Questions on Server settings you like.

[Blast (AKA LostAmI)]

So i admin a casual PVE-C/RP Mature (no ERP) server.

As far as server settings and mods what do you look for in a server?
I'm very interested what people have to say.
Especially about harvest settings, currently running 4x, think that's to much?
Feel free to make any suggestions or comments relevant to server settings and mods.
I want this server to get a good community going so i figured what better way then to ask the community what works.

[DarkFire]

Just my personal preferences, but some setting adjustments I always make in my play-throughs are:

1. Turn off the pointless building stability system.

2. Make time pass more slowly. In my current game sunrise to sunset is around 3 hours real time. The night also lasts for around 3 hours. Gives me a reason to use the available 'night vision' options and also makes the game a little more atmospheric. Wandering around the jungle in the pitch black with just a torch to light your way is a real experience, even with 1450 hours played I still enjoy this.

3. I also set resource harvesting to 4 or 5 x. I don't want to have to hit dozens of iron rocks just to get a few iron ingots.

4. I usually increase XP gain from combat to 3 x normal and XP gain from other sources to 2 x normal. Again just my personal preference but personally I never enjoy the early stages of RPGs where your character is super weak. I want to play with the high end toys :)

As for mods, whoo boy, where to even start? Some quality of life mods I personally consider to be essential are, in no particular order: Better Thralls, Less Building Placement Restriction (LBPR), Improved Quality Of Life (IQOL), Unlock Plus, Hosav's custom UI, Pickup Plus, Armor & Weapon Stats In Benches, Kerozards Paragon Levelling, Master of Puppets and Bosses Be Thrallable.

For gameplay mods, I usually go with EEWA.

[Goldie]

Oh, there's a "Bosses Be Thrallable" mod... I need to give that one a try! Thanks!

[Blast (AKA LostAmI)]

Originally posted by DarkFire:

1. Turn off the pointless building stability system.

Yes I think i'll do this. It's currently more a creative RP server then anything so that seems acceptable.

[Macdallan]

What I look for? Usually just the basic vanilla "official server" settings and I do tend to just play on official servers because of that. I really don't want to play on servers with very high XP gains, extra levels, overpowered player characters that can one-shot everything, very fast gathering, incredibly massive buildings, instant crafting, etc. Only thing I might look for would be total overhauls mods or mod packs that essentially make CE a completely different experience.

What you choose really depends on what kind of environment you want to create for the players. If you don't want people wasting a lot of time gathering materials then 2x or 4x is probably just fine especially if it's meant to be a creative RP server as you said above. Pretty much any setting that makes it more fun or fits your vision of the world you want the players to be in would be fine for that kind of server. Lengthen or disable decay timers for buildings, remove stability if you want really crazy builds, tweak thrall/pet "cooking" times, play around with the day/night cycles.

[hortensia]

Originally posted by DarkFire:

Just my personal preferences, but some setting adjustments I always make in my play-throughs are:

1. Turn off the pointless building stability system.

2. Make time pass more slowly. In my current game sunrise to sunset is around 3 hours real time. The night also lasts for around 3 hours. Gives me a reason to use the available 'night vision' options and also makes the game a little more atmospheric. Wandering around the jungle in the pitch black with just a torch to light your way is a real experience, even with 1450 hours played I still enjoy this.

3. I also set resource harvesting to 4 or 5 x. I don't want to have to hit dozens of iron rocks just to get a few iron ingots.

4. I usually increase XP gain from combat to 3 x normal and XP gain from other sources to 2 x normal. Again just my personal preference but personally I never enjoy the early stages of RPGs where your character is super weak. I want to play with the high end toys :)

As for mods, whoo boy, where to even start? Some quality of life mods I personally consider to be essential are, in no particular order: Better Thralls, Less Building Placement Restriction (LBPR), Improved Quality Of Life (IQOL), Unlock Plus, Hosav's custom UI, Pickup Plus, Armor & Weapon Stats In Benches, Kerozards Paragon Levelling, Master of Puppets and Bosses Be Thrallable.

For gameplay mods, I usually go with EEWA.

That's almost exactly how I like to set up my gameplay.
The only difference being that I significantly shorten night time, I don't like playing in the dark.

[Bacon Overlord®]

Originally posted by Blast (AKA LostAmI):

So i admin a casual PVE-C/RP Mature (no ERP) server.

As far as server settings and mods what do you look for in a server?
I'm very interested what people have to say.
Especially about harvest settings, currently running 4x, think that's to much?
Feel free to make any suggestions or comments relevant to server settings and mods.
I want this server to get a good community going so i figured what better way then to ask the community what works.

1. Building stability has a point especially if you have purges/raids turned on (which you should with a very forgivable amount of building resistance and timers) as this... is how you build a community with people coming to the defense of others that are being raided/purged.

2. Day and night cycles have their points. It's no fun at all if it's always day and torches and other sources of light don't really "shine" during the day. I usually add some type of mod that allows for personal lighting without taking up your hand with a torch like bracelets or some form of mount light.

3. Harvesting rates are adjustable. Start them at whatever you like and see where your server wants you to go with it. Generally the faster you make it the less likely you are to have a long-term community and just have builders that want to make sprawling castles and towers that don't stick around once they've done their screenshots and/or videos. If you have ANY form of teleporter/portal mods then I would say leave the harvesting at like 2x. 3x max.

4. I usually keep EXP gain at 1-1.5x for crafting and 3x for killing. That gets people out of their AFK building macros and into the map.

I generally use Age of Calamitous (haven't checked on it since before all the major updates this last year) and use pippi to add to the starter area with vendor that have some basic supplies, tools, etc.

Make sure you take the time to place special spawns around the world (I tend to focus on the desert and areas where people go all the time like the frost temple) and give them some stuff to fight that's well beyond the typical mobs. Make sure it's worth it too... that means creating a loot table manually using pippi.

Including things in areas where people will definitely frequent like the claws where all the iron is, outside the frost temple (where NOTHING spawns), in big open desert areas (yes, to include the 5 starter nodes), etc. really helps with long-term playability.
Especially if they are really tough world-boss type mobs that require more than just one person unless they are end-game equipped. You can also with some very basic use of mushi make some wave-spawning areas and even an arena.

Keep your rules simple, but enforce them.

Make sure if you add any mods that specifically state that the items they are adding aren't in the loot tables, that you add them manually or at least make a vendor for them.

And lastly and probably the advice I wish I could tell myself back in 2000 when I first started making Baconville servers: Make the server the way YOU want it to be. Otherwise you won't play on it and it just becomes a job you're PAYING to do.

[Blast (AKA LostAmI)]

1. Well Purges are now triggered by the player, they won't be in any real sudden unexpected danger so that's a bit of a mute point there.

2. I prefer my day night cycle as is, equal day nights and longer overall cycle.

3. We have a admin built fast travel network, so possibly reducing rates would encourage longer term players.

4. I like this idea, still lets people level quickly but makes them have to engage in the stabby stabby.

The way we have ours set up is a redirected default spawn into a small shrine that you can't leave till you talk to the Thespian who has an option for story, then tells you the rules, or skip story and tell you the rules, you accept the rules and are teleported to the usual default spawn.

I have a community center built next to the pit in H6 by the obelisk, map, teleporter,
Thespian acting as a shop selling things, Arena with two identical equipment rooms for mutual combat, and a no kill zone marked around it.

We have several story NPCs and a few rudimentry quests that i wrote (I'm a ♥♥♥♥ writer)

Also i don't own i just admin the server, i basically have full authority unless the owner vetos me, which, legit has never happened yet, they just trust me to run it.

We do have Exiles Extreme so there are lots of very interesting enemies to spawn around the place so i'll probably put some of that stuff around.

Our largest issue is we have NO playerbase, it's empty 99% of the time, only a couple of people play every few days for a few hours, without anyone to engage with i feel no one wants to join, people are more interested in joining something then helping to build something. =/ I get on as much as i can to give people someone to talk to, but the few players that do come on seem uninterested in engaging in social interactions.

Even our VERY small passer by traffic on discord almost NEVER enters the server even once. Rules aren't long, or complex, or even unfair, they pretty much common sense.

I just can't seem to attract any users, which is the entire reason i'm doing this research, figure out what I'm doing wrong. or maybe there is just not enough community for the game to go around and i'm just beating my head against a wall.

Tell me if any of this might be causing people to not want to play on the server.
Because i think it's all pretty simple.

Rules

1. Joining discord is mandatory, Talking in it is not. (The purpose is to keep you informed and to help us contact you)
2. You/your clan is limited to ONE base, this may be a single structure or complex/compound of structures. (Fishing traps should be kept to ONE location)
(Be courtious, try to keep the footprint of your base reasonable, and try not to crowed up on other peoples homes, discussion over this will be case by case)
3. No Sexual Harassment, If evidence of sexual harassment is provided, a BAN will be issued, (EVIDENCE IS REQUIRED)
4. No politics, religion (Except in game ones for RP purposes) or jokes about killing IRL people, be they family, stranger or public figure.
5. PVP, Robbery, Muggings, and other forms of Conflict are all allowed.
6. Do Not spam, foundations, torches, wheels of pain, and fishing traps all over or excessively. (Enclosed or not)
7. No Building On/Block, Important Thralls Spawns, Resources, Obelisks, Ghosts, Chests, Lore Items.
8. Do Not Build On/Block Major Travel Routes. (You will be contacted first to address the issue before any action is taken)
9. No PVP at the Community Center at H6 (Pillars mark the safe zone) The Arena is for MUTUAL Combat only.
(Screenshots chat as evidence of mutual combat and any rules agreed upon)

Demolition Rules:

-Manual server cleanups are conducted regularly.
-When you Or your clan is suspected abandond, if you are a member of discord, You will be contacted on discord at least 3 days before any actions are taken.
-If no owner of the structure is contactable on discord. (Solo player or Member of the Clan) the stucture will be demolished immediately.

RP Famework:

This is a Casual RP server, mimimal RP is acceptable, Just don't intentionally ruin it for others.
We would however, like you to keep the setting in mind.
(Conan as orgininally written by Robert E Howard)

Sexy/Skimpy/Nudity is allowed
(As long as it's not overtly pornographic)
This is Conan, Sexy/Skimpy/Nudity is normal.

RP Rules:

-NO ERP, This is not a X rated community. There are many other servers for that.
-RP should be conducted with the enjoyment of all parties in mind. (combat is combat don't be salty)
-PVP is allowed, but should be in character (For minimum RP simply play as a bandit)
-Please handle RP conflict in character, Accept that RP involves conflicts as well, PVP is a part of that.

Mod list (in proper load order)

-Barbarian Barber [vers. 3.6.7]
-Female New Faces
-Male New Faces
-Female Legacy Faces
-Improved Bodies Male Textures
-Improved Bodies - Female Textures
-More Muscles on Females mod
-Pippi - User & Server Management - v3.9.13
-GrimProductions
-Akihabara Design
-Juvilia's Crabby Accessories
-Juvilia's Crabby Fashion
-Legacy of Darkness: Warpaints
-Legacy of Darkness: Metal & Flesh
-Evils Cabinet [2.0.5]
-Evils Emporium [Alpha 0.0.3]
-Cursed Clothes
-CNC
-Agony's Attic
-Deadlands: Armory
-WarSong
-Forgotten Depths [Character Customization]
-Teyahs Boutique - In Association with Tot ! Custom
-Immersive Armor (3.5.4)
-Weaty's Armor Pack v2.3.5
-ExilesExtreme - v1.5.66
-Aphrodite Water
-Glass Constructions and more...
-GCam down to 60
-Beyond Decor: Rustic Edition
-Beyond Decor
-Akihabara Flight "Omikami System"
-Devious Desires
-Pythagoras: Expanded Building - v2.2.2
-LBPR - Additional Features - v2.0.2
-Pickup+
-Less Building Placement Restrictions - v7.4.75
-Chapter 3 Combat HotFix (by Xevyr)
-ModControlPanel
-Cookie's Skinnery 0.4.2
-Tot ! Sudo 1.0.23
-Tot ! Admin 0.6.5 (Alpha)
-Tot ! Custom 1.5.13

[Demiwalker]

Most of the time i make the game a bit harder, mobs hit harder (value around 1.5).
I also increase the damage thralls do from 0.5 to 0.8 or 1
Reduce exp by around 50%
But the most useful tool is the pippi mod
You can add more enemies on the map or give bosses extra loot

[Ridlak]

litman level onefiftysix reborn,
litman weight updated,
litman item stack/container size,
just no rain only,
fog remover.

Just these 5 have always worked with updates and all maps NVR a problem with these;
get all skills/attributes by level 156 if not before, carry 7mill pounds, stack to 5/10k and be able to see for miles and not get wet. (some areas you can see across the map)

Longer days, shorter nights, 5x exp, 5x resource harvesting, resource respawn to 3, lower hunger and thirst, stamina up, stability for building at max.
I keep the strength at par at 1 seeing I'm leveling up enough to overcome bosses.

I took on the castle solo, took a bit, but got er done, not at full strength also.

Then I add other mods like pipi, hosavs, grims, devious, timber/sand stone, sexy silent legion armor, male/female faces, recipe for hardened steel bar, frost and flame placeables, beyond stations.
After this any other mods pertaining to "prettying" up things.