My Experiences and Criticisms of EoA
Nov 6, 2018 16:29:01 GMT -5
Psionic-Entity, Fuzz, and 3 more like this
Post by Kaybrie on Nov 6, 2018 16:29:01 GMT -5
Hello there, it's been a while since I was last active on the server. Through prodding from Kitsunenotsume I have deigned to come back and do something I didn't really feel I had much business doing else-wise through my long absence. Perhaps this may help improve the server and see a resurgence of players in the long run, or maybe not. I'll try to be clear and concise with my points here, leaning more on facts then feelings wherever possible.
Atmosphere
Perhaps one of the best atmospheric server's on NWN2, EoA hit a soft spot with me on this sticking point. The world felt grim, dark and hopeless but still not without it's moments of hope and light. The random 'events' that would be little more then a DM setting up a tragic scene of elves being hanged or shot dead in a back alleyway added to the narrative of the server. Different races weren't just a skin that you tie onto your character but were identities in and of themselves, almost a difficulty slider. Being an elf didn't mean you got to play some pretty pointy eared fairy, it meant you were taking on a lower class of people. I often had it harder then I may have otherwise had it in events as a human, dwarf or gnome just because of my character's identity. And it was real and visceral rather then preachy and obnoxious. There was no greater message involved, it was just life. Looking back now I could compare my experiences on Zesiro or Hanifa to the likes of Xavier and Wolverine in Logan. It wasn't about preaching about how miserable these peoples lives were, it just was.
Factions
The factions on Engines of Ascension are something of a sticking point with me, and honestly I felt they were at their strongest narrative at launch. Each faction between the CCPD, Crowders and Chesterfields had a clear identity and place in the world. And by their nature created politics between one another that encouraged and created conflict without the need for any DM involvement naturally. Each had their place in given events and would push narratives and stories in their own way while coming into conflict with one another and fighting back-alley wars for information and advantages over one another. Overtime however the existing factions were homogenized. The CCPD was removed from the server entirely, which left the Crowders without much of an identity anymore without their main political opponent in the ring. The Privateers were and even are soulless, a faction without any clear goals or aspirations other then glorified dungeon runs. The main source of conflict on the server was gutted in favor of something more bland and entirely dependent on DM activity to function at all.
Similar happened with over time with the religious factions, with the main three falling to the wayside more players gravitated toward the religious factions who did still have clear identities and differences. But again, over time they were homogenized and made to feel similar, Helenists even got their own Templars(tm) to mirror the Cathedral. The Priory fell to the wayside and felt like they were Crowders with a bit more of a purpose, albeit an unclear one. By the end if you played a religious character is was from my perspective about whether you wanted a yellow or red clad character, or if you were irreligious you wore purple; though your faction was still full of unreasonable fanatics. None of them had a clear goal other then 'beat the others in being ideologically superior' but none of them had a clear and easy to latch onto core identity. So there was nowhere to go with their inherent conflict, you argue over which has the coolest colors while they all essentially march toward the same nebulous goal.
By the time I left the server I felt like I could create any character and throw it at any faction and it would stick if I made any amount of effort to do so. As of then, none of the factions had a clear identity or goal and most of the conflict had been beaten out of the server; which made it entirely dependent on DM activity which had reached it's low point then and hasn't recovered since. This is probably the single most significant reason I left the server.
Mechanics
The mechanics of EoA are nothing short of a programming masterpiece. I've played on two dozen servers since I started playing NWN2 and the only one that comes close to the amount of care and meticulous balance was Legacy: Dark Age of Britain (coded of course by the great Psionic Entity as well). The mechanics allow you to essentially build whatever character concept you want and allows it to work, every build functioning well and working within very similar margins to the same degree. If there was something to be desired I feel it would be I wish there was more unique effects and bonuses individual builds could bring to the table. There isn't much of a difference between a two handed, dual wielding, unarmed or ranged DPS build as it stands. The inclusion of more party-helping bonuses similar to what medics and tanks bring would be awesome. Though this again is a minor stickler, the mechanics of the server are the best of what NWN2 has ever had to offer, and I have little but praise for them.
Pacing
The server's pacing is one that requires steady, long-term dedication and high amounts of commitment to advance. The combat is slow and tactical, which is something I appreciate over the chaotic cluster-fucks that I've experienced on other servers. A party that slowly advances, prepares and works together will have far more success then one that just tries to bull-rush through. However; the fact that as of when I departed a tank-character on the front line was an absolute necessity was something of a downside for the server. I am unsure of whether or not this is an issue in the current meta but as of when I left if you had a group intending to run dungeons, you were still in the high risk if you had a tank, and if you didn't have a tank your run was basically sank before it began. This lead to only specific party makeup's being able to advance, and if no tank was online, anyone who wasn't a solo player with one of the tank mercenaries was left high and dry.
Leveling is slow, a very slow process. The slowest in NWN2 as far as I'm aware of any popular server that has ever been made. When talking with other players who have left the server, this seems to be the point that is brought up most often. You have to be able to dedicate at least a few hours of time to go out and run a dungeon on EoA with a group, a prospect that with the inherent difficulty of the server is a very high risk endeavor as if your group fails then your time has been entirely wasted (not a bad thing). But what was a bad thing was that even successful runs wouldn't yield much progress. This is a data-point that I would need to log in and make another run to yield hard numbers on regarding, but I know I've done more then a dozen successful Wyler runs on Asenat and not hit the 50 cap with her primary skills. Sometimes not seeing any skill advancement on skills that were inside the level range.
The slow leveling probably hurts the server in a general sense since most of the most interesting/unique mechanics don't start appearing until 60+.
Basically you lose hours of progress if you failed the dungeon, and when successful you didn't get much anyways. This lead to logging in feeling fairly pointless.
Conclusion
Engines of Ascension is a server with amazing potential, though it lost a lot of it's core identity and most plots have shifted from ideological/narrative driven to dungeon reveals. It has a rich world with a great deal of potential for politics, intrigue, and storytelling though has seemingly shifted to something more of an arcade game without much of a soul. From what's been told to me the core player-base almost entirely huddles together at this point making all the roleplay focused around running dungeons. Potential DM's don't have many stories they even can tell since most of the factions have lost any sense of identity along the way in favor of homogenization. Joining the server is a daunting task where the world may as well be set entirely against them; slow leveling guarantees that anyone looking to join the server will have months, if not a year's worth of work to just get into a range where they don't feel hopelessly outmatched in any potential stories that could be told. The amount of work that went into the server shows, and the potential for stories is amazing, though with the nature of slow progression and the lack of soul to the existing factions, there is little to draw new blood to the server, let alone encourage old players to return. It is very much a place that I would love to play and enjoy myself again, some of my best memories were indeed here on this server. Though as of now it's a chore to convince myself to login, and I almost immediately find myself looking to what dungeons I can run, rather then what stories I can tell.
Atmosphere
Perhaps one of the best atmospheric server's on NWN2, EoA hit a soft spot with me on this sticking point. The world felt grim, dark and hopeless but still not without it's moments of hope and light. The random 'events' that would be little more then a DM setting up a tragic scene of elves being hanged or shot dead in a back alleyway added to the narrative of the server. Different races weren't just a skin that you tie onto your character but were identities in and of themselves, almost a difficulty slider. Being an elf didn't mean you got to play some pretty pointy eared fairy, it meant you were taking on a lower class of people. I often had it harder then I may have otherwise had it in events as a human, dwarf or gnome just because of my character's identity. And it was real and visceral rather then preachy and obnoxious. There was no greater message involved, it was just life. Looking back now I could compare my experiences on Zesiro or Hanifa to the likes of Xavier and Wolverine in Logan. It wasn't about preaching about how miserable these peoples lives were, it just was.
Factions
The factions on Engines of Ascension are something of a sticking point with me, and honestly I felt they were at their strongest narrative at launch. Each faction between the CCPD, Crowders and Chesterfields had a clear identity and place in the world. And by their nature created politics between one another that encouraged and created conflict without the need for any DM involvement naturally. Each had their place in given events and would push narratives and stories in their own way while coming into conflict with one another and fighting back-alley wars for information and advantages over one another. Overtime however the existing factions were homogenized. The CCPD was removed from the server entirely, which left the Crowders without much of an identity anymore without their main political opponent in the ring. The Privateers were and even are soulless, a faction without any clear goals or aspirations other then glorified dungeon runs. The main source of conflict on the server was gutted in favor of something more bland and entirely dependent on DM activity to function at all.
Similar happened with over time with the religious factions, with the main three falling to the wayside more players gravitated toward the religious factions who did still have clear identities and differences. But again, over time they were homogenized and made to feel similar, Helenists even got their own Templars(tm) to mirror the Cathedral. The Priory fell to the wayside and felt like they were Crowders with a bit more of a purpose, albeit an unclear one. By the end if you played a religious character is was from my perspective about whether you wanted a yellow or red clad character, or if you were irreligious you wore purple; though your faction was still full of unreasonable fanatics. None of them had a clear goal other then 'beat the others in being ideologically superior' but none of them had a clear and easy to latch onto core identity. So there was nowhere to go with their inherent conflict, you argue over which has the coolest colors while they all essentially march toward the same nebulous goal.
By the time I left the server I felt like I could create any character and throw it at any faction and it would stick if I made any amount of effort to do so. As of then, none of the factions had a clear identity or goal and most of the conflict had been beaten out of the server; which made it entirely dependent on DM activity which had reached it's low point then and hasn't recovered since. This is probably the single most significant reason I left the server.
Mechanics
The mechanics of EoA are nothing short of a programming masterpiece. I've played on two dozen servers since I started playing NWN2 and the only one that comes close to the amount of care and meticulous balance was Legacy: Dark Age of Britain (coded of course by the great Psionic Entity as well). The mechanics allow you to essentially build whatever character concept you want and allows it to work, every build functioning well and working within very similar margins to the same degree. If there was something to be desired I feel it would be I wish there was more unique effects and bonuses individual builds could bring to the table. There isn't much of a difference between a two handed, dual wielding, unarmed or ranged DPS build as it stands. The inclusion of more party-helping bonuses similar to what medics and tanks bring would be awesome. Though this again is a minor stickler, the mechanics of the server are the best of what NWN2 has ever had to offer, and I have little but praise for them.
Pacing
The server's pacing is one that requires steady, long-term dedication and high amounts of commitment to advance. The combat is slow and tactical, which is something I appreciate over the chaotic cluster-fucks that I've experienced on other servers. A party that slowly advances, prepares and works together will have far more success then one that just tries to bull-rush through. However; the fact that as of when I departed a tank-character on the front line was an absolute necessity was something of a downside for the server. I am unsure of whether or not this is an issue in the current meta but as of when I left if you had a group intending to run dungeons, you were still in the high risk if you had a tank, and if you didn't have a tank your run was basically sank before it began. This lead to only specific party makeup's being able to advance, and if no tank was online, anyone who wasn't a solo player with one of the tank mercenaries was left high and dry.
Leveling is slow, a very slow process. The slowest in NWN2 as far as I'm aware of any popular server that has ever been made. When talking with other players who have left the server, this seems to be the point that is brought up most often. You have to be able to dedicate at least a few hours of time to go out and run a dungeon on EoA with a group, a prospect that with the inherent difficulty of the server is a very high risk endeavor as if your group fails then your time has been entirely wasted (not a bad thing). But what was a bad thing was that even successful runs wouldn't yield much progress. This is a data-point that I would need to log in and make another run to yield hard numbers on regarding, but I know I've done more then a dozen successful Wyler runs on Asenat and not hit the 50 cap with her primary skills. Sometimes not seeing any skill advancement on skills that were inside the level range.
The slow leveling probably hurts the server in a general sense since most of the most interesting/unique mechanics don't start appearing until 60+.
Basically you lose hours of progress if you failed the dungeon, and when successful you didn't get much anyways. This lead to logging in feeling fairly pointless.
Conclusion
Engines of Ascension is a server with amazing potential, though it lost a lot of it's core identity and most plots have shifted from ideological/narrative driven to dungeon reveals. It has a rich world with a great deal of potential for politics, intrigue, and storytelling though has seemingly shifted to something more of an arcade game without much of a soul. From what's been told to me the core player-base almost entirely huddles together at this point making all the roleplay focused around running dungeons. Potential DM's don't have many stories they even can tell since most of the factions have lost any sense of identity along the way in favor of homogenization. Joining the server is a daunting task where the world may as well be set entirely against them; slow leveling guarantees that anyone looking to join the server will have months, if not a year's worth of work to just get into a range where they don't feel hopelessly outmatched in any potential stories that could be told. The amount of work that went into the server shows, and the potential for stories is amazing, though with the nature of slow progression and the lack of soul to the existing factions, there is little to draw new blood to the server, let alone encourage old players to return. It is very much a place that I would love to play and enjoy myself again, some of my best memories were indeed here on this server. Though as of now it's a chore to convince myself to login, and I almost immediately find myself looking to what dungeons I can run, rather then what stories I can tell.
