What makes a long-lived character?

[Gunnerblaster]

Another tip for keeping your character's alive?

Don't do anything dangerous when the game's going through an unexpected bout of lag.

[Furious George]

If you're going to use your ranger-quit ability because you suddenly have to quit out for OOC reasons, and you're somewhere dangerous...see what time of day it is in game before you next log in.  Otherwise you could be blind, in a furious sandstorm, surrounded by those bastard red-desert gith, and your promising long-lived pc who was looking for a career change will be dead fast.

[Lithium]

• Don't trust dwarf-loving sorcerers
• Don't trust sorcerer-loving dwarfs
• Never trust an elf

[X-D]

Act like your PC is really a person.

Simplest and best advice.

[BuNutzCola]

If it's a creature you've never seen before, investigation will often end in death.

Likewise, you don't REALLY have to know what's in that cave.

If it's a 4+ room drop, and you're asking yourself "Can I make that climb?" You probably can't.

Respect people that wear cloaks that change their sdesc to their occupation.

If you didn't buy it or steal it sneaky like, probably shouldn't eat it.

When you find a corpse full of fat loot, the first temptation is to field-strip. Unless you were the creator of said corpse, it is wiser to figure out what the fuck did before you begin undressing amos#201392385

Scrab #87 is a son of a bitch. You've killed his 86 siblings, and in that time he has been training with the Ademre in how to kick your ass. Luck is a bastard.

When a chick invites you back to her apartment, consider closely that there is a 26% chance she's planning to kill you, and a 92% chance her player is a guy.

If you didn't fill it up, don't drink it.

If you're a magicker, realize inevitably, when you need that spell to work, it will not.

Your city pc just found a cool place in the deserts that has valueable stuff to be foraged? Consider that most of the desert badasses know about it too.

There are no kind-hearted 'rinthi's.

Realistic roleplaying, is how one manages to push the upper limits of life-spans. However, being prepared for the inevitable long stretches of downtime that come with that realism, is key.


Edit: I am terrible with commas. It's a character flaw, sue me.

[Harmless]

If you're fleeing from combat, enter the flee command a few times for good measure in case it fails. It fails a lot.

here's how you run away from that bahamet. This ensures that if your character WAS able to get away, that they at least had every opportunity given to them. This method isn't foolproof at all but it gets you one step closer to living to see another day.

Code Select Expand


A huge f***ing bahamet pinches your brains out for horrendous damage.
You reel from the blow.

>flee w
>flee w
>flee w
>flee w

You swiftly dodge a huge bahamet's pinches.

50/100 hp

You swiftly dodge a huge bahamet's pinches.

PANIC! You try to escape, but fail!
PANIC! You try to escape, but fail!
PANIC! You try to escape, but fail!
You flee.
A huge bahamet attacks you as you flee!
A huge bahamet pinches you solidly on your body.

[n, e, s, w] Some Shithole You Regret Walking To
This place is looking a fuck of a lot more dangerous now that you're almost
dead, doesn't it, sonny boy? WHATCHA GONNA DO NOW, SUCKA?

30/50 hp >
>w
>w
>w


That's how it's done. Sometimes. Note, the drawback is that if you get overzealous on those flee attempts, you can lose precious milliseconds (not joking, milliseconds) if the bahamet chases you... so this isn't failsafe. But it works for me more often than it doesn't.

There are a lot of survivability tips like this that you can learn the hard way or not. They are all decisions that have pros and cons, risks and potential amazing benefits. Not sure if it's been discussed yet, but falling is another one... that's quite fun.

When falling, you can try moving in any direction to grab for purchase. A risky move that costs you precious health if it fails... but can result in you stopping your fall.

At some point in your arma career, you would have come across most of the common scenarios that get you killed and mastered them. When that day comes, your responsibility changes from having some basic familiarity with the code, and advancing to deciding what your PC would realistically know to do and even voluntarily withholding some tricks that don't fit your concept or border on game abuse. That is what X-D referred to just now, which is the best advice there is, really, but for true beginners that doesn't apply as well, when you're still bewildered by the scrolling walls of grey on black text.

[Kismetic]

Ah, that reminds me, stop command is your friend.

[evil_erdlu]

Make an alias and a trigger; the alias, "esc\s*(\w*)" has the command; "flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;" and the trigger, "You flee .+" has the command "stop".

[RogueGunslinger]

Make an alias and a trigger; the alias, "esc\s*(\w*)" has the command; "flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;flee %1;" and the trigger, "You flee .+" has the command "stop".

Would get you killed.

[perfecto]

My suggestion (mind you I haven't read all the posts of this thread) is to Role Play...

Roleplay Well, and take your time to build your character instead of just running around like a noob buying up expensive gear to make yourself look hardened only to die horrificaly because "oh yeah" You're still a noob...

Also if you put the time and effort into playing your character (not just playing for skills and coins) People tend to enjoy those characters and are far less likely to want to kill you because they like having you around... (disclaimer - this is does not always apply)

If you take the time to emote, think and generaly express your character to the rest of the world, that in itself takes time.  The rewards for doing so are infinitly greater than trying to hack and slash your way to glory.

[musashi]

I'd like to hope everyone generally gets that. I just hope that this thread helps the new players avoid some of those derp moments where one dies to a silly coded issue like ... oh ... I didn't know codedly "throwing" dung at that breed I don't like would be taken by the city militia as attempted murder, resulting in my getting dog pilled by like 50 half giant soldiers in the middle of the street.

[Scarecrow]

-Never make an enemy more powerful than you
-When bored, don't go out for suicide or exploring
-Don't be prideful
-Learn to hold your tongue
-Have a point, usually based on HP, when you flee, no matter what is happening.
-When brawling, always double-check you are using 'hit' command, and not kill.
-Don't subdue anyone in a city, ever.
-Don't give people a reason to kill you (don't raid, rob, or pick fights you don't know you can win before you pick them)
-Don't act on impulse. Step back, logout, then come back later to decide.

I know this, because all these things have killed me in the past. Also, acting like a regular person is a good way to go. And remember, being connected, having lots of friends, and aligning yourself with the City Powers is more protective than any armor or weapons you can ever afford.

[perfecto]

I'd like to hope everyone generally gets that. I just hope that this thread helps the new players avoid some of those derp moments where one dies to a silly coded issue like ... oh ... I didn't know codedly "throwing" dung at that breed I don't like would be taken by the city militia as attempted murder, resulting in my getting dog pilled by like 50 half giant soldiers in the middle of the street.

This reminds me.

Don't "poke" templars...

[James de Monet]

The hilarious truth

+1

Also:

Edit: I am terrible with commas. It's a character flaw, sue me.

I say this partly tongue in cheek, but punctuation and grammar issues can land you in the hot seat. "That, Lord Templar, is an asshole." is a whole lot different than "That Lord Templar is an asshole."  Be wary of your treacherous fingers!

[razorback]

That would be so awesome to see.

The two longest lived characters I had I approached with the thought that, well, they'd be opposite. Always in dangerous situations, charging in when it would be smarter to wait, that kind of thing. My safer PCs get HRPT bitch slapped. Fun, but...short?

[ShaLeah]

The hilarious truth

+1

Also:

Edit: I am terrible with commas. It's a character flaw, sue me.

I say this partly tongue in cheek, but punctuation and grammar issues can land you in the hot seat. "That, Lord Templar, is an asshole." is a whole lot different than "That Lord Templar is an asshole."  Be wary of your treacherous fingers!

This is my fave today.

I suck at long lived characters, three months seems to be my average since I returned from the dead. I don't play it safe -interaction- wise. People just looooooooove to hate my chars and murder them. It's a badge of honor.

[Morrolan]

Find long-lived characters to play with. Befriend them.

[Twilight]

The real secret is:

Character started 6 months ago.
3 hours played.

There you go.

[Molten Heart]

Get really lucky.

[jigglypuffs]

1.  Don't go out of the city alone.  Even having someone along with much less skill can help a lot when things get hairy, and multiple opponents are a good thing in melee (when they're on your side).

This, so much this.  The secondary benefit of always following this rule is that when you have someone with you helping to bring the world alive with emotes and conversation it's easier to view the world as alive instead of a coded experience.

I know, I'm a little late on this, but my experience is just the opposite. The more people you have with you the more likely someone is going to screw up or try something you'd never do and get you into trouble. Conversely, you yourself will be a little more daring which isn't always that great either.

[Inks]

Don't pretend to be the best fighter with awesome ninja 'say (whirling blades in a dizzying pattern, weapons a blur of speed) I am the best fighter there is!' When you have novice skill. That will likely make people go out of their way to harm you.

Don't; when in a clan that has sparring, get up and spar again and again after being so hurt you are sent to the medic. Someone will eventually mercy off.

Do, use plenty of emotes and RP your character well, oocly many people will be more hesitant to kill a good RPer for little reason, when there is better interaction to be had.

All these things. Or you could pretend to be a new player and barely emote at all and never use think and act like you haven't read the docs. You will even survive taking off your pants repeatedly in front of a Templar. Maybe.

[Ender]

The real secret is:

Character started 6 months ago.
3 hours played.

There you go.

This is the first time a character of mine survived for an IG year. Achievement unlocked: "long lived" (lol, I know)

I tried out this game in 2010, and then promptly forgot about it. When I came back last month, the character I had aged like 5 years. Does that count?

[MeTekillot]

Inks I kinda hope most of your advice is facetious.

[Inks]

I am glad my facetiousness managed to be heard even in text format. No harm meant MeTekillot.

[Fujikoma]

Always remember, if you flee on foot, your mount is not coming with you, even if it's standing up.