-comes in, sits down, waves-

[Black1Wolf2]

Sometime ago a friend told me a story pertaining to the entropic decay of a NWN private server. Apparently more than a few of the GMs and quite a significant portion of the general population were at least fond of vampires and that being pre-Twilight, it only took that movie and 3-4 suggestions for the GMs to consider it, a few more complaints for vampires to be introduced and about 6 months to go from "Ok" to "Bat insane" RP as loyalist humans rallied against vampire-philes and then it got interesting because the GM population also saw such a splintering... what followed was something in between Hellsing and Blade with maybe a tad of Legacy of Kain but without the good bits (namely: Raziel and Kain) as self-entitled Vampire Lords (GMs) and their legions fought to push out the non-believers and their leaders... now the thing is all of this was going on behind the back of the server admin (who was the only one who could pull a GMs power) as he was on a extended absence (freshly married or some such) so it was insane as none of the sides could gain any advantage , what many would  call a clusterf**k, for 1-2 months. The end came when the admin came back to check up on things and saw how wrong things went and rather than bother with setting things right again he simply pulled the plug on the whole thing (rumor has it he had been a busy boy during his honeymoon and now had a pregnant wife).

That story stuck with me as I heard it from the prism of one of the human loyalists and honestly... it sounded awesome but at the time I had neither the time nor the means to get into a NWN private server, recently that changed so here I am .

Got a few questions now:
What do I need to get onto the server? (loader or such)
I saw the character stable and read up here and there but how can I actually create a character? ( even if I adopt one from the stable what do I need to do besides said adoption?)
Is there a guide somewhere I can read so I don't ask another 50-60 questions?

[Filatus]

Welcome, always good to see fresh blood.

Got a few questions now:
What do I need to get onto the server? (loader or such)

You need Neverwinter Night, with the SoU and HotU expansions (Neverwinter Night Diamond version) + downloading the custom haks for the Layonara server which you can find at the downloads section.

I saw the character stable and read up here and there but how can I actually create a character? ( even if I adopt one from the stable what do I need to do besides said adoption?)

I'm guessing from this question that you don't have a copy of NWN, which would be the first step.

Is there a guide somewhere I can read so I don't ask another 50-60 questions?

Lore is the best place to start for the new players, since it has most of the recent lore, rules and guidelines and is easier to use than the search function on the forums.

Though even with that, you're still bound to have questions. But the forums is a good place to ask these.

[RollinsCat]

Hello and welcome -

to get started, take a look in here

A wealth of information from geography to classes and server rules.

look forward to seeing your character in game!

[Masterjack]

Welcome and thanks for coming by. The first thing you need to know is that Layonara has it's own gods and lore. It is totally separate from the NWN that you may know. So once you do that brain dump. The best place to start is to go for information that is found here LORE: Start Here

Once you feel you are ready to make a character use the Character submission wizard found here http://forums.layonara.com/newthread.php?do=charsubmit

If you have any questions feel free to ask. We love to answer questions.

Hope to see you online soon
MJ

[Black1Wolf2]

No worries about NWN lore being fixed in my mind, I played it around 4+ years ago so what I am left are some fuzzy memories about a decently built game and if this server is an improvement on it then it should sate my hunger for a decent MMORPG.

I have a copy of NWN handy, hopefully it's still good for something (the disk's been through quite a few adventures itself). If not I will see what I can do to remedy it if it's a problem (one copy goes for around 20$ in these parts with home delivery so easily solved if need be).

-clicks lore link- Jesus o.o.... I best get cracking...

Oh: last question: customization (IE: painting armor, such and such) possible? and any marriage system implemented? ( weird question if I were single ^^ )

[Chazzler]

Yeah, there's custom housing, armor customizing (in tradehalls around the server(s)) and marriages are possible.

[miltonyorkcastle]

customization (IE: painting armor, such and such) possible?

Yes. See here: [LORE]Customization[/LORE]

any marriage system implemented?

There is no IG (in-game) "system", but characters do sometimes get married, and such is not discouraged as long as everything stays IC (in-character) and none of the [LORE]Player Rules[/LORE] are broken.

[Black1Wolf2]

Yeah.. think I am screwed from the get go... I will only have one character (ever, don't bother with more as I will likely not have time for them) and well I wanna tailor it to suit me somewhat (avatar as it were) and well... I am more of a Chaotic Neutral

[RollinsCat]

Consider starting true neutral, and working your way to chaotic.  you can do this with the help of gms and character quests which are awesome, by the way, and really let you explore your character.  it isn't the fastest way to get there but you'll get there and develop him/her on the way.

[miltonyorkcastle]

Nah. Give the character approvers a chance to work with you. I think you'll find a character that will both fit your desired play style and Layonara lore.

Fighters are pretty easy to get approved. You just have to show how your character learned to use weapons and armor, mostly. Also, if you tend toward playing chaotic neutral-ish characters, start with True Neutral, and then either work your character's way into Chaotic Neutral (an alignment change, which of course has to be approved, but is very doable), or submit a new character a little later and see which of the two characters you like playing better, then stick with that one.

EDIT: RollinsCat beat me to the punch about the alignment thing, heh.

[Black1Wolf2]

Hmm... okay, TN it is, just let me get that character Alignment modified...

Also got an issue with downloading the files for the server (normally 1 gb isn't a problem but the speed seems caped at 200 kb/s and the connection died at 870 mb the first time).

[miltonyorkcastle]

Try downloading the separate pieces instead of the giant All-In-One pack.

[Black1Wolf2]

Using a download accelerator for the ability to resume in case it dies (this the 2nd and last attempt at the big 950 ish mb archive, if this doesn't work... sighs I hate multiple download files >.<).

[miltonyorkcastle]

As it turns out, you'll still need to download the following three separate files because they haven't yet been added to the all-in-one (the update making these files necessary happened last week):

The Layonara TLK File
layo_ctrlV3r10.rar
layo_resv3r1.rar

You'll find all three right below the all-in-one download.

[Black1Wolf2]

Ok -scratches head- so how do I install it? O.o   (first timer) where do I put it in the NWN directory?

[mixafix]

In relation to the entry above yours
 
 the talk file goes in the talk folder and the other two in the HAK folder

[miltonyorkcastle]

Everything from the All-in-one goes in the hak folder except for anything with the extension ".tlk" Those files go in the .tlk folder as Mix explained.

Also, make sure your NWN install is fully updated.

[Black1Wolf2]

Once I get some more free time I'll install it, atm I am running around like a headless chicken due to college (who ever said the first year was rough never tried the 2nd year majoring in physics). Once my character gets approved (after a ton of fixes considering my ability to color between the lines) I'll also likely have the time to sort out the installation.

[darkstorme]

Heh.  University.

• First year, they scare you to death.
• Second year, they work you to death.
• Third year, they bore you to death.
• Fourth year, things get interesting.

And try an honours/minor computer science/music, with physics electives.

[Black1Wolf2]

Ok had some time so I installed it (put the hak files in the hak folder and the .tlk file I found, only one, in next to the dialogue.tlk file, no tlk folder found) but how do I run to log onto the server? o.O

Edit: darkstormO.o .... I ain't got a 4th year