January 15th, 2004

New Kind of Explore XP?

Tuco says, 'what does a message something like...you see this area in a new light as if seeing it for the first time mean?'

Kae says, 'experience for exploring!'

Tuco says, 'ahh'

Tuco beams delightedly.

Tuco says, 'thanke'

Spite says, 'you what?'

Spite says, 'xp rooms have a message now?'

Arlan says, 'really?'

Kae says, 'you get experience from exploring from wandering daemons'

Cheyla says, 'it's like noticing something that's always been there that you never noticed'

Kaige says, 'not tied to any one particular room'

Kae says, 'those aren't stationary so it's hard to say where you'll run into em'

Sandra says, 'some areas don't have set xp rooms anymore'

Spite says, 'wow'

Spite says, 'I guess I better get off my lazy ass a bit more and explore :)'

Sandra giggles.

Kae says, 'that was the point :)'

Ways to Get In-game Spells?

Silence says, 'Is there a way to get a prep (I mean those kind accessible to mages) through in-game ways? for example detect illusion or armor str bless'

Cheyla says, 'some'

Silence says, 'I meant is there a way, for every type of prep'

Sandra says, 'not every'

Kaige says, 'Probably not..'

Spite says, 'the important ones anyway, noone needs cause mages anymore :P'

Spanish-Flea loves armor to death

LadyAce says, 'there are a lot of ways to get those abilities tho, mobs and objects of different kinds and whatnot'

Silence says to LadyAce, 'ya, in-game.'

Kaige says, 'If you guys find that we're lacking in ways to remove certain bad affects in-game as well, especially around some of the hometown, drop a note on the bug/idea channels so we can take care of that and it'll be less of a pain when affects'

Silence says to Kaige, 'what do you mean? about bad effects in towns.'

Kaige says to Silence, 'Oh!... that was in reference to previous question... kinda the flip side... one day in the not-so distant future we want to make all affects persist over renting.'

Why Two Heads of PR?

Fraegis says, 'I don't get it. Why 2 head PR imms? I know, one for Pkill, but why should it be head-pr instead of regular PR.'

Fraegis says, 'Will there be 2 head admins too, one for Pkill, 2 Implementors, one for pkill etc?'

Kaige says to Fraegis, 'We used to have 2-4 implementors.'

Fraegis says to Kaige, 'but one specifically for pkill?'

Silence says to Kaige, 'what do you mean?'

Sandra says, 'I'm not specifically for pk'

Kaige says, 'no.. one for making a mess.. and one for cleaning them up'

Silence chortles at Sandra's feeble witticism.

Kaige giggles.

Cheyla giggles.

Fraegis says, 'Oh, the welcome board said so, I think.'

Fraegis says, 'Why 2 head pr's then?'

Silence says to Sandra, 'of course you're for pk.'

Sandra says, 'it's what I specialize in ;) But that's not the entire thing'

Fraegis says, 'And thats not true for the other departments?'

Spite says, 'oh how the egos must clash'

Spite ducks to the ground.

Chocorua says, 'no need for 2 in admin'

Kae pouts at Chocorua.

Spanish-Flea says, 'choc is enough :P'

Chocorua says, 'and i like the one imp'

Chocorua pokes Kaige in the ribs.

Sandra says, 'well, I've been head of almost all of the others anyway, I'll be taking over coding soon'

LadyAce says, 'not all jobs split up as nicely as PR, or focus on as many wide-ranging activities.'

O'Bedlam says, 'and isn't she impish?'

O'Bedlam smiles at Kaige.

Spanish-Flea says, 'what's with spencer as well'

Fraegis says to LadyAce, 'agreed, I just don't understand why there has to be 2 head-PR's, instead of 1, and several full PR's.'

O'Bedlam says, 'as much as people complain about not having a PR around when they need a string done, you would think more the merrier'

LadyAce says, 'it's a good way to keep Sandra's experience in the top tier of staff, and give more focus to an area where it's really easy to burn out.'

Fraegis says to LadyAce, 'and that is not possible with 1 head pr and 1 extra full pr? I am just curious, that is all.'

YamaRaja giggles at Fraegis.

O'Bedlam says, 'I know I came in late, but what is the issue with more than one head? what is wrong with it?'

Spite says, 'having Head of PR in your title would be more satisfying :P'

LadyAce says, 'having two heads is just a different way to do it.'

YamaRaja yawns.

LadyAce says, 'if she and I are going to effectively carry equal weight, why mark one of us in a different rank than the other'

Huginn says, 'and what does it matter from your point of view?'

Kae says, 'I will say this that it's true that a lot of players have gained, however wrongly, the impression that we have one head for games and one for pkill, maybe we should stress that this is not the case'

Fraegis says to Huginn, 'if we appeal a PR's decision, can we appeal in 2 places now, or can we appeal the other Head PR's decisions to the other? I just think it creates confusion.'

Silence nods his agreement with Fraegis.

LadyAce says, 'the court of appeal is always Choc then Kaige'

LadyAce says, 'Chocorua, the head of admin.'

Cheyla points at Chocorua.

Chocorua says, 'can always ask another heads opinion or appeal to their boss'

Silence says, 'in terms of ladder'

Fraegis says, 'If I disagreed with a PR's decline of a desc, I used to talk to the Head Pr, didn't know that had changed.'

Fraegis nods his agreement with Chocorua.

Huginn says, 'it hasn't'

Sandra says, 'if LA makes a decision, it's also mine. SO don't try to play one against the other. That's been tried already'

Chocorua says, 'well with descs atleast there have always been 2 heads'

Cheyla says, 'you were asking if you disagreed with one head pr, if you could just ask the other...'

Chocorua says, 'because descs are teh joint responsibility of pr and admin'

LadyAce says, 'descs have been historically shared between admin and pr, yea. So you already had two heads of pr.'

Fraegis says to Cheyla, 'that too.'

Cheyla says, 'and the answer there is no - you go to choc or kaige at that point'

Fraegis says, 'And now we have 3 then?'

Fraegis nods solemnly.

Spite says, 'admins are the ones who sit invis and slap warnings on ya'

Chocorua says, 'but you can always use me as a mediator in decision stuff if ya want'

Chocorua shrugs helplessly.

LadyAce says, 'admin -- i.e. administration -- is an immortal department.'

Silence says, 'I knew that'

Huginn says, 'has there been any actually inconsistency over the 2 pr heads or are you losing sleep over the what if?'

Silence says, 'but what do admins do?'

Silence says, 'that's my question'

Spanish-Flea nods his agreement with Huginn.

LadyAce says, 'help admin explains it'

Fraegis says to Huginn, 'no and no, I just ask when there are things I don't get (which can be quite often). Only way to learn new things.'

Huginn says, 'ok'

O'Bedlam says, 'inconsistency sometimes comes when people "reword a question" in hopes of getting the answer they want'

LadyAce says, 'In a certain way, while we all have particular spheres of responsibility, we also back each other up and overlap -- we all have the PCAB'

Chocorua says, 'be sure that we all talk to each other fairly frequently'

LadyAce says, 'we'll have to think on this a bit more and perhaps post something about it. It's an evolving situation, really.'

Long Term Plans and Decision Making?

YamaRaja says, 'onto a more serious topic'

Spite says, 'uhoh'

YamaRaja says, 'coming from a player who has played since 94-95'

YamaRaja says, 'i care very much about this place'

YamaRaja says, 'as well as how it will turn out in the long run'

YamaRaja says, 'can we get a quick overview on how this mud is going?'

YamaRaja says, 'and also what are the some of the factors effects decision making and stuff'

Kae says, 'I think you may want to be more specific, at least I have no clue what you're asking'

Chocorua says, 'i am not sure i understand the scope of the question'

YamaRaja says, 'right,'

YamaRaja says, 'are there some serious politics involved in decision making'

Cheyla says, 'they're both very broad questions...'

Kae says, 'we don't flip coins if that's what you're asking'

Kaige says to YamaRaja, 'If you've got more than one person making decisions... there's always serious politics.'

Chocorua says, 'i think you need to narrow the question down to soemthing less thesis like and more QnA like'

YamaRaja says, 'let me try'

Huginn says, 'ok one sec'

Huginn says, 'let me take a stab'

O'Bedlam chuckles to himself.

YamaRaja says, 'ok e.g. i am not sure if this is answered before'

LadyAce says, 'I think we're in a stage of trying to establish a strategy for consistent growth that doesn't require half of us to be without families, jobs, or lives.'

Huginn says to YamaRaja, 'we do not chart the average connection rate and make decisions based on that.'

YamaRaja says, 'prob was, but i will asked again ayways'

LadyAce says, 'so that's one of our challenges, which we're finding ways to solve, I think. (the growth when not studentsthing)'

YamaRaja says, 'the new scalp, what make the gods decide to make a very hard to get item non repairable?'

LadyAce says, 'oh, that's a very specific question :) I thought you were thinking about the big picture'

Kaige says to Cheyla, 'I think that one's yours to answer... about the scalp.'

YamaRaja says, 'i was'

O'Bedlam nods his agreement with LadyAce.

Cheyla nods her agreement with Kaige.

YamaRaja says, 'you didnt want to answer the big pics'

LadyAce says, 'single object changes are almost never a staff-wide topic'

O'Bedlam questions life, the universe, and everything.

Kae says, 'I can't answer when I don't understand the question'

Kae shrugs philosophically.

Kaige says, 'not so much don't want to... but aren't sure how to...'

LadyAce says, 'hey, I tried to answer some of it :) and so did Huginn.'

YamaRaja nods solemnly.

Kaige says, 'if you're asking do I have a road map with every decision from here until 2014 mapped out... no.... Do I have some ideas about where I'd like to see things moving toward... absolutely?'

Kaige says, 'are they easily communicated to other immorts, let alone players? Not always.'

Kaige scuffles her feet around in the dirt.

LadyAce says, 'Kaige's LT editorial is a good way to get a sense of some of the challenges she's leading us to address'

LadyAce says, 'so for big pic stuff, that's a good source'

LadyAce says to Kaige, 'No pressure!'

LadyAce winks suggestively at Kaige.

Why did the Scalp Change?

YamaRaja says, 'the new scalp, what make the gods decide to make a very hard to get item non repairable?'

Cheyla says, 'i had pretty much 5 options on it... i didn't flip a coin, i weighed each option and asked various immortals for opionions'

Silence says to Kae, 'will hell have a clone of the scalp on an easy to kill mob?'

Silence ducks to the ground.

Spite says, 'Im actually happy with the scalp change, good job on that one :)'

Cheyla says, 'we chose what we determined would be the least of all evils, considering how it would affect someone if they DT'd and could only get the item once ever'

Spanish-Flea says, 'yeah, I gotta admit, scalp is a wickedbad item, and killing the nemean for it sans flee and wimpy changes was challenging, but do-able'

O'Bedlam says, 'I understand why, but it is a little hard to get considering if you play alot you might have to get it twice or three times a week'

YamaRaja says, 'quiet people, let them answer it'

Cheyla says, 'you typically see clones of items that are one-time quest only or align restricted'

O'Bedlam says, 'sounded like a hint'

O'Bedlam smiles at Cheyla.

Spite says, 'people may just have to kill the lion a bit more now'

Spanish-Flea says, 'when you made it no-repair, did you at least make it harder to damage?'

YamaRaja says, 'ok i might of missed the answer in the spam'

Spanish-Flea says to Spite, 'that's like assembling a small PD run for 80k xp though.'

O'Bedlam nods his agreement with Spanish-Flea.

Kae says, 'we COULD try to cut down on the spam some'

Chocorua says, 'well xp isn't the only reward you get for killing mobs'

Spanish-Flea says to Spite, 'that's total, period, end of story.'

YamaRaja says, 'can the gods just tell me instead please'

LadyAce says, 'specifically more things about the scalp?'

Spanish-Flea says, 'yeah--why did it need to be brought into spec again?'

Cheyla says, 'because it wasn't IN spec'

YamaRaja says, 'one more time'

YamaRaja says, 'why and how is this decision made, make a very hard to get big group item not repairable'

Spanish-Flea says, 'how was it not in spec :P'

Kae says, 'because you wouldn't like the other four alternatives'

Spanish-Flea says, 'It's gonna destroy tank eq lists on the mud, which is really sad'

LadyAce says, 'Cheyla answered that tho, with her say about options and how she consulted with people and so forth'

Spite says, 'timed would have been funny :)'

Silence says, 'Why fix something that isn't broken'

YamaRaja says, 'can I AT LEAST have the floor please?'

Kae says, 'We discussed making it one-time only for instance, that would probably have been a lot less popular'

Cheyla says, 'the benefits weren't evened out by the minuses'

YamaRaja says, 'ah, kae has an answer then'

Kae is repeating what Cheyla said 10 minutes ago.

YamaRaja says, 'ok, because it was hp+ item or what?'

LadyAce says, 'This is something of a collective forum. We have to work together to keep the spam down, but it isn't a private conversation.'

YamaRaja says, 'i remember when someone has the floor, they were the only mortal speaking'

Spanish-Flea says to Cheyla, 'yeah, but a small stat repeal fixes that, and it's not like the perdurable is any less 'cheap'.'

YamaRaja says to Kae, 'And i missed it 10mins ago.'

Spite says to Spanish-Flea, 'shaddup will ya, they will end up gimping the hammer now :P.'

YamaRaja says, 'ok the related question what makes scalp special? hp+? or what?'

Cheyla says to Spanish-Flea, 'Like i said when the question was first asked, i went with what a number of people thought was the lesser of all evils.'

Kae says, 'I think the broad answer to how we make decisions of that kind is, what CAN we do, and out of that, what will the players hate least'

Kae says, 'What's gonna make other problems, and what can we just do and be done with'

Cheyla says, 'if we changed stats, we wouldn't have allowed the old ones to remain as-is'

Spanish-Flea says, 'and with templating, that wont matter'

Spanish-Flea says, 'did you ever consider that?'

Spite says, 'so they were pfile changed and stuff?'

Silence says to Cheyla, 'why change it at all? I don't get it.'

Kaige says, 'and since we don't have templating yet.. why stir the pot unnecessarily?'

Kae says, 'Templating hasn't happened yet, we can't plan for things that will happen "someday"'

YamaRaja says, 'see i am still not getting why scalp is special, why dont we alt the cheetah fur yet?'

YamaRaja says, 'at least its a 5+eq AND hp+'

Spanish-Flea says, 'yes but the scalp change was put in like last week and imms are already warning us about old eq for templating'

Sandra says, 'the scalp had too much + for it's -. There's a limit to what's allowed, and it was over. Cheetah leggings, are not.'

Sandra says, 'that's what Cheyla has been saying'

Sandra says, 'over and over and over'

Kaige nods her agreement with Sandra.

Kae says, 'If it was up to me alone, templating happened 3 years ago, but it didn't, and planning as if it were implemented would be suicidal from a builder point of view'

Kaige says, 'it's basically the reason anything gets "nerfed" like that'

Spanish-Flea says, 'yes I'm not debating why, I'm debating what makes players happiest'

LadyAce says, 'we have a set of constraints that we operate in -- a mathematical formula. And while things can sometimes slip in which are in violation of the forumla, and the formula can change, things in violation of the formula get changed.'

YamaRaja says, 'well like what i said'

Cheyla says, 'if i'd chosen some other solution instead, y'all would bitch and moan about that instead'

Spite nods his agreement with Cheyla.

YamaRaja says, 'i am just a player trying to understand the decision making process, and hopefully it makes sense to the mortals'

Cheyla says, 'so either way, whatever decision i made to bring this item into spec, i would be just as fucked on complaints with regards to it as i am now'

Silence says to Cheyla, 'why not just change the minus on the mana to agree with the formula?'

Cheyla says, 'anyhow, my dinner is ready and i need to retrieve it. afk'

Arlan yawns.

Silence gasps at Cheyla.

Spite says, 'was making it timed not an option'

YamaRaja says, 'well consider me finished then'

Cheyla says, 'fighters have little to no use for mana, it wouldn't really be a reasonable minus for it'

Silence says to Cheyla, 'but there there's the whole thing of not being able to use mana, which is a minus itself.'

LadyAce says, 'yes, it would've been like the old -spr gear ages ago when no one but druids and mages needed spr.'

Chocorua says, 'allowed to yes but if it gets to be to much i will ask you to stop, swearing that is'

Silence says to Cheyla, 'and you would only have to change 5 more mana, you know that?'

Spite says to Chocorua, 'needn't worry about me, I been neutered :).'

Kae says, 'seeing as the person who asked the question left, perhaps we could move on...'

Silence chuckles politely.

LadyAce says, 'sounds good.'

Cheyla says to Silence, 'And i know what i could have fixed it with, and 5 mana wasn't it.'

Why Not Use Polls for Changes?

Spanish-Flea says, 'well a little addendum to this scalp toomfoolery...'

Spanish-Flea says, 'you've got a polling system set up, instead of guessing what pisses us off the least, ask us to vote on changes you know you're gonna implement when you think it could go either way'

Kae says, 'you do realize that that would slow down maintenance to slug speed, right?'

Kae says, 'as in, nothing ever getting done'

Spanish-Flea says to Kae, 'i'm not asking for 2 week open pools.'

Kaige says, 'You guys would be sick to death of polls if every builder and every coder did that for every change they made... right?'

Arlan says, 'I think he means major changes perhaps'

Kae says, 'why not? shouldn't everyone have the chance to vote? :)'

Spanish-Flea says to Kae, 'i'm talking one day polls, to catch the most active people.'

Kaige says, 'yeah.. but sometimes what appears to be a small change area or code wise, blows up into something unsuspected...'

Kae says to Spanish-Flea, 'But what if I'm out of town that week? We gave people 2 months to reimb skills and people are still whining they didn't have time.'

Spanish-Flea says, 'well this scalp thing was obvious from your end, right?'

Kaige says to Spanish-Flea, 'Then we'd have complaints that people didn't get a chance to voice their opinion.'

Spite says to Spanish-Flea, 'some people have lives outside legend, doesnt mean they deserve a say any less.'

Spanish-Flea says to Kaige, 'and you deal so well with reimb disputes, why couldnt you handle polling?'

Spanish-Flea says to Kaige, 'a poll a week, oh no you miss one, you'll vote on the next.'

Kae says, 'or throw weekly fits that you didn't get to vote, not to mention campaigning and lobbying and whatnot'

LadyAce says, 'unfortunately, in the case of item changes, I think we're more likely to get people who vote based on what will be better for them personally'

Kae says, 'you're talking about a time eating administrative nightmare that would efficiently kill off maintenance'

LadyAce says, 'rather than what will be good for the mud as a whole 3 years down the line'

Spanish-Flea says to LadyAce, 'that's what's best for the mud as a whole, no?'

Spite nods his agreement with LadyAce.

Kaige says to Spanish-Flea, 'Because honestly, I don't have the TIME to poll every piddly little change I put into one of the many areas I maintain... and I won't ask any of the people who volunteer their time for me and you, to do something I can't or won't.'

Kaige nods her agreement with LadyAce.

Spanish-Flea says to Kaige, 'look, I'm assuming from years of experience you can pick out the very major changes.'

LadyAce says, 'items are really easy to be short sighted about, because they're personal and yours'

Kaige says, 'nope. definitely can't. never claimed to be omniscient either'

Spanish-Flea says to Kaige, 'poll one major change once a week, you can even take a rough opinion poll on stuff like general mud changes.'

LadyAce says, 'I don't mean it as a big word, I mean it as something that is easy to get really close to'

Kaige says, 'Most of the time we don't have one major change a week... other times you'd think every molehill was mt everest'

Kae staggers at the imagination of people complaining they didn't get to vote.

Spite says to Spanish-Flea, 'wouldnt work too well, I'd oppose the create gimping, even though I can see its a good idea.'

Spanish-Flea says, 'because you're an ass'

Silence says to Spite, 'it wasn't a good idea... even though I have to fight them all the time.'

Spanish-Flea says, 'you bash the horde in SS just to damcap it :P'

Huginn says to Silence, 'actually it was.'

Chocorua says, 'plus there is the fact we don't publish specifics of changes anyhow'

Kaige says, 'and we've never run this place as a democracy, and after 10 years.. I don't think we're gonna start voting on every little thing. We do try to give you guys advance warning of things we think are major changes'

Silence says, ' If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'

Spanish-Flea says, 'well ok whatever, if an imm wants to debate legenddb pros and cons come talk to me sometime because thats where this is heading'

LadyAce says, 'we get very valuable feedback in Q&As.'

Kaige says, 'and contrary to what some believe... we DO listen and use the feedback from players in making further and future decisions'

Huginn says to Silence, 'if creates solo all areas of the mud without problem, its broke.'

LadyAce says, 'and we hold them on Thursdays so that we can catch problems before the stuff goes in on Fridays'

Spanish-Flea says, 'oh I know, it's really ironic in that respect'

Silence says, 'Why would it matter to have warning of major changes?'

LadyAce says, 'we're e-mailable and mudmailable and tellable.'

Silence says, 'people issue notices of changes so they can be rebuttled'

LadyAce says, 'because sometimes people like to have some warning, and sometimes they bring up topics that we haven't considered'

Silence says, 'But with you guys, I haven't seen a single decision revoked.'

LadyAce says, 'we've held code changes while issues were addressed'

Silence says, 'Not saying that you guys are right all the time either.'

Kaige says to Silence, 'You've seen several that have mutated, whether you recognize it or not.'

Huginn nods his agreement with Kaige.

Kae says, 'older players may remember such things as players testing the new combat system for a week too, etc'

LadyAce says, 'and we've definitely changed our documentation to answer the questions people have had'

Silence says to Kaige, 'mutated for the worse.'

Huginn says to Silence, 'no not really.'

Lorenzo says, 'I remember there being some, though I couldn't say offhand immediately what they were'

Kaige says to Silence, 'Your opinion... but then I doubt the people who had been crying for PKE to be reinstated would agree.'

Kae says, 'I certainly remember Herbert more or less forcing me to tweak Dragut a few years ago'

Kae giggles.

Silence says to Kaige, 'it was a bad decision to remove it at all.'

Silence chuckles politely.

Spite laughs at Kae.

Lorenzo says to Kaige, 'really? I thought pke went in because of all the quality discussion on the warboard!'

Spite says to Kae, 'i remember that, the insane repop thing?'

Kae says to Spite, 'Exactly.'

Kaige says, 'actually I don't think so, and I'm honestly not that impressed with what people have done with it overall since it's back in alongside PKOK... but that's another kettle of fish (and not to put down any particular person's efforts)'

Changes for Sing Skill?

Fraegis says, 'I was told sing wouldn't get changed (no skills would) until skill trees. Now all of a sudden, some skills are changed. Why not lower the insane reqs for Sing while at it?'

Chocorua says to Fraegis, 'You were misinformed.'

Cheyla says, 'we changed our minds'

Chocorua says, 'to address the first part of that atleast'

Fraegis says to Chocorua, 'oh, sorry. But could Sing be changed?'

Fraegis likes to sing.

Chocorua says to Huginn, 'I think thats all you.'

Fraegis bats his eyelashes at Huginn.

Huginn says, 'I'll look at sing'

Fraegis says to Huginn, 'thanks.'

Huginn nods solemnly.

Kae says to Huginn, 'I got some notes on that, we can stick our heads together later.'

LadyAce says, 'yea, it is pretty steep. Not sure if the things it qualifies you for make that necessary really'

LadyAce hasn't played much with bardic skills, too busy swinging swords and chanting spells.

Coupons & Strings Across Remakes?

Silence says, 'Ok I'd like to have a mini discussion with several questions'

Silence says, 'First, how do you guys see coupons? Are they something people should be able to earn through RP? or something just for xp, or winning those random coupon rains'

LadyAce says, 'we try to stick to a more question/answer format, if possible -- just so you know'

Kaige says, 'if no one else has questions waiting.... otherwise it's better to make sure everyone has a chance to be heard'

Sandra says, 'I think that there are too many coupons in the world. We shoulda made them timed'

Kae says, 'a-men'

Cheyla nods her agreement with Sandra.

Silence says to Kaige, 'well I have one question in mind, but knowing the way you guys answer things, you might make rash answers.'

LadyAce says, 'help 2.string actually says what I think about 'em'

Lorenzo sniffs sadly at Sandra.

Kaige says, 'RP is much too subjective for us to even consider being able to fairly rewarding anyone for except in a general way (i.e. everyone participating in an event gets the same prize)'

Arlan says, 'why would you want that, its kinda boring having everyone running around with the same eq'

LadyAce says, 'a popular feature for roleplay & customization'

Sandra says, 'I hate hoarding. use them, sell them, or junk them. hogging up space'

Silence says to LadyAce, 'what I mean is, when you make a character or I make one.'

Silence says, 'I try to take coupons and make strings that really ONLY apply to my character'

Arlan says, 'I agree with that, but I think that the people who hoard them are in the minority, unless things have changed'

Arlan nods his agreement with Silence.

Silence says, 'Meaning if somebody else had my string it would make little or no sense that their character has it'

Chocorua says, 'there are quite a few hoarders out there'

LadyAce says, 'I think there are a lot of ways to earn them up. Participation in all kinds of events, pure luck, earning up cash....'

Arlan says, 'a lot of cash lately'

Kae says, 'hell, even the tedious way of redeeming for them'

Kae shudders.

Kaige says to Kae, 'Or buying them from people who do.'

Silence says, 'So what I am trying to get at, is are the coupons an in-game or OOC thing? The ones that you personally earned and customized to fit you'

LadyAce says, 'people tend to regard their strung items as very IC.'

Chocorua says, 'they cross the line really'

Kae says, 'if you're going to ask if you can keep strings over re-rolling your character, we've always come down with a dead no on that one'

LadyAce says, 'but the coupon object itself, well, that's pretty OOC.'

Chocorua says, 'the string coupons i meant'

Kaige says, 'They've always been OOC since the first imm strung a note to look like one cause someone couldn't think of what kind of string they might want on the spot'

Kaige says, 'the coupons themselves.. yeah'

Chocorua says to Kaige, 'Damn them.'

Kaige giggles.

Kaige says, 'I can't remember who it was... may even have been me'

Kaige scuffles her feet around in the dirt.

Kaige says, 'but I never imagined we'd have so many flavors'

Kaige giggles.

Chocorua says to Kaige, 'Could have been just about anyone hehe.'

Silence says, 'But that's my point, it is an achievement'

LadyAce says, 'they're part of the game fiction, I suppose. But it seems like you have a question you're leading up to :) ask it!'

Silence says, 'To have a set of completely or almost full set of personalized coupons is very personal and an achievement'

Cheyla would still like to see DTs eat them again.

Kaige says, 'and something to treasure and safefuard'

Kaige nods solemnly.

Kae nods her agreement with Cheyla.

Huginn nods his agreement with Cheyla.

Sandra nods her agreement with Cheyla.

Chocorua says, 'they are very much per instance of a character'

Arlan smirks.

Silence says, 'So why would it matter if you remade but had your achievement there'

Sandra says, 'we have a buncha girly girls playing now that need to keep their strings over everything'

Spanish-Flea bonks Sandra on the head!

Spite nods his agreement with Sandra.

Sandra says, 'if you remake, you are not the same char. You are a new char. No matter if you have the same name. It's a new char'

Silence says, 'I'm not talking about like a blue glow stick'

Kaige says, 'because you've wiped away all other recorded traces of that character, and hence the file where those were stored too'

Chocorua says, 'i'd be mad if i lost my weapon string as my cause mage ... had it forever'

Silence says, 'Alright I have a different proposal'

Kaige says to Silence, 'Yes, but the code makes no distinction between a mass-produced prize machine string and one you so cleverly came up with all on your own.'

LadyAce says, 'there's a price to be paid when you start over. One of them being that the game doesn't consider you to be the same character any more.'

Silence says, 'I know you guys can set people's levels'

Chocorua says, 'no'

Silence says, 'would it be fine to be reset to level 1? So NO changes'

Chocorua says, 'not gonna happen'

Silence says, 'Just being level one'

Kaige says, 'no remorting here...'

Chocorua says, 'starting over starts from scratch'

Kaige wrinkles her nose with distaste.

Cheyla says, 'there's more to it than just the level'

Silence says to Chocorua, 'well why?'

Sandra says, 'god we'd have to take away all your skills, all the stat quests, all the quests, everything. Heeeeeeeeeell no'

Kae says, 'it sucks losing pretitles, whois tags, special tags, strings, etc., but that's a good reason to be really sure that you want to do this when you reroll'

Silence says to Sandra, 'doesn't it auto take away?'

Cheyla says, 'all the hp/ma/mv and everything'

Kaige says, 'basically it's a choice you have to make.. which do you value more.'

Sandra says, 'nope'

Sandra says, 'we'd have to set all of that down'

Sandra says, 'I know, I've used it as punishment before :P'

LadyAce says, 'I'd rather not create an environment where people find more and more reasons to jump on the levelling treadmill rather than stay 50 where they can be a source of stability to the mud :P'

Silence says, 'fine what if I sold it all to someone my whole set'

Kae should know, she lost special tags, strings, expies, you name it, for a better set of base stats.

Silence says, 'and they offered to sell it back to me for like 100K'

Chocorua says, 'even if we could do it easily and we could with code with a command ... i wouldn't support it'

Sandra says, 'no they can't sell it back to you'

Cheyla says, 'and then you wouldn't be able to rent your equipment so we'd end up having to restring everything to storage, and oi'

Chocorua says, 'i want people to take responsibility for their choices'

Kaige says, 'eq swapping looks the same in the files.'

Silence says, 'Not EQ'

Sandra says, 'you aren't allowed that set or any of that set on any of your chars'

Silence says, 'EQ is shit compared to strings'

Huginn says to Silence, 'obj swapping then.'

Cheyla says, 'item swapping'

Kaige says, 'has to be on an object of some type... hence EQ swapping'

Lorenzo says, 'wouldn't that just be crossplay, regardless of what the items are?'

Kae nods her agreement with Lorenzo.

Kaige says, 'eq = item = object = thingy'

Kaige says, 'oh = gear = stuff = whatever you want to call it.'

Cheyla giggles at Kaige.

Silence says, 'you could disintigrate all the strings on a create'

Silence says, 'make them storage'

LadyAce says, 'I think it's pretty clear that this isn't an option we're considering at this time.'

LadyAce says, 'if anything, we're more inclined towards there being more ways to lose them than keep them'

Silence says, 'so once you make a character with a set the way you like it, you're pretty much forced to be there'

Chocorua nods his agreement with LadyAce.

Huginn says, 'or start over and get more coupons'

Huginn says, 'and recreate them'

Silence says to Huginn, 'how can I get more coupons?'

Chocorua says, 'living with your choices'

Silence says to Huginn, 'want to give me coupons?'

Chocorua says, 'it's soemthing thast missing in so many places in the world now'

Cheyla says, 'same way you earned them the first time around'

Silence says to Cheyla, 'i have been around like 6 years and my oldest character doesn't have more than maybe 6 strung items.'

Is Money Easier to Get Now?

O'Bedlam says, 'sort of along the lines of stuff'

O'Bedlam says, 'am I just getting better, or is money suddenly very easy to get'

O'Bedlam says, 'I have money coming out of my ears and no coupons :P'

Silence says to O'Bedlam, 'give me money.'

Silence says to O'Bedlam, 'so I can buy more coupons.'

Arlan says to O'Bedlam, 'i think its just that not as many people money run, they look for handouts instead.'

O'Bedlam says, 'I have multiple characters with over a million coins, and I don't try that hard'

LadyAce says, 'we did make some efforts to put in more ways to earn money so that housing wouldn't be impossible'

Spite says, 'buy an 11 room mansion then be horribly inactive, money dont last long'

Kae says, 'if you don't have a house, money is pretty easily accumulated'

Lorenzo says to O'Bedlam, 'yuo don't have things to spend it on, apparently :).'

Arlan nods his agreement with Spite.

O'Bedlam says, 'I remember being happy when I had half a million, it just seems easier or something'

O'Bedlam says, 'but maybe I am just better at playing'

O'Bedlam chuckles politely.

O'Bedlam says, 'so things changed a little to help with housing'

O'Bedlam nods to himself.

Lorenzo says, 'I had a million once. A month later, I was the monopoly man tugging at his pockets.'

Silence bets money will be harder to get next week.

Kaige points a finger and suddenly Suger and the pardoner are paupers!

Spite goes EEK! at Kaige in distress - isn't Kaige an awful person for teasing?

Kudos on Mini Quests

O'Bedlam says, 'BTW I am really enjoying all the little mini quests'

Cheyla smiles at O'Bedlam.

Kaige smiles at O'Bedlam.

Kaige says to O'Bedlam, 'If you have ideas for others... I'll code 'em!'

O'Bedlam says, 'they break up the boredom, give options , so I don't feel like I am in an xp hamsterwheel'

O'Bedlam nods solemnly.

Kaige nods her agreement with O'Bedlam.

O'Bedlam says, 'I will think of any I can :)'

ALL CAPS, But Not a DT?

Fraegis says, 'Why does a room nessecary to enter to leave a certain place stay in all caps, when help DT states all caps rooms should be avoided? Why not make that room non-all caps?'

Chocorua says, 'there are risks to going in that room i would guess'

LadyAce says, 'we want people to watch where they're walking to'

Silence says to Chocorua, 'no risks.'

Fraegis says, 'A room nessecary to enter looks to all new people or exploring people like a DT, it doesn't seem right to me.'

Silence says to Chocorua, 'the only way to get out.'

Fraegis says to Chocorua, 'no, just the only way to get out.'

Fraegis says, 'Either change the all caps, or the help dt, I would think.'

Silence nods his agreement with Fraegis.

Silence says, 'good point'

Kaige says, 'Going by room titles only isn't exactly the best way to explore... and it's the one mechanism we DO have to set off warning bells in people's minds that they may not want to go that way'

Fraegis nods solemnly.

LadyAce says, 'sometimes we want people to know that SOMETHING BAD could happen to them in the next room'

Fraegis says to Kaige, 'according to Help DT, avoid all caps rooms. If you do that, you can never leave that area.'

O'Bedlam says, 'I am suprised how many people run around with brief on, I couldn't handle it, I tried'

LadyAce says, 'all caps is the way to get attention'

Silence says, 'the help file is pretty clear about bad effects in all-caps rooms'

Kaige says, 'so yeah.. when you come up against something like that... you have to read the room desc where you are and probably should also look in that direction to see what you're getting yourself into'

Fraegis says to LadyAce, 'but nothing bad happens. You NEED to enter that room, and if you don't know that, but read the help file, you are trapped.'

Fraegis nods his agreement with Silence.

Kae says, 'I'm not saying that the helpfile mightn't need loked at, but actually there is a risk in that room'

Chocorua says, 'perhaps something bad does happen but you'dve been lucky'

Silence says to Chocorua, 'that's just not a good answer.'

Silence raises an immortal mistake high in the air above his head.

Chocorua says to Silence, 'Sorry you think that.'

Kaige says, 'it's an honest one. =)'

Silence says to Kaige, 'we KNOW nothing bad happens.'

Fraegis says, 'The help file still needs to be changed, I would say. People who read that and remembers it would be trapped, I would say.'

Cheyla says, 'some rooms are DTs if certain conditions are met and whatnot'

Fraegis nods solemnly.

Kae says, 'we might need to look at the helpfile maybe'

Kaige says, 'well, since I don't know what particular room is being discussed... it looks pretty damn accurate to me!'

O'Bedlam says, 'a good example is the tudor one, you can walk in and out, but you know "this place could be dangerous"'

Cheyla says, 'but the rest of the time, they're safe... there isn't just ONE room like that'

Kae says, 'stress the fact that allcaps do not necessarily mean DEAD'

Chocorua says, 'i'll look at it but i won't guarantee i will change it'

Kae nods her agreement with Chocorua.

Kae nods her agreement with O'Bedlam.

Fraegis nods solemnly.

Kae says, 'or my storm'

Fraegis says to Chocorua, 'thanks.'

Kae says, 'doesn't kill you but sure isn't pleasant'

Chocorua says, 'i'd rather have newer people safer than older chars who are affraid to take a risk'

Fraegis says to Chocorua, 'newer people would not be safe, they would be both safe AND trapped without any way out.'

Silence says to Chocorua, 'you're misunderstanding, not risk.... just concern for new people.'

LadyAce says, 'he says he'll look at it :) thanks for bringing it up :) didn't mean to cut you short!'

O'Bedlam says, 'it could cleared up in the helpfile maybe'

O'Bedlam says, 'the system seems sound'

Drawing Bows & Weapons?

Arlan says, 'unless I just haven't figured out how to do it yet, since bows are two handed now, is there any chance that draw could be tweaked to draw a weapon and put away the bow?'

Spanish-Flea says, 'woo, me like'

Spanish-Flea falls to his knees and worships Arlan's existence.

Arlan snickers softly.

Arlan says, 'I'm gonna guess by the silience thats a no?'

Kaige says to Arlan, 'Sorry.. kids came in and badgered me...'

Kaige looks up into the sky and ponders.

Arlan snickers softly.

LadyAce says, 'I'd say put it in on idea?'

Arlan nods his agreement with Kaige.

Kaige nods her agreement with LadyAce.

Arlan nods solemnly.

Huginn says to Arlan, 'interesting idea..'

Kaige says, 'yeah.. since it knows how to switch between two weapons already, that makes sese to me'

LadyAce smiles at Arlan.

LadyAce thanks Arlan heartily.

Arlan nods solemnly.

Knowing Where You Stand?

Silence says, 'Ok everyone knows, or most people know that when it comes to runs, it sometimes matters (for agg mobs) what order people came into the room'

Silence says, 'Now I look in the room now, and I see the order that everyone came in (with the exception of me)'

Silence says, 'How could I, myself, tell where I fit in on that line'

LadyAce says, 'you mean when moving as part of a group?'

Kaige says, 'or once other people have come and gone in a room?'

Silence says, 'that or just being in a room with lots of people'

Kaige says, 'you don't... you're looking from first person, not third.'

Kaige says, 'I mean unless you, the player, has a particular burning desire to keep track of it.'

Silence says, 'I do'

O'Bedlam says, 'could you get an idea from counting the leaves and arrives?'

Silence says, 'Or else I wouldn't have asked'

LadyAce says, 'I would bet that you can combine what you see with what someone else sees to figure it out'

Kaige nods her agreement with O'Bedlam.

Silence says to Kaige, 'i get very attached to every question I ask.'

Silence says to LadyAce, 'that's why I said myself.'

Kaige says to Silence, 'Then pen and paper should be your friend or hope you have a really good memory -- the counting cards type =).'

Kaige says, 'that's why she said compare it with someone else's in the room'

Kaige shrugs philosophically.

Silence says to Kaige, 'i do, but this is a game, and I can't be bothered to waste good resources on it.'

O'Bedlam giggles.

Suileach sighs loudly.

LadyAce says, 'we don't have a built-in way for you to do it'

LadyAce says, 'so we're just suggesting methods'

Silence nods solemnly.

Cheyla says, 'run, notepad, type in another window so you don't haveta use lead and trees'

Silence says, 'Well maybe there should be one'

Kaige says, 'well, we're not going to give information like that out... you pretty much live the rest of the experience in first person, and every time that focus is broken, the less immersive the experience is.'

Chocorua says to Silence, 'By that method of thinking you should turn your computer off and save electricity too.'

Kae snickers softly.

Suileach nods his agreement with Chocorua.

Silence says to Chocorua, 'its solar powered.'

Silence sticks his tongue out at everyone! =P

Kae says, 'out of curiosity, when do you need this information?'

Silence says, 'In some places agg mobs if they wander target the last person to enter the room'

Kaige says to Kae, 'When agg mobs might munch on him, or the newbie drug into PD I'm guessing?'

Kae says, 'oh'

Kae says, 'I guess I took for granted that in those places, people enter in the rank the leader says to'

Kae slaps herself - that looks really strange!

Chocorua says, 'i'd say that would be soemthing more tied to positional combat which umm i'd drool over but is not an easy thing to put in'

O'Bedlam says, 'the fallen sidhe is a good example, but it doesnt matter if the tank leaves and reenters'

Silence nods his agreement with O'Bedlam.

Kaige says, 'some mobs it's not going to matter'

Silence says, 'something is screwy in there'

Kae says, 'I fought those only once, admitted, but at that time the damn things jumped everyone right and left'

Kae giggles.

Cheyla says, 'some mobs play different'

Kaige says, 'or it could be how Ruf intended it.'

An aura of heavenly light appears above Kaige's head.

Kaige says, 'I don't know...'

Silence says, 'But there is a reason to me asking it'

Silence says, 'and it was a serious question'

Cheyla says, 'and i think they all answered it'

LadyAce says, 'I think that if we were to put in a system where you regularly depended on that info, we'd consider a way for you to get it more directly...but right now, it's an element of challenge here and there'

LadyAce says, 'not going to rob you of all your challenges, you'd be bored. we're just not that mean!'

Silence laughs.

Silence says, ''challenge''

Silence says, 'that's a good one'

Chocorua says, 'plus ever gone on a field trip as a kid? heh you can't depend on everyone being where they are supposed to'

LadyAce says, 'oh, I forgot, people line up to kill peasants all day long, right? :)'

Silence says, 'Like 'balance' and'

Silence says, ''explore''

Spanish-Flea says, ''experiment''

Silence nods solemnly.

Chocorua says, 'all words power players hate to hear but explorers enjoy'

LadyAce says, 'we're terrible when we're principle-driven, I know :)'

Silence says, 'That's my next string, the dictionary of imms 'Most Used Words''

LadyAce says, 'ok, let's move quickly through the rest of these questions'

LadyAce says, 'it's 9 and we try to end close to 9 to respect the time everyone contributes by joining us'

Imms Take Too Much Abuse?

Tuco says, 'ive played a number of muds, but on none of them have i seen one where such respectable imms allow themselves to be insulted and whatnot so much? why let these spoiled kids get away with so much? including not gagging them when they spout off on channels and whatnot'

Suileach claps for Tuco approvingly.

Huginn says, 'we're patient'

Tuco says, 'indeed'

Chocorua says to Tuco, 'We try to have a thick skin.'

Kae says, 'I guess it's the backdraw of fairly free speech -- sometimes people say things you don't like to hear, and some people can't be trusted with a screwdriver without trying to poke someone's eyes out'

Cheyla says, 'we're gluttons for abuse'

Arlan smirks.

Tuco frowns.

Kaige has created a screwdriver!

Cheyla giggles at Kaige.

LadyAce says, 'different places have different environments, for sure'

Kae covers her eyes.

Kaige pokes herself in the eye with a screwdriver. Idiot.

O'Bedlam says, 'if I had a screwdriver I would drink it, as intended'

Arlan says, 'I think, and I could be wrong, sometimes its also in good fun, very rarely but sometimes'

Tuco nods his agreement with LadyAce.

Chocorua says, 'early on when we developed a lot of our eways of handling a community we had an older and more mature crowd'

Kaige says to Kae, 'Like that?'

Kae nods her agreement with Kaige.

Kaige eats a screwdriver.

Kae giggles.

LadyAce says, 'some places the staff wouldn't let you stick around 10 minutes if you disagreed with them. Here, we might end up imming someone who used to give us trouble.'

Tuco says, 'aye i remember the good ole days well'

Kae says, 'well, it's like... if we come down like a ton of bricks on everyone who yells at us, we're also going to miss out on feedback that IS useful'

Kae says, 'so to get that, we also have to listen to a good solid pile of shit, excuse my french'

LadyAce nods her agreement with Kae.

Chocorua says, 'but don't use out tolerance as an excuse to dish out abuse'

Chocorua says, 'because thats where i come in'

Kae's tolerance is reputably nonexistent.

Tuco says, 'if it were me they'd all be gagged i guess, im answered'

Chocorua says, 'there is a line and people should stop trying to find where it is'

Kae says to Tuco, 'The problem is that even if someone spews crap most the time he can still have a valid complaint at some point.'

Tuco nods solemnly.

Problem with AT Healer?

O'Bedlam says, 'I have been going to AT about two three times a week, and just for fun I have a cause to a locate on the healer, without fail he is always in the map room'

LadyAce nods solemnly.

O'Bedlam says, 'something special might need to happen to get him walking around'

LadyAce says, 'could be, could be.'

O'Bedlam says, 'I guess it doesn't matter, but I liked the mob'

O'Bedlam giggles.

LadyAce says, 'he's not unavailable'

O'Bedlam nods solemnly.

O'Bedlam says, 'okie, I will put that under could be'

O'Bedlam thanks LadyAce heartily.

LadyAce says, 'does anyone else have a question? I think we're done, if not.'

Kae giggles.

Arlan smirks.

Arlan waves happily.

Tuco says, 'thankees'

Tuco bows deeply.

Kae peers intently at a giant water lily pad.

Kae says, 'ribbit?'

LadyAce says, 'super, thanks for coming all'

O'Bedlam thanks his lucky stars for just being alive!

Huginn waves happily.

Cheyla flops about helplessly.

Kaige waves happily.

Cheyla waves happily.

Chocorua waves happily.

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