Once again, Avlis would like to take on more DM's

[Orleron]

Fans of Avlis, I would like to show you something. I have not done this before, but this should shed a lot of light on our situation. What follows is a diagram of all our DM's and what servers they are currently working on:

Mikona
Coordinator: Mistcaller
Senior: Hylia (soon to be taking break)
DM's: Sicko, KilrathiSly, Mistcaller, Brock, Wombat

Wilderness
Coordinator: PlasmaJohn
Senior: Lilith
DM's: Olaf, mortzestus, Manuel, RCon, Ronnin


Elysia
Coordinator: Alustriel
Senior: Nighthawk4 and Vergilius (soon to be taking break)
DM's: Lasher, Wyrmwing

LeOr
Coordinator: GreyLynx in training.
Senior: (War DMs, Choral, et alii as needed)
DM's: TheElvenKing, Melakin

Ferrel
Coordinator: Nightfall, in-training
Senior: Sindol
DM's: Eef, Draconis

Deglos
Coordinator: Gaelyn, in-training
Senior: Xoc
DM's: Mondopotato

Kuras
Coordinator: Jonezie
Senior:
DMs:


World DM's
Choraldances


Stuck somewhere IRL DM's
Vian
Strangg
Alex
Deider
Liartes???
Vroshgrak???

From this, it's easy to see somethings. First, you now know why our DM coverage is not primo. Second, you see that our DM coverage is actually way worse than that. Third, you see how hard it is to get good help! For every 5 DM's we hire, 2 quit from being overwhelmed, 1 disappears off the face of the earth, and the other 2 actually stay to become part of our ranks. It's sad but it's the truth!

So here we go again, for another round of DM hirings! I will make it even easier by giving you the exact things we are looking for in candidates so you don't have to waste your (or our!) time:

* You've either got to have some pnp DM'ing experience, or you've got to be a player here for over a year and know the backgrounds pretty well

* The more pnp DM experience you have, the better your chances

* We like it if you are at least 20 years old. You've got to be really good to get in younger than that.

* Regardless of how much pnp DM'ing experience you have, we like it if you've played Avlis for at least three months. More is better.

* If you've ever been in trouble with the Team, your chances of getting in are slim.

* You've got to be willing to donate time, which may mean you will not be able to play your characters as much. You can still play them, but the more you are willing to put aside your characters and work for the good of the whole World as a DM, the better your chances.


There you have it. That's what we look for in evaluating DM applications. We have a great team that is a joy to work for, and you can go far with us, and we need you.

(Yes, that's a new server coming up that needs DM's. The old ones need them too, however.)

[Nightface]

Ferrel
Coordinator: Nightface, in-training
Senior: Sindol
DM's: Eef, Draconis

[Vergilius]

Correction: The Cooridinator of Ferrel would be Nightfall, I apologize for the confusion.

[Nightface]

*breathes a sigh of relief*

You had me worried that Avlis had instituted a draft or something!

[girlysprite]

I will apply when my internship is over, end of June. Before that I won't have time anyways.

[Espy]

I don't qualify, I don't have the time, and I'd suck at it anyway anyway, but out of curiosity (and for posterity), what's the learning curve for this sort of thing? How much time does it take to gain the proficiencies for somebody who has not DMed in NWN, and for somebody who has DMed in NWN?

SP

[luke32m]

Well, I have not been in trouble with the team, I have been on Avlis for more than 3 months, and I have plenty of time, (Single Dad) and have PnP Dm experience.
But I cant find the DM application, help me please

[Marijn]

I'm seriously interested.
See previously asked question..??

[Alphonse]

you need to email staff@avlis.org guys

[Marijn]

Sindol wrote:

In any case you can just request a DM application over the team mail and answer the questions in there.

Thank you. Just found this on my search.

[Serineth Swiftpaw]

What happened to Jordicus? I've not seen him around for ages...

[Deider]

I don't qualify, I don't have the time, and I'd suck at it anyway anyway, but out of curiosity (and for posterity), what's the learning curve for this sort of thing? How much time does it take to gain the proficiencies for somebody who has not DMed in NWN, and for somebody who has DMed in NWN?

When I was hired, I had never used the DM client before. The client's a tool - knowing how to use it well makes a good DM better in NWN, but you don't have to be an expert at it to tell a good story. A lot of it is just bells and whistles. If you can possess an NPC, type reasonably fast, and think on your feet, then you know 95% of what you need to be a good RP-based NWN DM.

Jordi's around - he pops up, and we hit him with the whack-a-mole stick until he goes down again.

[girlysprite]

it reminds me of being a gamemaster of larp. all the people running around, sometimes difficult to keep track of em, and you try to get a story across

[Wyrmwing]

Whoa.. thanks to everyone that has requested an app form.

I think I returned a mail to everyone, so if you haven't received anything as yet, please let us know and we'll make sure you'll still get it.

[Alex Noble]

* You've got to be willing to donate time, which may mean you will not be able to play your characters as much. You can still play them, but the more you are willing to put aside your characters

*sighs* The one thing that keeps be from filling out an app. I just do not think I can give them up. I mean they are like my kids. Alex will be 2 in june.

[Daerthe]

He never said give them up entirely Alex, just give them less time than you do as a player. Otherwise, where would you find the time to DM at all?

[Alex Noble]

He never said give them up entirely Alex, just give them less time than you do as a player. Otherwise, where would you find the time to DM at all?

True, but I have done PnP on and off for oh *coughs* the last 25 years, and I know what I am like once I start to work up a campain. Plot, story, back ground, and more than one plan for what's going to happen..Darn PC's Never go the direction you had planned. Well not unless you get a big enough stick. Encounter balance, challange, and keeping everyone intrested. It is a heck of a lot of fun when it all works out. I know DMing on Avlis would be a heck of a lot of work and fun. But I would have to kill 4 or 5 alts period, and then my two mains would only be around for guild and order stuff.

[Mistcaller]

He never said give them up entirely Alex, just give them less time than you do as a player. Otherwise, where would you find the time to DM at all?

True, but I have done PnP on and off for oh *coughs* the last 25 years, and I know what I am like once I start to work up a campain. Plot, story, back ground, and more than one plan for what's going to happen..Darn PC's Never go the direction you had planned. Well not unless you get a big enough stick. Encounter balance, challange, and keeping everyone intrested. It is a heck of a lot of fun when it all works out. I know DMing on Avlis would be a heck of a lot of work and fun. But I would have to kill 4 or 5 alts period, and then my two mains would only be around for guild and order stuff.

You are quite correct on that Alex. But all in all it depends on what you value most as fun.

For me and through my personal experience, it is this that I love:

It is a heck of a lot of fun when it all works out

[Vergilius]

* Regardless of how much pnp DM'ing experience you have, we like it if you've played Avlis for at least three months. More is better.

Also, if you were told to "wait", or received no response at all from your previous app, then shoot the team an email and we'll reexamine the app.

[storminj]

So if one was to apply to be a DM and still have a active character would they be put onto a server their character isn't ussually on?

[Tharliss]

So if one was to apply to be a DM and still have a active character would they be put onto a server their character isn't ussually on?

Or more specifically: Do the DM's have much choice concerning the server they are placed on?

My largest concern of becoming a DM is that I don't want to know any plot information that my PC might be involved in. Yes, I can definitely handle not letting OOC stuff interfer with IC knowledge, but as a PLAYER I enjoy finding stuff out in-game.

Would any DM's be willing to share their experiences concerning the above issue? Thanks!

[Sarmanos]

I'd consider it *maybe* after I got my own world up and running. But it'd likely also would mean giving up Archibald's Red Order role I worked so hard far

[JollyOrc]

My largest concern of becoming a DM is that I don't want to know any plot information that my PC might be involved in.

You want to DM in general, but don't want to ruin things for yourself by learning of all these Avlis plots ?

Nearly every CoPaP world is seeking DMs.


This doesn't mean that you shouldn't be applying here. Just something you might want to keep in mind

[Arandil]

I can share my experience as an ex DM...
Being on the team is amazingly cool..but it means a couple of things..

- theres a lot more to read on the boards, as you have access to every forum. It takes discipline NOT to look at certain forums. When I was DMing I made sure I didn't read the M'Chek army forums for example, unless it was an obviously ooc thread I needed to read ( i.e. CvC guidelines kinda stuff ).

- I found that I DM'd best on the servers I knew as a player. But I didn't find it that hard to separate the two "lives" so to speak. I DM'd plenty of army events in an even handed manner ( if anything I favoured the M'Cheks and spent more time on them ). But my knowledge as a player really helped my DMing.

- I did in the end find that my PC was too high profile to continue both DMing and playing him. And at the same time, RL intervened in the form of a baby, which made my decision to go back to playing only a lot easier. I think a lot of DMs struggle with this problem. As long as you're not involved in any high powered plots as a player though, its ok. In my mind, the best DMs are those who put their PCs to one side, or rarely play them. But some people manage it. Its quite easy to preserve your ignorance of plots your in, each plot has a specific DM thread in the DMs forum, so just make sure you don't read it.

I'd say don't sign up if you're not prepared to invest the time, as you'll just waste the teams time training you up, then give up. But DMing is tremendous fun and if you're jaded as a player, it might well reinvigorate you totally! And it's always fun to catch people cybering in the forest and spawn something uber on them.

Arandil

[Vergilius]

Or more specifically: Do the DM's have much choice concerning the server they are placed on?

Since the Team prefers that our DMs have fun while DMing, they usually make their own choice. In present circumstances, we will need a small crew of DMs to work Kuras.