Title: 'AAnniversary Comments' // Dracul 900 Sat, 04 Feb  15:48:20

      
Synopsis:

*  Please contact me directly when registering officially, whether via a
   tell, mudmail, or email.

*  While people are welcome to publicly announce their intention to attend,
     I am not requiring it.

*  There will be no alcohol at the main event.  We will go out afterward.

Hi All,
  
  Just as a warning, I do not participate in Facebook.  It is good that we
are advertising the AAnniversary on Facebook, as we will reach more people.
Information and discussion on third-party sites may be very helpful, and we
do not want to discourage it.  However, third-party social media will not
be taken into account for official registration and planning.  We have
little or no control over the content on various sites outside the mud, and
we need to centralize information.  We also cannot visit every social media
site for AA to try and plan.  If you intend to attend, please contact me
directly.

  The best way to direct people toward information on the AAnniversary will
be to point at the website, mud, and myself for people to get information.
As noted, an area on our website is now available as a central location for
official information and updates.  We can point to this location from other
sites of interest.

  A few of you have asked about who is attending.  People are welcome to
note here or elsewhere whether they are attending, and to discuss it
amongst your friends.  I am not making an official list public, as I
believe it should be attendees' choice as to whether they announce to
everyone that they are attending and whether they intend to publicly state
who they are.  We need to know who is coming such that we can plan.  Past
that, it may be that people wish to attend, but do not wish to advertise
who they are to everyone else attending.  I don't want someone not
attending for fear of their privacy.

  Similarly, a question has arisen about people talking about doing things
that are illegal on the mud, or other incidents that negatively affect the
mud.  I will say it is not a good idea to brag about misbehavior in front
of someone who may have been negatively impacted by said, and that you may
not want to put your foot in your mouth in front of some cute girl or guy.
While I would recommend that this isn't the wisest thing to do, I am not
interested in various Law drama at the party, whether based on Ancient
Anguish, or involving the various Philadelphia area police departments.

  If you show up to the sponsored events and appear to be intoxicated, or
are otherwise causing a problem, you will be asked politely to leave.  I
sincerely hope that illegal substances will not become a problem.  Again,
there will be many opportunities to hang out at the local bars where they
are equipped to handle serving alcohol.  What you do in your hotel room is
up to you.  The reason we are not having alcohol at the main event, again,
is the huge liability this causes for you, Ancient Anguish, the venue, the
host, as well as the additional costs it imposes beyond just purchase
price, and the danger it can cause for yourself and other guests.

  You are unlikely to be staying at my home.  Unless you lose your hotel
key, you will not find yourself locked out of your chosen place to sleep.

  Do not drink and drive.  We cannot stress this enough.  Use a designated
driver, or have the bar call a cab.  Every bar here will be happy to call
you a cab.

  We would appreciate the main event being drama-free.  Some of us have
histories together, good and bad.  This is a chance to start fresh, and to
recognize that we are all real people.  Please do not make us revisit our
plans based on concerns over possible behavior issues.

  Sincerely,
    Dracul, Senator
      

      Title: 'Website' // Expresso 22 Sat, 04 Feb  09:50:42

      
Holy crap - so many features...

*dies*
      

      Title: 'AAnniversary Update!' // Dracul 900 Fri, 03 Feb  21:59:12

      
Hello All,

  My apologies, work has been getting the best of me.  A good start at
information on the AAnniversary can now be found on our website at
http://anguish.org/events/aanniversary/aanniversary.php, or through the
AAnniversary Info link under the Events pull-down menu.  Feel free to
direct people to this page for information about the event.  As I gather
more information, I'll update the page with things like driving directions,
and places to stay.

  Again, please contact me directly if you are considering attending.

  Sincerely,
    Dracul, Senator
      

      Title: 'Website Update & Webchat' // Paldin 850 Fri, 03 Feb  17:20:36

      
There has been a website update to give some more features, options and
information. There is also a webchat for donators so they can chat from
the website as well. To obtain the earring, donators can collect it from
the donator room.

Features and changes:
=====================

Donator:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - ability to add a profile
 - ability to comment on blogs added
 - ability to use webchat to talk to the mud added 
 - IMS Pop3 email login and mail reading option
 - SMTP->IMS to allow email to be sent from an email client to the mud
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - ability to link alts
   (Allows easy switching between your alts)

 - RSS feeds for current boards
 - ability to see rogue board added (if logged in as rogue class)
 - ability to see cleric inner board added (if logged in as cleric class)
 - ability to see raven board added (if logged in as raven class)
   (Wizards can see all 3)

 - Blogs added
   - options for viewing blogs in different orders added
   - options to hide deleted comments added
   - options to delete any comment to your own blog added
   - options to edit blogs added
   - options to delete your own comments added
   - option to see all players with blogs added

 - personal portal added (save your links)
 - lifetime summary added
 - ability to see score
 - skills display added
 - ability to display score on finger added
 - ability to see profile on finger added
 - ability to show alts on finger added

Additional Information
======================

POP3/IMS/SMTP
-------------

POP3->IMS is a system where you can collect your mudmail with your email
client.

Email Client Settings:
Username: <your player name>
Password: <your password or webpassword>
SMTP Server: anguish.org
POP3 Server: anguish.org

NOTE: When you collect email, it will still remain unread in your IMS system.
      When you delete email it will NOT delete it from the IMS system.

SMTP->IMS is a system where you can use your email client to send mudmail
to a player on the mud. This requires you to authenticate with the
IMS->POP3 system before sending can occur.

Email client settings required:
From: <your player name>@aa.anguish.org
SMTP Server: anguish.org
POP3 Server: anguish.org
Username: <your player name>
Password: <your player password>

When sending, email to: <player name>@aa.anguish.org.

ie. To: malire@aa.anguish.org

NOTE: Email attachments will be stripped out. So send as plain text or it
      will not arrive.

NOTE: To use this also requires a direct connection to the mud server.
      Mail sent through a mail server will not be authenticated and will be
      denied.

RSS Feeds for boards
--------------------
You can now collect read the boards as an RSS feed. These will be
added as links on the website when it becomes official. The wizard
boards below can also be read but it depends on your reader as to
what URL is required. If it accepts htaccess passwords then you
can just use your user/pass. If not then it has to be added
to the URL. This is a list of the URL's for your feed reader.

Boards:
http://anguish.org/rss/<board>
ie. http://anguish.org/rss/class.adv.xml

Note: I havent added rogue/cleric inner boards to this at this stage.

Blogs
-----
Blogging can be done through the earring on the mud if a donator or
from the website if not. I wont be cleaning them up again, so be
sensible with what you post!

Note: Flames, profanity etc will NOT be acceptable in blogs and comments.

Blogs can only be commented on by donators and only from the website.

Blogs and comments also allow for the following 'html' mods.
[b]<text>[/b] - bold text
[i]<text>[/i] - italics
[u]<text>[/u] - underlined
[s]<text>[/s] - strikethrough
[img]<link>[/img]        - image of link
[url]<URL>[/url]         - linked URL
[url=<URL>]<text>[/url]  - <text> linked to <URL>        

Webchat
----
This is a web based chat line which is linked to the webchat line on
the mud. The chat line is similar to that of the mud so accepts similar
commands.

<text>              broadcasts the message
!<feeling>          broadcasts the feeling
@<text>             emotes the text
## or /who          shows online members
/tell <who> <text>  sends a private message to <who>
/quit               logs you out of webchat (and the rest of the website)   

Note: While some options allow you to send URLs/images/colours, these
      will not appear oddly in the mud.

For now thats all I can think of!

Enjoy and let me know if you find problems.

Paldin
      

      Title: 'The Bugs And Turkeys Chess Board' // Fir 750 Fri, 03 Feb  13:25:24

      
Dear all,

To commemorate the year-long corruption of chess scores that has 
at last been fixed, we set up a Bugs and Turkeys chess board and
hid it somewhere on Anguish.

Because we couldn't come up with very many species of turkey,
we decided it would be best to allow the players to cry fowl when
choosing sides on the chess board.

To find the board, seek out the place with the most ferocious bugs.

(While at it, tell me any amusing guesses this hint caused.)

Thanks to Wong, Scarecrazy and Paldin for their help with this project!

--Fir
      

      Title: 'Next Reboot' // Paldin 850 Fri, 03 Feb  02:34:48

      
Just a note for those who will see it, but the next reboot of the mud
the mud will be down slightly longer than normal as I do a couple of
updates to the machine. Hopefully it will only be down for about
15 minutes.

Thanks

Paldin
      

      Title: 'OMG Eddard' // Malire 999 Fri, 03 Feb  00:40:24

      
Hello.

Eddard's concern gave me such imagery, I felt compelled
to respond directly. 

"Title: 'meeting' // Eddard <14> Sat Jan 28 06:37:12 2012

what happens there stays there? like i dont want to show up and accidentally
say that i once accidentally used a trigger to eat an empty bottle at the bar
and wake up locked out of draculs apartment with a note attached to the door
saying somethin about the darkside of dracul's porch and a crazy irishman
pissing on my leg waving a thousand dollar bar tab
you know?
you know?.

End of note number 241."

As far as I am concerned as Law Arch, the party for which Dracul
has taken on a huge amount of work and responsibility, is foremost
a celebration of all that has been AA over the past two decades. 

Law members attending the event will not be attending to collect
fodder in order to punish attendees once we all return to our
virtual reality. 

I rather like the imagery of the darkside of Dracul's porch - tho
I'm not so sure my ancestors would appreciate the idea of an
Irish bar-owner pissing on Eddard's leg and wanting payment
of the tab. 

All this being said, I'd hope all attendees would treat each other
with decency and just plain have a good time. I hear the music
should be quite good as well. 

Happy Anniversary AA!

*bow*
Malire
      

      Title: 'Small change to combat' // Paldin 850 Wed, 01 Feb  23:49:33

      
There has been a small internal change to combat which most of you wont
notice, though Im sure you will attribute everything to. The change
widens the range of numbers that wizards can use to vary the effects
within combat, and all items (except artificer ones which were WAY out
of the ball park in numbers anyway) have been adjusted so there is
no difference.
The artificer ones are *STILL* too high, but this change isnt directly
to balance them but to make scope for future development. Their
adjustment down is just a happy side effect.

Paldin
      

      Title: 'Achrya' // Newt 550 Wed, 01 Feb  23:07:39

      
Achrya's enchanters have reinforced the energies in her medallions.
Adventurers may notice an improved protective effect.
 ~ Newt
      

      Title: 'last' // Pillar 20 Wed, 01 Feb  17:20:40

      
ummm... 
      

      Title: 'last' // Owitzer 25 Wed, 01 Feb  16:48:18

      
why advertise shoulda waited till dec 31 at a minute till
why advertise shoulda waited till dec 31 at a minute till
why advertise shoulda waited till dec 31 at a minute till.
      

      Title: 'Archkill' // Nitro 500 Wed, 01 Feb  14:44:09

      
I feel as if 2012 is really *the* year I make it without an archkill.

//N
      

      Title: 'AAnniversary Update' // Dracul 900 Mon, 30 Jan  19:22:20

      
Hello All,

  The official date for the AAnniversary will be June 29th - July 1st based
on response, as well as venue and entertainment requirements.  Please note
the change.  It will not change again, regardless of what Lars might want.

  A website, and some answers to initial questions, will follow in the near
future.

  Sincerely,
    Dracul, Senator
      

      Title: 'completionism' // Eddard 14 Sat, 28 Jan  12:47:24

      
back in the day a level 19 elf mage with the best weapon for 12 str (i think
i used the longsword from the armory guard in stronghold thinking that
bloodspurts were awesome) and some acid arrows was godly. we also thought
potions were too expensive and that a soft bedroll was the epitome of
healing. 
this was also a time when the windmill guard resetting while going for a nap
meant i would not kill meaty today.  nevermind the fact that at 2400 baud
rate it took several real life minutes to get anywhere. 
this was what was going on when the root numbers behind the game were decided
upon.
i recall having a level 14 character with 40 plus days of character age.
since the good old days if pine email and bbs style telnet a lot of vatiables
have changed. wr have patched and adde and fixed and nerfed ourselves into a
few dozen players. what really can be done? od school sense says suck it up
an drive on. or if you cant take the heat get out of the kitchen?
      

      Title: 'Re: Riddick' // Fir 750 Sat, 28 Jan  11:36:29

      
Completion avoidance is not specific to AA, nor to games where the developers
have alt restrictions. But I suspect we're talking about different
completion.
Were you, as a character, completed at level 19 back when it was possible to
get
exp but not levels after level 19? From my point of view, you were not.

It just means "always leave something more for people to achieve".

--Fir
      

      Title: 'wiz v. mortals on game length' // Riddick 22 Sat, 28 Jan  10:15:21

      
I had a quick question about the ongoing debate on game length.  It appears
to me (correct me if I'm wrong) that the "game should never end" is entirely
a wizard perspective, while the "perhaps it should take a finite amount of
time to max out a character" is entirely a player perspective.

Is this perhaps because wizards have a limited number of alts?

Most of the players I know have alt ADD.  Many of us have dozens of alts. 
We'd have more if we could remember the names of the ones we used to have.

Did you wizards realize how many great classes are in this game?  How many
different race/class combinations there are?  Race/class/trait combos...wow,
there's a lot.  Even if you could max an alt in 70 hours of playtime, you
could spend a LOT of time on different alts.  Bazhi-style time, if you were
Bazhi-style completionist.

Then there are people like Seis who play a challenge version of AA (if he
dies, he suicides the alt).

Why is it, exactly, that it's seen as a bad thing to ever be able to finish
*one* alt?  Could it have anything to do with the fact that alts, for wizzes,
are a limited resource?

In closing, I think that a shorter length to completion (for one alt) would
benefit the game.  It would allow more science (right now, just trying to
TEST a 5th-rank trait is more time than most people play).  It would allow
more sub-optimal choices - you think it's a coincidence our level 49 player
is a dwarf cleric, arguably the easiest/most robust character in the game? 
You don't play a sub-optimal character as your only alt, for hundreds of
weeks of gametime... But you might, for some finite length of gametime.
      

      Title: 'wiz v. mortals on game length' // Riddick 22 Sat, 28 Jan  10:12:46

      
I had a quick question about the ongoing debate on game length.  It appears
to me (correct me if I'm wrong) that the "game should never end" is entirely
a wizard perspective, while the "perhaps it should take a finite amount of
time to max out a character" is entirely a player perspective.

Is this perhaps because wizards have a limited number of alts?

Did you wizards realize how many great classes are in this game?  How many
different race/class combinations there are?  Race/class/trait combos...wow,
there's a lot.  Even if you could max an alt in 70 hours of playtime, you
could spend a LOT of time on different alts.  Bazhi-style time, if you were
Bazhi-style completionist.

Then there are people like Seis who play an essentially challenge version of
AA (if he dies, he suicides the alt).

Why is it, exactly, that it's a bad thing to ever be able to finish *one*
alt?

In closing, I think that a shorter length to completion (for one alt) would
benefit the game.  It would allow more science (right now, just trying to
TEST a 5th-rank trait is more time than most people play).  It would allow
more sub-optimal choices - you think it's a coincidence our level 49 player
is a dwarf cleric, arguably the easiest/most robust character in the game? 
You don't play a sub-optimal character as your only alt, for hundreds of
weeks of gametime... But you might, for some finite length of gametime.
      

      Title: 'wiz v. mortals on game length' // Riddick 22 Sat, 28 Jan  10:11:29

      
I had a quick question about the ongoing debate on game length.  It appears
to me (correct me if I'm wrong) that the "game should never end" is entirely
a wizard perspective, while the "perhaps it should take a finite amount of
time to max out a character" is entirely a player perspective.
Is this perhaps because wizards have a limited number of alts?

Most of the players I know have alt ADD.  Many of us have dozens of alts. 
We'd have more if we could remember the names of the ones we used to have.

Did you wizards realize how many great classes are in this game?  How many
different race/class combinations there are?  Race/class/trait combos...wow,
there's a lot.  Even if you could max an alt in 70 hours of playtime, you
could spend a LOT of time on different alts.  Bazhi-style time, if you were
Bazhi-style completionist.

Then there are people like Seis who play an essentially challenge version of
AA (if he dies, he suicides the alt).

Why is it, exactly, that it's a bad thing to ever be able to finish *one*
alt?

In closing, I think that a shorter length to completion (for one alt) would
benefit the game.  It would allow more science (right now, just trying to
TEST a 5th-rank trait is more time than most people play).  It would allow
more sub-optimal choices - you think it's a coincidence our level 49 player
is a dwarf cleric, arguably the easiest/most robust character in the game? 
You don't play a sub-optimal character as your only alt, for hundreds of
weeks of gametime... But you might, for some finite length of gametime.
      

      Title: 'meeting' // Eddard 14 Fri, 27 Jan  22:37:12

      
what happens there stays there? like i dont want to show up and accidentally
say that i once accidentally used a trigger to eat an empty bottle at the bar
and wake up locked out of draculs apartment with a note attached to the door
saying somethin about the darkside of dracul's porch and a crazy irishman
pissing on my leg waving a thousand dollar bar tab
you know?
you know?.
      

      Title: 'Re: Cogline' // Fir 750 Fri, 27 Jan  09:48:52

      
If you want to announce your going/not going on Facebook, you can go
here: https://www.facebook.com/events/134994573286549/
Note that this is a separate service, so mudmail Dracul in addition
so that the organizers won't assume 9 people coming when FB says 20.

Currently FB says 6 yes 10 maybe.

--Fir
      

      Title: 'Dazhi' // Odessa 23 Thu, 26 Jan  18:43:45

      
Dazhi (aka John Stabinsky) died 11 years ago today.
Hopefully some of you still remember him!
Check out the facebook page "I Knew John Stabinsky" for photos and 
snippets of his life.

On a lighter note, he definitely would have beaten Bazhi to level 50.

Amanda
      

      Title: 'Megavideo Shut down Hackers Fight.' // Aper 15 Wed, 25 Jan  16:49:47

      
note Megavideo Shut down Hackers Fight. 
Megavideo and Megaupload were shut down buy Federal law inforcment last
tuesday under copyright law. 18 people were arrested. 15 mins after the news
dropped 100s of government web sites were shut down. Feds 1 Hackers 1 the war
is on. Go to the megavideo wight to see your future.
      

      Title: 'Megavideo shut down' // Aper 15 Wed, 25 Jan  16:45:49

      
note Megavideo shut down.
note Megavideo shut down.
read board
l
l
      

      Title: 'Party' // Cogline 33 Wed, 25 Jan  15:17:11

      
Are we allowed to drink.... Heavily..... while attending the events of the
night? Also i hear its possible we have a facebook invite section. Is there
anyone who could possibly code a temp board guest list? of maybe going?
going? not going? kinda thing? Or we trying to leave it a secret guest list
to "surprise" everyone when 9 ppl show up?
      

      Title: 'Party' // Cogline 33 Wed, 25 Jan  15:14:53

      
Are we allowed to drink.... Heavily..... while attending the events of the
night?
      

      Title: 'Party' // Cogline 33 Wed, 25 Jan  15:13:05

      
Can we get a guest list coded up and added temp like? Curious as going, maybe
going and not going.
      

      Title: 'AAnniversary in central/western Europe?' // Snorri 26 Wed, 25 Jan  01:09:17

      
First of all thanks to those who organized and/or sponsored the AAnniversary
in Philadelphia - great job!

I just wonder if there would be enough people who are interested in attending
an AAnniversary meeting somewhere in central/western Europe?
I don't think that this meeting should include a music gig or any other
sponsored event - just a simple gathering with a tour through the city,
dinner and possibly a place to stay overnight.
If anyone who happens to be here during summer this year is interested please
mudmail me. I'll present further planning as soon as I get a noticable
feedback.

Looking forward to whatever comes up ;)
Snorri/Oark/Wiolant
      

      Title: '2 ago' // Wong 550 Mon, 23 Jan  12:31:24

      
Wild suggestion: on that day, increase the maximum party size to the number
of attendees so everyone can join the same party ;)

 - Wong
      

      Title: 're: last' // Fice 32 Sat, 21 Jan  23:25:47

      
Who's bringing the acid?
      

      Title: 'AAnniversary - AA Celebrates 20 Years' // Dracul 900 Sat, 21 Jan  15:11:40

      
Hello All,

  The Senate will be sponsoring an event for our 20th AAnniversary this
coming summer.

**  The site of our AAnniversary gathering will be in the United States,
    just outside the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

**  The tentative date for the AAnniversary is June 22nd - 24th, 2012.
    This will be confirmed shortly as artist contracts are signed.

**  The main event would be held Saturday evening, June 23rd.

What we need from you:

  Please let me know if you would tentatively be interested in attending,
and how many people you would hope to bring along so I can make decisions
accordingly.  Details on official registration will be available in the
coming weeks.

  Talk about the AAnniversary with your fellow players, both present and
past, to make sure they know about the upcoming event.  They should be
encouraged to visit AA, as one of the event goals is to reach as much of
our player-base over the last 20 years as we can, and to get them reengaged
with the Anguish of today.  We will be creating some informational packets
to detail the event, and will also do some advertising.

Location:

  Philadelphia is highly accessible in the US.  As part of the East Coast
megalopolis, it is located along several long interstates including the
I-95 North-South corridor and I-76 East-West.  Philadelphia includes a
major international airport, PHL, and several other international airports
are very close by in Newark, New Jersey (EWR), and Baltimore, Maryland
(BWI).

Main Venue:

  We will be gathering for events at a private apartment complex in the
western suburbs with a very nice clubhouse, as well as at specific area
venues.  The main event on Saturday evening will be one of the following,
pending attendance:

    Option 1 - Smaller Attendance
      * Pending weather, the pool will be available
      * Dinner
      * Live music - Acoustic
      * A local hotspot for an after-hours

    Option 2 - Full Attendance
      * Pending weather, the pool will be available
      * Dinner
      * Appetizers throughout
      * Live music - Acoustic
      * Live music - Premier PA Party Band
      * A local hotspot for an after-hours

Other Activities:

  While there is still plentiful planning to do, I can say that there will
be a myriad of activities available for both families and individuals.  One
of the reasons Philadelphia is a great venue is the ability to support a
large variety of activities with the ability to entertain everyone.  Your
significant other and children will be welcome, and there will be a nearly
infinite number of things for them to do regardless of whether you choose
to subject them to the Ancient Anguish community.  There will be a few,
planned group activities over the course of the weekend, and there will be
information available about what singles, couples, and children can do in
and around Philadelphia.

    If people considering attending don?t like *any* of the following:

    * Philadelphia Zoo (very family friendly)
    * Philadelphia Museum of Art
    * Natural History Museum (very family friendly)
    * Franklin Institute (very family friendly)
    * Please Touch Museum (very family friendly)
    * King of Prussia Mall - one of the largest malls in the US, a
        serious shopper cannot cover it in a weekend
    * The Liberty Bell, Constitution Center, Independence Hall, and tons
        of other US history in Center City
    * Valley Forge National Park - Valley Forge encampment plus hiking,
        jogging, biking, wildlife)
    * Longwood Gardens - permanent flower show; you?d need a car
    * Hundreds of miles worth of Schuylkill River walking / hiking /
        biking trails
    * Large field for outdoor games from Frisbee to whatever you choose to
        hurt yourself doing
    * Swimming - I will try to get people means of entry to the pool here,
        and it's easy to get a hotel with one
    * Sporting events
    * Restaurants - if you can?t find your flavor and price here, it's
        probably illegal in the US
    * Coffee shops (see above)
    * Nightlife - there are thousands of bars and nightclubs, several
        nearby
    * Gambling - Philly has casinos now; the nearby Valley Forge
        Convention Center may be complete by June
    * Any of the million other things on visitphilly.com -
        http://www.visitphilly.com/find-an-attraction/
    * A hotel room with free wifi, and a break from your life

      then mud should still be online for you.

Logistics:

  In the coming weeks, I will be making lists available of area hotels and
attractions, directions from the airport and along major highways, the
scheduled entertainment, and how to register.  Registration will initially
be through mudmail.  More details on registration will be available
shortly.

Funding:

  Before the question is raised, be aware that we will *not* be using any
of our current funds from previous donations.

  Our donations were collected for our network connection and machine
hardware costs, so it would not be fair to use them for anything else.  The
sponsored portions of the AAnniversary have been privately funded.
  
  If you would like to donate toward offsetting the costs, please send a
donation to Ancient Anguish with the group set to AAnniversary, using the
details in help donations.

Alcohol:

  As a large city, Philadelphia has a large selection of entertainment
venues, and there will be opportunities for people to enjoy a few drinks
together if they so choose.  That said, the main event will be family
friendly.  Due to the legal issues surrounding events which cater alcohol,
I would rather avoid the liability for a large crowd with an open bar.  We
can use local venues to support consumption and regulation of alcohol; it
is safer for all of us.  There are great places in Philadelphia for us to
go to continue the party, and the main event will end at a reasonable time
for adults to go out together afterward.

Questions:

  You are all welcome to contact me personally with questions, or for
assistance with planning.

  Sincerely,
    Dracul
      

      Title: 'Diplomacy' // Verve 14 Fri, 20 Jan  20:47:33

      
I want to setup a diplomacy game if anyone is interested - pm me if keen.
Woop woop!
      

      Title: 'last few' // Wong 550 Thu, 19 Jan  09:49:21

      
For those who would like to form a judged opinion on the matter by reading
the other side of the story, I recommend:

http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Support-The-Daily-WTF-in-Supporting-the-
Support-SOPA-Movement.aspx

Sorry for the somewhat long URL, but it's worth it. ;-)

 - Wong
      

      Title: 'More' // Malire 999 Wed, 18 Jan  16:16:46

      
http://xkcd.com/
"I make my living drawing xkcd, which wouldn't have been possible
if people hadn't been able to freely share my comics with each 
other and all over the internet. As a copyright holder and small
business owner, I oppose SOPA and PIPA

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
https://www.eff.org/sites/default/files/One-Page-SOPA_0.pdf
http://blog.reddit.com/2012/01/technical-examination-of-sopa-and.html
http://dyn.com/sopa-breaking-dns-parasite-stop-online-piracy/

Food for thought.
Malire
 (Not speaking for the Senate nor as an Arch. Just as me.)
      

      Title: 'Re: Riddick' // Fir 750 Wed, 18 Jan  10:34:32

      
Yeah, I did. X-) Mostly I'll be tempted to compare us to Facebook fad 
games (several with the million-odd players) when someone says that AA
is dying because doing X requires too much player interaction though.
Since that's the whole thing behind them going viral.

Don't get me wrong. I believe FB games are all kinds of evil, don't
generally seem to demonstrate a whole lot of originality, and may well
be designed in a way where it's alright to get boring in a couple of
months when you've outlived your usefulness as an advertiser. As games,
they're (for the most part) considered as sub-par, a bit like food whose
attractiveness is based on sugar and/or salt is not considered very 
gourmet.

But it doesn't take away the fact that a lot of industrious minds have
been sicced at the problem of creating digital heroin without minimal
game content investment. While we do have the content, it's not
addictive enough by itself to retain players if we violate the "how not
to get instantly boring" rule book extensively. And yeah, even Facebook
games have people complaining how things should be made easier. That
part you can never be rid of, it seems.

But I can compare us to a bunch of other things too. I just find FB
games a fascinating and current-times example of taking old game design 
rules to the extreme. Imagine, for example, that telling people they're 
only allowed to play a little bit every day not only makes your wee
little content last longer, it makes people itch to log on every single
day and if doing something elaborate allows them to play a little bit
more that day, people'll do it - anything you limit becomes a valued
currency, even if you're actually telling people to bugger off to spend
time away from your game. o.O

--Fir

PS. If we'll discuss this topic at much more length, let's take it
to the Other Worlds or Philosophy board, for example. I've got some
nasty itch that gets worse whenever I remind people we're rubbing
at numbers behind the scenes.
      

      Title: 'Not posting as a Arch' // Malire 999 Wed, 18 Jan  10:04:23

      
Just to be clear - I'm speaking as an individual, not for the Senate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxJUbtbX1ro

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16612628

Perhaps I am too fervent in my desires to be left alone by the
Government whenever possible, but this law is too controling
for my tastes. Artists for years have suffered pirates, but
to have the Government manage our internet content just
worries the hell out of me.

*bow*
Malire
      

      Title: 'SOPA SAGA' // Malire 999 Wed, 18 Jan  01:03:50

      
Looking for Lessons in Go Daddy's SOPA Saga

Brian Glaser ContactAll Articles

Corporate Counsel

January 3, 2012
Christine Jones

The final week of 2011 saw several business stories that tried to fly under
the end-of-year radar (none failing quite so spectacularly as Verizon?s ill-
fated $2 bill-pay fee), and the one that may end up having the most impact in
2012 is the battle over the Stop Online Piracy Act.

The proposed anti-piracy legislation?which was introduced in October by Texas
Republican Lamar Smith and goes by the acronym SOPA?is an attempt to make a
play at toughening restrictions on the duplication and sharing of copyrighted
materials on the web. But parties on both sides of the issue are finding that
opinions on SOPA are not as black and white as they might have seemed.

No single organization has felt the sting of SOPA more keenly than Internet
domain registrar Go Daddy. Unlike many other U.S. tech companies such as
Google and Facebook, which publically came out against SOPA as being too
restrictive, Go Daddy took a pro-SOPA stance?which led to a widespread
grassroots campaign against the company.

In late December, a comment thread on the social media site Reddit posited,
?GoDaddy supports SOPA, I'm transferring 51 domains & suggesting a move your
domain day,? a notion that quickly gained support and spread an anti-Go Daddy
message across the Internet. At issue is the latitude the bill provides to
enforcement agencies?specifically the U.S. Department of Justice?in punishing
those who fall within the legislation?s definition of copyright infringement.

The proposed boycott and general anti-Go Daddy vitriol were significant
enough to lead company CEO Warren Adelman to officially reverse the company?s
pro-SOPA stance. In a statement released on December 23, Adelman said,
?Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why Go Daddy
has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation?but we can
clearly do better. . . It's very important that all Internet stakeholders
work together on this. . . Go Daddy will support it when and if the Internet
community supports it.?

The statement goes on to note:

Go Daddy and its General Counsel, Christine Jones, have worked with federal
lawmakers for months to help craft revisions to legislation first introduced
some three years ago. Jones has fought to express the concerns of the entire
Internet community and to improve the bill by proposing changes to key
defined terms, limitations on DNS filtering to ensure the integrity of the
Internet, more significant consequences for frivolous claims, and specific
provisions to protect free speech.

. . . In an effort to eliminate any confusion about its reversal on SOPA
though, Jones has removed blog postings that had outlined areas of the bill
Go Daddy did support.

"Go Daddy has always fought to preserve the intellectual property rights of
third parties, and will continue to do so in the future," Jones said.

While Go Daddy?s CEO and GC have been working to undo the negative effects of
the SOPA controversy and boycott, there are reports that sentiments against
the company have yet to fully abate. According to The Washington Post, ?Users
of domain registrar Namecheap who've been trying to transfer domains in from
GoDaddy in the wake of its SOPA revolt in the past couple days have been
running into a bit of a speed bump: Namecheap alleges in customer service
emails that GoDaddy is blocking its WHOIS requests, which means it needs to
?manually insert WHOIS details into the form.? "

In the same report, Go Daddy counters that ?this isn't a direct response to
an elevated rate of domain transfers,? and the Post says ?circumstantial
evidence suggests that GoDaddy is correct on that point.?

Go Daddy is perhaps the most glaring example of how the SOPA controversy is
playing out, but it is by no means the end of the story. According to ABC
News, another Reddit-fueled effort is now seeking to identify Congressional
?SOPA supporters who have seats up for grabs in this year's election cycle
and [fund] their opponents.?

Republican Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is one of the most prominent
lawmakers to be targeted by the latest Reddit movement, and ABC reports that
?After less than 36 hours, ?Operation Pull Ryan? was born and over $7,500 has
been donated to  [Ryan challenger Rob] Zerban's campaign.?

The House Judiciary Committee delayed its plans to debate SOPA in December,
and instead has said it will re-schedule sometime in early 2012. In the
meantime, companies on both sides of the SOPA issue are carefully measuring
how their stances on the bill will play to a public that has shown it is
paying close attention and is willing to act.

See also: "Debate Over Web Piracy Act Goes Viral," The National Law Journal,
December 2011.
      

      Title: 'Maintaining liberties:' // Malire 999 Wed, 18 Jan  00:51:18

      

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Just in case you are interested in fighting.

*bow*
Malire
      

      Title: 'Re: Fir' // Riddick 22 Sat, 14 Jan  19:30:15

      
In general, a very articulate defense of a viewpoint.  One quick thought
though - did you really just compare AA to a Facebook fad game?

I quit playing Facebook games precisely because I realized I was sinking in
tremendous amounts of time with no real progress or enjoyment...
      

      Title: 'dying' // Smoove 6 Sat, 14 Jan  12:25:58

      
Instead of investing money for life insurance, invest experience points. And
no funny stuff with ratios, but give the contracts duration. Rollovers should
cost money and keep the customer coming back.

So... XP payments or deposits would be made while you earn the XP for the
duration of an open contract. You could close and re-open the contract any
time to choose when to 'save' some XP or not, but it would always require
some regular cash maintenance in order to exercise the option upon your
expiration.

I'd place the agent near the Party Board.
      

      Title: 'backup' // Newt 550 Sat, 14 Jan  11:39:38

      
I love Adinos' backup idea. Money sink insurance to protect time investment.
Both are things that players value. Something to spend their money on and a
way to protect their non-monetary investments. More comments?
 ~ Newt
      

      Title: 'Cost of traits' // Newt 550 Sat, 14 Jan  11:28:22

      
I am not going to say that traits are in a good spot right now, but
complaining about investment at higher levels that one has not been to, as
Temp seems to suggest, is absurd. Referring to the cost of traits, you get as
much power for the first point invested as the later points, generally
speaking. So How much does the first point in Racial Hate cost? Is it low
enough that you see the benefit before level 19? Yes. Do you start a new
character with free trait points? Yes. I am not working on trait respec or
reworks, but everyone who I have talked to suggests an EVEN EASIER entry than
this. Many points for each trait that can be earned much more eaisly, each
adding a small bonus that adds up with investment, so that a player feels the
investment as it is being worked towards, instead of after.

We know traits are implemented poorly and we can do better. Please stick
around and support us long enough for someone to rework them. We don't
exactly get paid.

 ~ Newt
      

      Title: 'Fear of dying' // Adinos 850 Sat, 14 Jan  07:43:08

      
Regarding the "I don't play, because I would lose too much if I died"
argument, perhaps I should dust off my old "backup" argument.  

Basically, the idea was that you could go to a particular location and
have a "clone" made of you, with all your stats as they are at that
time....of course it would cost quite a bit of money.
  
Then you go out, and if you die, you reactivate the clone.  If you
don't die...well, then you lose just the (considerable) amount of
gold coins you paid for getting the clone made in the first place.

I don't know if people would like this, but *shrug* it's an idea...
      

      Title: 'Re: Temp' // Fir 750 Sat, 14 Jan  04:38:00

      
No offense taken, and I think it's great we have so many people who care
deeply for the game. And as you said, when all our goal is to promote 
and help AA thrive, it's all for the best. None of us can have a complete
and total overview of what's going on. I've collected some 36 comments
on a Facebook AA group on what keeps bringing people back and
what keeps them away, and the trend on what keeps people away is
generally RL driving over gameplay and in some cases negativity.
And apparently one is kept away from being perma-banned and another
from having his only mortal (and quite deservedly, Stat love) bountied.

I agree that fear of death keeps me away from scary areas too, and
the mage death penalty is my hubby's main reason for staying away.
Maybe it'll change some day, but it also means AA _has_ an element
of risk which wouldn't be there if there wasn't a death penalty.
On The Mana World, you get yourrself killed by mobs to have a teleport
back town, and, well, I lost interest since all that's left there
is to grind through a couple more levels that don't really add anything.
The risk adds another choice: do you grind away slowly or take risks
for faster gains. 

Pure Soul adds a way to reduce the death penalty at the cost of a ton
of trait points, which essentially means not taking other traits for
a while. Other actually choosable ways to reduce the penalty could
be interesting as well. Would you choose slower advancement overall
for a lesser death penalty? Would your mage sign up for corrective
courses to gain study hours at half speed for twice the time after
dying? I'm just throwing random ideas in the air, but my point is
instead of demanding that we change the game for everyone, we could
look for ways to give players more choice. It's one of the great
strengths of AA, after all.

(Sorry about the not-really-prepared follow-up, I really just meant
to say I appreciate thought-out commentary even when I don't agree
with all the points.)

--Fir
      

      Title: 'Text' // Temp 1 Sat, 14 Jan  04:14:17

      
I just wrote a huge wall again as well... but I don't want this to be an
ongoing "arguement" I'm not upset, and I don't want anyone else to become
upset.

Thanks for AA. I love this game. I just wish was a little easier. Please stop
saying generic replies like, "I want everything for free" that's just
disrespectful and causes arguements.

I would just like to see some improvements to reduce the "burden" of the
game. Like lighter death penalties, losing a level, weapon skills,
experience, and one of each stat. That's harsh. Especially since it makes new
and average players NOT want to explore, because they are afraid of death.

People have been saying these things forever, and ever. And yes there have
been some great steps in response to this, like traits and increased levels.
But they came with enormous requirements, like 200,000 exp for 1 trait point.
I freaking love traits. Best implementation ever. That's the kind of stuff we
want, but again with heavy restrictions like not being able to test a trait,
or re-spec later.

But for a quick example, it takes 3,000 kills of a 9k monster to get enough
trait points to go from Racial Hate:Goblin 3 to level 4... That's a -lot- of
killing for one little trait that although the concept is nice, gives little
in return for its time-invested. Please don't misconstrue that. The trait is
powerful, but the ratio of power-vs-time-invested is teeter-totters far more
toward time than power.

I love you guys. I miss the old days.
      

      Title: 'Wall of Text part 2' // Fir 750 Sat, 14 Jan  03:51:46

      
Under the topic of "being kept in the dark", Temp mixes a putty from
lack of patch notes AND not being told that rune longsword does 3-13
damage. I find these two to be completely different topics. I fully
agree that changes want to be discussed. The non-discussion isn't just
about secretiveness either, though. (Like with this post, I considered
first mailing the poster to ask if they actually want to discuss the
topic or if they're just venting and I'd waste my time trying to explain
the other point of the view; but since Cogline's apparently interested
I'm game in burning an hour on a post.)

The not being told that rune longsword does 3-13 damage I completely
disagree with, on the other hand. From a personal point of view, when I
play games that tell me that this choice is optimal, I feel pressured to
do the optimal thing (it's called minimaxing) and it narrows down my
choice. When I don't exactly know, the range of option remains wider.

From a community-based game design point of view, not giving the data
away activates a "scientist" part of the game population to _find out_
the numbers and share them with others. We see dozens of posts by AA
scientists even on quiet periods, and the number of websites dedicated
to AA research has been large enough over time for Fluiddruid to
dedicate a metasite to just cataloguing them back in the day.

Research is a valid form of constructive gameplay that I wouldn't want
to take away in the world.

--Fir

PS. Since Temp actually managed to type up another post: one of the 
points that getting a reply from Paldin proves is, IMO, that we're
people here. He disagrees with the basics of the post, and there's no
idea if the mysterious "Temp" will ever come back, so why spend the time
to write up thought-out analysis for a future flamester to not-read?
You _are_ making a pretty big statement in that if AA were easier,
you and 10k people like you would be playing it, after all.
I'm not sure what's better - wizards not responding at all, or wizards
spending dev time writing up these walls of text. Which one did you read? ;)
      

      Title: 'Wall of Text part 1' // Fir 750 Sat, 14 Jan  03:45:39

      
Ok, I'm going to take a leap and discuss again. Sorry in advance for
depressing any suspension-of-disbelievists with game economics.

Temp posted on two topics on the adv. board: one, commitment to game,
and two, "being kept in the dark". I'll split the posts in two because
people here don't have the time to commit to reading a hundred lines of
text anyway. O:)

Under the topic of commitment to game, he made the point that he pops by
every 2 years and plays a character up to level 19, but is discouraged
by not being able to complete the game (get over level 19, complete
weapon skills, get all shifter forms or max out a ficer). He argues that
because this is a game, it should not require commitment and should
generally be easier. (In a clause, he reveals he possibly was actually
driven away by his favourite weapon being downgraded or some other
balancing act. I'll skip that topic this time around.)

The general theme from the first post I get is completionism. Temp feels
discouraged because he cannot complete the game in what he considers
reasonable time given RL commitments. "The average RPG game was 40 hours
long, ten years ago. Today the average RPG is about 15-20. Why are all
of the level 20-22's in this game 300+ hours old?"

I think the important point that separates online community-based games
and solo shrink-wrap-boxed games is that the boxed game is a one-shot
throw-away product - and there is actually a market for "used" boxed
games because of that. So you finished Neverwinter Nights in 2 months.
How many times have you gone back to it since then (not counting new
games within the engine)? I have a colleague who mentioned he's played
Skyrim for 30 hours now. It's hot now, how many games you started 10
years ago do you still play today? 3 years? 1 year?

An online game, in contrast, thrives from attracting and retaining a
community. Therefore completion is their #1 enemy - if you complete an
online game, you leave (or use it as a chat room, and it's rather easy
to replace chat rooms). I've gotten a bit conflicted information on what
WoW is (apparently new "boxes" of it come out every now and then that
make people start from scratch, I'm not sure if the old "boxes" are
played after that or not), but if you tell me you can max your character
on WoW in 15 hours I'm a bit surprised how they expect to make their
money off the concept. Even the simplest Facebook games have an
essentially unlimited number of levels you can gain - and a bazillion
other things you can advance while at it.

So, for a reasonably minor-investment Facebook fad game, maxing a
character needs to take about as long as it takes to set up the next
even better game, and preferrably longer since it pays back the time
investment put in making it more if people stay longer. AA, developed in
a timespan of over 20 years, needs to take, what, 20+ years before a
player can say they completed the game? Maybe not quite that since you
can start a new character, but this is essentially the point behind
Paldin's "level 50 was not meant to be reached" argument. An online game
that can be completed is a future dead online game. Unfortunately.

Taking the risk that I sound really condescending, be at peace - we
guys seriously don't _expect_ you to finish, so don't feel pressured by
us! In fact, we hope that there will be something more left for you to
achieve for the rest of your life - just like in real life. I know that
a sense of completion is a really great feeling and that you'd like AA
to give you that feeling too. Yes! We want to help you with that through
being able to actually max out quests, reach your max stats at level 19
(the old "completion"), or get a Prince pretitle in Knights, and some of
the more insane goals like maxing weapon skills or shifter clans - and
also setting up smaller goals like the game console achievements that
you could unlock to get that same feeling.

Bazhi makes us cry because once he hits 50 there isn't much we can wave
at him as a reason to come back and play. But he's going to go down in
history as one crazy mofo, which I think is his goal and not on the
whole bad for AA either. Legends are good for you.

There are various attributions on why the player base is down, and I'm
not going to solve that issue here. I keep running into my #1 reason a
lot: "afk, kids". We actually retained our college-kid players long
enough that they got a life. Even more, some of them are actually coming
back from time-off breeding, like me. That's freaking awesome! We can
discuss various reasons why time has driven past games like AA, but I'd
like to keep things in perspective: some people are saying WoW is now
dwindling, despite the multi-box system and commercial development, and
it's been around half the time (came out in 2001). While normal game
lifespan implies AA has to dwindle away eventually, we're still not in a
stage where scavenging the remains for spare parts and tossing the rest
would be a reasonable solution. (Although I have to admit it's sometimes
_very_ attractive a thought to set up a mythical "AA2" where development
- including changes to existing material - is not only allowed but
encouraged. Sometimes it feels like demonstrating a concept live and
ironing out the fails together would maybe get us out of this museum
mood where change is taboo because it can be for the worse.)

--Fir
      

      Title: 'That's the point right there...' // Temp 1 Sat, 14 Jan  03:42:04

      
I didn't mean to sound like I was complaining. I just wanted my perspective
as one of the forgotten core players to be heard. To let you guys know why we
left. I say we because I was friends with many people all of which left for
the exact same reasons. Not because I don't have time Paldin, because I don't
have eternity.

This is a game, I'm not expecting things for free, but how can you honestly
say it's fair, balanced, fun, exciting, or intriguing, to be required to
spend, several days of RL time to max out only 1 Shifter clan? or you have to
spend the first 3-4 hours of each boot prepping for a construct. Or several
years to build a fighter up and evaluate every piece of equipment in the
game, so that I know what's worth using, etc.

A lot of things were smoother, and easier in that regard when there were 100+
people on, but we do not have that anymore.

Paldin, having you use quotes and then reply in such a manner, just kind of
proves the point all together. I honestly don't mean to point a finger at
you, but this is just a good example, when ANY player responds like this, it
instantly shows that they are close-minded, are crossing their arms while
reading my post, and feel they are being attacked. And yes everyone has had a
lot of that here too, sometimes there are asses out there who just want to
cause problems. But we can ignore them.

I am the missing 10,000 players. I'm not great, I'm not below average. I play
for fun, I do try to min-max, but in a reasonable manner, without spending 40
RL hours spreadsheet documenting whether a battered frying pan is better than
a stick from Nepeth training grounds... That's -my- point... there's just too
much time sinkhole. Even death seems a bit harsh, especially so compared to
every other game and MUD out there.

We need to adjust to grow with the times. This isn't 1992 anymore. Heck,
remove the experience point loss from the death penalty, instead take a % of
our gold when we die. Noobs and Pro's alike would enjoy that world much more.

Heck, a perfect example of that, is Diablo 2. 10 years later Blizzard put out
a patch that allows players to Re-Spec their skills!! who was upset with
that? Nobody, how many people came back to play again? A lot. Let players
respec their traits, make it cost gold not experience or something. But stop
making everything a TIME sinkhole. And lets remove/alter some TIME sinkholes.
If this were a bit more fast paced, soooo many people would not have left.
And that's a fact. No matter which side you are on in this arguement.
      

      Title: 'Re: Catalog' // Paldin 850 Fri, 13 Jan  18:18:18

      
> Y'know, I'm usually among the first to roll my eyes at people who complain
> about the mud.

Yeah specially those who have to make new characters to post with when
they do.                       

> But this guy, whoever he is, makes some interesting points, though it's not
> clear to me what can be done about the issues he raises. Of course, since
I'm
> a non-wiz, it's not my job to know.

Which points? That he doesnt have time to play so hes not? Or that since hes
not a power player he should get everything for free?

> He'll probably turn out to be Opie.

Na Opie is usually more random :)

Paldin
      

      Title: 'Previous two' // Catalog 30 Fri, 13 Jan  15:00:07

      

Y'know, I'm usually among the first to roll my eyes at people who complain
about the mud.

But this guy, whoever he is, makes some interesting points, though it's not
clear to me what can be done about the issues he raises. Of course, since I'm
a non-wiz, it's not my job to know.

He'll probably turn out to be Opie.
      

      Title: 'Forgot About This' // Temp 1 Fri, 13 Jan  05:59:39

      
One of the things I wanted to add to the previous post, is that people are
tired of being kept in the dark. I read the patch notes in games. I want to
know what changed. Why is everything such a secret here? Does it really hurt
or change anything to know that a Rune Longsword does 3-13 damage? or that
Maximum skills is equal to 5xLevel + 5 or whatever? No, if anything it
removes some of the tedious questions, concerns, and doubt, and lets players
know what is worthwile and what isnt, so they can stop wasting time, and
spend more time having fun.

I know most of you here play something else, other than AA... what would you
do if Blizzard put a patch out without any notations of what it included, and
also removed all verbage on your currently equipped gear? Would the game be
as fun? hell no, don't even pretend you be having as much fun, trying to
grind away, attempting to figure out if this holy broadsword was as good as
the steel longsword you just picked up. Wasting more time, killing countless
baddies just to figure out which is better. Then by the time you figure it
out, the last baddie drops a holy broadsword +2, oh crap, now what? do it all
over again...

Same concept with this game. Were not asking for numbers to be released, but
stop treating everything like one massive CIA secret where you have to kill
us if you tell us. Put some patch notes out. Let us know what your changing.

And for god sake, UPDATE THE WEBSITE, and ADVERTISE
Were never going to get new players with an outdated site, which has broken
links, missing/old information in the classes and guilds sections, an
uninformative NEWS section, etc.
      

      Title: 'Player Base and Balance' // Temp 1 Fri, 13 Jan  05:49:04

      
well, after typing a huge message nobody was going to actually read, and then
exiting by accident... I decided to just post this brief one:

I am what you would call the "Core" Ancient Anguish player base. One of the
mythical noobs that existed several years ago, that made up one of the 10,000
players that used to play (yes thats a legit number)

I come back every 2 years or so, play something up to level 19, and after
spending many nights grinding away, and then realizing that I am never going
to get any higher, i end up quitting.

I can't get higher because I'm a noob... I just have a life. This is a game,
and I don't have several hundred to a thousand hours to invest, like every
level 25+ out there. Honestly, how do you have that kind of time? I mean that
with no disrespect... I am a hardcore power player gamer in every game but AA
- because the sheer time needed is atrocious

Why are there so many time required sinkholes in this game? Shifters are the
best example, but Artificers are great, Weapon Skills are a good example, and
many more.

This isn't a marriage. I shouldn't have to commit myself to this game.
Keyword: Game.

I love the concept of Ancient Anguish, and no other MUD compares to it. I
want to play this game. But I don't want it to be the only game I play
because you want my left arm in return for 1 trait point.

Please guys... lighten up. I am the "Core" player base. And you drove me
away, not because I was upset with Powerplayers taking all the good kills, or
because somebody is super powerful at level 49, or because my favorite weapon
was downgraded... I - the real, honest to goodness average player, who wants
to come back to AA - left because you guys require more time and effort than
ANY other game I have ever heard of, or played. It's sickening. Even WoW,
GuildWars, and Max Prestige in Call of Duty requires less time then say
hitting level 22 in this game.

It's too much. The average RPG game was 40 hours long, ten years ago. Today
the average RPG is about 15-20. Why are all of the level 20-22's in this game
300+ hours old? You guys expect too much...

And that, spoken from someone who loves this game dearly, but doesn't want to
play it anymore - is the reason the player base died. 

Unfortunately, it might be too late to bring it back at this point.
      

      Title: 'Previous' // Catalog 30 Thu, 12 Jan  19:02:11

      

Mahatma Gumby.

With greatest apologies,
-- Cat/Eubulides/etc.
      

      Title: 'I live with a 2nd grader.' // Catalog 30 Thu, 12 Jan  19:01:03

      

What's made of clay and practices non-violent resistance?
      

      Title: 'Birdwatchers ho!' // Fir 750 Thu, 12 Jan  12:44:35

      
The Birdwatcher Society of Gemynd is pleased to report that four new
species of birds have been added on the yearly "catch them fowl"
roster. They are worth extra points, particularly to travellers from
Anguish who have not seen anything quite like them before.

Who will be the first one to name all four in a post on the Canticle
Submissions Board?

Happy spotting!

--Fir, who has these crazy dreams about AA that actually come true

PS. Next up: some of that crazy fruit I tried out last summer.
      

      Title: 'Dasha' // Expresso 22 Thu, 12 Jan  10:06:02

      
You ray of sunshine, you :)
      

      Title: 're: town hall mtg' // Dasha 34 Wed, 11 Jan  21:54:10

      
I thought it was going to be something like bring back mortal council or
something :( but i guess we dont have enough active players for that.
Anyway, as for the get together, you'll all be pleased to know I will not be
attending. Enjoy.
      

      Title: 'traits' // Bazhi 49 Wed, 11 Jan  20:21:54

      
Given the amount of xp it takes to max many of those traits, unless you
planned out taking all the cheapest ones, it really isn't possible, expected,
or intended for one to max them all out. Removing the tripling effect after
the 5th time just makes it possible to individually max any 1 trait (for
those that take 10x) if one wanted to invest all of their points in any one
trait.  But, taking 15 different slots, it just isn't reasonable to even
bother calculating what it would take to max them all. 
I'll be level 50 before I reach enough trait points to advance anything else
so my traits list that I posted was intended to be my final listing for those
who were interested in knowing what I took to get there.
      

      Title: 'AAnniversary - AA Celebrates 20 Years' // Dracul 900 Wed, 11 Jan  19:08:50

      
Hello All,

  As some of you may know, Ancient Anguish was founded 20 years ago.  Zor
and Drake started working on AA sometime in 1991, and it was opened to the
public in early February, 1992.  Obviously, this is a huge milestone, and
we should treat it appropriately.

  The Senate will be sponsoring an event for our 20th AAnniversary this
coming summer.  There will be a brief town hall meeting to discuss some of
the details:

  Saturday, January 21st, at 5:00 PM EST (2200 UTC)

  * Please note that this will fall on Sunday morning for some of you.  For
    a list with your timezone, please see http://tinyurl.com/874lzax

  Please encourage any players you know, present or former, to attend the
meeting.  Details will be posted for those who cannot attend, and we will
also do some advertising.

  Sincerely,
    Dracul, Senator
      

      Title: 'Re: Bazhi' // Riddick 22 Wed, 11 Jan  12:50:33

      
Thank you Bazhi for the post - I knew something like that had to occur, or
maxing a trait like packmule would cost over 5x what maxing exceptional
strength would.  But it's neat to have the numbers.

Incidentally, unless the exceptional stats plateau, or traits keep accruing
after you clock your XP, no one will ever see Exceptional ____ 5.

And Paldin - I've done the math now.  I could max the five traits I have now.
 And then I'd have to clock my XP.  Bazhi would have to clock his XP ~10
times to max his trait list.  Please, please tell me this isn't someone's
idea of keeping the game fun.  Bazhi has played more than anyone before him,
and quite likely anyone after him.  It is utterly rediculous to expect him to
play 9x that long to finish out...
      

      Title: 'Re: Bazhi' // Riddick 22 Wed, 11 Jan  12:44:35

      
I had imagined something like that had to occur - it mentions plateauing in
the help file, but it's great to have the number.

Incidentally, unless the Excep. Stat traits plateau at level 4, you can't
actually achieve level 5.  Even if that's your only trait...
Unless traits keep accruing when/after you clock your xp.
      

      Title: 're: Bazhi's traits' // Chronos 500 Wed, 11 Jan  11:36:15

      
Stop showing off. You're making some of the other mortals cry.
      

      Title: 'my traits' // Bazhi 49 Wed, 11 Jan  10:48:05

      
338:362> thelp current
--------------------------------------------------------------------
?        Trait             ? Curr ? Max ?      Cost to Advance     ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
? Clear minded             ?   4  ?  10 ?   810 points short.      ?
? Easy sleeper             ?   1  ?  1  ?      Already at maximum. ?
? Exceptional constitution ?   2  ?  5  ?  1170 points short.      ?
? Exceptional dexterity    ?   3  ?  5  ?  3510 points short.      ?
? Exceptional intelligence ?   2  ?  5  ?  1170 points short.      ?
? Exceptional strength     ?   3  ?  5  ?  3510 points short.      ?
? Exceptional wisdom       ?   3  ?  5  ?  3510 points short.      ?
? Hard skinned             ?   5  ?  10 ?   567 points short.      ?
? Healthy                  ?   5  ?  5  ?      Already at maximum. ?
? Pure soul                ?   3  ?  3  ?      Already at maximum. ?
? Racial hate dragon       ?   5  ?  5  ?      Already at maximum. ?
? Relaxed mind             ?   5  ?  5  ?      Already at maximum. ?
? Skill focus (Exotic)     ?   4  ?  5  ?   648 points short.      ?
? Sturdy                   ?   4  ?  10 ?   810 points short.      ?
? Unnatural memory         ?   3  ?  3  ?      Already at maximum. ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
  You currently have 0 trait points available.
  You currently have 15 distinct traits.
--More--(21/23)

  You can have another 0 distinct traits.
      

      Title: 'traits' // Bazhi 49 Wed, 11 Jan  10:47:21

      
Seeing as i'll hit level 50 before i reach enough trait points to take
anything else I figured i'd also post my final traits list as well now.
338:362> thelp current
--------------------------------------------------------------------
?        Trait             ? Curr ? Max ?      Cost to Advance     ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
? Clear minded             ?   4  ?  10 ?   810 points short.      ?
? Easy sleeper             ?   1  ?  1  ?      Already at maximum. ?
? Exceptional constitution ?   2  ?  5  ?  1170 points short.      ?
? Exceptional dexterity    ?   3  ?  5  ?  3510 points short.      ?
? Exceptional intelligence ?   2  ?  5  ?  1170 points short.      ?
? Exceptional strength     ?   3  ?  5  ?  3510 points short.      ?
? Exceptional wisdom       ?   3  ?  5  ?  3510 points short.      ?
? Hard skinned             ?   5  ?  10 ?   567 points short.      ?
? Healthy                  ?   5  ?  5  ?      Already at maximum. ?
? Pure soul                ?   3  ?  3  ?      Already at maximum. ?
? Racial hate dragon       ?   5  ?  5  ?      Already at maximum. ?
? Relaxed mind             ?   5  ?  5  ?   
   Already at maximum. ?
? Skill focus (Exotic)     ?   4  ?  5  ?   648 points short.      ?
? Sturdy                   ?   4  ?  10 ?   810 points short.      ?
? Unnatural memory         ?   3  ?  3  ?      Already at maximum. ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
  You currently have 0 trait points available.
  You currently have 15 distinct traits.
--More--(21/23)
  You can have another 0 distinct traits.
      

      Title: 'traits and tripling (or not)' // Bazhi 49 Wed, 11 Jan  10:45:40

      
For those wondering about traits and tripling you may find this interesting:
Hard skinned 1: 7
Hard skinned 2: 21
Hard skinned 3: 63
Hard skinned 4: 189
Hard skinned 5: 567
Hard skinned 6: 567

After taking hard skinned 5 today I discovered hard skinned 6 to be the same
cost.. I was expecting a leveling off and a less than tripling for this next
one, seeing as the traits that can be taken 10 times would eventually become
ridiculously high, unachievable numbers, but was suprised to see no increase
at all. Based on this I'm taking a guess that the 10x traits probably cost
the same then from 5-10, seeing as by 5 they're all pretty expensive.
      

      Title: 'sessions' // Sixclaw 29 Tue, 10 Jan  18:30:20

      
Session summary:        Time: 3 hours, 38 minutes and 35 seconds.
        Monsters killed: 203
        Experience gained: 1217895 (5571 exp/minute, 5999 exp/kill)
        Gold gained: 37553 coins.
Lifetime summary:        Age: 4 weeks, 10 hours, 37 minutes and 28 seconds.
        Monsters killed: 23804
        Experience gained: 74799550 (1826 exp/minute, 3142 exp/kill)
        Gold gained: 879013 coins.
      

      Title: 'last' // Capet 30 Tue, 10 Jan  14:32:02

      
still a couple months left, but cheers!
      

      Title: 'Happy Anniversary!' // Israel 21 Tue, 10 Jan  01:30:59

      
Happy Anniversary, World!  20 years ago, you were started, with great hopes
to one day open to the public and make a place for people to hang out and
play.
      

      Title: 'session' // Insomnia 30 Mon, 09 Jan  16:22:31

      
Session summary:        Time: 2 minutes and 33 seconds.
        Monsters killed: 0
        No experience points were gained.
        Gold lost: 1460 coins.
Lifetime summary:        Age: 4 weeks, 6 days, 18 hours, 8 minutes and 36
seconds.
        Monsters killed: 23756
        Experience gained: 99998474 (1998 exp/minute, 4209 exp/kill)
        Gold gained: 3278171 coins.
      

      Title: 'Score sessions' // Reyed 25 Mon, 09 Jan  06:02:46

      
Ok since this board is so dead and I don't have anything productive to input
I'm going to suggest that whoever wants to will start posting score sessions
and perhaps even skill updates. I find it interesting to follow others'
progress. It doesn't have to be anything fancy at all, but I'll be impressed
if it is. It's no contest. Now I played for like 3 hours whilst cleaning the
house and doing the dishes (ugh), it was fun. Wish I had a basher though so
if you have an alt and you want to party, let me know.

Session summary:
        Time: 3 hours, 11 minutes and 51 seconds.
        Monsters killed: 46
        Experience gained: 174974 (912 exp/minute, 3803 exp/kill)
        Gold gained: 37539 coins.

Lifetime summary:
        Age: 2 weeks, 4 days, 20 hours, 41 minutes and 58 seconds.
        Monsters killed: 6021
        Experience gained: 19032109 (700 exp/minute, 3160 exp/kill)
        Gold gained: 98406
      

      Title: 'Bad formatting' // Reyed 25 Mon, 09 Jan  05:57:55

      

Session summary:
        Time: 3 hours, 11 minutes and 51 seconds.
        Monsters killed: 46
        Experience gained: 174974 (912 exp/minute, 3803 exp/kill)
        Gold gained: 37539 coins.

Lifetime summary:
        Age: 2 weeks, 4 days, 20 hours, 41 minutes and 58 seconds.
        Monsters killed: 6021
        Experience gained: 19032109 (700 exp/minute, 3160 exp/kill)
        Gold gained: 98406
      

      Title: 'Score sessions' // Reyed 25 Mon, 09 Jan  05:56:00

      
Ok since this board is so dead and I don't have anything productive to input
I'm going to suggest that whoever wants to will start posting score sessions
and skills. I find it interesting to follow others' progress.

Session summary:        Time: 3 hours, 11 minutes and 51 seconds.
        Monsters killed: 46
        Experience gained: 174974 (912 exp/minute, 3803 exp/kill)
        Gold gained: 37539 coins.
Lifetime summary:        Age: 2 weeks, 4 days, 20 hours, 41 minutes and 58
seconds.
        Monsters killed: 6021
        Experience gained: 19032109 (700 exp/minute, 3160 exp/kill)
        Gold gained: 984069 coins.
      

      Title: 'Score session and skills' // Reyed 25 Mon, 09 Jan  05:53:51

      
Ok since this board is so dead and I don't have anything productive to input
I'm going to start posting my score sessions and skills. Someone might find
it interesting to follow my progress.

Session summary:        Time: 3 hours, 11 minutes and 51 seconds.
        Monsters killed: 46
        Experience gained: 174974 (912 exp/minute, 3803 exp/kill)
        Gold gained: 37539 coins.
Lifetime summary:        Age: 2 weeks, 4 days, 20 hours, 41 minutes and 58
seconds.
        Monsters killed: 6021
        Experience gained: 19032109 (700 exp/minute, 3160 exp/kill)
        Gold gained: 984069 coins.
172:210> skills
Your skills:
Axe                   26              Shortsword            35      
Club                   4              Spear                 24      
Exotic                 1              Staff                 51      
Flail                 12              Two Handed Axe         4      
Knife                 14              Two Handed Sword      25      
Longsword             28              Two Weapon            22      
Marksmanship          22              Unarmed                8         
      

      Title: 'Pro opening myself up to flames, but...' // Avila 16 Mon, 09 Jan  05:51:42

      
lol @ Verve. Just accept it.
      

      Title: 'Re: Jepp' // Fir 750 Sat, 07 Jan  06:23:18

      
Bleys was last logged in 15 hours ago. Dude, was it your missing
him that brought him to log on? If it was, we owe you one! :D

--Fir
      

      Title: 'Verve paldin and mailre summary' // Jepp 19 Sat, 07 Jan  05:31:38

      
Verves comments about time committed to AA and his past history are
irrelavent
just like a doctor committing a crime is still guilty despite his 8 years
studying for the MD
Verve has demonstrated a very bad character trait that once he grows up will
learn the Malire and Paldin helped him by teaching verve that you cannot get
away with
weaseling out of a crime you committed.
In business the ones who get ahead are the ones who own up to their mistakes.
anybody even an idiot can figure out that nobody can consistently bind wounds
every 60 seconds
that kinda reflects Verves stupidity since thats such an easy trigger to
detect
the fact that malire gave verve a chance to explain himself reflects on
malires maturity development
as in the past he would simply banish as i recall
verve probably thinks if he gets caught speeding on the highway that its
unjust cause everybody
speeds, but the speed limit is in place and law can crack down on anybody who
is speeding
the safest way to play is DO not cheat.  not everybody cheats, i dont cheat,
of course
i dont play enough cause i have no interest in typing N 25 times just to
visit the hobbits
as the years go by and i get closer to needing to wear my adult diapers more
often
i am still praying to Krom the god that rules over conan the destoryer to
change
the AA senators minds and let speedwalking and triggers back in the game,
other muds have them
and those muds have over 100 online populations
in summary malire handled the verve case well, verve hopefully learned a
valuable lesson so
he wont grow up rob a bank or something
anybody know bleys? i miss that guy, i used to just team with him as a
basher,
that was totally fun letting him do all the work and all i do is type kill
monster, he would even mule
all the loot, gone are the days of those awesome tanks
as we start the new year 2012 its important to reflect on the suffering in
dalair and
the unemployed like verve
verve hang in there, and stop playing aa so you can focuse on getting a job,
any job as
long as its legal, dont do drugs and dont be a drug mule
trust in our politicians repubs and democrat to work together and fix the 16
trillion dollar debt
      

      Title: 'so uh' // Pandora 21 Sun, 01 Jan  03:01:44

      
Happy New Year!
      

      Title: 'last' // Expresso 21 Fri, 30 Dec  09:58:28

      
I just checked out your map update, and it's AWESOME!  Great work.

Any chance on having the area/coder info in just a plain list, as well?

-Expresso wants everything to be easy...
      

      Title: 'Who coded what?' // Levek 24 Wed, 28 Dec  17:58:34

      
A few months back, there was some interest in having a list of who coded
what area. With Paldin's help, I've put together some of that info, and
incorporated it into my map of AA. Just click on the area and find out
who coded it.

http://sio.midco.net/aa/info/

The map has had some ... other ... changes as well, which breaks it in
some older browsers -- most notably IE6, should anyone still be using
that piece of garbage. :/

-Levek
      

      Title: 'Merry Christmas' // Santa 17 Sat, 24 Dec  23:09:02

      
Merry Christmas, and a happy new year, all you Anguishmen
and Anguishwomen!
      

      Title: 'Kamikaze is Asst. GM for Scythe' // Malire 999 Sat, 24 Dec  23:00:19

      
Send Congratulations to Scythe's new Assistant GM!

*bow*
Malire
      

      Title: ':)' // Dasha 34 Sat, 24 Dec  07:26:28

      
Happy holidays, everyone :)
      

      Title: 'last' // Exe 650 Wed, 21 Dec  14:11:35

      
Good lucky buddy, hope the transition goes smoothly and all is well when it
comes time for your new arrival!
      

      Title: 'Movin...' // Calvin 33 Wed, 21 Dec  07:39:54

      
Just wanted to throw a quick note up here to let everyone (that cares) 
know why I'm not gonna be around much for a while.  I just got told by 
the boss that they want my ass in Texas at our home office. Our companies
are going through some changes, mergers, stuff like that, and they want 
me to be a part of the new setup.  It looks like it's happening fast, 
just like everything does in my industry.  So I'm going to be packing 
up everything, and moving down to the Houston area probably right 
after Christmas.  The big difference will be, I'll no longer be the 
head guy in charge there like I am out on the road running projects.  
So.... I won't be able to sit in my office for several hours a day 
playing AA.  *xxxsigh* 

I'm going to have to play it by ear for a while, and see how things pan
out.  Who knows, after a couple weeks/months I might be able to get away 
with it.... or I might not.  Won't know til I get there.  But I do know I 
won't be playing from home either.  Wife wouldn't quite understand that, 
especially with the our first baby coming in a couple months. ;)

So... this ain't a goodbye by any means, just a note to let ya'll know 
why I'm dropping off the face of AA for a while.  Hopefully it won't be 
long and I'll be back around like usual.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Years, Kwanza, Hannukah, whatever... 

--Calvin
      

      Title: 'last few' // Exe 650 Tue, 20 Dec  22:49:53

      
I have been very critical of Law's punishments in the past for being too
harsh. Frankly, if this is your second offense, I am GLAD to see all you got
was demoted to level 1. I hate to tell you this Verve, and I mean no
disrespect to you in saying this but Malire and Paldin have been at this for
a long time. If they weren't able to catch someone using triggers they
wouldn't be very good Law assistants, in fact looking at the demotions log
some would make the argument that they are a little TOO effective.
      

      Title: 'Re: False' // Paldin 850 Mon, 19 Dec  04:32:20

      
AH! It was *another* Verve that was a shapeshifter, hiding in the
frogpond with his timer playing! 

Btw I love your edited log, specially where you cut out the bit were
you even did a bind wounds while Malire was takling to you and you 
'glossed' over it. Im sure you can do a better editing job than that
though. 

I honestly thought you learnt from your last 'mistake', even though
then you claimed you had 'always' played that way with every character.

I have to admit a 15 minute reply time from someone whos quit is impressive!
      

      Title: 'False' // Verve 1 Mon, 19 Dec  04:16:59

      
That is simply not true - IT was true for a past character - but not for this
one

quit
      

      Title: 'Re: Demoted' // Paldin 850 Mon, 19 Dec  04:02:12

      
> Thanks to Paldin's & Malire's top detective work. I've been unfairly
demoted.

I love how people claim innocence when they get busted.
Considering he had a character previously demoted for the *SAME* thing, you
would think he would learn? ... Maybe not.

You would think if he was *actually* doing his bind wounds *exactly* every
60 seconds, even when he didnt need it, he'd actually do it around the time
it wears off, rather than failing to bind over and over.

Or maybe he has his client keeping him bound to keep his SP up so he can
idle in form without having to be there.

I *wonder* which it could be!?
      

      Title: 'pretzel data' // Fice 32 Sun, 18 Dec  22:26:10

      
now that verve has been demoted for eating too much:   con = 11  level = 32 
glutton = 3,  ate 34 pretzels, prediction works out to 33.26
      

      Title: 'log' // Verve 1 Sun, 18 Dec  19:37:51

      
t this point ive been logged in for 9 mins

Conversation starts with 

Someone tells you: Got a minute?

Malire tells you: Got a minute?

About a minute later i respond -

tell malire: yep

Find myself in his office 

Malire starts by saying that i've been using triggers 

I say im not etc etc.

Back forth convo that ive been using triggers - me denying



At this point i decide to log the conversation.



Malire asks: I tell you what. You can arguet that point with Paldin. But as
far as I am concerned, you were binding wounds in my workroom.
What was the point of that?

You ask: im drakon?



You ask: i lose sps?
Malire says: You have to bind wounds ever 60 seconds?>
You say: no offense but i cant believe that wizards spend time hunting people
down

You say: i havent done anything wrong

You say: ask anyone on the mud if ive ever been absent from my client

You say: ive always responded promptly to questions/tells/slines/helping

Malire says: I did. Paldin watched you binding wounds for quite some time.



You say: i have no arguement against that - yes i bind my wounds reguraly

You say: i have colour coded triggers

Malire asks: for no reason, every 60 seconds, and sometimes another action 80
seconds?

Malire says: triggers are not legal, but you know that.

You nod solemnly.

You say: i know that

Malire says: but you say you have colour coded triggers

Malire says: and don't want Law to do anything about that.

You ask: you can have colour coded triggers everyone has them?

Malire says: define your color coded triggers, then, for not everyone has
color code triggers

You say: when binding falls off - text goes light blue



Malire asks: and then?

You say: thats it. i bind my wounds

Malire asks: YOu sit at your computer and religiously hit a key to bind
wounds?

You say: im a uni student - got lots of spare time. Looking for a job atm

You say: soo whilst browsing the web i idle my char

Malire asks: and stop browsing every 60 seconds to hit a key?

You say: yeh thats how people idling shifters

You say: its long

You say: and boring

You ask: can i pick up some more medicinals?

Malire asks: so if you were awake, why didn't you answer my tells before I
ran you to my workroom?

Malire says: if you were awake, you'd know I sent you 2 tells

You say: i missed you first says cause i cant see them cause their green -

Malire asks: You don't view tells?

You ask: i missed them - how long after did it take me to respond 1 minute?

You say: i think thats a fair time frame to answer a tell in

You say: about 2 mins prior i was talking on the sline

You say: to your tell

You ask: can i get some more medicinals?

You say: i dont mind chatting - im idling anyway

The world shimmers around you and you discover you are someplace else.
Malire leaves home.

(Im allowed to get medicinals)

You tell Malire: ive got them

Malire tells you: I'll talk to you another time.

You tell Malire: ok
      

      Title: 'Demoted' // Verve 1 Sun, 18 Dec  18:58:54

      

Thanks to Paldin's & Malire's top detective work. I've been unfairly demoted.

I've been a legitamate player of this communtiy and quite frankly, it really
annoys me how the wizards treat players on AA. Before I leave (hopefully for
the last time) I have a few questions about my demotion - and some of my
thoughts as well.



If i was supposedly 'cheating' my way through the game why didnt you just
catch me in the act? 

the reason for this is because i wasnt cheating. They demoted someone who was
legitimate player. They are demoting me on a suspicion of cheating. They have
no proof. They are demoting me because of the actions of one of my past alts.

Why did they only approach me after I've invested over 5 days of gameplay
into the character? Supposedly the've been watching me for some time. 

If they knew i was 'cheating'? why did they let it go on? why did they let me
invest hrs and hrs of play into this character - knowing full well that they
were going to demote me? why not archkill my character and go over my logs -
instead they let me spend hours upon hours investing in a character that they
knew full well was going to be demoted. 

These actions show no respect for players.

My demotion also raises a number of other questions about the laws on aa in
general? 

Are punishments too harsh? Do some of the top dog wizards have too much
power? Are shifters unfairly targeted/monitored - i wonder if other classes
get as much attention?



Malire - stick to your day job -  you make a poor detective. Also, in the
future treat people with common respect. 

Paldin - cant wait to hear about your changes to AA - hopefully it involves
killing the mud once and for all by getting rid of all traits, levels and
replacing all the npcs in the game with ants worth a 100xp. We need to keep
people here forever, remember? 

I am innocent. You demoted a legitimate player. 

This game isn't worth the time to play. Some people are running this game
into the ground. It's a shame. The plain and simple truth which has been
revealed over and over again is that some wizards don't respect the players
of ancient anguish at all. 



Once again, thanks to all the cool  on AA - you rock. I'll pop in soon and
say goodbye.

Im quiting AA again - hopefully for the last time.
      

      Title: 'last' // Salvage 26 Sun, 18 Dec  18:33:28

      
I was more concerned with him killing me from a room away than a typo :(
      

      Title: 'Re: Pillar' // Fir 750 Sat, 17 Dec  00:16:12

      
Think positively. Due to your self-sacrifice, that typo with your
armturning insubstantial (or well, Calvin's arm in this case) is
now fixed! ;)

--Fir reads PK logs differently from normal people. "Pandatime getting
  hammered in by Bazhi? Look, a typo in wrath!"
      

      Title: 're: Pillar' // Hektor 31 Fri, 16 Dec  17:31:18

      
That is one insane hit!   Curious to know if keeping your hp over 150 would
have saved you from that.
      

      Title: 'Ddoor list' // Methuselah 20 Fri, 16 Dec  16:31:37

      
Fire pit - Ficer Hall 
SE of Ficer Hall - Monks meditation
SW of Ficer Halls - Northern Tundra
1e of x  - shifters
1n of x - rangers 1 
1s of x - dwarvern bar - tharanarack
3w of x - Uena Iceforge
6w of x  - gomaf (infy)
2w, d from x - infy stop off
2e of x - gwot (infy)
x - mishas
      

      Title: 'Ddoor list' // Methuselah 20 Fri, 16 Dec  16:31:02

      
Fire pit - Ficer Hall 1 
SE of Ficer Hall - Monks meditation 1
SW of Ficer Halls - Northern Tundra 1
1e of x  - shifters -
1n of x - rangers 1 
1s of x - dwarvern bar - tharanarack -
3w of x - Uena Iceforge 1
6w of x  - gomaf (infy) -
2w, d from x - infy stop off 1
2e of x - gwot (infy) 1
x - mishas 1
      

      Title: 'You are now hunted by Malire.' // Verve 20 Fri, 16 Dec  14:50:06

      
You are now hunted by Malire.
      

      Title: 'Your are now hunted by Malire.' // Verve 20 Fri, 16 Dec  14:39:29

      
Your are now hunted by Malire.
      

      Title: 'Your are now hunted by Malire.' // Verve 20 Fri, 16 Dec  14:39:16

      
Your are now hunted by Malire.

l
exa board
l
      

      Title: 'Wow' // Smiths 22 Fri, 16 Dec  02:41:00

      
Sad we'll never know what that number is exactly.
      

      Title: 'calvin's a meanie!' // Pillar 20 Thu, 15 Dec  10:24:13

      
> score
Ursine Pillar the Warrior of the Black Bear (nice) <let's try this again...>

Str: 18 (18)    Race : Dwarf (male)          Exp    : 3,007,051
Dex: 13 (13)    Class: Cleric (21)           Money  : 22,200 coins
Int: 12 (12)    Guild: The Black Bear        Banks  : 586,440 coins
Con: 15 (15)    Age  : 9d  20h  29m  0s      Traits : 10 points
Wis: 17 (17)    Language: Common language  

Hits : 170 (170)   Defend   : Block          You are: Sober
Sps  : 186 (186)   Aiming at: Random         You are: Unpoisoned
Wimpy: 34 hits     Attack   : Random         You are: Hungry
Dir  : Random      Hunted by: No one         You are: Slightly encumbered
> i
You are carrying:
A dark red potion [Mental Recharge]
A dark red potion [Mental Recharge]
A dark red potion [Mental Recharge]
A dark red potion [Mental Recharge]
A small delicious red berry
A small delicious red berry
A small delicious red berry
A bear's claw (worn)
A small oak carving
A charter from the Geographic Society
A cuddly pink elephant
A holy symbol
Calvin says: good luck
Calvin enjoys a puff from his finely carved pipe.
shudder
You shudder.
> score
Ursine Pillar the Warrior of the Black Bear (nice) <let's try this again...>

Str: 18 (18)    Race : Dwarf (male)          Exp    : 3,007,051
Dex: 13 (13)    Class: Cleric (21)           Money  : 22,200 coins
Int: 12 (12)    Guild: The Black Bear        Banks  : 586,440 coins
Con: 15 (15)    Age  : 9d  20h  29m  6s      Traits : 10 points
Wis: 17 (17)    Language: Common language  

Hits : 170 (170)   Defend   : Block          You are: Sober
Sps  : 186 (186)   Aiming at: Random         You are: Unpoisoned
Wimpy: 34 hits     Attack   : Random         You are: Hungry
Dir  : Random      Hunted by: No one         You are: Slightly encumbered
> z go
You say: go
HP: 161  SP: 186
Calvin pounded your head heartlessly.
HP: 139  SP: 186
Calvin hammered your head brutally.
HP: 118  SP: 186
Calvin hammered your head brutally.
HP:  96  SP: 186
Calvin hammered your head brutally.
You missed.
`
You fix your wounds.
HP: 142  SP: 136
HP: 131  SP: 136
Calvin bludgeoned your head heavily.
HP: 113  SP: 136
Calvin bludgeoned your head heavily.
You missed.
Calvin sucks in some smoke and blows some very nice circles.
`
You fix your wounds.
HP: 150  SP:  86
> HP: 134  SP:  86
Calvin bludgeoned your head heavily.
Calvin missed you.
You missed.
j
You quaff a dark red potion [Mental Recharge].
Your mind is suddenly clear!
> b
You call upon the power of the sun guardian spirit and an empty bottle
vanishes in a flash of white light.
HP: 110  SP: 137
Calvin hammered your head brutally.
Calvin missed you.
You missed.
eb
You eat the berry and feel better.
> eb
You eat the berry and feel better.
HP: 115  SP: 164
Calvin hammered your head brutally.
HP:  94  SP: 164
Calvin hammered your head brutally.
You missed.
`
You fix your wounds.
HP: 170  SP: 114
Calvin missed you.
You missed.
HP: 152  SP: 114
Calvin bludgeoned your head heavily.
You missed.
Calvin sucks in some smoke and blows some very nice circles.
Calvin hurls himself at Pillar.
Calvin missed you.
HP: 121  SP: 114
Calvin pulverised your head into mash.
You missed.
Calvin missed you.
HP:  91  SP: 114
Calvin pulverised your head into mash.
You missed.
`
You fix your wounds.
HP: 170  SP:  64
> j
You quaff a dark red potion [Mental Recharge].
Your mind is suddenly clear!
> b
You call upon the power of the sun guardian spirit and an empty bottle
vanishes in a flash of white light.
HP: 140  SP: 145
Calvin pulverised your head into mash.
HP: 121  SP: 145
Calvin bludgeoned your arm heavily.
You missed.
eb
You eat the berry and feel better.
> score
Ursine Pillar the Warrior of the Black Bear (nice) <let's try this again...>

Str: 18 (18)    Race : Dwarf (male)          Exp    : 3,007,289
Dex: 13 (13)    Class: Cleric (21)           Money  : 22,200 coins
Int: 12 (12)    Guild: The Black Bear        Banks  : 586,440 coins
Con: 15 (15)    Age  : 9d  20h  29m  30s     Traits : 10 points
Wis: 17 (17)    Language: Common language  

Hits : 135 (170)   Defend   : Block          You are: Sober
Sps  : 159 (186)   Aiming at: Random         You are: Unpoisoned
Wimpy: 34 hits     Attack   : Random         You are: Slightly stuffed
Dir  : Random      Hunted by: No one         You are: Slightly encumbered
> Calvin looks at Pillar with hatred.
HP: 114  SP: 159
Calvin hammered your arm brutally.
You missed.
HP:  93  SP: 162
Calvin hammered your leg brutally.
You missed.
Calvin puffs on his finely carved pipe contentedly.
`
You fix your wounds.
HP: 167  SP: 112
HP: 140  SP: 112
Calvin hammered your leg brutally.
HP: 125  SP: 112
Calvin bludgeoned your head heavily.
You missed.
z not too bad
You say: not too bad
HP: 105  SP: 112
Calvin hammered your arm brutally.
HP:  82  SP: 112
Calvin hammered your head brutally.
You missed.
`
You fix your wounds.
HP: 162  SP:  62
A forged scorpion arrives.
A forged scorpion arrives.
Dasmith arrives.
j
You quaff a dark red potion [Mental Recharge].
Your mind is suddenly clear!
> b
You call upon the power of the sun guardian spirit and an empty bottle
vanishes in a flash of white light.
Dasmith leaves south.
A forged scorpion leaves south.
A forged scorpion leaves south.
Calvin missed you.
You missed.
Calvin says: stay over 180
Calvin hurls himself at Pillar.
HP: 151  SP: 148
Calvin bludgeoned your leg heavily.
You missed.
HP: 129  SP: 148
Calvin hammered your head brutally.
HP:  97  SP: 148
Calvin pulverised your head into mash.
You missed.
Calvin puffs on his finely carved pipe contentedly.
Calvin's finely carved pipe goes out.
snicker
You snicker.
> `
You fix your wounds.
HP: 157  SP:  98
Calvin fills his finely carved pipe with dulce.
HP: 146  SP:  98
Calvin bludgeoned your head heavily.
You missed.
Calvin lights his finely carved pipe.
z i dont have that many
You say: i dont have that many
HP: 120  SP:  98
Calvin hammered your head brutally.
You missed.
j
You quaff a dark red potion [Mental Recharge].
Your mind is suddenly clear!
> b
You call upon the power of the sun guardian spirit and an empty bottle
vanishes in a flash of white light.
> score
Ursine Pillar the Warrior of the Black Bear (nice) <let's try this again...>

Str: 18 (18)    Race : Dwarf (male)          Exp    : 3,007,503
Dex: 13 (13)    Class: Cleric (21)           Money  : 22,200 coins
Int: 12 (12)    Guild: The Black Bear        Banks  : 586,440 coins
Con: 15 (15)    Age  : 9d  20h  29m  48s     Traits : 10 points
Wis: 17 (17)    Language: Common language  

Hits : 120 (170)   Defend   : Block          You are: Sober
Sps  : 150 (186)   Aiming at: Random         You are: Unpoisoned
Wimpy: 34 hits     Attack   : Random         You are: Slightly stuffed
Dir  : Random      Hunted by: No one         You are: Unencumbered
HP:  97  SP: 150
Calvin hammered your head brutally.
HP:  68  SP: 150
Calvin hammered your head brutally.
Your attack passes right through Calvin as his armturns insubstantial.
You clubbed Calvin's arm.
`
You fix your wounds.
HP: 153  SP: 100
> z ouch
Calvin missed you.
HP: 129  SP: 100
Calvin hammered your head brutally.
You missed.
You say: ouch
Calvin charges at Pillar.
HP: 119  SP: 100
Calvin bludgeoned your head heavily.
You bludgeoned Calvin's arm heavily.
Calvin looks at Pillar with hatred.
HP: 111  SP: 105
Calvin bludgeoned your head heavily.
You missed.
Calvin enjoys a puff from his finely carved pipe.
`
You fix your wounds.
HP: 170  SP:  55
Calvin hurls himself at Pillar.
HP: 144  SP:  55
Calvin hammered your head brutally.
You clubbed Calvin's leg.
z last heal
HP: 128  SP:  55
Calvin bludgeoned your head heavily.
You missed.
You say: last heal
> i
You are carrying:
A bear's claw (worn)
A small oak carving
A charter from the Geographic Society
A cuddly pink elephant
A holy symbol
Howling dementedly, Calvin devastates you with his chain-mace.

You die.
You have a strange feeling.
You can see your own dead body from above.

You can see a dark hooded man standing beside your corpse.  He is wiping
the bloody blade of a wicked-looking scythe with slow, measured motions.
Suddenly he stops and seems to look straight at you with his empty...
no, not empty but... orbs...

Death says: COME WITH ME, MORTAL ONE!

He reaches for you and suddenly you find yourself in another place.

<Bear> *** Pillar has been brutally slain by Calvin the revered warmonger of
the Scythe (evil).
      

      Title: 'DDoors' // Methuselah 20 Wed, 14 Dec  15:36:59

      
First time doing doors - let me know if any are wrong. Does anyone have a
list that they can send me? Also, big thanks to Calvin and Oark for funding.
      

      Title: 'Last Few' // Howitzer 550 Tue, 13 Dec  22:49:10

      
Wow.
-Howi
      

      Title: 'Thanks Moot' // Verve 19 Tue, 13 Dec  14:03:31

      
Interesting - I'm starting to think that glutton traits scale ie mabye 2.5
pretzelz at glutton 1  3.5 at glutton 2 and 4.5 at glutton 3? what do you
think?
      

      Title: 'Thanks Moot' // Verve 19 Tue, 13 Dec  14:03:06

      
bind wounds
Interesting - I'm starting to think that glutton traits scale ie mabye 2.5
pretzelz at glutton 1  3.5 at glutton 2 and 4.5 at glutton 3? what do you
think?
      

      Title: 'Re: Food Science' // Moot 34 Tue, 13 Dec  11:17:07

      
Anoter data point - at level 34 with 18 con & 3 glutton I was able to eat 42
pretzels rather than the 40.42 (or 41) predicted.
      

      Title: 'Food science conclusion' // Verve 19 Mon, 12 Dec  16:36:44

      
Rougly speaking - each level you can eat .5 a pretzel more, each constitution
stat you can eat 1 more pretzel and each glutton trait you can eat 3.5 more
pretzels
      

      Title: 'Food Science Data' // Verve 19 Mon, 12 Dec  16:33:45

      
Character     Level Consitution Glutton Predicted Actual

Rozum          19       17                23.47     23

Verve          19       17          2     29.87     30

Elfaeril       21       14                21.63     22

Levek          24       14                22.92     23

Desiree        24       12                21.12     21

Genon          26       12                21.98     22

Aristotel      27       15          2     31.51     32

Dasha          34       14          1     30.42     31

Bazhi          49       17                36.37     36

Methuselah     20       14          1     24.4      24
      

      Title: 'Food Science Data' // Verve 19 Mon, 12 Dec  16:30:35

      
Character     Level Consitution  Glutton  Predicted Result  Actual

Rozum          19     17                           23.47      23

Verve          19     17            2              29.87      30

Elfaeril       21     14                           21.63      22
Levek          24     14                           22.92             23

Desiree        24     12                           21.12             21

Genon          26     12                           21.98             22

Aristotel      27     15            2              31.51             32

Dasha          34     14            1              30.42             31

Bazhi          49     17                           36.37             36

Methuselah     20     14            1              24.4              24
Character     Level Consitution  Glutton  Predicted Result  Actual

Rozum          19     17                           23.47      23

Verve          19     17            2              29.87      30

Elfaeril       21     14                           21.63      22
Levek          24     14                           22.92             23.
Desiree        24     12                           21.12             21

Genon          26     12                           21.98             22

Aristotel      27     15            2              31.51             32

Dasha          34     14            1              30.42             31

Bazhi          49     17                           36.37             36

Methuselah     20     14            1              24.4              24
      

      Title: 'Food Science Data' // Verve 19 Mon, 12 Dec  16:29:14

      
Character     Level     Consitution     Glutton     Predicted Result    
Actual

Rozum          19            17                           23.47            
23

Verve          19            17            2              29.87            
30

Elfaeril       21            14                           21.63            
22

Levek          24            14                           22.92            
23

Desiree        24            12                           21.12            
21

Genon          26            12                           21.98            
22

Aristotel      27            15            2              31.51            
32

Dasha          34            14            1              30.42            
31

Bazhi          49            17                           36.37            
36

Methuselah     20            14            1              24.4             
24
      

      Title: 'Food Science Data' // Verve 19 Mon, 12 Dec  16:27:28

      
Character     Level     Consitution     Glutton     Predicted Result    
Actual

Rozum          19             17                         23.47             23

Verve          19             17           2             29.87             30

Elfaeril       21             14                         21.63             22

Levek          24             14                         22.92             
23
Desiree        24             12                         21.12             
21

Genon          26             12                         21.98             22

Aristotel      27             15           2             31.51             32

Dasha          34             14           1             30.42             31

Bazhi          49             17                         36.37             36

Methuselah     20             14           1             24.4              
24
      

      Title: 'Food Science - Data' // Verve 19 Mon, 12 Dec  16:18:32

      
CharacterLevelConsitutionGluttonPredicted ResultActual
ResultRozum191723.4723Verve1917229.8730Elfaeril
211421.6322Levek241422.9223Desiree241221.1221Genon261221.9822Aristotel
2715231.5132Dasha3414130.4231Bazhi491736.3736Methuselah2014124.424Ragnar545.7
55Ragnar5418.958
      

      Title: 'Food Science' // Verve 19 Mon, 12 Dec  16:16:46

      
I conducted a small study of players from a range of different
levels/con/traits to find out

1. The impact of levels on food consumption
2. The impact of con on food consumption
3. The impact of glutton traits on food consumption

From this sample, I've come up with a formula for food consumption - try it
out! Note: this isnt perfect science! Rough guide!

Food used Pretzels 

Location Crossed Swords (13n3e3n3w)

Formula (Level x 0.43) + (Constitution x 0.9) + (No. of Glutton x 3.2) =
amount of pretzels you can eat!

Notes

Need to make sure that you eat as quick as possible when performing the test

I didn't test the cooldown - ie how long it takes before characters could eat
again or how long it took them to return to hungry

really limited sample - we need to do more - im putting this into public
arena so people can post their own findings
      

      Title: 'blah' // Verve 19 Mon, 12 Dec  16:16:19

      
 conducted a small study of players from a range of different
levels/con/traits to find out

1. The impact of levels on food consumption
2. The impact of con on food consumption
3. The impact of glutton traits on food consumption

From this sample, I've come up with a formula for food consumption - try it
out! Note: this isnt perfect science! Rough guide!

Food used: Pretzels 

Food used: Pretzels 
 Crossed Swords (13n3e3n3w)
 Crossed Swords (13n3e3n3w)

Formula(Level x 0.43) + (Constitution x 0.9) + (No. of Glutton x 3.2) =
amount of pretzels you can eat!
remove 
      

      Title: 'Food Science' // Verve 19 Mon, 12 Dec  16:13:42

      
I conducted a small study of players from a range of different
levels/con/traits to find out

1. The impact of levels on food consumption
2. The impact of con on food consumption
3. The impact of glutton traits on food consumption

From this sample, I've come up with a formula for food consumption - try it
out! Note: this isnt perfect science! Rough guide!

Food used: Pretzels 
I conducted a small study of players from a range of different
levels/con/traits to find out

1. The impact of levels on food consumption
2. The impact of con on food consumption
3. The impact of glutton traits on food consumption

From this sample, I've come up with a formula for food consumption - try it
out! Note: this isnt perfect science! Rough guide!

Food used: Pretzels 
      

      Title: 'Food Science' // Verve 19 Mon, 12 Dec  16:12:40

      
I conducted a small study of players from a range of different
levels/con/traits to find out

1. The impact of levels on food consumption
2. The impact of con on food consumption
3. The impact of glutton traits on food consumption

From this sample, I've come up with a formula for food consumption - try it
out! Note: this isnt perfect science! Rough guide!

Food used: Pretzels 

l
sc
l
      

      Title: 'Food Science' // Verve 19 Mon, 12 Dec  16:11:28

      

I conducted a small study of players from a range of different
levels/con/traits to find out

1. The impact of levels on food consumption
2. The impact of con on food consumption
3. The impact of glutton traits on food consumption

From this sample, I've come up with a formula for food consumption - try it
out! Note: this isnt perfect science! Rough guide!

Food used: Pretzels 
      

      Title: 'Food Science' // Verve 19 Mon, 12 Dec  16:10:28

      
I conducted a small study of players from a range of different
levels/con/traits to find out1.The impact of levels on food consumption 2.
The impact of con on food consumption 3. The impact of glutton traits on food
consumption
l
      

      Title: 'Food/Alco Test - We need more data!' // Verve 19 Sun, 11 Dec  23:53:23

      
Questions

the role of constitution in food/alco consumption capacity? 

the role of levels in food/alco consumption capacity? 

the role of traits in food/alco consumption capacity?
Initial Data

Dasmith level 16/12 con/ drunkard 1/glutton 1  5 x (menu item 6) and 8 x
(menu item 1)

Verve lvl 19/17 con/drunkard 2/glutton 2 - 7 x (menu item 6) and 12 x (menu
item 1)

Methuselah lvl 20/14 con/drunkard 1 /glutton 1 6 x (menu item 6) and 10 x
(menu item 1)

Pitfall lvl 32/12 con/drunkard 2/glutton 3 - 7 x (menu item 6) and 12 x (menu
item 1)

Dasha level 34/14 con/ drunkard 1/glutton 1 7 x (menu item 6) and 12 x (menu
item 1)
Limitations
I probably should of used the smallest food possible - i def could of done it
for alco (should of used menu item 5 instead of 6)

accessing food was hard - most small options have cutoff limits

variability in traits - we dont know how much traits impact on consumption
capacity

I didn't test the cooldown - ie how long it takes before characters could eat
again or how long it took them to return to hungry

Initially i didnt ask what state particpants ended up in ie.  very drunk/
ext. drunk (i know dasmith ended up on v/drunk - verve ended on ext. drunk)

really limited sample - we need to do more - im putting this into public
arena so people can post on the board and post their findings
How to recreate test

Make sure your hungry/sober

State your level, con, and drunkard/glutton traits

Buy as many 1's and 6's at eastroad inn as possible

After test - write what state your in ext stuffed/v. stuffed/stuffed etc.
(repeat for drunkard)

Notes

If people have suggestions for a reliable food/alco source that is small
please inform!
      

      Title: 'Canticle 34.0 is out!' // Fir 750 Sun, 04 Dec  11:49:02

      
A new issue of the Canticle is out, now based on Gemynd Post material.
We have a job opening for someone to make a crossword puzzle for
Bazhi so he won't have to be so bored while soloing Valdy.

Enjoy!

--Fir
      

      Title: 'outage' // Chun 37 Sun, 04 Dec  05:07:09

      

Blame Bazhi. He broke the game. He levels and there's a crash. 
Ha ha. Nice work man!
      

      Title: 'last' // Il 20 Sat, 03 Dec  13:23:42

      
thanks!
      

      Title: 'Server Outage Dec 2nd EST' // Dracul 900 Sat, 03 Dec  10:54:10

      
Hello All,

  The server hosting Ancient Anguish stopped responding to requests around
10:00 PM EST on December 2nd.  While the network card was still functional
and able to return ping requests, the operating system was unresponsive.

  Having monitored things for several hours after bringing us back up, we
seem to be stable.  We have seen a similar issue before, but it only occurs
once a year, if that frequently, and is very difficult to work on because
the machine is completely unresponsive during the issue.  I am doing some
further research to hopefully find more information.

  Sincerely,
    Dracul
      

      Title: 're: Scythe run' // Chronos 500 Thu, 01 Dec  07:30:25

      
Bazhi is clearly an xp hog. :(
      

      Title: 'Chun' // Salvage 26 Sat, 26 Nov  18:41:38

      
Wow, nicely done.
      

      Title: 'Last' // Cogline 33 Fri, 25 Nov  15:00:43

      
Now thats just showing off. Gratz guys! Way to roll.
      

      Title: 'Scythe Run' // Chun 37 Thu, 24 Nov  23:55:54

      
Name : CHUB                      Total XP : 1745710    Time : 1 Hours 30 Mins

       Name         Class  Lvl  HP  SP  Line  XP Share  XP

       Chun         RA     37   258 104 ON    43 %      759478
Leader Bazhi        CL     48   255 168 ON    56 %      985476
      

      Title: 're: cogline' // Zafar 16 Thu, 17 Nov  18:58:20

      
People over level 30 are overpowered. Let's rebalance.

</tongue in cheek>
      

      Title: 're Dasha' // Draath 7 Thu, 17 Nov  06:49:32

      
That is a wierd coincidence for the game to crash at such a significant time.
 I would hope that it is just a coincidence though and not a misguided
attempt to honor those that gave thier lives in the defence of thier country.
      

      Title: 'WHo needs Ficers' // Cogline 33 Thu, 17 Nov  06:15:51

      
Chun bash hard. Made Boki proud.
 3         Chun           589683    1h  0m  Nov 17 2011 
 3      Cogline           525712    1h  0m  Nov 17 2011 
      

      Title: 're: Jerusulum' // Dasha 34 Tue, 15 Nov  09:59:42

      
well, not until December 12, 2012, at 12:12 EST now.. i guess lol.
      

      Title: 'Re:A mortal's opinion on recent crash' // Jerusulum 900 Tue, 15 Nov  08:47:34

      
Argh!!!! You mean all these years I've been believing in a fortune cookie
that said, "Smile, the world isn't going to end today - it's already tomorrow
in Australia" and the world is going to end EST??!!!!  AAaahhhhhhh!
      

      Title: 'A mortal's opinion on the recent crash' // Dasha 33 Sat, 12 Nov  00:13:14

      
Ok this is all just speculation on my part, just so you know.  I was on
yesterday as an alt, but I was afk so I dont know exactly when the unexpected
reboot happened. I'm just guessing.  But I came back about 20-30 mins from
being afk and saw that I was disconnected and Armageddon had been shouting.

So I'm kinda estimating that this happened around, oh lets say... 11:11 EST. 

So yeah I'm kinda guessing either... some anonymous wizard wanted to be
funny, or...

The end of the world goes by The US East Coast's standard time 

Just saying :P
      

      Title: 'for science?' // Riddick 21 Tue, 08 Nov  09:19:55

      
Anyone have at least five ranks in a trait in a trait that goes up to rank
10?  I'm curious when/how the "plateau" described in the help is implemented
(I know it's not implemented at all before rank 5).

The traits of interest would be brawler, camel, drunkard, glutton, hard
skinned, packmule, sturdy/clear minded, and maybe a couple that I missed.
      

      Title: 'snort' // Fice 32 Mon, 07 Nov  20:43:32

      
I was a half cleric before switching.  They tank fine.  A couple/few traits
would probably have helped a lot also.
      

      Title: 'Re Iorek' // Calvin 33 Mon, 07 Nov  09:36:56

      
Cuz you suck??? 



*cower* *duck*  *hide* 

Just kiddin.... ;) 


But seriously?? who here thinks I make as much exp/hr with calvin as I 
do with my Piggificer.. or solo pally with Palpatine (both of which I 
can EASILY blow calvin out of the water normal killing (not burning huge 
piles of hungas)   There's no way in hell that I can come close to Calvin's
normal exp.hr rate with, say, a helf cleric... or mage.  So that's 
probably got more to do with your playing style, and how you kill than
it does traits.  
      

      Title: 'Traits' // Iorek 29 Sat, 05 Nov  23:20:03

      
Why am i able to achieve the same xp/hr with a 29 paladin, 24 mage, and 18
necro?

surely traits are not everything ;)
      

      Title: 'last from Dragan' // Bazhi 48 Sat, 05 Nov  18:30:55

      
This is very true. Now also add in the fact that back then I idled a lot at
the computer lab while doing school work. Then factor in the phases where I
was barely killing for spans of several months when gclaiming 3k+ rooms per
boot and doing gaius exploration, and working various other HoH lists. Also
factor such things in as there were no DDoors and I couldn't just teleport
over to my various areas. Also add in the fact that there are less people
playing and so more of my kills are available as well as stacked, in addition
to the fact that several of my kills have been raised from 9k to 14k with the
addition of 19k Yosra and epic kills.
Add all that plus more things I'm probably not thinking of to the fact that
when I login now I solely use a 100 skill and my only goal when I'm on is
getting exp towards 50 and it should be clear that trying to formulate a way
to calculate how much traits themselves have is impossible and the figures
used by Paldin to show how many times over they have improved my exp rates or
changed the time frame for me or anyone obtaining level 50 are unreliable and
inaccurate.
      

      Title: 'more on last' // Dragan 5 Sat, 05 Nov  14:18:29

      
Since Bazhi has been skilling for a very long time, obviously he did no go
high speed for a very long time. At least I personally find it difficult to
kill things fast unarmed or with a knife, or a boomerang which was propably
exotic of choice way back, or basically any skill below 65. Sure he's had all
his skills higher for a long time, even 2w, which btw I doubt he was rocking
with 1 skill + es... The whole point of these confusing posts are that Bazhi
did skill everything to 100, and for sure now that he made that goal, he is
bound to get way more xp than before due to effective weapon combos, more
than what's added from traits and levels.
      

      Title: 'Baz man' // Dragan 5 Sat, 05 Nov  14:11:30

      
Is being used as an example it seems, I for one would bet that Bazhi would
make more xp with 0 traits, lvl 19, dual wielding orbs or any other decent
combo than bazhi would make with all his traitbuffness working unarmed at 30
skill.
      

      Title: 'Re: Riddick' // Squat 30 Fri, 04 Nov  13:51:25

      
Not trying to call you out, I'm just pointing out that there's a big
difference in perspective from a player with 30 trait points and someone with
500 or more to spend that I myself didn't realize until I played from both
angles.

This also applies to wizards who don't/haven't played the game in years...
      

      Title: 'balance' // Stake 24 Fri, 04 Nov  06:16:10

      
One way to slow down the out of control exp rate is put a damper on it, let
rogues loose.  Make chance of getting caught less than half what it is now
and lighten the penalties.
Moderate level players can get more paranoid of having their kniggets stolen
and higher level players will be too busy tracking down low exp raven alts
who rolled a bad number to go after the fairy dragon as often per hour.
I think they call this win-win.
      

      Title: 'balance' // Stake 24 Fri, 04 Nov  06:12:59

      
One way to slow down the out of control exp rate is put a damper on it, let
rogues loose.  Make chance of getting caught less than half what it is now
and lighten the penalties.
moderate level players can get more paranoid of having their kniggets stolen
and higher level players will be too busy tracking down raven alts who rolled
a bad number to go after exp as hard.
I think they call this win-win.
      

      Title: 'Re: Squat' // Riddick 21 Fri, 04 Nov  01:51:36

      
You're right in that my highest-level char isn't too high...this one's
sitting just short of 4 mil.

Your examples definitely show that traits are increasing your power, but
would you agree with the 300% or more that Paldin was suggesting earlier
(just traits, mind)?

On a side note...any particular reason you're calling me out on how high-
level my characters are?
      

      Title: 'Re: Squat' // Riddick 21 Fri, 04 Nov  01:48:16

      
You're right in that my highest-level char isn't too high...this one's
sitting just short of 4 mil.

Your examples definitely show that traits are increasing your power, but
would you agree with the 300% or more that Paldin was suggesting earlier
(just traits, mind)?
      

      Title: 'Re: Riddick' // Squat 30 Thu, 03 Nov  07:19:16

      
Not to be an elitist or anything, but what's the most experience you've had
on a single character? 3 million? 10? 100?  I really didn't start seeing
serious improvements of ease of play until around level ~24 when I started
stacking on more and more traits.

I think you're seriously undervaluing how powerful they(componded with level
bonuses, yes) can make a character.  Speaking from the point of view of
someone who has almost a full traits list and most at level 2, it's a pretty
hefty bonus.

To give an example for people who don't have high(ish) level characters.
Fighters don't have very good defense nor quick burst spells, which was a big
issue at level 19 trying to solo bigger NPCs.  Even with high strength I had
to pick and choose carefully about what armor I wanted to wear and how many
heals I could bring. 

So I level up & grab a few hard skinned and packmule.  Now I take a bit less
damage every fight and I don't have to be as picky about armor.  So now I
want to kill faster, tack on a few racial hates & weapon experts.  Things are
falling fast now, but I get stuffed to easy, add a glutton or drunkard...

Fast foreward to now.  I can carry something like 45 bottles(IIRC), Slam 10
knight knuggets before getting Ex. stuffed, and have recorded normal hits
well over 50 damage in a single combat round.  
I'm not saying all that is necessarily a bad thing, looking back and seeing
the difference in what a character is capable of is both nice and fun and
makes me feel like my time wasn't completely in vain.  Just don't act like
traits and level bonuses don't change the way the game can be played in a big
way.
      

      Title: 'last bunch' // Zafar 16 Wed, 02 Nov  11:48:00

      
Lot of vibrancy when Daffy and Theryn were supposedly 'ruining' the game. Lot
less vibrancy now. Hmm. 
      

      Title: 're: re-spec (Sylwen)' // Stake 24 Mon, 31 Oct  18:38:15

      
Super cool, I can shed the worthless Easy Sleeper.
But then, post-nerf, Easy Sleeper and Fast Talker could be godlike in the new
line up.
      

      Title: 'oh, 2 more things' // Whiteknight 34 Mon, 31 Oct  04:26:17

      
1) Didn't mention in the last post, but something that many wizards seem to
ignore is the huge amounts of time dedicated by those top 40 players who are
over lvl 30 to get where they are. I've spent almost 20 weeks of solid play
time earning my 300m xp, my characters growth in power has been slow and
measured over that period. Once you've accepted that it's okay for players to
get more powerful, then a big part of balance becomes cost, and the main cost
is time invested. If a player can become over level 30 in a matter of a few
days worth of play time, then perhaps things are not balanced, this isnt the
case.

2) Someone previously suggested that it would be very simple to gauge just
how much more powerful traits and level have made us, by testing it on the
testmud. I volunteer to assist in this testing if anyone is keen. Remove
traits and levels and let me loose to see how much XP I can rack up with
everything else being equal (areas, equipment, epics etc). Off the top of my
head I would expect to be able to make around 75-80% of what I can do on the
mud proper. Quite a big difference from the 1/3rd or 1/4th the exp rates
Paldin claims in one of his posts.
      

      Title: 'My 2 cents' // Whiteknight 34 Mon, 31 Oct  03:50:16

      
I don't have a problem with the ficer made weapons being balanced a bit, it
doesn't seem right to me that something that can be so easily made is
preferable to all but 1 or 2 very difficult to obtain weapons (as is the case
with the longsword, more so for other ficer weapons). One objection I have to
the change is it doesn't really affect the power of the ficer class itself,
only all the others, which really only makes them suffer, not the ficers.

Regarding the boomer change, don't use em much (Paladin!) but seems to me a
bug if they became unbreakable? Also consider, these things effectively give
+1 dex to your entire party, so the idea of having every player being able to
use them all the time, does seem unreasonable.

One thing mentioned repeatedly on this board that I wholeheartedly agree with
is how badly changes like these can screw up players, and waste MASSIVE
amounts of time invested, it's simply not fair. Yes they need to change, but
surely a comprimise can be reached, how about the powers that be allow for
the 2 affected traits (weapon expert - LS, and deft hands) to be refunded for
players who want it. Yes, this is setting a precedent (*shock* *horror), but
this mud is slowly dying make no mistake, anything within reason that can be
done to lessen the impact on the size of the player base, when such necessary
changes are made SHOULD be done.

On the broader issue of the balance of traits/levels, I think it comes down
to a few fundamentals. Should players be able to get more powerful as they
progress past lvl 19? Either the answer is yes, or its no. The fact we've got
traits and more power with extra levels indicate the policy of the senate is
a firm yes to this answer. 

Moving along, this has direct implications to how one balances the game. It
means that you have to accept that as players gain levels they will be able
to gain exp easier/quicker  This doesn't automatically mean they are
unbalanced, if the original level 19 player is still in the same realm of
powerfulness as he used to be, then the games balance itself hasn't shifted
radically. 
Regarding Paldins numbers, he show us the 2 highest experienced players IN
THE GAME, these are absurd examples, I may not have studied statistics, but I
was fairly sure if your studying numbers, you EXCLUDE statistical outliers,
not use them as the basis for your decision making!!!. There are about 40
players over level 30, out of 11000 (about 6500 over level 10). 
      

      Title: 'Traits/"nerfing"' // Sylwen 999 Mon, 31 Oct  03:19:09

      

Suffice to say that when a solution for Traits is realized, it will almost
certainly include a "re-spec" function.

Sylwen
      

      Title: 'me too' // Phuk 1 Sun, 30 Oct  19:54:37

      
Title: 'traits/power' // Riddick <21> Sun Oct 30 16:33:25 2011

I would highly encourage an experiment where you take Bazhi on testmud and

have him play as hard as he can, with and without traits
and never come back no more, ever.  
Haha
      

      Title: 'last' // Bazhi 48 Sun, 30 Oct  15:54:49

      
Basically another way of looking at what I'm trying to say is.. Yes traits
and levels and skills and everything else that has been added that has
improved players has made the game more and more unbalanced *as is* or, as
everything else has stayed the same. We're saying that players with all these
traits at levels 34, 36, 48, etc. are too powerful now.. based on their
performance when we watch them fight level 19 npcs. Or based on their
performance on epics that weren't coded as Paldin could have to make them
balance in with these traits and levels. But it seems sort of obvious enough
that if you add and add levels and traits to players but not add more higher
levels mobs or change the values on any of the current monsters, you're of
course going to get more and more of an unbalance and an ease to kill the
same 9k level 19 monsters. The way things are balanced currently encourages
doing just that.
But if there was a desire to make higher level mobs, work out some of the
numbers, and balance it to the extent that it would eventually become
critical to fight monsters of a higher and higher levels to continue
increasing ones level, players would continue to be challenged, which would
make playing more appealing, the traits and levels would become a necessity
to be able to slay such monsters rather than an unbalance on the same easy
monsters, the levels that were not expected for anyone to reach would slow
down, making the top end goals still obtainable but the general progression
of levels and the direction of the game more long-lasting, appealing to those
in the Paldin school of thought as well. 
      

      Title: 'last' // Bazhi 48 Sun, 30 Oct  14:34:47

      
Yeah that pretty much sums it up, except it'd be more to slow down 30s-40s as
oppposed to 20/30's most likely, since in the 20's you'd still be getting
good xp from the 9k's etc and wouldn't be too unbalanced yet. 
But yeah I mean anyone could argue the traits, even the levels and skills for
that matter are unbalanced based on the coding and balance of how things were
back in the day. I'm just trying to offer a different prospective and throw
some things out there to ponder. We could talk about nerfhammering and try to
correct things that way, let it as is, or do something to make it work, which
we don't hear/talk much about. I mean after killing the same 9k's 300,000
times should they still be or a challenge? Should they be a pushover as they
are now? Or should they just not still give me 9k exp each time and I should
we have more bigger kills than those that I should have to have been doing by
now to progress as I currently am.
      

      Title: 'Re: Cogline' // Riddick 21 Sun, 30 Oct  14:23:06

      
Glad to make your day, though I can't take credit for the term.  Sure I heard
it somewhere...
      

      Title: 'riddick' // Cogline 33 Sun, 30 Oct  13:50:17

      
omg I love that term. NERF-HAMMER. THat just made my day.
      

      Title: 'Re: last' // Riddick 21 Sun, 30 Oct  13:39:04

      
Is the following a fair summary of that, Bazhi?

1) Players are powerful currently, perhaps more so than intended.

2) It's easier to get through the 20/30 levels than intended, perhaps because
of said power.

3) Since the driver has a hard limit at 2 billion xp, there *will* be a time
when people have nothing further to "gain" for a character.

4) But a far-out goal like 2 billion xp can be demotivating rather than
motivating (people can write it off as unobtainable and say "why bother").

5) Perhaps implementing kill xp that varies with difference between your
level and that of the monster would be a good plan to slow down the 20/30's.

6) Doing so would only work if more (and harder - see 1) epic kills were
programmed in.

7) But the above 2 could produce a speed the wizards are happy with, without
needing to break out the nerf-hammer that is bound to piss off players.  And
(my opinion) rightfully so, since we can't re-spec traits ever (even if they
are nerfed so hard we never would have chosen them).
      

      Title: 'last' // Bazhi 48 Sun, 30 Oct  13:14:47

      
I agree with all your points Paldin and the 50 levels / 2.05 billion exp 
seemed like a pretty good balance of ontainable but long-term, long-lasting
to keep players working. But I don't feel that traits necessarily are the
sole factor ruining this. No doubt they're too powerful for what the original
intentions when you installed levels and they're totally unbalanced with your
designs and long term plans but I think the end results in a player reaching
50 and many players leveling well into the 30's would have been inevitable.
Tying in with Riddicks comments on traits/power they're no doubt going to
vary depending on the player, class, and which traits they took. Look at
Sinister's figures and you'll no doubt see, as he will tell you, traits made
a huge impact, far huger than any other addition, the pure soul trait in
particular. For me they aren't making nearly as much of an impact on my xp
rates, many of them being defensive, some even obsolete,
and the fact that I haven't died to experience the benefits of those traits
anyways. There have been too many others changes since levels/traits to
truely say how much each change individually is making by itself but I'd
certainly be up for the idea of playing on testmud with everything identical
to how it is now but without any traits. 
As for levels by themselves, if I were 48 and traits had never existed would
you still feel that you should have maybe made the max level 30 based on how
the balance on me would now be or is this based on the additional powers that
traits have also given? I recall right after levels were installed you
expressing expectations of around 35 being the highest anyone would get and
concerns in what would result if I or anyone went much above that. 
So I suppose like you said if you wanted then 35 to be the highest based on
how powerful that level makes one, you could have even made 35 the result of
2.05 billion. But regardless if something is still obtainable it will be
obtained. So this problem you have with a player reaching this ultimate goal
and potentially saying "Well that's it. There's nothing left to do." will
still exist regardless. But is this really the issue? I recall this game
having plenty of players even when they were capped at 19. While 50 is a
different story because you run into the problem of the xp cap, regardless of
how many levels you would have made to get to that point, you would
eventually run into the same scenario of someone reaching that number. You
could have adjusted the number of levels to get to that point, which would
have altered the player's power at that point and therefore the time frame to
reach it, but by having played a character for that much exp would have so
efficient with a routine to reach this exp cap 
regardless. So you're always going to have the same issue of keeping player
interest but do you therefore compensate that by making obtainable goals so
far out of sight that players may or may not want to bother trying to achieve
them, do you make  player's goals easier by making them more powerful to make
people more likely to try to obtain them, but risk losing players once they
achieve these, and finally if things get out of hand and too unbalanced, such
as what you're saying with traits do we talk in circles about what went
wrong, go in reverse and remove/alter/downgrade, or discuss how to
incorporate future changes to make these powerful additions remain but the
mud more balanced like it was once before.
For example just to see where i'm going, not that you would necessarily
like/want to do this, but just as an example of something that you could
consider.. at 15 levels above an NPC you start receiving less exp because
it's way weaker than you are. So now by around level 34 you can't just
effortlessly kill 9k's and zoom thru levels with the powerful traits as you
do now. So players would get more powerful as now, be happy, but would now be
getting less exp for these 9k level 19 kills. To compensate, more higher
level epic kills, more demanding than those we have now, perhaps not
resetting as frequently. Now to progress the extremely high players would
need to focus on epics to continue to progress as noticibly as they'd like in
exp. And so now they would need these traits/levels bonuses that are
currently out of hand because most people effortlessly are killing 9k's
currently. 
So now you'd have a scenario where needing to fight higher level epics would
become essential to progressing in levels through the 30's, which there would
need to be more of for this idea to work. Doing so would be difficult which
would require the additional powers of levels/traits which are currently
unbalanced but would not be anymore. And by the 40's even the toughest of
kills like Velox/Valdrath would only be giving a smaller % of their exp yet,
making 50 still obtainable but require much more effort and be a much more
long lasting goal and difficult to achieve like Paldin envisioned in his
previous post when he initially installed levels.
      

      Title: 'traits/power' // Riddick 21 Sun, 30 Oct  08:33:25

      
I would highly encourage an experiment where you take Bazhi on testmud and
have him play as hard as he can, with and without traits.  Preferably, hand
him the eq he requests, etc, and don't let him know if traits are on or off
for each run.

I know in my own case if you ran xp/hour numbers for me this year versus 10
years ago (last time I was playing) you'd see a tremendous jump (easily a
10x, even with all my idling).  But it's not traits, it's playstyle and
goals.

I don't think traits are as powerful as you seem to think they are at
present, but I'll freely admit I haven't seen more than two levels in any
trait yet.  But if you're believing the numbers on your traits post from
earlier, you should check into it a bit.
      

      Title: 'balance' // Cogline 33 Sun, 30 Oct  05:37:06

      
SImply for me...People started playing again after traits/ironwood/epics were
added. People stopped playing when ironwood/epics were downgraded. Some have
left after the recent changes. So whats balanced? People playing AA and
enjoying their time here? Or an empty mud that wizards feel comfortable is a
nice balanced game?
      

      Title: 'Re: Bazhi' // Paldin 850 Sun, 30 Oct  02:02:27

      
> But the controvery is in what Paldin said where you need to think long
term.
> He feels having this unobtainable long lasting goal is the way to go
because
> it will keep people playing
But *NONE* of my goals are unobtainable. They just dont happen quickly.
How many people have pushed to get their skills up? Did you not want 100 in
all skills? Is it required to play better? No! Does it make you more
powerful?
No! You could use any one of a number of weapons and have 100 in a single
skill and just be as powerful as you were.
But the *option* is there, if people want to put the effort in.
How long did it take you to get your 100 in all skills?.... A long time!
Will most people, probably not, but the whole point is its *possible* just
unlikely.
Im not making it impossible. If I did that Id make level 50 2.2 billion
xp and know you cant make it there.

> If the level cap was say, level 99 with a max exp to reach that say.. 50
> billion.. doing the math, do you really think i'd be playing this game yet?
But thats the thing. You *cant* go that high. I chose 50 levels as fairly
arbitrary. I could have chosen anywhere between 21->299. We could even change
levels, but we *CANT* change xp. So even if we made level 100 2 billion xp
which is the *MAX* the driver can handle, all it would do is double the level
number you have now.
I guess I should have have just said level 30 at 100 mill is now 'cap'. That
would have stopped some of the problems we have now. But then how many would
have made level 30 and gone "well thats it, nothing more to achieve".
You yourself would have been instantly a higher level, so would you have
honestly kept playing at all?

> You've got players getting so much
> more powerful with levels/traits, but on the otherhand with having over a
> billion exp shouldn't someone be that muhch more powerful than someone with
a
> million?

It should! Thats why I put levels in with a small bonus. The difference is
traits arnt a small bonus, and the amplifiy the level bonus. So while I agree
that you should get more powerful, the amount that it happened was far too
much.

Paldin
      

      Title: 'last' // Bazhi 48 Sun, 30 Oct  00:02:09

      
So what we need is a balance in between with having a goal that's difficult
to achieve but humanly possible I think. You've got players getting so much
more powerful with levels/traits, but on the otherhand with having over a
billion exp shouldn't someone be that muhch more powerful than someone with a
million? We can dwell on some of the problems with epics and traits but maybe
in retrospect the solution would have been something more like making even
more epics and applying something like a diablo sort of leveling where once
you kill stuff way below your level you get less exp. That way you could have
pleased the playerbase in getting much tougher, but kept the exp progression
where wizards had intended it without players boosting thru the level 30's
with the greatest of ease now.
      

      Title: 'last' // Bazhi 48 Sat, 29 Oct  23:52:20

      
Well, at level 50 I don't see myself really playing as Bazhi but I'll
probably mess around with some alts and stop around in some form or another.
But the controvery is in what Paldin said where you need to think long term.
He feels having this unobtainable long lasting goal is the way to go because
it will keep people playing. However, if you know you won't be able to reach
the goal, why would you then bother trying? Wouldn't you in THIS case stop
trying/playing, which is the very thing he is trying to prevent? 
I started playing again after a long absence with some changes, one being the
lessened effects of death/wimpy. Yeah some people think it's too extreme now
but when your power goes out and you lose months worth of skill progress it
wasn't worth the bother anymore to me.
So with some of the changes that occured, and i won't argue and say that they
aren't unbalanced but the game has taken that turn long before the changes
we're referring to, it made some of my too-long term unobtainable goals now a
possibility. 
If the level cap was say, level 99 with a max exp to reach that say.. 50
billion.. doing the math, do you really think i'd be playing this game yet?
On the otherhand if the leveling was too easy like probably what Paldin is
referring to on this other MUD, and 50 people already had achieved level 50..
do you think I'd be bothering in this scenario either doing something that is
no big deal?
I'm close to 50 and nobody else having done it is what's motivating me. All
that being said, even after 50 there will be other things for me to do.
There's a quest i haven't been able to figure out, plenty of gaius hints that
have been eluding me for years, and other classes i'd like to mess with.
In other words, if it's ridiculously easy to reach the max xp 7 times over
you have a problem, but we also need to realize if you have a goal that is
too long-lasting as well and not obtainable you also turn people off in that
respect as well. 
      

      Title: 'on mastery' // Riddick 21 Sat, 29 Oct  06:44:57

      
Your point on mastery/martial arts is fairly good.  But most of the time is
spent training as opposed to actual combat (presumably our characters can
train while we're logged off).

I don't know what the average length of rl combat is, but kung-fu movies
aside, it's probably no more than 10 minutes.  So spending a day in combat
would mean you'd defeated 140-ish opponents.  A week in combat puts you close
to a thousand.  A year, as you suggest, would put someone at 50k, which is
halfway to Pol-potting.

I don't want to meet someone who's spent a year in life-or-death combat.  I'd
lay money that there has never been, in the history of our world, such a
person.

The skills are probably about the right speed, I think.  Most characters will
get close to maxing a skill, if they concentrate, by level 19-20-ish.  In
that time, they *might* be able to purchase two levels of one trait...
      

      Title: 'quick follow-up on mastery' // Riddick 21 Sat, 29 Oct  06:42:35

      
Your point on mastery/martial arts is fairly good.  But most of the time is
spent training as opposed to actual combat (presumably our characters can
train while we're logged off).

I don't know what the average length of rl combat is, but kung-fu movies
aside, it's probably no more than 10 minutes.  So spending a day in combat
would mean you'd defeated 140-ish opponents.  A week in combat puts you close
to a thousand.  A year, as you suggest, would put someone at 50k, which is
halfway to Pol-potting.

I don't want to meet someone who's spent a year in life-or-death combat.  I'd
lay money that there has never been, in the history of our world, such a
person.
      

      Title: 'quick follow-up on mastery' // Riddick 21 Sat, 29 Oct  06:41:56

      
Your point on mastery/martial arts is fairly good.  But most of the time is
spent training as opposed to actual combat (presumably our characters can
train while we're logged off).

I don't know what the average length of rl combat is, but kung-fu movies
aside, it's probably no more than 10 minutes.  So spending a day in combat
would mean you'd defeated 140-ish opponents.  A week in combat puts you close
to a thousand.  A year, as you suggest, would put someone at 50k, which is
halfway to Pol-potting.
I don't want to meet someone who's spent a year in life-or-death combat.  I'd
lay money that there has never been, in the history of our world, such a
person.
      

      Title: 'Re: Paldin' // Riddick 21 Sat, 29 Oct  03:34:41

      
Thank you for the lengthy and well-thought reply.  I have only a few thoughts
to add:

1) The thelp file says that the exponential cost "slows down after a while"
(paraphrase), so I can't do my own math until I know how that works.
2) I agree that once a character is completely maxxed out, one will probably
stop playing.  But I don't think it's "stop playing" - full stop.  It's "stop
playing that character."  Look at Draconan - most people complain that it's
too hard/long/boring to max shifter forms...he's got 3.

On the other hand, there must be a point where one creates the opposite
effect.  Perhaps Bazhi could weigh in on this discussion:  Bazhi, when you
hit level 50 (and let's say for fun you max your traits too)... what's the
chance you play AA again, with any alt?

Having not experience this other MUD you discuss, I'm not truly able to
comment.  But surely there were other differences/deficiencies than just
being fast, right?  I'm not sure you can point at one variable.

I'm not trying to say "let's make it so I can max a character entirely in x
hours."  I'm trying to say "let's think about the time requirements that we
have right now, and decide if they are reasonable."  Maxing a character in AA
might well take as much concentrated playtime as all of my CRPG experience,
combined...maybe more.  Is that good?
      

      Title: 'Re: Riddick' // Paldin 850 Fri, 28 Oct  23:39:15

      
> I know he took all the exceptionals, so that's part of why, but please tell
> me the designers did the math and you don't have to play past level 50 to
> finish out a reasonable trait list.

Look at the traits and do the math and then you will know!

> Chances are really good that I'll never see above level two in half of my
> traits, even at a month of playtime.  I love AA, don't get me wrong, but
> what's wrong with me being able to devote time to several different alts?  To
> achieving mastery in ANYTHING in less than a month?

Depends on how you define 'mastery'.
If you went to Japan for 1 month could you be a grand master at Karate in
that time? Even with the time dilation on the game, could you in a RL year!?

There have been many limits on the game, some of which we try to move.
Once you can no longer achieve anything for your character, then what
do you do? Most usually stop playing. So the ideal is to have something
you could strive for, that has some meaning, but will generally never
be achieved.

You generally max your class around 19. It gets a little better, but thats
where the original 'max' was. Some like mages then used study hours as a
fuzzy way to expand that 1 mill xp (level 19) range.      
But you dont 'need' to get to to level 50 to play well, to be able to
do most things. Once you hit level 19, you have achieved some mastery.

Even skills, you dont 'need' to get to 100 to be able to play well.
If you have a 100 in a single skill, is that mastery? Or do you then
need 100 in all skills?     

The whole point being, is that these are all things that arnt 'needed' to
play, but for those who like to push the limits, or to get everything they
want out of it can use and achieve.

Ive been on muds where it was "fast". The top player had clocked his XP
around 7 times (so to 2 billion and back through all the negatives) before
he decided there wasnt anything worthwhile to do on there. The mud only
lasted a year because people got very bored.

AA needs a long term future, or it will end up like so many other dead
muds. If we dont plan for a long term future and only live in the now,
we wont have a future.

Paldin
      

      Title: 'Re: last few' // Taj 24 Fri, 28 Oct  14:26:23

      
I pretty much agree for the most part with everyone.  Fast is nice, but I
don't really think new players aren't playing because of this kind of stuff. 
I don't think you've played some of the TERRIBLE free RPGs out there that
people are playing.  If AA had more exposure people would play it for sure,
and then more would stay.   You just need a way to get people into the game
and playing.  I'm sure if somehow steam could get the AA client, we would
have a population problem and we would have to open up multiple servers. 
It's just an issue of exposure, that is, how do you get enough people just to
keep the server at the right amount?  What is the right amount of players?  I
really have no idea.  Even when it's just a few running around and my
favorite kill spots are dead it can feel like a pretty crammed game.  So
anyway, to get people into the game, we just need exposure, nothing more I
wouldn't think.
      

      Title: 'Re: Verve' // Riddick 21 Fri, 28 Oct  09:44:53

      
I guess I lean toward a faster MUD as well.  When I heard a wiz say that when
they designed the new levels they "thought the max anyone could hit was mid-
30's", I thought one thing:

Then why bother coding above mid-30?

When I saw Bazhi's trait list I damn near cried.  Seriously, he's way the
flip above what the designers thought anyone could do.  Yet half his traits
aren't even close to max.

I know he took all the exceptionals, so that's part of why, but please tell
me the designers did the math and you don't have to play past level 50 to
finish out a reasonable trait list.

Chances are really good that I'll never see above level two in half of my
traits, even at a month of playtime.  I love AA, don't get me wrong, but
what's wrong with me being able to devote time to several different alts?  To
achieving mastery in ANYTHING in less than a month?
      

      Title: 'Fast mud' // Verve 14 Thu, 27 Oct  23:45:07

      
I agree with nanji. Let's make this place a fast mud again. The only
playerbase strategy we seem to have is to 'hold' on to players - (this is
done by making level 50 f*ck off hard to reach and hoping people will grind
it out) - Maybe if we made this place a fast mud again we might be able to
try and attract more new players. The ridiculous amount of exp needed to max
in this game is a deterrent for new players. Make this mud hard and fast
again - bigger monsters, faster exp, more fun and quicker! I love the thrill
of a big kill - i hate the thought of having to kill the same 9k monsters
1,000, 000 times each to reach a new level.
      

      Title: 're nanji' // Torchfork 2 Thu, 27 Oct  16:39:43

      
No. You want a different game than what this one is, Not that there's
anything wrong with that. There might be a dozen of you? Maybe more, maybe
less?  Yeah, probably less.

Here's a solution that escaped me before.

Box up the New and Improved AA and make it available to these guys.  Email it
to them or put it on a different port, whatever.  Then put the boring old
version on another.  Which game will build a community?  Which game will
splinter and devolve into solo power player paradise?

ps. Maker, yes. Is it sad I can still be bothered and actually care?
Possibly. Or I'm just a troll. ha.
      

      Title: 'last' // Iorek 29 Thu, 27 Oct  15:55:34

      
I miss you.
      

      Title: 're/squat' // Nanji 31 Thu, 27 Oct  09:57:27

      
I'm just being selfish, but at this point I really hope they don't allow
people
to redo their traits.  I'd hate to have the temptation to play AA again. 
I still probably wouldn't play since I've realized how quickly things can
change here.  Last time I spent years working on an AA goal it was made 
pointless so fast I'm still staggered by the time I wasted.  
I also still don't understand the general move to slow the game down either. 
 
There are very few players still pushing up into the 30's.  When I was moving
Mordren up into the top 15 exp.. I hated it because all of the people I
passed
were inactive.  The playerbase shrinks.  You are not going to have hundreds
of players maxxed for level like we did when lvl 19 is the cap.  Just seems
like we're cockblocking people for no reason.  The game should get faster.
Many people get a rush from going fast and pushing the limit and feeling
challenged.  I've never understood why balance here always seemed to mean
trying to make everything equally bad.  Is something over powered? AWESOME!
It means people are actually going to feel like they are getitng over. They 
are going to use that thing and feel like they are better than average for a 
boot!  You don't like it? Make something else overpowered too.. oh boy now
what
do we do!? we have two really cool things people are actually crazy for.  
Someone feels left out cuz they're now obsolete thing is not being used?
Let's
amp that bad boy up.. OMG OMG! now people have 3 things that are too GOOD. 
which do they use!?!?!  Stop holding people back.  make the game faster.
stop choking the mud.  Let some people become godlike and challenge those
stale ass HOH runs.  But hey, I'm just rambling and it doesnt really matter
to
me.  I consider myself retired.  I just come back to see if my friends need
purges and stuff since they amazingly still trust aa enough to invest their 
time here.
      

      Title: 'Re: Moo' // Riddick 21 Sun, 23 Oct  05:11:51

      
I like the reboots, too.  Or maybe I love to hate them, not sure.

Whatever my feelings about them, the fact remains that I have played (and
played, not idled) for hours longer than intended on many occasions b/c I
finally had a good setup.  I've hammered in two solid hours of play b/c
reboot was coming, whereas I intended to just log on and idle.

For me, as well, reboots effect my playstyle - and they do it by making me
play more.
      

      Title: 'Job posting on bug board' // Fir 750 Sat, 22 Oct  02:10:21

      
Hi, adventurers,

Those of you whose disbelief is poorly suspended anyway, there's a 
job posting on the bug board in case you're interested in something
that combines exploration/knowledge of the realm and a competition to
improve AA's playability a wee bit.

For the rest, please return to your scheduled keeping the realm safe
and/or in chaos from evil powers and/or despite the meddling of do-gooders!

--Fir
      

      Title: 'Re: barrier to entry to aa' // Moo 25 Fri, 21 Oct  14:48:59

      
An easier way of doing it would just be to let players save one or two pieces
of equipment.  I don't really feel that equipment is a main problem in the
barrier though.  Overcoming the fact that the game is entirely made up of
text, and overcoming the fact that early level combat is extremely boring
seem to be the two most glaring issues for players that I've talked to.  I
suppose it's not so bad the first time, but when you are sitting there
pucnhing something and it is punching you back, someplayers might feel as if
the game is very similar to graphical games they have played, and probably
feel generally understimulated.  The pace of combat and learning/exploring
new stuff is why I like this game, trying to go as fast as possible, but
that's not an easy thing to show new players, espcially those new to muds.

I personally feel the 48 hour reboot with no eq gives the game a unique edge.
 I really enjoy when I finally get that mithril violet ring or whatever,
perfect set of gear and then I know I have to use it.  I'm encouraged to play
while I can and play as efficiently as possible.  At the end of a big session
like this you can look at your numbers and smile and hope once again that
you'll be able to achieve this perfect ultimate combination.  I like that
feeling of time pressure that if this game allowed you to keep stuff, well
then I guess that pressure wouldn't be there.  This game doesn't really need
to borrow from WoW, it's a MUD. We're not trying to make money here, we're
trying to make a game that's fun and unique to play in its own right.  If the
wizards are going to spend time coding, I prefer it be something to make the
game even cooler.  Crazy NPCs with insane UI, Infinite Dungeons with stupid
random generation that can potentially make really nasty combos that shred
players to pieces.  Stuff like that :)
      

      Title: 'Re: Valygar/XP Facts' // Moo 25 Fri, 21 Oct  14:36:45

      
Yeah I strongly, strongly agree with valygar.  If traits weren't meant to
make you more powerful, then why were they put in.  I assume the same reason
all of the hard areas were put in was to sort of balance that out.  Once you
get to a certain level, I'm sure that things become easier, but at the same
time, if you really got bored and are at 1700/1700 there is always another
class out there waiting for you offering a different style of gameplay.  I
don't really have a problem with people becoming that powerful.  Traits take
a lot of time to get.  It gives players a goal, especially me, who now is
primarily playing a necromancer, something else to go for other than weapon
skills which I clearly have no hope for.  I'm not sure if the facts were
posted to be interesting or to make a case but people are getting very
defensive. Another way to put it is this: I would never have logged back into
this game if it weren't for traits and the raised level cap.
      

      Title: 'Re: Torchfork' // Riddick 21 Thu, 20 Oct  07:02:29

      
The Flames Board is w,s,w of x.  Not just w,s.
      

      Title: 'Re: Torchfork' // Riddick 21 Thu, 20 Oct  06:58:55

      
The Flames Board is w, s, w, of x.  Not just w, s.
      

      Title: '#2' // Howitzer 550 Wed, 19 Oct  08:21:16

      
its a girl!
in the works
      

      Title: 're traits' // Jepp 19 Wed, 19 Oct  07:59:46

      
You do not currently have any traits.                            ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
You currently have 24 trait points available.

what in the world are traits, i need to get with the program
need to stop worrying about staying
above the poverty line and start
studying the help newstuff smore!
yay teehee!
      

      Title: 'Re: Torchfork' // Calvin 33 Wed, 19 Oct  04:18:27

      
You lost me at hello........ 
      

      Title: 'xp/traits' // Torchfork 2 Wed, 19 Oct  01:06:16

      
Traits are broken. Silly even.
One need not engage in any statistical analysis to prove it. Just listen to
the panic in the voices of those who  fear losing them. Traits should have
never been installed. I will not include the long list of why Traits are a
fail. Balance already has that list. Instead I will suggest what should have
happened, and what can still happen.
Two things.
Skills: Skills are fucking stupid. The effort to reward ratio makes zero
sense. No offense to the designer, but it's a huge fail. So 1st thing is fix
that. An adventure with 100 Exotic should make a Fighter with 100 Exotic cry
but that isn't the case. Yeah, that jacks up the class balance, but in a good
way.

Class abilities: This is the main item. Instead of traits, classes could have
and should have been slowly and constantly upgraded, with new abilities
and/or enhancements to existing abilities regularly coming online. Simple.
Boring?  Maybe, but it could have been done without breaking the MUD and
without making the different Races mostly moot. Got Orc?

If those things were done well, combined with new EQ and new Areas, mudlife
could continually improve at a pace that was acceptable to all involved
parties.

A 3rd idea, while more difficult and less realistic now that the MUD is
nearly 20 years old, is to make better NPC's and better areas. Not simply
more hacky and slashy epics with thousands of hit points and ridiculous XP
rewards, but smarter (Z'er) NPC's and areas that offer dynamism to players.
That requires coder talent that may or may not exist due to the egomaniacal
god complex that tends to be prevalent among our esteemed Arch community. I
said that out loud?

Thank you. And please come back when your favorite kills have stacked to the
fucking moon and you can get a bazillion xp in 15 minutes and then log out.
We'll see you again next week. Maybe.
      

      Title: 'Re: XP gains' // Squat 30 Tue, 18 Oct  08:16:50

      
I don't think anyone's denying that traits and benefits of levels makes XP
gaining easier much easier.  However there's way too many factors to draw any
real conclusions from that info.  

Personally, I'm a bit of a completionist(with a short attention span), and
when levels were capped at 19 I had little motivation to continue playing and
I'd assume other characters weren't either(except maybe to improve skills or
quest as was stated).  Hell, the only reason to try for a high XP/hour was
for bragging rights and HoH.  

I think having Bazhi do his run on testmud without traits would give a pretty
realistic idea of the differences since he has a pretty static kill route
and(stacks aside) after 1000s of hours would notice the differences
immediately. I know I can tell when something is slightly different while
killing.  
I really can't think of any fixes that wouldn't 'take the game back in time'
other than *shudder* modifying older areas that were intended for a level 19
player cap, but that in itself would be an extensive project. Frankly I don't
think there is a good solution to the apparent 'unbalance' that currently
exists.
I really can't think of any fixes that wouldn't 'take the game back in time'
other than *shudder* modifying older areas that were intended for a level 19
player cap, but that in itself would be an extensive project. Frankly I don't
think there is a good s
whoops...

I still think allowing SOME way for players to change/redo traits is in both
wizards and mortals favor.  Wizards tend to dislike anything that makes the
code they spent many, many hours working on less used or even useless, and
for good reason.  Players feel the same way about their characters!

There will always be negative feedback whenever something a player coveted is
downgraded and their precious play style is turned upside down, even if it is
better for the game overall.  However, that negativity will be much less
drastic if a player can 'respec' and try something different as opposed to
flat out making my project of 1000s of hours PERMANENTLY worse with the flip
of a switch.

I might be beating a dead horse here, but I don't even want to change my
traits, I just think it would make everyone happy.

-Plan a project to respec traits in a way they can still be fun and benefit
players who work hard, but not make older areas far easier than intended
-Come up with a way to allow players to respec their traits with some sort of
penalty or cost
-Add some little fun bonuses or new trait ideas so it isn't a complete
downgrade to the game
-Reset all traits and give players their points back

Yeah, it's a lot of work, but there isn't an easy way to both make wizards
want to code again and not piss every player off.
Squat
      

      Title: 'Re: XP Facts' // Sorry 16 Mon, 17 Oct  18:57:07

      
the reason why xp growth is exponential is because the limiting factor (exp
of the boss in new area) is rising exponentially too

if you stick to the formula of 3k, 6k, 9k, 12k, ... (L-16)*3k , L = integer
from 17 then the exp growth should be linear
L = level of the monster

traits just add some variability but won't change the trend much
      

      Title: 're xp facts' // Valygar 22 Mon, 17 Oct  17:07:17

      
Here are a few more numbers to compare. This is not including prep time,
skilling, first 20 levels, exploring, geo or anything happening in real life
that lets you dedicate time to play.

Bazhi (level 48)
level 20-48 
Exp 1,749,000,000

Before traits @ 69k/hour
25347 hours to accomplish
1056 days
2.89 years

After traits @ 257k/hour
6805 hours to accomplish
283 days

Chun (level 36)
level 20-36
Exp 399,000,000

Before traits @ 51k/hour
7823 hours to accomplish
325 days

After traits @ 161k/hour
2478 hours
103 days

Comparing the numbers, yes, traits have made it easier to gain exp. But i'm
still trying to figure out what your point is. Even at it stands, you need to
do serious number crunching along with dedicated time to reach passed level
30, let alone Bazhi who nearly triples these digits (age player ranking
2/10994 behind levek's 760 days of idling). I'm just trying to see what your
going for. No traits it would be impossible for Bazhi to be where he's at
today and extremely tough to even be where Chun is at. And what would be in
place of traits? Traits motivate me to play, they allow me to reach out to
tougher areas, levels don't. Without them their isn't much to gain except
raising tough skills, which gets old very quick and the 4+hp gain every
level.
      

      Title: 'Re: XP facts' // Valygar 22 Mon, 17 Oct  17:04:07

      
Here are a few more numbers to compare. This is not including prep time,
skilling, first 20 levels, exploring, geo or anything happening in real life
that lets you dedicate time to play.

Bazhi (level 48)

level 20-48 
Exp 1,749,000,000

Before traits @ 69k/hour
25347 hours to accomplish
1056 days
2.89 years

After traits @ 257k/hour
6805 hours to accomplish
283 days

Chun (level 36)

level 20-36
Exp 399,000,000

Before traits @ 51k/hour
7823 hours to accomplish
325 days

After traits @ 161k/hour
2478 hours
103 days

Comparing the numbers, yes, traits have made it easier to gain exp. But i'm
still trying to figure out what your point is. Even at it stands, you need to
do serious number crunching along with dedicated time to reach passed level
30, let alone Bazhi who nearly triples these digits (age player ranking
2/10994 behind levek's 760 days of idling). I'm just trying to see what your
going for. No traits it would be impossible for Bazhi to be where he's at
today and extremely tough to even be where Chun is at. And what would be in
place of traits? Traits motivate me to play, they allow me to reach out to
tougher areas, levels don't. Without them their isn't much to gain except
raising tough skills, which gets old very quick and the 4+hp gain every
level.
      

      Title: 'last Paldin' // Cogline 33 Mon, 17 Oct  14:11:55

      
I agree with you that traits have increased exp gains. THat was the point of
them I would assume? I dont agree with you fully though that 3.7 times the
exp gains becuase of traits. THese percents are completely guessed but should
be considered... It's 30% traits, 30% less players, 20% more areas, 10%
better equipment availble. Does that mean you need to nerf traits becuase I
make 30 percent more exp from them? People enjoy the game the way it is. Ive
never heard anyone complain that traits suck because they make the game to
easy. Ive never heard someone say omg get rid of all these greats areas and
equipment becuase they make this game to easy. I play here for a number of
reasons. Friends. Levels. Skills. Traits. And the challenge of the game. Just
leave it be please. Simply for the sake of the mortals who play the game.
      

      Title: 're jepp' // Valygar 22 Mon, 17 Oct  11:58:26

      
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      Title: 're: jepp' // Valygar 22 Mon, 17 Oct  11:53:46

      
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      Title: 're jepp' // Valygar 22 Mon, 17 Oct  11:53:03

      
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      Title: 're: jepp' // Valygar 22 Mon, 17 Oct  11:51:56

      
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      Title: 're jepp' // Valygar 22 Mon, 17 Oct  11:50:42

      
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      Title: 'barrier to entry to aa' // Jepp 19 Mon, 17 Oct  08:16:08

      
getting fully equipped is fun but also time consuming
.  if the reboot time was say a week, then
players could spend an hour each day after school killing
for equip then at the weekend do some marathon xp sesssions
.  since reboots are short to prevent uniques hoarding
it really causes players to not bother getting equipped
if they can only play for an hour a day so they
are left with ifling as stone statues just to checkin.
reboots are not a system resource issue as they were
maybe back in 1996.  most muds have reboots after a week.
lets squash the unique hoarding issue by very simply
allowing say two or 3 instances of each unique
that still makes them rare and fair for players
who can time reboots to snag ALL of the uniques
its a fact that the WOW developers in some
new article said they took many ideas from lpmuds
and i recall they literally mentioned aa. but
now its time to borrow from wow's 15mil subscriber
success by either have NO reboots and making tons more
uniques, or if the developer wizzes are too busy
then simply extending the reboot time to a week
and making the uniques rare they cant be hoarded
flag pendragon so you can only carry one at
a time, hoarding solved
      

      Title: 'last' // Bazhi 48 Mon, 17 Oct  06:22:23

      
Nah I was always a cyborg.
No doubt the game got easier. But that post doesn't factor in the part that
during the months where i was making 3.7 times less xp I was also working
crappy cleric skills, unarmed, bad dualing combos, etc, doing lots of gaius,
and other events that weren't really earning xp, working hoh lists such as
geo.. (For a period of a few months i remember i was claiming around 3000
rooms a boot, which took several hours). On the otherhand, now I pretty much
exclusively work on gaining xp with the exception of when i'm idling and my
char just isn't really aging at all. All my skills are 100 so i'm going for
damage exclusively, and putting my sole focus on the level 50 goal, so the xp
rate is of course going to go up a lot. 
I guess for a true test if it would ever be possible maybe I could kill on
testmud with no traits around with everything else identical to how I play
now and see what I average. Obviously not having traits would lower it, but
not nearly by 3.7 times. Maybe 33% at most.
      

      Title: 'Some XP Facts' // Paldin 850 Mon, 17 Oct  03:35:49

      
For those interested in some numbers to compare before and
after traits, I found 2 old backups of AA.
So using them I can see before traits and now. This is even the
now once epics were toned down etc.

So the old numbers are a 14 month period and the recent ones
are a 10 month period (just because of when I had a backup to go back to)

So I asked the named players whether they minded me using their numbers
and they didnt, but the others I'll mention and not say how much since
they may not wish it known.

Now back before traits in 14 months of playing:
 Calvin made 63 mill xp
 Bazhi made 49 mill xp (69k/hour)
 Chun made 39 mill xp. (51k/hour)

Now machine was the highest xp gainer, but he also played a lot more than
the others. All the 'top' players made around 50-70k/hour in general
going by the stats.

Now how ever in 10 months of playing ....
  Bazhi made 323 mill xp (257k/hour)
  Chun made   73 mill xp (161k/hour)
Sadly calvin doesnt play much so almost doesnt register.

Now Bazhi does play a bit more than he used to, but he is making
3.7 TIMES the xp he used to. Chun is making 3.1 TIMES the xp he used to.

Now Bazhi wasnt the best xp/hour, but he is at least comparable from
before traits. Both show that the same player is now making xp at
a much faster rate than before. Maybe they both just improved that
much, or maybe the game just got that much easier.

Now to answer some of Bazhi's points he raised in earlier posts:
 - levels improved characters by about 2-2.5% per level.
   - so even with his high level and assuming that he wasnt a cleric
     so most of his bonus is in healing so not faster killing he
     would only be about 70% better, not 370% better.
   - there were only 3 people around the fuzzy ceiling it was aimed at.
     So even at calvins 63 mill per year if he had kept going at that rate
     the entire time our top player would be around level 36-37.
 - while epics did make xping massively easier for a while, this selection
   of numbers didnt even cover any of that.      

So you can claim Bazhi is a machine and we cant use him as a guide, but
either someone made a cyborg out of Bazhi with Traits, or he was always
that way.
 
Paldin   
      

      Title: 'Necromancers' // Legion 7 Sat, 08 Oct  17:30:01

      
I remember back in the day when undead were worth more than a level 14
fighter.
      

      Title: 'last' // Family 1 Fri, 07 Oct  07:25:11

      
> What?
      

      Title: 'Canceled Marathon/Screw the army.' // Elizore 500 Thu, 06 Oct  07:16:04

      
I was supposed to have Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon off this weekend, now I have just
Sunday off because the army sucks extremely large monkey nuts. I'm sorry
everyone but I'll have to reschedule the Marathon some other day.
      

      Title: 'October Stars Marathon' // Elizore 500 Wed, 05 Oct  06:44:17

      
The next Stars Marathon will be Pacific Islander friendly in the time zone
department.
Date 8 October 2011
Time: 0700 GMT (GMT is based on off of the GMT at the Inn in Tantallon when
you 'exa graph')

That should be approximately 1700 Sydney, Australia time, for any of you
Pacific Islanders who don't get to take advantage of the Marathons due to
unfriendly time zone differences. For the rest of you, suck it up, it's
Saturday, come and play.

Prizes will be as follows.

Winner of Game: 5000 coins.
Top 5 scorers: 10000 coins.
Top scorer: 50000 coins.

Total Coin Prizes is 150000 coins.

The topics are as follows.

Car Stars (Donated by Fir)
8 rounds of AA stars.
And the first, or Last round of this Stars event will be...
Islands Stars (Islands in the Pacific only.)
      

      Title: 'my last, November Marathon, er October' // Elizore 500 Wed, 05 Oct  06:04:18

      
I haven't had internet since my last post and just got it back today, stupid
german telephone company.

Anyways, I made a huge typo on my last Stars Marathon information post, it
was supposed to be October 8, October Marathon. I realize that this only
gives people like 3 days to see if they can make it. Sorry about the mix up.
      

      Title: 're howizter' // Slake 15 Tue, 04 Oct  17:59:31

      
i didnt really understand that post
but it sounds like somebody is trying to
balance the mud and everybody knows
a balanced game is a good game like wow
and diablo2 hooray for the wizzes!
      

      Title: 'Too little, too late?' // Howitzer 550 Tue, 04 Oct  11:26:21

      
I have noticed (only up to 213 so far, so 37 notes previous to this post)
that Newt is taking a lot of grief of the ficer rebalance.
I recommend you send half of that blame to me, for urging him on and nerfing
the numbers even more so than he originally intended. As a retired power
player, and current balance what-have-you, I have to say the numebrs are
still too high. The only reason we left them as powerful as they are is to
counter epics. 
While this has made one person at least extremely unhappy, I apologize. But
steel takes 10 seconds to make and SHOULD NOT be allowed an absolutely
perfect parry. Case closed. You want AP parry on a longsword that is NOT
UNIQUE, try a better metal. And how do you know that my intention wasn't to
make Starblade cool again? :)
Anyhow, it is starting to seem impossible to balance this mud. What works on
the main anguish continent will get you slaughtered overseas. However, the
stuff brought back to the mainland now makes the anguish stuff dull, boring,
and downright easy. We are working on a way to make the difficulty more
modular. (by working I mean I have said some stuff to other people and have
in no way put anything on paper)

So there you have it. Also keep in mind that negative responses to changes
that were meant in a positive light make baby Jesus cry.
Thank you
Howi
      

      Title: 'triggers (why am I feeding the troll?)' // Riddick 20 Mon, 03 Oct  09:47:46

      
Also, Slake, keep in mind that it is perfectly legal to use triggers that
notify you in some manner (change colour of text, play sounds, etc) - you
just can't use them to play for you.  So you could hear a beep, hit a single-
key alias, and bam, freaking fast (and legal) pipe fills every time.

That said, Paean's right that if you play for a while, you can get a pretty
precise idea of the timing without client assistance.  I know there have been
many occasions where I've been typing my smoke alias in before the pipe
actually runs out, or had it run out right between the fill and smoke
execute.
      

      Title: 'more on triggers (why am I doing this?)' // Riddick 20 Mon, 03 Oct  09:44:07

      
Also, Slake, keep in mind that it is perfectly legal to, say, use a trigger
that plays a "beep" through your speakers when your pipe runs out.  Then you
hit your single-key alias, and bam, freaking fast pipe fills.

As long as the trigger is used only to notify you (color text, play sounds,
etc), as opposed to play for you, it's legal.  That said, Paean's right that
if you play for a while, you can get a pretty precise idea of the timing with
no client assistance.
      

      Title: 'slake - triggers' // Paean 22 Sun, 02 Oct  10:38:58

      
look troll.
spend a few hundred hours in constant play.
i bet you can hit your (fill,light)
alias withi 5 seconds of the actual tick
time.
also, if they're triggers, they get caught.
see dibbs.
by law or gasp, other players.
file with law if you have proof.
      

      Title: 'i take back door comments' // Jepp 19 Sat, 01 Oct  18:06:59

      
its just too irresistable to walk thorugh the doors
they are fun and convenient
i feel like i'm in an episode of star trek
and i'm beaming to misha, booinggg!
treking to the ranger camp was always a pain,
warping there is more convenient and it allows
more time killing mobs which is funner
then hiking up there just to read the ranger board
      

      Title: 'New law idea' // Squat 29 Sat, 01 Oct  11:39:38

      
Law against playing in ghost form.  Punishment should be lifetime banishment.

If that isn't an acceptable law, perhaps the police can still enforce it? 
Thanks
      

      Title: 'imporatnt folowoup' // Slake 15 Sat, 01 Oct  03:59:05

      
even the drivng laws say the speed limit is 55mpg
but the police say you can go 10mpg over the
speed limit. so no triggers is the law
but do the police let people use them?
      

      Title: 'triggers lets be fair to all' // Slake 15 Sat, 01 Oct  03:56:29

      
i can see everybody is using triggers now
just by sitting in the xroads chatting with
other players
i still dont use triggers out of 
fear of being demoted to lev 1 or 
something
everytime sombodys pipe goes out
they instantly resmoke
please lets be fair, if its not being
enforced then say it so i can
start using triggers too
      

      Title: 'Re: Cogline' // Fir 750 Fri, 30 Sep  12:11:44

      
Hmm, pattern of <there's people putting in effort for other people> and
<some of the other people complain about how it's being done wrong>.
And <effortful people complaining about the complainers>. I've seen
this pattern somewhere, if only I could remember where...

For all instances of said pattern: let's all be nice to each other, 
shall we?

And when that inevitably fails (whenever there's a stubbed toe or
alcohol in blood or the wrong sports club winning earlier in the week),
let's try double hard to shrug and not take it personally. Not any
more than taking, say, road-ragers in traffic personally.

--Fir is way too Firdayed to hush and keep her spoon out of the soup.

PS. Nice coming out of the closet, Siawn!
      

      Title: 're siawn' // Jepp 19 Thu, 29 Sep  18:26:39

      
yes, some ascii art to start with
for ilivia munn we need (__) (___) boing!
      

      Title: 'Re: Jepp' // Siawn 550 Wed, 28 Sep  19:26:35

      
Oddly enough some of my best projects have started with requests at least as
out of left field as that one. ;) I'll see what I can do.
      

      Title: 're siawn' // Jepp 19 Wed, 28 Sep  19:16:20

      
kewl, now code me an olivia munn clone
      

      Title: 'Um...Note from MWOIRZTAARLD' // Siawn 550 Wed, 28 Sep  17:56:43

      
Dear Ancient Family,

  Some of you know me, many of you don't. So just a little background to 
start. I started playing this game when I was 13 years old. 1996 was a long 
time ago and there have been many changes in my life and in this game. But 
one thing has remained constant since right around the one month mark of my
journey into Anguish: I want to contribute to the place I love, in any way I
can. Now the harsh truth is that I learn fast but coding and some of the 
things that go with it are a painfully slow process for me. Not only am I 28
now and work and have other interests, but even in the 4 years I've been a 
wizard (Yes, it DID take me that long to work my way to wizhood.) I'm still a
novice coder in reality. I do mortal (less regularly right now, but who has 
time to build a perfect spelly setup while working full time really?) and I
love my super power gears, but normally run around in dplate or a radiant and
just enjoy the hell out of this game that's been one of the few constants for
literally over half of my life.

  Somewhat rambling, but that's that.
  
  Now the reason for this note... I never make posts on public boards but I 
feel like letting all of you know that I also AM coding for the game, for the
players and for my own enjoyment. I have several projects approved to code,
but one at a time is the way for me as well. I have two projects installed in
the game, one has a VERY unused item of lots of usefulness at any level, 
albeit not every playstyle, the other was a tiny addition that many have 
asked for for years.

  My one project I'm working on right now (hopefully more often in the 
future) is a smallish area with not a whole ton of killing, but it includes
a world spanning quest with a reward like no other. The few who know of the
project (mortal and wizard alike) are almost as excited as I am as I get 
closer to being able to open it to the players. I thought it was a good time
to look for input as the project is not yet completed, but far enough along
that it could be called 'close(ish)' to submitting. Basically at this point I
don't need a lot of ideas (I DO need a few yet) but feedback is really needed
on a few different aspects of the area. So if there are any idea/opinion 
filled mortals out there whose interest I have piqued in my vagueness, send
me a mail/tell and I can start filling in the details of what I've got and 
need.

  And wizards, as I've stated, I'm really novice at technical coding (thus 
World and not QC or Balance) and this beast is COMPLEX. There are little 
things that are going wrong that I have no idea which ^'s, ?'s or `'s are 
causing. I heard Malire spanked either my arch or my sponsor for letting me 
bite off more than I can chew, but it's ALMOST there! So take that! 
(*burp**tickle Malire*) But yeah, any wizards who may be into lending a hand 
(Closures and walk_maps and daemons, oh my!) the info is STONE in my open 
among my other .infos. And ya'll know how to contact me.

SUMMARY: You probably don't know me, I've been here forever. I have an 
upcoming project that I really really want to see if mortals will even do the
science on (LOTS of stuff for you sciencers!) and would appreciate input from
mortals and input/help from immortals. Mail/tell me if interested.

(See why I don't post?)

Hugs'n'kisses,

-Siawn the World Monkey, the Brother of Raven.
      

      Title: 'Fice' // Bazhi 48 Wed, 28 Sep  07:47:55

      
Wait doesn't that pretty much summarize your activity on this game?
Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me.
      

      Title: 'nub' // Fice 32 Wed, 28 Sep  02:03:48

      
let's hope parenting opens your horizons sufficiently that you don't need to
get your kicks insulting people you will never know, and if not cures your
ignorance at least encourages you to remain silent where you know very
little.
      

      Title: 'nub' // Fice 32 Wed, 28 Sep  02:01:52

      
let's hope parenting opens your horizons suffeciently that you don't need to
get your kicks insulting people you will never know, and perhaps cures your
ignorance or at least encourages you to stfu.
      

      Title: 're:cogline' // Dasha 33 Tue, 27 Sep  20:39:45

      
congrats! (again)  :D
      

      Title: 'doors' // Cogline 33 Tue, 27 Sep  14:45:04

      
Whats up with all the trolls lately? You all use doors. You all whine when
doors arent in right away . Why are all the nubs whining about doors lately?
DO you know what it takes to make an alt to make dd's? Do you know what it
takes to have all the nightshades/lotus/clover possible to make dd's? Do you
know the cost it takes for the heals to make dd's? Someday when you spend the
time to help the mud...i.e. make a ficer for forges (i did), make a ranger
for stones,strops, pelts and medicine (i did), make a mage for dd, es, perms,
and ar (i did) and make a cleric for purges, blesses and heals (i did)...then
stfu about how easy it is. I just want to take a moment to seriously thank
everyone that does doors. 
Pai, Caracal, Raederle, Dasha, Eru, Doormage, Singer, Wussmage, Budha and
many more (im so sorry i cant think right now...a 1week old baby doesnt allow
for sleep.) You guys are the bomb! Im really sorry  for these few nubs
whining... they simply dont appreciate the hard work that goes into dd's.
      

      Title: 'ddoors, sumthin for nuthin' // Dontazmebro 18 Tue, 27 Sep  13:53:17

      
it truly is, so is ddoor unbalanced?

maybe put some delay based on distance/rooms?

just saying
      

      Title: 'Re: Doors' // Riddick 20 Tue, 27 Sep  11:47:47

      
I'd just like to say that I like the doors a lot, and not in terms of xp/hr. 
I don't think it "cheapens the mud" to be able to get to some of these places
without developing carpal tunnel on the way.  Are the ddoors to Hobbiton a
little overkill? Yeah, probably.  But Drak?  Infidian?  I guess I stopped
having fun typing in arbitrary lists of directions a long time ago...

And yes, I'm aware that going to Infy doesn't require much typing.
      

      Title: 'November Marathon' // Elizore 500 Tue, 27 Sep  11:26:00

      
The next Trivia Marathon will be Pacific Islander friendly in the time zone
department.
Date: 8 November 2011
Time: 1800 GMT (GMT is based off of the GMT at the Inn in Tantallon when you
'exa graph')

That should be approximately 4-7PM for any of the Pacific Islanders who
didn't get to take advantage of the last few marathons. For the rest of you,
suck it up, it's Saturday! Come and play.
Prizes will be as follows:
Winner of Round: 5000 coins.
Top 5 overall winners: 10000
Top Overall Winner: 50000

Total of 150000 coins.

The topics are as follows.

AA Stars: 8 Rounds (subject to change if I find another topic to add)
Donated by Fir, Cars Stars

and the First Round of the series will be this...
Islands Stars (Pacific Islands only)


Barring any changes, and due to the fact that there is likely to be less
players. This is the cash prizes that will be allotted and the topics.

If I can think of something between now and then and be bothered to research
it enough to code it, I will add another round or two of different topics. No
Trivia this marathon as I have been very sick the last few weeks and I just
want to get this over with.

The 150k prize limit is final, there is not a lesser amount for less than 20
active players because we are not playing during peak European or American
times.

Obviously if less than 5 people play, i won't give 10k to more than each of
them, so come on out and play. Even with the 2 Pac Islander categories, There
are 8 rounds of stars for anyone that plays AA.
      

      Title: 're: Slake' // Fice 32 Mon, 26 Sep  06:51:32

      
Look, man, we all know these doors cheapen the mud, but you're talking about
messing with their exp/hour, dude.  They'll chop your nuts off first.
      

      Title: 'last' // Dodge 22 Sun, 25 Sep  06:59:17

      
I'm more concerned about my 100mb connection being able to handle that extra
line of text. :(
      

      Title: 'last' // Dodge 22 Sun, 25 Sep  06:58:29

      
I'm more concerned about my 100mb connection being able to handle the extra
line of data :(
      

      Title: 'last' // Bazhi 48 Sun, 25 Sep  06:54:18

      
Yeah seeing A shimmering blue door. in some of these rooms is just way over
the top and really spamming me. It would be much more convenient to just slam
n <enter> with 33 lines of brief descriptions. That way I can hopefully
develop carpal tunnel syndrome as well so as not to inconvenience the ghost
of Slake.
      

      Title: 'last few' // Exe 650 Sun, 25 Sep  01:33:16

      
Don't feed the trolls.
,
F
      

      Title: 're: slake' // Dasha 33 Sat, 24 Sep  22:38:34

      
and realistically, do you even play?  you log on every few months or so to
complain abt ddoors as a ghost  :P.   ghost of slake spammed at x by ddoors!
ohnoes!  :P
      

      Title: 'slake' // Cogline 33 Sat, 24 Sep  16:17:02

      
Good thing "nowadays" 31n is hobbitat. I mean yeah 25 is doable. 31n just
isnt. Im pro dd's. I guess thats why i spent a week of my life making a mage
alt to just make dd's. If you hate dd's...Dont use em.  But realistically you
were just trolling. 
      

      Title: 'Re: last' // Otter 22 Sat, 24 Sep  14:25:08

      
I like the doors. They bring more traffic to Infidian, are a visible sign
of some players going through the trouble of setting them up for all
of us to use every boot (even now), and even get me to go some places
I wouldn't bother to visit otherwise. (Although I'm sure in some forms
that is a part of the problem. ;))

I started this post just as a balancer for the anti-door sentiments
on my way to bed, but actually, if ddoors are madly valuable, maybe
we could balance them by making perm doors cost mandrake and something?
(But I like them the way they are.)

--Otter, been playing today for a change again! ?o/
      

      Title: 'blue door mess' // Slake 15 Sat, 24 Sep  13:16:23

      
okay all the old school aa users know there
was never a shiny blue door in every room in tant in
the past
personally i think it spams the brief mode
it would be nice if they were
banned from tant just like fighting is banned
from tant
every boot there are blue doors everywhere
in the good ole days we would walk 25n to hobbiton
and not warp there
      

      Title: 'Sinister' // Chun 36 Thu, 22 Sep  23:05:28

      
      

      Title: 'Sinister versus cancer' // Chun 36 Thu, 22 Sep  22:51:02

      

How low can you go? Just look at Sinister. Cheats at an easy game and 
wishes me to get cancer? You are pathetic.

I don't give a packrat's ass what you think.
It's sad for anyone here to cheat. 
Wishing is get cancer and die quickly because you cheated?

I asked if you wanted to party up a couple times and you always turned me
down.

You didn't want me to see how bullshit your gameplay was.
I hope you had fun, now go away, quit ruining the game.

You got PK on your mind? Go ahead, create a char just to PK me.
I don't care, it's just words on my screen.
I've played this game my entire life and done it with integrity.

You get called a cheater and you wish me to get cancer?

How low can you go? Take your cheating self elsewhere. 
People like you aren't welcome here. You aren't welcome anywhere I bet.
      

      Title: 'Sinister' // Chun 36 Thu, 22 Sep  22:43:39

      


I'm sorry, did I strike a chord with you sinister? 

I really don't give a packrats ass what you think.
It's sad for all people who cheat. 
But you took it way too far.

I had asked you to party up with me several times and you turned me down.
And I knew why, you didn't want me to see how bullshit your gameplay was.
I hope you had fun, now go away, quit ruining the game for others.

What are you going to do now? Create a char to PK me?
The fact you still come is is pathetic enough. Take your cheating ways
elsewhere.
      

      Title: 'last' // Dodge 22 Thu, 22 Sep  19:22:53

      
thankyou.
      

      Title: 'Norms and unnorms' // Fir 750 Thu, 22 Sep  09:23:07

      
Just as a premature clarification: when Harkke and Star Caverns fill up
with furries, that's not the norm. It's what we know as the extra NPCs
showing up bug. I'll fix it up at some point in the future (timeline
of several months), so you can start planning your minimax accordingly.

(I was just starting to get embarassed at people using me as an example
of some karmic magic wizard whom everybody loves for changing stuff.)

The main reason I don't fix number issues is that I don't care about
the numbers in my own play, but it does piss me off if my teddy spams
at me when I shapeshift.

I'd think, anyway.

--Fir
      

      Title: 'last' // Dontazmebro 15 Wed, 21 Sep  02:10:49

      
yeah, lawyers are expensive :(
      

      Title: 'soshi' // Salvage 25 Tue, 20 Sep  19:33:08

      
No. I ended up hiring a lawyer for $1500. He got it reduced to a 1 point
'unsafe start' with a fine of $150 and a seatbelt violation with a fine of
$76.
Speed had nothing to do with it. It literally took the ranger 2 minutes to
figure out which copy of the ticket was mine.
Gross overcharging.
      

      Title: 'Cogline and chun' // Sinister 1 Tue, 20 Sep  18:04:10

      

Epics were downgraded in exp with I hit level 27 or so.  So from, what,
35 Mil exp on I was dealing with the same base of 35k+ for thraxi
and Sydiemath and 135k for Valdrath that everyone deals with now.

chun: I truly and passionately hope you die of cancer in real life and as
soon as possible.

- Sinister
      

      Title: 're: Cogline and chun' // Sinister 1 Tue, 20 Sep  18:00:56

      

Epics were downgraded in exp with I hit level 27 or so.  So from, what,
35 Mil exp on I was dealing with the same base of 35k+ for thraxi
and Sydiemath and 135k for Valdrath that everyone deals with now.
and Sydiemath and 135k for Valdrath that everyone deals with now.
Chun: I truly and passionately hope you die of cancer in real life and as
soon as possible.

- Sinister
      

      Title: 'Salvage's story' // Soshi 650 Tue, 20 Sep  15:28:05

      

Uhm.. so what happened with the license? 
Was speed a factor in driving inappropriately for the road conditions? 
Damn that cop for not realizing the road wasn't up to snuff for a teen
looking to spin his wheels unfettered by the man.
      

      Title: 'Salvage's story' // Soshi 650 Tue, 20 Sep  15:25:40

      

So... whatever did happen to that young boy's license? 
Do youi think he fishtailed again, or continued to blame the authority
figure for the consequences?
      

      Title: 'what color the bikeshed is?' // Dontazmebro 15 Tue, 20 Sep  09:43:34

      
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/misc.html#BIKESHED-
PAINTING

...
A bike shed on the other hand. Anyone can build one of those over a weekend,
and still have time to watch the game on TV. So no matter how well prepared,
no matter how reasonable you are with your proposal, somebody will seize the
chance to show that he is doing his job, that he is paying attention, that he
is here.

In Denmark we call it ???setting your fingerprint???. It is about personal
pride and prestige, it is about being able to point somewhere and say
???There! I did that.??? It is a strong trait in politicians, but present in
most people given the chance. Just think about footsteps in wet cement.
      

      Title: 'seconding Cogline' // Anthem 33 Tue, 20 Sep  07:04:08

      
I agree with Cogline to a degree.  Let everyone re-select traits.
Before you do it tho, reduce the power of all traits by a
flat 10-20%, for those that can't have their power reduced in this
manner, raise the cost by the appropriate amount.

Then let us re-buy traits and call it a day.
      

      Title: 'Rebalancing Traits & Player Desires' // Anthem 33 Tue, 20 Sep  06:59:12

      
Here's an option for traits.
Cut them all down in power 15-20%
For those which don't have a number like that easy to
downgrade, raise the cost 15-20%
Wipe traits from all players and let them re-buy.
We did it once, we'd do it again (the players).
      

      Title: 'RE: Newt' // Ouroboros 7 Tue, 20 Sep  05:13:41

      
You and I have interacted enough over the years for you to know that my post
was not aimed at you, nor was it intended to at all cause any upset feelings.
However, you made a very valid point when you said, "sometimes it involves
fixing bugs that people had assumed were the norm". The fact is, if EVERYONE
thinks something is the norm, it is. Just because you can see the code and we
can't doesn't make us wrong. It means that whomever coded said item was
wrong. The fact is that I've never even ran a Longsword Rogue, nor do I even
actively play here anymore, however I do still have a vested interest in the
place after 13 years of playing. I want to see it thrive, not shrivel and
die. I'm not some impending doomsayer either, I think the mud will be around
for a long time. However, and I think many would agree, over the years it has
became drastically MORE and then LESS fun due to the effect of balancing
(which I feel is often  then called 'bug fixing'). I'd just like to see it
stay more fun for more people for the longest time possible, that is all.

Thanks!
Crag/et all
      

      Title: 'I think' // Illithid 32 Tue, 20 Sep  04:46:52

      
that when you think you know something but you aren't quite sure, then you
don't really know. This may create confusion to those that know that they
think they know, but know that they don't really know without thinking that
they don't know. This, at least, is what I think I know but I'm not sure.
      

      Title: 'last' // Bazhi 48 Tue, 20 Sep  04:31:20

      
Wait when did the topic change to MY lack of ability to communicate things?
      

      Title: 'pointless shameless petty attacks' // Bongwater 13 Tue, 20 Sep  01:41:01

      
Keep Bazhi gunning for 50 or he might sign up for an English class, which
would kill whichever teacher he gets.
How could a wiz not know that if you title a post re:492, it's going to refer
to a different post every time new posts pop up at number 250?  (by now he
may be referring to this one, *blush*)
Seriously, though, the mud has survived heaps of stuff and its doom has been
foretold repeatedly yet here we are.
Don't listen to them, Newt, they seem to need a job by the tenor of their
concern.