On Lysator's Blog. He says: The knight came armed with full armour, steel shield, broadsword, halberd, crossbow, and morning star. Much better equipped than most of the player knights, though the show didn't have the gratuitous drake mount, pegasus mount, donation weapons, iouns, and lay on hands. The morning star did some heavy damage, as did the halberd, yet neither of these weapons are used to any extent on the mud. I guess players are either narrow-minded about how they have to use the sword, or they are greedy and want all of the special attacks built into the artifact swords. Though there are plenty of crossbows available, they are severely underused, and apparently beneath a knight on the mud to wield one.
Just to clear up some confusion, Lysator is totally right on the historical issue (and it's one I'm interested in and know a little about). In fact he ends the post with: Just as I had predicted last week, and validating that the knights are failing to live up to the legend. However I should point out that most people come to any MUD or roleplaying game, not to study the historical accuracies, but to live up to that legend. I mean if Knights were as amazing as legend and myth (and a lot of fantasy books) they'd never have died out during the gunpowder age. And they did. I don't think dissing peoples choices or poo-pooing on their gaming style or way to pass time is necessarily helpful or productive. I mean, any student of historical warfare knows that the spear was A LOT more useful than the sword in large scale combat, but we all grew up watching Robin Hood and Errol Flynn movies and think that sword-play is a much cooler image in our heads, even if it wouldn't really be that practical in large-scale medieval combat. (Reach being the biggest issue with the sword).
In defense of exotic mounts, fantasy literature is FULL of Dragon Knights and as Lysator's pointed out, Gav's own 'artwork' is really just stolen and photoshopped Warhammer image. So I'm not the first to think Pegasus Knights are a cool idea ;)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Developer Thoughts...
Between my wish lists and criticisms, it might seem as though I'm not that happy with the game. Au contrair! (Is that how you spell it?) I've been happy with the current dev team since I returned last year and I think I have a good relationship with most of them. They seem to be good people. However that's not particularly why I'm happy with them. Ironically one of the ones I'm happiest with is one that I actually don't seem to get on with (:(). However I like them because for the first time in a long time I'm seeing a LOT of results. And no, not because my ideas are taken onboard. A lot of my ideas are ignored, or what might seem like my idea is actually a long term goal they've had for friggin ages and it's just coincidence. (Tactical combat is one thing I've wanted but once when I laid out a plan to Twi or someone they went: Oh Chaos has been working on a system like that).
A lot of the stuff that's come in lately has little to do with ideas of /mine/, but very much their own. The exploration xp is one for example. There's a lot of backroom stuff we don't see too.
My ideas are just my ideas, my thoughts and my wishlists. And they don't really need that. They have ideas and goals aplenty to keep them busy probably until we all retire in 30/40 years time :p. What is nice is when my stuff and their stuff overlaps and fortunately that seems to happy a fair bit.
A lot of the stuff that's come in lately has little to do with ideas of /mine/, but very much their own. The exploration xp is one for example. There's a lot of backroom stuff we don't see too.
My ideas are just my ideas, my thoughts and my wishlists. And they don't really need that. They have ideas and goals aplenty to keep them busy probably until we all retire in 30/40 years time :p. What is nice is when my stuff and their stuff overlaps and fortunately that seems to happy a fair bit.
Newbie thoughts.
Well, sorry. I've been dealing with some RL issues lately that have distracted me from the game. (QQ!) But I've been lurking, posting and doing my own research. Ironically I'd been doing something similiar to what Lysator has been doing. Independently. I took a day on Iron Realms' world of Achea to have a look at what they do that's different.
Website
I have to say, their website is a lot prettier than ours. But I think our wiki does a very similiar job, though it could be organised a bit better. Every once in a while I do actually go through phases of blazing through our wiki, in fact, the current setup of the main page a good deal of the stripping away the pages on 'races' and 'guilds' and the like and organising those pages into categories has been my doing. But I'm not really a wiki-fiend. My talent is for seeing stuff I like elsewhere, grabbing the code and then trying to make that code fit our website. One thing I'd like to understand better is templates. We used them on otherverse.wikia.com for characters, worlds, races and the like and applying them to our own wiki would actually make things a lot neater. Another problem we have is character art. Yes, Gav's /is/ a stolen image (from Warhammer), paintshopped and edited. I'd like to see character art at least for our race pages, and preferably original and not stolen from elsewhere.
However... here's the difference between the Iron Realms stuff and ours. Ours is a 'hobbyist' mud as they'd refer to us. They're professional, a business, they make a lot of money and actually seem to have money to spend for development and the like. We don't, so we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves.
Getting New Players
My own thoughts on the actually game-play of Iron Realms? I actually stuck around for the tutorial, the basics aren't that different though their interface is rather similiar to something I've thought would be a good idea for us for a while. An in-browser interface and it's very pretty. The casual passerby isn't going to want to download client software and figure out how to install it and input our game data. If (as the mudding community in general agrees) we want to grab new players we have to reach beyond the current mud-community. And grabbing /that/ lot means not assuming they know squat about telnet interfaces and port numbers. To get some of those guys we need a clicky click interface. Personally I can't think of anything better than 'Play Now!' *click* 'Welcome to Lost Souls'.
And beyond that we need a tutorial, Wardens do their best, but I think a nice little tutorial script (and no, not a 3 hour introduction to all the nuances of the game) to introduce the basics before letting them loose on Gaia. (And I'm starting to have problems with Gaia being the name of the world, goes against our whole new original theme approach).
And I think plague really needs to be reworked. Nothing worse than a n00b catching the plague in their first five minutes, Chaos knows about my dislike of that particular mechanic and I'm not going to go on about it again here.
I think that's enough for now.
Website
I have to say, their website is a lot prettier than ours. But I think our wiki does a very similiar job, though it could be organised a bit better. Every once in a while I do actually go through phases of blazing through our wiki, in fact, the current setup of the main page a good deal of the stripping away the pages on 'races' and 'guilds' and the like and organising those pages into categories has been my doing. But I'm not really a wiki-fiend. My talent is for seeing stuff I like elsewhere, grabbing the code and then trying to make that code fit our website. One thing I'd like to understand better is templates. We used them on otherverse.wikia.com for characters, worlds, races and the like and applying them to our own wiki would actually make things a lot neater. Another problem we have is character art. Yes, Gav's /is/ a stolen image (from Warhammer), paintshopped and edited. I'd like to see character art at least for our race pages, and preferably original and not stolen from elsewhere.
However... here's the difference between the Iron Realms stuff and ours. Ours is a 'hobbyist' mud as they'd refer to us. They're professional, a business, they make a lot of money and actually seem to have money to spend for development and the like. We don't, so we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves.
Getting New Players
My own thoughts on the actually game-play of Iron Realms? I actually stuck around for the tutorial, the basics aren't that different though their interface is rather similiar to something I've thought would be a good idea for us for a while. An in-browser interface and it's very pretty. The casual passerby isn't going to want to download client software and figure out how to install it and input our game data. If (as the mudding community in general agrees) we want to grab new players we have to reach beyond the current mud-community. And grabbing /that/ lot means not assuming they know squat about telnet interfaces and port numbers. To get some of those guys we need a clicky click interface. Personally I can't think of anything better than 'Play Now!' *click* 'Welcome to Lost Souls'.
And beyond that we need a tutorial, Wardens do their best, but I think a nice little tutorial script (and no, not a 3 hour introduction to all the nuances of the game) to introduce the basics before letting them loose on Gaia. (And I'm starting to have problems with Gaia being the name of the world, goes against our whole new original theme approach).
And I think plague really needs to be reworked. Nothing worse than a n00b catching the plague in their first five minutes, Chaos knows about my dislike of that particular mechanic and I'm not going to go on about it again here.
I think that's enough for now.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Quiet?
No things aren't quiet, but I have so many thoughts churning around in my head right now that I think it'll take some time to sort out.
However, briefly let me say this: Donators. Definitely not entitled to anything on Lost Souls other than their benefits. You have no more or less say in the development of the game because you chose to donate. However. We're not entitled to less. Donators are NOT cheaters. A character with donation items is not worth less than someone who doesn't. Most importantly, donators shouldn't have to put up with derision from fellow players or developers.
I find myself on the defense too often lately. Defending myself, my character, my choices and I'm not entirely comfortable with that.
However, briefly let me say this: Donators. Definitely not entitled to anything on Lost Souls other than their benefits. You have no more or less say in the development of the game because you chose to donate. However. We're not entitled to less. Donators are NOT cheaters. A character with donation items is not worth less than someone who doesn't. Most importantly, donators shouldn't have to put up with derision from fellow players or developers.
I find myself on the defense too often lately. Defending myself, my character, my choices and I'm not entirely comfortable with that.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Adventures of the Band of the White Cross
So, whilst reworking my navigation aliases (yes, even I use navigation aliases, I don't do the xp-per-minute loop, but you know sometimes I have to do the circuit) I decided to add Ry'leh to the loop. I used to do it about 10 odd years ago, but I just never got into the habit of going there when I went back. So I led the band through the usual abominations and ranting orcs and cold-eyed giths, what I remembered and came to the Strange City that used to scare the crap out of me years ago. And I came across a couple of gogtzul. I've fought these guys a few times since sometimes they lead the odd raid to Losthaven. I didn't expect a gogtzul horde swarm. I rallied the Band to me and with a few choice words inspired the lot of them to a heroic defense around my banner. (My imaginary banner, bannermen are on my wish list). About half-way through the epic defense I had to go full defensive and did my best to keep my men alive whilst they did their best to bring the gogtzul down. And they did. And we suffered no losses.
After this little fight which ended /just/ in the nick of time I decided to retreat, but not knowing the layout of Ry'leh so well and after a small rest I fought my way down. Until I came across a deryni, thinking he was no more or less than any other wierd creature I'd faced in Ry'leh we attacked. And Yog-Sothoth was summoned. Even I... Prince Gavadel of Amber had to retreat before the Elder God. But I didn't get the chance, it didn't take me long before my spirit found itself with Father Michael. I pray to Yehovah to show some mercy and summoning Fledge we flew back to Ry'leh like the wind. And promptly died because I had nothing. Finding myself back at Michael /again/ and sure the War Band was now dead I first headed to Camelot to re-arm myself from our armoury (something I rarely do these days). I then headed back to Ry'leh. The Band had scattered to the four winds, and it took me some time to find them all again, but losses were a lot lower than expected and only Yeoman Gelamio had perished. 'Only' I'm sad to lose Gelamio, he's the longest surviving yeoman from the new band who wasn't part of the 'Dream Team'. I also have to report the loss of Dame Alirizel, when I rearmed at Camelot I found a hauberk and cloak I'd made myself and gifted to her. She died defending Lancelot so that's something. She's the first member of the Dream Team to die.
We also lost three pegasi, so Juxinner is currently flying around on Seleus. Instead of concentrating on rebuilding the Band, Captain Rubernel informed me it'd be better if we continued plotting out our routes. We'd just finished a raid on Bloodmoon Temple when the Vigil informed me there was a huge raid on Losthaven with multiple parties. The Band formed around the rune of the keeper and we launched to Losthaven's Defense. As did a lot of other Guard members. Our first mission was to dispatch the horde of zombies, which we did easily, but to the east there was a massive army of orcs, probably in reprisal for my assault on Yevath earlier in the week. The main problem was the orc berserker. I fell twice (as did a few other PC Guard) but kept launching myself back into the defense of the City.
Finally when the Battle of Losthaven drew to a close I counted casualties amongst the Band. None.
Three Battles in one day and only Yeoman Gelamio fell. I consider myself most fortunate. We'll finish mapping out our route and then I'll rebuild the Band and hunt some more pegasi.
War Band No: 15
After this little fight which ended /just/ in the nick of time I decided to retreat, but not knowing the layout of Ry'leh so well and after a small rest I fought my way down. Until I came across a deryni, thinking he was no more or less than any other wierd creature I'd faced in Ry'leh we attacked. And Yog-Sothoth was summoned. Even I... Prince Gavadel of Amber had to retreat before the Elder God. But I didn't get the chance, it didn't take me long before my spirit found itself with Father Michael. I pray to Yehovah to show some mercy and summoning Fledge we flew back to Ry'leh like the wind. And promptly died because I had nothing. Finding myself back at Michael /again/ and sure the War Band was now dead I first headed to Camelot to re-arm myself from our armoury (something I rarely do these days). I then headed back to Ry'leh. The Band had scattered to the four winds, and it took me some time to find them all again, but losses were a lot lower than expected and only Yeoman Gelamio had perished. 'Only' I'm sad to lose Gelamio, he's the longest surviving yeoman from the new band who wasn't part of the 'Dream Team'. I also have to report the loss of Dame Alirizel, when I rearmed at Camelot I found a hauberk and cloak I'd made myself and gifted to her. She died defending Lancelot so that's something. She's the first member of the Dream Team to die.
We also lost three pegasi, so Juxinner is currently flying around on Seleus. Instead of concentrating on rebuilding the Band, Captain Rubernel informed me it'd be better if we continued plotting out our routes. We'd just finished a raid on Bloodmoon Temple when the Vigil informed me there was a huge raid on Losthaven with multiple parties. The Band formed around the rune of the keeper and we launched to Losthaven's Defense. As did a lot of other Guard members. Our first mission was to dispatch the horde of zombies, which we did easily, but to the east there was a massive army of orcs, probably in reprisal for my assault on Yevath earlier in the week. The main problem was the orc berserker. I fell twice (as did a few other PC Guard) but kept launching myself back into the defense of the City.
Finally when the Battle of Losthaven drew to a close I counted casualties amongst the Band. None.
Three Battles in one day and only Yeoman Gelamio fell. I consider myself most fortunate. We'll finish mapping out our route and then I'll rebuild the Band and hunt some more pegasi.
War Band No: 15
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Awe, crystal cubes and the Band.
It's Sunday evening and after having a few days to wander the map, it sunk in last night just how huge and amazing the new map is. And everyone's excited, from Dev Corps' new plans as to what's now doable to the players' exploring and discovering their old favorite haunts or just taking in the view.
What astonishes me is how Lysator did ALL of the building himself. When you wander the new map and realise how big everything is, how the scope of Gaia has just expanded. What was once Almeria is now at least 11 maps (9 main regions and Tetlacana and Quetatl). Not to mention Mordo, the first region of Esartur released. A 'dark' continent is more than welcome. And if you've tried going to Mordo you'll realise the ocean after Avalon is HUGE. Whether you love the new map or hate it (I think most of you are in the former category along with myself) you have to be in awe of the man behind the work. I praised him on release, but that praise is all the more heartfelt after wandering the new maps. I gave him Kudos before. Now I can only say: Lysator I salute you.
Twilight released Crystal Cubes to allow people a small map readout of the region they're in. It has been /vital/ to me in imagining my explorations as well as finding my way around. Thanks for releasing them.
The War Band has shrunk. We lost Suzasti during my original explorations and we got stuck in a region of what I think now is Korindim. I ended up disbanded the Band temporarily, left the horses and packs and spent two days rounding up pegasi to remount the Band as a small aerial band. We added a firelizard and an elicat to the mix, and Captain Rubernel dismissed Truct and bonded an owl, so he could stay with the Band. He's becoming a fearsome warrior in his own right now. So the War Band size is now Six Humans, Eight Pegasi, 2 drakes, an elicat, an owl and a firelizard and myself. So from 26 to 19. There's a free pegasi I use for when I'm helping newbies. We've raided Mordo and hit some other places. S'been a lot of fun and I don't regret using Gavadel to test the new map, even with the loss of Suzasti, makes me prouder of my little Band.
What astonishes me is how Lysator did ALL of the building himself. When you wander the new map and realise how big everything is, how the scope of Gaia has just expanded. What was once Almeria is now at least 11 maps (9 main regions and Tetlacana and Quetatl). Not to mention Mordo, the first region of Esartur released. A 'dark' continent is more than welcome. And if you've tried going to Mordo you'll realise the ocean after Avalon is HUGE. Whether you love the new map or hate it (I think most of you are in the former category along with myself) you have to be in awe of the man behind the work. I praised him on release, but that praise is all the more heartfelt after wandering the new maps. I gave him Kudos before. Now I can only say: Lysator I salute you.
Twilight released Crystal Cubes to allow people a small map readout of the region they're in. It has been /vital/ to me in imagining my explorations as well as finding my way around. Thanks for releasing them.
The War Band has shrunk. We lost Suzasti during my original explorations and we got stuck in a region of what I think now is Korindim. I ended up disbanded the Band temporarily, left the horses and packs and spent two days rounding up pegasi to remount the Band as a small aerial band. We added a firelizard and an elicat to the mix, and Captain Rubernel dismissed Truct and bonded an owl, so he could stay with the Band. He's becoming a fearsome warrior in his own right now. So the War Band size is now Six Humans, Eight Pegasi, 2 drakes, an elicat, an owl and a firelizard and myself. So from 26 to 19. There's a free pegasi I use for when I'm helping newbies. We've raided Mordo and hit some other places. S'been a lot of fun and I don't regret using Gavadel to test the new map, even with the loss of Suzasti, makes me prouder of my little Band.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Kudos to my fellow players...
Honestly... I was expecting a lot more whining and bitching after I figured out about the rollout. Issues, bugs, things not working how you expect (my own experience with the trees and the STEEP mountain that led to the death of Suzasti) aren't what I'm talking about. They're valid issues. I know some people are worried, even good sorts, but just about everyone has attacked the new map with gusto and enthusiasm.
Sorry, my negative expectations were based on the last MAJOR rollout with the new spec system or before that when HPs were detached from levels, both of which led to a lot of whining and big name players leaving the game. So I'll have to say I've been pleasantly surprised. Really, thanks for being great and supporting Lysator and the rest of the staff.
Sorry, my negative expectations were based on the last MAJOR rollout with the new spec system or before that when HPs were detached from levels, both of which led to a lot of whining and big name players leaving the game. So I'll have to say I've been pleasantly surprised. Really, thanks for being great and supporting Lysator and the rest of the staff.
Navigation
Quick post... you know what'd make navigation a LOT easier... a global co-ordinate system... from -200 to 200 or however it'd work out. Personally I don't find it too much of an issue, but I know some people are finding it difficult to get their head around every map being on a different system. Not sure how feasible the idea is.
Almerian 3D Map Launch....
THIS SUCKS! HOW THE F*CK AM I GOING TO DO MY XP CIRCUIT NOW?!!! My xp circuit composes of alternating between Bill the Town Fool and Trixie, so I'm actually all good.
Me and Lys don't seem to really get on that well, though I wish we did as we have a lot of the same interests. Not a loathing or anything, but we're not buddies, we have a... 'professional' relationship. I'm only saying this to make one thing clear. My support of his work isn't personal.
I LOVE the new map. Despite our differences I've been a big fan of Lysator's /work/ since I first stepped into the Northlands. I love NL, Avalon, Gardagh and what I've seen of Mordo. And the new Almerian map is ambitious and long overdue. And I think only Lysator could ever have had the patience to do something like this. I'll probably be more full of praise when I figure out where stuff is.
For the record I'm exploring with the War Band (bad idea) so me and Fledge are being forced to explore on foot. So far we've found... Togrek, the eastern entry point and a wild dog pack (don't let those beeatches catch your low level adventurer btw).
The common complaint about a Lys-map is IT'S BIG AND EMPTY. Only if you're a numbnut I think. His maps have flavor, they're thought out, the descs are gorgeous and there's attention to detail (you can examine the flowers and the like). Lys puts a lot of work into his wandering monsters even if he won't let me keep 'em. And space... all that space.... is asking for expansion of content, new towns, new villages, new areas. For the first time in 15 years, there's room to expand in a way that makes sense.
Kudos Lysator.
And to all 'em Devs who helped him finish it up and put hours and hours last night into loading it up. Thanks.
Me and Lys don't seem to really get on that well, though I wish we did as we have a lot of the same interests. Not a loathing or anything, but we're not buddies, we have a... 'professional' relationship. I'm only saying this to make one thing clear. My support of his work isn't personal.
I LOVE the new map. Despite our differences I've been a big fan of Lysator's /work/ since I first stepped into the Northlands. I love NL, Avalon, Gardagh and what I've seen of Mordo. And the new Almerian map is ambitious and long overdue. And I think only Lysator could ever have had the patience to do something like this. I'll probably be more full of praise when I figure out where stuff is.
For the record I'm exploring with the War Band (bad idea) so me and Fledge are being forced to explore on foot. So far we've found... Togrek, the eastern entry point and a wild dog pack (don't let those beeatches catch your low level adventurer btw).
The common complaint about a Lys-map is IT'S BIG AND EMPTY. Only if you're a numbnut I think. His maps have flavor, they're thought out, the descs are gorgeous and there's attention to detail (you can examine the flowers and the like). Lys puts a lot of work into his wandering monsters even if he won't let me keep 'em. And space... all that space.... is asking for expansion of content, new towns, new villages, new areas. For the first time in 15 years, there's room to expand in a way that makes sense.
Kudos Lysator.
And to all 'em Devs who helped him finish it up and put hours and hours last night into loading it up. Thanks.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Affinities and Resistance Skills...
Here's something I've thought was wrong for quite a while... the affinity and resistance skills. Problem is they're so inherent in our system now that reworking them would be a MAJOR project (well I think so, for all I know Chaos goes 'hold on' tappety tappety tap 'Done!').
Here's what I think is wrong from a purely philosophical standpoint. Aligning yourself with any major power means that you gain affinity with that power (fair enough). So Gav doesn't suffer from holy or ordered attacks and can actually benefit from them if his skills are high enough. However. There's a price. He's wide open to attacks from Unholy and Chaos, moreso than someone who hadn't aligned with Holy or Order powers. He can offset that by buying Chaos Resistance to help /offset/ his order affinity and holy fortitude to offset his holy purity (holy affinity).
Now gamewise that means that I tend to fight unholy and chaotic beings more than I fight holy or ordered. Fighting those guys would actually give me some benefit. The main reason to buy these up is to benefit from artifacts, but I'm really not sure it's worth it, especially with being so open to attacks from my enemies, even with some resistance skills bought up. In fact Gav's got his holy fortitude a lot higher than his holy purity to try and have some benefit when he's fighting the unholy powers. He has no access to chaos resistance and tends to get the lowest of his orifices violated when he goes up against chaotic powers.
Now if you've read the chronicles of amber, remember when Corwin comes across the Black Road (a Chaos Construct) as he's fleeing from his currently enraged brother Benedict. You don't want Benedict mad at you. EVER. Even for an amberite he's pretty damned powerful, best warrior ever and the reason the Courts lost the Patternfall War. So when he's pissed at you. Run. In desperation Corwin decides to cut through the Black Road. Not having much effect he summons the Pattern to mind (effectively this would in game mechanics, give a boost to his Order Affinity), it's with this power that he manages to cut his way through the road. Temporarily losing his pissed off brother.
I'd like to see the Affinities and Resistances merged. It makes sense if you fill your body with Holy Spirit that spirit reinforces you against the effects of the Unholy. And vice-versa. Same goes for Order Affinity, it aligns you with the forces of Order and protects you against the forces of Chaos. It'd also mean that two opposite-aligned characters or NPCs meeting on the field of battle actually have a half-decent chance of being able to be roughly of equal strength. Also in a game where skills are so many and spec points are so few, freeing up some will stuff to allow you either a) to focus your strength on that power alone or b) Throw some will stuff elsewhere would be much appreciated.
Addendum: After talking with Twilight and Beasty some more, it's helped me refine my argument. So... let's look at it this way. FireBoy has fire affinity. To a high level. He's attacked by a bucket of water. Under the current system, with no water resistance, he's be staggered by the bucket of water. Now if his fire affinity is 240 and the bucket of water attack is water affinity 60 attack, under the new system, he'd just laugh it off as it's turned to steam. No problem against the bucket of water. Let's say he runs into WaterGirl. WaterGirl tries a few bucket of water attacks to no affect. FireBoy launches his fireball attacks, also to no effect under the new system. But WaterGirl is much higher level and Bucket of Water attack is her lowest power. She now launches LAKEOFDOOM area attack, her most powerful spell. LAKEOFDOOM is a strength 300 attack. Now because this power is 60 higher than his affinity, he doesn't actually take 60 damage. His pool of resistance from his affinity is overloaded and he takes a double-effect, not the full 300 doubled, but the 60 doubled, so he takes a 120 attack strength LAKEOFDOOM. Who's laughing now FireBoy?
My two cents.
Here's what I think is wrong from a purely philosophical standpoint. Aligning yourself with any major power means that you gain affinity with that power (fair enough). So Gav doesn't suffer from holy or ordered attacks and can actually benefit from them if his skills are high enough. However. There's a price. He's wide open to attacks from Unholy and Chaos, moreso than someone who hadn't aligned with Holy or Order powers. He can offset that by buying Chaos Resistance to help /offset/ his order affinity and holy fortitude to offset his holy purity (holy affinity).
Now gamewise that means that I tend to fight unholy and chaotic beings more than I fight holy or ordered. Fighting those guys would actually give me some benefit. The main reason to buy these up is to benefit from artifacts, but I'm really not sure it's worth it, especially with being so open to attacks from my enemies, even with some resistance skills bought up. In fact Gav's got his holy fortitude a lot higher than his holy purity to try and have some benefit when he's fighting the unholy powers. He has no access to chaos resistance and tends to get the lowest of his orifices violated when he goes up against chaotic powers.
Now if you've read the chronicles of amber, remember when Corwin comes across the Black Road (a Chaos Construct) as he's fleeing from his currently enraged brother Benedict. You don't want Benedict mad at you. EVER. Even for an amberite he's pretty damned powerful, best warrior ever and the reason the Courts lost the Patternfall War. So when he's pissed at you. Run. In desperation Corwin decides to cut through the Black Road. Not having much effect he summons the Pattern to mind (effectively this would in game mechanics, give a boost to his Order Affinity), it's with this power that he manages to cut his way through the road. Temporarily losing his pissed off brother.
I'd like to see the Affinities and Resistances merged. It makes sense if you fill your body with Holy Spirit that spirit reinforces you against the effects of the Unholy. And vice-versa. Same goes for Order Affinity, it aligns you with the forces of Order and protects you against the forces of Chaos. It'd also mean that two opposite-aligned characters or NPCs meeting on the field of battle actually have a half-decent chance of being able to be roughly of equal strength. Also in a game where skills are so many and spec points are so few, freeing up some will stuff to allow you either a) to focus your strength on that power alone or b) Throw some will stuff elsewhere would be much appreciated.
Addendum: After talking with Twilight and Beasty some more, it's helped me refine my argument. So... let's look at it this way. FireBoy has fire affinity. To a high level. He's attacked by a bucket of water. Under the current system, with no water resistance, he's be staggered by the bucket of water. Now if his fire affinity is 240 and the bucket of water attack is water affinity 60 attack, under the new system, he'd just laugh it off as it's turned to steam. No problem against the bucket of water. Let's say he runs into WaterGirl. WaterGirl tries a few bucket of water attacks to no affect. FireBoy launches his fireball attacks, also to no effect under the new system. But WaterGirl is much higher level and Bucket of Water attack is her lowest power. She now launches LAKEOFDOOM area attack, her most powerful spell. LAKEOFDOOM is a strength 300 attack. Now because this power is 60 higher than his affinity, he doesn't actually take 60 damage. His pool of resistance from his affinity is overloaded and he takes a double-effect, not the full 300 doubled, but the 60 doubled, so he takes a 120 attack strength LAKEOFDOOM. Who's laughing now FireBoy?
My two cents.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
At Full Strength
Well, since the Dream Team came back and after ironing out a few kinks (pesky gems of preservation, though they seem to be working better now). The Band is now at full strength. Probably subject to the occassional change, losses still happen (Kotanan, was tragically lost at sea earlier today) and only the higher levelled types are currently under the gem of protection.
Band of The White Cross (War Band)
Prince Gavadel's Warband, primarily attached to the Pantarchic Church, worth noting is all the human members are mounted on horses. Despite Gavadel experimenting with elven steeds, warhorses and hanoman horses, he's settled on good ol' Losthaven horses from Emor. So each of the yeomen, the squire and his Captain are mounted on steeds. Gavadel himself rides his pegasus, Fledge, a level 36 familiar.
Captain Rubernel
My right-hand man, originally assigned to us by the Pantarchic Church, but he went native, joined the Rangers and his warg Truct has tentatively taken command of The Pack. Level 25 Ranger-Templar.
Squire Agla
Another one of those squires who refuses to specialise in invocation, but she's held her own somewhat. Currently a level 6 squire and she's hopeful of succeeding as her predeccesor Dame Alirizel did.
Yeomen
Lieutenant Butler - Level 15 Yeoman Along with Rubernel and Dame Alirizel, survivor of the Battle of Shadow Tower. Beware his mithril spear, he ain't half bad with it. His familiar is Parmenion.
Sergeant Gelamio - Level 14 Yeoman, one of the first recruited since the Band's reformation and has now survived plenty of battles in his own right.
Yeoman Hasadan - Level 6 Yeoman, latest recruit and a half-decent swordsman.
Yeoman Juxinner Barber - Level 6 Yeoman, saved from the plague in Camelot by Gavadel.
Yeoman Sazusti - Level 12 Yeoman, another of Camelot's fierce valkyrie warriors.
Pack
Truct - Captain Rubernel's pit warg he adopted. Surprisingly taken to the rest of the hounds, and she's quite protective of them. Anyone with the ability to sense of the heart of others will see Truct's is as pure as any Knight's. Definitely unique for her race. No idea as to his level as he's Rubernel's familiar, not mine.
Trix - Level 6 Newcomer to the Band, replacing Nenia who decided to leave last night of her own accord, lord knows why.
Lucky - level 12 hound. Like her yeoman counterparts, been through a number of battles by now. And survived the plague a couple of times too.
Bruno - Level 11 hound.
Tiger - Level 11 hound.
Gwynn - Level 11 hound, named after Gwynned.
Walker - Level 11 hound.
Heavy Artillery
Parmenion - The Lieutenant's familiar, so like Truct, no idea as to her level. She is however an Ice Drake.
Seleus - Level 24 Red Drake and Parmenion's mate.
Including mounts, Gavadel and Fledge Warband Strength: 25
Other news: Check out Esmene's Blog. There's already 3 posts including two VERY nice articles on Witches.
Band of The White Cross (War Band)
Prince Gavadel's Warband, primarily attached to the Pantarchic Church, worth noting is all the human members are mounted on horses. Despite Gavadel experimenting with elven steeds, warhorses and hanoman horses, he's settled on good ol' Losthaven horses from Emor. So each of the yeomen, the squire and his Captain are mounted on steeds. Gavadel himself rides his pegasus, Fledge, a level 36 familiar.
Captain Rubernel
My right-hand man, originally assigned to us by the Pantarchic Church, but he went native, joined the Rangers and his warg Truct has tentatively taken command of The Pack. Level 25 Ranger-Templar.
Squire Agla
Another one of those squires who refuses to specialise in invocation, but she's held her own somewhat. Currently a level 6 squire and she's hopeful of succeeding as her predeccesor Dame Alirizel did.
Yeomen
Lieutenant Butler - Level 15 Yeoman Along with Rubernel and Dame Alirizel, survivor of the Battle of Shadow Tower. Beware his mithril spear, he ain't half bad with it. His familiar is Parmenion.
Sergeant Gelamio - Level 14 Yeoman, one of the first recruited since the Band's reformation and has now survived plenty of battles in his own right.
Yeoman Hasadan - Level 6 Yeoman, latest recruit and a half-decent swordsman.
Yeoman Juxinner Barber - Level 6 Yeoman, saved from the plague in Camelot by Gavadel.
Yeoman Sazusti - Level 12 Yeoman, another of Camelot's fierce valkyrie warriors.
Pack
Truct - Captain Rubernel's pit warg he adopted. Surprisingly taken to the rest of the hounds, and she's quite protective of them. Anyone with the ability to sense of the heart of others will see Truct's is as pure as any Knight's. Definitely unique for her race. No idea as to his level as he's Rubernel's familiar, not mine.
Trix - Level 6 Newcomer to the Band, replacing Nenia who decided to leave last night of her own accord, lord knows why.
Lucky - level 12 hound. Like her yeoman counterparts, been through a number of battles by now. And survived the plague a couple of times too.
Bruno - Level 11 hound.
Tiger - Level 11 hound.
Gwynn - Level 11 hound, named after Gwynned.
Walker - Level 11 hound.
Heavy Artillery
Parmenion - The Lieutenant's familiar, so like Truct, no idea as to her level. She is however an Ice Drake.
Seleus - Level 24 Red Drake and Parmenion's mate.
Including mounts, Gavadel and Fledge Warband Strength: 25
Other news: Check out Esmene's Blog. There's already 3 posts including two VERY nice articles on Witches.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Blogging
So...
Been an interesting couple of days and I almost lost my temper a couple of times. The posts from yesterday are deleted, written by me and other people in the heat of the moment and keeping those there words up for posterity is probably counter-productive. So let's look at todays little issue. The blog itself.
Why should I blog?
Pain in the butt innit. Having to drag yourself to a site login and then maintain the damned thing so that you're not posting once a month and nobody is reading it. Why I try to post fairly often, even if there's not much to say, so that when I do have something to say I already have a reader or two. It's true, Developers like the blog. That's not to say my blog is the best blog ever, or am I so damned interesting. The point right now is it's the only one out there. Developers like the format because it can be read at their leisure, not having to deal with a tell in the middle of their coding, idle or whatnot. It's a permanent record, so it can be referred to later too.
But Everyone Loves Gav, How Can I Compete?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm just fortunate because I'm the first who tried this approach and it's been discovered to work. That's not to say your blog should be a wish-list. Mine isn't, though problems and whatnot are pointed out in it, specifically to do with problems in my guilds or my specific goals. Also, realise Developers have plans and projects of their own and your idea might not fit in there. Not all of mine do, and it's sort of implicit, especially with requests for guild benefits or whatnot. I've had a few tells like 'Nice idea about the keep Gav, but it can't be a Knight power because it goes against something we're working on' ORLY?
Basically the blog has been proven to be a useful format for charting your progress, problems and triumphs with the game. It's passive, not intrusive and that's why it's taken off. A forum would maybe work as well, but as we don't have one.... I heartily recommend you to make your own. Honestly? I don't like this distinction that's fallen on my shoulders and I've been uncomfortable with it for a while now. Help me out? Make your own blog or whatever charting your own journey through the game. Much obliged.
Gav
Been an interesting couple of days and I almost lost my temper a couple of times. The posts from yesterday are deleted, written by me and other people in the heat of the moment and keeping those there words up for posterity is probably counter-productive. So let's look at todays little issue. The blog itself.
Why should I blog?
Pain in the butt innit. Having to drag yourself to a site login and then maintain the damned thing so that you're not posting once a month and nobody is reading it. Why I try to post fairly often, even if there's not much to say, so that when I do have something to say I already have a reader or two. It's true, Developers like the blog. That's not to say my blog is the best blog ever, or am I so damned interesting. The point right now is it's the only one out there. Developers like the format because it can be read at their leisure, not having to deal with a tell in the middle of their coding, idle or whatnot. It's a permanent record, so it can be referred to later too.
But Everyone Loves Gav, How Can I Compete?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm just fortunate because I'm the first who tried this approach and it's been discovered to work. That's not to say your blog should be a wish-list. Mine isn't, though problems and whatnot are pointed out in it, specifically to do with problems in my guilds or my specific goals. Also, realise Developers have plans and projects of their own and your idea might not fit in there. Not all of mine do, and it's sort of implicit, especially with requests for guild benefits or whatnot. I've had a few tells like 'Nice idea about the keep Gav, but it can't be a Knight power because it goes against something we're working on' ORLY?
Basically the blog has been proven to be a useful format for charting your progress, problems and triumphs with the game. It's passive, not intrusive and that's why it's taken off. A forum would maybe work as well, but as we don't have one.... I heartily recommend you to make your own. Honestly? I don't like this distinction that's fallen on my shoulders and I've been uncomfortable with it for a while now. Help me out? Make your own blog or whatever charting your own journey through the game. Much obliged.
Gav
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Return of the Dream Team
So Chaos kindly decided the other night that because the Dream Team hadn't been lost to battle, but due to the disconnection problem he'd reinstate them for me. After wrestling with the matter somewhat we decided to fully reinstall Gavadel from a backup. There were plusses and minuses to this idea, the main minus being losing the Captaincy of the Guard and all my xp since January. The plus side of this the Dream Team returning and... FLEDGE. Seems Chaos was kind enough to overlook my err... Emo-phase a few weeks ago. About the downside, I /think/ if I pushed it, Snr Chaos would probably have let it go, maybe. But I'm inclined to think there should be a price for the bad decisions and bad luck, so I'm more than happy with the reinstall. To celebrate, using the knowledge I've gleamed over the last few months I've rebuilt a warband. And lets see if I can build it into something... great. I'll give the rundown, note the 'special' characters. Those guys are the famed Dream Team, so-called because before I learned anything about running an NPC squad they actually survived with no real help from me and even my ill-advised assault on Shadow Tower. Here's the run-down of the new-found....
Band of the White Cross
Captain Rubernel - Level 23 Templar-Ranger, my right-hand man and he comes with his rather strange choice of familiar, his warg Truct.
Squire Alirizel - Level 14 Squire, riding her horse Swan a level 12 warhorse.
Lieutenant Butler - Level 12 Yeoman-Ranger, a force in his own right, what makes him more than dangerous is his ice-drake Parmenion.
Yeoman Pisius - Level 5 yeoman, riding his level 13 warhorse Achilles.
Yeoman Dellalis - Level 5 yeoman, mounted on his level 11 warhorse Guyan.
Yeoman Gelamio - Level 5 yeoman, mounted on his level 13 warhorse Galin.
Hounds
Lucky - Level 5 hound
Nenia - Level 5 hound
Hopefully I can add another few hounds to the pack. And yes, this does now mean the Band of the White Cross is now a cavalary force.
Band of the White Cross
Captain Rubernel - Level 23 Templar-Ranger, my right-hand man and he comes with his rather strange choice of familiar, his warg Truct.
Squire Alirizel - Level 14 Squire, riding her horse Swan a level 12 warhorse.
Lieutenant Butler - Level 12 Yeoman-Ranger, a force in his own right, what makes him more than dangerous is his ice-drake Parmenion.
Yeoman Pisius - Level 5 yeoman, riding his level 13 warhorse Achilles.
Yeoman Dellalis - Level 5 yeoman, mounted on his level 11 warhorse Guyan.
Yeoman Gelamio - Level 5 yeoman, mounted on his level 13 warhorse Galin.
Hounds
Lucky - Level 5 hound
Nenia - Level 5 hound
Hopefully I can add another few hounds to the pack. And yes, this does now mean the Band of the White Cross is now a cavalary force.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Not happy....
As happens from time to time, fell asleep without logging off, this morning I had to run to the bank and didn't check the computer. Logged in now to find the band wiped out by the plague. Selius, the Templar and the Squire survived. Yeomen and hounds gone... Pretty pissed about it and my loathing of the plague ups another notch.
Motivation to start a new warband: LOW.
Motivation to start a new warband: LOW.
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