Greetings! I'm genuinely pleased and happy that you've chosen to play with us, sir. Your stay is most welcome here! I know you may not know me, but I'm Ki. I'm a horrible player, a hairy asshole(I got an afro on my booty-hole), and most importantly a penguin. Below, you'll find a highly off topic rant regarding my feelings on other servers such as DeX and their populations. Feel free to ignore it as I'm just a dreamer who talks to much.I've always dreamed of having a player base merge amongst
all of the full-PVP oriented servers. For so many years there has been this silly childish contention between other servers and their player bases. If we could all let go of the past grievances, and swallow our pride we could easily add several years of healthy memories to this game. It's a shame what has happened to NwN's server populations throughout the years. I still think we should initiate some form of diplomatic relations with other server owners so that we can help each other out. I for one would be more than willing to take part in doing this. I suspect this has already happened to some extent with Badlands RPG. I do not know if this has happened with DeX, but I do hope that DeX's owners and DeX's player-base is open to this idea.
Even if player-bases do not merge, we can still cooperate together and help each other out in meaningful ways such as server development and more. If we were to do this I do genuinely believe it is then
HIGHLY probable that we can get a server running 40+ players again. Nobody likes playing alone by themselves. Its the community that matters. We should treat everyone as family to a degree. If we respect one another and act like mature human beings, then just by playing together bonds will then develop and result in more meaningful memories. There's no need to drag on the same mentality of "OUR SERVER BETTER THAN URS BRO!".
I understand that certain people prefer specific servers, but when the population drops to dangerous levels why keep holding on to that stubborn viewpoint? In my highly inadequate and terribly shitty opinion, Badlands is the best server in the whole worldzzzzzzz. But realistically, I realize that even though I love Badlands in every shape and form, it's not worth playing just by myself. If there's something like 5 people or less online, it makes it difficult for me to get excited about playing.
I have found that the community is what makes an action oriented Full-PVP server worth playing. I do believe that there are other important factors such as balance that have a lot to do with a server's playability, but I do not believe that such things are more important than said server's actual community. If there's no population or if the population is dangerously unhealthy then it doesn't really matter what I or anyone else thinks. It doesn't matter how much blood sweat and tears went into development. It doesn't matter what history the server had with any xyz server. It doesn't matter if said server has the best content. It doesn't matter if said server is better than another. Nothing really matters when a server's population is non existent. I now realize that my affection towards my preferred server that I've always played on throughout all of my NwN years is not worth playing on if there's nobody to play with. For this reason we must collectively put our heads together and work out a solution.
If the server owners and it's primary player-base that makes up said server's community is so stubborn and bullheaded. And if these people refuse to negotiate or cooperate, then they are not only hurting themselves with their selfish, childish, and pitiful attitude, but are also negatively affecting all of the other NwN communities as well. We must swallow our pride. We must be willing to loose certain things such as our ideal vision of how a server should be like, because if we're not willing to compromise not even one single inch then how can we expect to work out a deal to merge player-bases in order to heal our server communities with an influx of fresh new players?
I have found throughout the years that games that have a heavy focus on its community tend to benefit from fresh new blood. Yes, it's great to know everybody that you play with. But there's also great value in finding fresh new players. It's a chance to develop new relationships, and potentially make friends for life. New players also gives a new dynamic to playing NwN. If it's a full-pvp server then new players will be influenced by PKers, and also can be interacted with by defending these new players with say maybe a Good alignment guild. There's the chance to teach new players the 'ropes' of our specific server. We should take the opportunity to welcome them in, and also 'break' them in because that's what full-PVP is about in action oriented NwN servers. Bottom line: Influx of new players = influx of new possibilities. So many great memories can be formed just by interacting with people that you never knew. Yes, you can run into new asshole players, but don't asshole players add a fresh unique dynamic to PVP? Isn't it more fun to have a nemesis, or someone that you REALLY want to rape because you don't like them? Doesn't this add a new element to the fun of PVP inside NwN? Ever received angry pissed of PM's saying "WTF IM GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU YOU PIECE OF SHIT. I SPENT A MILLION GP CRAFTING THAT WEAPON. GIVE IT BACK NAOW!". I have, and it puts a very warm smile on my face. It's these kinds of moments that are special. It's these moments where you hit the printscreen key to screenshot this. And usually these moments happen when interacting with new players that have never experienced Full-PVP like we have. I actually did this once when I first played NwN. I was dueling in Dozo Arena, and a guy by the name of Schmitty locked onto me when the Arena duel finished. He disarmed my weapons, and I flipped. I yelled on shout, all caps, cussing him. Saying I'll report him to DM's, ect. He just pm'ed me with "You've been had, son!" This was over 5 yrs ago I think, heh.
New players are important, and valuable. We should treat new players with respect, because whether we know it or not, they are just as important as the DM on the server is.
The more we understand the value of each other's presence on the server, the better our decisions will be with what direction we take the server in.So, why not cooperate with other servers suffering the same population problems and work out a solution? This way, we can keep playing NwN together, and form new bonds with new people.
This is what will spark a new era of healthy activity. Without a healthy community, no matter how good the server is, what value does it have? What purpose does it serve to only have 1-6 players active or less? Server owners and their populace should face this fact dead in the eyes, and take action. It's time we grew up, and acted with a sense of
urgency. The sooner the better I say.
To me, Badlands is like a family, and a beautiful wife. I've always came back to this server throughout the years as if I was in some kind of cycle where I'd play some games here and there, but always found them wanting. NwN filled that hole in my heart many times, and more specifically, interacting with the community in the Badlands server satisfied my longing. I look at all of you as my friends. Even though I do not know you. Even though I am a terrible player. I'm not that funny, and I'm still immature in many ways, but this community means something to me.
All of you are important, and all of you have a role to play within the community. When just one of you disappears from the community everyone feels it. You may think that you going on a hiatus is meaningless, and of no consequence, but you'd be wrong if you though that. Everybody senses the loss, and feels it when players leave the community. Population drop is rarely a good thing, especially when the population is already low to begin with.
Everyone has great value within the NwN community. We should treasure each others presence, because it is important to feel like you're apart of this family. When one person is left out of the community or alienated because that person is considered a noob, it hurts the rest of us. We shouldn't leave other people out due to malice or douchebagery.
I treasure the memories that I've made throughout the years on Badlands. I have no enemies, and I intend to keep it that way. There's no reason to treat people like shit anymore now that I've grown up and realized the error of my ways. When I was younger, I use to have an attitude problem, and I acted like I was 10 years old under many circumstances. Fast forward a few years, and I realize that I've been alone all my life since this computer is my only means of interacting with other humans. I've not had a real life friend since I was 7 years old. Now that I'm 22, I just want to be happy, and bring happiness to others. I just want to be a nice person to be around. I want to entertain others, and bring joy to their lives. I don't want to be an arrogant dick anymore. I want to be a person that people want to be around. Perhaps this growing up has wisened me a bit. I still feel like a child in so many respects though. I'm still growing and learning as a human being.
I miss all of the friendships I once had from this server, and I hope to continue to make more in the coming days. Highv, thank you for sacrificing your money, time, and happiness by working on this server, and aiding in it's continued evolution. Thank you to Matz, and others who have assisted Highv in this endeavour. If it wasn't for you guys I'd be a lot more lonely, and hella bored.
