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Messages - Teo

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1
Development Journals and Discussion / The Road to Katherian - by 'Red'
« on: August 08, 2016, 11:27:10 am »
 Chapter 1 - A Gathering in Center -

I had been in Center but a few days and was still as they say, getting the lay of the land.

After a bit of respite in the local watering hole I headed over to the fire pit near the edge of the wood. The pit seemed a kind of natural meeting place, perhaps imbued with some sort of magical force designed to attract colorful folk. However the magics had seemingly failed of late as I was the only one tending the fire and warming the logs . But no matter, if none showed I could serenade Ausir with song, and maybe inspire myself.

As I got closer it seems the magics had returned in full force! The gods had bestowed a bounty of varied characters such as is rarely gathered elsewhere in the realms. Despite their obvious disparate raiment and racial differences they all seemed at ease with each other.

As I got closer it was apparent they were contemplating a journey of adventure and wealth. Unfortunately that talk abruptly ceased as they turned their attentions to the stranger – myself.The woman Delia , clad in the color of the wood was quite friendly and flirtatious. To my delight, She christened me 'Red Tail' (later shortened to just 'Red' ) in honor of my, apparently not fashion forward hair style.

A metal clad elf was there as well. His name is Tharivian. He has a hearty laugh and a curious habit (which here I first observed here) of apparently drinking through a reed so as to not remove his helm.

Near the edge of the group, a greataxe resting easilyon his shoulder, was a hearty dwarven warrior clad in the traditional colors of his god Vorax. He was introduced as to me as Borbre Barradok. For the rest of this tale he shall be known as Sir Borbre,

A gnome priestess of Katia, named Fern also honored us with her presence and blessings. She seemed the most 'grown up' of this motley crew despite her short physical stature.

After much bantering and surprisingly little (to me) preparation the group decided to set out to test their mettle against trolls and other denizens of swamps to the south. There was a hope that precious gems, ore and other wealth in huge quantities to be had if a certain cavern could be found and successfully breached.

And so I, Red, set off with these new found companions. I tried not to let on that despite all their experience and preparations I could not have been less prepared (or experienced). For my pack was nearly empty. No bandages, no healing potions, but a loaf of cornbread , a few bottles ale. I was armed with  a skinning knife, a woodcutters axe and a borrowed shortbow. I had, in my zeal to be off, forgotten that a bow w works much better if one has arrows! 

But I did have the most important of tools:  parchment, ink, and a quill that I might make notes and bear witness to all the great deeds that destiny was sure to bestow upon us.

So, with songs  to lighten our steps,  we set off for glory.

To be continued...

 

 

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2
Development Journals and Discussion / A Stuttered Silence
« on: July 13, 2016, 11:34:52 am »
Months had passed since she left the temple of the Aeridinites in North Point.  Since then she had traveled across an ocean, traveled across continents, traveled through portals.  She had gone from a world of healing to a world of death.  The monsters, while different, had come alive from her nightmares and back into her reality.  Though she'd clung to the only weapon she really knew, the staff so often used by the Aeridinites because of its multiple uses, several people had started to tell her that if she was going to be an adventurer like so many in her bloodline before her, she should choose an instrument of a more deadly quality.She'd wrestled with the idea.  It went against what she was taught.  Life was to be protected, not destroyed.  All life was sacred, but so was the cycle of life.  Death was to be honored as life returned to its origin and fed the living.  The Aeridinites could honor the natural cycle of life and death, but they were healers, not killers.But she had left the sanctuary of the Aeridinites and she had answered the call of the bindstone like so many of her relatives.  And with that, she had stepped outside of the natural order of life and death.  She'd found horrors, but she'd also found family; some family, anyway.  Her father had been startled, and worried, but in the end seemingly pleased to see her.  He started to try to teach her that being an adventurer is not easy.  There is responsibility.  The masked elf, Tharivian, had become her frequent companion, though she had never seen his face.  She trusted him.  She couldn't pronounce his name without an embarrassing amount of difficulty with a stutter that she still could not seem to overcome.  She called him simply, Elf.  It was a name that she could pronounce nearly every time without incident.There were others she'd met, too.  Some of them had decided to help as she ventured with the only lead she had to find the mother that she hadn't seen in many many years.  No one had seen her.  In fact, no one had even heard of Bella Poetr.  But her father had given her a secret that she would not reveal.  So, she, and her new acquaintances, ventured to Leringard to find the one known as Mister Steel.  Mister Steel, however, was not what she expected.  The blue-skinned, horned monster with red eyes towered over her small frame that stood barely an inch over 5 feet tall.  He'd been an image that had haunted her dreams and nightmares along with the other monsters that had plagued her since childhood.  His red eyes had watched her out of the corners of her eyes as long as she could remember, and then suddenly he was real, not imagined.  He terrified her.  He explained that Rebecca's mother was an incarnation of death itself:  A Dread Blade.  He said that he would offer to train her as he had trained her mother except for the great lengths that her mother had gone to protect her from the life that she lived.   She struggled through her explanation that she had left the Aeridinites because she was a Poetr, and the call of the bindstone was stronger than the call of the temple.  The blue demon suggested that, perhaps, while Rebecca's mother a sword, a death dealer, a killer, that Rebecca herself would be a shield, a protector.  Rebecca's thoughts swirled beyond the capability that she had with speech at the thought of people being divided so neatly between two different analogies.  Her father did protect people, but she'd also seen him kill in order to do so.  She'd seen Aeridinites protect and heal and not kill.  Perhaps they were the shields that the demon meant?  Perhaps her father was right, and that sometimes, in order to protect, one must learn to defend.  And sometimes, in order to defend, one must kill.  And in order to do that, Rebecca knew that she would have to learn to fight. As much as the thought still didn't sit will with all that she had learned for so many years, she knew that it had to be true.  She'd seen too much since she'd left the sanctuary, and even before, to deny it.She stayed the night in the room that the blue demon had said belonged to her mother.  Walking through the door brought on memories of childhood long forgotten when things seemed much larger to her than they were now.  Of sitting on the bed facing a woman who looked like a reflection of herself as she stood now, but with so much more age in her eyes.  Her eyes that betrayed more emotion than the rest of her face ever did.  That woman's voice echoed through her memories as she had tried to get her to communicate through the dark shadowed hallway of her hiding place where she had retreated for so many years.Rebecca curled up on the bed that had not changed much at all since those memories.  The room looked far too soft for a woman who was known to be an incarnation of Death.  It was a room for a woman.  None of the trinkets around the room seemed to be personal to her at all.  They were decorative, but never seemed to be touched.  The only item in the room at all looked to be personally related to her mother was a small, battered, worn, wooden chest that was locked.Sleep didn't take long to claim her, though at one point in the night she wasn't sure if when her eyes fluttered open and she saw the small frame of a woman standing in the doorway, it was a dream or reality.And when she woke up the next day, there was no sign that it was ever anything but a figment of her imagination.
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3
Rumour Has It / Swampy Rumors and Ill situations...
« on: July 13, 2016, 12:06:34 am »
An opened letter is brought to the Regent of Hurm and delivered with trembling fingers. The Regent’s aging features twist in annoyance at the interruption. He snatches the letter off of the tray and glares at the servant then turns to read the note. His eyes trace over the words, then reads over a second time as his face turns red. He crumbles the note in his hand and throws it at the servant.

“GET ME MY GENERAL!” He rages at the servant, who only too happily flees the room.
----------------------------The Council in Leringard is brought to into regular session at their “secret” location. Business is conducted as usual, though they address a recent letter. C1: “Well I for one don’t believe it. Surely it’s a joke...”C2: “I do not believe we can take such warnings as a joke, Sir.”C1: “*Laughs* But it is a joke, is it not?”C3: “I concur, I can’t believe anyone could be serious about such a warning. The Black Plague indeed.”C4: “Gentlemen, I believe that we should give an ear to such a warning. No action is necessary until proof is given, but what harm is a little preparedness?”C1: “Is that your mystical wisdom, witch?” C2: “Now that’s uncalled for. Besides, her words are wise, regardless of your opinion of her Goddess.”C1: “*snorts lightly*”C3: “Perhaps we shall adjourn and take this information under advisement.”

-------------------------------------
Reus is brought a stack of letters and reports and goes through them one at a time. At one he pauses and sighs heavily. He goes over the wording a few times and then sets the letter down. “Wonderful,” he mutters to himself, “As if this city isn’t blighted enough.”
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4
Hail and well ta ye all. I have returnned after 10 or more years, and it seems that people re even more friendly than i remember. Durok is here ta hep ye. So remember if you see him say hail have a dwarven ale, relax then let's go killin. I love this game more than i remember. I surely and for true have missed it in my heart of hearts. Durok is still growing but he can and is ready to fight, and he is fearless which could be bad mmmk? But let's have fun life is only 1 time around am I right? Thank you to Everyone that helped me get on Rowana a special thank you to you, without you i would not be playing right now. And I thank you all in the game Durok has fought with and RP'd with you have helped Durok grow and become a better character. And to you all who were so generous to Durok he and I will NEVER forget it! Thank you....Now let's get in there and kick some Gobby booty!
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5
General Discussion / Playtime
« on: June 21, 2016, 03:55:57 pm »
I'll probably be online tonight around 8:30pm if anyone feels like doing anything.  If anyone has something specific in mind, let me know so I can adjust my character, but I'm thinking I'll be on with Kala ("Caltana") and see what trouble I can get into.  
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6
Introduce Yourself / New to these parts
« on: March 11, 2016, 07:50:56 pm »
Hey there,

I am The Amazing Varnigan! *alias Wihlym cough* 
*ahem*
I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and get to know everyone a little bit. 
I alos wanted to ask if anyone had any information about The Hilm Protectorate and the cities/towns near there. I plan on basing many of my upcominng characters out of that region.
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7
General Discussion / Announcing New GM
« on: February 29, 2016, 11:05:35 am »
Hello everyone!We wanted to make this overdue announcement to welcome Teo to the GM Team. He's been working pretty diligently over the last month to learn the tools and processes. We know some of you have gotten the chance to experience and/or train him as a GM. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the process.Anyway, please everyone greet the latest addition to the GM team and start getting ready for the ensuing trauma!Thanks for stepping up to help the community out Teo!~row (on behalf of the GM team)
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8
Just for Fun / Why do rogues wear leather armor?
« on: February 18, 2016, 05:20:41 pm »
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9
General Discussion / Master resigning as GM
« on: December 17, 2015, 12:49:01 pm »
I have taken a long look at this and have tried getting back into being a GM again but it is not in me any more. I have great respect for what everyone is doing here. I know me leaving is not going to be much of a streain on the team as I have not done much in over a year. The team knows the details about what has been going on with me but suffice to say I have had quite a few personal and work related issues that has kept me away.The biggest reason I threw myself into this game was because my son played. My son has not played here for years but I continued  because I needed to work on writting my thoughts down and I loved the people who played here. I do not need to work on my writting any more and prefer vocal interaction verses a text based game. I still love the team, the people who play here and the concept of  the Layo universe. It just does not meet my current needs in a game and will not for a while. When you find it a chore just to log on to play it is time to find another game. Even after a year of not playing I find it a chore to log on and play.If you want ot get ahold of me send me a PM as it is linked to my e-mail account and I will get a notification of the PM. I usually reply with in 24 hours of getting the PM.MJ
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10
Layonara Server / Holiday Notice
« on: December 09, 2015, 08:56:44 pm »
Greetings fellow Layonarans!The holiday season is upon us once again. As a result, time is usually a precious commodity for everyone, including our GM Team. As such, the lack of quest events will likely persist until the last part of the month at least. Please bear with us during this busy time.For those who have characters corrupted by the recent server problems, we'll be getting with you on the matter of restoration.  For those of you wanting a restoration of your items, it would be helpful to us if you were to prepare a list of your equipment to the best of your memory. We're prepared to consider all good-faith requests in this situation.On the flip side of things, we are intending to to hold another bonus event starting December 26th and likely continuing throughout the month of January.Enjoy! 
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11
Layonara Server / System Failure, Character Corruption
« on: December 06, 2015, 12:34:37 pm »
Hello all,I wish I was posting better news but there has been an issue as you know recently with the system acting quirky and some characters going missing and I've finally figured out why and the consequences.The servers file system was filling up dramatically with some rogue logs that would get exponentially bigger and then it would get filled to capacity. This caused the server to not save characters properly as there was no more room on the drive. I've corrected this issue but the issue is going to be a headache for some.The following characters are corrupted and there are no reasonable backups for them, the backup system overwrote both their daily backup and weekly backups with the corrupt file and I have no other known backups. It's a shame the weekly backup ran just a few hours before I realized there was a serious filesystem problem.
  • Charm2009/Raven
  • Anthony Moore/Sam Night
  • xsweetpeax/Esme Minniwyn
  • Lord Cove/Maran
  • Lord Cove/Kagen
  • MateoEll/Garadel Kamek (weekly backup never even got this one)
The following characters are corrupted but I do have a weekly backup:
  • Charm2009/Kenzie
  • Marlon55/Leon
We have been discussing the best way to restore the characters, we know how much XP they last had due to the db. We know some of the partial equipment by being able to somewhat disassemble the corrupted files but we have been trying to figure out the simplest means to restore your character exactly to how they have been. I have also been trying to find another backup from a month ago on my personal computer but it looks like I deleted it.Some of the options we're considering is:a) Just restore the character exactly to how they were by giving you the XP and the items and working on the honour system for items/gold on person.b) Give you the opportunity to create a new character (must be approved) with same XP as lost character but no equipment.c) Restore your character with the proper XP but give no equipment but a certain number of Fortune for you to decide whether to try to buy new stuff or use it for XP at your own discretion as you see fit.We are open to any suggestions you wish to make. We feel extremely bad about this and want you to have faith in the systems and we'll be happy to correct them as soon as we can. We will probably handle each of these on a case by case basis, but please feel free to discuss any other ideas you may have.The two characters whom I have weekly backups will be a lot easier to restore, especially if they haven't done a whole lot since last weekend.-orthP.S. All other things like housing/bank/storage/fortune are still on the DB and have not been lost in any capacity. It's just the physical bic file that's gone all messy. 
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12
Rumour Has It / Hammer Bock Brewery Explodes!
« on: April 28, 2015, 08:44:02 pm »
Hammer Bock Brewery in flames!  A brewery in Kartharien exploded not long ago due to negligence of the town guard.  It seems the idiot had been smoking near a batch of volatile spirits.  I guess it's true what the Aeridenties say, smoking kills if the bottle don't get you first!
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13
Introduce Yourself / New User
« on: April 12, 2015, 05:47:10 pm »
Hi,I'm fairly new to this online roleplaying.Definitely up for this! I look forward to bumping into you during my adventures.  
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14
Layonara Server / Coming Soon! Enhanced Mapping
« on: April 05, 2015, 09:23:35 pm »
Another fun feature coming to the next update includes some nice enhancements to the minimap system. 

Map Pins

Let's start off first with the map pins. All map pins will now be persistent, they will save over server resets and be there for you forever. Included with the map pins update is the ability to set, list, delete and rename the map pins via commands. This can save you some time if you want to custom macro a command like =c map set Path to Fort Miritix for example and then use that key many times as you travel. The commands associated with map pins are:
  • =c map set Pin Name - This will set a map pin at your current location with the name you designate.
  • =c map list - This will show a numerical list of map pins for the current area.
  • =c map delete # - This will delete the map pin with the number you define (as revealed in the =c map list)
  • =c map rename # Pin Name - This will rename the map pin for the numbered pin for that area (as revealed in =c map list)
  • =c map save - Saves all of your map pins.
Note: You will not see map pin updates until you re-enter the area when using the commands as opposed to using the regular NWN map pinning UI. A bit more on this later.The system automatically saves your map pins when you log out but if you wish to be entirely sure you can use the =c map save command as well.

Area Mapping

The second feature is an ability to map out an area which exposes the entire black area for good. To perform this, you purchase a Magical Map Book from the Magical Vendors. Proceed to use it, then travel around in the area and you'll be notified about your mapping progress. The length of time it takes to map the area takes many things into account such as your Intelligence, your Wisdom, your Lore, your Gather Information, your Ranger levels, the size of the area, the time of day, whether it's above ground and whether it's an interior area. The minimum time it will take is 3 minutes and the maximum is 10 minutes.Just because you may be able to run around the area quickly and expose all the "black" on the minimap won't expedite the procedure. Mapping progress pauses when you rest, engage in combat or if you remain in the same general vicinity. Mapping progress is cancelled if you die or change areas.Once you complete your mapping the entire map will be exposed. After a server reset if you wish for the areas you have mapped to automatically be revealed to you then use =c toggle automap and then when you enter an area you have had mapped the minimap will be exposed.If you prefer to not automatically have the maps revealed to you but would rather expose them on an area by area basis then use =c map reveal in an area where you wish the map to be revealed.

Map Sharing

Once you have an area mapped out you can share your information about the area with other players using =c map share Plen (use their dynamic name) for example. Map sharing reveals the entire area to the other player as well as copying your map pins over to the map for the person you are sharing with. The player must re-enter the area to see the updated map pins.Note: To facilitate some of the commands that I've been introducing that require you to re-enter an area I've created a command that will portal you to a very small area then back to the location you were standing. Use =c  refresharea if you wish to use this instead of manually leaving the area and coming back.This update should be out some time this week.-orth
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15
Layonara Server / The NWN server is going to be moved again
« on: February 26, 2015, 09:12:38 am »
Hello all,As you know we've been running our server for the past 2 months on a new host and while for the most part it has been acceptable there have been issues with random "blue screen of deaths" killing the entire server as well as intermittent lag spikes. While trying to debug these I started considering another server where I could get an equally good deal and came across one that was Linux though. I wondered to myself how difficult and how capable our current world would be to run on Linux especially with our NWNX plugins. So I tested it locally and fixed a few bugs here and there and things seemed okay. At that point I wondered if there were any new NWNX plugins for Linux that I could tap into to help the world. This is when I really got excited and started greatly considering we'd move from Windows to Linux. There are  many plugins that are now available that can enhance our world.This is how and why I was able to introduce the Dynamic Names system.  Some of the other plugins give us functionality for many other ideas we've always been limited by the capabilities of what Bioware gave us. Not only that, there are performance improvements that these plugins provide to help the world run smoother and faster with less lag.I hope you understand that this move shouldn't be much of a blip on the radar and should hopefully lead to a smoother world with some exciting new features coming as well.Here's a taste of some of these new features:
  • GMs can now create transitions wherever they want. Whether its a "hole" showing up in the middle of Center or a doorway that leads to a Quest Area, they can plop them down on the fly.
  • Players can set their character's description any time they want. Title any parchment "My Description" then write on it and use =c setmydesc and your player's description will change to what's on the parchment.
  • The login process is faster. Some of the checks have been moved to not even allow players in the world instead of booting them after the login. Other processes that only need to be done once a reset are now doing so.
  • Dynamic never ending NPC quests.  If a pawn broker over hears you talking about something, you might want to listen to what he has to say. "Speaking of trading, Firg Knucklebar in Fort Llast was looking for some help with making a run to Dregar." (More on this to come!)
  • You can now ox unidentified items.
  • GMs can rename areas.
  • Increasing fortune for diversifying your exploration with groups, the more the merrier.  The more unique areas you visit the higher the rewards become! (more on that soon too)
  • Improved performance on NPC creature spawn/loot
  • Complete restructure of a lot of the database, much cleaner and faster
I was originally planning to get this entire move and update done this weekend but it may be delayed a few days as I want to get some thorough testing in plus (!!) the missus has been extremely patient with me this past fortnight as I've coded away so I'd like to reward her tomorrow. Some of these features may not make the first update after the move but the framework is laid out and the coding is started.I'll keep you all posted as things progress.All the best,orth
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16
Layonara Server / Coming Soon! Dynamic Names
« on: February 08, 2015, 05:57:10 pm »
I wanted to give the community a heads up on the new system that will hopefully be arriving in the next update. We are going to be introducing dynamic names to the world. What are dynamic names? Well now whenever you don't know a character all you will see above them or when they talk and other events is "Someone". It will be up the characters to introduce themselves to others or for your character to dub that character with a name.Associated commands will be:
  • =c intro
  • =c introparty
  • =c introarea
  • =c dub
To introduce yourself to an individual you use =c intro Plen for example. This will find the closest PC to your PC and introduce yourselves as that name to them. This will then change it so the other character sees Plen instead of Someone. =c introparty The Bird Lord for example would do the same thing but for all characters in your party. The same for =c introarea Feathers for example but it will work on any players in the immediate vicinity. If you would prefer to see someone's name as something else, you can forego their introduction and use =c dub instead. This works on the closest PC to your PC. For example, Connor could be near Plenarius and do =c dub Werechicken. If you have someone dubbed, from that point onward any time the player introduces themselves, it will ignore the introduction and use what you have dubbed them as.This will be a bit confusing at first when everyone is "Someone" but it should gradually get all worked out. You don't have to RP the introduction or dubbing of a PC who your PC knows well enough, just run the command(s). (Though feel free to RP it if you want!)Certain parts of the game world will still use your real name. For example the looter notification shows a Floating Message above the player to anyone that's nearby and can't be personalized on a per player basis. Storage logs on crates will still use the original name. There will be other cases we discover too, some will be fixed, some may not be able to be fixed.We hope this will help encourage the RP aspect of ones true name being held secret if they wish it that way. Also characters can use aliases to some if they so desire. Sometimes we're even confused/forgetful if one of our characters has met another yet, so this should help too. GMs always see your real name of course, but they too can dub you something else if they prefer.  (i.e. =c dub Victim #5) *gm grin*If you have any further ideas or just questions or comments, fire away. This isn't a set in stone update if players aren't thrilled about the idea but we think it will be a really fun addition.-orth
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17
Introduce Yourself / Hi all
« on: January 31, 2015, 09:10:56 pm »
I play Callaman a level 6 Fighter. Been playing mostly with Delia doing jobs around Layonara and exploring. I love NWN and the server (I played here years back but did'nt get far). Just saying hi and looking forward to meeting some players. (Especially low levellers for groups).
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18
Layonara Server / Version 3.40 is online!
« on: December 26, 2014, 01:20:17 pm »

Version 3.40 is online!

This isn't a very significant update in terms of fixes or additions for players but those will be coming. The biggest change is merging Central and West together and cleaning up the haks. We hope this will make joining up and playing together easier plus it alleviates issues with the cross server portals, horses and other inconsistencies across the servers. It also makes deployment, administration and coding a bit simpler. Should the need arrive to separate them due to performance or other issues then we'll go back to that way but all the other updates mentioned in this post will still exist.

If you haven't downloaded any haks I mentioned earlier you can get them from here in one large rar (the Downloads section will be updated shortly to get each individual hak should that be easier for you):

http://e5bf79fd7133583b11df-dabb80c66fac67c5c4cbee545d8dd728.r44.cf1.rackcdn.com/haks/layonara_haks.rar (914MB)

If you have recently downloaded the big hak I mentioned in the other thread to get a jump on things, you will now only need to get the two below:

http://e5bf79fd7133583b11df-dabb80c66fac67c5c4cbee545d8dd728.r44.cf1.rackcdn.com/haks/layo_ctrlv3r18.rar (346KB)

http://e5bf79fd7133583b11df-dabb80c66fac67c5c4cbee545d8dd728.r44.cf1.rackcdn.com/haks/layo_resr1.rar (6.83MB)

Fixes:

  • Fix vine mine hampering to work properly, also fixed bug where movement speed didn't return to normal on exit

  • Fix some areas in The Deep not being set to Night only

  • Fix River of Darkness vampire spawns

  • Fix Imbue III bug with lighting being 1d8 instead of 2d6

  • Fix Divine Might and Divine Shield to be personal instead of medium range

  • Fix minimaps not being displayed properly in many areas

  • Remove debug messages from grave robber script

  • Fix many tileset quirks/bugs and reasons for crashing

Additions:

    [li]

    Added recipe cards for all devices to crafting merchants[/li][li]

    Added a roulette table to Scamps Mug Inn[/li][li]

    Updated icons for spell immunities to show which immunities instead of a generic icon[/li][/list]

    Other updates:

    • Tweak AI on many creatures to be a bit smarter. This started with some of the creatures (Shadows in Storan's Crypt and Vampire Weavemistresses) not doing anything and became a larger effort. Be warned that creatures might not act the same as you're used to. 

    • Server will now preload all houses which have furniture in them owned by players who have played within the last two weeks. This will curtail lag spikes during play and instead puts a bit of delay on server start up instead

    • Developed logic to exceed palette size without crashing DM client by removing non used items from the DM Creator palette only (but not from the module). DMs can no longer use the creator for Creature Items (Skins, Slams, Claws etc), Deeds and Demon Cards. You can still create these by command but I don't see why you'd need to. In the case of refunding Deeds for example, just buy them from a merchant as a DM.

    • Moved all dynamic resources into the module or haks

    • Merge both modules into one

    • Reorganize haks to get rid of duplicates and make resource usage more efficient

    Merry Christmas!

    -orth

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19
Rumour Has It / Want to be a Stormcrest Guide?
« on: December 15, 2014, 04:00:32 pm »
Someone's come back to the Shack, and found it awfully dusty! She's been too long wandering Elsewhere to know what's what in the world, and who is there to be guiding her? And if she's being perfectly honest, she was never a very good guide, just the guide we got... That's not even mentioning the time she fed everyone the wrong berries and left everyone too faint from the squats to carry on to the destination!!

Can you tell north from west?* You can be a better guide than Acacea!
Do you remember where you left the horses? You, too! Can be a better guide than Acacea!
Can you make basic campfire food without feeding everyone coals?  Again! You have the advantage!
Can you...
    remember local dangers and prepare your group against them?
    remember enough about a place to pass a little knowledge on as you pass by?
    Be Prepared For Things?
    Know Stuff About Places?


No paperwork! No entry fees! No commitments! Just looking for people who know enough to value the journey as much or more than the destination! Remember, nobody's looking for someone who knows everything - just enough people that know something to give an assortment to choose from! Leave a note or find Acacea at the Shack if you're interested...

~Chimes
* Ability to actually tell north from west not required! See Acacea and Katrien for proof


((Membership in guilds is not relevant, as the guides aren't a guild. PM Me :
    - How long you've played on Layonara
    - Character name, level, and alignment
    - How long the character has been active

- If you've read the server rules and LORE, and regularly active on the forums
- If you have any questions in general))

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20
General Discussion / tl;dr Worldbuilders for Heifer - Donate, Win Stuff
« on: December 14, 2014, 02:17:35 pm »

YAILWAP

Hey people, thought I would toss a thread here in case any books and game lovers want to throw some change into the hat. Tomorrow is the last day of the Worldbuilders fundraiser for Heifer International, and while every year has gotten more attention and numbers, there's still a lot of people who haven't even heard of it, who are exactly the kinds of people who'd be interested in it. I'll treat this like a standard confidence game* and appeal to generosity, first.

Pat Rothfuss, the author of the as-yet-unfinished Kingkiller Chronicles, started Worldbuilders several years back because he had all this new income and influence and thought he could do something. Why he picked Heifer International as the charity of choice, among other things, is covered in the How We Got Started.

Or you could skip the FAQs and check out a video of Pat getting all broken up at his kid beating him to the punch when he tries to be all parently . Should also be mentioned that while the usual face of donations is buying cows, goats, and baby chicks (hi redundancy, haven't seen you since five minutes ago!), it also goes towards things like irrigation pumps, biogas stoves, and training animal health workers, 'cause you know, vets. There's a whole lot more training than milking goats... that said, it's not a fight about which charity is best, or putting one over the other, nor an invite to a debate on the effectiveness of any particular organization (as ever feel free to PM or catch me on IRC for debate, har!)  - ultimately this is the one they picked, and you can win cool stuff ;)

So to continue on in the vein of a sales pitch, to appeal to the shiny-loving right after the save-the-world, it boils down to donating $20  gets you two chances to win in a giant lottery. $50 gets you 5. Etc. You might win a paperback from an author you never heard of, try it out, and discover someone new or find you don't care for it. You could also win, say, a copy of every book published by a particular publisher in the last year. There's pretty much a ton of geekery and swag and games thrown in, as well. The lottery library gives kind of an idea of what all has been donated by different authors, publishers, and fans, but it's kind of hard to get the picture unless you see things like videos of the staff learning to use a forklift to unload a truck full of boxes of donated games, heh. It should also be noted that you don't burn all your chances when you win. Technically if you donated $200, you could win 20 times, even if it is extremely unlikely.

If you'd like to participate but would rather a direct exchange than a lottery, The Tinker's Packs has a lot of things for sale, and all of the money goes to Worldbuilders. There are also a few auctions with time remaining on them, though a whole lot more have already gone.

If nothing else, all the donations this year have brought us things like Neil Gaiman reading Jabberwocky and Strong Bad Writes a Kids' Book as stretch goals.

The direct link for donations is here , make sure your contact information is correct so if you win something, it goes to the right place... because of the massive amounts of donators, there's no email going out to individual winners except in cases where you win something very rare or niche-specific, in which case Pat or someone from the Worldbuilders staff will contact you to be sure you want it and make sure shipping is correct, because nobody wants some one-of-two-hundred ARC signed by some famous author to sit outside in the snow while you're on vacation.

A couple things on that page that could use clarifying even if you've done it before - there are a few new options this year, because it kind of started out as mostly books and author things, and this year there are So. Many. Games. Because not everyone is into board and card games, and also because there are enough OF them to allow you to specify, you can opt to only be in the lottery for books, only for games, or be in for both.

The other question is "Do you want to be included in the drawing for the items mentioned in Patrick Rothfuss's Three Threes blog?" This is basically something that he kinda toyed with last year because the fundraising reach has grown pretty far out from his own fanbase, so things specific to his setting or ...self would not be cool to a lot of people. The things mentioned are a set of his world's currency, stealth copies of his related novella that just came out recently, and a gold favor ring, which has kinda become a tradition of sorts, I guess. The ring is the favor, for whomever physically possesses it. It has his name on it, a nod to some court customs in his setting. You can keep the ring, or you can trade it someday for a favor. Pasta. Move your couch. Put your name in one of his novels.

Now that I think of it, you should also opt-out of further communications by unchecking the opt-in check box if you do not want to be contacted by Heifer in the future. If you don't want their brochures and reminders in the mail religiously, they might as well save the paper, ha.

As a note from me, the time between the fundraiser ending and when possible packages arrive is a few months, so it's best to chalk it up to a good deed done or something and move on rather than frantically checking the mail, or something. You can watch them on facebook if you want the occasional update from staff about their gazillion packages they have to send out. I usually win something or another, but then, no one else in my family has, so... if you really need to know the odds, try checking the little widget at the top right corner of the blogs to see your chances.

If you made it this far, wow! Such dedication. So many cookies! Too bad they are only virtual.

*Psst, not really a con. Not pocketing anything and running for the hills. Just in case. Maybe next time.

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