Ask the Producers and Administrators

[Desertman]

  Thank you.

[Nyr]

1) Do we ever have any plans of making silt skimmers function more like wagons in the sense that you could live on them/store things on them instead of them functioning like mounts with tickets currently?

There's nothing in proposals for this, or at least nothing active.

2) Many many many years ago there was a plotline where a sliver of magick diamond had to be retrieved for a staff ran NPC in the bottom of some ancient dwarven mines. The T'zai Byn unit that my elf was a part of then got hired to do this. The sliver of diamond, when held, would make you lose your mind and start seeing things. The NPC in reference referred to everyone as "Cully". Do you remember this, and what in the world was all of that about? Also, the next RL day, after that sliver of diamond was lost to the void deep in those mines....it reappeared to my PC under a bench in the sparring hall, which of course my elf picked up....because diamond....and it made me lose my mind. Why did it come back? (This may have been close to fifteen years ago, I understand if nobody remembers, but I have always wondered. One of my favorite RPT's.)

Before my time.  Best guess?  Your elven PC was a diamond in the ruff circle.

3) Why did we decide to kill off all of the halflings? I liked halflings. I want halflings back.

Two reasons.

1.  Killing things permanently (or seemingly so) is appropriate for a setting where that kind of thing happens.  It reinforces that across the board for all plots.  Permadeath is real and decisions made can snowball into something nasty with lasting results.  Also, it was a cool plot.

2.  Probably related to source material.

4) Do you foresee wagons being craftable by PC's fully being implemented at any time in the near future?

Near is a strong word.  It definitely has been discussed.  It definitely has had work done on it before.  There are code needs for it.  We'll see!

5) Why did we kill off kanks? A yellow kank stands here. Allofmynostalgia.jpg 

See #3.

6) If there was one thing you could change about the game if you had unlimited resources, what would it be?

It's not "one thing" because it's a host of changes, but it is one end result that would be lovely:  the entire game converted to the javamug codebase in a fully functioning form.

7) In Arm 2.0, I believe there were plans to implement player-ran agriculture to some degree? Are those plans still on the table somewhere for Arm now? (I wanna' be a, farmer, crop grower, twenty inch blades, on my garden hoe'er.) 90's kids know what I'm talking about

I'm not familiar with those plans exactly but they are not on the table for Arm now.

I feel like the flooding of the forest etc...was part of a push to "change" the landscape more dramatically and push it towards things that were planned for Arm 2.0. Was that the case and with Arm 2.0 being scrapped, was the forest flooding and landscape change there a sort of, "Well, let's just roll with it now.", situation?

If it has not been stated already, then yes, many changes made to the gameworld were influenced by the existence of Arm 2 and the world that it would be--this was one of them.  The landscape change was always intended to be something to "roll with" regardless of plans for the new game or timetable, but as Adhira mentioned above, those plans did change.  So we rolled in a different direction.

10) What is the longest single length of playtime out of a player with no logout breaks or going link dead that you can recall?

Off of the top of my head, a few GDB accounts come to mind, but I'm probably wrong.  This does bring up a possible RL charity event idea in the future for an in-game gladiator event, though...

11) With the ability to now create our own tribes....Can we create our own desert elf tribes or are they still limited to just the tribes that are currently open/staff supported?

All members must be blood relatives and of the same race. You may only create tribal or family roles for humans, dwarves and city elves (desert elves, half-giants and mul tribes/families are not permitted).

12) Is more widespread literacy in the playerbase a thing the staff is considering/has considered and if so, what is the greatest hurdle to having it implemented? If there are no hurdles, is it just a matter of staff not wanting it in the game currently?

It's something we know players are interested in.  It is something staff have discussed.  More code work is needed to support existing roles that have literacy, as well as to make it more stable.  Literacy itself is a big issue in a virtual sense and gameworld sense.  The greatest hurdle is "it."  It's not just "what will it take to get it implemented?" but first "do we want to implement any changes to literacy?  if so, how many?  if so, how?"

13) There was some work being done at one point to limit the powers of The Way for non-psions to make it less of a universal "Are you online and what's your sdesc."-tool. Is that still in the works somewhere?

Not sure what work you're referring to exactly.

14) If you can think of the actions of a single PC that you feel changed the world most dramatically without them being part of a staff-ran plot (in any fashion), who would they have been and what did they do that comes to mind?

Arguably, Thrain or Pearl.  At the time, the Thrain thing was player led, at least as far as I know/as far as I have read on it.  Staff did get involved at some point.  That might negate that.  Pearl also built some interesting stuff and worked within the system to do great things for a non-sponsored leadership role.  Staff did also get involved in implementing and supporting this. 

Maybe the moral of the story is that no player changes the world dramatically without staff being involved.

15) The banking code. Nyr, you know where I'm going with this. It has been almost a year. Just consider this my reset on the timer. 

Making changes to banking is something we've discussed officially recently (within the past month).  Some of the ideas here are actually in the proposal, which itself is pretty fleshed out with some neat concepts.  However, it does require some code work, and that is the bottleneck.

Overall currency discussions have also been had, but not officially.  Yes, it may be unrealistic for Tuluk to use what is ostensibly an Allanaki currency.  It will be up to staff to determine how far to go with any adjustments to currency.  If possible with code, multiple currencies could be neat; this is one of the Armageddon Reborn ideas that might eventually make its way into the game.  However, that also would be a significant amount of work to mesh multiple currencies into an economy, and that's just on the code front!

[yousuff]

Can you tell us about the Sandlord? Since Red Storm has a low playercount, and there are no PC players of any authority or in 'the know' per se, down there, it's at best a difficult thing to find out about. Can we've some background and other things about him? Does he even exist, or is he a non-exist figure used to keep people in check? Thank you in advance

[Nyr]

The Sand Lord wouldn't be mysterious if we told you what she was really like.

[Reiloth]

i c what you did there

[yousuff]

she

Please continue. My interest is garnered.

[bcw81]

The Sand Lord wouldn't be mysterious if we told you what she was really like.

Next question: Can we mudsecks her?

[Malken]

The Sand Lord wouldn't be mysterious if we told you what she was really like.

Next question: Can we mudsecks her?

Each time someone sells a pair of black sandcloth sleeves, the Sand Lord feels a tickling sensation between her thighs.

[yousuff]

Actually here is something you may (not) be able to answer about the Sandlord. Are they a sorceror king also? Or just some super-duper buff 100+days  played twink ranger? (I say ranger, warriors don't go to Storm due to no direction sense)

[Reiloth]

They would have to be like 1200 days played by now.

[Nyr]

Yeah.  We're not going to be able to answer anything about the Sandlord that isn't already in a U2 song.

[yousuff]

Yeah.  We're not going to be able to answer anything about the Sandlord that isn't already in a U2 song.

I am literally going to go hunting Bono down now. If you see me on the news for kidnapping, it's Nyr's fault.

[Barsook]

she

Please continue. My interest is garnered.

[Taven]

What's your favorite of all the HRPTs (as a staffer and also as a player) and why?

[Nyr]

What's your favorite of all the HRPTs (as a staffer and also as a player) and why?

For me:  the latest one.  We learned a lot from previous HRPTs.  We also made a few mistakes here and there with it in execution, and there was a crash, which is never fun for an HRPT, but...the whole thing set in motion all of the dominoes that were going to fall afterwards, like a house of cards.  (Checkmate.)  We knew at the time that this was going to be the jolt needed to make the changes in Tuluk.  Close second would be the mini HRPT in Tuluk where Utep dissolved both Orders of the templarate, and the reason I mention that one is twofold.  The leadup was dark and chilling (I hope to be able to find some logs on it).  Commoners, nobles, even templars interrogated.  The new "trope" started of a seemingly nice event (yay, celebration in the commons celebrating our "victory"--yay, let's go meet up outside of the Hlum Estate) turning into something grisly and just...wrong. Trying to show the dsytopian nightmare that Tuluk could be if you were living through such upheaval, where the power structure gets shifted, then removed, then replaced.  That kind of thing--a longer timeline of plot either kicked off by (or culminating in) a major RPT--is something I love to experience and and assist with.  Then it all ended (or perhaps started up again) with the dissolution of the two Orders, publicly, and at that point it was one of those "ok, you guys, once this RPT gets underway, we can't really turn back immediately.  We will have to see this out for a while before making changes.  I know we already approved it and we're good with capes, but seriously, you guys are cool with capes, right?" sort of things.  There was no reset button; something people were really familiar with (even if they liked/didn't like it) was going to change in an instant.  It was pretty exciting.

And I think I typo'd while animating during it, so that was nice. 

[Molten Heart]

He isn't asking so I will.

Has there been any discussion of expanding the world and adding new, previously unexplored wilderness areas, or is that being avoided in favor of trying to keep players more centralized for murder, corruption, betrayal?

[Nyr]

He isn't asking so I will.

Has there been any discussion of expanding the world and adding new, previously unexplored wilderness areas, or is that being avoided in favor of trying to keep players more centralized for murder, corruption, betrayal?

Short answer:  Yes, it has been discussed.  Long answer:  in the last player/staff chat.  Link for the announcement, link for the log.  Relevant quotes below.

ADHIRA: Ok we have Shadeoux next.
NYR: Ok so I will ask that question as well. Which I haven't actually read yet.  So in regards to the existing game world Shadeoux is personally a player that likes to explore and after several years of playing he's seen quite a bit and in that time the game hasn't seen as much growth and has seen some reduction in that area, and he wants to know if there are plans for any introduction of new areas to explore for mundanes over land and stuff like that, or mountains and things like that.
ADHIRA: OK, I guess I'll answer and say that currently there is no project that has been approved or is in progress to do that. What I will say on the topic of expansion is that we are not adverse to it, it is something that could happen, but for all of these building and area type discussions they take a lot of time and it's not something that we can easily just implement. I mentioned before that we don't like to have too many projects happening at once because we want to see things finish and that's because in the past we've ended up where people have joined staff, wanted to build something new or create a new area and then dropped the ball after a month or two and we've had things broken. So really if we're going to build something new we absolutely need commitment and people that we know can see it through. So there's a testing time to make sure that someone can actually undertake a project and finish it. So, if we get a staff member that has a great desire to build something that we think will add to the world and we know that they can carry it through then it's entirely possible.

ADHIRA:  Ok, Derp.
NYR/DERP:  That's Derp--I'll ask that for him.  Some of it was already touched on--plans for expanding further into the game world.  The last two questions here weren't quite the same.  If you were to traverse the silt sea all the way to its end, would you find some bizarre creatures?  If you went north across the chasm north of Tuluk, would you find other stuff there?
ADHIRA:  All I can really say is that there is a coded end to the world.  At some point you are going to reach it.  As to exactly where that is and what the borders are, I don't really want to spell it out.  This is a finite world with a set number of rooms.
If you're asking if we imagine what is beyond the borders of the coded world, we do not have anything defined in that way.
NYR: Lore wise, there may well be something there.  Until we actually code things beyond the borders of the game that you can find in-game (there's a definite end to what you can explore/discover/go to)...
..I think Rahnevn touched on that, not verbally here, but of the projects we could work on, adding a whole new area to the game is the most complex thing we could do.  It takes the most amount of work, and it would only be "new" for a short amount of time.  There are ways to add new things to the game rather than adding a whole new area, and I think at least that would be better for the playerbase.

[Voular]

I am also curious about if you have tasked anyone with working on the items of Arm. It seems a lot of the "older" style items have weird weight properties in relation to their other properties. I mean in relations of going over them and adjusting them in relation to the newer items. Has it been discussed to perhaps give a skilled person in slashing weapons an ability to determine which of two swords will perform better for them? I mean the description of many items are often deceptive, a nice looking saber might be crap but that shattered piece of flint you shaped into a knife can stab a Bahamet to death. And then you dig up some really generic old piece of gear that seems to be far overpowered. (And fun when you see certain players figure out that x-item is the 'best', and everyone starts using it.)

[Iiyola]

The Sand Lorde wouldn't be mysterious if we told you what she was really like.

I am Sand Lorde yayaya

[Adhira]

Voular - items get revised on a constant basis, usually when someone discovers something that it out of balance, then they'll go through and look at other things.  There can be a lot of inconsistency with items, and recently a couple of staff were (once again) tackling the armor tables that help us figure out what to set something at. We don't have anyone that is 'tasked' with doing this. It's not a fun job and no one has said they'd like to do it, so right now it's on an individual basis of if someone feels like looking into some items. The best way for items to get looked at is if someone bugs them in game. Since there are some staff that regularly look through the bug database they are likely to see it and take a look and perhaps make the needed changes.   As to determining which sword will work better - no discussion on that as far as I know. That's a code issue and something that a coder would need to want to take on as a project.

[Kol]

What's the biggest/most amusing mistake you've made to date with your Imm powers, staff avatar, ect?

[Adhira]

I've made so many it's hard to answer that. Here's a few.

- I was switched into a Lirathan Templar and then typed 'goto' a player who happened to be in a public tavern in Nak, forgetting that I was switched in which caused said Templar to appear in the tavern.
- I threw a knife at someone in the rinth thinking I was switched into some twitchy guy... I was not. Dead pc.
- Sent a message to a player (about them) that was intended for another staff member.
- Forgot that I wasn't invisible and went to assist a player who wished up with a death scene. Arrived at the scene and wondered why nothing was happening only to see them look at me then ask 'Adhira, are we in trouble'. Scene ruined 

[Nyr]

What's the biggest/most amusing mistake you've made to date with your Imm powers, staff avatar, ect?

I've never forgotten the sex of any NPC or PC I played while playing it, and I never really got the hang of the self referential emotes that one can use to prevent that from happening, so I count that as a major accomplishment.  Despite the previous...something that may seem to a casual observer to be skill, talent, or discipline...I have done the following:

• Teleported to people while in the form of NPCs that really, really, really should not be doing that.
• In-character saying something to a PC about what I OOCly thought about the plan the PC was going to do or something to that effect.  Awkward.
• Stupidly stared at an fire, testing campfire stuff, and not understanding why the unlit campfire was not going out.

[Desertman]

On average, about how many mastercraft's per month does the staff see submitted by players and how many of them are approved?

What is the funniest mastercraft you have seen to date? (Assuming you can talk about it of course.)

Is reviewing and approving mastercrafts something staff enjoys doing or is it one of those more "cumbersome duties" you guys push through because it's part of the "job"? (Just wondering.)

Edited to Add One More:

Sometimes you guys put in raw materials with no crafting recipes associated with them. At least, none that are immediately available/noticeable. I have always kind of thought your idea was that player crafters would create the crafting recipes for those items over time and that was your "design model" when you put in those materials. I like that idea. I was just curious if that was indeed your plan or if you guys just haven't "got around" to putting in craftables for those items?


In general I just like the idea of crafting recipes coming from players through IC means for most "future items", which is a self maintaining system of ensuring everything in the game is craftable.  

[Nyr]

On average, about how many mastercraft's per month does the staff see submitted by players and how many of them are approved?

I'd say probably about 10 per month.

What is the funniest mastercraft you have seen to date? (Assuming you can talk about it of course.)

This was not a mastercraft request, but it was related to something that was a mastercraft.  Not sure how much I could reveal about it though.  Let's just say there was artwork attached at the bottom of a log, attached in a manner that was unexpected and surprising.

Is reviewing and approving mastercrafts something staff enjoys doing or is it one of those more "cumbersome duties" you guys push through because it's part of the "job"? (Just wondering.)

It depends on the mastercraft.  If you're making yet another arrow/bolt/something that there are tons of in the database, that is not really so much fun to review.  If it is a good use of the mastercraft slot and intends to flesh out things that just aren't that well-represented, or it's a unique and well-written craft of something like a worn item for an upcoming auction...those things are more fun to look into.

Sometimes you guys put in raw materials with no crafting recipes associated with them.

Do you have an example?