Armageddon General Discussion Board

I am a merchant.
1) The merchant documentation page says to find a city's/town's traders. Are these just the shops of the town? if not, like they are real people, where do I find them?
2) Does my character only grow hungrier and thirstier when I am logged on?
3) How do I find a House Kurac representative in game? I wish to join.

4) Does the game keep track of all the npcs/do they exist until killed? For example, if I give a beggar 1 mill obsidian will he stop begging? Or if I pickpocket an NPC where they still be missing that item next game year?

Quote from: roobee on July 01, 2014, 11:02:36 PM
I am a merchant.
1) The merchant documentation page says to find a city's/town's traders. Are these just the shops of the town? if not, like they are real people, where do I find them?
2) Does my character only grow hungrier and thirstier when I am logged on?
3) How do I find a House Kurac representative in game? I wish to join.

Welcome newbie! :)
1) The docs are likely referring to both shops and PC traders.  As a merchant you'll be able to make use of a lot of materials the shops have to offer, so getting to know what merchants have which materials available to you is a good thing to do.  As for finding PCs your character will likely want to interact with, the local taverns of the city you're in are a good place to start.  You might consider befriending PCs who say they are hunters, for example, so you can purchase materials from them.  Also, simply asking around never hurts.  Mention that you're a trader who's looking to find some contacts to do business with and others will likely be able to give you some names of who you might wish to be seeking out in-game.
2) Yes.  If you're hungry and you log out for three days, you won't come back to being dead of starvation.
3) House Kurac is a merchant house known world wide and often has folks in each of the two major cities doing business.  They have control over Luir's Outpost though, so that would be a good place to be looking.  Again though, you can ask around in game for Kuraci contacts, get some names from other PCs and then start your interacting with Kurac that way.

4) No, the game doesn't work like that.  Each "room" or area of the game has a saved state.  This saved state is refreshed periodically.  So if you kill an npc on the road, he'll be gone until the room "reloads" - so yeah, stuff comes back.  But for the sake of our imagination, it's best to pretend it's a different guy who's begging, etc.

thanks. also,
5) How do I copy and paste multiple lines from Armageddon? I need it so I can paste what shops sell and at what prices onto a text document.

Quote from: roobee on July 03, 2014, 03:57:18 PM
thanks. also,
5) How do I copy and paste multiple lines from Armageddon? I need it so I can paste what shops sell and at what prices onto a text document.

This depends on your client, not on Armageddon itself. Some clients allow you to copy text after double clicking, but if that doesn't cut it, I suggest you switch clients. Mudlet is a good choice.

Welcome, and good luck! It can be difficult to figure things out on your own, so a GMH, the city Militia, the T'zai Byn, and other such clans can be good places to get the hang of things, while their rules will tend to keep you from an untimely demise, and the protection they offer your PC from certain easy deaths is great! You'll likely meet PCs there that can give you a good run-down on do's and don'ts to keep you alive longer, which may help with your next PC. As a non-combatant, you'll have the added benefit of learning from the mistakes of others, although certain code oddities may still get you if you are unfortunate enough to learn the hard way, but don't despair, a new character concept, while a little overwhelming at first, can be quite liberating, and after a few you'll find yourself getting in the swing of things a bit quicker. I find interacting with others to be an excellent aid in fleshing out a new PC, and just adding more quirks and bits of history to my PC to suit the situation, until I have a fully worked out concept, starting from a sort of cardboard cut-out.

And I add this disclaimer: I'm also a newb, so my advice may be junk.

Quote from: roobee on July 03, 2014, 03:57:18 PM
thanks. also,
5) How do I copy and paste multiple lines from Armageddon? I need it so I can paste what shops sell and at what prices onto a text document.

When I used G mud , it allowed me to select the text, and ctrl-c.
Mushclient I can just use rt mouse.

Better still , switch your log function on.
Honestly, I wouldn't be without my logs, for writing reports, reimbursement requests, , bios if I did them  :( ,  and just plain remembering, especially conversations.  If you are a crafter, you'll need them for Mastercraft requests too.

how do I turn on my log function?

Depends on the client. With MushClient, it's shift+control+j or you can use the mouse to click on file>log session.

I was wondering if items here decay? As in, after a set amount of time they 'dissapear'? Thanks!

No, however if the game server crashes, or is restarted all thos items will be lost if they're not in a [Save] room. This happens roughly once every two weeks. Sometime more (week). Sometimes less. (month)

Thank you muchly!

Quote from: Azerick on July 15, 2014, 06:08:22 PM
Thank you muchly!

The one exception to this I'm aware of is that corpses will decay and dissapear.

Quote from: Narf on July 15, 2014, 06:33:53 PM

Quote from: Azerick on July 15, 2014, 06:08:22 PM
Thank you muchly!

The one exception to this I'm aware of is that corpses will decay and dissapear.

True, but their items drop I'm pretty sure.

sometimes you'll just come across a field of boots.

Is there a way to extend the length of my line? I keep writing out things and then they get truncated and its a little annoying, any help?

Quote from: Azerick on July 17, 2014, 07:19:16 PM
Is there a way to extend the length of my line? I keep writing out things and then they get truncated and its a little annoying, any help?

Break things up a little more. Each action has a character limit. Some are longer than others. I'm pretty sure there's no way to simply increase the amount of characters in a command.  :-\

Quote from: racurtne on July 17, 2014, 08:13:41 PM

Quote from: Azerick on July 17, 2014, 07:19:16 PM
Is there a way to extend the length of my line? I keep writing out things and then they get truncated and its a little annoying, any help?

Break things up a little more. Each action has a character limit. Some are longer than others. I'm pretty sure there's no way to simply increase the amount of characters in a command.  :-\

There is no way to increase the amount of characters in a command.

But are you asking about when you're submitting your character description and background?  In that case, you can break it up every line (or wherever you want really) and hit .i at the end to format it.  However, if you're talking about when you're doing emotes and things, you can't make the lines longer no.

You mean .f to format it?

No, I meant .i because .i also formats it and it happens to be what I use.  If .f works as well, happy day!, but that's not what I meant.

I was not talking about descriptions, apologies for obscurity, I was talking about when I "say", "tell" ect. it crops the line, but from previous answers I gather there is no way to make me able to say more at once and I'll have to stop writing walls of text javascript:void(0);

I still do it all the time, I was poorly trained by MUSHes I think.  Most of the time I just do >say .... (part that was cut off).

Heh, I blame my old MUD. 

Another question! When I pass out, what happens?

Elves pick your pockets and you can run away from your computer, pee and grab a drink...oh but fist you have to groan and feel your blood pressure spike.

Well that's what happens when I pass out.

That depends on how nasty/creative the creatures who see you passed out are.  :)

But when your stun goes to 0, you'll be unable to move or use mostly any commands (except for stat, emote, score, skill, etc.) for a short amount of time. Steal is also guaranteed to work on you while you're in this state, and you're very easy to kill. You can still emote, but you can't target anyone in your emotes. After a while (the exact time seems to vary depending on a few factors), you'll recover a minimal amount of stun and wake up.

There is a thread on this somewhere.

Thank you, and I'm sure everyone is lovely and innocent, I am sure noone would steal from me javascript:void(0);

Me again! How do I undo a bundle of feathers into separate feathers?

Quote from: Azerick on August 02, 2014, 12:14:24 PM
Me again! How do I undo a bundle of feathers into separate feathers?

Craft bundle into feather

Ahhh, thank you!

I don't know if i should make a separate thread to ask in, but this seemed to be the appropriate title.  I'm new (haven't made a character yet) but I'm already coming up with questions.  I just don't know if anyone has answers to give.

One think I wondered about is the sea of silt.  I read the lore entry on it, and that there are islands in it and so on.  One concept I had for a ranger possibly could be an explorer (sailor?) there.  My question is if its a practical idea?  I'm just assuming there are some kind of mount or dust-ships or sand-skiffs that can travel on it.  Does it happen often enough for a character concept, or is it more like something that only happens in a special event once every couple of years or longer in RL?  I'd probably get frustrated or annoyed in that case and should avoid.  But if one can find/buy/craft their own transport or join a guild that sends missions out on it regularly, that's different.

Another thing I wondered was about a cook or chef concept for a character.  That mostly would be RP for me to find a position and so on I know.  The question would be what guilds/subguilds cook, and which can go the highest in it?  It wouldn't be right to (unintentionally) shoot myself in the foot by making a great chef my core concept, and then taking a guild that can never rise above apprentice level or something?

Is there any kind of a "Roles-wanted" thread where clans/guilds/houses advertise some opening for rp they want filled? (for example, house Osh pastry chef, to relate it to my above question)

Lastly (for the moment) from the description of Archery skill, last paragraph: "You can shoot in a direction by providing a distance instead of a target. Valid distances are the same words seen when you look in a direction, "near" for one room, "far" for two rooms, "very far" for three rooms. You will have no chance of hitting a target if you use distance, but it is useful for sending a warning shot."  So it seems to be saying ranged attacks don't work except at non-range, where they immediately start melee?  Isn't that kind of the opposite of the core concept of archery..?

Quote from: icewindsong on August 24, 2014, 04:12:18 AM
I don't know if i should make a separate thread to ask in, but this seemed to be the appropriate title.  I'm new (haven't made a character yet) but I'm already coming up with questions.  I just don't know if anyone has answers to give.

One think I wondered about is the sea of silt.  I read the lore entry on it, and that there are islands in it and so on.  One concept I had for a ranger possibly could be an explorer (sailor?) there.  My question is if its a practical idea?  I'm just assuming there are some kind of mount or dust-ships or sand-skiffs that can travel on it.  Does it happen often enough for a character concept, or is it more like something that only happens in a special event once every couple of years or longer in RL?  I'd probably get frustrated or annoyed in that case and should avoid.  But if one can find/buy/craft their own transport or join a guild that sends missions out on it regularly, that's different.

Another thing I wondered was about a cook or chef concept for a character.  That mostly would be RP for me to find a position and so on I know.  The question would be what guilds/subguilds cook, and which can go the highest in it?  It wouldn't be right to (unintentionally) shoot myself in the foot by making a great chef my core concept, and then taking a guild that can never rise above apprentice level or something?

Is there any kind of a "Roles-wanted" thread where clans/guilds/houses advertise some opening for rp they want filled? (for example, house Osh pastry chef, to relate it to my above question)

Lastly (for the moment) from the description of Archery skill, last paragraph: "You can shoot in a direction by providing a distance instead of a target. Valid distances are the same words seen when you look in a direction, "near" for one room, "far" for two rooms, "very far" for three rooms. You will have no chance of hitting a target if you use distance, but it is useful for sending a warning shot."  So it seems to be saying ranged attacks don't work except at non-range, where they immediately start melee?  Isn't that kind of the opposite of the core concept of archery..?

Hello and welcome! :)

The world has silt skimmers for those wanting to try traveling the sea of silt.  I have never personally had a character go skimming around, but I am fairly certain that they are like other 'vehicles' in game (wagons, argosies etc) and you would need a character with the pilot skill.  It can certainly be attempted, getting a skimmer and seeking out a great adventure, just keep in mind that without the pilot skill, or without a friend who has the pilot skill, you won't be going anywhere.

There is only a small handful of guilds/subguilds who can actually master cooking but everyone in-game can cook.  It's one of those skills that everyone has.  Those who haven't picked a guild/subguild who can master cooking will max out at advanced.

As far as there being a Job Listing thread for Houses or clans, no not really.  That is something you would have to look into in-game.  The threads on the GDB that deal with role calls are typically one of two things: a family role call by a player, who has gone through the first steps of getting their family concept okayed by staff, or a role call by staff when there is a specific position in a House or clan that they are looking to fill.  Other than those sorts of role calls, everything else would be done in game and in character.  However, you will see when you get into the game that there are 'rumor boards' in the cities, generally in bars or taverns. They essentially are message boards in-game where people can leave information for other players.  Remember though, most people don't read in Zalanthas, so even though this is a message board, the information on it pertaining to House's looking for an employee for example, should be treated more like gossip you heard around the bar.  And it isn't there for players to leave personal messages for their friends, it is more of a place for players to make note of important goings-on in the city.  Things that the rumor-mongers and gossips in the taverns would likely be yammering about.

As for archery, I think you are just misunderstanding the explanation.  You certainly can hit things in distant rooms.  What that part of the help file is saying is that if you shoot a -distance- and do not specify a target, you won't hit anything.  You will simply fire an arrow into that room. 
If, for example, you are in a room and you look east, you might see:
[Very Far]
Nothing.
[Far]
A little Zalanthan critter is here, scurrying about.
[Near]
Nothing.

You can either fire an arrow and try to hit the critter, or you can fire your arrow in the direction of the critter with no chance of hitting it.

shoot critter east
You will shoot at the critter.

shoot far east
You will fire an arrow into the room with the critter, without attempting to be hitting it.

I believe the mainguilds with the highest cap for their cooking skills are Pickpockets, merchants, and rangers. I am sure pickpocket goes up to "master" level of cooking, but I am a little less sure about rangers and merchants.

but as manipura says, everyone can learn a wide range of basic recipes.

Quote from: Harmless on August 24, 2014, 12:42:26 PM
I believe the mainguilds with the highest cap for their cooking skills are Pickpockets, merchants, and rangers. I am sure pickpocket goes up to "master" level of cooking, but I am a little less sure about rangers and merchants.

but as manipura says, everyone can learn a wide range of basic recipes.

Merchants and pickpockets can become better at cooking than a ranger can.
Always amuses me that pickpockets have the potential to become some of the best chefs in the Known.

Quote from: manipura on August 24, 2014, 04:39:04 AM

Quote from: icewindsong on August 24, 2014, 04:12:18 AM
I don't know if i should make a separate thread to ask in, but this seemed to be the appropriate title.  I'm new (haven't made a character yet) but I'm already coming up with questions.  I just don't know if anyone has answers to give.

One think I wondered about is the sea of silt.  I read the lore entry on it, and that there are islands in it and so on.  One concept I had for a ranger possibly could be an explorer (sailor?) there.  My question is if its a practical idea?  ...

Another thing I wondered was about a cook or chef concept for a character.  ...  The question would be what guilds/subguilds cook, and which can go the highest in it? ...

Is there any kind of a "Roles-wanted" thread where clans/guilds/houses advertise some opening for rp they want filled? (for example, house Osh pastry chef, to relate it to my above question)

Hello and welcome! :)

The world has silt skimmers for those wanting to try traveling the sea of silt.  I have never personally had a character go skimming around, but I am fairly certain that they are like other 'vehicles' in game (wagons, argosies etc) and you would need a character with the pilot skill.  It can certainly be attempted, getting a skimmer and seeking out a great adventure, just keep in mind that without the pilot skill, or without a friend who has the pilot skill, you won't be going anywhere.

There is only a small handful of guilds/subguilds who can actually master cooking but everyone in-game can cook.  It's one of those skills that everyone has.  Those who haven't picked a guild/subguild who can master cooking will max out at advanced.

As far as there being a Job Listing thread for Houses or clans, no not really.  That is something you would have to look into in-game.  The threads on the GDB that deal with role calls are typically one of two things: a family role call by a player, who has gone through the first steps of getting their family concept okayed by staff, or a role call by staff when there is a specific position in a House or clan that they are looking to fill.  ...

Okay, that makes more sense than what I thought it was saying, about archery. :)

About silt-skimmers then, do they regularly get used so there's some hope of being involved with them?  Or are they considered too valuable to do anything with except when someone running a house or guild or whatever says 'hey, its been 3 years... lets send the boat out!' and then it gets used for a weekend rp, and goes back to idle for a few more years?  Hoping you, or someone, knows.  I'm just poking at the viability of character concepts here.  I'm sure there's rp to be had while it just sits at a pier every day, but it doesn't seem like it would be satisfying for a "dust-sailor" character concept - like playing a hunter who only sits at the bar and never hunts, or a bard that never performs.  If individuals can buy dust-skimmers, that's different... then its just a matter of working, earning and saving to afford one.  Then I could organize my own expeditions.

Reading the helpfiles, the only one that mentions cooking specifically is House Servant, while Merchant says they are skilled in many kinds of crafting.  They were my initial candidates for the cooks, but I could see a case made for either of them to be the 'right' class.  On the one hand, everything I read suggests that subguild crafting tends to be more limited and Merchant is the primary guild for crafts.  On the other hand, House Servant lists being a Chef for a large meal as one of its focus points, so maybe it is the path for chefs and a Merchant would be considered too busy to fully probe the intricasies of cooking, conceptually.  So rather than guess, I thought it is more practical to just ask.  I didn't think this would be secret information - I'm not asking for recipies to craft food in the game, just which guild(s) is the proper choice.  :)  Maybe I'm overthinking all this, but again, just trying to be practical.

(Noting the post by Harmless as I was typing the above)  Pickpockets and Rangers?  I wouldn't have guessed them.  It kind of makes sense if rangers' foraging food lets them find components of more complex foods.  Pickpockets is a surprise.  Does 'Master' mean they can make anything that isn't clan/house-restricted?  Or are there gradations within 'Master' level?

Master is cool because it allows you to "mastercraft" for that skill.

Mastercrafting is a process by which you can build a new recipe and item. For example, let's say there's a kind of stew that doesn't exist in game but I want my character to make it. If my character has cooking mastered, then I can roleplay them researching a new recipe for a few weeks. I can ask other characters if they know of recipes similar to what I have in mind. If it looks like it doesn't exist yet, then I can begin looking for a good recipe to make it. I would research in the game with other PCs again what ingredients to use.

After some time spent roleplaying this process, I can submit a mastercraft request to the imms describing the recipe I have in mind, the finished product's short and long description, and the process by which my character has been researching it.

If you don't have cooking mastered, then you are not allowed to invent new recipes in cooking.

Therefore pickpockets and merchants are awesome to play.

Like I said, I've never gallivanted around on a skimmer, but as far as I know anyone can buy one.  I imagine they're pricey, and unless you have pilot or a friend who can pilot it you won't be going anywhere.  As for them being available for anyone to buy though, yes, that's the case.  I believe the person who sells skimmers has a few different types too, all different prices most likely.  No idea if the most expensive one is 'better' than the cheapest one or not, in terms of piloting it or whatever.

Umm, cooking.  I always thought that House Servant masters cooking, it seems like they should, but I've never played one so I'm not too sure about it.  Rangers can forage food, but will never be as good as a merchant or a...pickpocket  ::) or (perhaps) a House Servant?  Even though rangers are one of the few guilds/subguilds who can forage food, I sort of think of it as they are never going to be the best at cooking because they are cooking over a campfire :)  So while they may have the ability to dig up and hunt a bunch of great ingredients for a fancy recipe, putting it together might be beyond them. 

'Master' level in a skill (cooking for example) means that, with the right ingredients, you can attempt to cook something that is coded as a 'master level recipe'.  It also means that you are much more likely to succeed at any recipe you are attempting because you are very skilled in that trade/art.  Doesn't mean you will always succeed every time mind you, but at master, you are considered to be very highly skilled.  If you are in House or a clan, you will be able to attempt any crafting recipes that are House/clan specific, so long as you have the appropriate skill and skill level to do so.  If you are an independent, it doesn't matter if you're the best chef in the Known, you won't be able to figure out how to recreate the divine pastries that Kadius was serving at their last bash, not unless you are with the House.

The other thing that mastering a crafting skill allows you to do is to 'mastercraft' an item.  Mastercrafting Help File (http://www.armageddon.org/help/view/Mastercrafting)
As you can see in the help file, if you haven't looked at it already, a master level crafter can design their own items and submit them to be added to the game.  This might be an item you are wanting, or an item someone has hired you to make etc.  You provide all the information for the item, what it looks like, how it's made, the room echoes when you are attempting to craft it, the cost of the item.  Every last detail.  I think it says in the help file that only pick-making, brewing and component crafting are -not- skills which can be used to design mastercrafts.  Every other crafting skill can though, even cooking. 

So mastering cooking (or any craft skill) doesn't just open up a few more really neat items/recipes for you to attempt, and doesn't just give you a better chance at succeeding, if you are so inclined it opens up the possibility of you being able to add to the game with appropriate items that you have designed yourself.

If you want to roleplay a master chef, and get the most opportunities to do things like catering parties, then I'd strongly recommend making a merchant/whatever * and going to work for House Kadius. You'll have no shortage of materials, there will be people around you to help you get common and rare supplies, and the potential to cater parties and events in either city. It would be a really rich roleplay opportunity.

Working for Kadius or any of the other GMHs as a merchant guild character is the way to go for a newbie if you want to work on your skills. It's super-hard to be both indie and a newb.

Since you haven't made a character yet, you'll need to make one that starts in Allanak or Tuluk anyway, so why not roll it up today? Time to stop deliberating and just get in the game :)


* Pick any other subguild that either won't have a lot of overlap with merchant (e.g. one of the combat subclasses, or something that includes a language - maybe caravan guide?), or pick a subguild that will give you boosted crafting skills, e.g. tailor lets you start out with the basic skills of a tailor. (One of my favorite sets of merchant skills.)

I second Gimfalisette's opinion - merchant is the way to go for all crafting related stuff.  They're the best crafters in the game, and crafting skills will comprise the majority of their skill set. Yes, this includes cooking - they are also awesome at cooking.

The House Servant subguild doesn't really add a lot to the merchant experience, but you can still take it if you want. This is a roleplaying game, not the min/max arcade - and many people who play Armageddon don't use any of their skills but the language skills!

I think after what I've been reading, I will relegate the sea of dust idea to a later time or character.  One of the complaints I've read about is people not using enough emoting during battles, and I probably would treat it much like a regular hack&slash dikumud if I go with a combative character first.  My cook idea seems like the better choice to not only get used to the system (and life in the world), but learn to do it reflexively whatever I am doing.  My first look at it makes it seem fairly complex.  I have worked a little with personal-pronoun objective, subjective and possessive substitutions in the MUSH environment, but Armageddon's system seems far more developed.  And I like that, but it will be a challenge to learn and become practiced at using correctly, I think?

Would a GMH want a chef character working for them?  Maybe for the Family members?  That might be a good alternative to just going looking for a hire to some noble house, as I should probably at least be close to masterdom before taking that kind of step.  Probably any kind of negotiation or interview along those lines would require a demonstration of ability, so it would be good to actually be able to cook.  That brings up the question of wether joining a GMH's employees is by a set contract time, or is it a permanent kind of thing?  :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD4F-mEMlRo


Modified to add: I suppose next is to ask if anyone knows wether the north or south is more culinarily developed?

For emoting all you really need to keep in mind is ~ for person/you and % for person's/your. The rest are much more situational and you can get by really well without them (I hardly use others and while my RP could be more flowery with the more complicated substitutions I don't face any trouble at all)

GMH's certainly hire chefs, especially Kadius who specialize in luxury foods. Kurac might be a good choice if your character wants to specialize into survival type foods: Trail mix, travel rations and preserved snacks. Don't overlook noble houses though because they often have parties and dinners where a chef would be valued. They often take in novices so they can be trained to specifically cater to the nobles tastes!

I really love the idea of chefs as a character concept icewindsong. Looking forward to having you in game!

Nobles definitely hire newbies/beginners. Especially if they know that newbie has the potential to one day make an artistic representation of their face out of bread dough, carru meat, and dried Kalan fruits or something.

I'd say that both cities are pretty well developed when it comes to food. There is a lot of food in armageddon!

(Despite, y'know, the majority of the population being destitute and starving)

Well then.  I've seen a lot of references to Allanak's nobles on the board, but not a lot about Tuluk's.  Is it the more active?  The north sounds more pleasant in the descriptions, with forest and grassland around it.  But Allanak might be better for rp opportunity?  I guess it doesn't make much difference to start if I want to go to a merchant house since they're in both places, but if I look for nobles then.. ugh.  What to do?  Can someone get citizenship in both cities?


And an unrelated newbie (to the GMB) question:  How do I set a picture to be on the left with my posts, like everyone else? :)

As to which city is more active, it varies all the time, but Allanak is going to be a bit busier for the next few months probably given the new role call.

As to which city is more food friendly, I would.say if yiu want to learn your cooking RP in a clan, it depends on how many players are in your timezone in that clan, which might or might not be allanak. If you wanted to try and gather materials yourself to cook (which I don't recommend for a new merchant due to how dangerous it is) then the north is a better bet.

Setting up an avatar is easy-peasy:

Click Profile (depending on whether you've customized your GDB layout, this should be at the top left somewhere, with Home, Help, Search, Logout etc)
Click Forum Profile Information (should be a little box/menu with Profile Info and Modify Profile.  This is where you can modify and personalize some things about your profile.)
Just check the option "I have my own pic" then copy and paste the URL for the picture/avatar you are wanting to use right into the space provided.
Click the Change Profile button at the bottom to save your changes/preferences and that's it.

Quote from: icewindsong on August 25, 2014, 07:33:03 AM
Well then.  I've seen a lot of references to Allanak's nobles on the board, but not a lot about Tuluk's.  Is it the more active?  The north sounds more pleasant in the descriptions, with forest and grassland around it.  But Allanak might be better for rp opportunity?  I guess it doesn't make much difference to start if I want to go to a merchant house since they're in both places, but if I look for nobles then.. ugh.  What to do?  Can someone get citizenship in both cities?

You cannot be a citizen of both cities at once. You've probably seen more discussion of Allanak's nobility at present since there is currently a role call out for new Allanaki nobility. However, new noble PCs were brought in to Tuluk not so long ago as well. The noble 'scene' is active in both places, but it has a different feel in each; read a bit of the documentation and you'll see some of the differences!

One other thing to note; although geographically Tuluk does have a forest and grasslands nearby, don't think of the territory as a verdant, comfortable climate. There are growing things, but it isn't all greenery and pleasantness; closer to a savannah than a fertile valley. Tuluk also (just recently, thanks to Tektolnes) has to contend with a rather large active volcano that has sprung up to its southwest.

Thank you for all the answers!  As you can see I have a picture now, and now that I'm working seriously on my application, well, more questions!  :)

Right now I'm working on description, and discovered the tdesc command.. so now I understand what I can do for hair other than have one always-set style.  But I am wondering about skin and hair colors.  I've looked at some example descriptions, and I can see there are dark skinned and pale skinned and others in between, not just the dark hair and skin I would expect people to evolve in an unrelenting strong-sun environment.  But its a fantasy game and I bet it was left up to people so we don't all look alike and players are happy.  My question though is...  are there any particular colors associated with different areas?  Pale-skin more often from Tuluk for instance, and dark from redstorm and allanak?  Red hair typically from nomad hill people, etc.   Before I decide on an appearance I wondered if there are already defined associations like that?

Also wondering... I assume more obscure adjectives for description and sdesc are okay as long as they're appropriate to the character, used properly, and can be found in the Merriam-Webster dictionary?

Some of the tribes do have common physical traits. Gypsy men for example don't usually grow thick facial/body hair. When you apply for clan documentation to join one of these tribes you can ask the staff for advice on this. As for the city-states these are rather varied and due to various waves of migration both are quite multicultural. When Allanak burned, pillaged and conquered the north there were refugees who came south. When there was a famine in Allanak there was a wave of migration north to Tuluk. When there was a deluge in Tuluk many people fled to the drier climates of the south! This is all due to historical events that have occurred during the lifetime of Armageddon. Red Storm is a haven for run away slaves, outcasts, pirates, scum and villainy (think Mos Eisely space port with Silt Skimmers instead of YT-1300 freighters) so is similarly cosmopolitan.

This thread: Revenge of the Dappled Dickens Whelp  (http://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,21616.0.html)is a great thread on exactly your question. Obscure adjectives in short descriptions is one of the topics that seems to come up regularly on the GDB and various personalities have differing opinions. I tend to echo Sanvean's advice "there's a difference between a big word used in order to convey a precise shade of meaning and a big word used because you want to stand out.  I wholeheartedly support the first, but fear that the second often leads to what I can only call "Thesaurus syndrome", where the word is allllmooooost correct but just enough off that it's trying to make the word do something it shouldn't." When your character concept is sophisticated and erudite use refined adjectives to convey this and when they're rough and common labourers use direct and monosyllabic words.

TL;DR No cultural norms in the City-States for physical traits. Obscure adjectives are allowed!

Also nice avatar :)

Thank you! :) 

I'm uncertain what degree to be sophisticated and erudite at the start, but not signifigantly perhaps.  Assuming she comes from money (merchant-level money, but not merchant-house or noble wealth and privilege) then she may well be more accustomed to luxuries in her life than the masses below her status.  I imagine that what she knows from her past, however, will be nothing contrasted with what she will (I hope) become involved in during play. 

As for the words I've chosen, they have precise meanings and there's no stretching going on to use them.  Words that to explicate in simple english would require a longer phrase.  :)  Our language is full of them, adopted from many of the other major languages of the world.  These are no exception, but of course I found them both while reading one of our own dictionaries, so I know they were in common enough use at some point to be inducted into our lingual collective.  The idea of having rare or possibly unique-within-Armageddon descriptive terms is something I consider desirable as using common ones would lead to confusion and misdirected communication.

I wouldn't put too much work into your application. The longer you spend writing up a character, the shorter that character's life will be.

This concept, known affectionately as Ginka's Law of Inverse Effort, is represented below:

L = A (1/T)

where L is the lifespan of your character, A is the average lifespan of every character (currently 4.34577 days, reset every two years - a statistical aberrance is present due to the last HRPT and an unusually high number of Byn Runners), and T is the amount of time, in minutes, that you spend writing up that character.

Caveat Armer.

Yep. Your character, once dead, is dead forever. I don't put more than a page into even my special apps and they have usually been approved. The fine details of personality are fine to flesh out in gqme. The key events of their background and basic goals and fears are a great start.

But I do spend a lot of time on the main description sometimes. A really well written description is worth the effort.

No, but really, just get in game. I mean...you won't know what the game is about by reading all the docs and everything on the GDB. You gotta get down in the Zalanthan dirt.

Seriously, just do it. I'm guilty myself of spending a lot of time on descs, but there comes a point at which planning needs to stop and playing needs to start.

This is good advice, but there's nothing wrong with taking your time to craft a really detailed character if that's the kind of roleplayer you are. The biggest killer of new characters seems to be either desert beasts or NPC soldiers, for those who go beyond the walls or try out a life of crime respectively. A city-based merchant character has a good chance of surviving a while, so don't feel like your planning of such a concept will be wasted. Some players really enjoy deciding all the little details first, others prefer to jump straight in with a new PC. We support both styles.

But also don't worry about being ridiculed for choosing the wrong hair color or something. Looking forward to seeing you in game!

Someone want to share how they use biography entries to flesh out their PCs after creation? Only thing you need to access this feature is to submit the character and be approved.

But the description is much harder to change.

This is why I worry so little about bios. I will usually add a bio entry within the first weeks of a PCs life that retells the story of the character after my test run to see how they ended up interacting with others. This is because my RP is shaped by how others treat my PC. The test run informs how my PC would have been reacted to when they weren't a PC yet, and to boot, there is no line limit for biography entries.

Get your desc right and submit what you have! Agonizing over choices might lead to buyer's remorse.

Quote from: Harmless on August 26, 2014, 07:52:30 PM
Someone want to share how they use biography entries to flesh out their PCs after creation? Only thing you need to access this feature is to submit the character and be approved...This is why I worry so little about bios. I will usually add a bio entry within the first weeks of a PCs life that retells the story of the character after my test run to see how they ended up interacting with others.

I do this too. I start figuring out details about my character's preferences, methods, thought processes, and history as I play, then put it in bios if I feel really motivated. It does help to have a record that reminds me, "Oh yeah, this character loves candy."

My initial backgrounds are sparse on details. Just the basic facts, ma'am.

Description is what I'm struggling with at the moment.  I already know it needs to be
a) as long as 4 lines at minimum
b) not super-long or nobody will be able to read it during roleplay and will ignore it
c) should not be reactive to a viewer, as I won't always know someone is looking (nor always choose a stock reaction even if I did)


Right now I have covered her basic build, hair color and eyes.  But the description I have -looks- a little barebones, even though the the lines that there are, are written well (I think).  I'm a little stuck at the moment on what else to add though.  If I descibed all of her in detail, it'd be a long description.  So I only want to add 2 or 3 more details to round out her overall look at a glance.  What do you all think are the most important details to have readily visible, as opposed to revealed in roleplay? 

Like "She distractedly brushes back the crimson strands of her hair as she listens to the performer's song, to scratch an itch upon a delicate, but flawed, earlobe.   A notch in the flesh attests to the violent removal of an earring in her past..."  Some details can be simply roleplayed, but some ought to be out there all the time.

Quote from: icewindsong on August 26, 2014, 09:13:25 PM
Right now I have covered her basic build, hair color and eyes.  But the description I have -looks- a little barebones, even though the the lines that there are, are written well (I think).  I'm a little stuck at the moment on what else to add though.  If I descibed all of her in detail, it'd be a long description.  So I only want to add 2 or 3 more details to round out her overall look at a glance.  What do you all think are the most important details to have readily visible, as opposed to revealed in roleplay? 

IMO - statements about apparent gender and race and relative age; hair color and texture (straight, curly, whatever); eye color; any interesting or unusual or important facial features; skin color; relative height and build; anything else that's important for other players to notice.

E.g.:

This young human woman is about average in height for her kind, but on the fat side, with thighs of thunderous proportions. Her hair is black as a night with no moons, and stick-straight. Her skin is dark brown, and she's got a large mole on her right cheek which looks to be as big as an obsidian coin. One eye is brown and the other is clouded over, perhaps with lesions of some kind.

Quote from: icewindsong on August 26, 2014, 09:13:25 PM


Like "She distractedly brushes back the crimson strands of her hair as she listens to the performer's song, to scratch an itch upon a delicate, but flawed, earlobe.   A notch in the flesh attests to the violent removal of an earring in her past..."  Some details can be simply roleplayed, but some ought to be out there all the time.

Let's use your example and "nitpick it." Maybe it'll help give you some ideas.

The fact that she has crimson-red hair definitely belongs in the main description. That's something that truly stands out. In fact, I'd include it in the short-description (aka sdesc). The notch in her earlobe - you'd want to include its existence too.

Maybe something like - the slender crimson-tressed woman for the sdesc

You don't need to describe the exact shade of crimson, or how it looks in this or that light. Something like "bouncy crimson curls tumble about the young woman's narrow shoulders, peppered generously with bits of wood and torn cloth" to indicate she's someone who probably lives in the north (wood) and spends a lot of time working with raw materials (possibly a crafter).

And the ear could be something like "Her tresses are usually kept loose, but tucked back behind her small round ears. Her oft-exposed left earlobe shows signs of damage near the bottom, torn and badly scarred."

That makes a nice segue from hair to ears. When doing descriptions, don't forget she isn't just a face with hair. She is also a body with arms and legs. You can mention it vaguely - "she's a slender woman, with delicate features and erect posture. Lanky limbs extend from her torso, which has grown into full, if modest, womanhood."

Or you can get more detailed. If you keep it under 15 lines, closer to 10, you'll be just fine. More than that and you might find people are skimming it or just reading the first and last sentence and skipping the middle entirely.

I find less is often more, because if others are anything like me they're in the middle of something, see some huge desc and it's like, tl;dr, will get to it later, and miss something crucial, like the almondine eyes or the pointed ears, WHOOPS.

So I make mine kind of short and sweet, focusing on the important details. Sometimes, -too- short, and I forget something, like the ears (WHOOPS!), which I have to remember to add in a tdesc, but can't apply for a desc change because OMG curse of the descchange app!

I use an approach similar to lizzies myself.

Quote from: icewindsong on August 26, 2014, 09:13:25 PM
Like "She distractedly brushes back the crimson strands of her hair as she listens to the performer's song, to scratch an itch upon a delicate, but flawed, earlobe.   A notch in the flesh attests to the violent removal of an earring in her past..."  Some details can be simply roleplayed, but some ought to be out there all the time.

I am not sure if this line was meant to be an example of an emote or a line in your description, but as a cautionary note, avoid actions in your description. If a statement desribing her distractedly brushing her hair with her hand were submitted then it would seem like she is constantly messing with her hair every time people look at your PC.

Again you may have meant that as ab emote, but refer to lizzie's post for alternative descriptive writing of the same idea while avoiding actions in the description, and you'll be fine.

Style is all that counts, so have fun with it. I know I have a good desc when I can reread it to myself and say "he/she looks (adjective), seems like a realistic Zalanthan (age) year old, and of a (caste) family. The rest are details that add to uniqueness.

One last tip i have for hair is keep style of hair out of it. Texture, color, optional hiding of showing of ears (see lizzie above for a human example), then style, length, and cleanliness go in after I submit as a semi permanent tdesc.

Yes it was meant as an example of how I could show details about her in an emote, that I didn't make part of her permanent description (or a tdesc even).  I didn't want to put in any of my actual desc because of the rule about not revealing on the gdb who you are in-game.  Because of my plans (if they work out) people may figure it out eventually anyway, but it won't be known from the start. :)  So that was just an example.  I do like red hair though.  Maybe for a later character...

What is the curse of the desc change app?  I thought we were required to do that a couple of times after signifigant time passage in the game?  Assuming one lives that long.  My sister already laughed and said all of her merchants came to abrupt gory ends, except the one she stored.  I think she's just trying to psyche me out.  It isn't that dangerous if I don't even leave the city is it?

The curse of the sdesc change is the strange, semi-mythical curse of characters who live long enough to need an sdesc change tending to die while the sdesc change is in the works. Despite having no possible actual way of being real, it somehow does seem that many characters do kick the bucket around the time of an sdesc change (either shortly before, during, or after).

Good work in not revealing who you are currently playing, we all appreciate it when a new player puts in the effort to follow the rules, as you have.

As for danger, while it does mostly lurk outside city walls, there's more than one way to die horribly within the walls. Most of them have to do with hidden corners of the city, being behind closed doors with people wielding sharp objects, or making someone important (militia, nobles, Templars, and so on) angry at you.

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 02:29:41 AM
It isn't that dangerous if I don't even leave the city is it?

Depends on if you manage to piss someone off or not! But of all the long lived first characters I have known, the majority were merchants of one type or another. Still, it's a harsh and unforgiving game, so hang onto your boots. and don't forget to use the quit command instead of going linkdead.

Just remember that there's no significant "middle class" in the game. You've got your 1% at the very top, and then you have a good 97% at the very bottom. There's a narrow band of well-off commoners who are firmly affixed to organizations run by said 1%. There is an even narrower band of commoners who are well-off and independent, but they are very rare. The noble houses and the merchant houses are all very happy to collude with another for the purpose of maintaining monopolies and murdering any competition that might upset the status quo.

I'll echo what others have said and suggest you not worry too hard about your character's backstory. It's always good to allow a little wiggle room and, honestly, I rather like "discovering" things about my character's past that come up organically while I play.

Welcome to Arm! Hurry up and die!

I'm working on it!  I've never been that good with descriptions... but I'm also still reading lots of things and trying to put it all together. 

I still have to choose a city, though I have kind of an idea about starting in the south, getting taken up north, joining a merchant house there and getting to know people in the north before I ask for a transfer back to my origin to play.  Connections are everything right?

But still, I don't expect to be hired anywhere for a few weeks, so I'll have to do something.  I've read in the help files about Tuluk's clay pit and cotton-picking jobs, and lumberjacking or collecting salt.  For Allanak, the only thing I've read about is collecting salt.  Does it not have other jobs people can work in the city, like Tuluk does?

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 11:58:20 AM
I still have to choose a city, though I have kind of an idea about starting in the south, getting taken up north, joining a merchant house there and getting to know people in the north before I ask for a transfer back to my origin to play.  Connections are everything right?

But still, I don't expect to be hired anywhere for a few weeks, so I'll have to do something.  I've read in the help files about Tuluk's clay pit and cotton-picking jobs, and lumberjacking or collecting salt.  For Allanak, the only thing I've read about is collecting salt.  Does it not have other jobs people can work in the city, like Tuluk does?

Pick your starting city and get hired right from there. Just ask around at whichever bar you generate into, and someone will tell you who to talk to. Although ICly it should be difficult to get jobs with merchant houses, OOCly it's not; just tell whomever the hiring agent is that you want to be the world's best chef or tailor or whatever, and they'll hire you. In fact, it is (part of) the job of leaders in organizations to provide employment to PCs. Assuming your playtimes somewhat overlap with the hiring person (usually an Agent in a merchant house), then you should be able to do that within a few RL days of starting in game.

Don't try to go collect salt as a newbie, or any other wilderness stuff, if you want your character to live. It's dangerous and difficult and probably OOCly frustrating. Give yourself some time to figure out the game a bit first.

Travel between cities is not a very safe prospect, and once you get there your character won't have an easy time of it. Southerners in the north and northerners in the south can expect to be harassed, shunned, and possibly even maimed or killing, based solely on their origin. If you're an established employee of a merchant house doing a stint in the opposite city you can maybe avoid the maiming and killing bit, but I still wouldn't expect a warm welcome. Definitely better to look for employment in the city you start in, I'd say, unless you really want to start off playing Hard Mode.

Oh employment, I read enjoyment. Never mind.

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 11:58:20 AM

But still, I don't expect to be hired anywhere for a few weeks, so I'll have to do something.  I've read in the help files about Tuluk's clay pit and cotton-picking jobs, and lumberjacking or collecting salt.  For Allanak, the only thing I've read about is collecting salt.  Does it not have other jobs people can work in the city, like Tuluk does?

Allanak has dung scraping as an inner-city job. You go to the stables in the city and DIG MOUND. If you happen to have a shovel, you can USE SHOVEL MOUND to dig with that instead of your hands. There is a dung buyer in town who will buy your dung if you put it al l into a single bag. There are bag sellers at character creation newbie rooms as well as in the bazaar in Allanak.

Tuluk also has dung scraping, but in addition, it has clay pits and cotton fields, so yes, there are more safe options for work in Tuluk than in Allanak. This reflects the difference in climate; farming happens in Allanak but in select regions where NPC farmers have basically monopolized the work.

Just to add to what Harmless pointed out about the cotton-picking in Tuluk, I am fairly certain that the fields are part of the area of the city where only Tuluki citizens can legally access.  If you are starting a character in the north and part of your initial plan is to do some cotton-picking, make sure your character is an inked citizen or this will be a very tricky (near impossible) task for your brand new PC to accomplish. 
Then of course, you'll have those pesky northern inks that could end up making for a miserable existence if you ever do go south.

Don't travel with your new PC, get -in the game- and you'll soon find out why. Seek employment early, keep your newb coins for things you absolutely must have, perhaps, after being employed a while, you may find yourself doing a stint in the other city. Exercise caution and find the right set of asses to kiss, while keeping in mind kissing one ass may make another angry, then, try and get out alive! A fun experience indeed. (although, one of my first PCs did a fair bit of traveling, I sort of got lucky and blundered into good situations, but he had the backing of an employer)

After you feel more comfortable with the game world, then try super-hard-stupid-rediculous mode and you just might have a bit of fun, with the chances of you being whisked away and immediately murdered significantly reduced. You'll not learn much from a quick, seemingly pointless death, unless it's someone else's, and you know a good deal of the people involved, just keep your eyes open and you'll see it sooner or later.

Don't play an elf with your first PC, don't play a breed either. You can play a dwarf, but be sure not to capitalize, punctuate, or spell properly.

Okay.  I'm just trying to reconcile various things.  Escru Cream comes from the north, most of the fruits come from the north, so I would figure there would be more desserts there, and to provide unusual delicacies in the south, I would want to be of the northern kadius clan, if I can be?  And then be working in the south.  Does that make sense?  Be Allanaki, and living/playing in Allanak, but be northern clanned so I can make dishes different from the other southerners?

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 04:36:18 PM
Okay.  I'm just trying to reconcile various things.  Escru Cream comes from the north, most of the fruits come from the north, so I would figure there would be more desserts there, and to provide unusual delicacies in the south, I would want to be of the northern kadius clan, if I can be?  And then be working in the south.  Does that make sense?  Be Allanaki, and living/playing in Allanak, but be northern clanned so I can make dishes different from the other southerners?

It doesn't matter what your PC's city of origin is for making clan-only crafts. It's your membership in the clan that counts for that. Pick whichever city you prefer to start in. If you go to work for Kadius or anyone else, they will decide where you'll work. Kadius is a single clan regardless of where those PCs currently are in the world.

Yep, if you apply to work with Kadius you will enjoy the geographic benefits of both the North and South. Your character's origin, personality, and interests might affect their odds of being placed in the North to use mainly northern ingredients, but Great Merchant House business often calls for its members to switch from the Northern and Southern divisions because <politics>.

Do yourself a favor and stop planning what happens to your character, before you even get in-game. Your goal is for your character to become a known master chef, and your plan is to become that. That's all you really should be focusing on. Your character knows that Kadius has lots of cool foods. So whichever city your character starts in, he'll gravitate toward Kadius. Whether or not he actually ends up working for Kadius is another matter entirely. It's possible that the boss already has a master chef working in his direct employ and doesn't need another one right now. It could be that the Kadian boss in that city was killed yesterday and it'll be another RL month before you even see one who wants to hire crafters. It could be that the current Kadian boss and you have completely opposite play times and though he plays often, you will never get to see him. It could be they are looking for a chef, but they feel your character is the right one for the job.

In other words, don't try to reconcile the plotline before the character exists. There are just way too many variables in-game that would just prolong your non-playing if you had to consider each one prior to character generation.

Quote from: Lizzie on August 27, 2014, 06:53:44 PM
Do yourself a favor and stop planning what happens to your character, before you even get in-game. Your goal is for your character to become a known master chef, and your plan is to become that. That's all you really should be focusing on. Your character knows that Kadius has lots of cool foods. So whichever city your character starts in, he'll gravitate toward Kadius. Whether or not he actually ends up working for Kadius is another matter entirely. It's possible that the boss already has a master chef working in his direct employ and doesn't need another one right now. It could be that the Kadian boss in that city was killed yesterday and it'll be another RL month before you even see one who wants to hire crafters. It could be that the current Kadian boss and you have completely opposite play times and though he plays often, you will never get to see him. It could be they are looking for a chef, but they feel your character is the right one for the job.

In other words, don't try to reconcile the plotline before the character exists. There are just way too many variables in-game that would just prolong your non-playing if you had to consider each one prior to character generation.

This.

Quote from: manipura on August 27, 2014, 07:22:13 PM

Quote from: Lizzie on August 27, 2014, 06:53:44 PM
Do yourself a favor and stop planning what happens to your character, before you even get in-game. Your goal is for your character to become a known master chef, and your plan is to become that. That's all you really should be focusing on. Your character knows that Kadius has lots of cool foods. So whichever city your character starts in, he'll gravitate toward Kadius. Whether or not he actually ends up working for Kadius is another matter entirely. It's possible that the boss already has a master chef working in his direct employ and doesn't need another one right now. It could be that the Kadian boss in that city was killed yesterday and it'll be another RL month before you even see one who wants to hire crafters. It could be that the current Kadian boss and you have completely opposite play times and though he plays often, you will never get to see him. It could be they are looking for a chef, but they feel your character is the right one for the job.

In other words, don't try to reconcile the plotline before the character exists. There are just way too many variables in-game that would just prolong your non-playing if you had to consider each one prior to character generation.

This.

+1

Most of my characters did NOT end up in the clan I thought they would when I made them.

Same here.

I know I can't plan everything out.  And at a certain point you need to lock your inner-strategist in a closet and get moving.  :)    I  sent my application in shortly after my last posting. 

I think its mostly reaction to the permadeath aspect - I want to try to avoid mistakes.  Because I'm excited :) and usually I'm on the other end of the spectrum with a game, don't read stuff like instructions and jump in and poke thigs with sticks til I figure them out.  And get eaten a lot by poking things with big teeeth.  But here that means starting over, so I was over-planning.

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 08:53:56 PM
  I  sent my application in shortly after my last posting. 

Dibs on her boots.

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 08:53:56 PM
I know I can't plan everything out.  And at a certain point you need to lock your inner-strategist in a closet and get moving.  :)    I  sent my application in shortly after my last posting. 

I think its mostly reaction to the permadeath aspect - I want to try to avoid mistakes.  Because I'm excited :) and usually I'm on the other end of the spectrum with a game, don't read stuff like instructions and jump in and poke thigs with sticks til I figure them out.  And get eaten a lot by poking things with big teeeth.  But here that means starting over, so I was over-planning.

Congrats! You've leveled up already :)

Quote from: Cale_Knight on August 27, 2014, 08:57:15 PM
Dibs on her boots.

Hey, don't come in here and try sniping her boots from all of us that have been trying to get her in game SO WE CAN GET HER BOOTS! Dirty rinther.

You're all boot addicts.. what are they made from spice?  Okay..  soon as I learn how, I'm making myself slippers instead. :P

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 10:01:49 PM
You're all boot addicts.. what are they made from spice? 

The Zalanthan economy is heavily dependent on a steady influx of boots from dead newbies.

Come do your part.

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 08:53:56 PM
I think its mostly reaction to the permadeath aspect - I want to try to avoid mistakes. 

Don' t be too disappointed in yourself if your PC dies to a stupid mistake. It's like accidental death in real life.  Because of one very little mistake by "somebody"  or random juxtipostion.
                                         Your vision goes black
               
The code has its rough edges. Don't be afraid to Flee combat without any emotes.

Welcome to our story.  :)

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 10:01:49 PM
You're all boot addicts.. what are they made from spice?  Okay..  soon as I learn how, I'm making myself slippers instead. :P

It's a running joke.

You should start a dwarf whose focus is aquiring other people's boots, restoring them to be as clean and well-repaired as possible, and defending his hoard.

Quote from: Barsook on August 28, 2014, 06:00:10 AM

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 10:01:49 PM
You're all boot addicts.. what are they made from spice?  Okay..  soon as I learn how, I'm making myself slippers instead. :P

It's a running joke.

Hah... Running... Joke.

I see what you did there!

Quote from: bcw81 on August 28, 2014, 02:15:27 PM

Quote from: Barsook on August 28, 2014, 06:00:10 AM

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 10:01:49 PM
You're all boot addicts.. what are they made from spice?  Okay..  soon as I learn how, I'm making myself slippers instead. :P

It's a running joke.

Hah... Running... Joke.

I see what you did there!

I actually chuckle-groaned.

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 08:53:56 PM
I think its mostly reaction to the permadeath aspect - I want to try to avoid mistakes.  Because I'm excited :) and usually I'm on the other end of the spectrum with a game, don't read stuff like instructions and jump in and poke thigs with sticks til I figure them out.  And get eaten a lot by poking things with big teeeth.  But here that means starting over, so I was over-planning.

Yarrrr, look forward to meeting you IG! I'll be the one tugging your boots off before I deliver the killing blow.

Honestly, I'm nearly 100 PC's gone, there are people who've been playing twice as long as me who haven't had half as many PC's. Don't be afraid to die, after all, stories don't always play out the way we want to write them ;-)

Quote from: bcw81 on August 28, 2014, 02:15:27 PM

Quote from: Barsook on August 28, 2014, 06:00:10 AM

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 10:01:49 PM
You're all boot addicts.. what are they made from spice?  Okay..  soon as I learn how, I'm making myself slippers instead. :P

It's a running joke.

Hah... Running... Joke.

I see what you did there!

Hmmm, didn't think there...;D

So in few days of playing I've discovered the joys of starving, getting lost, being chased by something (with teeth presumably), getting stuck in the wilderness (I suppose mounts must be important), and passing out in public places from experimenting with psi.  But I still have my boots :P  I can't say more, specifics are forbidden.

Did I miss any usual newbie experiences, besides dying in my first 3 hours?

Quote from: icewindsong on September 01, 2014, 10:52:30 PM
So in few days of playing I've discovered the joys of starving, getting lost, being chased by something (with teeth presumably), getting stuck in the wilderness (I suppose mounts must be important), and passing out in public places from experimenting with psi.  But I still have my boots :P  I can't say more, specifics are forbidden.

Did I miss any usual newbie experiences, besides dying in my first 3 hours?

You didn't get nearly killed by a templar. Keep trying!

Quote from: icewindsong on September 01, 2014, 10:52:30 PM
So in few days of playing I've discovered the joys of starving, getting lost, being chased by something (with teeth presumably), getting stuck in the wilderness (I suppose mounts must be important), and passing out in public places from experimenting with psi.  But I still have my boots :P  I can't say more, specifics are forbidden.

Did I miss any usual newbie experiences, besides dying in my first 3 hours?

You have done well, young grasshopper.

Quote from: icewindsong on September 01, 2014, 10:52:30 PM
So in few days of playing I've discovered the joys of starving, getting lost, being chased by something (with teeth presumably), getting stuck in the wilderness (I suppose mounts must be important), and passing out in public places from experimenting with psi.  But I still have my boots :P  I can't say more, specifics are forbidden.

Did I miss any usual newbie experiences, besides dying in my first 3 hours?

throw dagger newb e

On: conversation starters and general getting started.

I'm new. I've looked into joining a clan (which hopefully will happen soon but isn't a current happenstance for my character) and I definitely have Plans (of sorts, at least from my very currently limited knowledge of the game). From skimming the board it seems like a good place to meet people is in taverns, but I'll be frank in saying I have something of a hard time figuring out who is a PC, what type of PC they are, and how to get a conversational ball rolling. For reference, I'm playing in Tuluk and have a fighter character. I guess what I'm asking for is a little help with Tuluki small talk? Or... really any way to get involved in RP while I'm waiting.

Quote from: aeglaeca on November 03, 2014, 04:00:33 PM
On: conversation starters and general getting started.

I'm new. I've looked into joining a clan (which hopefully will happen soon but isn't a current happenstance for my character) and I definitely have Plans (of sorts, at least from my very currently limited knowledge of the game). From skimming the board it seems like a good place to meet people is in taverns, but I'll be frank in saying I have something of a hard time figuring out who is a PC, what type of PC they are, and how to get a conversational ball rolling. For reference, I'm playing in Tuluk and have a fighter character. I guess what I'm asking for is a little help with Tuluki small talk? Or... really any way to get involved in RP while I'm waiting.

Talk about how you love the Sun King, how you want to serve the Sun King, and how much the Sun King is sunny today.

Basically, all you've really got to do is say hello and start up smalltalk with people in the taverns. When one finds they like your company, they'll tend to take you in for some interesting Sun King tregil tree hugging goodness.

Could try looking at the rumor board too. If you see something relatively recent that would interest your character, try asking others at the bar if they know anything about it. Getting to talking about current events can let you know who's involved in those events (And who therefore might be hiring).

I'll give it a shot, thanks! On the Sun King issue, is there a file with jargon referencing him? Basic stuff that would be inserted in regular speech. Like. 'Blessings of the Sun King' or something along those lines?

There's a few examples in here:

http://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,45627.0.html

General rule of thumb is that Tuluk plays up the solar tropes of Muk Utep (i.e. The Sun King) while Allanak associates Tektolnes with shadows and shade.

Is it possible for a character to put on weight and move up a weight class?

Yes, you can request it as part of a description change.

http://www.armageddon.org/help/view/Description%20Change

Thanks!

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 08:53:56 PM
I know I can't plan everything out.  And at a certain point you need to lock your inner-strategist in a closet and get moving.  :)    I  sent my application in shortly after my last posting. 

I think its mostly reaction to the permadeath aspect - I want to try to avoid mistakes.  Because I'm excited :) and usually I'm on the other end of the spectrum with a game, don't read stuff like instructions and jump in and poke thigs with sticks til I figure them out.  And get eaten a lot by poking things with big teeeth.  But here that means starting over, so I was over-planning.

Yes, poking most things with sticks on this game will... end very badly. On the plus side, good luck!

Quote from: Saellyn on November 18, 2014, 11:14:38 PM

Quote from: icewindsong on August 27, 2014, 08:53:56 PM
I know I can't plan everything out.  And at a certain point you need to lock your inner-strategist in a closet and get moving.  :)    I  sent my application in shortly after my last posting. 

I think its mostly reaction to the permadeath aspect - I want to try to avoid mistakes.  Because I'm excited :) and usually I'm on the other end of the spectrum with a game, don't read stuff like instructions and jump in and poke thigs with sticks til I figure them out.  And get eaten a lot by poking things with big teeeth.  But here that means starting over, so I was over-planning.

Yes, poking most things with sticks on this game will... end very badly. On the plus side, good luck!

Depends on what kind of stick you're poking them with, and your skill level. I've had PCs get paid coin and/or water or food for it.

Can you get multiple tattoos in one tattoo location?

Quote from: aeglaeca on November 25, 2014, 06:14:56 PM
Can you get multiple tattoos in one tattoo location?

No because you already have a tattoo there.

Quote from: aeglaeca on November 25, 2014, 06:14:56 PM
Can you get multiple tattoos in one tattoo location?

You can, however, send in a request to get those tattoos already there moved to your mdesc if you're out of room and want more room to codedly buy more tattoos.

Forget where it says that, I think it's somewhere under the Tulukie helpfiles.

Oh, okay, cool! Thanks.

In the requests area, there's a slot for 'skill change'. Can this be used to request skills your character normally wouldn't be able to learn, or, well, what's the appropriate usage for it?

Typically, 'skill change' requests don't just happen in a vacuum. Usually you are already working with Staff in some direction, or say your character has been secretly learning literacy or they've really been practicing hard at rescuing people but it's not on their skill list.

You always have to provide logs of your RP'd effort to gain skills, and usually when you gain a skill, you lose one or two others.

It's not something I recommend you do often -- I think it's probably best to submit a question about it first and start a discussion with Staff, before going through the effort of gathering logs and just lumping it all into a skill change request, if that makes sense.

Okay, good to know!

Also, is there a way to change how much effort you're fighting with? Or pull punches, so to speak, other than having mercy on?

Afraid not.

Quote from: aeglaeca on December 11, 2014, 05:55:48 PM
Okay, good to know!

Also, is there a way to change how much effort you're fighting with? Or pull punches, so to speak, other than having mercy on?

'nosave combat' will stop your character from hitting back.  Remember to turn it off when you're done using it though. :)

Is there a quick reference somewhere with what house/org has what heraldry?

Quote from: aeglaeca on December 16, 2014, 09:23:30 PM
Is there a quick reference somewhere with what house/org has what heraldry?

Closest thing you'll find to a cheatsheet is on this page: http://armageddon.org/original/type/Documentation

Under "Commonly Known Clan Equipment". There isn't one for heraldry as far as I know, you just have to look through the house docs.

Oh. Okay :(

Oh, a kindly soul has written one for me! Thank you, kindly soul! <3

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mL36JLyBrnce7b65FHZy58jHI1fRt827HJbOWi-Z8bA/edit?usp=sharing

Sometimes when I attempt to send a say or a psi, the command seems to not go through. I'm kind of wary about spamming my commands since I don't want to repeat says or especially psi commands so it ends up throwing my pacing off a little bit in some scenes. Is this normal or do I have some sort of client side error?

Possibly client-side.  This seems to happen with Mudlet, for example.

Check that you're not holding shift or something like that when you press enter to send these commands.  If you're holding shift, your client might do something other than what you're expecting.

If that's not the problem, let us know what client you're using (or if you're using the connector that comes with the web page) and we can sort you out.  That sounds gamebreaking to me.

Mudlet 2.1 on OSX 10.10.1. I do sometimes play from a phone/tablet, but it's rare. I do not hold shift when I input commands. In Mudlet, this simply adds a new line to whatever is in the command line, which is noticeable to me. As well, it is usually 2-3 repeated commands that get eaten before one goes through.

Right, but if you do something like look or move or something it will start working. This so sounds like that old problem when they were making changes to the Armageddon code to make it compatible with some sort of new technology with MUDs... But they reverted the code and the problems stopped happening. Try the suggestions I made in the Mudlet topic and let me know what happens.

I swapped away from Mudlet to Mushclient because of that issue. It seems that it was only happening on Mudlet for me.

For some reason, it was happening on me but it seem to stopped for me.

It happens to me on Savitar, as well.

Is it correct to, even if my PC is not very bright, when using the way, speak in perfect english (sirihish) assuming that you can get your thoughts across more perfectly. Or is that me misunderstanding how the way works.

Quote from: gotdamnmiracle on December 31, 2014, 07:48:16 PM
Is it correct to, even if my PC is not very bright, when using the way, speak in perfect english (sirihish) assuming that you can get your thoughts across more perfectly. Or is that me misunderstanding how the way works.

I personally tend to do this more often than not - especially with character's who's first language isn't Sirihish.

There is no real documentation on how this works, but from what we do have:

Quote from: HELP PSIONICSOnce psionic contact has been established, it is possible to send
thoughts directly to the person with whom your character's mind is linked.
...
It is convention to send emotions or images enclosed in sentinal
characters like *.  It is alright to do this so long as you are not
imposing any emotions on the contacted character.

I would imagine that you aren't really 'talking' with the person over a cell-phone, but relaying thoughts across the psionosphere.

Quote from: gotdamnmiracle on December 31, 2014, 07:48:16 PM
Is it correct to, even if my PC is not very bright, when using the way, speak in perfect english (sirihish) assuming that you can get your thoughts across more perfectly. Or is that me misunderstanding how the way works.

What Bcw81 said, also, if some kind of speech problem carries over the way, there may be something more to it.

Quote from: gotdamnmiracle on December 31, 2014, 07:48:16 PM
Is it correct to, even if my PC is not very bright, when using the way, speak in perfect english (sirihish) assuming that you can get your thoughts across more perfectly. Or is that me misunderstanding how the way works.

Okay, I wanted to clear something up here. When Waying (ie mind chatting, etc) You are not speaking a language at all.. You're mind is directly connected to the other person's. Thus, you're thoughts flow through. If you have an orderly brain that has clear thoughts you can have it come through as that. If your brain is a jumble of thoughts and feelings you can include those (usually feelings or emotions are expressed in between astericks, example: *a mingling of confusion enters with the thoughts*. So basically you should be thinking of how your character thinks when waying.

Speech and thoughts are very closely linked to one another. For the most part you think in the same words you use in speech. I'm not sure it would really make sense for your character to think their communication any clearer than they can say it.

Quote from: RogueGunslinger on December 31, 2014, 11:02:50 PM
Speech and thoughts are very closely linked to one another. For the most part you think in the same words you use in speech. I'm not sure it would really make sense for your character to think their communication any clearer than they can say it.

My only thought on this is when Sirishish, the main language of civilized cultures, is not your normal language. You're not a nincompoop when speaking Bendune, but you just can't grasp Sirihish. So your Ways are fine, but when you try to speak the common it's something akin to:

"I am not being the knowing of how you are today, is well?"

But you actually mean:

"How are you today?"

Completely agree with bcw81 on this one. Thoughts would be much clearer than speaking a second language. Of course this also depends on how long you've been speaking that second language. With time you get better at understanding how to correctly speak it. Even if you have a master in sirihish you could speak it awkwardly. But say you were a tribal who learned bendune then sirihish, but stayed in the tribe despite having a master in sirihish you would probably still be speaking bendune most of the time. But then say you went to Luir's where everyone is speaking sirihish all the time. Eventually you would pick up the correct way of speaking it including slang.

Can't tell you how many times I've seen a character with a stutter who also stuttered over the Way--I think it would have been niftier and more fitting if they didn't, but that's just me.

I totally agree.  But I recognize that sometimes it's hard to break your established speech patterns.  I had a dwarf who was awkward at sirihish and spoke really slangy mirrukim and sometimes her Way speech would be in her sirihish voice just because I was tired or whatever.

Hey. I just create ranger. And i Can't find useful bow, most of them are too strong. I saw one shortbow in starting location but it was too weak for me. Can I wish for reroll again? (strength after reroll was just slightly better)

And for future, how karma request works? Should I keep logs?

Edit: Is bolt crafting possible?

Quote from: dhorw on January 19, 2015, 02:24:56 PM
Hey. I just create ranger. And i Can't find useful bow, most of them are too strong. I saw one shortbow in starting location but it was too weak for me. Can I wish for reroll again? (strength after reroll was just slightly better)

And for future, how karma request works? Should I keep logs?

Edit: Is bolt crafting possible?

logs are not needed for getting karma. There isn't really a "karma request," but there is an "account notes request" which you should ask for in about six months since starting playing at the soonest, so that the staff have enough on your playing to know how you are doing. Logs are not needed for that request either, but keep logs if you want! :)

Bolt crafting is possible.

As for bows: Finding a good bow is a challenge because they are rare items in the game world. They are often expensive. If a bow is "too weak for you" you can still use it! You only "miss out" on the potential to be using an even stronger bow that would do more damage, have a longer range, etc. But there aren't any actual "drawbacks" to using a bow that is "too weak" except that you're capable of using harder-to-use bows.

You can only reroll once, which it sounds like you did; then you can choose to undo that reroll and go back to what you started with, and that's it.

Welcome to the game!

Which skill is required for bolt making?

You can also (apparently) use a bow that is slightly too strong for you, but it penalizes stamina.

Unfortunately, there's no way to tell if a bow is only slightly too strong for you.  In general, however, shortbows are typically weaker pull than longbows, so if you're feeling like gambling you could try buying a shortbow that's too strong for you and see how it goes.

Quote from: dhorw on January 19, 2015, 02:39:50 PM
Which skill is required for bolt making?

Yes, fletchery:

Quote
Skill Fletchery
(Skill)

Fletchery encompasses several different skills: the art of making arrowshafts from appropriate wood; the art of chipping arrowheads from shards of stone; and the art of combining these with feathers to create an arrow. Merchants are usually trained in this trade, and may combine it with skills such as dyeing to produce a wide variety of arrows. Other classes sufficiently skilled with archery may learn to produce their own arrows as well.
Syntax:
craft (item) (item2) into (desired result)
Example(s):
> craft branch into long arrowshaft

> craft branch feather into black-fletched crossbow bolt

> craft twig into small thornwood dart

> craft slender into bone arrowshaft

> craft shaft shard feather into black-fletched, obsidian-head arrow
See Also:
crafting, skill archery, skill feather working

There's also the HELPER CHAT which, again, I just want to give a big Thank You to everyone on it: it's amazing.

Also crossbows aren't strength relian, aand are easier to use.

Quote from: MeTekillot on January 19, 2015, 04:58:30 PM
Also crossbows aren't strength relian, aand are easier to use.

This is not necessarily true. Crossbows require strength to draw back and load.

Helper chat? How can i connect to that?

www.armageddon.org (http://www.armageddon.org) has a link on the right just above the news section. It's labeled "GET LIVE HELP!".

Thank you! Well, my character died. I hunted goudra and... Kryl appear, when i just run to village I met fucking yompart. Short life. And i cant do new character now because account bug... Forced to break :(

Commiserations on your loss. Hope you find your way back soon.  :)

Welcome to Armageddon dude. There will be tears, sweet, sweet tears. Ginka thanks you.

I hope that this is not a stupid question! I am new to Armageddon, love the game, love the story and want to jump in. But, I noticed something. My character doesn't seem to have tattoos. I thought that I picked tattoo locations in the setup. Did I make a mistake?

Quote from: megp on February 12, 2015, 02:27:10 PM
I hope that this is not a stupid question! I am new to Armageddon, love the game, love the story and want to jump in. But, I noticed something. My character doesn't seem to have tattoos. I thought that I picked tattoo locations in the setup. Did I make a mistake?

You might have, but it will be difficult for players to advise you on whether you did or not. However, if you put in a request to staff, then staff can look at your PC in game and see if there is a problem, what might have caused it, and can fix it for you.

And it's not a stupid question, our chargen system is pretty complex and even veteran players frequently make mistakes.

Quote from: Talia on February 12, 2015, 02:35:56 PM

You might have, but it will be difficult for players to advise you on whether you did or not. However, if you put in a request to staff, then staff can look at your PC in game and see if there is a problem, what might have caused it, and can fix it for you.

And it's not a stupid question, our chargen system is pretty complex and even veteran players frequently make mistakes.
[/quote]

Actually, I was just coming back here to edit this question! I looked at myself in a different way and have the tattoos - I am very sorry for that!!

Thank you so much for helping me! :)

Welcome to the game. Please feel free to post a thousand questions here. Metekillot will answer every single one of them with an applicable internet meme.

Quote from: megp on February 12, 2015, 02:55:00 PM

Quote from: Talia on February 12, 2015, 02:35:56 PM

You might have, but it will be difficult for players to advise you on whether you did or not. However, if you put in a request to staff, then staff can look at your PC in game and see if there is a problem, what might have caused it, and can fix it for you.

And it's not a stupid question, our chargen system is pretty complex and even veteran players frequently make mistakes.

Actually, I was just coming back here to edit this question! I looked at myself in a different way and have the tattoos - I am very sorry for that!!

Thank you so much for helping me! :)
[/quote]

Yes, the equipment command only shows worn equipment, while if someone looks at you, they see your tattoo :)

So if you can't use a weapon, it says 'you can't use this'/you don't think. But can you use it in two hands? Or does it have to say 'This is a two handed weapon'. Or does that just indicated it's normally two handed? Asking so I can check to see if I can use a huge ass sword or something.
Because if I can't use it one handed  is there a way to check two? So many questions, so little helper chat cause its 1 am.

Quote from: Jihelu on February 19, 2015, 02:45:02 AM
So if you can't use a weapon, it says 'you can't use this'/you don't think. But can you use it in two hands? Or does it have to say 'This is a two handed weapon'. Or does that just indicated it's normally two handed? Asking so I can check to see if I can use a huge ass sword or something.
Because if I can't use it one handed  is there a way to check two? So many questions, so little helper chat cause its 1 am.

if a weapon is too heavy for you to wield in one hand, but can be held in either one hand (if strong enough) or both hands it should automatically be held in two when you try to wield it to my knowledge

If it says "you can't wield this", than yes, you can't wield it with your current stats.
If it tells you that it is a two-handed weapon with "assess", then you can only wield it with two hands. You can wield one-handed weapons (like a bastard sword or even a dagger) with two hands with the same syntax as two-handed weapons (etwo).

When you draw a two-handed weapon though, I think the default is that you have to draw with two hands free. One-handed weapons are defaulted to one hand when you draw. draw sword two will draw that weapon with two hands.

(hehe, been a while. corrected)

No, if it says it's too heavy for you to use, then there is a chance you can "etwo" it.  You have to gamble and buy the item.

If it says it's a two handed weapon, then you must use two hands to wield it - even if its weight is low enough that you could use it with one hand.

If you want to draw a weapon from your belt or back and have it end up in both hands, use:


> draw broadsword two


That way if it's too heavy you won't just get a message that says as much, you'll actually draw it.

Quote from: CodeMaster on February 19, 2015, 11:40:00 AM
No, if it says it's too heavy for you to use, then there is a chance you can "etwo" it.  You have to gamble and buy the item.

If it says it's a two handed weapon, then you must use two hands to wield it - even if its weight is low enough that you could use it with one hand.

If you want to draw a weapon from your belt or back and have it end up in both hands, use:

Code Select Expand


> draw broadsword two


That way if it's too heavy you won't just get a message that says as much, you'll actually draw it.

Lets say I failed the gamble of 'Can I draw this weapon or not'.
And I draw with etwo, for a weapon that normally says 'I can't lift this'. Will it tell me as I draw it with two hands or will I just suck really hard ass with the weapon and assume I should get a new one?

Quote from: Jihelu on February 19, 2015, 03:07:38 PM

Quote from: CodeMaster on February 19, 2015, 11:40:00 AM
No, if it says it's too heavy for you to use, then there is a chance you can "etwo" it.  You have to gamble and buy the item.

If it says it's a two handed weapon, then you must use two hands to wield it - even if its weight is low enough that you could use it with one hand.

If you want to draw a weapon from your belt or back and have it end up in both hands, use:

Code Select Expand


> draw broadsword two


That way if it's too heavy you won't just get a message that says as much, you'll actually draw it.

Lets say I failed the gamble of 'Can I draw this weapon or not'.
And I draw with etwo, for a weapon that normally says 'I can't lift this'. Will it tell me as I draw it with two hands or will I just suck really hard ass with the weapon and assume I should get a new one?

Alright so you went:


> draw broadsword two


It will just say this:


You draw a bone broadsword.


It won't tell you whether your character is uncomfortable with it, or even which hand you drew it in (or if you drew it in both hands).  But since you did "draw broadsword two", when you "look self" you'll see this:


<both hands>    a bone broadsword


To answer your specific question, I don't believe you will suck with the weapon even though it's so heavy that you couldn't otherwise 'ep' or 'es' it (equip-primary and equip-secondary, analogs of etwo).  But I can't speak to that level of knowledge.

The biggest things that are going to affect whether you're good with that weapon or not is your "two handed" and "slashing" skills (or "piercing" if it were a spear, for instance), which you get better at by practicing.  You should also check your encumbrance (by typing 'stat'), and make sure you're at a reasonable level, or you'll start sucking in combat too.

Hey, I was wondering if the direction sense skill actually increase? and if it does in what ways does it do it in game?

Quote from: Trillmendous on March 30, 2015, 03:35:18 PM
Hey, I was wondering if the direction sense skill actually increase? and if it does in what ways does it do it in game?

All skill have a chance of increasing every time you fail with that skill.  So in this case, every time you lose your bearings and go the wrong way.

Like other skills, the higher your direction sense, the less likely you are to fail (eg. lose your bearings and go the wrong way).

Quote from: Trillmendous on March 30, 2015, 03:35:18 PM
Hey, I was wondering if the direction sense skill actually increase? and if it does in what ways does it do it in game?

Yes, it is a skill that increases like most other skills. You can see its progress in SKILLS.

Direction Sense helps you navigate dark and storms. If you are walking around in a storm, you will see "You lose your bearings" and you will go a random direction. With good Direction Sense, this does not happen. Rangers start out with a high Direction Sense, which is why they make good guides and the like. A few subguilds get it, which you can see from reading their descriptions. Of course, a subguild will never have as good of Direction Sense as a Ranger.

If you plan on travelling around in the desert, I personally find this skill a must-have, at least to some degree.

ah I see I think i'm confusing direction sense with the DIRECTIONS command.

I noticed i had direction sense skill and i figured that was the same thing as the directions command.

double post, sorry

Quote from: Trillmendous on March 30, 2015, 03:57:26 PM
ah I see I think i'm confusing direction sense with the DIRECTIONS command.

I noticed i had direction sense skill and i figured that was the same thing as the directions command.

Yes, two different things entirely. DIRECTIONS tells you where to go for common locations, and Direction Sense helps you walk through storms/darkness. They have nothing to do with one another.

Quote from: Jeax on March 30, 2015, 04:00:46 PM

Quote from: Trillmendous on March 30, 2015, 03:57:26 PM
ah I see I think i'm confusing direction sense with the DIRECTIONS command.

I noticed i had direction sense skill and i figured that was the same thing as the directions command.

Yes, two different things entirely. DIRECTIONS tells you where to go for common locations, and Direction Sense helps you walk through storms/darkness. They have nothing to do with one another.

thanks for the help, with that being said. Here's just a personal question for you or anyone else that wants to answer it. How long did it actually take you guys to start getting around the maps(whether it's the city, or the desert) and actually know where you are heading.

Quote from: Trillmendous on March 30, 2015, 04:02:58 PM

Quote from: Jeax on March 30, 2015, 04:00:46 PM

Quote from: Trillmendous on March 30, 2015, 03:57:26 PM
ah I see I think i'm confusing direction sense with the DIRECTIONS command.

I noticed i had direction sense skill and i figured that was the same thing as the directions command.

Yes, two different things entirely. DIRECTIONS tells you where to go for common locations, and Direction Sense helps you walk through storms/darkness. They have nothing to do with one another.

thanks for the help, with that being said. Here's just a personal question for you or anyone else that wants to answer it. How long did it actually take you guys to start getting around the maps(whether it's the city, or the desert) and actually know where you are heading.

Cities - About 2 weeks, though I did make sure to map them out myself on graph paper within the first day or so of playing there.
Outdoors - Hah. I still don't know 5 years in. I still use the maps I've made myself.

any ideas where I can find maps like these?

Quote from: Trillmendous on March 30, 2015, 04:19:16 PM
any ideas where I can find maps like these?

You can't. Map sharing is against the rules. My suggestion would be get a piece of graph paper and start walking around IC.

For Allanak and Tuluk, there are maps in the 'help map tuluk' and 'help map allanak' helpfiles.

Quote from: Jeax on March 30, 2015, 04:00:46 PM

Quote from: Trillmendous on March 30, 2015, 03:57:26 PM
ah I see I think i'm confusing direction sense with the DIRECTIONS command.

I noticed i had direction sense skill and i figured that was the same thing as the directions command.

Yes, two different things entirely. DIRECTIONS tells you where to go for common locations, and Direction Sense helps you walk through storms/darkness. They have nothing to do with one another.

But only in your PC's home town.

Quote from: bcw81 on March 30, 2015, 04:27:59 PM

Quote from: Trillmendous on March 30, 2015, 04:19:16 PM
any ideas where I can find maps like these?

You can't. Map sharing is against the rules. My suggestion would be get a piece of graph paper and start walking around IC.

that's going to be a bummer for a while haha. Ill guess I'll just do as you suggested

If you'd prefer to do an excel map rather than a paper one, I can give you a tiny sample to get you started.  It's basically a map of the interior of the Gaj and the street outside, nothing IC sensitive, but it should give you an idea of what's possible in terms of excel mapping.

Rules for making a map:
THINGS ARE WEIRD.
Not everything is 1 to 1.
Sometimes a building you go into from one side is a road on the other.

1. What is the ip address and port number of Armageddon? I am trying to connect with MushClient for the first time.
2. I've died once because someone initiated combat on me. Apparently, I can't take weapons from my belt when in combat. I can't remember, but I think I also couldn't equip weapons in my inventory. Am I supposed to walk around the city holding a knife in case someone attacks me? That feels unrealistic.

1. 206.72.201.199 port:4050

2. The command for taking a weapon out of your belt is 'draw [weapon]'. That sounds like an unfortunate death. Sorry it went down that way, and better luck next time. You should be able to equip weapons in your inventory during combat...if you were having problems, there was probably either a typo going on or a syntax issue. The syntax is wield (or ep) [weapon], es [weapon] or etwo [weapon].

Quote from: roobee on April 10, 2015, 02:56:00 PM
2. I've died once because someone initiated combat on me. Apparently, I can't take weapons from my belt when in combat. I can't remember, but I think I also couldn't equip weapons in my inventory. Am I supposed to walk around the city holding a knife in case someone attacks me? That feels unrealistic.

Just to add... there's a few ways for weapons and belts to interact.  if you put the item IN your belt, i.e.,


> put knife belt
You put your bone knife in your black leather belt.


then you have to first 'get knife belt' and then 'wield knife' to be armed.  If you are in combat, you will be penalized for 'get knife belt' and your opponent will get a free hit on you.

If the belt is a special kind of sheath belt (of which there are a few varieties), then 'draw knife belt' will work.  But this doesn't work with all belts.

But if you did this:


> wear knife
You hang your bone knife on your belt.


or this:


> she knife
You sheathe a bone knife.


Then you can just 'draw knife' and you'll have the weapon in your hand.



[edit:  actually, I'll add, that you can just 'draw .' and it will draw the next weapon hung on your belt.]

Ninja'd... removed duplicate post.

Er, ignore this. I figured it out

So Tuluk is closing. I have not had much experience with it, and am thinking of retiring my character (or moving my current character there, but it might be difficult for IC roleplaying reasons) so I can play there before it is shut. Is Tuluk different enough from Allanak that I, as a new player, could notice the different experience without poring hours in it every day before the deadline?

Very much so.

Hey Nyr, how do I eat those cockroaches on the floor? I can't find them.

Quote from: roobee on April 13, 2015, 11:00:13 PM
So Tuluk is closing. I have not had much experience with it, and am thinking of retiring my character (or moving my current character there, but it might be difficult for IC roleplaying reasons) so I can play there before it is shut. Is Tuluk different enough from Allanak that I, as a new player, could notice the different experience without poring hours in it every day before the deadline?

You'd probably notice it pretty quick. A few minutes, maybe an hour at the outside there should do the trick. Have fun!

Quote from: roobee on April 16, 2015, 10:23:48 PM
Hey Nyr, how do I eat those cockroaches on the floor? I can't find them.

It's a joke about how city elves often spend a lot of time in jail, and there are cockroaches in some jail cells.

Haven't loged on Armageddon MUD for a long time and i am curious why Tuluk is currently off limits? It has been destroyed? Or Muk Utep decided that Tuluk is not for outsiders?

http://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,49199.0.html

That doesn't really answer the question. It sounds like this person is asking: "What would my *character* know about why he can't go to Tuluk?"

The help files "Tuluk" and "Tuluk Details" don't mention anything at all about anything happening that would explain, ICly, why there was any kind of exodus at all. Realizing that the city is still virtually open for virtual citizens, there still has to be *something* that would cause Morin's logging camp to suddenly become somewhat of a public trade hub (among other things).

Shifted to a more relevant thread.

Quote from: Lizzie on May 03, 2015, 09:53:55 AM
That doesn't really answer the question. It sounds like this person is asking: "What would my *character* know about why he can't go to Tuluk?"

The help files "Tuluk" and "Tuluk Details" don't mention anything at all about anything happening that would explain, ICly, why there was any kind of exodus at all. Realizing that the city is still virtually open for virtual citizens, there still has to be *something* that would cause Morin's logging camp to suddenly become somewhat of a public trade hub (among other things).

To try and not spoil ic things...though this might still do it and if so delete it all mighty helpers.
Short answer: Shits rough.
Long answer: Shits rough.

Find out IC is all well and good, if you're a player who understands the game world and has played in it. For the new player who hasn't ever played, who reads the docs, they will find NOTHING indicating that anything is going on, or has gone on, in Tuluk since the Lirathans and Jihaens were merged.

This is totally NOT helpful and counter-productive in attracting new players who might want to play in this fabled north, only to find out they can play a northerner, but not one that lives IN Tuluk. They can play someone who is FROM Tuluk, but not someone who is IN it. What do you tell the player whose character is FROM this city, but hasn't played in the past and has absolutely no knowledge of anything "new" that their CHARACTER would know about upon their showing up out of the Hall of Kings?

Not everyone reads the GDB, and not everyone reads each thread on the GDB, to learn about changes and integral facts that their characters might need to know about.

Hell I'm not rolling up a northerner for the same reason. I, the player, have no idea how to explain why my character doesn't live and work IN Tuluk, because I, the player, know nothing about what happened in Tuluk to make it no longer ICly playable. Maybe if there were rumors on the tavern boards everywhere ELSE - including the south, red storm, luir's, the rinth, and anywhere else that has tavern boards, at least we the players would have something to go by. Even if the rumors weren't true. But we have nothing. Zilch, nada. And new players won't be able to ask IC until after their character has already shown up in the game. By then it's too late.

I think the MUD should e-mail players of the news along with forum news.

I find it highly advisable to check out the main page and staff announcements at least weekly.
This goes doubly so when being away from the game for a long time.

Maybe it's not possible, but if the history page was updated with some information of what's going on, people wouldn't be as confused. That is if said people read the history page on a fairly regular basis. If the IG plot is one that plans on being continued by staff with a possible opening of Tuluk for play sometime in the near future, I can understand why this hasn't been done. However, I believe that with Tuluki's PCs being displaced and travelling over the Known, that sooner or later this plot is going to be known to all PCs eventually, which confuses me as to why it cannot be known OOC'dly.

So, a friend and I started a little while ago and really love the game so far. We are currently playing rangers with the nomad subguild, but haven't been able to really get into hunting at all.  I was wondering if anyone could point us in the right direction, since we have basically resorted to foraging for stones to survive so far. We have slingshot s, and plenty of small stones so far...

And maybe, any general advice for newbie rangers? We don't really know of any clans for rangers, especially out in the outpost, or really how to do much of anything beyond foraging for stone, and simple interaction

Quote from: Xax on May 09, 2015, 03:18:36 AM
So, a friend and I started a little while ago and really love the game so far. We are currently playing rangers with the nomad subguild, but haven't been able to really get into hunting at all.  I was wondering if anyone could point us in the right direction, since we have basically resorted to foraging for stones to survive so far. We have slingshot s, and plenty of small stones so far...

And maybe, any general advice for newbie rangers? We don't really know of any clans for rangers, especially out in the outpost, or really how to do much of anything beyond foraging for stone, and simple interaction

Joining a clan's always a good options, especially for players that are just starting out, so there are more experienced players that can teach you the ropes. You also won't need to worry about dying of starvation and thirst. The GMH's always a good option for hunters. If you're at the Outpost, you can try Kurac, and then there's Salarr, and Kadius, both of which are hiring hunters. There's also the T'zai Byn, who I think is more focused on the more combative side of things.

If your character's iffy for some reason of joining a clan, try asking around the bar, and see if you can hook up with other independents, but do so at your own risk. I'd really recommend joining a clan.

The Byn and maybe Kurac are probably the best for learning the game. That's where you're most likely to find a clan culture of mentorship and group training, which is great for learning the game. These are military clans, but a ranger is always welcome. The problem is they'll ask you not to go out into the wilderness alone (for your own good, of course) so if you want to be doing rangery things right away, it can be a bit of a downer. Kurac is located in the Outpost, so you don't have to travel to Allanak to join them.

Otherwise, your best bet is to find someone who seems like an experienced hunter and try to get them to mentor you. I would not recommend joining Salarr or Kadius unless you know for sure there is an experienced hunter player already there who is willing to devote time and energy to showing you the ropes. Experienced PCs in the Byn and Kurac are (mostly) obligated to train up recruits due to a strict schedule; in Salarr and Kadius, they are not.

As previously stated for new players joining a clan is a helpful thing. Currently I think also as others have stated Kurac Fist and the Byn are your best options. Both are known to travel the world (so you'll learn your way around). Both are heavily focused for training of soldiers (I know you said you are rangers, but rangers can make damn good soldiers too). Both will teach you to survive outside in the wilderness. Though as has been stated they both require that you do not leave the gates without higher ranking members around (this is for safety purposes, not a punishment).

If you join either of these or any other clan the important thing is not to get discouraged. Which is quite possible because sparring against characters who have been fighting longer than you will have your character feeling beat up all the time. Also, sometimes being able to socialize with people outside the clan can be difficult.

I would recommend trying Kurac first for the following reasons:
1) The Fist is free to join, the Byn is not.
2) Being at the Post, your more apt to be able to socialize with a lot large variety of players as people come through there, that ordinarily would not go into Allanak.
3) If you're playing ranger/nomad you might be set up as a tribal sort of characters (big cities can be scary and imposing for those who have lived in the wilderness for a long time, if not all of their lives).

Are there drawbacks to joining Kurac where there aren't to the Byn? Yes there are:
1) With the closing of Tuluk most are gathering in Allanak so you'll be able to socialize and have more people around at various times than you would in Luir's, however since most of your time with the Byn is going to be spent in training or running contracts, I don't see much socialization outside of the Byn (Unless things have changed since I was there and depending on your play times you'll probably hardly leave the compound, unless you're going on a contract).

Either way you choose... Welcome to Armageddon and remember to have fun!

If you'd like to stay the 'hunter' route, I'm not exactly certain how things work outside of Tuluk but ripperino, you should get really adjusted to using hunt. Figure out what won't run from you, but still won't kill you, and go beat it's shit in with spears.

Bows and arrows are expensive until you can find someone to make them for you. So try to not use those. Slings are really only good for helping to level that skill a bit.

If you join the Byn, you and the Byn know that it's fine , and expected, that you part company after the training is done. The training will give you a better chance of surviving beasts that hunt you, and introduce you to a range of nobodies, some bodies, and clanned or indie employees. Southern, alas. I'd look for northie groups too, that seemed to share your playtime.
If you wanted to commit yourself to House Kurac, I'd highly recommend that as a clan for "rangers", from my experience there.
Forage stones? You are foraging for real food too?

Solera brings up a great point. You should be foraging for food and water when you can. In fact I would forage for that over stones any day (especially on days that you are hungry and thirsty).

Usefulness of slingshots varies. I've seen people take out some tough critters with a slingshot (Those characters may have had a high archery skill, but I have no way of really knowing) so don't discount that as just a way to level the skill (and using it just as a way to level the skill is pretty poor RP).

Bows and arrows can be extremely expensive. Bows of course are a one time cost, however arrows you will be constantly needing if you go as solely archery. If you decide to stay on your own and want to go with bows and arrows I'd suggest befriending someone that can make arrows at least and try to get a really super good deal on them from that friend.

Also, try not to collaborate too much with your friend outside of the game if it's in regards to your characters. That's a bad habit to develop.

I wouldn't even talk about the game to someone who also has a character in the game at the same time. I've had stuff spoiled for me this way.

Good MUD client for macs?

I recall reading somewhere that plots are mostly player driven. If so, then is "discuss" ing with NPCs useless or are there some instances where they do respond usefully?

Atlantis and Potato were recommended to me when I first switched to Mac. However, I've stuck with Mudlet, which I used on a Windows computer previously and which I'm used to. Mudlet offers the best antialiasing, ability to handle large amounts of scroll, in-prompt spellcheck and flexibility with prompt capture and other scripting as long as you're willing to deal with its personal interpretation of LUA. The latter isn't really necessary to play Arm, but since I'm used to playing MU*s with color I wrote a bunch of stuff for myself.

Quote from: roobee on July 10, 2015, 05:14:45 PM
Good MUD client for macs?

Atlantis is great.

Quote from: roobee on July 25, 2015, 01:51:03 AM
I recall reading somewhere that plots are mostly player driven. If so, then is "discuss" ing with NPCs useless or are there some instances where they do respond usefully?

Using the "discuss" command with NPCS can be interesting and even helpful, but not in a sense that it will help you advance your plots.  Often, npcs will be programmed to tell you their names, information about the city, or even stories.  But this information usually has very little to do with ongoing plots.  The rumor boards positioned in taverns are usually a better source of "up to date" information regarding in game events.

Just curious... If you start your player with a normal subguild, can you request for an extended subguild similar to that subguild for the same character in the future? Or are they only supposed to be requested when creating a new character?

You can only request an extended subguild during the character generation process.

It is theoretically possible to acquire new skills on a pre-existing character outside of their guild and subguild, but only after long long efforts of in-game training, backed up with logs... and you'd probably need to get staff approval first before hand. And even after submitting logs, it's up to Producers (or Admins? pretty high up) to decide whether the skill-grant is justified. And then you might have to trade a skill or two in for your new skill.

Quote from: BadSkeelz on July 26, 2015, 07:04:54 AM
You can only request an extended subguild during the character generation process.

It is theoretically possible to acquire new skills on a pre-existing character outside of their guild and subguild, but only after long long efforts of in-game training, backed up with logs... and you'd probably need to get staff approval first before hand. And even after submitting logs, it's up to Producers (or Admins? pretty high up) to decide whether the skill-grant is justified. And then you might have to trade a skill or two in for your new skill.

Well, isn't that grand. Thanks for answering, anyhow! :)

You're welcome! Don't let it get you down none. My first character was a warrior who, because of his subguild, had a grand total of one extra skill that he couldn't even readily use. I think I managed to use it 3 or 4 times in almost there years of play. Figuring out what makes for a "good" guild/subguild combination (or what a "Good" one even means for you) is part of the learning curve.

Quote from: azuriolinist on July 26, 2015, 08:17:50 AM

Quote from: BadSkeelz on July 26, 2015, 07:04:54 AM
You can only request an extended subguild during the character generation process.

It is theoretically possible to acquire new skills on a pre-existing character outside of their guild and subguild, but only after long long efforts of in-game training, backed up with logs... and you'd probably need to get staff approval first before hand. And even after submitting logs, it's up to Producers (or Admins? pretty high up) to decide whether the skill-grant is justified. And then you might have to trade a skill or two in for your new skill.

Well, isn't that grand. Thanks for answering, anyhow! :)

It won't be helpful for everyone but here's what I do, for my characters:

I decide on what lifestyle my PC will be intended to live. An outdoorsy type (meaning, out of the city, not just outside buildings)? A city-based outdoorsy type? Or a tavern-sitter? If it's an outdoorsy type, then the #1 skill I know I'll need is direction sense. The #2 is a tie for scan and listen. Those skills are dealbreakers if I can't get them.

Outdoorsy but city-based? This time, scan/listen become primary, with probably sneak/hide being secondary. Tavern-sitter? Scan/listen primary, and some kind of craft secondary because sitting around all day in a bar is boring and I need something to do when I escape the bar to an apartment.

So those are the 3 lifestyle choices. I make sure that my guild and subguild will provide me with those skills at a "useful" skill level. If it's a mage, then I'd need to make sure my subguild has those deal-breaker skills, because mage guilds don't tend to come with those skills. That narrows things down to only a few options, and I find that makes it easier, rather than harder, because I don't have to spend too much time thinking about what kind of code my PC needs and can think more about what kind of things I want my PC to do ICly in her life.

For me, the #1 singular most important question I will ask myself when creating a PC is: what will my character DO on days when there's nothing to do and no one around? I tend to have long-lived characters, and nothing says "storage" faster than not including the coded skills necessary to keep yourself codedly busy when you can't find interaction (or when you're too new to feel comfortable starting some up).

Yep. Should have thought more on what my character would be doing. Thanks for the tips, I'll be sure to keep them in mind when I'm making a new character!

After a character dies, can you use the same character bio, background, etc. in your new character? Of course, you would have no memory of the previous life, and no connections to it. I just remember as a noob, and perhaps soon once I do more risky things, that my characters died quick and it was frustrating to spend so much time on a character's background for relatively little playtime. Also, sometimes one just really likes a certain character's story.

Also, how does morning devotions work? Do you go to a temple and emote/think pray? Do it anywhere? Is it optional or should you be scared to death if a templar catches you not doing it? How long should you do it?

Quote from: roobee on July 26, 2015, 10:51:32 AM
After a character dies, can you use the same character bio, background, etc. in your new character? Of course, you would have no memory of the previous life, and no connections to it. I just remember as a noob, and perhaps soon once I do more risky things, that my characters died quick and it was frustrating to spend so much time on a character's background for relatively little playtime. Also, sometimes one just really likes a certain character's story.

It's kind of poor form to use the exact same background... but that doesn't mean you can't use very similar ones! Change his hair from red to blonde, change the keywords, rehash the description. Alter the background a bit, maybe grow up on the other side of town. Most of our characters are coming from broadly similar backgrounds: commoners growing up in the warrens of the cities or the outlying farms, or tribals from tribalstan. It's quite reasonable to have  similarities, but you should try and give every character a few unique details of his or her own.

Quote from: roobee on July 26, 2015, 11:12:34 AM
Also, how does morning devotions work? Do you go to a temple and emote/think pray? Do it anywhere? Is it optional or should you be scared to death if a templar catches you not doing it? How long should you do it?

I suggest following the character you see shouting about morning devotions and see what he does.

To follow up my previous post, I would personally suggest not making your backgrounds too specific. I like to know where my characters grew up and what they might have generally gotten up, but small details (first sex, first murder, specific employment) I often make up on the fly.

Quote from: BadSkeelz on July 26, 2015, 11:51:08 AM
To follow up my previous post, I would personally suggest not making your backgrounds too specific. I like to know where my characters grew up and what they might have generally gotten up, but small details (first sex, first murder, specific employment) I often make up on the fly.

Totally this. Typical "type" of background for me in a non-sponsored app:

Talia grew up in [city/area]. Father [unknown/no one special], mother [dead presumed dead/possibly a whore]. Raised in the typical fashion of unimportant nobodies in this area. [if a mage - manifested young, learned from Amos and Malik the basics that show up on the help files]. Hoping to [survive long enough/become useful enough] to [afford a better lifestyle/have a statue built in her honor].

Quote from: BadSkeelz on July 26, 2015, 11:20:43 AM

Quote from: roobee on July 26, 2015, 11:12:34 AM
Also, how does morning devotions work? Do you go to a temple and emote/think pray? Do it anywhere? Is it optional or should you be scared to death if a templar catches you not doing it? How long should you do it?

I suggest following the character you see shouting about morning devotions and see what he does.

I now have but that did not answer whether it is optional or you should be scared to death for not doing it.

Quote from: roobee on August 02, 2015, 12:34:51 PM

Quote from: BadSkeelz on July 26, 2015, 11:20:43 AM

Quote from: roobee on July 26, 2015, 11:12:34 AM
Also, how does morning devotions work? Do you go to a temple and emote/think pray? Do it anywhere? Is it optional or should you be scared to death if a templar catches you not doing it? How long should you do it?

I suggest following the character you see shouting about morning devotions and see what he does.

I now have but that did not answer whether it is optional or you should be scared to death for not doing it.

That's a great question.  I think if you wish your character to be viewed as *especially* devout, then you'd do it.  But no harm will come your way if you don't do it, as long as you're following templars' orders, bowing to who you should be, etc.

Thanks. Also, what's the standards for the Silver Ginka? I know the gaj is for anyone, red's retreat for more dignified. Is the Ginka the middle ground?

Red's Retreat is the middle ground and well-to-do commoners. Silver Ginka is a teahouse, not a tavern. It's in the Commoner's quarter so common people go there.

Atrium and Arboretum are for the upper classes.

The Gaj is more for disgusting people..you really shouldn't see Aides, Merchants ect in there.  I haven't played in Nak in a few years until recently and it seems likely people that would at one point never see in the Gaj suddenly seem to flock there. The Gaj to me is more for Byners, gemmed, elves and breeds.  Reds is for merchants, aides ect..

Atrium  (and to some extent Tor) is for Nobility and upper crust commoners. I recall the reading somewhere that Reds is the sort of place a Fale would only go in to on dare. There has been shift with Atrium closed and Traders gone towards Reds but with the Atrium open I don't see why Noble would venture that far into the commoners quarter. 

The Silver Ginka is tea house just read the room desc to figure out what sort of people would frequent there. Likely Aides Merchants and upper crust. If I were a noble and wanting to meet with someone not on the Atrium's guest list and didn't want them on my Estate i would meet them in Ginka.

The Gaj is a sports bar. Read the description (or has that changed?). The Gaj is described as the place you go to hear the latest news from the arena and get a cheap drink. It's on the thoroughfare and at the edge of the Commoner's quarter so it's going to be popular with all comers. Just because undesirable PCs hang out there doesn't mean it's not normally filled with commoners, mercenaries, and the occasional gemmed. It's arguably the only place where northerners and gemmed can expect to go without worrying about being actively kicked out but that doesn't make them welcomed with open arms. They can and do get run out if they act like a dumbshit.

People need to remember to think outside the codebox and consider the virtual world.

Hello, i've back after a year break and i create new character. I pointed tuluk and i'm in village nearby tuluk. My question is: is this possible to play -solo- in this village? mean, i don't see apartments, only kadian house and marketplace with one tavern. Where can i store my items? where can i sleep safely?

Edit: Can i change my biography after char. creation? As i remember biography is only for players, not for staff, right?

Quote from: dhorw on October 09, 2015, 12:36:33 PM
Hello, i've back after a year break and i create new character. I pointed tuluk and i'm in village nearby tuluk. My question is: is this possible to play -solo- in this village? mean, i don't see apartments, only kadian house and marketplace with one tavern. Where can i store my items? where can i sleep safely?

Edit: Can i change my biography after char. creation? As i remember biography is only for players, not for staff, right?

As far as I know, there's no apartments in Morin's Village (the place you're in).  You can play solo in the village, but you'd best get used to carrying your stuff around with you.  You can sleep in the sleeping area of the tavern, but like all public places (or private places, for that matter), it isn't necessarily safe.  You can't change your biography, but you can add to it using the "biography" command (see the biography helpfile here: http://www.armageddon.org/help/view/Biography).  You can add as many biography entries as you like.  Staff can look at your biography entries whenever they want.

Thanks.

Staff can see your biography entries, yes.  If there's something in them you think that we ought to know, might be worth sending in a short character report with a blurb about how we ought to go look at your bios.

Am I playing thief right? I steal, get caught, go to jail and repeat. I get this is realistic for a novice thief, but jail is so boring. Any tips for how to be more fun as a thief?

Couple of common sense hints:
- Work at night.
- Keep an eye on where the soldiers are in relation to where you are.
- Have a plan to get from where you're thieving to a safe hiding place.

And codedly:
Use the Stat command to know when you're wanted.
Be prepared to hide for awhile until that Wanted flag wears off.

Grats on already understanding No Save Arrest, so you at least make it to the cells.

Quote from: whitt on October 17, 2015, 12:57:01 PM
Couple of common sense hints:
- Work at night.
- Keep an eye on where the soldiers are in relation to where you are.
- Have a plan to get from where you're thieving to a safe hiding place.

And codedly:
Use the Stat command to know when you're wanted.
Be prepared to hide for awhile until that Wanted flag wears off.

Grats on already understanding No Save Arrest, so you at least make it to the cells.

Sometime getting caught means the NPC auto-attacks. This could lead to being encountered by the guards while in combat, which I assume would mean the guards would be more interested in cutting your throat rather than hauling you off, even with nosave arrest set, though I could be wrong. Might be wise to be ready to flee.

Quote from: roobee on October 17, 2015, 12:25:33 PM
Am I playing thief right? I steal, get caught, go to jail and repeat. I get this is realistic for a novice thief, but jail is so boring. Any tips for how to be more fun as a thief?

Thieving is a rough life. Back in 2008 (I think?) they changed the crim code to make things a bit more realistic. This means it's much easier to get away with crimes when it's late at night or before dawn. Based off room descriptions you can tell if a place is 'populated' with vnpc's generally. Busy taverns and stuff, maybe markets or outside of popular building you can assume that someone might notice a clumsy thief any time of day or night. Crim-code will not be as effective at night, but you still need to be on the lookout for those pesky witnesses and soldiers (pc, npc, vnpc).

With some practice you can learn to be semi-successful even without being a master thief.

Quote from: Fujikoma on October 17, 2015, 01:02:10 PM

Quote from: whitt on October 17, 2015, 12:57:01 PM
Couple of common sense hints:
- Work at night.
- Keep an eye on where the soldiers are in relation to where you are.
- Have a plan to get from where you're thieving to a safe hiding place.

And codedly:
Use the Stat command to know when you're wanted.
Be prepared to hide for awhile until that Wanted flag wears off.

Grats on already understanding No Save Arrest, so you at least make it to the cells.

Sometime getting caught means the NPC auto-attacks. This could lead to being encountered by the guards while in combat, which I assume would mean the guards would be more interested in cutting your throat rather than hauling you off, even with nosave arrest set, though I could be wrong. Might be wise to be ready to flee.

I believe this happens if you resist arrest. So if you struggle while you're being subdued and break free, then you are resisting arrest and will be free to be killed on sight.

There are some helpfiles and such that can help. 'Help pickpocket' is a good start, there are other helpfiles listed down there that can get you set on your way. I can't remember what.

Summary of the advice given so far:

Pay attention to the game world, both coded AND virtual. Roleplay *and* enact the code accordingly.

Also: read the thief roleplay docs: http://www.armageddon.org/help/view/Thief's%20Bible

Yes, this is good advice for roleplaying a thief, but it does little to shed light on the coded realities of attempting certain acts, and counter-intuitive things that may occur. Players are informed they're not to have their characters behave in a suicidal manner, yet, without the information to know what's suicidal. I have mostly learned from the mistakes of others, but I don't think this should be a requirement as it would be nice for newbies who want to jump right into a sneaky/thievey role to know what challenges and code quirks they may face.

Then again, discovering these nuances and skirting them may be an activity some find enjoyable, but I find it leads to a lot of silly situations where yet another amos is dead for attempting to pinch a loaf of bread. Then there's the skill advancement of pickpockets which has always struck me as anti-survival, although I do think, once beefed up, they're a guild to be reckoned with.

But, yes, I think the thief's bible is a good read. I know when I come home in game and the bed and couch are missing and the carpet stripped from the floor I'm tempted to type: think (mildly irritated) Luuuucy? You got some 'splainin' ta do!

Quote from: Fujikoma on October 17, 2015, 03:42:17 PM
Yes, this is good advice for roleplaying a thief, but it does little to shed light on the coded realities of attempting certain acts, and counter-intuitive things that may occur. Players are informed they're not to have their characters behave in a suicidal manner, yet, without the information to know what's suicidal. I have mostly learned from the mistakes of others, but I don't think this should be a requirement as it would be nice for newbies who want to jump right into a sneaky/thievey role to know what challenges and code quirks they may face.

Then again, discovering these nuances and skirting them may be an activity some find enjoyable, but I find it leads to a lot of silly situations where yet another amos is dead for attempting to pinch a loaf of bread. Then there's the skill advancement of pickpockets which has always struck me as anti-survival, although I do think, once beefed up, they're a guild to be reckoned with.

But, yes, I think the thief's bible is a good read. I know when I come home in game and the bed and couch are missing and the carpet stripped from the floor I'm tempted to type: think (mildly irritated) Luuuucy? You got some 'splainin' ta do!

The person asking (Theebee) didn't ask about syntax and code. He asked about fun. How can you play a thief in a way that lets you have more fun than just steal, get caught, go to jail, get release?

The answer is - to remember that your character is more than just the skillset's coded commands/syntax, to remember the virtual world, the non-virtual world, the atmosphere of the genre. Read the room descriptions. Read the thief bible. Pay attention to the world around your character, in addition to using peek/steal/whatever else.

The greatest thief is the one who rarely uses code. The power of tongue is stronger than hand....or atleast if you are good enough I suppose.

Thief is a hard one because of the fact of "Well if I succeed I gt something but I don't get better" And "If I fail I might get caught and go to prison".

Some advice: Find some friends. Loyal friends.

Quote from: Jihelu on October 17, 2015, 05:00:52 PM
Some advice: Find some friends. Loyal friends.

This one conflicts me. Would definitely make life easier, but I don't think a criminal would seek friends. He'd view everyone as bait. In real life society is organized/cooperative and criminals aren't, with exceptions like the mafia.

Quote from: roobee on October 19, 2015, 11:06:09 PM

Quote from: Jihelu on October 17, 2015, 05:00:52 PM
Some advice: Find some friends. Loyal friends.

This one conflicts me. Would definitely make life easier, but I don't think a criminal would seek friends. He'd view everyone as bait. In real life society is organized/cooperative and criminals aren't, with exceptions like the mafia.

Well...
Friends is a rough word.
Associates?
My last (X) role went a lot easier once I found a buddy.
As the docs says, being secretive all the time is suspicious. Have a life and shiz.

Only three things you need to know. Don't steal unless at night time. Don't steal at night if there's a soldier nearby. (you can do both once your skill is high enough not to fail, or if you have good hide/sneak to get away)

And finally, possibly most importantly because I consider it a bug, some NPC merchants and barmaids can not be stolen from. You will either go to jail every time, or just get smacked and told to shove off with no crimcode.



Also, contrary to some people, I've never been attacked by soldiers with nosave arrest on. Not unless I attacked someone else first. However, if you flee from a soldiers grasp, nosave-arrest is automatically turned off, so turn it back on if you want to try to play the "Okay you got me, I'll go in easily... NOT" routine.

Max train flee.
Win.

I have 2 Opinion related questions for you Vets.

First one, at one point in sparring do most of you guys tend to flee? I've usually been doing it at around 80-75 HP but sometimes I feel like that's stretching it and unrealistic. I want to know what you guys usually do it at.

Second one, When do most of you decide it's time to add permanent scars to your character? Like do you do it after a major battle or after a few weeks of constantly getting hurt?

Thanks in advance

Re:Fleeing - If you flee at 75% to 80% of HP, you'll probably be able to >Rest to regain HP. Much lower and you run the risk of needing to sleep. It IS sparring, so the goal really shouldn't be to beat the crap out of each other anyway.

If you need to sleep to recover wounds from sparring, I like to not spar for the rest of the IG day (or more, if you really get rolled), to better simulate recovery times.

Re:Scars, I like to add one whenever my PC gets wounded in particularly memorable ways. Sometimes it might be from a single bad hit in sparring, or be the result of a long RPT combat rpt. They can totally be the results of long times of trials as well. Really, whenever it feels right.

Its percentage, as BadSkeelz said, so far as the "regen point". But think of it as your total life. If someone beats you LITERALLY half to death in sparring, you're doing it wrong. 60% has always been my "Get the hell out" area but I tend to play beefy endurance monsters.

So far as scars... I don't TYPICALLY add them in training. Even if a good hit causes a break in the skin, Zalanthans aren't humans and you're not using blades. IF, however, someone using an edged weapon hits me for a decent amount (Solid or more) I'll think about adding a scar or RPing out the wound.

Bludgeoning... woof. Someone swings a warhammer and it hits your arm for like 18 points of damage? Probably close to a broken arm, if not ACTUALLY, and as BadSkeelz said... maybe a "don't go right back into sparring". Its all, however, up to you. Try to be realistic, and understand total HP is your total life. If you're sleeping to recover, you got pretty stomped.

Quote from: Riev on November 05, 2015, 08:10:24 PM
Its percentage, as BadSkeelz said, so far as the "regen point". But think of it as your total life. If someone beats you LITERALLY half to death in sparring, you're doing it wrong. 60% has always been my "Get the hell out" area but I tend to play beefy endurance monsters.

So far as scars... I don't TYPICALLY add them in training. Even if a good hit causes a break in the skin, Zalanthans aren't humans and you're not using blades. IF, however, someone using an edged weapon hits me for a decent amount (Solid or more) I'll think about adding a scar or RPing out the wound.

Bludgeoning... woof. Someone swings a warhammer and it hits your arm for like 18 points of damage? Probably close to a broken arm, if not ACTUALLY, and as BadSkeelz said... maybe a "don't go right back into sparring". Its all, however, up to you. Try to be realistic, and understand total HP is your total life. If you're sleeping to recover, you got pretty stomped.

Just did the math, I usually flee at about 70 percent of my total health. So I guess I'm good with that but I just wanted confirmation from you vets to see if I was doing it right so Thanks for replying

Also thanks for the Scar tips too now I got an idea of when I should start adding them now.

70% is too low IMO. One big hit around there and you'll be needing to sleep.

If my pc has 100 hitpoints I run when it drops below 80. You can still regen around 66% though, so I like having 15 HP, or one extra medium-large hit worth of wiggle-room.

as a thief without peek, do I just have to guess what's in their inventory while stealing? cause my guesses have been off a few times.

The obvious:
steal coins man

The educated guess:
steal arrow quiver

No need for peek:
steal dagger man

The grab bag:
steal . man's bag

what difference between
steal . man's bag
and
steal man's bag
?

The first attempts to take the top item out of the bag (you don't know what, and heavier items are easy to botch), the second attempts to steal the whole thing.

Actually, sorry.  The second doesn't work at all, you'd have to steal bag man

i've read in some posts that you can bribe NPCs. Do staff need to animate these for it to work, or will some NPCs allow it automatically?

Quote from: roobee on December 27, 2015, 10:45:00 AM
i've read in some posts that you can bribe NPCs. Do staff need to animate these for it to work, or will some NPCs allow it automatically?

Staff would need to animate for that.

Quote from: Saellyn on December 27, 2015, 11:16:42 AM

Quote from: roobee on December 27, 2015, 10:45:00 AM
i've read in some posts that you can bribe NPCs. Do staff need to animate these for it to work, or will some NPCs allow it automatically?

Staff would need to animate for that.

You can also bribe an NPC and then give a character report to say when and why you bribed an NPC.

Quote from: roobee on December 27, 2015, 10:45:00 AM
i've read in some posts that you can bribe NPCs. Do staff need to animate these for it to work, or will some NPCs allow it automatically?

Staff would need to animate an NPC for you to bribe them, yes. The WISH ALL command (and HELP WISH) should shed more light on that.

Quote
Wish
(Staff Communication)
This command enables you to communicate with the game's staff members for an audience. Using the wish command is to be used for questions that cannot be otherwise answered in the game, be it through help files or in character questions. As all online staff members can hear wishes (if they so choose), use the command sparingly, and make wishes direct and to the point. Wishing to a staff member (i.e., one who is visible via the who command) will allow only that person to hear the wish.

Wishes can also be used to alert staff when you are about to do something that the virtual populace might notice and react to, such as attacking someone in a crowded tavern or walking into town with visible magic effects going. Please remember that staff can't be everywhere, all the time, but we will try and help interact. Also don't take the fact that staff haven't responded as permission to do whatever you are about to do. Be conscious of the virtual world and how it would react. If you don't get a response from a wish, please submit a Character Report so that staff can respond.

When situations arise that may result in your character killing another player character, staff ask that you take the time to wish up. A quick wish along the lines of 'About to kill Amos' is all that is needed. This gives staff the ability to observe the situation. We understand that there may be times where wishing up prior just isn't possible.

As mentioned above, wishes should be TO THE POINT. Do not wish things such as, 'Is anyone around?' or 'Is Kelvik on?' or 'Is my clan staff around?' or 'I have a bug.' If you have a bug, then use the bug command to say what it is, don't just wish that you have found a bug. If it requires a wish at all, wish up to tell us what you need, not that you need us.

If you are wishing up requesting something to do with where you are standing, please wait at least a couple of minutes before walking away. It's frustrating to staff members to have to chase your character along the streets.

Syntax:
wish all <message>
wish <staff member name> <message>
Example(s):
> wish nessalin I'd like to talk to this templar NPC, please, in order
to get a merchant's license.
(This is assuming that Nessalin is visible in 'who', and that there is an
NPC templar in the same location as your character, with whom you wish
your character to converse with, in character, about something.)
Notes:
The request tool is to be used for many issues that previously were handled with the wish command. Things such as description changes, reimbursements and having your character stored should be handled through this tool. (See help requests) There is now a reroll command, do not wish up asking for one. (See help reroll) Please do not wish on the behalf of players who have been no-wished. If no staff members are online, no one will hear the wish. Only Administrators and above can respond directly to wishes, so please do not assume no one is on and spam wish hoping to catch someone. Please be patient as well; wish once and then put the wish in your objective. If the wish involves interaction with an NPC, please stick by the NPC for at least a little while. If you have been no-wished, you can still communicate with the staff but you must use the Request Tool.
See Also:
bug, bulletin boards, idea, pc, npc, Requests, Reports, reroll, typo, who

Hey guys, its me again.  I have a million questions, so I should probably just grow this thread rather than fill up the board.

Ok, IC references to time.

When Im talking to somebody ig, sometimes they'll say something like,  'I'll be busy for the next 4 weeks'.  'it took me 12 years to get promoted'.  etc, are they refering to the IG time cycle?  or out of game?  I assume people are being IC and using the game time?

They'd be talking about the IG time cycle.

Quote
Time                                                            (Measurement)

   Time is measured very differently on Zalanthas, having much more to do
with the motion of the sun and the collective movements of the sun and two
moons.
   Each day is divided into nine equal hours: before dawn, dawn, early
morning, late morning, high sun, early afternoon, late afternoon, dusk, and
late at night. Note that there are only two hours of sundown for every
seven hours of sunup. One hour of Zalanthan time is equivalent to 10
minutes of real time.
   Days are also grouped into weeks of eleven days: Ocandra, Terrin, Abid,
Cingel, Nekrete, Waleuk, Yochem, Huegel, Dzeda, Barani, and Detal. Not much
is known as to why eleven days were chosen to comprise a week, but the
current superstition amongst the common folk is that each day was named
after a member of the Old Council of Kings, but nobody is absolutely certain
of this.
   Days are further grouped into sets of two hundred thirty-one. This
interval marks the third time the sun and two moons converge in each phase
of the sun. Thus, in a 231-day phase (or month), the sun and moons will all
occupy the same place in the sky, which happens to occur at midnight,
exactly three times. The third time this happens, the sun is said to have
moved into another phase and a new month begins.
   There are three such phases or months in a Zalanthan year, which thus
consists of 693 days. The sun returns to its original arc in the sky at the
end of each year; the three primary arcs being the Arc of Descension, the
Low Arc, and the Arc of Ascension.
   Years are measured on a 77-year cycle called a King's Age. Each year in
the cycle has its own name.

A summary of the organization of Zalanthan time might be as follows:

          Days of the Week (11)         Hours in the Day (9)
              Ocandra                       before dawn
              Terrin                        dawn
              Abid                          early morning
              Cingel                        late morning
              Nekrete                       high sun
              Waleuk                        early afternoon
              Yochem                        late afternoon
              Huegel                        dusk
              Dzeda                         late at night
              Barani
              Detal
     
          Months in the Year (3)
              Descending Sun
              Low Sun
              Ascending Sun

   There are 21 weeks (231 days) per month, three months (63 weeks or
693 days) per year, and 77 years per King's Age.

Syntax:
   time

Notes:
             Real Time -> Zalanthan Time
          10 RL mins      = 1 ZT hour
          1 RL day        = 16 ZT days
          1 RL week       = ~0.5 ZT month
          1 RL month      = ~2 ZT months
          1 RL year       = ~8.5 ZT years

          Zalanthan Time -> Real Time
          1 ZT hour       = 10 RL mins
          1 ZT day        = 90 RL mins
          1 ZT week       = 16.5 RL hours
          1 ZT month      = ~2 RL weeks
          1 ZT year       = ~43 RL days

See also:
   Armageddon, Geography, Moon, Weather, Years

Quote from: Terbama on December 27, 2015, 05:43:51 PM
Hey guys, its me again.  I have a million questions, so I should probably just grow this thread rather than fill up the board.

Ok, IC references to time.

When Im talking to somebody ig, sometimes they'll say something like,  'I'll be busy for the next 4 weeks'.  'it took me 12 years to get promoted'.  etc, are they refering to the IG time cycle?  or out of game?  I assume people are being IC and using the game time?

Mostly they're talking about in game times. However when people say 1 week in-game it is usually code for 1 RL Day even though 1 RL day is longer than an IC week.

See you in 4 weeks will usually mean see you in 4 RL days.

excellent, thank you for the prompt reply.  Yeah i was a little daunted by the prospect of waiting weeks for important things to happen for my character

Is it possible to craft something if I dont have the skill for it?

Quote from: 650Booger on December 29, 2015, 09:44:17 PM
Is it possible to craft something if I dont have the skill for it?

No, it's not. It's possible, if you pick certain guilds/subguilds, that you will gain a crafting skill or some crafting skills that you didn't start out with, after time.

But even if you have a skill, it's no guarantee that you'll be able to craft everything that comes with that skill. There are levels of proficiency and master-quality skills can only be made by master-quality crafters. If your guild/subguild comes with the capacity to become a master crafter in a skill, then yes you can attain that mastery and ultimately be able to make that item.

Basically if you want your character to have certain skills, you need to pair up appropriate guilds and subguilds.

my first character is pretty gimped, halp!  I had no idea what I was doing.  My guild, subguild, and stats dont really compliment each other.  Should I just wander off into the desert?

Quote from: 650Booger on December 30, 2015, 12:53:45 AM
my first character is pretty gimped, halp!  I had no idea what I was doing.  My guild, subguild, and stats dont really compliment each other.  Should I just wander off into the desert?

Might be something the helpers can talk you through?
http://armageddon.org/intro/helpers.php (http://armageddon.org/intro/helpers.php)

Quote from: 650Booger on December 30, 2015, 12:53:45 AM
my first character is pretty gimped, halp!  I had no idea what I was doing.  My guild, subguild, and stats dont really compliment each other.  Should I just wander off into the desert?

A lot of people will tell you to just play through with it, or whatever... They are dumb people.

Store your character with the Request tool on Armageddon.org. It shouldn't take more than a day. And you can come up with your stat allocation and guild choices in the meantime.

Suicide is frowned upon, becuase it's an OOC motivation... But your character suddenly getting stupid, deadly ideas can be made IC I suppose. God knows I've done it when I was way too impatient to even wait a couple days to get started again.


Edit: I don't suggest just wandering off into the desert. You'll probably not get far, and then have to wait to slowly dehydrate or starve to death becuase you didn't run into anything deadly... I've also had that happen.

Did a search but couldn't find a straight answer that wasn't old.

Does changing your ldesc while hidden break your successful hide?

Quote from: Tainted Love on December 30, 2015, 02:16:30 AM
Did a search but couldn't find a straight answer that wasn't old.

Does changing your ldesc while hidden break your successful hide?

Oooo, I can answer this!

No, it doesn't, and in fact it's often a good idea to change your ldesc quite a bit when hiding, to let people know where you are (those that spot you, that is).

Quote from: RogueGunslinger on December 30, 2015, 02:14:17 AM

Quote from: 650Booger on December 30, 2015, 12:53:45 AM
my first character is pretty gimped, halp!  I had no idea what I was doing.  My guild, subguild, and stats dont really compliment each other.  Should I just wander off into the desert?

A lot of people will tell you to just play through with it, or whatever... They are dumb people.

Store your character with the Request tool on Armageddon.org. It shouldn't take more than a day. And you can come up with your stat allocation and guild choices in the meantime.

Suicide is frowned upon, becuase it's an OOC motivation... But your character suddenly getting stupid, deadly ideas can be made IC I suppose. God knows I've done it when I was way too impatient to even wait a couple days to get started again.


Edit: I don't suggest just wandering off into the desert. You'll probably not get far, and then have to wait to slowly dehydrate or starve to death becuase you didn't run into anything deadly... I've also had that happen.

Don't listen to him.....oh all right do, he may be right.  ;)
But I won't. My early characters probably had silly builds code wise, but I played those people as they were, and still had fun. The unfun was them dying because of my silliness in other aspects of the game.
Play through it and whatever!

Use the character you currently have to learn the ropes of the game itself. Take risks that you KNOW are risks. Talk to people you might not normally talk to.

A lot of the players that are still around, are more focused on the RP than the coded benefit of having you around. Especially since we all play secret magicker subguild rangers that are unkillable.

Even the halfgiants. Secret magickers. All of us.

what does MCB mean?

what does RPT mean?

what other acronyms should I be aware of?

MCB = Murder, Corruption, Betrayal (Armageddon's tagline)

RPT = Recommended Playing Time (Usually a time centered around some sort of special event in a certain area. Similarly, an HRPT (Highly Recommended Playing Time) is a rare event that typically has worldwide ramifications)

thanks Nergal!

client disconnecting.  So it seems like if I don't enter a command every like 5 minutes or so, my client will disconnect.  this can be frustrating when it's late at night and Im just sitting in the tavern by myself, etc.  Is there a way to increase the lagout time for MUSHclient?

I used to have that problem, but over time it fixed itself. No idea what happened. However, you can set up a trigger to send a . or "stat" or something every 5-10 minutes or so to help combat that... Can't quite remember how to do that either. But it's straightforward.

Find the "timer" option in your client, and set a timer for every 4 or 5 minutes to send "Save.

WARNING: THIS WILL PREVENT THE AUTO DISCONNECT FROM GOING LINKDEAD IF YOU LEAVE YOUR PC FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD ON ACCIDENT!

Quote from: Saellyn on January 15, 2016, 08:01:42 PM
WARNING: THIS WILL PREVENT THE AUTO DISCONNECT FROM GOING LINKDEAD IF YOU LEAVE YOUR PC FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD ON ACCIDENT!

lol what auto disconnect? How long is the timer, do you know?

I dont know where to find that seting

hey, one quick question

is stabbing using piercing skill too?

Yes, as I recall. Some weapons give an echo of stabbing but are coded piercing.

The best way to find out is to "assess -v" the item. It will tell you the basic skill. If there is no skill, that means the weapon uses a weapon skill you don't know.

when one of my skills dings into 'master', can I still continue to improve in that skill?  Like, are there gradations of 'master' ?  Or am I maxed out as soon as it dings?

Yes. it continues to go up.

You most likely still have a little room to improve, but there isn't another word bracket above 'master'.

Well, "little" being 1/5th of the skills progression, right?

Potentially, yes.

so how do you know, when you are maxed out?  do you continue to learn new stuff as you progress through the Master rank?

Quote from: 650Booger on January 29, 2016, 03:48:00 AM
so how do you know, when you are maxed out?  do you continue to learn new stuff as you progress through the Master rank?

It really depends. And generally, it doesn't matter. If you're talking about master crafting - then once you hit that "Master" level of skill, you are eligible to submit master-crafted items. You don't have to be at the highest percentage available to you, you just have to hit that benchmark.

Supposing each "level" is worth 10 points, with Master being worth 91-100, inclusively...

Two duplicate NPCs, with exactly the same hours played, exactly the same gear in exactly the same condition, exactly the same stats - but one NPC having Master bludgeon at 91 and the other at 100 - the one with the 100 will knock you out just as easily as the one with 91.

That's really all you need to know about the exact measurement of each level.

Quote from: Lizzie on January 29, 2016, 08:36:17 AM

Quote from: 650Booger on January 29, 2016, 03:48:00 AM
so how do you know, when you are maxed out?  do you continue to learn new stuff as you progress through the Master rank?

It really depends. And generally, it doesn't matter. If you're talking about master crafting - then once you hit that "Master" level of skill, you are eligible to submit master-crafted items. You don't have to be at the highest percentage available to you, you just have to hit that benchmark.

Supposing each "level" is worth 10 points, with Master being worth 91-100, inclusively...

Two duplicate NPCs, with exactly the same hours played, exactly the same gear in exactly the same condition, exactly the same stats - but one NPC having Master bludgeon at 91 and the other at 100 - the one with the 100 will knock you out just as easily as the one with 91.

That's really all you need to know about the exact measurement of each level.

I don't agree with this at all. Often times the last 20% (not 10%) is what stops you from falling when you climb, or guarantees a hit with an arrow, or make backstab actually useful and not a deathtrap. It is not some piddly amount that doesn't need to be worried about, it's 20% of your total skill-gain.

(http://i.imgur.com/ES5G1.gif)

new advice: you will receive a lot of conflicting code theories from players. Just do what makes sense for your character and don't worry too much about being uLTraMaxxEd

On a similar note, I've noticed a trend in combat where I clobber some mob down to "terrible" or below, and then it turns around and kicks my ass and I have to run for it.

It happens too often for me to believe it's just luck. Is there some mechanic I don't understand kicking in?

Mobs tend to get stronger the weaker they get. PCs follow the opposite trend.

It's the old "cornered rat fights hardest" logic.

Quote from: BadSkeelz on January 29, 2016, 02:52:38 PM
Mobs tend to get stronger the weaker they get. PCs follow the opposite trend.

It's the old "cornered rat fights hardest" logic.
[/quote

I been arguing with my buddy (also new) that this was a thing. I'm glad to find out it's not in my head. :)

Never noticed that. Could very well be in your head.

Well then it's in BadSkeelz's head too. :)

Quote from: Delirium on January 29, 2016, 02:26:23 PM
You will receive a lot of conflicting code theories from players.

:D

The only thing we can be absolutely sure of is that the world of Zalanthas is dangerous, and never stops being dangerous. Act accordingly.

Quote from: BadSkeelz on January 29, 2016, 02:52:38 PM
Mobs tend to get stronger the weaker they get. PCs follow the opposite trend.

It's the old "cornered rat fights hardest" logic.

I get this too I swear.

As soon as a NPC drops around 30%ish they start landed hits to the neck.

I can never tell if it's just in my head or terrible terrible luck.

I vaguely remember a staff member commenting on this back in the day. I beleive it was a coded quirk of npc's and skilling up, essentially they can skill up endlessly with no regard for wisdom based progression. Hence the longer you fight an npc the stronger it is going to get. I very well may be misremembering some stuff but I'm fairly certain that is in fact the case for npc's.

But cornered rat fights hardest, I like that take and it's easy to adapt into a hunters mentality.

Majikal's correct, NPC's and creatures have no limit on combat skills AFAIK, so the more combat one of them see's, the stronger it gets.

I remember the discussion myself, I believe it started after some twinking lead to more than a few creatures in the Northern grasslands becoming excessively dangerous for what they are. Gurth's that could roll over a fairly decent warrior and the like.

It also lead to a few fairly well equipped and frightening raptors if I remember.

Just making sure. I believe non-human nobles do not exist, correct?

Non human nobles are not a thing, you are correct.

here, let me help you.


let's say i have the skill "cabbage-virus"

which is a skill that transforms people into cabbage.


i have novice, apprentice, journeyman, advanced, master.


let's say cabbage-virus caps at 95


at 1-18 it is novice
at 19-36 it is apprentice
at 37-54 it is journeyman
at 55-72 it is advanced
at 73-95 it is master


something like that.

so at 73 it dings "master' in my skills list.

from 73, it has aaaaall the way to 95 to truly "max" out.

that is how skills work.


consequently my cabbage-virus skill is actually 172, so.

you're doomed.