I have not played at all in the last eight or ten months, and only sporadically over the last couple of years. However, I'm not at the point of thinking or posting "I'm never playing CF again."

Two things have lured me back into the game of late - Amaranthe's first character challenge, the nights of 100 players.

We may have reached a playerbase size that calling a night of 100 players is self-defeating. People log on, see that we aren't going to hit 100, log off.

What I'd like to see is perhaps instead of a night of 100 players, what could might be called "Immteraction weekends", "Bonus weekends", or what have you. My thought would be to take the great parts of nights of 100 players and extend them over a weekend. This would mean a 48 hour period of: increased VISIBLE immortal presence, more random immteraction with lowbie characters, easy empowerment, small immortal quests (similar to the Mother's day quests a few years back), bonus exp, and bonus learning. I recognize this is a lot of work for the staff and having this be one weekend a month might be pushing your ability to commit &/or be involved, however, I think this would go a long way towards making me play more often. I can't & won't speak for anybody else. Couple this with a character challenge, pre-made role concepts, designed character relationships etc. I'd definitely be back.

Note: I recognize doing this on a monthly basis might mean players only log on during that weekend and skip the rest of the month, I just don't see that as a bad thing.

Is maybe just advertising events on the website.

Very much along the lines you're thinking. If I knew that I could roll up a character and take part in some immteraction questing for a weekend I could coordinate time to do it.

Realistically I can't put in the long term time commitment to keep characters geared and 'relevant' in today's CF but I could certainly make an exception for events.

Of course, I'd really prefer to shuffle loose the coils of artificial time sinks a bit but hey - can't always get what you want.

massive undertaking. It takes a lot of hands on imm time, concentration etc.

Having said that, I am curious to know, and I would invite everyone who participated to answer this:

- What did we do right during the first, second and third Night of 100?
- What did we do wrong during the first, second and third Night of 100?

NB: If possible avoid extremely code intensive or logistically unlikely suggestions such as "I was disappointed there was no new cabal/race/class", or "I was saddened that there was no coordinated NPC orc army invasion of Voralian City."

Try to fixate on things which should be relatively easy to achieve with one, or two people. Feedback on actual stuff that happened during said events is also a good thing.

I don't know if one of these will run again, but if there is the impetus to do so, it would be great to know what people enjoy(ed).

...which is probably my biggest issue with it :)

Was it timed particularly badly for you? Did anyone else have similar problems?

(Bear in mind if you are European, Russian, or British, that the majority play US hours so.. we will probably always have to largely cater for the US peak.)

But the two other times I think I may have had a lowbie around during those and I just had to work/RL/etc.

Just doesn't accommodate being able to log in when these things are on. I play cf when I have a chance, which isn't often, and I can't find the time to log in outside of these slots, even if something special is happening.

For this (selfish?) reason I don't really like seeing lots of rewards given out to the people I am facing as enemies, because in most cases the reward is effectively for being able to log on, and if you can log on in busy times that is in many ways it's own reward. Lots of people to explore with. Lots of pk targets etc.

The timing was always bad.

However, some of the perks of the No1P I feel should be extended to all day every day kind of perks.

I used to be, like almost every other player here, a hardcore CFer. We lived and died by this game and we probably logged 20-30+ hours a week. This game probably clutches at us more than any game ever has or ever will. It's an absolutely fabulous game.

However, for whatever reason (I'm sure there are many), we're no longer able/willing to focus our time on CF as much as we used to. To be completely honest, CF is work. It's fun, but it's a grind...a fun grind.

I think a lot of us still want to play, but if I have 4-5 spare hours a week, I don't want to spend it practicing or struggling to rank because I'm not really a solo ranking class. I understand that "you don't need to practice", but that's the appeal to a LOT of players....knowing that you failed because you were outplayed and not outpercentaged.

Why not just kick the learning bonus and exp bonus into top gear all the time? What would it hurt? I'd play a little bit more and when I played it would be more fun. The 35% exp bonus for ranking is nice, but I don't know if it is enough.

I'm thinking a simple "quest to go slay X" style immteraction, with an inn visit for socializing before and after, is all that really needs to happen. Figure you require one imm to chill with the morts as an NPC/quest giver and one imm to play the cad who will be foiled.

I really enjoyed the CF trivia, brought back memories of the early years. That being said however, I'm not sure that a OOC activity like that is what you are looking for on a monthly basis, but an annual trivia night would be cool.

My suggestion is basically this: focus on developing an evolving/ongoing plotline within the game. This has obviously been going on a long time already, but things can get a bit stagnant at times. From an Imm perspective, his applies to both short and long-term ambitions. Map out a few realistic big changes that people want to work on, develop some more minor story lines to build up to those, and assign a subset imms to develop the RP/storyline further and oversee how it is "implemented" through each cabal.

Particularly those players who have played for years, know most of the areas-- the overall "story" and opportunities for RP spins are what keep things fresh. And they play off each other, between cabals and between mortals and Imms.

By this, I propose that a lot of people are most engaged in CF when they feel they are engaged in some ongoing active storyline. Something ongoing like Amaranthe's contest, perhaps, but more broadly integrated across cabals. Each cabal should have it's own story going. An example right now is the Scion cabal-- something happened, but what's going on there? It's been quite a few months now-- let's craft the story and make that continue to evolve, one way or another. Engage some players in the mystery. Captivate them and let them run with it a bit but don't let things stall out too much.

Players of course need to be realistic about timelines. Things may take a few months to pan out, which is realistic given how we are all busy. Big changes will take longer and I think most understand those will be very occasional.

In practice, this could include:

An Imm-driven storyline about cabal dynamics, items, quests, etc. It need not be overly complicated, but more of an RP framework with a very occasional "quest" or new area or cabal change that pops up every year or two, which seems reasonable to keep things fresh. The Imms have been coming up with creative ideas for decades, right? Keep them coming from a storyline perspective. Leverage the role contest winners, cabal leaders, and others to keep things moving.

Seriously, take advantage of leaders and interact a bit more to keep them motivated with something to drive others. Use the role contest system toward this end as well.

So what sorts of things are we talking about? Long-term puzzles, very difficult things to accomplish (finding hidden items like Lich Quest stuff, killing the toughest mobs or others in those areas to get some artifact, as one example), other things that are very much RP focused. Benchmarks for progress. Mysteries and challenges. Cross-cabal wars. Etc. Etc. The stuff that makes CF fun.

Which leads to outcomes or other "rewards": give people occasional unusual skills/spells to keep things interesting and keep people invested in their characters. People love this stuff and it makes the game feel more "custom". It need not and should not be overly powerful combos (although those can be fun every once in a while too as a goal or as an enemy you love to hate), but mostly flare kinds of things. Unusual skills/spells. Custom gear with interesting progs, for example, that could be tossed into circulation for a while. Maybe a group gains access to Hell or Shadow Plane or something related to ST or something else novel for a brief period. Maybe a new race emerges. Maybe a cabal merges next year and you set the stage to see how that plays out. This stuff happens but it needs to be more widely communicated in a way that promotes broad involvement.

I'm sure the Imms can cook up all kinds of ideas to complement the RP on the side of the players, which could evolve into a pretty cool dynamic. Throw in a night of 100 type of quest every now and again, and you may find a growing player-base pretty quickly.

And seriously keep the global emotes going to tell the story lines! It's been pretty quiet lately, and people do follow along on twitter, etc. to see the "action" beyond just the PK stream. More things happening = more interest and a fresh feel to the game.

To the degree that this stuff is happening currently--which is it-- consider this a vote for more of that! And I do appreciate that it takes a lot of work but the emphasis I'm talking about here is really about visualizing RP/storyline stuff primarily and the rest will fall out from there.

Just my two cents. Thanks!

I know that one of the biggest 'draws' for me personally when I started playing where random global echos about ongoing 'heavenly' events. There doesn't have to be a quest, or any real direction even. But, when there are global echos of gods fighting it out, and followers get to run with that and preach about it that is really freaking cool and brings a bit of life to Thera.

**edited to add

Things like the Poison Pen and Skeeta Twitterlark are way awesome for hooking new players too, just saying

...there was a lot of new things happening. Right before I started playing, for example, Warlock has been disbanded, Nexus left, Empire came back, Outlander was just an idea, and the Heavens looked a lot different.

Then I started playing and these things happened in the next 4 years: Outlander became a cabal, Nexus got re-introduced, gank-code implemented, role contests, Hell re-opened, Silent re-opened, edges. Shifter changes! Ranger changes!

Then the great crash. But then you have a basic year of "Holy ####! New game basically!" novelty. Dragon Lairs. Hell closed but now Wights! Seasonal Races! Shaman changes (slow). And...now, other than new (well, roughly like a year old now) shaman changes...nothing really has happened.

If I were a betting man, I'd bet Valg knows this. I'd bet many IMMs are working on something. And that will draw some people back. This game works best with 80 people on during peak times. But it can work really well with minimum around 40, which I think is totally doable.

But people really need to quit and get over the "CF is dying meme" and start to pull together.

If players drop off with the view that things are going to hell, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We have had more new players recently than we have had in a long time, with plans to expand (which will take some time to set in motion), and yet Vets are still disappearing bit by bit.

I don't know why this is. Better games? Crappy economy and real life commitments? Dogs eating laptops/tablets? Maybe all of the above.

The theme of all these "save CF" threads center around what imms can do.

In my experience, even a priest still spends 99.9% of their time logged in interacting with the world and other players, not imms.

Perhaps more ideas of how we as players could enhance experiences of each other would have a greater material impact on how many folks play.

Gave up hope that 100% of the playerbase could follow such a simple directive though, and it only takes a few douchebags to outweigh the otherwise decent majority.

It will take both players and Imms working together to make CF a place where people want to visit.

1.

On the player side:

More people willing to create RP opportunities for each other. In my time I've started the Gapverdi Family, had a merc group or two, tried to start a new religion, etc. I've seen other players like that guy who tried to do the whole 'demon' worship thing and tried to get in on his action, I rememebr another guy do the whole pirate thing and tried to help him out by being a part of his crew. Etc. so on and so forth.

On the Imm side:

We need more support for the players who are doing those things beyond titles and imm experience. I've always contended that CF has the ability to make a person a literal part of its universe. To create an alternative history based on players actions through multiple means from books, rooms, mobs, items, etc. It's the biggest draw for me personally knowing there is a chance to leave a legacy in-game. The problem is keeping those legacies continuing past the life of a particular character. Imms are the ones who can help make things a permanent part of CF simply by taking up a strong thread and weaving it into the overall quilt we call CF. You know how hyped I'd be if there were still Gapverdi's walking around today? How much more willing I'd be to put in the effort to do more in terms of creating other exeriences/opportunities if I knew with enough effort and player support big changes can be made permanent legacies. Just look at the pillar in village - the last name is Ohbehb - his character died in 2010. Its almost 2015! Are we saying not a simngle pillar-worthy character has been made in almost five years?!? That is just a small indication of what I'm talking about.



2.

On the player side:

Stop deleting so quickly! I admit I also can delete at times when I'm frustrated with a character but over the years I believe that it contributes to the overall game exerience when you have some consistency. Those 'elder' characters tend to have the experience and already have accomplished most likely what they wanted to accomplish. They are the ones who can be the forefront of creating RP opportunbities for younger/newbie players if for no other reason than it gives them something to do.

On the Imm side:

You need more incentives for people who make it to old age. There have been recent changes but we can go further. I personally believe that any character that age-dies in-game should get a tombstone in one of the various graveyards around Thera. Added coolness! Necromancers of sufficient power should be able to call the zombie of your long ago age-dead character at your tombstone.

What a thrill it would be to see my age dead zombie character with my new character right? Can you imagine. Even funnier getting killed by the zombie of a character you once played. Weird sense of humor I got.

3.

On the player side

Learn the difference between evil and douchebag.

On the imm side:

Make new players more visible AS new players. Some ideas: Registration. I personally don't mind the idea of registering to play. You already have my personal info from buying PBF's and when I applied to be an Imm long ago. So registering wouldn't be a big deal for me. Why registration? It would allow you to distinguish between actual new players and serial players like me. This then allows other ideas to flow from having that specific knowledge. For example you perhaps have a specific race for newbies only called 'ghost' which is basically a 'guest' account that allows a new player to freely explore, etc. as if they were dead but they can't interact in many ways the same way 'living' characters can. So they don't pass by level 1 (can't gain experience while dead) but they can't be killed either (unless they attack something). More visibility of actual new players means greater morale for the serial players who get to visibly see and interact with new players (and know they are new) and gives new players a way to get a taste and learn the lay of the land without the ineviable bitterness of PK horror. To make this more viable I'd further suggest a 'ghost' account be time-limited to one week and then it 'passes on' to the real afterlife and then the player is prompted to create a normal living character.

EDITED TO ADD:

On the player side:

Stop the bitching and whining a little. It kills the imms desire to take risks.

On the imm side:

Man up and take risks. Screw it if a vocal minority may bitch and moan. There will ALWAYS be bitchers and moaners who live for opportunities to bitch and moan. Think BIG and you will eventually end up with a BIGger playerbase. I hate it when I hear good ideas passed over because the imm staff doesnt want to deal with the bitching and moaning from a MINORITY of the conspiracy-theorist players.

Is there a point to having a bigger playerbase if you achieve that by making it a no-pk mud, for example?

I'd argue not.

Also, you can't always distinguish between a legitimate objection and someone just trolling. Ignoring them all on the basis that they are just moaning would not be constructive.

Who said anything about making it a no-pk mud?

And actually its pretty easy to tell between a legitimate objection and someone trolling. People weith constructive criticism tend to phrase their arguments - constructively. Trolls tend to phrase their arguments - destructively. And ignoring people who only want to keep the mud small and unchanged in my opinion is constructive. As I said to my wife recently - Baby, I DO listen. Your problem is you equate listening with obedience. I listen, I evaluate what you say and make what I consider to be the right choice. Sometimes that means I act like I'm not listening...but only because I didn't obey you. Sometimes the imm staff needs to do what they believe is in the best interests of the game by listening and then proceeding to ignore the trolls and choose the path to glory.

Ignoring negative views could result in you having more players but none of your original players, and that is not necessarily what any existing player would want.

I am not equating listening with obedience. I'm saying that you can't always tell the reasons for the negative views so if you press ahead despite them more often than not, you may find that you end up replacing your playerbase.

Too often I've seen ideas not even given a chance because an Imm says (paraphrased):

'That would be great but it would cause a subset of players to cry foul, that we are handing out rewards/punshment to our friends/family/people we dislike/'


When creativity is stifled by a minority of vocal players its not a matter of ignoring your playerbase when the majority of that playerbase likely would welcome a few attempts at big changes to shake things up a bit but are silent. Just like in real life, it only takes a very vocal minority to get more attention than the silent majority.

How else do you explain Fox News and the Tea Party? lol

Why I can't play more often - just me personally but I'm sure it applies to others - is entirely driven by mechanics.

1) Limited gear - this is the big one. To have a 'decent set' you need to be in 100% limited gear generally speaking, with limited preps, both of which will evaporate if you have to do something else for 2 weeks.

2) Limited cabal positions - another big one, if you are inactive you get booted.

That's really it. I could forgive all the other time sinks were it not for those two. Those two are what cause me to lose chars that I actually like. There's some other nasty time sinks like skill practice and etc that could use some adjustment but those two are the real 'biggies'.

So anyway, there's nothing the playerbase can do to help me with those two. They're hard-coded things. Being a father and business owner means I can't really pick and choose when I'm going to have less time to play and the risk of losing all my hard earned work is too significant to shoulder.

I still have time to play games mind you. I play plenty of games like Marvel Heroes and SWTOR and etc. But those games - if I walk away for a month to launch a project and come back - I'll still have my characters and be able to pick back up where I left off without any judgment.

With CF I want to really *invest* in a character. Write a five page role, with summary that's a well developed story. Build relationships with the Gods of the game that fit along my character's roleplay. Establish myself in PVP and within my cabal. But it's incredibly painful to do all of that and then get nailed by the automated timers if I can't play for a while. Plus, when I don't know how *long* I'll be able to login for, I'm hesitant to log into CF for fear of being branded a coward if I find out that I can only actually play for 20 minutes because something comes up.