I've been thinking about the future of Deepnight lately, and if I can do anything with it. I remember when I had two rooms, no money, and a bunch of ideas. I wanted it to be a center of learning like Rhysus' manse, a beautiful city like Celest, and have a big connection with nature like Serenwilde. It was supposed to have something for everyone, from the large tradehall, to the inn, to the airship.

79 rooms and 20 or so people later, I still feel like I am where I started at.

I've never asked the gods for organization status. I feel like if I had 200 or so rooms, and 100 or so people, I might start looking into that, but currently we're not that large. But this place just doesn't feel "real". I see people coming and going quite frequently, maybe one person every five minutes, so I do get a lot of traffic, but the majority of the people don't travel beyond the fulcrux.

The thing is, I didn't build this place for myself, it's for everyone. I've been called, greedy, powerhungry, and attacked OOCly for building Deepnight, and all the while, I've given ten thousand gold to each person who wants a room, didn't charge for room titles or descriptions, helped them find artisans to furnish thier rooms, and even given away a free one or two. I've not made a dime on this place, and that's fine.

What I'm worried about is that I'll have this massive area that nobody will visit. The plaza is somewhat of a meeting place for some people now, with the store and the regen for allies, as well as the two creatures that live in Deepnight, but like I said, no one ventures beyond the first room.

I know I need to finish room descriptions, but I'm willing to guess that's not the main problem (most of you only QL anyway). What is it that I should do to make this work? I advertise both publically and privately, I've funded 90% of it myself... and yet, the place just seems deserted.

I'm open to constructive ideas and criticism.

If Deepnight had an oven, I could go there to cook and stuff. Much easier to get to then the kitchens in Seren and Celest

Take your average city.. how many people are hanging out anywhere but the "center square"? Not reallife city, mud city.

If people are often comming to your fulcrux I think that would be sign of success.


As for advice... Underpants first, then pants.

The tradehall already has rooms for an oven, as well as both kinds of benches, and a forge. I just don't have 2000cr.

pssssh,pants. I wore a kilt for 20-odd years, and I never had any problems. As for advice, I suggest maybe having some sort of contest. not sure what kind, but who doesn't love a good contest?

That's funny, I was thinking about it recently.

Conclusion I came up to then was that you're a bit delusional about the importance of your manse and cartels, for example how you always talk about it calling it a 'city', add new rooms, make the layout... while whenever I come up there it's empty, or people just pop in to check the shop and whisk away quickly proceeding to the next one.

Your post made me realize that you're not delusional but more of a visionary who builds and builds, but actually notices and is concerned about his concept not working out too well. Turns out my judgment was wrong. I have to say that I sort of admire you for trying, especially that it's real money you spend on that project. Personally, I believe the potential is huge, but I'm also not surprised it fails in practice.

Why? I don't know, but I think it's because of unwillingness of players, not you doing something wrong. I'm not the best person to talk about so called "pure roleplaying" and creating your own plots (it would possibly connect to utilizing your manse and putting a spark of life in there), as I'm rather content just with "immersion" and relying on structures and quests provided by the game. This is an issue here - I bet a lot of people simply consider the "real thing" (supported by the framework, which are cities/communes, guilds, quests) superior to anything that a mere player tries to run and what has no backup by the system.

If there was stuff going on, some characters would actually do something in there (even just hang out and talk, but it would be known you can meet people there), more would come and it could become an active place. Right now though, it's most usually empty so nobody does. Kind of a vicious circle. Another reason could be small playerbase. It impacts everything, including your manse.

Well anyway, I can't think of anything -you- could do to breathe more life into Deepnight, maybe others will. If I come up with something, I'll surely let you know.
And I'm sorry that this post is probably not what you expected, no answers but incoherent wondering, meh.

Think about it methodicly: What do the "real" cities have, and what does deepnight have?

Tradeskill locations - check (when R. has money, in deepnight)
Guilds - Not in Deepnight
Planes - Not in Deepnight
Nexus - Not in Deepnight
Framework (map and locations and such) - Check.
Channel + Ranks - Check.
Denizens - Not (really) in Deepnight.

I think the Divine should give you some lee-way into getting more stuff.
Research for something IG?

perhaps getting endorsement from a god? even if it isn't actually a city or doesn't even have a nexus, having a god recognize it as something(probably just as it is now, or something. like trying to get one god to join/patron(if they'd be willing to do that to a non-city) the clan) would likely get much more people to recognize it also. problem is it would also probably create unwanted enemies, so try getting one that isn't very many an enemy, like possibly Lord Elycrion or Lord Auseklis? they seem the least commune/city related to me, and i think to most other people.
it's a very good project you have going, i'm not quite shure what would make it more connected. i do believe tsaephai has once offered to attempt to run a festival there, but never got a responce from you.

I think what holds Deepnight as a "city" back is that it just isn't the city people are hoping for.

If you polled people and asked, which would you prefer: Hallifax, Ackleberry, Gauriduch... or Deepnight, what do you think the result would be?

Quite frankly, I apprecitate that you want to build build build, but Deepnight is just a bunch a rooms. Take Serenwilde, for example, we have a rich history, the guilds have a rich history, we have quests to gain a prophecy from an ancestral spirit, symbolic figures to guide us (White Hart), etc. Deepnight has nothing like this.

It doesn't have history yet, that's a good point. I need to do a few things to make it more "real". I don't nessecarily intend to try to make it into a real organization, and take over the world or something, but I need something... maybe a collection of stories from Deepnight or something. A library is really going to help.

And I was going to ask Someone to patron, but the more and more I read his Principles, I knew it wasn't going to happen, and I think there are only two gods that are unaffiliated with anything right now...

Tradeskill locations - working towards it, have the rooms already
Guilds - don't need them right now, if ever
Planes - wait, what? Planes? Why do I need planes, aetherspace is betwen them.
Nexus - working on it, researching some things in-game, though I don't know if I can ever get something like it
Framework (map and locations and such) - Check.
Channel + Ranks - Check.
Denizens - Two currently, but I do want people. I'll ask when I start to get more rooms and more people in the clan.

I've not really asked the gods for special treatment or anything, and only when I get bigger might I request that I could get or purchase some extra cool stuff. Lisaera once joked that I'd have to get around 200 rooms or something, and a lot of people.

I don't intend this place to be a carbon copy of anything else. I don't need a nexus, elemental plane, cosmic plane, all the same things cities have. If I ever get organization status (bank, newsroom, ability to have some kind of a CT), I'll be thrilled, but I've never gotten my hopes up. It is what it is.

I think I've made great progress so far.

I think deepnight needs some point of views.. ya know, take some positions on issues, like taint/wyrd/whatever. I think that is why it is looked at as just a large manse, it has no position on issues, it has no conflict, it is just a place...

Quite frankly, I just love the idea of a player starting something all by himself and trying to add more to the world without any help from the gods. I'm trying to do the same thing right now, and I can see how hard it is. So don't give up; Deepnight is more than anybody expected it could be already, and it'll probably be even more eventually. (When you get the traderooms, for example.)

OOC I like Deepnight as a concept. The idea of a shard realm built entirely in the space between planes appeals to me. IC is more difficult. Traesri has visited the place once or twice and likes what he sees, but he is also aware that the person who built the place is Tainted, and thus is inherently his enemy. For me, that's one of the biggest things holding me back from getting particularly involved with you or Deepnight - you're Taintscum.

I don't know if others have that kind of problem. I play Traesri a certain way and stay true to that method as much as I can (though he certainly evolves beyond my ability to guess).

To get more people, I do think that a story of some kind would help. History is what gets me interested in places. Imagine if one of the PC's out there came from Deepnight itself rather than one of the cities? Can you imagine what kind of outlook on life someone who was born between the planes would have? It's an interesting concept, really. It'd be interesting if unique flora and fauna started to appear in Deepnight itself, warped and mutated shards of life from the Basin that have been touched by the energies of portalspace.

But I'm just throwing ideas out there. Random ramblings and thoughts from someone who should be going to sleep. My apologies if I've been incoherent, hah.

If you need denizens in there, just go steal all the cows, sheep, pilgrims, chickens, and scholars and let them loose.

can they get back to prime..? XD

I'm not sure, i dont think they could... well i dont really think they would be able to. It'd be a evil technique to make sure no one gets them, i mean, you could just lock them up on a manse and leave them there...why am i telling everyone this...

Well... they can go into stockrooms...


Continuing her journey, a dwarven pilgrim trudges off to the down.
The Edge of the Forest.
Superimposed over this location, an ethereal forest reaches up to the sky. A
sign here suggests you READ SIGN!
You see a single exit leading down (closed door).

I've given up on trying to convince people ICly that Richter's not tainted. The thing that makes me mad ooc, is that if I quit Glomdoring, all of a sudden, I'm kosher again with 90% of the world. I've already helped one Celestian to be not so shallow-minded...

And I'm seriously trying to think about some stories or events, it would be a lot of fun.

The cool thing about the plants is that I can put whatever I want in there.



Anyone notice I have like six mounts in my stables that are wild?



The mounts can't, I never tried it with pilgrims, cows, and the like.



I've already figured out how to hijack an entire quest by doing just that. None of the things in my stable have ever left, and I don't think new ones have spawned, I'll have to go check.

Well pilgrims do not have the knowledge of portals, but they do know how to enter locked doors, those sneaky pilgrims, that's why they always have gold on them, they're all thiefs!

Maybe you need events? With Christmas coming up, you should throw a party in there. Invite people to walk around and socialise (make it a rule that staying in the first room is not allowed). You'd have to sit in the front room to greet people all the time and direct them away. Some ideas:

-christmas lottery (if you decide to do the christmas bash)
-live auctions (you would need to be online, in the room and have to bid by using says). Have citizen-exclusive and public auctions like that once in a while. Maybe even a blind auction, for fun.
-send some words of appreciation to the citizens of Deepnight (all 79+ of them). Or a speech.
-a "get to know your neighbours" event. Invite all citizens of Deepnight to say hi to one another at an exclusive Deepnight party. Even better if you do it personally (by message or other means, not by the public newsboard.)
-invite fate guides and divines to make an appearance (with a no politics rule, of course)
-IDEA that an admin run event be held in your manse. Or beg for one.
-allow people to throw birthday parties, weddings, anything like that in Deepnight. After all, it's a neutral area where everyone who isn't banned from it can meet up and forget about politics for a moment and bask in celebration.
-throw theme parties!

In short: Have parties and events in Deepnight to make it a happening place. There's a reason why RL places have attractions. eg Mardi Gras, New year's countdown etc