Posted by Proud Blade on April 20, 2000 at 10:07:23:
In Reply to: Hometown populations / informal poll posted by SphereMaker(IMM) on April 20, 2000 at 09:20:38:
Some other things it has going for it:
- An awful lot of people -can- pick Galadon. No alignment restrictions, all guilds, most races.
- Not too many ways for lowbies to go and get themselves killed if they poke around a bit. Ofcol and Tar Valon are like this as well. (This may be what you refer to as "newbie-friendly", though.)
- Easy underground access for avoiding certain trannies.
- High population, in itself, can have advantages. Much easier to trade, roleplay with others, or just assemble a group without as much walking.
- It's quite generic. Don't get me wrong- it's remarkably detailed, but the town doesn't have much of a 'feel' to it. As a result, there won't be many people who have a roleplay reason to not pick Galadon. Contrast that with Udgaard, or Tar Valon.
- Not only do Arbiters patrol it often, but it's pretty much the -only- patrolled area. Much of this has to do with the low number of Arbiters in Thera, and the fact that when 3 or 4 log on at the same time, some see a rare chance to go and rank.
- Lots of "practice-worthy" mobs lying around. Of course, many PKers make a living off of people who choose to practice in crowded areas, and the occasional IMM prodding via the Captain/Enforcer is good for reminding people that killing guards in a town is likely going to irritate the other guards.
- Everyone knows where it is. Lots of hints on the roads around, and so many roads lead to or from there. Comnpare to Udgaard, Barovia, Eryn Galen, Darsylon, Bryn Shandar, Hillcrest, or even Seantryn Modan.
- It's surrounded by roads, not big honkin' mountains. Lowbies don't have unlimited movement points (well, without a certain quest), and it can be annoying to have to sleep for hours just to go anywhere.
- Many shops, several of which actually sell useful things. It's no Seantryn, but all towns don't have all of: food, water, containers, a trainer, a bank, return potions, alcohol, and miscellaneous magical thingies. (I'm sure I'm forgetting things as well.)
- A big-ass mob to hide behind if a wanted person is chasing you. Man, Wanted people hate Mr. Enforcer.
That being said, I would love to see other hometowns made more attractive. (Or Galadon less attractive, for that matter). I think the reason less people pick Galadon now is because more and more options are out there. I'd like to see more areas available as choices, even if they would be "bad" choices. (Maybe flagged as not-newbie-friendly during the new character process, so new players don't sign on and get killed right away.) For all I know, many areas could be valid choices- I've seen some pretty odd things pop up for certain race/class combos.
Plus, introducing wood-elves (which I'd estimate as 5% of the population) automatically added in some people who don't live in Galadon.
Maybe Galadon should lose a guild or two? For flavor, if nothing else?
>
> It appears as if hometown populations are finally starting to spread out some, with 58% of the world residing in Galadon (it used to be much higher).
>
> Out of curiosity, what is the prime attraction of residing in Galadon? I wouldn't mind making the other hometowns more attractive to help spread out the population further.
>
> In the past the main attractions have been:
>
> (1) It's newbie-friendly.
> (2) Low-level ranking areas are nearby.
> (3) It's central in location.
> (4) It has each of the guilds.
> (5) Arbiters patrol it fairly often.
> (6) There are several ways of entering/leaving the city (which can aid in escaping, etc).