newbie question: what to do in Elysia at 2nd level?

CryHavoc · Post by **CryHavoc** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 8:36 pm

Finally made 2nd level so I feel like I can start finding people and doing stuff. So the question is... what is there to do?

The FAQ mentions the sewers, but is there a quest related to the sewers or should I just find some other low-level players and head down there to explore?

Also, are there other short-term quests that are available when I log on with just an hour or so to play?

Finally, now that I'm 2nd level, will the councilmembers talk to me? Before I was getting the old runaround (councilmembers told me to go to the keep, guard at the keep told me to get their signatures, councilmembers still tell me to go to the keep...)

Thanks. I'm not asking for any "cheating" info, btw. Just wondering whether I should set sail for Mikona to find interesting quests.

Xoc · Post by **Xoc** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 8:40 pm

RP till to the third level?

Vergilius · Post by **Vergilius** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 8:57 pm

I'd recommend, farming/fedexing to 3rd level. 2nd level is still a little low to solo, though you could potentially handle the sewers alright depending upon class.

Kreetogg · Post by **Kreetogg** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 9:00 pm

I'm 3rd level... I made the mistake of heading to T'Nanshi for excitement and wound up buck naked in southern MCheck. What is there for a level 3 to do?

(And farming can get boring at times...)

Post by **Nighthawk4** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 9:02 pm

Party with Woody

Lafferty · Post by **Lafferty** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 9:03 pm

Well i run around in the wilderness since level 4 (mostly alone)...

I think the sewers are a good shot.

and grouping up. When there are a few lowbies in a party they can handly pretty much already.

Spellforge · Post by **Spellforge** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 12:57 am

I hope I don't come across as an rp nazi, but the lower levels I find are equally if not the most entertaining to rp than high levels.

TheJester · Post by **TheJester** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 3:06 am

Your best bet if you wana get some half decient xp and get up a level or so is go kill rats in leor. they are prety easy and provide half decint xp. there the same as the rats in elysia exept there is more of them .or one way i found to level up faster at lower levels is try to hang out with groups of people that are gona hit up the beetle cave or some kind of quest were everyone gets xp. you do get some xp for rp'ing when dm's hapen to so see you but that dont happen to often so your best bet is hunt rats.

CryHavoc · Post by **CryHavoc** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 3:21 am

Thanks for the tips, all.

I am interested in RP, not just experience or levels or loot. But I've always prefer RPing a certain quest rather than RPing "The Sims: High Fantasy." That is, I'd rather be RPing about our troubles finding the minotaur's lair than RPing about the funny joke my familiar told me the other day or how these chainmail undergarments just chafe so.

I want stories. Quests. Big XP reward not a requirement. ph@t l33t not a requirement.

So solo rat-hunting or chatting over a tankard, while fun at times, aren't my big draw to the game, you know?

But I plan to dedicate a few good hours tonight to seeing if I can find a few likeminded players.

Deider · Post by **Deider** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 5:12 am

CryHavoc wrote:I want stories. Quests. Big XP reward not a requirement. ph@t l33t not a requirement. So solo rat-hunting or chatting over a tankard, while fun at times, aren't my big draw to the game, you know?

But I plan to dedicate a few good hours tonight to seeing if I can find a few likeminded players.

Hang out at Elf Gate, or in Fanos' shop in the Artisans' District. These are Elysia's two "high-traffic" places, bottlenecks where you have a good chance of running into other players. A lot of DMs also prowl these spots waiting for people to group up so they can hook them into a story-based adventure.

You want a big quest? It's coming, being cooked up right now... mwuhahahahahaaaaa!!

Fire Monkey · Post by **Fire Monkey** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 5:54 am

TheJester wrote:Your best bet if you wana get some half decient xp and get up a level or so is go kill rats in leor. they are prety easy and provide half decint xp. there the same as the rats in elysia exept there is more of them .or one way i found to level up faster at lower levels is try to hang out with groups of people that are gona hit up the beetle cave or some kind of quest were everyone gets xp. you do get some xp for rp'ing when dm's hapen to so see you but that dont happen to often so your best bet is hunt rats.

Nice advice.... Except theres a lich underneath LeOr right now and lvl 2 is probably a bit too soon to be soling that one

.

Kreetogg · Post by **Kreetogg** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 6:01 am

Lafferty wrote: I think the sewers are a good shot.

I got my pale elven ass handed to me a couple times in those seweres tonight. I made it back to the surface with a dead familiar, few healing kits, and effects from disease and posion... Thankfully someone came and escorted me around.

Amarein · Post by **Amarein** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 7:58 am

If you plan on taking up a craft, the best time to start is at a lower lv,

Especially when there are few people online, at lower lvs, crafting xp is rather decent, and as you gain crafting levels, you will be getting even more xp and more gold, and of course more items that you can craft.

If you decide to pick up crafting at a later level, you would spend alot of time doing low lv crafting when you should get doing better things.

When you are not crafting, Rp

unfortunately I am not online at the peak hours, so i have not yet run into large storylines yet . But
rping with all the people you meet can be very interesting. Argue discuss, insult people... all adds up.

Kreetogg · Post by **Kreetogg** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 8:12 am

As long as you bring it up, any hints (just hints, otherwise I suppose it would be cheating) on starting with crafing. No luck so far

Vergilius · Post by **Vergilius** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 8:37 am

Deider wrote:
CryHavoc wrote:I want stories. Quests. Big XP reward not a requirement. ph@t l33t not a requirement. So solo rat-hunting or chatting over a tankard, while fun at times, aren't my big draw to the game, you know?

But I plan to dedicate a few good hours tonight to seeing if I can find a few likeminded players.
Hang out at Elf Gate, or in Fanos' shop in the Artisans' District. These are Elysia's two "high-traffic" places, bottlenecks where you have a good chance of running into other players. A lot of DMs also prowl these spots waiting for people to group up so they can hook them into a story-based adventure.

You want a big quest? It's coming, being cooked up right now... mwuhahahahahaaaaa!!

more than one quest being cooked up for Elysia right now. I have several up my sleeves, and its just a matter of time before I unveal them. Basically, anywhere there is a group of PCs, there is a chance of a DM showing up.

for example, when I log-in, I look at where everyone is and try to drop in on the whole server once, drop cookies on the RPers. Then I go back through and look for the groups, if I can cook something up their way I do it, however this isn't always the case. Elf gate/Fanos are usually more about ambience than any big plot.

As for Stories, I admit, thats what I really wanted when I came here too. however, that just ain't gonna happen. There will be long stretches of time that a DM isn't even logged in. while we may be used to a DM providing the fun in PNP, online you really have to make your own fun, as on Avlis at least, there will be long stretches of time that a DM isn't even logged in.

Vergilius · Post by **Vergilius** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 8:43 am

Kreetogg wrote:As long as you bring it up, any hints (just hints, otherwise I suppose it would be cheating) on starting with crafing. No luck so far

crafting hints: 1. Talk to other players, many will tell you how to make things for free.

2. Join one of the crafting guilds, if you do, it usually involves being taught lower level recipes.

QuickLightning · Post by **QuickLightning** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 9:29 pm

Anyndur Lightning (my lil' ignorant ghost elf) has been trying to join the AAAA guild for quite some time but unable to find anyone in there ever. I heard there was a new bowcrafting guild being built soon, is this true? and does the AAAA teach bowcraft?

Flakey · Post by **Flakey** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 10:01 pm

QuickLightning wrote:Anyndur Lightning (my lil' ignorant ghost elf) has been trying to join the AAAA guild for quite some time but unable to find anyone in there ever. I heard there was a new bowcrafting guild being built soon, is this true? and does the AAAA teach bowcraft?

There is a new bowcrafting guild being set up. Called ACE, with a hall in Elysia to start with, then one in Mikona.

QuickLightning · Post by **QuickLightning** » Mon Apr 12, 2004 12:41 am

Sweet! my new character will definitely apply for membership when it gets up.

jbspahn · Post by **jbspahn** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 7:08 am

just wandering i never really played on the PnP D&D, so i want to ask the pro's. On the PnP D&D would you get XP from RPing? just wandering b/c i like getting XP for RPing b/c most the time even in RL you learn alot by talking with other people. Then you learn alot also when you put the talk to use, aka go out and fight or whatever your trade may be. Any who just a question i thought i would throw up here......not literally "throw up here" cause that would be gross but just bring up a question, thanks in advance!

Wyrmwing · Post by **Wyrmwing** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 7:11 am

jbspahn wrote:just wandering i never really played on the PnP D&D, so i want to ask the pro's. On the PnP D&D would you get XP from RPing? just wandering b/c i like getting XP for RPing b/c most the time even in RL you learn alot by talking with other people. Then you learn alot also when you put the talk to use, aka go out and fight or whatever your trade may be. Any who just a question i thought i would throw up here......not literally "throw up here" cause that would be gross but just bring up a question, thanks in advance!

That depends on the DM really. Some DM's don't give XP cookies, others award small XP awards for good RP'ing and as an incentive to keep doing it.

Aloro · Post by **Aloro** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 7:42 am

jbspahn wrote:just wandering i never really played on the PnP D&D, so i want to ask the pro's. On the PnP D&D would you get XP from RPing? just wandering b/c i like getting XP for RPing b/c most the time even in RL you learn alot by talking with other people. Then you learn alot also when you put the talk to use, aka go out and fight or whatever your trade may be. Any who just a question i thought i would throw up here......not literally "throw up here" cause that would be gross but just bring up a question, thanks in advance!

There are explicit rules for how to determine experience for killing monsters in PnP D&D, and very vague guidelines for how to determine experience for all other actions. DMs are encouraged to reward experience for roleplaying in PnP, but... since the rules are heavily slanted towards combat, this doesn't always happen as much as it perhaps ought to. In Avlis, we try to encourage people to perform other activities besides killing things, and thus we reward other behaviours (such as crafting, performing quests, and roleplaying).

- Aloro

Comick · Post by **Comick** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 10:43 am

Deirder wrote:You want a big quest? It's coming, being cooked up right now... mwuhahahahahaaaaa!!

Oh oh... Troubles ahead !

Let them come ! Let them come !

*sharpen sickle and craft bandages*

Dirk Cutlass · Post by **Dirk Cutlass** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 11:23 am

Finally made 2nd level so I feel like I can start finding people and doing stuff. So the question is... what is there to do?

My advice... don't bother with most of the quests. The "council member" quest - never done it, no need, don't bother with it.

Avlis is not built around these scripted quests, they are just there to add a bit of background colour on dull days when there is nobody else on. They don't make Avlis and are not essential to make progess (this is not like the single-player game where you have to do A,B & C before you can get the whatever-it-is-your-looking for).

Of course some of the bigger ones are nice (Slaver's Deep, or the Drem quests spring to mind), but again IMHO their main purpose is to provide some background so you can put a party together and go adventuring. The fun comes from the party, not the script.

Anyway a few tips on what to do at these low-levels:
1) Best bet is to party-up and go exploring, if it fits your character.

2) Crafting is a good use of time if there is nobody else on (it seems a shame to dig ore for hours if there are other people on mind you).

3) Solo-exploring if you feel real confident, but get ready to run behind the nearest T'Nanshi warrior if a grizzly bear comes running after you

4) Maybe do one or two quests, like Jerto's beetle bellies in Mikona, as these are a much needed supply of gold (never mind the xp) for low-levels. There are probably similar "must do" quests in Elysia and other places.

If you are having trouble partying-up, e.g because either nobody knows you, or you think you are too low and insignificant... My advice, a) don't let that bother you b) do something interesting to attract a group's attention. If you just stand their watching you are unlikely to get involved, but if you start laying out a picnic on the ground, or juggling or sneezing ... or anything interesting, people will ask whats up and start talking to you and pretty soon you get invited to thwart the evil giants plans in Mikona again

And so what if you are lvl 2 and everyone else is lvl15+, they won't mind - and they'll look after ya too.

analgesia · Post by **analgesia** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 7:59 pm

1) Best bet is to party-up and go exploring, if it fits your character.

This has been the most rewarding for me (not necessarily in terms of XP, but definitely in quality). I'm a newbie (2nd level) and ran into a few other lowish lvl characters, teamed up, and had a very fun time RPing. We explored the Elysia outskirts with some of the council quest's requests as the reason to do so. The others had more xp than me, but made me feel welcome. It's been exciting to face some more challenging adversaries, which is feasible when you're in a group.

I've noticed that the veterans tend to go out of their way to include the newcomers by lending advice, providing healing support if you get in over your head, and giving you good opportunities to give a go at RPing. Thanks!