Several newbie questions

[the_seeker]

Howdy, folks. I have a bunch of questions, which i will put al here, not too pollute the forum. Apologize, if it ain't entirely place for this.

I have actually never played on your serever yet. Just stumbled upon it, browsed a bit thru your site and got extremly interested. I count on heavy RP, so I'm trying to browse thru both the forum and the handbook to gather some essential info before venturing into the server.

I have already some questions, for which i haven't found an answer so far. Hope you folks can help me with them.

1. I am planning to play an elf, probably starting with fighter/bard or wizard, to eventually, if i go in this direction RP, to become an arcane archer. Some of the questions are:

A) Is there a truly elven location, populated mostly by elves? From what i have seen in the handbook (whough i have only browsed thru it), there isn't.

B) As for the levelling, I don't want to exactly plan ahead, as I'd rather depend on my RP evolution, hawever, do i need to plan ahead the classes of choice? Also what it the rule exatly? (when can i multiclass into a PrC, do i need to folow any certain levelling routine?)

2. There seem to be 4 servers online. Can i access the other servers in-game, by crossing from one area to another? I have also seen a solo module in the downloads section? Does it tie somehow into the online play? Should I play it first, perhaps, and then try the online experience?

3. How does CNR work here? Meaning, how do i better my crafting skils in the appropriate area? Do I get some skill (crafting related) points to distribute evrytime i level?

4. About the character creation, as i have already mentioned, i don't want to plan ahead with taking up classes, as i often make it RP-dependant, and that, of course, io cannot really foresee. Does that mean i can stick to one-class character submission for now?

I know it's a lot of questions, especially in one thread, i would appreciate some definite answers. TIA.

p.s. What is the average number of users online in it's high-time?

EDIT: I have just read in the FAQ section there are actually 5 servers. The ones I can spot in the list are: East, West, Central and Quest. What is the 5th one?

[LynnJuniper]

1A) There is. The continent of Voltrex. However be warned it is rare for an elf born of Voltrex to leave his homeland, and , unless things have changed, once he leaves he will not be premitted back

1B) You should have basically what you want to do in your head so you don't mess up and so you meet the requirements. A Prestige class requires at the least an updated Character Development thread in the direction of the class. (A journal of your characters doings that you can post in the forums in the proper place) for more mundane classes (Duelist, Weapon Master), and at most Character Development Quests (For classes like Shadow Dancer and Arcane Archer). A character development quest is a quest requested from the GMs for the development of your character specifically. Only one of these can be held per player in a 2 month period.

In order to apply for the class you must submit an updated Biography in the Character Submissions stating why you think the character deserves the class and what he has done in character to work for it. Then the Approvers will tell you either that your good to pick up the CDQ or to wait it out a bit more.

Be aware that these CDQs (CChar Development Quests) can fail. Don't rely on your character passing them. What I mean is don't make it so your character isn't fun unless he passes the quest.

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2)You can access other servers by certain boats or portals, at that time you will be booted from the server and asked to connect to the other server. Example: Leringard on the West server to Hurm on the Central, would boot you off west , then you would follow the directions given upon booting. you can ONLY switch servers with the proper transitioning (IE: Boats, Portals, and Wizard's tomes of teleportation/tree walking). You MUST find your way back through one of these ways or the server will boot you.

3) You first need to purchase a crafting license. Then you purchase and/or find the things needed for the said craft, and go to a crafting house in any of the major cities. You use the appropriate crafting apparatus (jewlers bench for jewlery , forge for smelting etc.) and put the items in. You will get a menu. With that you find the thing you want to make and it will tell you based on your crafting experience the % chance you have of making the item. Crafting Venders in merchant halls sell cards that better describe each unique crafting system, and also recipe cards outlining what you will need to make what.

4) You should let the character submitters know what you have planned if you want to take it freely from character creation. For example if you need a fighter/mage , you let the char submitters know from the start, Reminder: Each class must have at least 5 levels. If you are a fighter/mage/arcane archer then each class must be atleast 5 levels before level 20 or you will have to wait till after. Its good to know your breakdown

However if you choose to go mage and fighter afterwards without outlining in the original submission, you must resubmit for the class showing your development journal and what the character has done to get the class (Weapons training for a fighter, apprenticing for a mage, etc).


Average amount of users varies as people from all over the world play: I've seen as few as five and as many as 30+.


forgive the spelling. This firefox spell checker is terrible

Also, heh, I'm not a GM, so if one of them over rides anything I say take their word for it, I'm only speaking from what little I know

[Weeblie]

Hehe... Great that I peeked in here again before writing duplicated answers.

A little bit more on the answers:

1a) That would be the continent of Voltrex which is 100% elven. Because of the fact that no one is permitted to enter nor leave Voltrex without permission from the ruling council (Niasa), and the fact that a character cannot receive such a permission during character creation, there are a few things that has to be kept in mind:

You have to give a reason of why your character is leaving Voltrex in the first place (rather, sneaking out of Voltrex, due to lack of permission from Niasa) and also state that you are aware of the fact that a return to Voltrex will be unlikely (it's possible to receive a "pass" to Voltrex using in-game means on DM quests, but those passes are extremly difficult to get one's hand on!).

A map over the continent can be found here: LORE: Map of Voltrex

1b) For CDQs, please note that you can earliest get one at the level of 10. Also note that Prestige Classes are not accepted during character submission (i.e. for PrCs, you have to submit again after a month or two, with a Character Development Thread showing your progress to persue the PrC).

The average number of players varies greatly from different hours and/or days. During the peek hours, usually GMT evenings, it tend to range to 40+. 70+ is not unheard of, although, in those cases, people tend to be scattered all over the servers. When DM quests are available, the server population also tend to increase, with the greatest numbers on Plot Quests.

More players are online on weekends (naturally) and it varies greatly depending on the time of year. End-of-term in school having a negative impact while bad weather, cold, snow and holiday (read: winter break) have a positive one.

[the_seeker]

Wow, that was a quick reply. Thanks to all posters. Some questions arise though.

If Voltrex is hard to come back to at later stage, I would like to know if it's populated. Obviously, I'd rather interact with other players, and if the said continent is mostly empty, it wouldn't make much sense to me. Unless I coul try it out, and leave on later date, acknowledging i won't be able to return (this would actually make a good background for my char, as he would have an actual elven origin).

Also, from what I undesrtood, I could go 5 lvls of fighter anf 5 lvls of wizard/bard, and then, with proper RP, apply for CDQ, which, if passed, would allow be to take the archer levels up to lvl 40. Is that correct? Also, if one fails the said quest, is it possible to retake it at another date?

I would also like to notice that two of my questions were left unanswered (I know, I'm an ungreatful bastard ) I can only spot 4 servers in the list: West, East, Central, Quest. The FAQ mentions the 5th one - what is it? And is quest a normal server?

I also asked about about the solo module available for download. Does it tie-in with the general timeline of the online servers? And should i take it first, before i enter online?

I hope someone can enlighten me on those issues. TIA.

[Dorganath]

Voltrex is populated by NPCs.  No PCs "live" there or spend any appreciable amount of time there except for the occasional quest.  As has been said, returning is restricted and usually through the form of a one-time pass. This may change in the future, but that's how the elves want it.

You must have at least 5 levels in each class prior to Level 20.  What you do after that, as long as the classes were approved, is up to you really.  Proper RP and a highly-recommended thread in Character Development are good for becoming approved for a PrC.

One thing to clarify... it isn't required to wait until level 10 to have a CDQ for a PrC, however, since PrCs like AA typically require 2 classes, it doesn't matter so much in your case.

I know, I'm an ungreatful ******

Please consider your language when posting....unless the certainty of your father truly is in question, this is a family-oriented server and so we ask that you keep your language appropriate for same. This applies to all facets of the community, whether in-game, on the forums or in our IRC channels.  And this is a bonus answer....no charge!  

On the servers...There is currently West, Central, East  and Planes, in order of increasing difficulty.  Quest is used by GMs during quests only and can run any of the above modules as needed.  It is for GM-supervised events only and you should not be on it if a GM didn't direct you there.

The solo module is optional.  It is another exposure to the world and is situated chronologically before the end of the last campaign.  It's not necessary to play it, nor will you be able to use your character from the single-player module to play in the PW.

Edit: The Planes server is going away, and the East server areas are being rolled into Central. This will happen with the next update, which is coming somewhat soon.

[merlin34baseball]

hmm, here goes my knowledge...

Yes you would be able to take 5 levels of each and then the rest in archer if you passed your CDQ. If you failed you could continue to take levels in your other classes, but as was stated earlier you must have 5 levels in each class before 20.  Such as these splits: 10/5/5, 15/5, 10/10 etc.

As far as Voltrex goes... I've never been there, so I couldn't tell you, but I'm fairly certain its not a place that people hang out.

The servers are being realigned currently, but what everyone basically plays on now is West, Central and East.  Central and East have level restrictions.  I believe it is something like 7 or 9+ on central and 17+ on East.  That being said naturally there are always more people logged on to West, fewer on Central and less on East.

Oh and as far as crafting goes you get crafting specific XP.  So you would level in crafts just the same as character levels depending on how much time you put into them.  Example:  My main character is level 18, Wizard/Rogue.  But she's a level 15 gem crafter, level 14 enchanter, level 13 alchemist, level 8 food crafter, level 2 smelter etc.  So the crafting levels are independent of character levels.  Conceivably you could be the worlds greatest weapon smith and be a level one character IF you could get the supplies you needed somehow to craft.

Hope that helps.

[the_seeker]

OK, something i don't quite understand here. Is Voltrex part of the West Server? With the level restrictions and all, it would otherwise make little sense as you can't start there, and it's hard to enter the continent as well...or am i missing something? And could somone please layout more less what each of the Servers consists of? Or point me to a link or something?

Also, with Voltrex unpopulated, are there any elven groups/organizations, well populated and organized to have a fun RP, elven style?

Back to one unanswered question - if i fail a CDQ, will i be allowed to take it up again on another occassion?

I am also not too fond of writing journals, etc. Does that mean i won't be allowed to take up a CDQ, even if i make a decent RP effort (which i always strive to do, after all, that's what makes it different from a solo campaign)

p.s. Thanks for the info on crafting XP. I had it on my mind, but forgot to ask.

[LynnJuniper]

1) Voltrex, as far as I know is actually on the east server and hasn't been accessed except for a few quests. Its not a starting area because, well, Voltrex doesn't house adventurers, it houses elves.

2) A basic break down of the servers before the merge (I very well may be leaving some stuff out, I haven't traveled the world in its entirety by any means):

West: Mistone, Rilara/Alindor, Dragon Isles
Central: Dregar, Corsain, Vavanar
East: Belinara, Voltrex


2) Elven Groups/Organizations? None that I know of exclusively. Start one. There are lots of snoody elves in game

3) If you fail your CDQ you can try again giving an updated submission and development journal but you MUST wait the required period of 2 months from when the last CDQ was ran.

Hope this helps

[J-ser]

Voltrex is not on west.
When you start on west for the first time, you have two options of where to start the game (Hempstead and Vhel). Voltrex is simply the most elven continent of them all, but elves can be from anywhere. I play a half-elf from some backwater town, but he could have easily been full elven. You probably won't see Voltrex for a long time, if ever. Its simply a place you could RP as having come from.

Elven groups, just look around. Elves are a pretty common race.

If you fail a CDQ, good luck and try later. There are rules as to how often you can have them run so you just have to wait on that.

Writing journals, I'm pretty sure you'll have to do it. RP effort is good, but you need to write down whats going on in your characters thoughts to things occasionally, along with motives.

[minerva]

Voltrex is at this time a restricted continent, only those with permission from the elves may enter and leave at will.
 
 When you begin the game you begin at one of two starting areas on the West server (Vehl or Port Hempstead). If you create an elven character orginating from Voltrex you must outline in the Bio how and why (s)he left the continent.
 
 There are groups of elves all over Layonara. If you read the timeline, the elf -human wars are over 1000 years ago, which was when the majority but not all elves retreated to Voltrex. That 1000 years has given time for some populations to grow a bit again so really your elf could be from anywhere on Layonara not just Voltrex.
 
 The servers generally represent the different continents of Layonara. The West and beginning server contain Mistone, Alindor, Krashin and Bastil, the Dragon Isles and Serpent Isles, while Central Server is Dregar, Molten Island, Vanavar, and the Old Roldem Islands. The East server is the continents of Belinara and Voltrex. West is in general for the starting levels, Central for higher levels and East for sub epic and Epic levels.
 
 There are several player run organizations and guilds, but none is strictly Elven. That does not preclude the modivated player to start such a group.
 
 I suggest you read this to find the answers regarding Prestige classes and CDQ rules.
 
 You will be required to keep some semblance of a character journal to qualify for a Prestige class. We don't expect everyone to be spectacular literary artists, but the fact is that the character approvers and GM's cannot monitor everone's RP 24-7 to know if you are developing your character in the right direction.