worse than useless to me...
So I guess all that I ask of you Xillix, and all the other veteran players is your continued patience is answering questions like \"where\'s the sewers?\" etc. from noobs like me.

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

Originally posted by Zan
I think this is a very nice idea and do hope you manage to make it work and keep it working. However .. why the need of funds? I\'m having a little trouble understanding how helping people get acquanted with the world requires that much tria. Well no, I do know you\'re using the money to reward players for doing your quests but if you think about it. Is there really a need for that?

We all like rewards but sometimes indirect rewards are much more suited. There are many quests available already, most of them can be completed by those who are new to Yliakum as well. If instead of giving your own quests and needing your own rewards you would use the quests that already exist and guide your students in solving them, you\'ll hit two clackers with one rock. You teach them how to interact with townspeople and solve their quests and you don\'t need to reward them from your own coffers anymore.

Guidance can be a reward in itself which also has another advantage, at least in my eyes. You\'ll attract less people who are only interested in your money and more who are actually interested in learning.

Zan, you have a valid point and I am trying to work the system into a more economically balanced one. I may in time integrate in game quests with what we do, this will take time and I am perpetually swamped with new players now. One point though is that those who desperately want only my money stand to gain the most from their experiences doing the quests, they more than the people who are patient and/or mature enough need to find a reason to WANT to read the history of Yliakum, a reason to know the world. The only incentive I offer for reading is that I will give them another quest. By reputation however the Vesper?s quests must be Lucrative. I will continue to try to purify the quest system until I strike a balance.

The Utility of this is measurable in game and IC you can be at Harnquist?s lounging with friends and a new player comes up lost and OOC and says, \"I am a noob, give me a sword\" \"how do I fight\" \"where is X\" a player can then simply point across the plaza and say, \"see that red building[i am color blind forgive me if it is not red], go there and speak with a Vesper of Laanx\" and we will aid them through all of the essentials and even get them off the ground role playing wise if their time or intelligence permits. Our people are chosen for their patience and willingness to deal with the crisis of the excitable new player. We follow up with them and when they are done with the quests we offer we try to send them along to a guild who will continue their training.

As I see it the quests we offer are supplemental to the in game quests and their is no suitable substitute for a PC given quest, or a real-time helper to get players oriented In what the \"rpg\" in \"mmorpg\" means.

Part of my appeal is that all of this takes a lot of time away from the hack and slash that earns so much money for others and like any charitable act cannot continue without aid.

[makita]

Xilix,
     I want you to know that what you are doing, is ruining the Rp-value of the game. I\'m not just saying this, i\'m argumeting below.
     One problem is that you help new players, ok i can agree to that, but you claim you teach them how to roleplay, which you don\'t.
      you teach them your ideea of roleplay, wich really isn\'t adequate for the current state yliakum is in, for there is the problem, most [90%] people that learn roleplay from you will orient their character towards good-alligments, and that is a problem
      I have completed a study and have found out that over 90% of all active RP-ers in planeshift are good alligned and with more good people coming from your direction the number is increasing
      My point is that for a RP-world to trully be rp, a certain ballance needs to be kept, meaning the number of good alligned players should be equal [or almost] with the number of evil alliged players, otherwise, the whole game purpose will fall to what it is now:
bashing the skull of that rogue ro gladiator or mercenary 24/7
i am playing this game for 5 months now and my skills are as follows:
14-sword
15-light armour
11-melee
i hit for about 50 damage
i\'m seeing players that have started under you tutelage that hit for 200-250 damage and have only started a week ago
      And i believe that that\'s why this happens, because of the shortage of evil-alligned players, if more evil alligned players would be available, then the ballance would start shaping, would start taking form, and then, mostly because of conflict, the game would become a lot more entertaining.
     And as for the economy crisis you are creating, you really give far too much trias for rewards, i mean what\'s the point of stealing if i can get far too much from you just for completing one of you insignificant quests.
     As for a finallization for this message, i would like to stress some more on the ballance issue, for a any world to  work, real or virtual, the ballance of alligments must be kept, the good ones and the evil ones must cancel each other out, and the neutral ones should allways shift just to preserve the neutrality.
     I have stated my point, i would see what that has earned not me, but the entire planeshift community

                                                                   Makita



Postscriptum:
for some reason, the forum won\'t let me make paragraph, so my letter won\'t look quite lettery (

[Isra]

Greetings Lady Xillix

I will not state the issues about the Vespers of Laanx  again, as sir Easton has pointed them allready , the only aspect that needs to be reviewd is the economic one , but this is my opinnion and not criticism in any way

Now to the part where I pretend to know stuff and give some advice...as my pockets are not deep enaugh for financial support

one way to \"create\" quests to help out new players become more familliar with Yliakum is to use NPC ... , as each NPC has a job and a small background story , you can use them to create quest such as I have for the Agency : \"The chief of the gem cutter guild is looking for a caravan to transport equipament to \"location\" , find a caravan master\" [there is a certain NPC caravan master in Hydlaa:)] In this way you learn new people the art of talking to NPC...and there is a very large possible number of such quests one can create.....just a small amound of imagination required ...the quests such as this can be changed every few days...so they are allways fresh

another ideea is to give alternatives to NPC quests...., make twists in them ...say when someone gets the holy script from Jayose...a certain priest of Talad needs it...I`m sure you see where I`m going..have players make some IC choiches...do they stay faithfull to Laanx or just turn it to the other guy for a slightly better reward...the same thing can be applied to most NPC quests

rewards can allso consist of specific quest items like old coins , gold rings , or simply hints on other quests , or even pieces of knowledge about Yliakum

I sure hope this post helps , we will discuss this IG however  , keep up the good work

PS : Isra hates Laanx more then anything else

[Syilph]

It is a nice gesture to want to help somebody but sometimes certain actions, even if done with the most pure intentions can turn out to be a setback for the \"helped\". Giving money and items to newbies is BAD. Imagine a new guy that just downloaded PS, gets ingame and the first thing he notices is one of those famous VoL shouts. He goes there and gets some money and 2 weappons. He is happy, right? Ok, he won\'t hang around Plaza his whole life and he\'ll go to kill something to get some PP in order to train. When he goes in the sewers he starts killing tons of rats and he comes out from there a rich man (he thinks). But when he sells the hides to a merchant, he will see that he got so little for such a big amount of work and he will be dissapointed because his notion about making money ingame was altered by the fact that he found some nice people that gave him stuff without requireing him to do something to earn it. So he will leave the game and both, your time and your money will be lost. And even more, we lost another player...
So, all things being said i TOTALY disagree with giving people money and weappons without asking them do do alitle something to earn those. I used to do that too a long time ago but i found out that none of the ones i \"helped\" ever returned to play the game after a week. Instead i started helping newcommers another way: I took them on tours of the world, showed them the wilds, the ruins, the cityes and trust me, verry few people that i\'ve took on a tour left the game so far.