Interviews: Aslan and Mumra; Juliana: Art of area building
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Cry of Despair Issue 67, 1/03
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|
.JNNNN` .JNNNNNL NNNNNN. | In this month's issue:
JNNNNN) JNNNNNNNNL (NNNNNNN. | This month's Features-
JNN` JNN` NNN (NN. (NN)| * Two special interviews
(NN` (NN` NNF (NN` (NN`| of the Realms' newest
(NN. (NN. JNN` NNF JNN) | Immortals, Aslan and Mumra.
(NNNNNN (NNNNNNNNN' (NNNNNNNF | * Juliana gives us tips on
4NNNN` "NNNNNN` NNNNNNF | the art of area building.
| * More poetry submissions.
The Cry of Despair! | * All the news from Guilds
=================== | and Orders around the
* * * | Realms.
* | * Fun-filled Quests!
* * * | * And much, much more!
* |
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Editor: Alysira Immortal Sponsor: Elisabet
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Staff: Amante, Ganemanoimu, Gawen, Ilsensine, Juliana,
Kellandra, Khaimran, Shadia, Shadrack, Simone, Vaile.
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Contents CoD, Issue 67
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Desk of the Editor
News from around the Realms
Inter Guild Quest Council News
Interviews
Aslan Interview
Mumra Interview
Cresis Interview: Survivor II
Ardeth Interview: Winner of Survivor I
Furthering the Builder's Art
Rants from the Summit- Questing
New Year's Resolutions
A View for the Future
Poetry Submissions
Funnybones
Quests
Elisabet's Corner
Advertisements
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Desk of the Editor- by Alysira Editor
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What better way to start off the year 2003, than with a full
issue of the Cry of Despair? Well, that's what you've got!
Through parties and hangovers, gifts and relatives, our staff
have been working hard through the holidays to present you with
a jam-packed issue this month.
This month we're presenting you with some of the regulars,
including an addition to Ganemanoimu's regular column, Rants
from the Summit. We've also managed to obtain interviews from
Aslan and Mumra, and a special interview with Cresis about
this years Survivor quests. We also welcome Amante's return
to the Cry of Despair staff!
I hope you enjoy all the hard work these people have put in over
the last month, I know I do, and we from the Cry of Despair
staff wish you a happy and safe new year!
-Alysira
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Guild/Order News- by Kellandra News
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Guild of Augurers -
The GoA welcomes Arannor into our ranks, may he feel at home
within the guildhall and find friends with his fellow auggies.
From all of us Augurers we wish the realms a Merry Christmas and
have a happy New Year.
May your wishes, dreams, and hopes come true.
Guild of Clerics -
This month has been one of changes. Our beloved Guildmistress
has decided to step down and cash in on her lifetime supply of
Kumquat merlot. We love you Kellandra and your leadership will
be sorely missed!
The GoC would also like to congratulate its new leaders,
Gatersade and Chalamar.
Newly annointed clerics who have received their first dirty
carrot include Schelbie, Marlon, Cheyann, Brounir and Sykic.
Looking to join the biggest group of loonies in the Realms for
dirty carrots, gnome tag and boogie trains? Abattoir Asylum
too hard to get to? Come talk to a CoC or a leader of the Guild
of Clerics located nw, 2w, 2n, e, u from Darkhaven Square!
Order of MaidenStone
As the holidays approach, the order welcomes its newest members
Cheyana, Drazen, Kittany, Fareub and Shasta. The hard work and
dedication of all the members is very much appreciated- Thanks
for a great month everyone.
Applications should now be submitted with a main character,
however anyone persisting on joining otherwise must first
attain three letters of reference from members of the order
with voting privileges. Those with questions are encouraged to
read the helpfiles for more information.
Happy holidays from the Order of MaidenStone!
Guild of Mages
This month in the GoM we have had much activity. There are few
mobs that did not feel our wrath. Set, Kraken, Lodd, Faragut,
Father Time, Nelson, Tarry, Brunhilde, Legba, Justice, and
Zeus all felt our quantum spikes!
Our Guild Master Meade is busy working on behalf of mages, we
are still hoping to hear good things soon.
Our leaders are working to update the structure of the guild
groups such as War Mages, Mage Apprentice Program, and the
Web Page Council. We look forward to great things here.
Congratulations to Futhark for making the GoM Quest Council
Secondary Leader, and Rebeca for making the Mages Expeditiary
Force.
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IGQC Summaries- by Shadrack IGQC
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Guild of Paladin's IGQC Quest
Early in December, the Guild of Paladins received a cry for
help on behalf of Prometheus, whose attempts to help the peoples
of Realms had incurred the wrath of Zeus. Recruited to the cause
of seeking out and destroying the minions of Zeus, questors from
the Guilds scoured the land far and wide. Many bloody battles
ensued, but finally the minions were defeated, and peace restored.
Guild of Nephandi's IGQC Quest
Just before Christmas, a gang of thieving rabbits staged a
daring robbery at a local orphange owned by the Guild of Nephandi.
In the interests of demonstrating that the Guilds of Realms would
not tolerate such impertinence, questors banded together to seek
out the criminals and teach them them a lesson. In this cause,
many Realms pubs were searched and numerous bloody battles
engaged in.
Eventually the Guilds emerged victorious, returning bearing
numerous rabbit trophies and a large pile of stolen christmas
decorations.
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Aslan Interview- by Khaimran Interviews
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Aslan steps into your reality from the stars.
Born from the Moon, this half lion, half vampire stands before
you. He has many runes cast around his neck, and glows under a
strange aura..
Aslan looks to be about 6'2", and looks to be around 110 pounds.
His black hair is long and straight, his face showing a short
goatee and a small mustache. His faded yellow skin creates a
disturbing contrast with his black eyes.
Aslan is using:
the Lion's Mane
the robe of the Zodiac
the tears of the moon
a lion's tail
Khaimran: Ok, first off, thanks for sparing the time. I guess
you must be fairly busy about now.
Right, first question. How long have you been playing
the mud for?'
Aslan : Just over three years, my first character was a pixie.
Then we moved, and I lost the character and made Aslan.
Aslan misses his Pixie.
Khaimran : How long's Aslan been around?
Aslan : Coming up to two years now, if not longer.
Khaimran : What're your first impressions of immortality? I know
you probably havn't had much time to make a proper
judgement, but still...
Aslan : Tons to learn, it's an overwhelming learning
experience. Involves a ton of reading and studying, but
it's also fun.
Khaimran : What were your thoughts when you were first approached
about becoming an imm?
Aslan : "Shocked" would be one of them. It's not the easiest
thing for anyone to be prepared to be asked about.
You go through the mental checks of, 'How much coffee
did I have today?' etc...
Khaimran : So what kind of factors went into your decision of
whether to take up the offer? Did it take you long
to decide?
Aslan : I felt that it was the right move, but the deciding
factor was that I had no negative thoughts that would
have made me say 'no'.
Khaimran : No regrets, then?
Aslan : I have the usual missing guild/council life, but
again, that's normal... It's a vast change. But no,
no real regrets. :)'
Khaimran : How did the GoV/NC react to you imming, out of
curiosity?
Aslan : I think 'surprised and shocked' would be the best
answer for that one. I think they were dissapointed
I was leaving, but it's hard to say.
Khaimran : Do you think you'll continue to play on mortal
characters, though? And if so, a lot? Or just enough
to keep in touch?
Aslan : As life moves on, yes. As for right now, no. I'll be
on mortals from time to time in the near future,
though.
Khaimran : What's been the hardest thing to adjust to, so far?
Aslan : It's an over-whelming change, like a whole new life.
As with anything adjusting to such a change takes
time. One of the major changes is the amount of help
I can give, comparing being an NCer to an imm.
e.g. Rushing to CRs, uplifting, etc...
Khaimran : Has your work in the NC, or anywhere else for that
matter, helped prepare you for being an imm at all?
And if so, how?'
Aslan : I have always been a caring person. NC only
reinforced that.
Khaimran : What kind of new perspectives on mud-life has
immortalhood given you?
Aslan : A whole new perspective, really. Like I said, it's
a whole new ballgame, with many new challenges. I'd
say it's the ultimate learning rush, and an
overwhelming one... Learning a whole new life and
to look on things at a totally different perspective.
Khaimran : What're your impressions of the immortal community in
general? Perhaps the imms that us morts see less of,
in particular?'
You hear Aslan hrm.
Aslan : Hard to comment on that one, but I'd say we are a
family and work together as a team.
Khaimran : So you see a clear divide between the immortal
community and the mortal community?
Aslan : Hrm. I wont comment on that one.
Khaimran : Well, even from this mortal point of view, its
easy to see that there are lots of different
'types' of imms.. People who mainly code, or do
quests, or do a bit of everything, etc...
What do you see yourself specialising in, when
you've had a chance to settle down and get to grips
with it all?
Aslan is a jack of all trades.
Aslan : I'm mostly a creative person, but I also build.
I'll probably be more along the lines of building,
etc. I'd probably like to join the quest council,
but who knows what the future holds. :)
Khaimran : I look forward to some of your quests, then ;)
Ok.. Since you've become an immortal, I've heard both
positive and negative things about you... But by far
the most comments were about how relatively unknown
you are/were. Many people see that as a reason to
criticise the choice of making you an immortal.
How would you respond to that?
Aslan : I think for anyone, it's easy for anyone to make
comments about the 'unknown'. For those who do know
me, I think they'd agree that there is a reason for
everything. It's also easy for the rumours and gossip
to spread, but I'm not a bad person. I welcome all
criticism, but like I said, things in life happen for
a reason.
Khaimran : Do you think not being as well known as some other
new imms will be a help or a hindrance initially,
and if so, how?
Aslan : I'd say a mix, but I'm also not a hard person to talk
to if someone wants to know more about me (within
reason). In terms of a hindrance, I'd refer to the
criticism point, or gossip spreading. But I think it
helps, as I hope to provide more of a fun outlook for
Realms, with fresh ideas for quests/building and
increasing the enjoyment of the game for everyone.
Khaimran : Since the Shattering, RoD is still in a bit of
disarray. Are there any ways in which you'd like to
use your new position to help influence the way the
game is played? Any changes you'd like to see made?
Aslan : I'll be working on new areas, new and never before
done quest ideas. i.e I hope to increase the growing
enjoyment of the game as a whole.
Khaimran : In your opinion, what's the best thing about the
game as a whole?
Aslan : Creativity.. the Realms helps enchance and nurture
everyone's gift to think creatively and have fun.
Khaimran : Okay, finishing off. Do you have any message you'd
like to send out to the readers of the Cry of Despair?
Aslan : I think that everyone has potential to live their
dreams, but it takes time to balance out ideas,
thoughts. No goal is really unreachable, it's just
how you get there at the end and what choices you
make in life can help or hinder your ambitions.
Learning is the key to unlocking what life has in
store for us all.
Khaimran : How about a message to those who don't like your
appointment as an imm?
Aslan : I'm not a hard person to talk to, and I have a high
patience level... So feel free to get to know me.
Khaimran : Thanks for your time Aslan :) And good luck with
the new position.
Aslan : Most welcome and thanks again :)
Aslan smiles happily.
Aslan waves happily.
Aslan leaves towards the stars.
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Mumra Interview- by Simone Interviews
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As I staggered through a new forest in the realms, I suddenly
felt that I was not alone. I kept my keen senses aroused, but I
could not pick up what or where the creature was, although I
could sense it drawing ever closer to me.
Before I knew it, I was shrouded in a cloud of dark purple smoke,
and then I fell to the ground.
Mumra emerges from his Everlasting Sarcophagus, poised and ready
for anything.
He extended his hand to me, and assisted me to my feet.
You say 'Unbelievable! Do my eyes deceive me, or is this truly
one of the newest additions to our immortal community?!'
Mumra grins, and nods solemnly.
You say 'Kind lord, do you have a moment to spare, to enlighten
the realms about yourself?'
Again, Mumra nods.
As you gaze upon Mumra, you feel a shivering in your spine, as
you recognize this being of utmost evil. The parchment thin skin,
the orbs of fire for eyes, the lack of muscle. You gauge him to
be nothing more than a man who has lived far past his own death,
through his own fell magics. The word "lich" almost escapes
your mouth, and would, if your tongue wasnt frozen in fear.
Mumra looks to be about 6'3", and looks to be around 81 pounds.
His short, spiked hair is a silver color. His grey eyes match
beautifully with his grey skin.
Mumra is using:
bloodstained bandages
more bloodstained bandages
Simone: For the records, what is your full name?
Mumra : Mumra, the Everliving.
Simone: How long have you been walking these realms?
Mumra : I joined the realms between between 4, and 4.5 years ago.
Simone: Was Mumra your initial identity?
Mumra shakes his head.
Mumra : I still use him everyday when I am not up here, and he is
a thief, with a very, very low base.
I switched to a Mage, because of the name Mumra, he was
always one of my favorite cartoon villians. Also, it is
a short name, so people have no problems remembering it.
Simone: How do you find immortal life?
Mumra : I find it can be busy at times, and slow at times. But
overall, I would have to say that I am really enjoying
myself a lot. :)
Simone: What were your reactions to the immortal community first
being interested in your candidacy?
Mumra : It was a big suprise, and it was something I was hoping
would happen eventually, but I didn't feel I was ready
myself. Apparently others thought differently, and I
hope I have not disappointed them so far.
Simone: So you would not recommend future candidates to run away
screaming if asked?
Mumra : I wouldn't, no. But, I would advise them to be sure it is
something they really want. Going back to mortal life,
will be a tough thing I am told.
Simone: That leads into my next question. I know you were very
active in helping vanquish the realms of many mobs. Do
you still see yourself partaking in runs?'
Mumra : I would like to see myself accomplishing that, and I
believe in time I will do so again. It is my heartfelt
belief, that you can not do what we are doing up here, if
you don't keep a feel on the pulse of the realms.
Simone: I also know, if others did not, that you were a long time
member of the order of Inconnu. You must be very attached
still, and sad at leaving.
Mumra nods solemnly.
Mumra : Well, yes, I did belong to the Order of Inconnu, for
several years, and it would be inhuman not to miss it,
on my character, when I spend 99% of my time on this
character. We are a very tight knit bunch, so it is like
losing part of my family, when I cannot see, nor use,
Ordertalk.
Simone: Have you ever been a part of any guilds or councils?
Mumra : I have not, though I had inquired as to joining The
Symposium, as well as Newbie Council. As a member of
Inconnu though, we abstain from joining such councils, on
our characters. We wish to be seen as reclusive, and being
a member of either, would be spending some time being
noticed. We prefer to walk the shadows.
Simone: Has there been any person, or people, that come to mind
that you would like to mention, that have had a
significant impact on your life?
Mumra : I would like to think, that all of my Brothers and Sisters
in the Order, have impacted my life on here. I am not the
same green player that I was 4.5 years ago.
Simone: How do you see yourself making the biggest influence on
the realms now, as an immortal?'
Mumra : In the end, I would like to contribute to some of the
explorers out there like myself, and hope to build some
nice places for them to explore :)
Simone: I've already seen you on more channels than I am used to.
Are you trying to see that everyone gets their regular
dose of Mumra?
Mumra : I was always a talkative fellow, people just did not know
who I was if I was speaking on channels. It is something
I can do now, and I think it is important, for new
Immortals, to be known somewhat, by many of the players,
especially in the case of myself, since many people did
not know me as a person.
Simone: Did your previous immortal ordermates, Dria, Edmond, Kali
and Moonbeam give you the sharp end of a initiation stick
upon your promotion? ;)
Mumra : Let's just say, Balzhur and I, are getting to be good
friends. :)
Simone: OK, last question :)
Is there any message you would like to give to the people
of the realms?
Mumra : Just that I would like them to keep exploring, and
enjoying themselves here.
Simone: Thank you kindly for your time.
With that he stepped back, and as he gave a slight bow, once
again a cloud of thick dark purple smoke emanated.
Suddenly, Mumra returned to the safety of his Everlasting
Sarcophagus.
I found myself on the ground again with a puff of purple smoke
tickling my nose. I quickly gathered myself and raced forth to
Darkhaven to share and record the encounter.
Thank you once again Mumra. :)
Simone
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Creseis Interview- by Zwanth Interviews
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Outwit, Outplay, Outlast: Survivor II - Surviving the Shattering.
Zwanth: How will this year's Survivor quest be organized? Will
it be like last year's quest?
Cresis: We're planning on involving way more people this time.
Last year it was 12 people (with some alternates).
This year we're going to start with 32 people. We're
going to be doing two quests per night.
Groups will be voted off to begin with in the first few
challenges, and then once it is down to a managable
number, voting will be done.
Zwanth: How will the qualifiers be done?
Cresis: Organizations will be selecting 1 participant (1 from
each guild/order, and the two Mort councils.) This totals
21. We'll then have 11 Survivor Tickets scattered about
which will be claimed. The tickets however are 'special'.
They can be transferred or traded.
We thought it best to go this route this year, to build
more rivalry between organizations, and to 'attempt to
limit voting blocks' when voting time comes.
Zwanth: Is there a timeline for all this yet?
Cresis: We're hopefully going to have the voting quests start by
the beginning of February... Although that is still
tentative.
We'll be sending out advertisements to the organizations
shortly and give them a week or week and a half or so
to submit a participant.
Zwanth: What kinds of events are planned for each quest? I
remember there was a lot of fun and different stuff
last year... Anything that you can hint at ahead of time?
Cresis: There will certainly be a wide range of activities this
year, again particularly because of the new and fun code
that was brought during the Shattering.
A lot of that code though will go unnoticed for the most
part, but will make the quests run smoother and be more
interactive.
We've already developed some amazing new quests. I'm
super psyched about those. I can't wait to see them go.
Zwanth: And there will be some great prizes this year as well?
Cresis nods solemnly.
Cresis: Super prizes. Thanks again to Hoerkin, Ceirana and QC.
And apparently because there are more participants...
Larger quantities.
Zwanth: So you said there were 32 people who start, and at
first there will be groups voted off. Then, how many
people before individuals start to be voted off?
Cresis: Not voted off... Just eliminated. Voting will not begin
until there are 16 remaining participants (like the
real show). For example, if there were four groups,
the first 3 groups to finish would be elligible for the
next quest. The losing group which tried valiantly
would be shown the door.
These initial 'groups' however will not be the same
'tribe' groups that undertake the actual voting
process as well. Once the numbers are widdled down,
the groups will be sorted and balanced.
Zwanth: Sounds like there will be a lot of strategy :) Do you
expect there will be a lot of backstabbing, trickery,
etc. this time around?
Cresis: I hope there will be a lot of backstabbing and treachery.
That's what makes it so fun to watch. I say all the
power to shifting alliances.
Stab your friends in the back. The game is about winning.
Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.
Zwanth: Will there be deadlies allowed?
Cresis: We tried to work in deadlies this year, however it
became unmanageable due to the nature of some of the
activities. We really did try, but unfortunately it is
not possible this year. Deadlies can always participate
on a peaceful though :)
Zwanth: Well I think we're really looking forward to it.
Anything else you'd like to add?
Cresis: I hope the guilds/orders/mort councils submit their
applicant on time. I hope people show up and play.
I hope people die horribly and potentialy lose equipment.
And lastly, I hope people have fun. That's what the
quest is for.
Zwanth: Alright :) I'm sure Survivor will be fun for everyone
involved, and thanks, on behalf of all of us, for
helping set up everything again.
Cresis smiles happily.
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Ardeth Interview- by Cresis Interviews
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We survived the first one, and now another Survivor game draws
near. Cresis, one of the main creators of the RoD Survivor
Challenge, speaks with Ardeth about his win of the first game,
and his feelings about the Challenge.
Cresis: As the winner of the first Survivor challenge on
RoD, what did you find most important to get you to
the final round?
Ardeth: I believe what enabled me to get to the final round was
because of the following two things; Not being well
known, and not being considered an immediate threat.
While in other quests your skills are pitted against
everyone else, Survivor was organized so that that
abilities of others on your team played an important
part as well as their preconceived ideas. Since most
players were content to sacrifice their short-term gain
(ie: a strong group team) for the long-term (ie: weaker
individual competitors in the late game), the old adage
"out of sight, out of mind" proved to my advantage.
Cresis: What was your favourite event?
Ardeth: I liked the dress up quest which was near the end. The
first part our goal was to lower our damage roll and
hit roll as much as possible. Knowledge about what
equipment was useless was definetly an asset. The second
part involved picking EQ up from a pile to increase our
damage roll and hit roll as much as possible. This was
fun because it allowed many of us to touch and wear many
out of game items we normally would never be able to.
This event especially stuck out in my mind because it
tested not the characters abilities, but the knowledge
of the people behind them.
Cresis: Was there any unexpected turn of events, you did not
forsee? ie: Voting.
Ardeth: Honestly, I didn't go in expecting to win, Cyril had
odds on me winning at 51:1 compared to the 3:1 of the
favorites. I believed in myself enough to hope that I
wouldn't be eliminated until at least half-way but
surviving until the final few rounds was definetly a
surprise. Almost all the participants were more skilled
in every aspect of the game then me and if I had much
gold then, I would have placed money on them.
Cresis: Do you believe that alliances played an important part
of the Survivor Challenge?
Ardeth: I do believe that alliances played an important part
of the Survivor challenge. It was as much about politics
and blind self motivation as it was about martial skills.
Knowing about the different personalities and who their
circle of friends were allowed many people to correctly
predict the outcomes of all the votes.
Cresis: Were you part of any alliances?
Ardeth: I was, my first alliance was with Zwanth and we allied
several times with different factions depending on need
and threats. Our allies brilliance shielded us from
votes every single time.
Cresis: Were you supported by your fellow order mates? Did
they cheer you on?
Ardeth: I was supported by the order mates and I would never
had made it that far without their constant moral
support. Whenever I was just about to give up, they
talked to me and provided me with the foundation to
move on.
Cresis: We plan on having more participants in the second
Survivor (Survivor II: Surviving the Shattering). How
do you think this will affect the outcome?
Ardeth: By including such a wide variety of participants, I
believe that it can only help improve the challenge
by making it based not on individual merit, but
teamwork. This way even the most normal player can
achieve great things.
The only problem I can see is that it would increase
the amount of time each challenge would take and the
overall length of Survivor.
Cresis: With the shattering, what new pitfalls do you think
contestants will have to deal with when they undertake
their challenges?
Ardeth: The greatest problem that the contestants will have
to deal with will always be each other. Enough time
has passed for serious contenders to have sufficently
mastered the new areas. This means the intial teams
with their combined knowledge should be able to
naviagate the Realms and accomplish the tasks laid
out for them. The only questions therefore will be,
which team will be first, and how will the others vote?
Cresis: What would you have considered the most humorous moment
of the event?
Ardeth: I believe for me the most humorous events was the
results of the first vote and I don't think I can
safely elaborate on it further. You just had to be there.
Ardeth: Thank-you for taking the time to interview and
listening to me. I very much enjoyed last years
Survivor and I encourage everyone to give it a try.
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Furthering the Builder's Art- by Juliana Building
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Furthering the Builder's Art: What really makes an area good?
Lo folks, I'm back after a long hiatus with a new column for the
New Year, and this time, I'm tackling the art of area building.
The key difference between this and RoD 101? Unlike navigating
the perils of the realms or killing a mob efficiently, there is
no one smart way to build an area. Every builder has their own
style. There are only things that work for you, and those that
don't.
Also, there are probably a thousand and one builders out there
who build more prolifically than me, and with a lot more
expertise. So the point of these articles is not to teach
anything, but to share an opinion and encourage more discussion
on our forums. Building's lonely work and it's often easy to get
discouraged or distracted by something a little more interesting.
It'll be great to form a community of RoD builders - Immortal
and Mortal alike - to support each other.
What are important milestones in increasing your experience as a
builder? What makes other people take you a little more seriously
when you call yourself a builder? Putting your money where your
mouth is, of course. Do you have proof?
Anyone can doodle something. Anyone can declare he's an artist
without even drawing anything. But an experienced artist, one
who wants to go professional, will have a portfolio of works to
show off. The more areas under your belt, the more people will
acknowledge you as a builder. (Whether they like your work or
hate it defines you as a good or bad builder to them.)
No one person can sit on their laurels and say this or that is
a good area, because it all depends on the purpose of the area.
Are you looking for realism? Consistency? Do you want to make
a challenging quest for players? Are you filling a niche for
equipment or providing more mobs to level on? Is the number of
people passing through your area or staying in the area important
to you? Basically if you, the builder, are happy with it, then
you have achieved one measure of success.
The second measure of success is whether you match or exceed the
building standards of the people who will make the final call as
to whether to accept and install the area on their mud.
And the third and last measure of success is whether the players
of the mud like it. This is very subjective at best. Some players
are happy with a great theme and an intriguing storyline, others
might demand detailed writing, interactive stuff to play with,
or mysteries and secrets to solve. Still, others couldn't care
less if your room descriptions were worthy of a Pulitzer, as
long as they have challenging mobs to fight and equipment that
is useful.
Bottom line: You're never going to please everybody. My
suggestion? Please yourself first. Make an area that you're
proud to put your name on. Complete it. Put the first measure
of success under your belt. Then check if the area can pass the
second. If they say "No," or "Not quite yet," then get feedback
and revise the area until they are happy also. Once it is
installed in the mud, voila, a published area!
Don't forget about it immediately after that, though. Listen to
what the players say as they explore it. At the very least,
you'll learn what the audience likes and dislikes. This can help
in the next area you build. Nothing stops you from breaking
expectations and including stuff the players hate if you want
to. Just be aware the more frustrations people encounter, the
less likely they will ever completely explore your area and
hence appreciate all the work you put into it.
If there is one thing for certain, builders do not fit into neat
categories. And what one person may like, another may dislike.
That is the whole point of having many builders, so we can see
the world through the eyes of many different people.
Bad building is subjective. The builders Herne describes in his
essay "The Mechanics of Building" are basically incomplete
builders. Why? Because they have left out exit descriptions and
extra descriptions, and have not filled in other descriptions
to the requirements of the mud they are building for. In this
case, we are using RoD guidelines. On other muds, they could be
perfectly acceptable areas.
Of course, if you are thinking of building for RoD, then you must
fulfill the the area guidelines found on the building board. At
the very least. And admittedly, the building standards of RoD
are quite high, as compared to the greater proportion of existing
muds.
If you just read that last sentence and snickered to yourself,
"RoD has high building standards? Since when?" and are ready to
brandish a list of fifty places which need a lot more
improvement... Congratulations, you have even higher standards
than the RoD baseline.
You probably belong to the side of the spectrum of people who are
perfectionists in area building. You see possible improvements in
every area you walk across in the mud, and keep thinking I can do
this a little better. You might be the sort to notice flaws and
bugs in existing areas. You twitch uncomfortably when a word is
misspelled and immediately submit a typo. You have a tendency to
start frothing at the mouth when you "look at object in the room
description" and the mud tells you "You do not see that here."
Satisfying other people with the quality of your area should not
be a problem for you.
Where you will encounter trouble is actually finishing an area
that pleases you and managing to do it in a reasonable amount of
time. Ambition will try to expand the scope of the building
project, and halfway through, you might get bogged down and get
depressed at the amount of work not yet done.
On the other side of the spectrum, there are those who have
suffered a good deal of scorn and ribbing by the more elitist,
perfectionist builders. This certain type of builder has a
tendency to create a certain type of area. The most unfair
stereotype follows: These people do not plan before they build.
They build on the fly and settle for low quality descriptive
sentences. "There is a chair here. You see a table here as well."
Typically, their grammar and spelling is abysmal, and since they
build online - there is no spellchecker present to correct the
error. Their purpose may be to fill up rooms to create the
impression of 'space' and 'bulk,' in which case large, twisty
corridors with absolutely nothing in them prevail. Or they may
wish to create mobs for easy leveling or to obtain super-powered
objects, as a result, little effort is spent on fleshing out the
area with descriptions as they are considered non-essential.
You might feel uncomfortable owning up that you relate more to
this side of the spectrum. Every building guide seems to have
been written by one of those elitists who get all anal about
grammar and spelling. They grandly proclaim your style of
building to be substandard and not the right way to do things.
So what if you have config +brief on almost all the time? You
don't mind cutting a few corners here and there, because no one
is ever going to look at them except for those crazy nitpickers.
You just want to build a cool area with all the neat stuff that
you'd like.
Congratulations also. It is very likely that you will finish an
area (and a BIG one) to your satisfaction in an extremely rapid
amount of time. You'll probably never suffer from writer's block,
and get all emotional and depressed about how much there is left
to build. Gliding through a hundred rooms and filling them up in
a day should be no sweat to you. You get much more ego boosts
from finishing areas because you complete them faster, and you
get to play with your dream areas.
Like all things, there is a catch. Your problem will be trying
to convince other people with higher building standards that
your area is worth looking at. (Read: the Immortals who maintain
a baseline of quality for their mud.) They, on the other hand,
will be trying to figure out the nicest way to tell you the area
isn't quite good enough for them yet.
Understand that all building problems can be fixed. That goes
for you perfectionists out there as well. I do not believe that
there is ever an area that cannot be worked on and improved so
that it reaches a higher standard of quality.
Areas, like all pieces of writing, are drafts. Drafts can be
revised, cut, re-edited, changed around, and made better.
In truth, I think the latter group of people have it much easier.
Fixing and tightening up a draft is often easier than getting the
draft down on paper in the first place. All you have to do is be
willing to listen to feedback from people who spot the errors
and omissions, go back to the drawing board and spend the effort
to fix the area and make it better.
If there is one mistake most people make, it is not revising.
Good writers will never use their first draft. They always revise
and edit it. Good programmers will never settle for the first
version. They are also revising and improving their programs.
Building areas is a mix of writing and programming, and if you do
not revise, then it is no wonder that your area will always look
like a first draft or a beta version.
The general advice is to plan before you build. This is because
nearly every builder has tried once to build without planning,
and ended up with a huge bunch of vnums signifying absolutely
nothing. A lot of work goes down the drain, and is usually never
picked up again and revised because it would take too much effort
to re-plan, then rewrite. Still, if you are the sort of builder
who has no clue how to plan, freewriting or 'free-building' might
be the way to generate ideas. Just bear in mind that your initial
attempt should never be your final word on it.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with building on the fly. I
have seen builders who are crippled when looking at a word
processor, but produce an immense quantity of descriptions when
using the MUD editor and running from room to room. These
descriptions are generated spontaneously from the imagination and
often have more life to them. However, grammatical errors and
typos tend to slip in, and they sometimes read like a random
catalogue of things in the room. Does this mean that building on
the fly is forbidden? No. It means you need to REVISE.
After you have the bulk of the room description done and are
finally tired out of filling blank space, go back to your first
room and look at it again. Re-vision. What is the focal point
of the room? Make sure your new description focuses on it. You
already know what is in the room, that is where your old
description comes in. Pretend your old description is someone
else's. I am sure every builder out there starts building
because at one point in time, they saw someone's area (often
one of the classic areas) and went "Yuck, I can do better."
Are all five senses being addressed in the room as best as they
can? Make sure your new description improves on the old.
At the same time, it doesn't mean that a 24 line room filled
with details is the best kind of room either. I absolutely
guarantee no one but the Immortal checking it and you will
read a 24 line room from top to bottom with loving fascination.
The attention span of most players is around 4-8 lines, and
anything longer will make eyes glaze over the essay. At best,
they will read it painfully because they think they can find
important clues in it. At worst, they will turn on config +brief.
Being concise is also part of building. Do you really need 5
lines describing a tree in the room in microscopic detail? Not
unless it is exceptionally important, just use one, and
transfer the other 4 lines into an extra description. This
makes more sense as the eye tends to take in surroundings at
a glance. Upon examining an object, 'look tree,' more details
emerge.
Once that is done, kill the grammar errors and the typos. Get
someone to proofread it for you, preferably someone really
nitpicky about correct English. Cut and paste it into a word
processor, and run a spellcheck on it if you have to. Nothing
looks more unprofessional than an area that looks like a
ten-year-old kiddie h4x0r wrote it.
There is a reason why re-writes of old areas are so popular.
The old builders were the pioneers. They built on the mud and
rarely planned out an area, that kind of sophistication came
later. Anyone walking through the area knows very well it is
only a first draft. It has the potential to look much better
on a re-write. To a certain kind of builder, re-writing old
areas is easier than building from scratch because the
foundations are already in place. It is only a matter of
making the area more interesting and lavishing more details on
it.
Any area can be fixed, if you take the effort to revise it and
make it look good. The problem is that people tend to stop
before they should, and declare an area built before it really is.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Rants from the Summit- by Ganemanoimu RftS
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Quests
This is not a rant about quests but rather about people's actions
during quests. Many of the things here should be common knowledge
but it seems that some things need to be repeated over, and over,
and over again to get them into some people's minds. My apologies
to those of you who are experienced enough, or have enough common
sense that this merely repeats known information.
Firstly, quests are an addition to gameplay on Realms. Like icing
on the cake. They are run by immortals as they see fit for your
enjoyment. Quests are NOT a god-given right that you somehow
deserve. Thus, whining for quests, especially just after one you
missed is annoying and pointless. When you get your prizes, smile,
nod, thank the imm and move on. If you don't like your prize, go
home and complain about it to your friends, not to the general
public. If you aren't willing to take the risks associated with
questing, don't do it. DTing, losing/scrapping eq, dying, losing
corpses, burning lots of heals are all things that can happen.
Complaining about quests publicly is also extremely rude. If you
don't like it, don't do it. Everyone is entitled to their own
opinion, but don't attempt to force it onto everyone else. No
one makes you do quests here on Realms.
One major rule in questing that should never be broken is no
multiplay. Virtually all quests have some no-multi code in it.
In individual/itemfind questing, you may not be able to pick items
up in mkill quests, the mob often restores or slaughters everyone
in the room. Unless otherwise told, always assume that there will
be no multing allowed.
Multing is any characters logged through your IP, so that includes
any bots you may be running. That said, when you have any other
questions about the quest, don't assume, ask.
Quests generally are very spammy affairs for everyone, especially
the Immortals running them. Frivolous use of quest is incredibly
fustrating and rage-inducing. Reserve its use for the sharing of
information and asking questions. Statments like 'THAT MOB IS
IMPOSSIBLE, HE SMITED ME!!' are useless for two reasons; First,
they don't tell us what kind of attacks the mob was using, and
secondly, you were probably an idiot and walked in with 5 hp and
no sanc attempting to CR. Under those circumstances, even Shade
would smite you then.
While this problem is more prevalent in IGQs and IOQs, it can occur
in open mass quest as well. By the normal definiton of 'team', a
member of this team contributes to the team in order to further
you to a common goal. Therefore you should not just follow your
leader and then fulfill your hunger pangs. You're not there to be
carried to glory.
Even if you are the least experienced person in your group, you
can help by being at the computer and quickly responding when
spells need casting and responding to what your leader says
quickly. One classic example of a uesless team member is when you
have a thief in your group and you're fighting a mob, but the
entire fight the thief doesn't circle once. A second example
is when you're walking to an area that requires you to pass
through one of the paintings near Sonoria and you're stuck
waiting for 5 minutes for one of your teamates to 'l painting'
so you can move on to your destination.
To conclude, it's pretty simple. If you're prepared to take the
risks, act appropriately, have the attention span, and have the
time to do the quest, best of luck to you, may you be showered
in glory. If you somehow can't fulfill one or more of the
aforementioned attributes, do us all a favor, go chan -quest
and don't do the quest. And for the 10 billionth time, if you
don't want to, DO NOT DO THE QUEST. That said, I'll see the
rest of you at the next quest ;)
Gane
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New Years Resolutions- by Ganemanoimu NewYears
----------------------------------------------------------------
In the coming New Year, I will attempt to remember a few things...
Personal Well-Being and Health:
1. I will not super-size every combo I buy.
2. I will realize that after high school, saying online and
awake for 24+ hours is no longer cool.
3. I will pick up 1 new activity that makes me sweat or breathe
hard (this does not include deciding to run in Seth's Fortress).
4. I will spend at least 1 hour of the day in real sunlight
rather than the warm glow of my monitor.
School:
1. I will attend at least 60% of lectures/classes this term.
2. I won't get on the bus to lecture and stay on it only to
ride it back home instead of going to the lecture.
3. Broken nails and paper cuts are not legitimate reasons for
petitioning exams.
4. I will not make a 5th grandmother who also dies of a
'mysterious illness' to skip finals, again.
5. I will not sit in front of the computer mudding with my
textbook open and call it studying.
6. I won't sleep in the library with my head on my textbook and
call it studying.
7. I won't log on merely to go AFK and have titles like
is studying again, nammit.
8. I won't copy and paraphrase university newspaper articles
for the CoD.
9. I won't spend precious studying time writing up distinctly
unfunny lists.
Social Interaction:
1. Once I'm of legal drinking age, getting drunk by myself in
front of the computer isn't funny anymore.
2. It still remains funny when someone comes home from drinking
and tries to type.
3. While the only difference betweeen #1, and #2 is what you
tell other people, YOU will know the difference.
4. I will buy at least 1 new pair of shoes that is brown or
black and is not supposed to be used for athletic pursuits.
5. I will buy a new wardrobe to wear when I go out that doesn't
involve T-shirts and/or sweat pants. Especially t-shirts
that say 'I went to Star Trek Convention #1353413 and all
I got was this T-shirt!"
6. T-shirts with Transformers on them are okay because
Transformers are old-school and cool. (Original
Transformers, NOT Beast Wars)
7. Pokemon was never old-school or cool and you will delete
the game and emulator from your computer.
8. I will not ask out every friend of the opposite gender on
the mud in a desperate but futile attempt to get a
girlfriend/boyfriend.
9. I will remember that when picking up Texas chicks, a
cowboy hat is like +100000 points, anywhere else, -100000.
10. If I have short spiky hair, I won't use a bottle of
jumbo-sized gel in an attempt to make my hair look like
they have it in Dragonball.
11. I will not call anyone else a nerd while I sit in front
of a computer playing a game that uses coloured lines of text.
12. I will only dress like they do in the Matrix once a year,
on Halloween.
Realms:
1. I will scry before I walk into unknown rooms/areas.
2. After I scry a room that is titled 'DEATH' and has no exits,
I will not walk into it.
3. If I haven't done anything but idle and chat on avtalk for
the last year, I will not attempt to start conversations by
telling everyone what MP3s Winamp is currently playing.
4. I will not pick up strange objects offered by mean people,
especially objects named 'Staff of Medusa.' (Even if
their average damage is 55).
5. I will not spam murder in DH.
6. I will attempt to be nicer to 1 more newbie this year.
7. This includes not giving directions to the closest DT
anytime someone asks for directions.
Gane
----------------------------------------------------------------
A View of the Future- by Ganemanoimu Future
----------------------------------------------------------------
A View of the Future - A Player's Perspective
Given the recent code port and the numerous changes that have
occurred, many of them quite significant, its natural to try and
predict what will come in the future. Now, Im certainly not
anyone who makes any decisions regarding game policy or anything
of that sort, however Id like to share my opinion as a player.
I've played on and off for the last 7 years or so and Ive seen a
number of changes, but nothing really on this scale. There are
a number of things to discuss so this little series will probably
stretch over a few issues. Id like to point out that at no time
do I mean to criticize anyone personally. Im not even saying that
I am correct or what I say is viable. However, these are merely
some observations that I have made and simply what my opinions
are. The first main issue is EQ.
EQ is pretty much what makes a character work, even with a
horrible base and poor stats, great EQ can totally make up for it
and make that character workable.
Simply speaking, the top-end EQ should be improved. Better stats
on EQ for all classes and all aligns. EQ that steps somewhere
between Seth and Clan.
And eventually, EQ that is equal to or better than Clan. While
at first this may seem like a wild and radical idea, it makes
sense in a lot of ways. First, the most obvious reason is that
mobs have become significantly harder. If there is more inherent
risk to a venture, the payoff should be that much greater.
For example, before all the changes, Seth was a relatively simple
kill. Camp outside of the Abyss, at repop, kill Darko, Max, Seth,
repair at James. Now? Every kill means Onyx, Max, Darko, 2-3
Steppins, 2 Servitors and then Seth. You have to leave the
fortress to repair and then come back through the maze again.
The repops are longer to give more time to fit in everything, but
any mistake can result in missing a repop.
However, the EQ here hasnt changed at all.
Then there are 2 other changes that have been made. One change
is that the end of the maze having 4 shifting rooms as opposed
to one. Another is that little issue with the deities not having
any influence over that area. So you can't supp recall out of a
fight thats gone bad, or even supp corpse if you died.
There is also a huge disparity between the rich and the poor.
Many players, especially ones that started after the Shattering,
will probably never get Clan EQ through trading/buying, unless
they are exceptional players. However, there are many older
players who have storages full of Clan. This disparity causes
an us-them kind of feeling between the poor and wealthy people.
Older people make fun of the newbies for not knowing things,
and newbies make fun of the old people for being old, snobby
and conceited. People then tend not to think of the
MUD-community as one large society, that we are all a part of.
When this happens, people don't care about what the consequences of
their actions are and often engage in behavior that is detrimental.
Things like duping, buying EQ with cash, stealing, char hacking,
etc. Im certainly not suggesting that this behaviour has a direct
cause-effect relationship.
Nor do I condone these acts and believe that these people are
merely victims of their circumstances. The people who commit
such acts are still directly responsible for their actions and
should be punished appropriately. At the same time, these
conditions can certainly aggravate the situation or give more
incentive to players with questionable ethics. But with these
kinds of boundaries removed, there is a better chance of people
sticking to playing the game it was supposed to be played.
Poverty often leads many people to crime in real life, but if
people have a decent job with room for promotion, would they
risk it all to make a few extra bucks on the side by turning
to crime?
EQ doesnt just have to be better, it can also be more varied;
Some giving better resists, some giving better HP, others giving
better DR. When there is more EQ, peoples characters can become
more personalized. This gives the greater feeling of individual
people rather than a bunch of clones.
A person can decide whether he wants more resists, HP or DR, or
whatever is more applicable to him. But currently, especially
for thieves, the EQ has become very standardized. All the
Seth-area EQ, obsidian leggings, obsidian bracers, etc. The
only belts thieves use that are in-game, are froggie girths for
girthable thieves, and FT belts for non-girthable. More EQ could
promote the development of individual characters rather than the
amassing of vast armies of alts.
EQ also helps to balance out the differences in class. I know
there has been a great influx of new eq for lesser-used classes
which has been very beneficial. While a lot of the eq has yet
to filter into the general public, dobra EQ is amazing for mages
and helps to make up for the expensive cost of their offensive
spells.
An excellent example is Danbala. All that warrior EQ that came
into play really made warriors a viable class. They were able
to gain significant amounts of HP and DR, and paladins and rangers
didn't have any worries about reduced mana from scorched bands.
The dex on the layerable Cloak of Death and the Rings also helped
make warriors with low dex usable characters again.
A lot of positive things came out of adding better EQ for warriors.
Another fact that has irked me over the years is the use of Seth
as the principal currency in the trading for a great deal of out
of game EQ. One of the hardest mobs in the games EQ has become
the coin for the rich? I also think that by slowly increasing
the quality of the EQ, you can begin to phase out older
out-of-game EQ. And realistically, a lot of that EQ was made for
during the PK time of RoD, while the player base has definitely
shifted towards peacefuls. The exceptional stuff will of course
remain good, but some of the smaller stuff will be worth as much,
or less than in game EQ.
One might argue that this is unfair to the older players, but
I disagree. Yes, the older players worked hard and deserve the
EQ they earned during that time, and they most likely have
benefited from it. Runs were easier, and they had advantages in
quests. This advantage does not disappear when new mobs/EQ is
ported in. They will still have the advantage in obtaining this
EQ. However, by being in game, newer players who don't have Clan
will still be able to reach higher levels of stats assuming they
have the skills to do so.
Ultimately, what does this mean? It means that regardless of
where you stand, you can reach levels that are competitive with
everyone else. It also means that regardless of whether you are
new or old, you will benefit if you explore, run, are adventurous
and are active. I personally believe that this is the way it
should be too. Regardless of seniority, the mud should be
rewarding hard-working, active players more than those who sit
around and chat.
If the reverse was to occur, that is if current EQ was downed,
I think this would cause even more problems. Plus, this would
discourage many of the things that I discussed earlier.
You can't miss what you never had, but here we all know exactly
what we had and what we have lost. Another generation of old-new
players is created, players who killed the mob before the changes,
and players who killed the mob after the changes. Im sure this
would also anger a lot of players as well and while it might
be dismissed as just people pining for the good old days and
whining, Im sure it does have some basis.
Surely our happiness should count for something?
Gane
----------------------------------------------------------------
Poetry Submissions Poetry
----------------------------------------------------------------
Set Set Set, we all love Set,
Especially when he's dead
We all love Set, especially seth's,
All want a Set, but that is aint dead
So lets all go kill Set, and you will have Set,
And i will have Set, and we will have Set,
And Set then will be dead!
Set Set Set, have you killed Set?
Set is aint dead, so you have to kill Set.
Let us kill mean Set, we will get some ring,
Ring is aint kings, it is cool Set's ring
So we want to kill Set, but Set is aint dead,
Set is mean and bad, he wants to kill us
But we are buff av's, so we go to kill Set,
Set will hit the ground, we will rob him blind
Yay. Have YOU killed your Set tonight?
Submitted by Shaolong.
Wreathed now in raiment shadowed
Covered now in clothes of sorrow
Shielded now with duller senses
Hidden now until the morrow
Soul now sullied memories
Heart now hardened by the past
Eyes now opened to the world
Love now broken till the last
None now listen to the voice
All now pass by unaware
She now moves on out of sight
He now sits alone in fear
Hurt now moves into his mind
Pain now twists into his life
Tears now run down over cheeks
Loss now cuts him with its knife
A wreathed soul none can hurt
A covered heart all hidden from pain
Shielded eyes she filled with tears
Hidden love he has lost again
Submitted by Faradhi.
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Funnybones- Collected by the CoD Funnybones
----------------------------------------------------------------
Amusing titles, collected by Khaimran!
Taboo. A freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your
mother.
Caitlyn's Bar..Liquor in the front and Poker in the rear.
Holly Boudicca decks the halls with.. Um that isnt right.
Coryn: The beatings will continue until morale improves.
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THE CRY OF DESPAIR IS PROUD TO BRING BACK
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If you had a chance to ask the Council of Elders something about
gameplay, what would you ask?
Do you want to know when we are going to have pasta somewhere?
Do you want to know why thief mobs only keep a percentage of what
they steal?
Or do you want to know something else?! If so, mudmail Vaile with
your questions today!!
----------------------------------------------------------------
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From the Staff of the CoD: Thank you for reading!!!
Feedback? Comments? Fan/hate mail? Submissions? All are
welcome at the CoD public boards, located: e,s,2u,s,w,s
from Darkhaven Square or south of quills and parchments
on Market Street.
----------------------------------------------------------------
