[Pankoki]

A few months ago I would have been inclined to reply to this post with the same tone that you used. However I realize that in reality it is not worth the stress to go all haywire because someone holds an ill-conceived perspective on you. Funnily I never had, nor have right now, a bad view on you and all the people you call friends, a lot of misunderstood things sure, but never one leading to outright spite as you clearly have in this post. So you have made your final stance. Unfortunately you ruined any effort in making a difference with your final stance due to the tone and the words you used. It seems to me that if you truly want to make a difference and if you really care about the place, you would not smear your name as you have done so today. Regardless of that however, you have made your final stance and since I know this thread will soon be overwhelmed by a long discussion that will truly not go anywhere (Or outright frozen for bad use of language), I will take these few minutes to reply to it while it is fresh. Layonara has always been growing in one way or another. It has flaws in its gameplay, just as every other game out there and it will never truly be perfect. That's just a fact. Not every class/monster/feat/skill/area/item will be perfectly balanced and that is just the start as far as gameplay goes. But in the end if you take the original NWN game and compare it to Layonara you will soon realize the titanic change from one place to the other. It is a different game. Somethings however will not be perfect, and to this day I am not sure where we have claimed so. Sure, we have worked on tons of RP-oriented implementations, simply because in the overall picture of things we need to try and implement things for everyone at all levels. So if two Prestige Classes (Not main classes, prestige ones) have some flaws that make them weaker than others, in the end I don't take that as the descriptor of our development, instead I see that there are 9 other customized prestige classes that do work and are fun (I'm not counting the two unholy ones since those are mostly for NPC usage). And I see that number and realize that 9 over 2 that aren't working is a very good ratio. And that goes for everything else. The world has tons of good things and a few that are broken. We strive to fix them, and do so at a pace that the development team can, but in the end, it doesn't make Layonara an unplayable place. On the summons issue, I've always found that topic somewhat between a pain and a joke. Surely, I can tell you the same thing that I've told every single person that has addressed me for a summon problem and it is the simple fact that they all have their uses, some summons are better at somethings than others, and right the same way around. The archers do decent damage, but if they get close they get mauled, the golems have good spell protections but don't deal as much damage and have an average AB, the demons have their immunities and a slew of spell-like abilities with a decent punch, and the elementals have a decent average overall, good HP, average punch and a list of immunities. In the end however that isn't the point, the point is that if something seems off then people need to report it, so far the only discussion about summons that has been approached has been regarding the level 9 Gate spell, and that clearly isn't a standard summon. So in the end it always falls back to the same. 90% of it works, and the 10% that doesn't is a small flaw that doesn't break the world. Regarding your comment on secrets in Layonara. Well I must say that this goes for every organization in the world, somethings are told to everyone and some others are on a need to know basis, and some others are simply kept by the singular (Or group of individuals) that manage or administer the entity. That's just reality and if you have been told otherwise then I'm afraid its time to review that perspective because it isn't realistic. On the NWN transfer there is no secret, the team has read and heard just about every opinion and poll that is out there, every member in the team has opinions of their own as well as far as those matters are concerned, but in the end no decision has been made by Leanthar. Of all people, he has worked on this world the most and the longest and since it will eventually fall on his shoulders to make such a call, I am sure that it isn't something easy for him to do. In the one hand you have this magnificent opportunity to fix all the problems that Layonara has and start anew, and in the other you have this faithful community of people who have invested in their characters and their stories for over 2 years now. I am sure it isn't an easy call to make and really do not envy the man. There is this huge belief that the GM forums have some sort of spying system established where we conform in some Illuminati form of committee to decide the fate of Layonara. Well that isn't true. We have posts about our quests and the different GM-oriented notices or procedures established for them, and we have a forum were we collect all reports about players breaking the rules. All of these are obvious administration things that not every person in the server needs to see. In the general forums we have things for input from players and we read those ideas and they are implemented if they have enough following or if they go with the spirit of the world. But in the end, can you imagine how much would get done if we sent for player approval every single feature to be implemented? If you have a realistic view on development, then you will know that the answer to that is, nothing. That's just a simple reality. The comment on orth was completely unnecessary, but that seems moot, since so were many other ill-concieved remarks in your post. In the end however, he is one of the people that puts the most work in Layonara, and just as anyone would defend their own creations, he does the same when he sees they are being attacked from unfair angles. And now to me. Well, frankly I'm used to every so often have to deal with this undying belief that all my things are ran for specific players. But since it once again has been brought up, it is once again that I clear the fog up, or at least try. Before I get into the core of it, I would like for you to consider something simple. Every GM has been around for a long time. Normally meaning that their involvement in the world already has been impacting and thus the grounds to deny a GM-Epic application are hard to find, they already put a lot of work into the world, it seems natural that their characters have as well. There's no favouritism involved there, that is a simply matter of one thing adding to the other. There are many people in this community that misconstrue proper credit from favouritism. Is rewarding someone that has put so much work into something, a bad thing? I would like to think not. Regardless however, we have rules in place for all epic approvals and every single DM that has been approved for them has met these rules. Again, credit-reward. The whole Twins drama got blown out of proportions. Leanthar himself handled the applications and spent a good amount of time getting input from not just the team, but the players too. Why? Was it because storm and I were DMs and "deserved" it? Nope. It was a simple matter of the work put into their stories and a set of conditions placed under their playing. Conditions that storm and I gladly abide by simply because we did not want to play them to be cool and claim whatever claim people may think we would do. Instead because we wanted to have fun with characters that meant something to us. In the end however, there has been plenty of times before where an application has been considered special and has undergone a review further than the standard. Simply because of again, the whole credit-reward thing. Rumours are hard to correct, particularly when ever since they have started they have been mostly "Oh someone told me this..." And it gets blown up out of proportion. Have you ever been to one of my quests? Nope, you have not. 99% of the rumours built on the whole pan-storm issue has been originated from places of spite unfounded or a rumour mill that has gone for miles. In reality it all comes down to involvement. If someone takes the effort of becoming involved in a quest of mine, they are going to get rewarded, that is just a simple reality, it doesn't matter who you are. Storm's character has done thing in the world (Just as every epic out there) that have left a mark and if it applies then he uses them in a quest. I wish I could find the source of all these rumours and have an honest person to person conversation with this individual (or group of individuals), but yet to date the only person that has approached me with a question as to why something happened was a good friend of mine. Though I suppose that makes sense, since only the people that care for your opinion bother clarifying things before making claims. Regardless of what it maybe, I invite anyone that has ever felt or heard such a thing to contact me and we can talk in any form that is deemed best. Simply because all these rumours have little foundation and believe me, I want them clarified more than anyone on this server. It seems to me you have some rather pent up rage towards me. Not sure I've done anything to you to have you berate my signature or my way of posting. I'm proud of my character, is that wrong or bad? I hope not. I've worked hard on her and it is a matter of personal pride what she can do, would you rather me put her dexterity up? Or her tumble? Or perhaps her crit record which many people have posted for their characterrs as well? Ah well... not the point, Triba is something I'm proud of and there's little that can be said to not make that true. And you are right, I am compensating from something, mostly the fact that the normal forum background hurts my eyes and the orange colour is better on them. So unless you have a cure for that sort of ailment, I'm not sure what can be done. Though thank you for that piece of constructive criticism. In the end I think you have a lot of issues that need addressed before addressing others yourself. And perhaps you need to check your nose before smelling the fish.