AMIA ARCHIVE • View topic - RL time vs IG time...DM clarification please.

Due to much of the RP that Krugan has gotten into now...I, as a player, really need to know exactly how calendar time is seen IN GAME verses REAL LIFE by the DM team and thus...by the community in general.

The reason is I have run into two camps on this player wise....

One camp says RL Time = IG time...meaning 1 RL day equals 1 IG day.

The other says RL Time < IG time...meaning roughly 1 RL week = 1 IG MONTH...so roughly a 1 to 4 exchange.

Now...the reason for this is simply that the RP, from Romance to Research to eating and drinking...all of it...is time sensitive. If I am going on the 1 to 4 ratio...and others are going on the 1 to 1 ratio...things can very quickly go all haywire RP wise when I think a month has passed and they are thinking a week has...

Spread that over the three months RL I have been here...and I am looking 12 months, or a year, has passed since Krugan set foot in Amia...and someone else is thinking 3 months.

I have seen other RP that would need to take this into account also...such as the birth of children, especially to elves or the longer lived races.

Now I fully understand this is in no way limiting to RP....but, for me to keep in my head a timetable of how my characters are progressing through their life....I am asking....and in this way, all that interact with me will know where in my mind the timeline is.

Thank you for your reading, time and input.

The official Amia timeline follows an IC year by RL year ratio. I believe most of the DMs even follow a real-time schedule for their plots, as well. See: Tormak's recent comment that the IG year is very soon going to become 1381 DR.

While officially it's real-time, I think the majority of people follow a speed-of-plot policy. If it's better for your character's story for a whole lot of time to pass between this and then, or whatever, then it's okay. Just don't be surprised when time frames get messed up from player to player because everyone has their own plots to handle.

As for me, personally? I go the 1 IC day = 1 RL day route for anything official, scheduling events, etc.

For everything else, there's SpeedOfPlot.

It's typically 1 RL day = 1 IG day. But the years are arbitrary and cycle when DMs say they do, I think. If I recall correctly, the year changed over to 1380 in July-ish and I recently read a post by Tormak saying it was about to cycle again, to 1381.

I could be wrong, though.

Last ruling I got from 3 different DM: IG time = RL time unless stated otherwise by a DM for a specific event/plot

DerkDerkistan wrote:

It's typically 1 RL day = 1 IG day. But the years are arbitrary and cycle when DMs say they do, I think. If I recall correctly, the year changed over to 1380 in July-ish and I recently read a post by Tormak saying it was about to cycle again, to 1381.

I could be wrong, though.

Oh, no. It's been 1380 since January. Look at some of the entries under 1380 DR and you'll see a bunch of events that happened earlier this year. One of the first things posted there were the Cordor minister elections which took place in February or March.

I stand corrected. Maybe July-ish is just when I noticed it was changed. >.>

Playing a character who is utterly obsessed with the passing of time, I go by the rule of thumb that IG time = real time, unless a DM states otherwise for a plot. As everyone else has already said.

You can use this website to see the current date in Faerun, as well. I know it is also used by some DMs for their plots and such.

http://www.realmshelps.net/index.shtml

For instance, today is the 15th of Uktar.

Ah, thanks everyone...this will help me in how things move...with minor adjustments...

My focus here is to use this as a further immersion into the RP that makes logical sense. So, while I will be forced to use Jes's 'Speed o bot' on a few remaining RPs...out of current paths of them...in the future...I can use the 1 to 1 in my thought processes...

Hopefully, any and all that have had RP with any of my characters has enjoyed it more then face palmed....within reason at least...*smirks*

The one thing I find that confuses this, 1 day IG = 1 day RL is the shift from day to night IG.
I know this is a hardcode thing, but still, it can get people thinking otherwise with regard to time change.

Personally, I have always, and likely will always, run on what we call "Arelith Time", wherein 6 RL minutes = 1 IG hour. Why? Because I tend to play long lived races and I'd like to see things change for them eventually, and their kids grow up and whatnot.

Buuut, that's just me.

To expand on P's comment to whole scale for server time, and that's /any/ unmod'ed NWN server, is as follows:

6 RL minutes = 1 game hour
2 Hours 24 minutes RL = 1 game day
24 RL hours = 10 game days

Game Month is 28 days long
Game year is 12 months long

28 X 12 = 336 game days to a game year
33.6 RL days = 1 game year

My guy Daniel Makie has been played to this and since his first day coming back to the server he's now aged to, without looking at my chart for him and his son, he'd be ballpark of 47.

Amia isnt an unmoded NWN Server though

I think it's silly to accelerate time IG and such like this. If you want to do that then conversations would take place over a matter of seconds. Otherwise, a 30 RL-minute conversation would equate to about a 5 IG-hour time line. Yes, that's being picky but so is accelerating time. It's not feasible.

If the majority of the server (and DMs) are going by 1 RL-day = 1 IG-day, and you go by 6 RL-minutes = 1 IG-hour, then you are passing time at a far faster rate than everyone else. So how do you explain that in a RL-week everyone ages a single IG-week while your char has aged seventy days? How do you explain that an auction that lasts 10 RL/IG-days would technically last a hundred for your char?

Yes, again, it's being picky, but it's a temporal nightmare to have to keep adjusting time like this. I just don't see how people can do that sort of thing. There has to be a set, and the basis seems to be 1 RL-day = 1 IG-day.

This thread, or something like it, should be stickied....

It is a little weird sometimes to see a baby born and a few months later someone is playing that child as a grown-up PC, especially since I usually subscribe to the RL Time = IG Time thing. I usually just accept the speed of plot thing for other people and try to pretend such things don't involve massive time warps.

I don't really follow a formula, I just make it go the pace I need for plot devices within reason naturally.

Quote:

I think it's silly to accelerate time IG and such like this. If you want to do that then conversations would take place over a matter of seconds. Otherwise, a 30 RL-minute conversation would equate to about a 5 IG-hour time line. Yes, that's being picky but so is accelerating time. It's not feasible.

If the majority of the server (and DMs) are going by 1 RL-day = 1 IG-day, and you go by 6 RL-minutes = 1 IG-hour, then you are passing time at a far faster rate than everyone else. So how do you explain that in a RL-week everyone ages a single IG-week while your char has aged seventy days? How do you explain that an auction that lasts 10 RL/IG-days would technically last a hundred for your char?

Yes, again, it's being picky, but it's a temporal nightmare to have to keep adjusting time like this. I just don't see how people can do that sort of thing. There has to be a set, and the basis seems to be 1 RL-day = 1 IG-day.

if you are thinking that hard about it you are doing something wrong.. the best option is just don't think or worry about time until a DM says you have to.. when my main was injured rather badly in a DM event I gave it two weeks RL time for recovery....

the Talona even was a different matter... when we were taken to the Salandrians after the attack on the forest we were given a set time that we would be stuck there in isolation for "observation" (1 week RL)... if time is a concern for a DM plot you will be told.

Quote:

It is a little weird sometimes to see a baby born and a few months later someone is playing that child as a grown-up PC, especially since I usually subscribe to the RL Time = IG Time thing. I usually just accept the speed of plot thing for other people and try to pretend such things don't involve massive time warps.

yes that always kind of bothered me because a child is born and in a month maybe two that child is a full grown adventurer... and I just roll with it and adapt.

Maias227 wrote:

I don't really follow a formula, I just make it go the pace I need for plot devices within reason naturally.

heh...that sounds like a "Go with whatever works at the time" line of thought and yeah, its probably easiest...

Just hard like Jes said to make the two ends meet....

You see a child born...then all of a sudden they are running around killing things....they have aged decades...you have aged days...

But I guess that could actually happen in a world full of magic, plane walking, dragon and the like and after all..it IS a fantasy setting...heh.

Don't trouble your head about it, really. It's an impossible equation, with the only exception that is DM. My characters are ageless until I want them to have grey hair, and it makes sense that the time you spend in game is with respect to real time. That is, when you decide to kill trolls for an hour, your character kills trolls for an hour. Make it as pleasant for yourself as possible without stepping on other people's toes too much.

it gets even worse when you have drow getting pregnant, and then popping out kids a week later, and then the kids leveling up and gaining rank in the city, which as I understand it happens about when a drow is around 80 years old?

As in all RPing I maintain that time moves at the speed of plot.

eg. If you need five minutes to describe what is supposed to happen in thirty seconds then thats the speed time if moving,if later you need to have months pass within days then that works too.

So long as it isn't intrusive to other RP it is my belief that it should be as maleable as you need it to be.

For me, I think it needs to be a mixture honestly...sometimes you need to move things along to make a bit more sense...and the 1 RL week = 1 Month works for most things as a general rule of thumb.

Means if you are out of action for 1 RL week, you've had a month to recover more or less IG.

Of course I try to tailor things to those in the RP I am with also...while still keeping the RP along the lines of how ti goes in my mind.

Don't always go as I figure.

P Three wrote:

Personally, I have always, and likely will always, run on what we call "Arelith Time", wherein 6 RL minutes = 1 IG hour. Why? Because I tend to play long lived races and I'd like to see things change for them eventually, and their kids grow up and whatnot.

Buuut, that's just me.

You cnan do that but don't expect people to understand when "Amia Time" is a 1:1 ration.

Quote:

6 RL minutes = 1 game hour

Anyyays: This is wrong. 2 RL minutes is one game hour, which is why 16 is the hotspot for caster buffs: it make sturn/level buffs last 8 hours gametime which is a bit over 15 minutes RL time which is the time between rests.

1:1 game:RL

TormakSaber wrote:

You can do that but don't expect people to understand when "Amia Time" is a 1:1 ration.

I know. It's just easier for me personally, to explain a lot of the seeming time skips.

TormakSaber wrote:

Quote:

6 RL minutes = 1 game hour

Anyyays: This is wrong. 2 RL minutes is one game hour, which is why 16 is the hotspot for caster buffs: it make sturn/level buffs last 8 hours gametime which is a bit over 15 minutes RL time which is the time between rests.

Yup, Arelith has altered their time system so hours are six minutes. Unmoded NWN server default is actually 2 RL minutes = 1 game hour, as Tormak said.

IG time, over all, is equal to RL time. That's the default. In an IC situation, you can speed up or slow down time for the sake of whatever you're doing. DM's have first say in when that happens, followed by an understanding of all those involved. However, the rest of the server will continue to move at the same RL speed, unless the DMs change time for the server, which is unlikely any time soon.

I can see why we don't mod the hours to be 1:1, due to hour/level magic becoming insanely over-powered, but wouldn't it be possible to just convert hour/level spells to the current default (2 min/level) and then set the in-game clock to be 1:1 with real time? The only real issue I'd foresee (other than the amount of time spent changing all the spells/abilities/etc. that are hour/level) is being able to code the in-game clock to match real-time, since there's server resets that would essentially break time. It would at least add a bit more immersion to the overall experience, since it is really jarring to see time pass so quickly, and then have a character state "Meet me tonight at the inn" when it already is night, in-game, but the character refers to later OOC.

Not worth it, and whose timezone do you want to use? suddenly 65% of PCs are nocturnal.

That was a minor issue I thought.

I suppose having the in-game time be 5-10 minutes instead of 2 minutes (copy and pasting what I suggested regarding spells, of course) would at least be ample enough to provide the illusion that time is passing in the world, since the day/night cycle would effectively last 60-120 minutes each as opposed to the barely noticeable 24 minutes. Effort-wise, it probably isn't worth considering right now, given how large the dev-team's platter must be, but as a potential idea, I'd say it holds a lot of weight, immersion-wise. It would make a night/day time gathering feel more realistic rather than a psychedelic experience where then sun and moon fly appear to be flying around the world faster than an ice cream cone melts.

And here I thought it would be so much easier for you people to wrap your minds around time than for us to wrap the mechanics of a module around it. My theory was that minds were far more flexible.

I understand and totally agree with the 1:1 ratio for time, its worked well for people who need to arrange things thus far.

question however, if its a 1:1 ratio, how many times does toril rotate in an irl day compared to the 'movement' of the sun ingame >_> of course compensating for the 4 hour cut off.

My favorite IC reasoning so far as for why there are so many light/dark cycles is that Lathander is a bored drunk that likes playing a lonely game of tether ball with the sun.

DustSpray101 wrote:

My favorite IC reasoning so far as for why there are so many light/dark cycles is that Lathander is a bored drunk that likes playing a lonely game of tether ball with the sun.

Or given the winter storms coming through...he is checking to see if the light stays on in the fridge...

heh

Right, but Gnomes don't bother sharing their refrigerator inventions, so it would only make sense to a select few people from a specific place.

Personally I often just ignore the light/dark circle and try to stick to the daytime I'd figure there is atm.

Actually there's a thread somewhere where we talked about shifting to true 1:1 ratio. I believe the counter comment was that it would really screw with spell durations not to mention rest.

At the end of the day most play to the speed of RP and either play a more or less immortal race or age thier PC at thier pleasure. I, myself, will continue to age Dan and his son at, as P called it, Arelith time if only cause that's the chart I've got written up for them and don't feel like changing it :roll:

DustSpray101 wrote:

Right, but Gnomes don't bother sharing their refrigerator inventions, so it would only make sense to a select few people from a specific place.

*shudders remembering hearing FIRE and being downrange.*

Fortunately, I learned long ago when you hear something like that..HIT THE DECK...

Then look around at what happened.....*8p

Scimiter wrote:

Actually there's a thread somewhere where we talked about shifting to true 1:1 ratio. I believe the counter comment was that it would really screw with spell durations not to mention rest.

At the end of the day most play to the speed of RP and either play a more or less immortal race or age thier PC at thier pleasure. I, myself, will continue to age Dan and his son at, as P called it, Arelith time if only cause that's the chart I've got written up for them and don't feel like changing it :roll:

The other problem with it is forcing a bunch of PCs to only be active at certain times of day. Like if we did it 1:1 synced with GMT, then my characters would almost exclusively be seen at 3am-5am ever single day. That would be even worse.

The spell time limit things and such is easy to fix. You just alter the times and such. Granted easy doesn't equal to quick to fix... cause that's a lot of code to change heh

Well, for me this was mostly about the stories I am involved within....

Some examples....

Krugan's love quagmire..er...life...heh...wanting to have an "acceptable" time frame for the transitions to OOC time constraints and events.

Dorna's smithing with Eroki....game wise..I take an iron ingot, beat the little hammer on the anvil and poof..I got a sword. I am a smith in real life...not professionally..and let me tell you...it ain't that fast in RL...it takes more then a day to properly make a sword I tell you.

There is more too..but that was the entire gist of why I originally asked...how to cover the gaps in RP time verses RL time...

Like children...or wars...or whatever...even aging...

I think I have that answer now. DMs are 1 to 1...with the kibitz of allowing the glossing over of time for RP within reason.

I can work with that.

Just saying..*wink*

Folks, it's a game... don't overcomplicate things. :lol:

Yay for an official clarification! xD I was always told it was 1:1 ratio, but I'm glad there's an official thread.

As for the day/night rapid cycle, I still say RP day when it's light out, and night when it's dark out, not using any IRL hours since I RP with people across time zones at all times (Which is the charm of MMORPG, I think!). I just roll with it and assume there are multiple times that the sun rises and fall within the same day in Amia.

I don't know if there can be a better explanation IG if it's a 1:1 ratio, really... We can't really pretend like in-game Day/Night is irrelevant, since that would make playing characters with light sensitivity very confusing, but like the DMs have said above, I don't think it would be enjoyable or realistic to set the In Game clock the same as IRL clock (Especially with Amia constantly resetting).

I like Dusty's explanation the most xD Yay for bored gods!

To me, it's a strange hybrid of speed of plot + 1:1 ratio.

One the grand scheme of things 1 year RL time = 1 year game time...

However, I usually manage the minute by minute things by the speed of plot. If we were to stick rigidly to the 1:1 ratio, everybody would stand there and take 20 minutes to hold what would in real life be a 1 minute conversation. Or, we would have to make people sit in one little boat area for 3 days as they travel somewhere.

So, like many things time related, use just a bit of sense and you'll turn out fine.

I sort of like to thing of it this way:

Toril orbits is star at the same speed the earth orbits the sun, however... Toril spins on its own axis much faster leading to very short day/night cycles but a comperable season / year cycle.

Now if only we had spelljammers to take us there and confirm it...

DustSpray101 wrote:

Now if only we had spelljammers to take us there and confirm it...

Ah..so this is DM confirmation that we don't hmm?

*snerks*

Poor Darby....I can see her wanting one of them fine ships...

Its up to you. If you want to get official, server time is the only correct time. Though no DM will ever enforce that.

Um, we've enforced 1:1 time plenty! It's even come up in events where PCs had to research past events and a RL timescale was used.

I'm pretty sure I've heard you tell people that its server time before.

I'm guessing Tormak means it depends on the situation. Sometimes server time, sometimes RL times, etc.

RL time vs IG time...DM clarification please.

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