November 2001 newsletter Welcome to the Barren Realms MUD newsletter! Has it been a while? Come visit your favorite MUD at telnet://www.coredcs.com:8000/ News from the Realms: Divebomb: quest Miniquest for which nobody has to be present for. I've hidden something somewhere and the only clue you get is the following: Search out the closet of an inept magician If you find it, you get it. It's vague, i won't answer questions.. DevilsAngel: The winners of the costume quest!!! Thanks goes to all those who played!! The entries were all very good! I had a very hard time deciding upon winners. Sooo...everyone will get a prize for entering! I could tell there was alot of effort in all the entries. For the mortal winners.........Hugin took overall first prize! Excellent entry! Yor won with most traditional...and Skinless with Silliest. I was very impressed with the mort entries. For the hero winners.....Scariest was tied between Kiri and Predator....Most traditional went to Dalaih....Silliest was Lanisa....and the most unique Dwarfman and Darkshade tied. A very special award goes to Sozz and Khalin for the absolutely cutest costumes around! Great couple costume guys!! I was impressed! I will have prizes as soon as possible. Thanks again for playing everyone!!! You all made my first quest lots of fun to hold. A special thank you to Vain and Brodgar for all their help. Leiland: RESULTS (finally...) Okies, I finally have the results for my thief quest. Please forgive me, I've had a lot to do lately... Anyway, getting on with it, the places are: 4th: Fallen, who was the fourth to find the thief! 3rd: Shiloh, who was the third to find the thief, and also found two treasures! 2nd: Hugin, who was the second to find the thief, and also found 4 treasures! And 1st: Oldguy, who was first to find the thief, and also found 8 treasures! Gratz to all who played, it was a hard quest, I know... So please contact Brodgar to get your prizes! Thanks! It was really fun guys! Scavenger: Socials 'lo all, Our socials have been updated. All mistakes should be corrected and all socials that have been submitted should be added. If you see any mistakes, please drop me a note or use the typo command. Be careful if you regularly use hum, scratch, or bite. They have changed. Dunbarth submitted an improved hum and Cobalt gave us a new scratch and bite. Look them over so you aren't surprised at their new behavior. A lot of mistakes have been fixed too. I have fixed all the occurences that I could find of word wrap problems, he/him/his gender problems, mispellings, and other random stuff. Grammar and punctuation may not always be exactly perfect but all the major mistakes should be cleared up. We should be 100% caught up on social updates. If you spot any mistakes or think a social should be added, let me know. Here are the people who submitted new socials and the socials they submitted. Check them out. Dunbarth: btongue, puppy Melchior: homebrew, woohoo Divebomb: gauntlet, bond Brodgar: stretch Joysinger: pillow Verdict: gulp, pant Cobalt: caress, hhand, mutter Darccrad: groove Liquid: unsheathe, mumble If you would like to submit a social, take a look at HELP WRITESOCIAL and HELP SOCIALEX. Enjoy. Kiri: people who need to log in after a year and a half of inactivity: Alana, Arctice, Derw, Fernanndes, Genesis, Liber, Michron, Overdrive, Proserpina, Tukimba. IDEAS: Krill: if your in AFK mode, and type something, you should get a liar flag Krill: in the profile bit, why not have a section for birthdays, just a thought Divebomb: a "globe of invulnerability" spell (for players and/or mobs) that prevents magic damage DwarfMan: See the actual damage # we do. e.g. Your slash CRIPPLES a trainee! [55] Errol: (arena who) a command that tells who is in the arena AMystery: limbs chopped off and left on the ground shouldn't just melt, after about half their lifetime they should become poisonous as bacteria begin decomposing. You wouldn't eat an arm that's been rotting for a week would you? Faustus: I want spec_animate_dead. The thought of a creature able to animate dead npc corpses (that may even possibly be aggro) gives me chills... Dacius: Maybe we should mention the level range of Astral in its help, That you can only astral to people within a certain range and mention the level range on summon too Dimmesdale: A spell, 'regenerate' it speeds up regeneration, maybe to balance it you can't do anything for 5 ticks, but it's not like the regeneration is extremely better, but a little better than drunk regen..I hate healing 1.4K hp, and I'm terrified of heroi Leiland: we should have help topics about hero and avatar... just explaining what level you must attain for each and hinting at some special priveledges involved... maybe... Krill: when balls of light are donated, why not have them appear at recall Replies for the Oct 3 Newsletter, by Fury: IDEAS: Emerson: Since breast plates only Cover the front of a person, Sholdnt Avians be allowed to wear them? Fury: They cover both, armor around the chest area typically comes in two peices... otherwise what would be the point? Avians are balanced the way they are balanced, debating if you would wear both peices of armor if you were actually an avian doesn't address the race balance issue and is silly. *bzzzzzzzzzzzztttttttttttt* Sorry... But we have such excellent parting gifts for you. See: have a spell they lets you detect sneak Fury:Illithids have a spell called detect presence that does just that. (or they did last time I logged in) Dimmesdale: A new skill for kender, or all races. Caution, when used you can't be backstabbed..um, I know there is more to it that I thought of, but now that I'm at my computer that's all I remember Fury: Computer putting off EMI that is messing with your brainwaves? Try building an AFDB or aluminum foil deflector beenie, not only will you preserve your mind from the ravages of your monitor, you will also prevent the government from secretly reading your mind and controling you! *cough* I dunno if this skill is a good idea... what would be the trade off? Reduced offensive capablity? Can't get drunk? (Cautious people don't get drunk!) Flesh our your idea a bit. Don't just think "I don't want to get backstabed, so I'll invent a skill and submit it as an idea" =) Not to mention this is not a PK mud in the first place and I've never seen ANY mob do a backstab. (ooo, good area idea though) Glenfiddich: instead of letting emtpy container vanish, enable us to "sell" them to any barkeeper for 1 gold (bottle deposit) ;) helps keeping the enviroment clean Fury: Ehh, so instead of having a high-tech (or is that magical?) instantly decomposing material in all of our bottles we are gonna revert to a recyling center? How does getting rid of vanishing bottles save the environment? Or did you just buy 11ty billion bottles of beer and want to corner the market? =) Replies by Cord to 10/3/01 Newsletter: > Emerson: Since breast plates only Cover the front of a > person, sholdnt Avians be allowed to wear them? Cord: This makes sense, but I have a feeling it would be a bit of a pain to code... > See: have a spell they lets you detect sneak Cord: Seems a reasonable idea to me. > Dimmesdale: A new skill for kender, or all races: > Caution. When used you can't be backstabbed. Cord: Given how powerful backstab really is, I think this would be a very good idea... perhaps having the effect of preventing other insti-kill attacks as well. > Glenfiddich: instead of letting emtpy container vanish, > enable us to "sell" them to any barkeeper for 1 gold > (bottle deposit) ;) helps keeping the enviroment clean Cord: A little more realism. I like that; I've never really understood why empty containers had to 'vanish' anyway... course, people will probably just end up dropping their empty beer bottles everywhere, littering up the place. But I suppose the br janitor wants job security as much as the rest of us... > Christine: To have color available in description... > *drool*.. Cord: sounds like a bloody cool idea to me. > > Shuluk: A notepad that you write down the current > > amount of gold you have in your bank account on after > > each transaction > > Packor: Yes, I think it's a good idea to include bank > account in score. Cord: agrees with Packor. > Joysinger: it'd be nice if identify told you the spells > on pills - after all, id'ing potions does it, too (or > wands, staffs, etc.) Cord: agrees with Joysinger. > Thordain: Make recall a command gained at level two > or three, to avoid people who know the command but do > not know the mud from getting lost in Calathar. They > don't really need to be there anyway. Cord: I actually rather agree with this idea. If nothing else, making it a skill that needs to be praticed will increase the odds of the player reading the help file on recall. (Also, speaking of the help recall file - it really should make note of the fact that recalling costs you a good bit of movement points...) Kiri's WWW of URLs: Papa smurf is a communist, you know. http://geocities.com/capitolhill/lobby/1709/ Posted by Scavenger, the evil bastage! http://cnfsn.tripod.com/ How fast can YOU spank the monkey? http://www.vectorlounge.com/04_amsterdam/jam/flamjam.html Hey kids, were you aware that Wisconsin has a state beverage? http://www.legis.state.wi.us/senate/scc/kids/facts.htm KIDS' TEST ANSWERS In any school district, one must give credit to the creative minds among us. These are actual test answers from various schools. Q: Name the four seasons. A: Salt, pepper, mustard, and vinegar. Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink. A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep, and canoeists. Q: How is dew formed? A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire. Q: What is a planet? A: A body of earth surrounded by sky. Q: What happens to your body as you age? A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental. Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes. A: Premature death. Q: How can you delay milk turning sour? A: Keep it in the cow. Q: How are the main parts of the body categorized? (E.g., Abdomen.) A: The body is consisted into three parts - the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels, a,e,i,o,and u. Q: What is the fibula? A: A small lie. Q: What does "varicose" mean? A: Nearby. Q: Give the meaning of the term "caesarian section." A: The caesarian section is a district in Rome. Q: What is a seizure? A: A roman emperor. Q: What is a terminal illness? A: When you are sick at the airport. Q: What does the word "benign" mean? A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight. News from the Barren Realms: telnet://barren.coredcs.com:8000/ Happy Thanksgiving! Sozz: Trivia quest Well guys, I finally got around to holding number two of my Trivia quest Trilogy. None of you knew about it, of course, since I didn't announce it, but there were a few that did participate :) Of the people playing, Gau came out first, with twelve points - that's twice as much as second place! Needless to say, I frustrated the heck out of the questers, points to me for difficulty! So, congrats to Gau, who got a wicked prize (just ask him!) and all the other players :) Evileye: My Drunk Race As some of you might know I held my very first quest today! It was very interest...here are the results: In third came opposing! Congrats to Opposing! In second came Rennur. Good Job! Finally, in first place was Acob! WOOHOO! EXCELLENT! I had a lot of fun doing this and I hope to do it again soon when I get some more worthy prizes. If you're wondering what the prizes were here they are: First: Rename ticket Second: Ciquala's Sword Third: 100k gold All other players received consolation prizes. (grails and money etc) Thanks again for playing everyone! Pipe: allow short syntax.. "l in lea" to work as l in leather, or wear steh instead of wear stethoshchoepe(see i cant spell long thing!) Albion: It'd be great if we could put aliases on all the objects so they work properly. For instance, I cannot do anything with 'an earthen colored band' because there is apparently no keyword that associates close to it. Not band, not earthen, not brown, n DwarfMan: dwarf skill: enhanced hit ration. I get parried so much as a dwarf it aint funny!!! How do you parry w/o a weapon anyways? Divebomb: If bash actually prevents fleeing (because it causes the mob to rest) there should be a message saying the mob has risen to its feet again Divebomb: if pass door didn't exist, area builders would be able to build far more intricate areas - as consolation for removing a typical "cr spell", up the time before corpses melt to 1 hour instead of 15 minutes Divebomb: aggro mobs should be aggro to all levels, not just within a few levels and below... this would allow builders to create rooms where large numbers of smaller mobs could challenge larger player (strength in numbers) DwarfMan: Track/Teleport/Summon/Locate Obj go by full names in quotes. e.g. teleport "mean lag beast". Instead of this 2.lag, 3.lag BS!! DwarfMan: Earthquake shouldn't cause anyone to lose their balance and fall if they are flying Drawoh: drunkness could make it harder to scan... perhapinhibit it... not that many people are for _more_ penalties of drunkness... but it does make sense... Anyone: if you are wearing all invisible equipment you should be able to gain some sort of AC advantage... unless people could just see you naked :P Eve: Tweak the bank a little bit, so that when you 'deposite 1000000 coins' it doesn't ask 'And just how many coins is 1000000 coins supposed to be, hmm?' Anyone: you should be able to create food to a container... or use it to replenish, say, trail rations in pellinore's trailpack, or something similar Eve: Make it illegal for people other than imms to have tell congrats triggers..i have the gratz channel turned off for a reason, and i don't appreciate 4 to 10 tells, one from each character of the two that player might have on, every time i level Divebomb: alter word of recall into an in-area-prayer, would make the spell semi-useful and very useful as a spell-proc on weapons ;) Dimmesdale: Make the pusher in Alundra not a scavenger, It's bad when he picks up a disarmed weapon or something cause you can't kill him Krill: why not be able to name containers, like we can pets. So i could have a backpack of stuff to sell etc DwarfMan: Automatically transported to the void when linkdead, so you don't get killed by aggros, or because of the group you were in I'm out of Bios, folks. Blame Scavenger! Responses by Cord to 10/10/01 newsletter: > Zadira: a wink that is cute not suggestive Cord: sounds like an emote thing to me. Other wise I suppose you could write your own 'cwink' social; see help writesocial and help socialex. > Brak: Make the weapon zapping in all caps, When my > alignment goes too far I don't notice the weapon zapping > me, but when I'm disarmed I do..Make the zap all caps to > catch attention Cord: I take it disarming is in capitols. Regardless, this seems like a good idea. Included in it, it would be good to capitolize an avian's loss of eq at those levels at which they sprout new bird-parts. > > Wasabe: How about when we identify a container... > > it gives us an indicator of how full it is... scuba > > tank ... half-full, pack, fourth full. :) > > Slart: This isn't a bad idea. Cord: I'll thrid this idea. > > Wasabe: How about the ability to get something from > > inside a corpse... ex ... get item corpse backpack... > > to get the item from the backpack in the corpse > > Slart: You have no idea what a horrible, evil, awful, > no good, very bad mess you just made of the code for > the get, put, and look commands, especially ... Cord: We're not supposed to carry corpses anyway. Just 'get all corpse' and deal with the sorting of inventory after that. > > Wasabe: Can you folks please extend the length the > > prompt string can be??? thank you > > Slart: While the fifty character max is admittedly > arbitrary, what are you doing in your prompt that > requires much more than fifty chars? Cord: I don't think I want to know... > > AMystery: be able to put nodrop items in a container. > > have the container code check for nodrop items inside > > before dropping the bag. clean up inventories without > > defeating nodrop > > Slart: This works for heroes, who have practically > unlimited inventory space, but for morts, who have finite > inventory space and for whom the nodrop penalty is a > little more severe, this would lessen it. Cord: I disagree. I mean, yes, it _does_ lessen the nodrop "penalty," but only a little - the weight impact is still there. And, regardless, morts might be just like heros when it comes to wanting to be able to keep nodrop items and yet still have a sorted inventory. In short: I like AMystery's idea. > > Wasabe: How about a skill for dwarves to create > > objects out of gold bars or gold coins... Just imagine > > it... dwarves working all the live long day making > > shields and helms of golden glimmer. > > Slart: Nifty, but I'm thinking most dwarves wouldn't > waste their gold by making equipment out of it. Most > avians can't be bothered to use up corpses for tan, and > those are worthless. Cord: and gold eq would suck, given how soft it is as a metal. However, the only reason avians don't use tan is because even if they _did_ get a good piece of eq, it just times out anyway. Pretty pointless. Letting dwarves make eq out of platinum bars and the like that doesn't time out would be pretty cool, in my opinon. (And obviously, I'm also in favor of removing the timed aspect of avian-tanned eq....) > > Colador: When you get killed by a mob have the mob > > brag about it :) > > Slart: if ((!IS_NPC(ch)) && (strcmp(ch->name, > "Colador") == 0)) { ... Cord: Heheheheh.... but seriously, this would be an interesting flag to be able to assign to certain mobs; would fit nicely in some area's themes. (Not all mobs tho; that would just make for too much spam....) > > AMystery: yeah, I know, its another history request > > but I have a valid reason:p History on the quest > > channel. It would probably help both quest masters > > and players. Be good for people who just logged on > > and missed the beginning. > > Slart: There's honestly no really good reason why we > can't have history on all the global channels. Cord: I 100%, whole-heartedly agree! Responses by Divebomb: > IDEAS: > > Lugin: make the instructor cast spells faster on lvl > 1 characters Divebomb: Increasing the speed of that instructor would require increasing the speed of all casters. Think of him as teaching patience... ;) > Voodoo: if you trip someone, they can't flee until > they stand back up Divebomb: One of the most common suggestions, one of the most logical, and one of the ones that really ought to be implemented. > Theros: more races would be fun.....a minotaur > maybe....and a fairy... Divebomb: One major project is in progress, another project that big isn't going to happen for a long time. > DrDeath: flaming weapons should do more damage but > not work underwater Divebomb: "Flaming" currently doesn't do anything but restrict drus/elves to using it. It should increase spell damage (which doesn't make all that much sense to me, but whatever). Since "Flaming" isn't restricted to weapons, i wouldn't suggest making flaming weapons do more damage. There are weapons that cast "fireball" and possibly "Flamestrike" though (they'll still work underwater though... can't have everything). > DrDeath: make fly a newbie spell from Clericus Divebomb: Purple potions aren't that expensive and they're only 2 rooms from recall. > Kineya: it'd be nice if we could type enhance or > something and it would give us a list of how many > times we've enhanced each thing... and maybe what > we've enhanecd at the current level... Divebomb: "stat" tells you how many times you've enhanced this level. I've answered this comment before... do you REALLY need to know what you've enhanced every enhance before? Just look at your stats, decide what you need the most and enhance that... > Straad: what about a thief that steals from > everything mobs and characters alike. Divebomb: Why? > Dimmesdale: Make the understanding of spells work > right. I'm a kender, and when a > high level kender is in the same room as me and > casts 'Detect hidden', > I understand them, doesn't make sense seeing as how > I don't know how to > cast detect hidden, however I know bless, but when a > druid or a elf or > even clericus casts bless, I can't understand them, > just doesn't make > sense... My 2 cents.. Divebomb: If you speak English and someone else speaks English you understand them, even though you may not know what all the words mean. If you don't understand French and someone speaks it, you won't have any idea at all. If a kender casts a spell, other kenders should understand it, but an elf may not. Just because you, yourself, don't have the ability to cast detect hidden, doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to understand the words someone of your race speaks. Kiri's WWW of URLs: After Napster, what do you do? http://www.afternapster.com/ It's Scott's KEWL Webpage! http://www.stunned.net/scott/ It didn't work for me, but this is a neat genealogy tool http://www.progenealogists.com/surnamestudy.htm Who would you kill? http://whowouldyoukill.com/ Married names: If Yoko Ono married Sonny Bono, she'd be Yoko Ono Bono. If Dolly Parton married Salvador Dali, she'd be Dolly Dali. If Bo Derek married Don Ho, she'd be Bo Ho. If Ella Fitzgerald married Darth Vader, she'd be Ella Vader. If Oprah Winfrey married Depak Chopra, she'd be Oprah Chopra. If Cat Stevens married Snoop Doggy Dogg, he'd be Cat Doggy Dogg. If Olivia Newton-John married Wayne Newton, then divorced him to marry Elton John, she'd be Olivia Newton-John Newton John. If Sondra Locke married Elliott Ness, then divorced him to marry Herman Munster, she'd become Sondra Locke Ness Munster. If Bea Arthur married Sting, she'd be Bea Sting. If Tuesday Weld married Hal March III, she'd be Tuesday March 3. If Liv Ullman married Judge Lance Ito, then divorced him and married Jerry Mathers, she'd be Liv Ito Beaver. If Snoop Doggy Dogg married Winnie the Pooh, he'd be Snoop Doggy Dogg Pooh. How about a baseball marriage? If Boog Powell married Felipe Alou, he'd be Boog Alou. If G. Gordon Liddy married Boutros-Boutros Ghali, then divorced him to marry Kenny G., he'd be G. Ghali G. Nog (related to Quark on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) has no other name, so he uses it twice when getting a marriage license. If he married Howard Hughes, and then Pamela Dare, he'd be Nog Nog Hughes Dare. If Jack Handy (SNL writer) married Andy Capp, then married Jack Paar, then moved on to Stephen King, he'd be Jack Handy Capp Paar King. If Woody Allen married Natalie Wood, divorced her and married Gregory Peck, divorced him and married Ben Hur, he'd be Woody Wood Peck Hur. If Ivana Trump married, in succession, Orson Bean (actor), King Oscar (of Norway), Louis B. Mayer (of MGM), and Norbert Wiener (mathematician), she would then be Ivana Bean Oscar Mayer Wiener. Welcome to the November 30th Barren Realms Newsletter! Come visit us at telnet://barren.coredcs.com:8000/ Sozz: Sudden Quest Well, I held a little Lyrics Quest this afternoon, thanks to everyone who participated, it was a lot of fun :) Coming in first was Khalin, make sure you congratulate him - Kiri gave him a run for his money. In second was Alicia, and in third came Cobalt. I have prizes for Nest, Acob, Rennur, Dio, Gau, and Ico - contact me to get them! Dio: Quest End hey everyone my first quest has ended and the winners are......... Fallen And Krill Krill won with his superhero Genoman. A 12ft intalian waiter and Fallen won with the Emerald Catwoman Prizes will be givin to you two soon IDEAS: Horus: oh, since I got a response to my enahance thing... I should clear that up... I was suggesting it tell you "you have enhanced str 2 times amd con 1 time this level" Dimmesdale: Increase the damp buffer to allow a bigger damp Divebomb: make some way for builders to make mobs follow and possibly even group(and autoassist mobs in their group). See: you should be able to land when affected by levitation Padan: if it isn't to much code it would be interesting for sanctuary to actually wear off, start off stopping like 60% fdamage then down to like 35 before it goes out Xorex: Okay, I've got a good one. How about a skill for making snowballs when it is snowing? They could be projectiles or maybe even a drink. Also, how about a skill that lets you make snowmen that would be little charmies? C'mon it'd be fun! I seem to remember Kiri saying that localized weather was being added...if it was perhaps those snow toys would only work while it was snowing in the area.... Bonebreaker: Make back to keyword for backpack? Anyone: peck should do more damage when you start to see stars then all turns black but should make you sleep during the fight so you suffer double damage on the next round ... and peck should do more damage as you level, like with roundhouse... your beak would get harder and sharper and you would get more accurate with those eagle eyes... Anyone: shriek should work with no target... it's not as if you can't shriek unless you're fighting Anyone: when you level up and get a beak, wings, talons, etc. you should lose a percentage of your hp (sharp pains shooting through your body an' all...) Replies by Cord to the Oct. 16 2001 Newsletter: > Kharn: disable "tell" channel while ppl are in the void Cord: seems a reasonable thing to me... " cannot accept tells right now; their link may be dead." Or something. > > Kiri: increase time on hero corpses to hours, rl > > Naddarow: Huh?? Cord: Pretty sure she's talking about the length of time it takes for a hero corpse to decay... Replies by Cord to the Oct. 24 2001 Newsletter: > Lugin: make the instructor cast spells faster on lvl 1 characters Cord: there are times when I've thought that this would be helpful... but usually the lag between spell castings can be used for instructing the newbie on various parts of the game... > Voodoo: if you trip someone, they can't flee until they stand back up Cord: There are a lot of things like this related to trip and the those actions that can subsequently be done after a trip... thanks for noting this, but something tells me it will be a bit before we see those "issues" go away. > Theros: more races would be fun.....a minotaur maybe....and a fairy... Cord: A _lot_ of work goes into coding a new race, and you have to keep in mind how much uniqueness any particular new race would bring to the game... > Kineya: it'd be nice if we could type enhance or something and it would > give us a list of how many times we've enhanced each thing... and maybe > what we've enhanecd at the current level... Cord: typing "practice" (or just "pra") gives a list of the current precents of each skill... knowing how many times each one has actually been praticed seems like a rather odd request, as those percentages increase from skill use, not just praticing... and as far as remembering what you've enhanced this level... that's only 5 things to remember at most; shouldn't be too tough... > Straad: what about a thief that steals from everything mobs and > characters alike. Cord: Makes sense. I can't really see any (logical) reason for thieves to distinguish between mobs and players... code wise, it's probably a whole nother issue... > Dimmesdale: Make the understanding of spells work right. I'm a kender, > and when a high level kender is in the same room as me and casts 'Detect > hidden', I understand them, doesn't make sense seeing as how I don't > know how to cast detect hidden, however I know bless, but when a druid > or a elf or even clericus casts bless, I can't understand them, just > doesn't make sense... My 2 cents.. Cord: Seems pretty inconsequential to me, but yes, it would be "nice." > > > Wasabe: We should be able to enchant shields... to provide a reason > > > for dwarves not to just use weapons but shields... to bash! > > > > Divebomb: Or get an area designer to just design a good shield. I'm > > sure they would, but nobody would ever use them. > > Liquid: It might envourage the use of shields if this is put in. I used > to equip a shield when I was mortal, it's quite useful for the > AC-challenged Avian Cord: I can think of a few Illithoids (no dual) who would be tickled pink to have a decent shield to use... and if there were _good_ shields, I'd wager people might start using them more... > > > Very: why not get rid of kick for druids, at level 25 it is hardly > > > worth the bother... > > > > Divebomb: Then just don't practice it. > > Liquid: Well... if it really isn't that useful then I do believe it > should be taken out. But it is kind of nice having an attack for druids > that doesn't cost mana Cord: It _is_ useful, just not at higher levels. *shrug* That's something a player has to take into account before they pratice a skill... (particularily out of guild skills...) > > > Turale: make trip in-guild for humans! > > > > Divebomb: Of course, nobody deserves trip more than the martial > > artist! > > Liquid: I'm all for it Cord: Agreed. > > > Asimi: When you grin at someone, their alignment should drop. Just > > > like the social says > > > > Divebomb: "great" I'll set up my alias to grin at you 500 times so you > > become evil and get zapped by your equipment, then I'll pick up that > > nice little weapon you were using and use it for myself. > > Liquid: Just modify the social.. I would suggest an alternate but I > seem to be drawing a blank Cord: I've never understood why grinning should imply evil intent... " grins at you/" would be just fine by me... but I guess that sort of thing is up to the person who first makes the social... > > > Wasabe: I want to kick people out of the vehicle I purchase... it > > > should be the owners right... > > > > Divebomb: If you're really ticked off at them for being on, drive to > > alandra, go into the arena, and beat the crap out of them before they > > know what's going on. ;) > > Liquid: Sorry but I agree with Wasabe. Or at least you could be able to > "close" and maybe "lock" the vehicle Cord: Pehaps pointless, but yes... it does make sense that one would be able to close and lock a vehicle... > > > AMystery: when two invisible mobs or players or players & mobs > > > fight, they should remain invisible. only when one is visible should > > > the other become so. After all, invisible creatures should be able > > > to see eachother and fight > > > > Divebomb: Just because I am invisible does not mean I can see you. > > That's why invis and detect invis are different spells. The concept of > > invisibility is that you can remain unseen so long as you do not > > attack (or are forced to attack). You'd be altering the entire > > concept, not just the way it works. > > Liquid: Well if they are both invis and both have detect invis cast > they should remain invis :) Cord: It's like cloaking devices: you have to de-cloak before you can attack. ;) Anyways, I personally wouldn't want to try fighting someone without any visual feedback as to the current position of my sheild, sword, or feet... and anyways; how hard is it to just cast invis again after a fight? > > Wasabe: when I emote a ' I would like it to appear immediately after > > my name... like so emote 's feet are green. = Wasabe's feet are > > green. > > Divebomb: I would like it too. Cord: I concur. > > > Johan: pass door should have an -ac modifier as well - if you're > > > translucent you must be harder to hit > > > > Divebomb: Not necessarily, you probably just look funny because you > > can pass through walls. > > Liquid: Well if a door doesn't touch you then what makes a mob able to? Cord: Heheeh... that's why it's pass door and not pass mob. ;) It's a picky spell, that pass door... Sozz replies to September 9, 2001 newsletter > Vishnu: some kind of throwing item that is sold by default at the > weaponsmith? Cord: Seems like a good idea to me. Sozz: There are stiletto's sold at the Twilight armory..why should it be any easier than that? Next there'll be a suggestion to have a bag shop in Calathar as well, and noone will ever bother to find out that there are other shops in other towns that sell different sorts of items. > See: you should be able to throw through open doors Cord: Also seems like a good idea. Sozz: This makes sense, but what if the author didn't design the door to be 'door-like' at all? What if it's supposed to be just a crack in the rock? It doesn't make much sense to be able to have the vision to throw things at mobs in rooms when all you have is a crack to look through. On the other hand...I seem to recall being able to throw a feather through the freezer door at RHPS...that was useful, seeing as it was a private room > Darkcrad: i think it will be cool to type a command showing the history > of battle updates hehe you could keep track of people leveling or dying > and entering the battle arena ooOooOOoOOooo Cord: And a hack history, shout history, etc. I'd like to see the chat code replicated for each of the public channels... Sozz: There is a command for battle history...only accessible by heros. I think it's a waste of space for mortals to have access to it as well. > Darkcrad: a super cool spell called "kamakazy" it kills yourself and > kills all the mobs in the room oOOoOOoo well of course not all mobs will > be affected by this spell cos that would be kinda cheap :P Cord: An interesting idea... a spell so powerful, that by using it, you risk your own life. Misfire == death. This could be rather fun... Sozz: I think is is a silly idea...we have enough whiners from mis-teleports, we don't need to add 'kamikazi' whiners. The problem is, noone really READS the help files on the spells, and actually heeds the warnings. I can see it now 'Help! I used this spell and it killed me! I need a cr!' and so forth and so on.. > Cord: allow a system field for your prompt... > %t : Display the current mud time Cord: Slight typo... a system _time_ field for your prompt is what I'm refering too. Sozz: I don't have any problem with this suggestion, though I don't see why it's necessary... > > AMystery: be able to put mental barrier on mobs when > > writing areas. the spell lasts until someone attacks > > the mob then it goes for the normal one round > > Packor: How will it get the spell back? I mean other > mobs must be dispelled, but with a MB mob you only have > to attack. Cord: When the mop repops, it would have the spell once again. Sozz: This is an interesting idea...I think a flag would have to be developed for it though, just like sanc has a flag, because I think people have a right to know they're be kicking their own bottoms when they attack a mob with mental barrier. I don't see this as an especially nice addition to mort areas...but in hero areas it could be fun. Kiri's WWW of URLs: Once again, I am out of URLs AND bios *stares at scavenger* Luckily, I was able to scrape a couple together from some kindly imms. From Scav: http://www.actsofgord.com/ http://www.comics.com/ Movielens, rank movies and it suggests movies to you to watch based on your rankings http://movielens.umn.edu/main.cgi Albert Einstein Quotes On Knowledge -- "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." -- "Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- "The only real valuable thing is intuition." -- "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." -- "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18." -- "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." -- "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." -- "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." His Understanding of the World: -- "I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details." -- "The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax." -- "I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice." -- "The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility." -- "Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character." -- "Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind." -- "Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding." -- "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible." -- "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." -- "Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods." -- "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." -- "In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep." -- "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." (Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton) On People and Life: -- "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." -- "A person starts to live when he can live outside himself." -- "I never think of the future. It comes soon enough." -- "Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing." -- "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." -- "Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds." -- "Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love." -- "No, this trick won't work ... How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?" -- "My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind." -- "The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking ... the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker." -- "Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence." -- "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." -- "Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." -- "You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat." -- "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest ... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." On Math and Science and Education: -- "Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it." -- "God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically." -- "The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking." -- "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal." -- "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." -- "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." -- "Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater." -- "Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity." -- "If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut." -- "As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality." -- "Yes, we have to divide up our time like that, between our politics and our equations. But to me our equations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present concern. A mathematical equation stands forever." -- "... one of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought." -- "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity."