GM Lyneya open office - 08/08/2017

Date: 8/8/2017 (13 Uthmor 424)

2017 "State of Elanthia" address referenced during this open office: RadioFreeSimuCon (the DR discussion starts at 01:05)

[Lyneya's Hideaway, A Small Cottage]
A well-worn desk piled high with notes and folders is set in front of glass windows that provide a breathtaking view of the river. Two wooden chairs, offering a place to sit for a discussion, face a small square table. Some shelves decorate the wall, displaying various mementos and souvenirs.
You also see a door and a questions list.
Obvious exits: none.

GMs present (3): Armifer, Kodius, and Lyneya

Players present (46): Appe, Aradar, Aruthas, Bandhur, Beerf, Binu, Brennarose, Chuman, Embrace, Erineta, Feltzer, Gallifreius, Ghust, Giulietta, Haxen, Heartsfyre, Humpenzon, Iiona, Isharon, Kadelia, Kaelie, Lacang, Louiuos, Mazrian, Missah, Mitkiahn, Mordimer, Morkos, Msaia, Nideaya, Norwich, Padhg, Penethol, Rajara, Sarvatt, Sendithu, Soldiz, Thires, Toridahn, Treylis, Wet, Willower, Yakedo, Zadrix, Zansa, and Zerzio

[21:23] System Announcement: The glowing portal found in Town Green South leads to Lyneya's office! She'll be there for about an hour if you want to chat.

[21:26] Lyneya asks, "So how many of us here saw the SoE?"

[21:26] Erineta exclaims, "Kinda!"

[21:26] Isharon says, "I watched it last night."

[21:27] Erineta says, "Bits and pieces."

[21:27] Lyneya says, "Oh, hm. I wonder if I own that list."

[21:27] Mazrian says, "Haha."

[21:27] Feltzer is chosen from the list.

[21:27] Lyneya exclaims, "Guess I do!"

[21:27] Lyneya asks, "Sup?"

[21:27] Feltzer says, "Oh."

[21:28] Louiuos asks, "Got any info on any roadmaps?"

[21:28] Louiuos asks, "Or anything in development pipeline that we don't know of?"

[21:29] Louiuos says, "Oh."

[21:29] Erineta exclaims, "Moonsilver!"

[21:29] Lyneya asks Feltzer, "No?"

[21:29] Lyneya says, "Ok."

[21:29] Treylis is chosen from the list.

[21:29] Treylis asks, "May I proceed?"

[21:30] Treylis asks, "I was wondering if there is an update you may give on trader magics?"

[21:30] Treylis asks, "I had heard they were very close then the gent involved got moved to another project?"

[21:30] Lyneya exclaims, "Trader magics are a thing!"

[21:30] Lyneya says, "Nope, the people working on it are hard at work."

[21:30] Treylis says, "I am quite overjoyed to hear this."

[21:31] Treylis asks, "Any guesstimations?"

[21:31] Lyneya says, "I can't give you a release date. I can tell you that the events leading up to release have already begun in game."

[21:31] Treylis asks, "Chat that is wonderful, I was more thinking a 70% done... 99.99% done?"

[21:32] Treylis asks, "And 1 followup if I may.... will magic skill ranks be retro basd on current levels?"

[21:32] Treylis says, "As has been done in the past."

[21:32] Lacang says, "I only have one request. Can we please give Louious a lifetime ban. He's a monster and a dangerous to the community. Possibly even society as a greater whole. Thank you."

[21:33] Lyneya says, "The one that could answer those questions quickly is not in game right now and away on IMs. I'll ask for an update for the forums though, and see what we can get for you."

[21:33] Treylis says, "Thank you very much appreciated."

[21:33] Lyneya says, "Oh, wait .."

[21:33] Treylis says, "Very curious about the retro skills as well."

[21:33] Heartsfyre says to Louiuos, "Yer a monster and a menance to society."

[21:34] Heartsfyre asks Louiuos, "And what have ya not done?"

[21:35] Msaia says, "No access to list..even though I've fought in the prison riots for this city..."

[21:35] Lyneya says, "Ok, update for trader magics is coming on the forums."

[21:35] Treylis says, "Thank you so much.... hopefully it includes the retro skill question."

[21:35] Treylis says, "Mush appreciated, I yeild the floor."

[21:36] Louiuos says, "I am no longer a menace or a monster, now I am a Bacon Buddy."

[21:37] Lyneya says, "I wonder if ..."

[21:37] Lyneya says, "Yes. Come on out and scare them."

[21:37] You hear a voice say, "As you wish."

[21:37] Lyneya says, "The magic man."

[21:37] Missah says, "Ooooo."

[21:37] Lyneya asks Armifer, "What's up with trader magic?"

[21:37] Mazrian says, "Oh hi."

[21:38] Erineta exclaims, "Armifer! SIGN MY SCARF!"

[21:38] Armifer says, "Okay, so Trader Magic has been the project I think I've obliquely mentioned on the forums a few times. There's a few of us that have been working on it for a few months now."

[21:38] Louiuos says, "Ugh."

[21:39] Armifer says, "As it currently stands, core magic works for Traders in our dev version. Traders can cast spells, perceive mana, etc."

[21:39] Louiuos asks, "Why does the StormFront client crash if you try to copy text out of a window which isn't the story window??????"

[21:39] Treylis says, "Wonderful news."

[21:39] Heartsfyre says to Louiuos, "Yers sux. thats all."

[21:39] Armifer says, "The Trader confound, what's called the Starlight Aura, is in a functional but not completed state. Needs a serious second pass before I'm comfortable with it."

[21:39] Ghust says, "Question. If when this is over, will ya'll be gettin to referals? Cause I really want mah pig back."

[21:40] Armifer says, "Trader spells are going to be the big time spender at this point."

[21:40] Treylis asks Armifer, "Thank you for addressing my question. Do you have an idea if magic skills will be added retoractively as they have in the past for similar releases?"

[21:40] Armifer says, "Okay, I am going to give you an answer with the caveat that it's entirely still open for change at the moment."

[21:41] Humpenzon asks, "Can afk sanctations on traders be increased?"

[21:41] Armifer says, "Not set in stone."

[21:41] Treylis says, "Understood."

[21:41] Armifer says, "My current plan is that Traders will have neither magic reqs nor any kind of retroactively added ranks."

[21:41] Treylis says, "This is new, and rather... exciting."

[21:42] Armifer says, "Again, this might change. But that's the answer this hour."

[21:42] Treylis says, "Thank you Armifer."

[21:42] Msaia asks, "Anlean?"

[21:42] Ghust asks Heartsfyre, "Teach athletics please?"

[21:42] Treylis says, "I appreciate al lthe hard work."

[21:43] Armifer exclaims, "It's been a team effort by a lot of devs. Hopefully it'll be worth the wait!"

[21:43] Treylis says to Lyneya, "Thank you."

[21:43] Treylis says, "Cheer them all on for us."

[21:43] Lyneya says, "It better be or this guy gonna eat your face."

[21:43] Treylis says, "Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions."

[21:43] Armifer says, "Wasn't a problem."

[21:43] Lyneya exclaims to Armifer, "Thank you!"

[21:43] Isharon is chosen from the list.

[21:44] Isharon asks Lyneya, "May I ask three questions, or should I rejoin the list after each question?"

[21:44] Lyneya says, "Depends on how much I like the first question."

[21:44] Toridahn asks, "And does that count as the first one?"

[21:44] Isharon exclaims to Lyneya, "Well, let's find out!"

[21:44] Isharon asks Lyneya, "During the State of Elanthia address, you mentioned that you were aware that the perception of needing 'to script to catch up to people with 20 years experience' is 'not good game design' and not conducive to attracting or retaining new players. Can you elaborate on what is being done to lower the barrier to entry for new players?"

[21:45] Lyneya exclaims, "Nope. It's a thing we need to fix. We need to fix the new player experience as a whole, and thats a part of it. When we have a plan I'll share it though!"

[21:45] Isharon asks Lyneya, "Second question: there was a comment to the effect that simply selling the items that are currently being offered as mini-quest rewards in the SimuCoins Store would not free up GM time for development or RP events. A lot of us see that as a no-brainer, since items + quest < items. Can you elaborate on that?"

[21:45] Lyneya says, "Apply to be a GM and I can tell you all about it."

[21:46] Lyneya says, "Gimme something I don't have to non-answer."

[21:46] Isharon asks Armifer, "Third question: Since no one asked this during the State of Elanthia address: what is the status of Paladins? Three years ago, you told us 'please don't say I'm telling you to wait two or three years' for an announcement about the guild's identity (which has been gradually eroded by Clerics), but we don't seem to be any closer to having a guild identity. (We don't even have a guild skill four years into 3.0.) Are you able to give us any updates on Paladin development?"

[21:46] Erineta says, "NDAs for everyone! o/."

[21:46] Louiuos says, "I want to be a GM."

[21:47] Lyneya says, "Paladin guild skill was a discussion point at the 'Con, and I know we have at least one developer interested in working on that. I don't know that he has any firm plans at this time, because so many other things pull us in so many other ways, but its absolutely on someone's radar."

[21:48] Lyneya says, "I wonder if he's around, let me see if I can find him."

[21:48] Padhg says to Isharon, "You may not want to do that."

[21:49] Isharon says to Padhg, "If patience were a guild skill, I'd have 1750 ranks by now."

[21:49] Erineta exclaims, "Tomorrow's announcement: New Paladin guild skill, Patience!"

[21:49] Armifer says, "For my part in it, things kind of went unforeseen in the GM department. I did not anticipate we would be waiting this long for a number of what I consider pretty fundamental guild work. I'm sorry that we haven't been able to move faster on a lot of things, and the Paladin guild state is one of them."

[21:50] Erineta exclaims, "Lots of moving parts!"

[21:50] Msaia says, "Zeros and ones..everywhere...."

[21:51] Armifer says, "I will own the recent choice that when it came to underdeveloped guilds to start with, I started with Traders. This was not meant to be a slight to any of the guilds that need work, though, more an issue of having to start somewhere."

[21:52] You hear the voice of Chuman say, "They probably needed it most, to be fair."

[21:53] Lyneya says, "We've gotta start somewhere. That's how I feel about the New Player thing. Sure, there's tons of other things that need to be done too.. but we've got to start somewhere."

[21:53] Louiuos is chosen from the list.

[21:54] Gallifreius is chosen from the list.

[21:54] Louiuos says, "Woops."

[21:54] Gallifreius quickly exclaims, "Him!"

[21:54] Humpenzon says, "L."

[21:55] Erineta says, "Good talk."

[21:55] Gallifreius hesitantly asks, "Is that my turn, then?"

[21:55] Lyneya says, "Yes."

[21:55] Louiuos asks, "Question: Why are the magic guilds so unbalanced for PVP? Will Clerics PVP spells be nerfed?"

[21:55] Louiuos says, "HEY."

[21:55] Gallifreius diplomatically says, "He was first, after all."

[21:55] Msaia says, "I mean..they have the Gods blessings..."

[21:56] Lyneya says, "We don't really develop with PVP in mind. That's not to say we wont consider those things at some point but .. also I know of no upcoming nerfs."

[21:56] Louiuos says, "No nerfs is good."

[21:56] Armifer says, "Partially because the barrier situation never worked out the way we hoped. Partially because it's been a long time since we've done an honest to God pass for PvP that I wouldn't be surprised if it has grown tendrils by now."

[21:57] Erineta says, "Tendrils are just baby tentacles."

[21:57] You hear the voice of Chuman say, "I'd forgotten all about the barrier rewrite."

[21:57] Louiuos asks, "Will there be more crossover of spells with sorcery?"

[21:58] Armifer says, "I'd like to have more basic sorcery spells, but it's not a personal priority for me at the moment. I can see how the other spell-writing GMs feel about it, though."

[21:59] Louiuos asks, "Scope of a new spell historically would be siloed to the guild, for new enablement is that still the approach followed or do you look at it holistically?"

[21:59] Louiuos says, "Or spell updates."

[21:59] Armifer says, "With the occasional exception, we do things more holistically now."

[22:00] Armifer says, "Generally speaking spell writing comes down to a small number of GMs that try to spread it across guilds as their own knowledge and interests allow."

[22:00] Louiuos asks, "Is that more of a learning curve for dev GMs? does that process hinder time to delivery?"

[22:00] Armifer says, "I think they mentioned in the State of Elanthia that we're all wearing multiple hats at the moment. It's a time issue more than anything."

[22:01] Louiuos says, "Thanks for the answers."

[22:01] Gallifreius quietly asks, "As a token necro, I'm supposed to ask about risen and fetishes, but that isn't my question. My real question has five sentences to it - if that's quite alright?"

[22:01] Lyneya says, "We'll find out."

[22:01] Gallifreius quietly says, "How are we doing on GMNPC-certified numbers? GM -> player interaction in general? Much of the fun used to be in the form of "sanctioned" RP, and I feel this is the sort of content that new players would be most engrossed by. -."

[22:01] Gallifreius quietly says, "Everyone likes to be a centre of attention, and I understand that we as players can only go so far down that route in providing said attention before the illusion of permanance is broken. -."

[22:02] Gallifreius quietly says, "So what is the state of that sort of interaction? Is there going to be an increase in the future? Microtransactions are one thing, making players feel important in the world is another altogether."

[22:02] Louiuos says, "I hate attention."

[22:03] Gallifreius hesitantly asks, "Have I done something terrible?"

[22:03] Humpenzon says, "Is it possible to save this game with the use of high end gaming script engines: genie, lich etc."

[22:04] Lyneya says, "There are World Events happening all the time. Sure, there could be more. There can always be more of the fun things! But its definitely something we put a lot of time and energy into. I'll ask Persida to post an Events update so you can see the numbers and just how many events we've run recently that had nothing to do with the microtrans stuff."

[22:04] Gallifreius happily says, "Thank you."

[22:04] Lyneya says, "I agree with you, that its a huge part of the community and making players feel engaged."

[22:05] Louiuos says, "I want another Sorrow's War to happen again."

[22:05] Erineta asks, "But what is it good for?"

[22:05] Mazrian says, "Absolutely nothing."

[22:05] Lyneya asks, "Absolutely nothing?"

[22:05] Mazrian says to Lyneya, "Jynx."

[22:05] Erineta says, "Maz wins."

[22:05] Mazrian is chosen from the list.

[22:06] Ghust mutters something into the air about good god's ya'll.

[22:06] Louiuos says, "Thanks for not skipping me."

[22:06] Mazrian asks, "Hi! For those who weren't at Simucon, could you talk about the new player focus group and the referral program?"

[22:06] Lyneya says, "I suppose."

[22:07] Erineta exclaims, "My sacrificial newbie is having wifi trouble this week!"

[22:07] Kadelia says, "Um, my newbie, thank you."

[22:07] Erineta says, "Well yeah technically hers."

[22:08] Lyneya says, "So, in my experience in Corporate America and process improvement programs, I learned about the 5 WHYs. Google it, and learn. The crux of the theory is .."

[22:08] Lyneya says, "If you have an issue, you need to ask Why 5 times before you get to the root cause. If you resolve the answers before the root, you just divert your problem flow."

[22:08] Louiuos yells, "OODA LOOP."

[22:09] Lyneya says, "So, Mazrian and I had this conversation in person. He presented an issue that - to his mind - had a fairly simple solution."

[22:09] Louiuos asks, "Do GMs practice pair programming, agile or extreme programming? Is Mazrian a cloud native application?"

[22:09] Erineta exclaims, "You may also recognize the 5 whys from when you drove your parents crazy as a kid. It's a proven strategy!"

[22:10] Lyneya says, "But if you ask why, and why, and why.. you discover that the root issue is not even remotely the problem he was trying to fix. You can band aid things but you'll just end up springing more problems in other places."

[22:10] Louiuos asks, "Can we start a go fund me to have the GMs go to a Pivotal Dojo?"

[22:10] Lyneya says, "So we played this game and we dug through the why's for several different scenarios."

[22:10] Lyneya says, "And we kept coming back to the same root -- The New Player experience."

[22:11] Lyneya says, "If we can't obtain and retain new players, the game isn't sustainable in the long term. Not because it doesn't bring money in, but because people age out. They move on. Their friends move on. They get bored. Whatever the reason, some players leave over time and if we don't replace them then we're coding for no one."

[22:11] Louiuos asks, "Without users there is no game, how many new users are there a year? what is average retention of new user? did F2P help that?"

[22:12] Msaia says, "That's a really hard question to answer Lou."

[22:12] Msaia says, "Alts and all..."

[22:12] Louiuos says, "No you just drop the bottom standard deviation."

[22:12] Lyneya says, "So, we're going to focus on that New Player experience and try and improve that so that when we're ready to try and obtain, we have a chance to retain."

[22:12] Lyneya asks, "Make sense?"

[22:12] Msaia says, "You can't possibly predict how many alts one person can have..."

[22:12] Gallifreius matter-of-factly says, "Brilliant."

[22:12] Penethol says, "Get to the real nitty gritty why some people leave..."

[22:13] Penethol says, "Aging out is the very least of the problem."

[22:13] Lyneya says, "So, one issue with the new player experience."

[22:13] Louiuos says, "I always end up rage quitting because I get a warning, but thats just me."

[22:13] Msaia says, "F2p brought me to start again..might even resub my old self...that's my personal experience."

[22:13] Lyneya says, "Is that we all know its kind of stinky.. but we've all been playing so long that we all know the work arounds. We know how to talk. We know how to move. We know if you want some starting cash, you go forage branches."

[22:13] Kadelia says, "I always end up feeling dirty for spending money on DR."

[22:14] Louiuos says, "I think the DIR command should be expanded to function in every zone."

[22:14] You hear the voice of Chuman ask, "Have you had an opportunity to look over any of the suggestions on the forums pertaining to starter tutorials or an NPC guide for beginners?"

[22:14] Erineta says, "We all have a bunch of plats to get forged armor and the fancy crystals everyone here is still blowing on to stay on the arcana grind."

[22:14] Lyneya says, "What I'd like, really, is a group of players who have never ever played DR or GS. Get them to log in and play. Assign them a buddy who can help guide them but not spoon feed the answers. Have them document what they experience."

[22:14] Morkos says, "I would like to say something about aging out, because I've been there multiple times. I'm only 35 but have been a DR player since it's days on AOL, it was a tough learning curve back then at that age, but I fell in love and though I may take breaks at times I don't love it anyless and always want to return."

[22:14] Zadrix dully says, "Hard to hear the meat of the conversation with the side questions."

[22:15] Ghust says to Erineta, "They arent that fancy. Only 5 plat. Or gold. whichever."

[22:15] Gallifreius quietly asks Lyneya, "Would that not require expansion of the mentor system?"

[22:15] Erineta exclaims to Ghust, "Lots to a true newbie, unless they are financed!"

[22:15] Louiuos says, "I've never played GS because of my allegiance to DR."

[22:15] Erineta says, "Kadie's friend has never played a MUD before, he'll have good feedback I'm sure."

[22:15] Ghust says to Erineta, "Actually, there are alot of players, myself included who bought crystals and give them free to new players."

[22:16] Lyneya says, "I did see some of the comments on the forums and we're going to take them on board along with whatever else we can discover."

[22:16] Msaia asks, "What were the original prices on those sanow crystals?"

[22:16] Erineta says to Ghust, "I'm pretty sure you got the point I was making."

[22:17] Lyneya says, "So, Mazrian is working with me, and not just Maz it's just because he was like solve it! and I was like Help! and he was like Ok! Where do I start! and we toasted our drinks and made grand plans."

[22:17] Embrace kindly says, "We watched some of that."

[22:17] Lyneya asks, "It's pretty much how it went, right?"

[22:18] Mazrian says to Lyneya, "That's the jist. Then you started pouring drinks and I don't even know after that."

[22:18] Lyneya says, "And after several more drinks we crawled across the hotel back to our rooms. So not really sure what all of those grand plans were..."

[22:18] Lyneya says, "Right."

[22:18] Ghust asks, "Whats the point of drinking so much that you cant remember what you were talking about?"

[22:18] Lyneya says, "Galli was watching, I bet."

[22:18] Heartsfyre says to Ghust, "Thats the point."

[22:18] Gallifreius hastily exclaims, "Oi!"

[22:18] You hear the voice of Chuman say, "Drinking gets you drunk. That's the point."

[22:19] Lyneya says, "Anyway."

[22:19] Msaia asks, "Should I not of grabbed that?"

[22:19] Morkos says, "I'll drink to that."

[22:19] Lyneya says, "Essentially, I have two major issues right now."

[22:19] Msaia says, "Lyneya..your sack is in the junk room.."

[22:19] Ghust says, "No. Excessive drinking gets you drunk. I just dont understand why someone would want to be drunk."

[22:19] Lyneya says, "I need more staff, and I need more information."

[22:19] Msaia says, "I had to through it in there..though it was a gift sack for everyone to grab.."

[22:19] Erineta says, "And more moonsilver."

[22:19] Msaia says, "Throw..."

[22:19] Lyneya says, "So while I focus on getting more staff, Maz is going to organize the gathering and documenting information."

[22:20] Msaia says, "Oh good."

[22:20] Humpenzon asks, "Ingame staff hosts and masters?"

[22:20] Soldiz asks, "Can you get some interns?"

[22:20] Embrace kindly says, "Clepto."

[22:21] Lyneya says, "I'm not shy. I need help and I know I need help. If you want to help, let Maz know."

[22:21] Soldiz says, "They're cheap and usually in high supply, especially in the summer."

[22:21] Lyneya asks Mazrian, "Was that enough of a summary?"

[22:21] Erineta exclaims, "I can bounce ideas! I'm good at that thing!"

[22:21] Mazrian says, "I'll take all the help I can get. MazrianDR on AIM."

[22:21] Mazrian says, "Thank you. That was great."

[22:22] Lyneya says, "5 minute necessary break."

[22:22] Erineta says, "Just when I thought we'd finally broken free of AIM's tyranny with Discord..."

[22:22] Kadelia says, "Ugh, aim."

[22:22] Aradar calmly says, "Never."

[22:22] Aradar calmly says, "AIM will live as long as DR lives."

[22:22] Gallifreius mutters something into the air about electron being terrible.

[22:22] Kadelia says, "Discord is so much more superior."

[22:22] Mazrian says, "Heh."

[22:22] Morkos says, "I'm pretty sure that is true."

[22:22] Erineta exclaims, "Discord is pretty!"

[22:22] Msaia says, "It is."

[22:23] Mazrian says, "I'm MazrianDR on discord, too."

[22:23] Haxen exclaims, "Excellent, discord it is!"

[22:23] Morkos says, "The other shoe drops."

[22:23] Ghust asks, "Whats discord?"

[22:23] Kaelie says, "MazrianDR#0334."

[22:23] Soldiz asks, "So what kind of information are you trying to gather?"

[22:23] Ghust asks, "No serioiusly, whats discord?"

[22:24] Mazrian says, "Easiest thing is get me your contact info and I'll email an outline of the idea, then we can go from there."

[22:24] Msaia says, "Chat service like AIM."

[22:24] Gallifreius quietly says to Ghust, "It's a new age communications platform. based on electron. see slack."

[22:24] Erineta says to Ghust, "AIM + Teamspeak/whatever."

[22:24] Erineta says, "+ skype."

[22:24] Louiuos says, "Discord is a chat system kind of like slack but its architecture is resistent to eavesdropping from nation states."

[22:24] Ghust says, "So its like skype."

[22:24] You hear the voice of Chuman say, "Lol."

[22:24] Msaia says, "But it doesn't lag league."

[22:24] Kadelia says, "Well, but way better than skype."

[22:24] Erineta says, "It's everything."

[22:24] Msaia says, "So it's better."

[22:24] Gallifreius hesitantly says, "It's the opposite of resistant to eavesdropping."

[22:25] Erineta exclaims, "Don't do bad things on it and you won't have to worry!"

[22:25] Aradar calmly says, "Damn NSA."

[22:25] Ghust says, "I'll just stick with AIM. Its easier, especially since I dont even check my email. I have over 6 thousand email I havent checked."

[22:25] You hear the voice of Chuman say, "I keep my cybering to the inn rooms, NSA never gonna catch me."

[22:25] Ghust says, "I'm going for 10 thousand."

[22:25] Kadelia exclaims, "But discord works on smart phones!"

[22:26] Msaia says, "16/m/fl."

[22:26] Ghust says to Kadelia, "So does aim."

[22:26] Msaia says, "Ah..the good old days."

[22:26] Erineta says, "I don't think discord has ever done anything with email other than the initial signup."

[22:26] Gallifreius happily says, "16/f/cali."

[22:26] Kadelia says, "Does it? I can't stand aim anymore."

[22:26] Gallifreius quietly says, "IRC, let's just all go back to IRC."

[22:26] Kadelia says, "Also you're missing all the lewds in the DR discord."

[22:26] Feltzer says, "I wish i could remember my aim log in, just to see who is still on it from 15 years ago."

[22:26] Lyneya says, "Back, scrolling."

[22:26] Erineta says, "Custom discord emojis are great. Long live the 150 plat tentacle bundle."

[22:26] Ghust asks, "Whats IRC again?"

[22:27] Msaia says, "Mirc."

[22:27] Gallifreius quietly says to Ghust, "Mecca, it's mecca."

[22:27] Msaia says, "You had a unique number as a user name."

[22:27] Msaia says, "I deserved that."

[22:27] Aradar calmly says, "Long live Freenode."

[22:27] Morkos says, "OOooh."

[22:27] Gallifreius quietly says, "I'd register that statement."

[22:27] Morkos says, "Folder."

[22:27] Ghust says, "I have no idea what any of that stuff is, and I am damn proud to not know."

[22:28] Embrace kindly says, "NOSY."

[22:28] Msaia says, "Well we broke Lyneya."

[22:28] Gallifreius calmly says, "In all honesty, Discord is the future for most folks. Smartphone integration. chatroom, peer to peer messaging. voice chat. file storage. it's great."

[22:28] Embrace kindly says, "Gosh you are all cleptos."

[22:28] Msaia says, "It still needs work..Discord isn't perfect."

[22:28] Lyneya says, "Ok."

[22:29] Gallifreius quietly says to Msaia, "Well yes, but don't tell them that."

[22:29] Morkos says, "Nothing."

[22:29] Lyneya exclaims, "Hey!"

[22:29] Lyneya exclaims, "Thats my card!"

[22:29] Msaia yells, "Nothing in life is perfect."

[22:29] Gallifreius yells, "Tell that to the old protocols!"

[22:29] Lyneya says, "Quit stealing my junk."

[22:29] Embrace kindly says, "Busted."

[22:29] Ghust says to Gallifreius, "True. Then, when the hackers have stolen all your personal data, hopefully the random will have gone down by then."

[22:29] Msaia exclaims, "I'm so sorry!"

[22:29] Feltzer asks Lyneya, "How much for the blackbird singing?"

[22:29] Msaia exclaims, "I thought it was a gift bag!"

[22:29] Ghust says, "Ransom."

[22:29] Lyneya asks, "Did everyone look at the submarine?"

[22:29] Gallifreius meekly says to Ghust, "Jokes on you, I am the hackers."

[22:30] Feltzer says, "Yes."

[22:30] Lyneya says, "Because it makes me laugh."

[22:30] Msaia asks, "Is it yellow?"

[22:30] Louiuos says, "Please click this link to receive a ton of rare metals."

[22:30] Embrace kindly says, "So awesome."

[22:30] Msaia says, "Ok that's good."

[22:30] Ghust says to Gallifreius, "No, the people who stole the eps to Game of Thrones? THOSE are hackers."

[22:30] Aradar calmly says, "Damn hackers."

[22:30] Feltzer says, "Nice things."

[22:30] Embrace kindly says, "My favorite."

[22:30] Lyneya says, "And the walrus, see his name tag? You can't read it unless you hold it, but it says Eggman."

[22:30] Feltzer says, "I could read it."

[22:30] Embrace kindly says, "I am the Eggman."

[22:31] Lyneya says, "Ok."

[22:31] Morkos says, "So, what is in that."

[22:31] Lyneya says, "I'm running out of steam so let's move on."

[22:31] Msaia says, "Well it's not a climbing rope but I love it."

[22:31] Erineta is chosen from the list.

[22:31] Feltzer says, "Favorite is the blacbird diorama."

[22:31] Embrace kindly says, "Yeah, stop touching her things guys."

[22:32] Erineta exclaims, "I have fire and holy water! I can give you steam!"

[22:32] Lyneya exclaims to Erineta, "It's your turn! Ask your question!"

[22:32] Embrace kindly says, "Kookoocachoo."

[22:32] Mazrian exclaims, "Have to turn into a pumpkin. Later!"

[22:32] Gallifreius hastily exclaims to Erineta, "Go!"

[22:32] Lyneya exclaims, "Thanks MAz!"

[22:34] Lyneya asks Erineta, "Wall of text incoming or should I move on?"

[22:34] Kadelia says, "It's incoming."

[22:34] Erineta says, "Oh! Okay. Isharon kinda covered the main question I had already, but I got backups! Is it possible to say if you guys are considering changing the core of the game design that we've seen complained about, that encourages all the grinding and seems to lead to so many issues? Super controversial topic and all, I know, but look at all the teaching and crystaling going on in here... Also, Zehira said 'risen?'. Also one other thing after that."

[22:34] Soldiz says, "Wall of text it is."

[22:35] Lyneya says, "We're not in any place where we can consider core game changes right now, no."

[22:35] Lyneya asks, "Risen is .. something I'm not qualified to answer. Armifer, do you know anything there?"

[22:35] Erineta says, "Kinda figured that much. It would be a lot of work even if it could be done right."

[22:36] Lyneya says, "I believe it's in QC but I might be wrong."

[22:36] Armifer says, "Yeah. Risen are still in the process of QC and finalization. Someone very important to the project had real life take a swing at 'um."

[22:36] Erineta exclaims, "Oh no!"

[22:36] Lyneya asks Erineta, "Was there something else?"

[22:37] Erineta asks, "Last thing is, for old-ish shops, is it worthwhile to ask for them to come back or is it just a 'hope for the best' kind of thing? And if so, do we ask on forums, email events, etc?"

[22:37] Lyneya asks, "Which shops?"

[22:37] Erineta says, "Lilac. Moonsilver."

[22:37] Isharon exclaims, "Sungold!"

[22:37] Lyneya says, "Email dr-events@play.net with your requests, and we will accomodate whenever possible. The problem with old shops is that often times they no longer meet today's QC standards, so its not usually a simple thing."

[22:38] Kadelia asks, "What about old versions of shops?"

[22:38] Erineta says, "It was only back in 2015, so not too old."

[22:38] Kadelia says, "We missed an older iteration of Damsel in this Dress at HE and can't find any of the items around."

[22:38] Erineta exclaims, "And I already emailed! So yay!"

[22:38] Lyneya says, "If a shop has been released as a new version, its probably because the old version wouldn't fly."

[22:39] Erineta says to Kadelia, "Formally request more shimmery color changy things."

[22:39] Lyneya says, "It's also possible that it was just a simple refresh of the shop, so it doesnt hurt to ask. Email events."

[22:39] Ghust is chosen from the list.

[22:39] Ghust says to Lyneya, "I wanted to know if there is any way a device of some sort could be made available to empaths so we can check how much shock damage we currently have. Even when you touch other empaths, it doesnt give you exacts. And its important since too much shock lowers the amount of healing magic you can use."

[22:39] Ghust says, "Wall of text but I had it ready."

[22:39] Lyneya says, "I love walls of text."

[22:39] Erineta exclaims, "Show off!"

[22:40] Lyneya says, "That's a good question. I'll pass the idea around."

[22:40] Ghust says, "Okay thank you."

[22:40] Treylis is chosen from the list.

[22:40] Lyneya says, "You again."

[22:40] Treylis asks, "Great question Ghust. Would it be too much trouble to get an update on Enchanting?"

[22:40] Treylis exclaims, "Me again!"

[22:40] Lyneya says, "Um."

[22:40] Erineta exclaims, "Enchanting? Enchanting!"

[22:41] Treylis says, "Seems we have a second."

[22:41] Louiuos says, "Dang i was going to ask about enchanting."

[22:41] Ghust asks, "Isnt that a movie?"

[22:41] Lyneya says, "Lemme see if I can make that happen or not."

[22:41] Msaia says, "No that's Ella Enchanted."

[22:41] Morkos says, "Ugh, Msaia."

[22:41] Msaia says, "Point ghu."

[22:42] Kodius says, "Howdy folks."

[22:42] Lyneya says, "Thanks, Kodius."

[22:42] Louiuos says, "Go back to work Kodius."

[22:42] Treylis says to Kodius, "Thank you for coming to address my question Kodius."

[22:42] Ghust says, "Ooo another one!! Yay three so now I'm sure one can get to the referrals!! Go team GM'S."

[22:42] Kodius says, "Ok, so enchanting updates."

[22:43] Treylis says, "If you please."

[22:43] Kodius says, "As you may recall I was pushing hard for a release before the kiddos came, then when it didn't happen I had to push things out for a bit."

[22:43] Treylis says, "Chat Gratz again btw."

[22:43] Kodius says, "The base artificing system is ready to go. I spent the past month rewriting the sigil harvesting system after finding inspiration in the shower on day."

[22:44] Louiuos asks, "Are you bringing back inviso rings?"

[22:44] Kodius says, "The only enchanting hall is in Crossings right now, and that is something I need to consider improving before it goes live. Usually I'd add more shortly after testing and release, so we will just have to see."

[22:44] Haxen asks, "Will the release kill mech lore for good?"

[22:44] Erineta exclaims, "Crossing is the best anyway, give us more reasons to stay. Also more JJ sales!"

[22:44] You hear the voice of Louiuos say, "Hah."

[22:44] Kodius says, "Eventually."

[22:45] Kodius says, "Removing mech lore will happen after release and when the dust has settled and with plenty of warning."

[22:45] Gallifreius quietly says, "I'll be CONVERTing that statement to plat and taking it to the bank, then."

[22:45] Erineta says, "Don't worry, grass. I won't let him take you away."

[22:46] Kodius says, "I do think imbuing will ultimately be more interesting to folks than Artificing, and that is progressing, but will not come out immediately."

[22:46] Lyneya says, "We're intentionally not going to talk timelines because stuff happens and people take an offhand comment as law."

[22:46] Treylis says, "Nod."

[22:46] Erineta says, "Well you did swear you were going to have the new player experience fixed by tomorrow at 9:00 EST."

[22:46] Kodius says, "Weapon flares, seeker weapons, multiple types of appearance and atmo modifiers, etc."

[22:46] Treylis says, "Nice to know it's still moving along."

[22:46] Erineta exclaims, "Owww!"

[22:46] Treylis says, "I was just about to ask for some teasers, thanks Kodius."

[22:47] Kodius says, "Artificing will have new types of TM Foci, Ritual Foci, Devourers 2.0, a bunch of verby/atmo/cool/flashy type of items, runes, etc."

[22:47] You hear the voice of Louiuos ask, "Can we just port over Modus Operandi combat system to DR and have shotguns finally?"

[22:47] Erineta exclaims, "Magical shotguns!"

[22:47] Gallifreius sheepishly says, "Boomsticks."

[22:47] Msaia says, "Call them, boomsticks."

[22:48] Erineta says, "Those would be cool/flashy."

[22:48] Treylis says to Kodius, "I appreciate you taking the time."

[22:48] Kodius says, "Hopefully folks find the sigil and fount system interesting. It gives plenty of room for experimentation and customization."

[22:49] Chuman says, "Dunno what seeker weapons are but they certainly sound impressive."

[22:49] Erineta exclaims, "I'm looking forward to the system lots!"

[22:49] Treylis asks, "Is there anything in game yet we can play with?"

[22:49] Kodius says, "Nothing other than a few accidental things that have popped up over the past year. I'll get things over into DRT as soon as possible for folks to give feedback on."

[22:49] Gallifreius hesitantly asks, "DRT?"

[22:49] Treylis says, "Wonderful thanks."

[22:49] Erineta says, "Test server."

[22:49] Soldiz says, "Test."

[22:49] Aradar calmly says, "Test."

[22:49] Kodius says, "Test instance."

[22:50] Kodius says, "If you have ideas for enchantments, best thing to do is email me."

[22:50] Erineta exclaims, "Where moon mages can finally live their dreams of dying horribly once a minute without consequence!"

[22:50] Aradar calmly says, "Careful Kodius. Winter is coming."

[22:50] Treylis says to Lyneya, "Thank you again..."

[22:50] You hear the voice of Louiuos say, "I just want skill and stat boosters back, and inviso rings."

[22:50] Kodius asks, "Anything else before I hop back out?"

[22:51] Treylis says, "Thats it for me."

[22:51] Lyneya says, "Thanks for stopping by, Kodius."

[22:51] Erineta exclaims to Kodius, "THANK YOU!"

[22:51] Kodius says, "Be safe everyone."

[22:51] Chuman says, "Thanks for the info, good stuff."

[22:51] You hear the voice of Louiuos say, "Ya thx for coming out."

[22:51] Msaia says, "Thank y ou."

[22:51] Toridahn says, "Is there anywhere where you've described what we know about the systems so far? I'd love to try to come up with ideas, if you're open to them, but it'd be easier if we could see an outline of the system."

[22:51] Lyneya exclaims, "See, it's good to be the boss. I say Hey, can ya? and they say sure! be right there!"

[22:51] Aradar is chosen from the list.

[22:51] Aradar calmly says, "Is there anything planned for Warrior Mages? I feel like the community could really contribute if opportunities were opened up to allow limited development contributions. For example, maybe work solely on a specific guilds spells, etc."

[22:52] Aradar calmly says, "I guess thats two questions..."

[22:52] Soldiz asks, "Don't WMs by and far have the most spells of any guild?"

[22:52] You hear the voice of Louiuos say, "Ugh how do i unhide from inviso."

[22:52] Lyneya says, "There's always stuff planned, but having hands to do the work when we have other pretty big priorities is a thing. As I said earlier tonight, staffing is a main focus of mine right now."

[22:53] Aradar calmly says, "IMHO WMs are in need of diversity in spell mechanics. but thats almost a different discussion."

[22:53] Lyneya says, "If you have ideas for a spell, by ALL MEANS. Write them up and send it in."

[22:53] Morkos says, "How about a one off trader attack that is like a coin purse slap that hurts the enemy the more money you use and the purse breaks sending coins flying into other rooms."

[22:53] Louiuos says, "War mages have it pretty sweet."

[22:53] Aradar calmly asks, "Any teasers on WM projects then?"

[22:53] Lyneya says, "Not at this time, no."

[22:53] Chuman says, "Nerf WM's."

[22:53] Lyneya says, "Sorry. I don't even have a lifeline I can call in on this one."

[22:53] Mordimer says, "Hylomorphic sorcery pretty much is the highlight for warmages to come."

[22:53] Aradar calmly asks, "Who is the right point of contact for spell ideas or other things of that nature?"

[22:53] Lyneya says, "You can email dr-events. We'll redirect from there."

[22:54] Aradar calmly says, "Okay."

[22:54] Aradar calmly asks, "So how about limited scope dev GMs?"

[22:54] Aradar calmly says, "I can commit to full time GMing, but I would love to contribute on specific projects."

[22:54] Aradar calmly says, "Cant*."

[22:54] Lyneya says, "Mmm. That's a tough ask. I can't have you in the code if you haven't gone through the full training, because reasons and stuff and things."

[22:54] Aradar calmly says, "I know there are others that feel the same way."

[22:55] Gallifreius hesitantly says, "I'd go through the training, devote a minimum of three hours a day. I'd work for peanuts and trinkets."

[22:55] Aradar calmly asks, "Is the official training too revealing to allow a semi-crowd sourcing-like approach?"

[22:55] Lyneya says, "But we can certainly use help with ideas.. especially on the creative side. If I have a coder that can work on the framework and a player has supplied all of the creative messaging, its suddenly a day project."

[22:56] Armifer says, "We have outsourced bits and pieces in the past, but the grunt work of writing a spell or making a system requires both the training and the trusted access of being a hired hand."

[22:56] Gallifreius quietly says, "I'm hearing that the key issue is trust, then."

[22:56] Aradar calmly asks, "How about events or things that might be less invasive?"

[22:56] Aradar calmly asks, "Zones/areas/quests/etc?"

[22:56] Sendithu says, "Nothing stopping people from doing their own events without GM intervention, I do more than a few."

[22:56] Lyneya asks, "You want to write some areas?"

[22:57] Aradar calmly says, "I think having a more open approach to dev might help vitalize the community."

[22:57] Mordimer asks, "Don't the platinum players already have some program devoted towards helping with this sort of thing?"

[22:57] Aradar calmly says, "As is reasonable. I understand your restrictions, etc."

[22:57] Lyneya says, "We have a system that allows players to build rooms."

[22:57] Mordimer says, "Why not just expand on that and open it up."

[22:57] Lyneya says, "It's here, it's live in prime."

[22:57] Lyneya says, "You can use it."

[22:57] Lyneya says, "Well, I should say.."

[22:57] Aradar calmly asks, "How is it accessed?"

[22:58] Lyneya says, "It's open to premium players."

[22:58] Lyneya asks, "But honestly?"

[22:58] Lyneya asks, "If you wanna write areas?"

[22:58] Lyneya says, "Email me. We can get you set up."

[22:58] Lyneya says, "Probably not this week, I've got a lot on my plate right now."

[22:58] Aradar calmly says, "Some of the new player experience ideas could be implemented by other players. I.e NPC led quests that walk you through mechanics, etc."

[22:58] Gallifreius hesitantly asks, "That an open invitation?"

[22:59] Lyneya says, "There's an ALAE application on the website, in with the staff apps."

[22:59] Aradar calmly says, "Thats it really. I would like to see options over time for increased trust in player content creation."

[22:59] Aradar calmly asks, "ALAE?"

[23:00] Lyneya says, "Personally, I'd love someone to build me a couple housing areas,."

[23:00] Lyneya says, "I had someone working on a hunting area but he sort of lost interest."

[23:00] Armifer says, "There's two issues with open development for DR. First, the legal and corporate structure we work under emphasizes the propritary nature of GSL and everything written in GSL. We're also using what is by and large a 21-year-old system for version control that is not really built the way you might expect it is."

[23:01] Aradar calmly says, "Like I said, I think building trust over time via housing areas, then hunting areas, etc."

[23:01] Louiuos asks, "Are you using SVN?"

[23:01] Aradar calmly says, "CVS."

[23:01] Armifer says, "We're using in-house tools almost exclusively."

[23:01] Armifer says, "Training is big."

[23:01] Aradar calmly says, "WTB Python Bindings for GSL."

[23:02] Lyneya closes the list.

[23:02] Louiuos asks, "So do you guys have a ci/cd pipeline?"

[23:02] Aradar calmly asks, "Lyneya, I will follow-up via email DR-events or you directly?"

[23:02] Louiuos asks, "Can you tell us an average amount of commits a month?"

[23:02] Lyneya says, "Either, I see both."

[23:02] Louiuos says, "Just curious."

[23:03] Aradar calmly says, "Thanks. I'm done."

[23:03] Aradar calmly says, "Sorry for taking so much time."

[23:03] Lyneya says, "No, we can't talk about that. Sorry."

[23:03] Lyneya says, "Ok, moving on."

[23:03] Louiuos is chosen from the list.

[23:03] Lyneya says, "Crap."

[23:03] Louiuos says, "Hehe."

[23:03] Chuman says, "Hahahaha."

[23:04] Louiuos says, "Excellent."

[23:04] Lyneya says, "Ok, you ramble. I'm AFK a sec. Don't report me."

[23:04] Louiuos says, "Already reported when i came in."

[23:04] Gallifreius hastily exclaims, "REPORT lyneya negligence!"

[23:04] Embrace kindly says, "Simple and trivial question : I have had a group of people that have wanted to break the monotony of all the grinding and such by signing up for the current quests on SimuQuests. Is there a possibility of bringing back something like Ghost Ship, for example for all your loyal, devoted, "Veteran" Players? BTW Chris at SimuQuest is great at accommodating us all the time. Thank you for your answer ahead of time."

[23:04] Louiuos says, "I don't really have a question i want to know more about the dev process."

[23:05] Embrace kindly says, "chat ooops."

[23:05] Embrace kindly says, "Laugh."

[23:05] Embrace kindly says, "'that's what happens when waiting on a question."

[23:05] Louiuos says, "Simmer down."

[23:05] Embrace kindly says, "Blush."

[23:05] Embrace kindly says, "Grin galli."

[23:05] Louiuos says, "LULZ."

[23:05] Gallifreius quietly says, "Grin embrace sheep."

[23:06] Louiuos says, "But back to my turn, i just want to know more about the development process."

[23:06] Morkos says, "You guys are seriously making it hard to type over my laughing."

[23:06] Feltzer says, "To add to embrace's comment, what about updating the grey raven commissary, items are outdated. an update would get more people paying for prison riot."

[23:06] Louiuos asks, "If you have in house tooling do you have any plans to migrate those to more modern tooling or is there so much technical debt that it is impossible or impractical?"

[23:07] Louiuos asks, "Could a new GM drive an initiative like that? or is that too low level/core codebase stuff to have volunteers work on?"

[23:07] Armifer says, "I don't really feel I can safely talk about a lot of details due to NDA issues. In fact, I passed my previous comment by Lyneya because I was concerned even that might've been too much."

[23:08] Louiuos says, "No worries we already knew about the DSL "GSL" and most of that stuff."

[23:08] Louiuos says, "At least i did."

[23:08] Lyneya says, "Yeah. I'm not sure I'm comfortable talking about it in too much detail because I'll say something and be in trouble."

[23:09] Louiuos says, "Makes sense, i wouldn't want to "spill my beans" either."

[23:10] Louiuos says, "But the core of my question is could a new GM work on an effort like that or is there any plans to change that kind of development framework."

[23:11] Mitkiahn says to Louiuos, "Shame on you."

[23:11] Lyneya says, "Hey."

[23:11] Lyneya says, "I was handling it."

[23:11] Mitkiahn exclaims, "Be well all!"

[23:11] Binu says, "Hello."

[23:11] Lyneya says, "Not polite."

[23:11] Binu asks, "Did someone brink drinks?"

[23:11] Mitkiahn says, "I agree."

[23:11] Binu says, "Gring."

[23:11] Embrace kindly exclaims, "Wait... I wanna ask my question respectfully!!"

[23:12] Embrace kindly says, "Sorry Lyneya."

[23:12] Lyneya says, "I'll say out loud what I just whispered. If someone is bothering me, I'll handle it. Please don't thump people in my office."

[23:12] Binu says, "Oh, thank you."

[23:12] Mitkiahn quietly says to himself, "No thumping."

[23:12] Mitkiahn quietly says to himself, "Bad Mitkiahn."

[23:12] Kadelia mutters something into the air about the pacifier.

[23:13] Lyneya says, "Lou and Chu are friends. They were not disrespecting each other."

[23:13] Mitkiahn says, "Oh, it wasn't chu."

[23:13] Chuman says, "I deserved it."

[23:13] Msaia says, "Lou thumped Embrace...? I didn't see Embrace very chummy about it."

[23:13] Mitkiahn exclaims, "Thumping is a No GM situation!"

[23:14] Brennarose softly says, "But out of place here in all respects."

[23:14] Kadelia asks, "So can we step away from the drama and back into question zone?"

[23:14] Lyneya says, "Alright. Thanks everyone, but I don't have the patience for this."

[23:14] Mitkiahn says, "Question zone."

[23:14] Mitkiahn says, "Yes."

[23:14] Lyneya says, "Have a good night all."

[23:14] Chuman says, "Thanks for doing this Lyneya."

[23:14] Gallifreius quietly says, "Thank you."

[23:14] Mitkiahn exclaims, "Right!"

[23:14] Louiuos says, "Thanks for ruining the party Mitkiahn."

[23:14] Feltzer says, "It wasn't Mit, Louiuous you thumped embrace."

[23:14] Lyneya says, "We'll do this again another time."