User talk:DRSircha

Ranik's Maps Updates

Howdy! I noticed that you've started to make updates to a few of Ranik's maps, which is great as they can always use updating. I also noticed that while the changes themselves so far look correct, you're not quite following the convention nor matching the quality of the current maps. For example, in your update to the Therenborough map, the connecting line to the extra room you added bleeds over the edge of the room you added. Also, directional labels are normally in bold type and not italicized not the unbolded, italicized one that you included. These issues are consistent across all the maps you have edited so far. I'm not trying to dissuade you from making updates to these maps as needed, but I encourage you to make them with the same level of quality and attention to detail that was originally invested in them since these maps are a true gem of the community. I thought I'd just pop in with this note sooner rather than later before you have to back through too many maps adjusting the little details. Happy editing!--Evran 19:23, 26 September 2010 (UTC)

I just noticed too that on RanikMap5, the room in Arnack's Tavern is a poorly drawn version of the normal rooms as another example of lesser quality. Cutting and pasting would go a long way to keeping the high visual quality of the maps intact.--Evran 19:29, 26 September 2010 (UTC)

Will fix them next time I go fishing.

DRSircha Poorly drawn? How so? It's a square, and there's not too many ways you can mess that up. The curtain leads to an extra room I presume a place where barbarians can do more than pick their teeth, and perhaps buy things. Sorry program I use has no cut/paste function, however It does much more than MS Paint ever will. Made a new mountain icon, and working on a new tree icon or two, and perhaps a river space, bushes, icon too. Will see. Going to see about bolding all that text.--DRSircha 04:16, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

"Hi! It's great that you are updating the maps. :)

May I ask what program you are using to edit the existing maps? Most image editing application I've come across has Copy & Paste as a standard feature. It seems quite odd that your application does not have it. Regarding Evran's reference to the poorly drawn remark is that the general gray room square looks odd in comparison to the other gray room squares because the inside square is tinier. It looks out of place. Copying an existing square and pasting it for the new room is a simple and super quick way to make sure everything matches. Also it's less trouble for you because you don't have to spend time creating the square and you can edit other maps faster. :)

Also, my suggestion for your future edits, the edit to the Theren map, for the Registrar's office has a line cutting into the green square. My suggestion for future edits is to zoom in the image to make it larger. That way it's easier to see if the line stops correctly. Just a QC thing, but it makes the map visually pleasing and consistent with all the existing maps"

Oops, I put my comments on top, but it's supposed to go at the bottom. I'm new to the whole wiki concept as well, and I'm still learning the ropes. Hopefully I can also make some decent contributions later on. --Pamdemonium 03:00, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

I am using Adobe Illustrator, and no it has no cut and paste function for bitmapped pixels. On the plus side only have to draw a box or icon once and then I can paste it to any map. Without needing to recut again.--DRSircha 04:16, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

On the downside, your box is poorly drawn so every time you paste it into a map you will be pasting that poorly drawn box over and over. In addition to Pamdemonium's note about the inner box being smaller, the result of the size difference is that the x in the middle looks scrunched and is asymmetrical because the inner box is not even square. Never having used illustrator I can only guess at a recommendation for a solution, but perhaps try using paint to cut and paste copies of the artwork that you want to use so you can import it into illustrator as your artwork templates. Or zoom in to pixel view and draw it out pixel by pixel to match exactly if that's possible.

I'll be more precise next time.

As for your note that you made a new mountain and tree icon, I hope you mean to say you duplicated the icons that are currently there exactly and have it easily set up to paste in as needed. What I hope it doesn't mean is that you created your own drawings for them.

Oh come on now, that mountain I drew looks really nice! I copied Ranik's shape and made it better!--DRSircha 04:16, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

I also just noted that the font you used is some form of sans serif, whereas all the other fonts have serifs (the little ticks at the ends of letters). And the size of the font is slightly larger. There's a list of the fonts used at Talk:Ranik_Maps#Fonts used.

Yes I know what a serif is, I just didn't recognize the font.--DRSircha 04:16, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

I know details like these may seem picky, but the consistent visual quality of these maps is one of their selling points.

Okay no sweet-looking rocky mountains for you!--DRSircha 04:16, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

One final unrelated tip: to make these talk pages easier to read, include one additional colon(:) at the beginning of each of your paragraphs in order to indent it further. Each colon equates to one 'tab' worth of indent, so if the previous person used a single indent, you would use two for example. And to keep clear who is saying what, include your signature at the end of what you're typing by using two hyphens(--) followed by four tildes(~). Sig example can be seen here.--Evran 18:13, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

DragonRealms 2008 Patch Notes

For people who missed the year 2008, and because patch notes are now deleted every 2 years. (much to my personal annoyance, I can't find things that were promised/written down 3,4, and six years ago. Therefore this log is very necessary. If there's stubs pertaining to new abilities detailed here they should be linked-in directly.

Each category includes information for those the changes particularly relate to.

10/24/2008

RPA's=

All players They will now actually add bonus experience to what you would normally accrue. This should mean your pools drain at the same speed as they did previously, but your ranks go up faster. As before, the bigger the RPA, the more marked the effect. ~~DR-LOHKRIAN

Shops Fixed up

all players, Thieves After much finagling, catalog shops will once again provide you items commensurate in value to what you paid. Also, items that previously had special properties dependent on material (most notably: ironwood shields) will once again have those properties.

After an entirely DIFFERENT SET of finagling, this change will also affect items stolen from said shops. This will increase the difficulty of those items whose values increase, but they will, of course, teach better and sell for more. ~~DR-LOHKRIAN

10/25/2008

Urbanity and You

Thieves, Rangers I have released utilities that have split the previous definition of whether an area is wilderness or urban into two separate scales. This means that areas can be beneficial to both Thieves and Rangers at the same time.

While most areas of the game will go unchanged, I have made a few alterations to go along with this initial release and we will be reviewing areas as we see fit. Here's what changed.

1) Langenfirth: This area is now friendly to Thieves as well as Rangers. Langenfirth was set at wilder than it should have been so it will be slightly less Ranger friendly than it was.

2) Leth Deriel: This area is now friendly to Rangers as well as Thieves.

3) Crossing Shipyard (rats): This area is now friendly to Rangers as well as Thieves.

4) Middens (louts): This area is now friendly to Rangers as well as Thieves.

5) Temple in Gate of Souls: This area is now friendly to Thieves as well as Rangers.

NOTE: Since Beseeches are in a state of being assessed and rewritten, they do not work with these new mechanics and may not catch all changes. All other guild abilities and verbs should pick up the split fine. ~DR-Zeyuren

10/27/2008 Stealth, Rangers, Thieves Appraising armor will now provide information about Stealth Hindrance. Compare will not include this feature.~GM Lohkrian

10/29/2008 All Players, Scripting New Scripting Policy For DragonRealms Prime, effective December 1, 2008:

POLICY 16

~Simu-Solomon

10/29/2008 All Players, Rangers Climbing 3.0

NOTE: These changes apply only to things that used the default CLIMB verb. A few special scripted climbs (the Aesry stairs or the cliff on Hara'jaal, for example) use custom mechanics and are not affected by these updates at this time. These are rare, but be aware they exist.

I'll be monitoring this release for the next week or two. Experience rates, roundtimes, and timers are all subject to change based on observation and feedback.

There's some good news and some bad news involved in this overhaul, so let's get down to the details:

--- Climbing Aids ---

• You now have the option to CLIMB <obstacle> WITH <tool>. If you have an appropriate tool (currently the coiled ropes like those sold at the Crossing General Store are the only ones supported) you will gain a bonus to your climb attempt. However, this comes at the cost of a reduction in experience gained.

• You may appraise a climb before you attempt it, and will receive a bonus based on your success in appraising. This is not new, but the benefit from this additional step has been increased. No cost other than the added roundtime for the appraisal.

• Rangers will gain a bonus based on their scouting skill when attempting to lead groups over climbs. This is also not new, but the bonus involved is now more consistently applied, although not as substantial as it was before.

• If a group leader succeeds in a climb, everyone in their group will get a bonus based on the success of the leader. The downside is that those who wouldn't have made it without the leader bonus will received reduced experience from the climb as a result.

• The role of stats in climbing has been increased. Both agility and strength will aid in climbing.

--- Climbing Penalties ---

• The fatigue cost for climbing has gone up in most cases. Climbing while fatigued will also reduce your chances. The more difficult the climb, the greater the fatigue cost. The better your success (where applicable) the lower the cost.

• The impact of wounds on climbing have gone down in most cases. However, climbs more difficult than stairs/steps will now also check all limb wounds, not just legs like before. While wounds are less significant overall, they can still make a difference.

• You may now attempt climbs with items in your hands (any type), but there will be a penalty involved based on the size of the item, and an additional penalty if both hands are filled. Note: climbing tools (see above) are exempt and will not incur a penalty in and of themselves, although the penalty for having both hands filled will be applied if you have something in the other hand as well.

• Failed attempts now incur a roundtime to prevent spamming and learning more from failures than successes.

--- Practice Mode ---

• Two other new options are now available:

CLIMB PRACTICE <obstacle>
STOP CLIMB

Use of this option will put you in practice mode. Assuming the climb is reasonably challenging (but not too much so), you will learn climbing experience until the practice session ends or you use STOP CLIMB. The experience award will slowly build until the end of the session or it is stopped, but while practicing climbing you will be extremely limited in other activities. Note that practicing will not actually move you, nor will it invoke the experience timers.

--- MISC ---

• The experience for a successful climb has been increased. The experience timer still exists, and is now consistently applied. In short, going from one place to another will teach better than it used to, but climbing back and forth will not teach well in most cases. The best way to learn is to try climbing back and forth once, then run a practice session if it seems to teach well.

• A new difficulty tracking system has been added. The game will now track the most difficult climb in the game, and if the climb you are attempting is close to that climb in difficulty, it will make sure you always gain experience if you fully succeed, even if you have far more skill than required. This will insure that it will always be possible to learn climbing, even if you severely outclass the most difficult climbs in the game.

• Spells and abilities that benefit climbing should still be completely compatible. Those that bonus/hex the stats involved in climbing should now be more potent than before.

The difficulty in dragging over climbs has been reduced. The effectiveness of Glyph of Ease in dragging over climbs has been increased. ~~Dartenian

10/31/2008 GM hopefuls, all players GM Applications While we are on the topic of hiring and training, I wanted to make a quick reminder to any of you who have recently used the online application system. There are additional written questions beyond the main application that should become available to you once you submit it. Applications will not be considered for the next step in the hiring process if left incomplete. This goes for any area of applications: GameHosts, GameMasters, Forums Moderators, Mentors, ALAE, etc.

Also, once you apply, you are able to go back and modify or add to your existing application. There is also a section where you can see any notes we have left you as we go through your application. If for some reason you have trouble with any of these features drop me an email and we'll see what we can do.

Thank you and good luck!

11/6/2008 All players, totems Totems

Fragments are returned to the sky by holding a totem and a glowing fragment in your hands and using the RAISE verb. This increments your totem's "fragment count" by 1.

The totem reaches its first bonus level at four fragments and becomes "active". After that point, the totem will then become "dirty" after one week of real time. Once it has been activated, the totem is capable of providing multiple types of bonuses that drain charges from it. These charges can only be restored by CLEANing a dirty totem and, as only dirty totems can be cleaned, the totems have an effective recharge rate of 10 charges each week.

By the way, to CLEAN the totems, you're going to need items for your totem that match what you sacrifice to the appropriate altars in the Alternate Favor System.

Here is a list of the abilities and associated costs:

Level 1 (Unlocked at 4 Frags) Light PUSHing the totem allows it to act as a light source. Costs 1 charge Level 2 (Unlocked at 10 Frags) Bless This is activated by the WAVE verb and will add 10-30 blessed strikes to a weapon in the hand of the target (either another player or yourself). Costs 2 charges Level 3 (Unlocked at 18 Frags) Stat/Attribute Boost This is activated by the POINT verb and will boost at single stat by 6-10 points for the target. The stat chosen will depend on the deity of the totem. Each has 3 possible. Not going to break down which each has at this time. Costs 3 charges Level 4 (Unlocked at 28 Frags) Skill Boost This is activated by the SHAKE verb and will apply skill boosters to the totem-wielder. The stat boost is slanted based on the chosen deity's "flavor" being dark, light, or neutral; a bit toward the offensive for dark, defensive for light, and more balanced for neutral. Costs 5 charges Level 5 (Unlocked at 40 Frags) Favor This is activated by the KISS verb and will bestow a favor upon the wielder. The ability will bring the favor count up to 15, but no higher. If the PC's count drops below 15, it will work again. Costs 10 charges Jackpot (Capped Totem) RPA This is activated by the RAISE verb and has a 20% chance to bestow a Level 1 RPA on the wielder. Takes all remaining charges

So, as I said, once your totem is capped, you do not need to worry about more fragments. Any additional fragments you DO find have a chance to provide the jackpot bonus, but the basic functionality of the totems themselves is permanent and you cannot "break them" or "run them out", again, as I said.

There will be fragments in the treasure system to allow for the occasional jackpot or to allow those who need more to cap out their totems to cap them out. There's no deadline on capping them out.

So, aside from a very small number of typo issues, the totems were not "buggy", they were not working improperly, and they were working 100% as intended. Wythor and Lohkrian did an absolutely amazing job on them.

As we said, they're fairly complicated, but it was felt that they needed to be more than simple props, given their benefits.

If you have a billion fragments squirreled away, you might as well help someone cap out their totem, since most of them will die in a week or so. Any newly generated fragments currently have a lifespan of 1 week, but after the festival that will drop dramatically, so your best bet after the festival will be to use them, give them to someone, or sell them quickly. I'm going to ask Armifer to drop the lifespan on newly generated fragments significantly over the weekend (down to maybe an hour or so) and we'll re-add ways for people who need them to get them in order cap out their totems more quickly, but again, if you're holding a bunch of them, they're not going to do you any good, so help out your friends.

For those of you who are wanting to exchange your totem because you messed up and got the wrong one and are holding fragments now, this shouldn't affect those fragments you already have.

Also, something that many people declined to investigate or participate in:

Fragments could be (can still be) given to certain NPCs and exchanged for "tricks" or "treats", which can be stored in special bags and can summarily be given to your friends or used yourself with various effects.

Which leads to the other announcement, which will be explained in more IC detail tomorrow:

For many years, a large number of players (and GMs) have wanted (or created) more recognition and/or celebration of Real World holidays. In addition, we've always had the ever-present question of "When's the next festival?".

My take on the holiday issue (which I've gone over before) is that this was not acceptable unless we could come up with a way to justify it and make it suitably fit into the culture and history of the game. Despite that feeling and despite my repeated "banning" of OOC invasions and Holiday Recognition in Prime, we'd still get rabid reindeer and mistletoads, rampaging turkeys, pumpkin carving systems that conveniently got released on Halloween, and other references that some people loved, some people hated, but only resulted in reports, complaints, and OOC comments on the gweth, which resulted in more reports and complaints.

Being a big fan of WoW's "in-genre-fication" of holidays, with good storylines and events that tied them in, I sat down last year with several staff members and we discussed ways to bring this to life in DR, starting with Chris' Mass, which will be a regularly occurring event with a theme of giving and sharing, tied to The Mass's appearance in the sky.

Following suit, the Events Team, Cleric Team, Moon Mage Team, and I, laid out the groundwork and storyline for what will become an annual, large-scale, themed festival designed around the Huldah's mischevious antics which caused turmoil in the heavens and resulted in the disappearance of the stars and totally empty skies, giving us our first ever Hollow Eve.

Many NPCs, Merchants, Alterers, and I believe even a few Greeters mentioned "Hollow Eve" to large numbers of players, but it was either overlooked or no one made the (obvious, we thought) connection.

This event and festival will occur every (RL) year, allowing you to plan your plat hoarding accordingly. The festival's theme will obviously lean toward the godly and generally contain inventory, games, and events that focus on darker aspects, deities, and playstyles. The idea is that most (if not all) shops at the fest each year will return, either with the same or refreshed/restyled inventory, along with new shops that will be added, which means it will continue to grow each year. I already have shops in mind that I'll be building and I know I've heard several other GMs say the same thing.

In addition to the auction, there are going to be a couple of other new system/feature releases, hopefully tomorrow. Simu-Solomon