Wow!
That pretty much sums it up I guess.
I had the pleasure of getting a free tour of the Phlan server yesterday night, and I was thoroughly impressed.

First of all, I was overjoyed to see the sheer size of the city. With one large (32x32?) area for each ward, it beats Neverwinter of the single player campaign by far (For a map of the Phlan wards, check out the Phlan geography page (http://www.sorcerers.net/phlan/geography.shtml)).
Not the least by the sense of coherency that seems to be utterly missing in Neverwinter...

Second, prominent places and buildings are well taken care of. Mendor's Library was a beauty, The Valhingen graveyard looked really good, Old Phlan was suitably dilapitaded, Matteo has a good stock of arms and armor etc.

A few details stuck in my mind more than the rest though.
The script that allows your character to sit down on a chair or a bench was just excellent. All this time that I've played the single player campaign I didn't know what I was missing, and there it was!
I just can't wait to sit at a table in Nat Wyler's Bell Inn, swapping tales of grandeur with my fellow adventurers. Just this simple thing made Phlan seem so much more a place suited for a persistent environment. Big thanks go to Zorac for developing this beauty. :)
The drunken dwarf was cool too. ;)

Another thing was the docks. Unforunately I never got to sail to Sokal Keep, the ship's captain wouldn't open the gates for us, but I'm sure he just had a bad day. I can readily imagine how it would have worked, and I'm glad to see that boat travel is now possible. Big thanks to ADM Evaine for that script.

All in all the experience instilled me with a sense of greatness, and a longing to see more of this fabulous world (something the single player game has so far utterly failed in I might add). Hopefully I can talk Erran into giving me more tours later on, and hopefully I'll get to see some of the outer areas as well, like the Quivering Forest. And... *checks his watch*... September isn't all that far away, is it? ;)

See you all in Phlan!

I am afraid I can't take credit for inventing those chairs. But I agree with you that they are a must-have. That's why I included them. Steal with pride is my motto :D

I was able to sail to Sokal Keep on a free preview Erran allowed me to join last week. I was very impressed by it and the benches at the dock that you can sit down on as well. I'm thinking maybe I should join most of the other AORTA folks and start in Phlan instead of Shadowdale :)

Thanks for the playtesting guys, it helps me spot the glitches like the wrong way round door etc. The areas are 'only' 16x16 btw, (to speed loading)but they do feel big; with 10 such areas built Phlan is already bigger than Neverwinter.
Playtesting works like this: if I see your ICQ flower up when I want to try out something new I give you a holler and say 'want to join in?'
If anyone would like to contribute an NPC or a script (non plot) drop me an e-mail,
erran@sorcerers.net

I'm excited to hear that Phlan is coming along so well. Erran, when are you having the first open house? I'd love to stop by and just take a look around.

This sounds great, I am looking forward to settling into Phlan. Erran, when are you usually on and looking for testers? Over the next few weeks, I will have a lot of free time, and would love the opportunity to join in.

Wow, it seems that our great dm crew has been working hard on Phlan. i cant wait to experience it myself. Erran, if you are looking for another playtester id love to do it.

Yesterday I went through the same thing as Blackthorne, and I must say I'm impressed. Very nice work. And thanks to Erran for not killing me since the patch he had to install so I could join the server really messed some things up. :shake:

Playtesting:
I'm usually around after 8pm GMT. If I see your ICQ flower up when I have something to try out, I give you a holler, the IP and password and off we go. Beware:
1) this constitues a spoiler, so Phlan will not be a surprise to you when we go 'live'.
2) stay close to your tour guide. Some game content is already in, there may be doors you shouldn't go through or monsters you shouldn't trigger.
3) let me know if anything doesn't feel right. Some things will be obvious - eg unlinked doors/transitions. Others are more subtle - eg I thought I would be facing that way, not this?

My priorities: Get up a working Inn or two where you can hang out.
Put in a few shops and temples.
Give you something to bash (and/or be bashed by)
Link up with my ADMs bits of the world and with adjacent servers
Put in the eye candy of a bustling seaport town.

If you want to volunteer to help with a bit of scripting/building interiors etc give me a line.

Haven't been visiting SP and the ALFA boards recently, but it looks like I'm gonna be free the next couple of weeks.

My ICQ is: 148612539

Hope I get the chance to hook up with you guys and see the sights, since Phlan is my starting point too. :)

8:00pm GMT... that's 4:00 am over here. Ah well... :coffee:

[ August 01, 2002, 11:43: Message edited by: eveningdrive ]

I'm curious to find out more about my intended starting location :) So if you need some more playtesters, I'd cheerfully volunteer.
My ICQ number is #115643699 and I'll be on ICQ when I have time.

[ August 01, 2002, 16:05: Message edited by: Ragusa ]

3 of us took a stroll round some of Baldaks wilderness / forest areas the other night. Impressive and very different in feel from the city. You start to get a real idea of the SIZE of the place, travel is not to be taken lightly!

Erran, if you thought that was big, I have only sent you 1/3 of the areas I mapped out. But you are right, travel in the wilderness is very different from the city. Lots of open space.

"Oh give me a home
Where the Sorcerer roams
and the Orcs and the Goblins play
.............."

That sounded like a server request. :p

I was amongst the three people to have checked out the area's you gave us, Baldak. I really enjoyed the Quivering Forest and surrounding area. Even though 32 x 32 seems pretty big, you can still move from one side to the other pretty quickly, but with the way you layed out those area's it won't be that simple. Plus there are some spots where people are bound to stop and enjoy the view. This druid was glad to take a break from the city. Can't wait to see the rest.

Not that I dislike your city off course, Erran :D .

Just had another preview with Erran this morning. It was much farther advanced than the last time.

There were background noises to all the maps I was in, there are people everywhere inside the buildings I was taken to, healers in the temples, serving wenches in the bar that will bring you a drink and take your money. There was even a reserved chair in the bar that if you sat in it, some big bruiser will come over and boot you out of it saying that it's reserved.

There's an old librarian in the library (and a warning sign too) that tells you of a ghost who doesn't want you to steal the books. Apparently the librarian will buy interesting books from you (though I didn't take that dialog path).

Wide open spaces outside the city gates. The good side and the bad/poor side of the city look distinctly different; there was a reddish hue to the surroundings in the poor side where it's more blue on the good side.

Erran and I ran though the varying maps for quite a while it seemed and yet he said I'd seen less than 10% of it! It must be just gigantic...

All in all I was so impressed with the work Erran and his team have done so far that I switched my official starting location to Phlan in the ALFA database! :)