Hey all! I just got this today regarding ALFA'a go live date. If you haven't already...Get your applications in!!!


ALFA will be live as of 12.01 AM, April 15. Prior to this, for a period of time, all servers will be down. During this time the vault will be wiped. At midnight PST (GMT -8), servers will be brought online and will be considered live.

Our current stage of development requires that we go live, but all players should be aware that we are not done. Things may yet have to change, and we apologize if this causes inconvenience to you. We’ve done our best in the time we’ve had to prepare as well as we can.

I believe ALFA has recently been closed to new apps.

I wanna know when my starting server is going to be up! I don't know if I'm interested in starting on an unfamiliar server, which is why I really didn't go elsewhere much. I wanted my home server to be familiar, but all the others to be new and unknown...

Bah! Erran get your act in gear! ;)

I kept holding out hope that Phlan would be up, but since there's no luck there, I'm moving into a another server, at least until I know that Phlan is finally fixed. Erran, I'll hold out hope for you man, I miss Phlan!

Looks like it's actually starting tonight at midnight PST, so should be interesting the next few days, as we all get going. I hope to see you all there.

Relic MaGrath

After debating with myself for the last couple of weeks, I went ahead and started on another server too. I really wanted to start at Phlan and will come over when it finally goes on-line but I've been doing alot of beta testing and I want to play!

Anyone care to mention what servers they're going to be on in case I want to play?

No one more disappointed than me that Phlan isn't able to be part of this. It seems there is some major incompatibility between the AFS system ALFA uses for DM servers to access the Vault and my Windows XP set up. The wise men of ALFA and here have scratched their heads and cannot figure it out but no Vault means no Phlan :(
I understand there are at least 6 servers up including Alby's Vast Swamp and El Chip's Waterdeep.

My paladin (Belisarius) is on Daggerdale

I also made a halfling rogue that is on Baldur's Gate....Feel free to stop in anytime!

Huh? You're not admitting to having multiple PCs on ALFA are you?

I got attacked by pirates as my ship was sailing to Phlan, so I ended up down in Scarsdale. Place is a mess, really needs some good adventures to come help sort it out.

Long story on the multiple pcs...My paladin died battling a young black bear in the woods, so I decided to make another, different character. But when I started to play it, he got locked out. The next day, my paladin was back.

I really like the landscapes in the game...Much better than in single player...Better music too! My only criticism is xp and fighting. I mean, pc's are supposed to be exceptional people. It amazes me that I would have so much trouble defeating a bear with a 16 strength, longsword and a shield. I bet I could do it IRL with the same equipment, without much trouble.

Oh well, I'll try again today.

I'm playing on Silverymoon, there's a lot of DM interaction, with many of the regular PCs backgrounds and ideals being woven into the server history and stories. It's pretty fun s

Heh. I thought I saw a certain Belisarius log onto to Daggerdale the other night ;) I've been heavily involved in ALFA's Beta testing across half a dozen servers. Now that the Live date has finally come along, I'll be on Daggerdale for the next few months. At the moment there are 13 servers that have gone live. As for waiting for Phlan to come online, you might consider starting on one of the other nearby servers - most of the ones near to Phlan (Scarsdale, Daggerdale, The Vast Swamp, Arabel, The Rearching Woods and the Earthspurs) are live. When Phlan is able to come back online, you will be able to travel there...just very carefully :p Oh, and unless you bring friends, I suggest never travelling the Earthspurs or The Vast Swamp alone. Bel's black bear is just someone's pre-breakfast snack in those places.

Bel, just a note on the xp, and the fighting. It's been pretty tough trying to balance the risk/reward factor. During the first two Betas, even into Beta 3 (about two months ago), a character could advance to the mid-levels relatively quickly. As a result, there has been a real shift from fighting or combat xp to quest given xp. So, even though you're only going to get 3-6 xp for killing a single goblin, taking out the goblin leader and stopping the goblins from raiding the trade route will net you a significant reward.

The fighting...well, Faerun is *not* an easy place to get by as an adventurer. Basically, expect to go through a few level 1 PCs before you advance. Getting to level 2 and beyond is a real acheivement, and well worth the effort. Just don't expect it to happen in a week :)

For anyone who hasn't played much, or at all, in any of the Beta's, I recommend that you spend some time reading over the ALFA forums to get a sense of what's coming. The DMs have done an absolutely fantastic job, and the vast majority of the players are great - but it's very, very different than any CRPG you've played before.

Erran - I'm sorry I didn't wait until Phlan was up...Hopefully it will be soon. Since Daggerdale and Phlan are not too distant from one another, perhaps I can journey there once it comes online.

More likely, I'll probably die...and have to remake a character anyway.

No problem Sir Bel, I've been playing on Daggerdale myself a bit, just to see how a live server looks ;)

Sorry Bel, but I saw that Daggerdale has tons of people on it and there were complaints from other servers that they're being left out, so I joined on Scardale and just played a bit by myself so far.

Brought a barrel of ale back to the barkeep for a quick 25gp and 25XP :) I pretty much just wandered around town for a bit to get the feel of the place and logged off.

Doh...It saddens me that I won't see you in-game BTA...I think there were so many people on Daggerdale because a lot of the others crashed on the first days. That's why I originally started there, I couldn't get in anywhere else.

There were 35 players on last night, and the server crashed like 3 times...So I am actually hoping there will be fewer people on. Hopefully, we'll catch up later! There is a campaign quest I am in on, and I want to see it through. Cheers!

Hey Sir Bel,

I saw your post on the ALFA forums my last character, Cynedra, on Daggerdale ;) Too bad she died though - she was a fun character to play.

I'm debating now about whether to create my next PC on Daggerdale, or move on to a less populated server. Having 20 to 30 players on a server ~regularly~ just starts to take it's toll. I'm actually thinking that I might start on Daggerdale, and then 'recruit' some characters to come help with the troubles in Arabel.

Erran - sorry that you're still having problems with Phlan :( I hope it can be worked out soon.

I've talked to a few people in Daggerdale in game that were planning the same thing...If you run into me in game before you go, let's talk about it! Cheers!

What are the troubles in Arabel? I've joined the community forums at ALFA, but it's hard to find the plot threads with all the technical discussions going on. Daggerdale looks pretty developed, but I'd like having some people around who I trust and would feel comfortable RP'ing with.

Gwaeron of Daggerdale was still alive last time I checked with her ;)

Good to hear...My paladin lies dead in the COnstable's Tower. So, enter my new character...Rem Stoneybrook!

He's a plucky rogue with a much rougher edge than old Nimbul. He's quick to fight, and to scavenge...He's even doing a little merchant work on the side...

*** I met up with BTA over the weekend...But my game crashed...When I returned, he was gone...Sniff, sniff. See you in game soon! ***

We waited for Rem quite a while, but then figured he must've gotten lost somewhere. So they sold the loot they had acquired (I hadn't picked up anything) and distributed it among the three of us (a whopping 10 gp), and then decided to call it a night.

It was fun while it lasted! No single melee enemy is a match for our circle of four bowmen! :lol:

That was definitely THE funniest thing I've ever seen! The Dance of the Bowmen... :lol:

Well if anybody ever gets over to TVS, Olvia the wanna-be halfling bard has survived her 5th adventure. She may be stuck in Belisk(sp?), the halfling village, until she can find someone to get back to Thunderstone or Hutail with but she's shaping up and realizing that she can do magic.

Cool! Well, my little halfling rogue, Rem Stoneybrook made it to level 2 last night, in yet another installment of DM induced carnage!!

The dwarves in Daggerdale decided to reclaim a mine where Duergar currently reside! So a group of enthusiastic (if not necessarily experienced) adventures set out to accomplish the task. Let me first say that group of at least 25 went into the mines...Fewer than 12 made it back to Dagger Falls the following morning.

Although the deaths of so many adventurers may seem tragic, the party actually seemed to grow stronger as we went deeper into the mines. One of those: "the wheat rises above the chaff kind of things." We did not take our first casualties until we entered the 2 level...The home of the gray dwarves!

Our first party death was a young mage who decided to play scout. He stumbled into the first group of Duergar we encountered: 2 warriors, a rogue and a mage. Needless to say, he died instantly and horribly! A hard fight ensued, with our party coming out on top.

Unknown to us, another mage was just outside the room in a bend in the mine shaft. 4 more overzealous adventurers jumped ahead of our scouts, and were vaporized when the Duergar mage unleashed a fireball! He was fairly easy to kill, had the group not rushed ahead...Yet 5 of our number lay dead. At the sight of this carnage, 4 party members decided to flee the mines altogether (we found 2 of their bodies on the way back to Daggerdale!).

We continued to sweep the mining areas, killing every gray dwarf in sight! Miners, rogues, warriors, clerics and mages fell to our swords. We lost a few others along the way, but the remaining party members began to work in concert against the gray dwarves.

In our time in the mine, we also encountered and slew a few giant Hook Horrors and Umber Hulks, that towered above the party. Only excellent tactics saved the remaining party members. But even with our growing battle prowess, we knew we could not continue deeper without resupplying our party, and recruiting other to aid our cause.

We picked up our dead, and limped back to Dagger Falls. Our leader, Falin the Dwarf was dejected, but we vowed to return with him to complete the cleansing of the mines. On a positive note, we did find 2 more clues to the secret of Darksteel, which has further strengthened the resolve of our party.

We laid our dead to rest at the Temple of Lathander, and dragged our weary feet to the nearest inn for a well deserved rest.

Man! I keep missing out on the good stuff! How do you have so much time on your hands Bel? :) I almost logged on last night since I had the time, but then I didn't want to miss two new episodes of Enterprise... :)

I heard them from the background.

As for the free time. I go to work very early (I'm in by 7am, and gone by 3:30), go to the gym, then I logged in to ALFA around 6 or 7 pm EST. PLus, the whole single and unattached thing makes it easier to waste my life in front of a computer!

Darn it all, NWN won't even ship for another couple weeks! Sounds like a terrible lot of fun... I'd best be getting my app in to ALFA very soon (no telling how long it'll take :aww: ).

Sounds like you're having a great time on DD :) I haven't had much time to log onto ALFA lately (I'm on Arabel now with a new character after Cynedra bought it). As for Sir Bel's exploits, all I can say is tactics, tactics, tactics ;) They'll keep you alive a long, long time.

Having got to 2nd lvl, Gwaeron has left Daggerdale and arrived in Arabel. Who are you Gnolyn? Just got sick of losing 500xp to the numerous crashes DD seems to be suffering of late. Witnessed several crash -deaths where when server comes up again PC is surrounded by monsters and is cut down immediately - not fun!

Yes...Lag/crash deaths are definitely a concern, not to mention item loss. I went on the darksteel quest Wednesday night and found a suit piece of Zhent leather armor for my rogue...But just as I found it, the server crashed before I could log it in...SO I lost it! Bad luck!

And last night...I killed a drow pc. The silly bugger drew a greataxe on me, so I had to take him down! I surrendered to the authorities, but was let go...It is only a drow, after all. ;)

My character on Arabel is a gnome named Gnevin. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to play in the last couple of weeks so lil' Gnevin hasn't been around too much :(

P.S. Sprite intends on playing a gnome named Raelin.