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Messages - vgn

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81
General Discussion / RE: lets have the level talk :)
« on: September 05, 2006, 02:53:00 pm »
Well in this case I don't think it would be appropriate and in fact you basically asked in your post if this would have been an ok time and if not, why, as it didn't make sense to you.

The reason it would not have been ok is for the same reason you seem to think it might have been ok. It makes no sense. Since you didn't say so in the post I'm going to assume that the high-level characters in question did not know your character. So basically, the question at hand is why would a group of high-level adventurers ask a random person they found in the woods to come along with them on whatever potentially dangerous trip they were on?

Now, on the other hand. Let's say that your character has had several RP situations with one or more of the characters in the past in towns/inns/etc and there is at least a companionship relationship if not friendship between the characters. Then it would probably make sense and be ok on a non-habitual basis to adventure together at times.

Basically you need things to make sense.

Related to this is the fact that you had a little meeting in the woods at all. If they saw you battling giants and stopped to find out if you were in trouble and needed help and from there a conversation ensued, then ok, that makes sense. If on the other hand you are just random people out in the woods, why would you stop and talk, especially during the dark ages?

If I'm out walking the world and see one or more characters I do not know I rarely will speak to them unless I'm playing a concerned character and I think the others might be in danger. Why would I? In a city or tavern, sure it makes sense. It's a social setting. Out in the wild or even on the roads? You just don't talk to people. Ask anyone who lives in one of our Urban Jungles like NY. Do you stop and chat with everyone you see while walking down the street? How about at night in the dark?

This bridges well into a general poor RP behavior I see in Layo and in many PWs or online games. It's the basic mentality that if you see another character they must be a good person and you should stop and talk to them. Now most of the time they are good people, but this is a dangerous world, to just assume someone is good is rather odd really down right silly.

82
General Discussion / RE: Math Question...Odds
« on: September 04, 2006, 08:43:48 am »
Unfortunately you really can't look at statistics this way.
Each time he dies he has a 9/100 or 9% chance of a token. It is completely independant and having received 4 in a row you can't ask what is the probability that he could get 4 in a row as it's already happened.

Now you can ask without tying it to this series of deaths, what is the probability that a 9th level character on layonara will have 4 consecutive token deaths. That would in fact be 6561/100000000 or 0.00006561 or .006561%
Now, the trick though is that is the probability at any given time that a character of nineth level will get those 4 consecutive tokens. Everytime a 9th level character dies this probability applies and 0.006561% of the time that death will be the start of a run of 4 tokens in a row. That's not very much, but at the same time, if you look at how many times a 9th level character has died over the course of Layonara it is not unreasonable at all to see this probability could be realized.

83
Trade and Market Hall / Re: Slightly Used Boots
« on: August 24, 2006, 08:01:27 am »
*The poster has been marked over and a new note is scribbled underneath*
A bid has been accepted and Aralin will soon be the owner of some boots.
Aralin has gold and gold should be brought to the Arms.

84
Trade and Market Hall / RE: Slightly Used Boots -Auction over Soon
« on: August 23, 2006, 09:14:11 am »
//I'm not going to drag this auction out, so whatever the high bid at the end of the day is will have new boots.//

85
General Discussion / RE: Wanted: Brownie adventurers
« on: August 22, 2006, 05:05:45 pm »
As I said on IRC, Amra would come if it were a different time, either evening PDT which would be late EDT or on the weekend. If I have a random day off though who knows.

On a side note to Fatherchaos, I'm not sure what a daikini is, but as a general rule, wiley or not Brownies do not steal babies. Brownies strongly favor LG and while there are a few NG or LN and a small smattering of TN, most are fairly lawful and stealing a baby of any kind is rather chaotic and depending on motive possibly evil.

86
General Discussion / RE: Getting nowhere =/
« on: August 10, 2006, 04:49:53 pm »
Well, it sounds like you've only been playing for a net time period of a couple of days. Instead of running out of town alone and getting the goblins that are a level or two out of your league all upset with you, I'd suggest sticking around town for a while. Talk to a few people, introduce yourself. See about trying some of the quests in town either alone (which I don't recommend) or with some of the people you meet.

That should get you off to a better start and you'll be having fun in no time.

87
General Discussion / RE: How did I get here?
« on: August 07, 2006, 07:08:20 pm »
I have and have had numerous characters here. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to play much recently, but this world still has great memories and I'll likely be back soon. But on with the discussion at hand, the one character who is truly my favorite is Vin Onyxshade. He, like all of my characters, is an original and not conciously based on anything other than the bio I brainstormed for him and his actions in the game.

I like playing shadier characters more than the upstanding hero type. A character with at least some rogue levels has always been part of my arsenal. Having several characters who talk nearly non-stop (read Sago and Bimpo) I decided someone quieter was in order. Vin doesn't say much and when he does it is quiet. It usually, but not always is worth listening too. This personality is actually closer to mine than others. I enjoy playing Sago and Bimpo on occation but they take a lot of work for me. Sago is a bit easier because I gave him my smarta** attitude, but both are very outgoing.

Having come from the Underdark and being a born survivor, Vin tends to stay out of the way and unseen for the most part. The first week I played him on the server he spent almost the entire time skulking around the shadows of Hlint's buildings, behind trees, and in general just watching and listening to people. He evesdropped on conversations and found interesting people to pay attention to. One day early in his career he even followed Gulnyr from Hlint all the way to Leilon. He hung back quite a ways and tried to stick to the shadows. At the time Gulnyr was a much better scout than Vin was at hiding. Finally in Leilon Gulnyr spun around and confronted him and Vin just bolted back to Hlint.

Vin continued to stick mostly to the shadows and has made only a few "friends," though more people than that likely consider him a friend. That may or may not work out for them someday as despite his harmless and quiet appearance he can't be trusted very far. This trait of few true friends Vin tends to pull from myself as I tend to top out the introversion scales on most personality tests.

From there Vin has just developed through quests and interactions with other characters in the game. The whole point of playing in an RP world like Layonara is to develop your character and see what he or she becomes.


88
General Discussion / Re: Large crates and Little boxes.
« on: August 01, 2006, 09:48:46 am »
Granted this has nothing to do with boxes in chests, but I bring it up since magical bags were tossed out in the previous example. In D&D if you stick a magical bag inside another magical bag or portable hole then if I recall correctly it implodes and is not a good thing at all.

89
bioware: lxdvgn
characters: As all know I have several but only two have had anything to do with plot related activities.
Vin Onyxshade: level 20
Sago Spellfinder: level 14

Unfortunately I could not get Vin to this quest with my family obligations, go kick some evil ***!

90
General Discussion / Re: druid forum access?
« on: June 03, 2006, 12:00:14 pm »
Access granted. Though in the future it would help me and others out if you pointed to maybe your character submission or some other form of information that would let me know you are actually a druid.
All good now though. Enjoy your reading.

91
General Discussion / RE: NWN Nethack?
« on: May 25, 2006, 07:24:44 pm »
Ok so I picked this up cause I had to check it out.
It's pretty slick. The maps are randomly created and there are shops, henchmen, quests, etc.
It's a bit loot heavy. They could probably halve or quarter it and it would still be fun.
One of the best bits?
I started in a warehouse and there was a  black cat. I talked to it and it said "meow" and joined me!
Everything is randomly created, loot, monsters, inventories, etc.
Of course sometimes it is a bit toooo random. I found a handaxe +1 that had a bonus feat on it of "improved criticals (unarmed)"
It can be customized by your class type or completely random.
It's worth 8 bucks I'd say.

92
General Discussion / Re: Some thoughts
« on: May 12, 2006, 02:22:25 pm »
Quote
ozziewolf - 5/12/2006  10:34 AM

I normally play during eastern prime time but only about once a week or so for now until after I get married in July. (Well I hope things will slow down then.)


Hehe, poor guy thinks he'll actually have MORE time to play after getting married....

93
General Discussion / RE: Some thoughts
« on: May 12, 2006, 09:34:56 am »
Just a few random thoughts and ramblings.

1. Although it can be annoying at times I would wager 90%+ of the server population (especially those here before the current system) would take the current penalties over xp loss any day.

2. I understand you are saying if everyone in your group dies they tend to log off and/or not want to go for the graves. I guess here I have to ask, really, how often does this happen? I mean if you are routinely getting into situations where your entire group is dying then maybe you are attempting things you aren't really ready for.

3. Even if you did find yourself alone and under death effects in Hlint after your whole group logged off, I don't see any reason why you can't find another group of people to help you. And if losing the strength is stopping you from getting to other places, then I'd suggest purchasing some strength potions or convincing a friendly caster who may not want to go out with you to at least cast a spell.


94
NWN Ideas, Suggestions, Requests / Re: Gold as well as EXP
« on: April 20, 2006, 08:37:50 am »
Ok, so the problem I hear from you is:
1. You don't play often or long.
2. When you do play you try to get on quests because that's where the xp is at so you can advance.
3. You think you should get gold too because your style of play doesn't lend itself to easy riches.

To tackle these:
1. Unfortunately some people play a lot and some people can only play some. We try to build the world so it is comfortable for an average level. If you are below average in your play time though you have to accept that level advancement as well as wealth generation is just going to be lower and depending on your play time it might be quite a bit lower. It's a trade off and you can't have everything.

2. You are definitely using your play time wisely with this approach if advancement is what you are aiming for. This isn't necessarily the best way to build wealth though so since your time is limited you'll probably have to choose whether you want more xp (levels) or more gold. Those with more time have the luxury of obtaining both.

3. I think there is a flaw in this argument as you likely just need to be more creative. If gold, or more likely the things you can buy with gold, are your desire, even if you don't bash things there are ways to aquire gold. Some of these are based purely on RP. I'll toss out some examples based on my own characters and perhaps one or two other well known folks:
A. Amra Tanvia (Brownie Monk) - Amra doesn't want for much. She is not rich, but she has most items people of her level could want. She doesn't run out and hunt and grind through monsters. She mostly just hangs around towns offering to help people. Sometimes helping earns her a share of gold if it involves an adventure. Sometimes helping solidifies a friendship or earns a gift. She has been given gold and items for all of the help she offers.
B. Amelia Sunray (Human Cleric) - Amelia is an NPC now, but while she was played she rarely wanted for anything but also was not rich. Amelia managed to find a boyfriend who treated her well. He was not rich either, but he did have means, power, and connections and there were always boat tickets available to her, meals to be shared, and gifts were exchanged at times.
C. Some of my other characters did earn there gold/items through more conventional means. Either creatures or crafting. It all depends on the character's personality and abilities.
D. Rhizome (Elf Druid) - Rhizome is an epic character who is not rich by gold standards although he has collected some nice things in his travels. He gained what gold and items he needed over a long RL time and through PC interaction in game making friends and trading goods and services.
E. Acacea (Halfling Rogue/Bard) - Acacea has already chimed in and I think either she wasn't clear in what she was saying (I don't personally think so) or you were not understanding her point. She doesn't have a lot of gold and she doesn't run around bashing things for the most part. Yet she has no trouble getting gold or items. Why is this? It's because as she stated she spends a vast majority of her time RP'ing, making friends, etc. There are few on the server who wouldn't give Acacea a slice of pie or a boat ticket if she was in need. I'm sure she has earned larger gifts or what have you by either providing entertainment or earning solid friendship.

Now, everything I have just said could be considered muling by some so I wanted to take a moment and point out the clear difference. Muling is against the rules on this server but muling is the act of getting something for nothing from a more wealthy/powerful character. In the cases above something has been exchanged. Whether it be long sessions of RP based friendship, entertainment provided, or services traded. What is not acceptable by any means is logging on with a relatively new character and then in a very OOC fasion "meeting" a character run by a RL friend and then becoming instant friends and loaded up with gold, items, and several xp runs.

There are many ways to earn items and gold through pure RP or mostly RP based settings. You just need to fit your character and be creative.

95
NWN Ideas, Suggestions, Requests / RE: Gold as well as EXP
« on: April 18, 2006, 07:35:54 pm »
There have been some good points here and I doubt I'm adding much, but just a few straight to the point.

1. On PnP loot at the end of quests vs. NWN/Layo. I believe what you are speaking of is the common practice any many PnP gaming groups to have the GM just keep track of the "loot" found during a quest/session and at the end of the session when handing out xp the loot is also handed out and devided. This does not happen in NWN/Layo because the intrinsic way the gaming engine works is loot, both gold and items, are dropped on what you kill and can be picked up.

2. On looting during quests. I see no reason not to loot on quests, especially if that is something your character is concerned with. Now you have to be prepared though that if you are looting or looting excessively and in a blatant manner some people may chastise you, especially if it's getting in the way or during an intense moment. If you are running around during a battle and doing nothing to help fight and instead grabbing as much stuff as you can while others fight, it's going to make people mad. If you just finish a fight and it ends because the important NPC (good or bad) is there and talking with the group, it's probably not a great idea to be running around grabbing stuff when people are trying to interact. Other than that though, then go ahead and grab some if you want. Now what you may be thinking of is often at the beginning of a quest I'll hear people talking about who will loot on the quest. Here is where in my opinion things are different on a quest. When you are in a group with some folks you often get a looter who will split later. On a quest though, it's usually more catch as catch can. Those that want loot will take some, those that don't won't. If you are greedy then you'll likely be called on it, but then again that may not matter or may lead to some RP.

3. On gold amounts. As someone with characters ranging all over the map as far as levels. None of my characters are rich, but none of them have any trouble getting the gold they need to buy things they want. It's insane for anyone to say it's hard to get gold on this server. In Hlint alone you have the crypts. Granted it's boring, but even a low level can run through the crypts and clean them out. You can get around 1000+ gold in one trip. If that's just the low level area in Hlint, you can get even more elsewhere with little to no effort. If you don't have gold or can't get the gold you need then you are just not trying.

96
Trade and Market Hall / RE: Vin's Chest at the Arms
« on: April 14, 2006, 03:31:53 pm »
* The poster is moved to the top of the post board with an added note:*
Vin will be at the arms tonight and this next opening of the Arms Vin will attend.

97
General Discussion / RE: My first battle on Layonara
« on: April 09, 2006, 05:05:07 pm »
I appreciate your input, and while I am a member of the GM team, please do not feel I speak for the entire team with this response.

First, I do appreciate that you and many others are anxious to get into the game as soon as possible and that everything you see here can be overwhelming.

Some of your issues sound like they come more from the fact you hadn't played any other PW world before and are not just layonara issues. Again, I can understand this can be frustrating but if you are coming from that far behind the curve, we definitely welcome you but you might want to slow down even more to learn about NWN PW in general. While we can point you at some resources, this is a rich and emersive world in it's own right and isn't really about explaining how PW playing works.

I can tell you that while I've been here for around a year and a half now, I still remember when I first joined Layonara. Like you this was the first PW I had ever played. I had played the SP game, but had never played a PW and actually had never played an online RPG at all. Once I found Layonara it looked like a place I could enjoy and the first thing I did was spend at least a week, I think it was more like two, reading everything on the forums. Granted it has grown since then, and now we have LORE with even more to take in, but it is still a good idea to take some time and learn what is going on. I know like many others you are anxious to play but Layonara is a rich world and part of what makes it rich is how much detail there is and how much there is to learn as a player.

Now to comment on a few of your actual points:
1. A personal user/name password for the forums and a public password for the game world. This is just part of how NWN does persistant worlds. Every player does not have their own personal password for the world. It is one global password. That being the case we also want you to be able to have your own private messages and identity on the forums so there you have a username/password. We have a policy to tell you the server name and password when you are approved. Sometimes it gets overlooked and we appologize for that, but you should get a message  with that information when your character is approved.

2. I'm not sure why you couldn't find the information on creating a character. The character submission forum has numerous stickied posts with all the information you need. Again it goes to my above point that you need to read and learn to get the most from the experience. If you had read all the stickied posts in the submission forum you would have known the format to use as well as the restrictions for holy classes such as clerics and paladins.

3. I'm sorry you lost your thread temporarily but again, one of the posts tells you that the process involved in approval ends with your thread being moved to the recent approvals forum.

4. I'm sorry you found a link to an old download page. Can you tell us where you found that link? The current link at the top of the forum pages takes you to a page with all the latest files. We'll work on removing that old page. Again though it would help if you could tell us where you found that link.

5. The post approval confusion again sounds like it stems from your lack of experience in NWN PWs. I'm sorry that it isn't entirely clear, but logging on and creating your character is a standard practice. And your use of the DM client, while unfortunate really can't be helped as again it comes to you reading your NWN manual and knowing how playing in an online environment works.

Finally, I suggest you read some more of the forums and that you take some time in game and do as you mentioned, exploring the controls and talking with people in town. This is a very in depth RP based world, so don't feel you have to run out and be adventuring the moment you step onto the server. I know several characters that didn't even leave the starting town of Hlint for several days as they were too busy talking with people and exploring the town itself.

98
I believe one of the best series for her to read would be the "Guardians of the Flame" series by Joel Rosenberg. Start at the beginning of course with:
The Sleeping Dragon
The Sword and the Chain
The Silver Crown

The series goes on from there, but that is a good place to start and she can continue if she enjoys them. They contain fantasy but also bridge to our world. There is romance as well as adventure.

If she likes those and Joel Rosenberg's style, I recommend another series he wrote called "Keepers of the Hidden Ways" and is comprised of:
"The Fire Duke"
"The Silver Stone"
"The Crimson Sky"

I do recommend the Guardians of the Flame first though and if she likes it then move on to more in that series and/or the Keepers of the Hidden Ways series.

I think these are lighter, while still being serious as opposed to comic fantasy. I personally think that while series like the LotR are good, they are heavy fantasy and likely too much for someone being introduced to fantasy.

I also second L's recommendation of the Dragon Lance books, specifically the first trilogy.

Also I recommend Terry Brooks for his strong mass appeal. His Shannara books are quite good, though they tend towards heavier fantasy, though not as heavy as LotR. On the other hand he has two other series that I think would make good starters for your wife. The Magic Kingdom of Landover and the rest of that series are great for a first time fantasy read. They are on the lighter side, but not horribly so. Also his Word and the Void series which starts with Running With the Demon is a great read. One thing about both of these series is like the Rosenberg recommendations above, they bridge our world with fantasy worlds. In my experience having a concrete base of "reality" helps in the introduction to fantasy.

99
Trade and Market Hall / RE: Vin's Chest at the Arms
« on: March 17, 2006, 09:21:26 am »
* The poster is moved to the top of the post board with an added note:*
Vin will be at the arms tonight and this next opening of the Arms Vin will attend.

100
Layonara Server / RE: Plot quest for this weekend - Rescheduled
« on: February 24, 2006, 08:46:15 am »
Take it easy, we need you in top health.

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