AMIA ARCHIVE • View topic

I don't get to play very often and I was wondering if there are other avenues for acquiring dream coins than through RP.

Maybe through doing custom portraits, banners, templates for play-by-post graphics (wanted posters, letters, etc.); game, item, and level debugging; maybe other ideas I didn't come up with. Somehow contribute with minimal game play.

Last edited by Moridan_X on Fri, Jun 05 2009, 0:45 AM, edited 2 times in total.

I actually like this idea.

Edit:
Maybe not the OOC area for DCs: By this I would be referring to banners on the forums. I think custom portraits IG offer a different perspective to a character that isn't so generic.

I don't. They're an award for RP, and should remain that way.

I think RP on the forums can be quite valuable to RP in game.

Mountain of Madness wrote:

Maybe through doing custom portraits, banners, templates for play-by-post graphics (wanted posters, letters, etc.); game, item, and level debugging; maybe other ideas I didn't come up with. Somehow contribute with minimal game play.

Which of those was forum RP? I'm rather dubious about getting DCs for forum RP, but I'm definitely against it for that sort of thing.

Yurell wrote:

I don't. They're an award for RP, and should remain that way.

By your own words, any DCs that the DMs get for their DM work would then be wrong, and should only be for RP, and that's it. And if they're given for any other work done, then it's also wrong.

I'm not saying I agree with the original post; the argument just isn't solid when it's not universal.

I wasn't aware DMs got DCs for anything but RP.

There's a reason the DC wands don't work on DMs and you can't recommend them with the DC wand.

I think DCs for forum work would seriously inspire people on the forums to take a few minutes on their posts to fill them with quality for everyone in the community to enjoy. Heh, it would even inspire a larger forum community because people who usually don't care about the forums would take a second look at the chance to get some DCs from here. All in all, there is a lot of quality work that isn't taken IG from the forums.

Or could turn PC Stories and Character Descriptions into a DC farm.

DCs are fine. They are the best solution as of now. I mean there could be no DCs or custom stuff at all right? DCs work.

I like to think the work put into a good and thorough forum post turns into the reward from a DM for RP because they pay attention to it, because they KNOW to pay attention.

Simple aye?

Koragi Mydnite wrote:

There's a reason the DC wands don't work on DMs and you can't recommend them with the DC wand.

Correct: When you become a DM, you recieve a 'salary' based on how many hours you do a week DMing, along with a base flat rate of 1 DC that may go up to 2 depending on how well our DC coverage is (The short of that one: If we gives DCs to more people, instead of only focusing on a few, we in turn get an extra DC. This is a built in incentive to encourage us to "spread the love."

Our DM salary is 1 DC per 4 hours in the DM client, to a maximum of 6 DCs earned this way, for 24 hours of work. anything over this is 'unpaid'. Plus your one flat rate, or possibly two, this means a DM who puts in the maximum hours earns 7-8 DCs a week. You must earn at leats 1 DC via your 'salary' to be elegible for your flat rate DC, though. you can't do 0 hours and get a DC a week from the flat rate.

Of course, that also assumes you're following our DM-to-player ratio: If you don't have at least 1 DM hour per 4 player hours (a 25%, 1/4, whatever ratio), then you earn no DCs that week no matter how many DM hours you earned. I.e. if you do 12 DM hours but 75 player hours, then you earn no DCs that week, period.

In the end the system accomplishes one big main thing: DMs cannot DC each other. It's physically impossible. No DM or Admin can give DCs to another DM or Admin. It cuts out the biggest abusability loophole in the entire system for the 'highest echelon'.

~~~

On topic: We only gives DCs for in game RP because it places everyone on the same level. There has only been one exception: HollowDreams once, before he was a DM and with the unanimous decision of the DM team, received 2 DCs (I believe it was 2.) for his forum work regarding the Vodak plot.

I don't see that standard changing anytime soon. The reward of contributing to the server is seeing your work added to the module in a meaningful way.

You're not likely to get DCs specifically for anything you do on the forums, but there is still a correlation between forum RP and DCs IG:

What you do here on the forums may catch my attention as a DM, and the attention of other DMs, and we may be more inclined to "check in on you" to see what you're doing...

Yossarin wrote:

You're not likely to get DCs specifically for anything you do on the forums, but there is still a correlation between forum RP and DCs IG:

What you do here on the forums may catch my attention as a DM, and the attention of other DMs, and we may be more inclined to "check in on you" to see what you're doing...

That.

And thats amazing Tormak. Never even considered how DM's manage to still get DC's.

I consider it one of the things that as DMs we have the obligation to be as transparent about as possible.

Last edited by Pony on Wed, Nov 06 2019, 12:27 PM, edited 1 time in total.

If someone AFKs on the client egregiously, another DM or admin will remove them, and disciplinary action can and has been taken in the past for it.

Especially after hearing Tormak's description, I'm perfectly happy with the system as it stands.

Also, Yossarin isn't just saying that. A long time ago when he gave me some DC, he told me what it was specifically that got him interested in that particular character's RP and what he thought was outstanding. Not that that character ever should've been outstanding, actually, considering I made up the craziest and weirdest background story for her ever, but... he's not lying! It was a forum post that he specifically mentioned that he said got him interested!

... Tormak, that's a confusing rate of salary. But nonetheless, it now makes alot more sense that we can't DC Wand DMs. Fair enough. And... DCs should only be for RP on the actual server itself, not the forums.

In 2006 I received one DC for a forum story and three for reporting some kinda DM tools lying around in game. (I do hope I can say this without having them taken away three years later)

While the latter might've felt awkward ("for being a good player about it") I did appreciate the reward for the effort I put into the story and felt encouraged to do so in future posts.

I consider many forum stories by other players to be better than in-game RP for which I have been rewarded, so if some DM likes a story and thinks it adds to the character I don't see a reason why he shouldn't reward it the way he sees fit, be it with a DC, a personal event or just more attention.

Note that DMs also only get paid for time spent IG. The time I spend reading your amazingly long and detailed DC request stories is purely pro-bono.

Anyways, I am also adamantly against rewarding forum stuff. Although there certainly are overlapping skills associated with both, RP is not creative writing.

Say, if someone wants a dramatic ending to a PC, I would prefer if they sought out to go down in a blaze of fire IG rather than just logging off and submitting a kickass story about the glorious downfall to PC Stories.

If we start to reward PC Stories, we might see more creative energy drift away from the IG server to the forums, and that is certainly not needed, IMO.

I got a DC for taking a piss once.

I'd give you a DC for your catgirl picture.

Well, you probably got one from Tornak already.

Jan wrote:

In 2006 I received one DC for a forum story and three for reporting some kinda DM tools lying around in game. (I do hope I can say this without having them taken away three years later)

While the latter might've felt awkward ("for being a good player about it") I did appreciate the reward for the effort I put into the story and felt encouraged to do so in future posts.

I consider many forum stories by other players to be better than in-game RP for which I have been rewarded, so if some DM likes a story and thinks it adds to the character I don't see a reason why he shouldn't reward it the way he sees fit, be it with a DC, a personal event or just more attention.

No, they won't be taken; I think in this case it's simply a matter of evolving standards. Dream Coins were also IC for a brief period as they were a first attempt to replace the Orbs of Destiny that everyone farmed KRaven for.

Over time the expectation for the Dream Coin has been refined into a general reward into what you see today: Specifically a reward for ingame roleplay.

mairacle_ninja wrote:

... Tormak, that's a confusing rate of salary. But nonetheless, it now makes alot more sense that we can't DC Wand DMs. Fair enough. And... DCs should only be for RP on the actual server itself, not the forums.

It's not too bad. I overexplained it to make sure I got every detail. The shorthand is we get 1 DC every 4 hours, +1 DC for "being a DM and Doing Your Job" +1 more if the team is overall extraspecially good at covering the spread, DCwise.

TormakSaber wrote:

On topic: We only gives DCs for in game RP because it places everyone on the same level. There has only been one exception: HollowDreams once, before he was a DM and with the unanimous decision of the DM team, received 2 DCs (I believe it was 2.) for his forum work regarding the Vodak plot.

I remember that, it was on the Do'Veldran forums, it was some truly inspiring RP/Research/Writing.. absoloutly brilliant, I was stoked when he got his DCs for it.

I'm not against giving DCs for forum stuff in principle, but I doubt it will become or even should become a standard thing. RP is interaction with others and building the story with other players. You don't get DCs for your skills as a writer, but for your ability to involve others and keep the story we're all part of (as characters) flowing.

Well, writing is a part of it, but not the dominant part.

Kjetta wrote:

Say, if someone wants a dramatic ending to a PC, I would prefer if they sought out to go down in a blaze of fire IG rather than just logging off and submitting a kickass story about the glorious downfall to PC Stories.

I'd rather see both! I like when cool stories are written and played out IG and then altered so the written aligns with what happened IG. Because, as we all know, when you write something and try to make it happen IG, it doesn't quiet happen exactly how you wanted it to, but I digress. I say do both!

I think some people are thinking by saying forum RP that that means simply stories. There are plenty of other ways to instigate In-Game RP throughout the forums aside from a short story or a background:

1. Announcements (i.e. Tranny's announcements about his super-cool fighting bard events where his char was doped up)

2. Political letters/research - which is NOT a short story (i.e. could be Hollows's Vodak stuff, but I prefer to think the most shmawesome letter RP I've seen via forums is the Matron letters... some of those, usually in PMs, are hilarious...)

3. Petitions/proclamations

And probably more. But yeah, I would agree with most people that giving DCs for forum -stories- is not what they're for. But those three things up there aren't really about the forums, they're about In-Game stuff, and from what I've seen, really kick up the In-Game RP a whole notch or more. I think that those are shmawesome ways of doing stuff.

Bottom line is:
a) It doesn't hurt to write (in Hollow's case, I actually think it does, though).
b) You've still got to go in game a tiny bit to get a DC.
c) Don't worry about DCs.

Signe Johanne wrote:

Bottom line is:
a) It doesn't hurt to write (in Hollow's case, I actually think it does, though).
b) You've still got to go in game a tiny bit to get a DC.
c) Don't worry about DCs.

d) your all monkeys and should be worrying about Banana's not dream cookies... unless they are Banana flavored dream cookies... hmm...

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