What has changed?

[Dan]

Hello friends!

So what has changed in the last year or so?  Pretty much everything since Tuluk was closed is new to me, what do I need to know before jumping back into the game?

PS: While I've been gone I got to drive Elon Musks personal Tesla on the same flight line the X-37B landed on.

[IAmJacksOpinion]

Here's what I can think of:

• Morins Village is a new starting area up north. I've always seen at least one other person around while I was up there, so it's not as dead as you might think, but also not a social hub. Kind of like Red Storm used to be.
• The Akai Ta Var d-elf tribe re-opened, but the camp has moved and I believe the docs have changed a bit. (not positive, haven't played)
• There are currently PC gith in the tablelands. But this was announced as a short term plot to last about 3 months. 30 some apps were put in to the role call, and they're pulling new players to replenish the ones they lose as they go along.
• Allanak got some new rooftop rooms in the Commoners Quarter. A couple building seem to have moved around. And the Atrium has re-opened, if you're into NOT hitting mutha-fuckas with bone swords. Also there appears to be new noble or merchant houses that aren't in the docs... Dunno what's up with that, haven't looked too closely.
• Forage/mining code has changed so that you can now forage veins of stone (glass, obsidian, basalt, etc.) and then mine it. Sort of like how the last changes to sifting worked.
• Merchant Houses no longer require life oaths from their employees. You can still take one, but it's kind of a "rare honor" to be awarded the opportunity to do so. At any rate, you can advance past "grunt" without swearing your life to them, so that's pretty cool, imo.
• Kurac is back in Allanak and that's a fact, jack.
• There's a human tribe open for play. I think it's just the Al'Seik and Arabet mushed together or something.

PS: While I've been gone I got to drive Elon Musks personal Tesla on the same flight line the X-37B landed on.

At the risk of derailing (but since you mentioned it); wat? Are you Batman?

[Akariel]

The Akai Ta Var d-elf tribe re-opened, but the camp has moved and I believe the docs have changed a bit. (not positive, haven't played)

ATV has closed again since then.

Also there appears to be new noble or merchant houses that aren't in the docs... Dunno what's up with that, haven't looked too closely.

Help Merchant Houses will show you more about these minor merchant houses that have been around for a while. (albeit without devirtualized compounds.)

[IAmJacksOpinion]

The Akai Ta Var d-elf tribe re-opened, but the camp has moved and I believe the docs have changed a bit. (not positive, haven't played)

ATV has closed again since then.

Yeah, I feel like Tuluk closing probably popped that balloon pretty quick... To bad. I always liked that tribe.

Also there appears to be new noble or merchant houses that aren't in the docs... Dunno what's up with that, haven't looked too closely.

Help Merchant House will show you more about these minor merchant houses that have been around for a while. (albeit without devirtualized compounds.)

That explains it. I think I was looking in the Noble help files. Cool.

[Beethoven]

For anyone having trouble, it's actually "help merchant houses"

[Akariel]

For anyone having trouble, it's actually "help merchant houses"

Whoops! Sorry! Fixed in the original post.

[Dan]

Sounds kinda cool, a couple of those bullet points are great news!

[IAmJacksOpinion]

I agree. Lots of good stuff going on these days.

[Majikal]

Some neat code changes over the last year:

Banks realistically charge you for the safekeeping of your coin. A tax based off of ammount.

Labyrinth now has a starter shop if you start there, all the items added to that starter shop kick serious ass. Very cool rinthwear.

Armor repair works now. Also armor damage happens more.

I noticed this, but more sniff messages applied to rooms and more taste messages.

Food that should decay over time actually does decay over time, the time is generous.

Updates to the climbing code. All pretty rad. Also you can nosave climbfollow to keep from following people off cliffs. Bynners everywhere rejoice.

[RogueGunslinger]

All of this stuff:

http://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,49825.0.html

[fourTwenty]

• Forage/mining code has changed so that you can now forage veins of stone (glass, obsidian, basalt, etc.) and then mine it. Sort of like how the last changes to sifting worked.

How do?

[BadSkeelz]

>forage stone

You turn up a patch of obsidian.

>look

In the room:
An exposed patch of obsidian.

Something like that.

The quarries will fade in time.

[fourTwenty]

>forage stone

You turn up a patch of obsidian.

>look

In the room:
An exposed patch of obsidian.

Something like that.

The quarries will fade in time.

Thank Krath my first PC back wasn't a miner. I'd have been walking around looking for a random patch of 'sid like we used to.

[JackGibbons]

> forage stone
You reveal some quarried granite on the ground.

> l
A place [N, E, S, W]
Description
Some quarried granite is cracked in the rock face here.
Other stuff on ground

> look granite
This section of the rock face is comprised of cracked, quarried granite,
and it is ripe for removal given the proper tools. 
(OOC: 'use <tool> granite' to mine here)

Note your forage skill is now relevant to your use <tool> command on mining objects like this. See the changelog linked to above.

[IAmJacksOpinion]

I like that sid mining is back in vogue. I remember when I first started it was probably the most popular menial money maker. You would have to fight over obsidian deposits, and who got to sell their sid to the templar first and who had to sit with 3 "chair sized" chunks of obsidian on their lap overnight at the bar. But for the last five years or so (maybe since the volcano?) nobody's been doing it. Even after salt foraging got nerfed, it never regained popularity.

[Malken]

So does the new forage thingie works like foraging for spice deposits now then? Do you also get random types of stones or you get to choose what you're looking for?

I didn't even know about that.

And welcome back Dan!

[BadSkeelz]

So does the new forage thingie works like foraging for spice deposits now then? Do you also get random types of stones or you get to choose what you're looking for?

Yes.

">Forage stone" can turn up a quarry (new code) or a loose chunk of rock (old code). You can also parse your searches. ">Forage obsidian" can turn up one of the old chunks of obsidian, or a quarried deposit. ">Forage chunk" will only turn up chunks and not quarries.

That's my understanding and limited experience, anyway.

[Nergal]

It's dependent on where you are. You're likely to find sandstone, for example, where you would normally find sandstone - obsidian where you'd find obsidian, and so on. It's also more common to find outcroppings in rockier areas. Good luck!

[najdorf]

roughly can someone give figures of avg. online players peak & off peak nowadays? tnx,

[Gunnerblaster]

roughly can someone give figures of avg. online players peak & off peak nowadays? tnx,

It has most certainly gone up. I haven't played in awhile, myself, but last I played - Average, during off-peak, was 20-30 while peak tends to hit 50+.

[JackGibbons]

It depends what hour ranges you're referring to for off-peak. Right now is one of the deadest times, and it's 8 people. I tend to see it be around 7 to 15 people during a several hour stretch in the doldrums, then kick up past 20 for a while.