Posts Thanked By User

1

Rumour Has It / Sinister Forest

« on: November 17, 2010, 02:30:03 am »

A long standing effort to root out vampire activity in the Sinister Forest was brought to a tooth this month when groups of slayers over a hundred in number deployed to the forest in small groups. They began a wide sweep for vampires, uncovering over a dozen nests which left the master vampire with nowhere to hide. One searching group uncovered his temporary hiding place, and without his host of protectors he proved no match for their Dwarven axes, glib Bardish tongues,goblin forked tongues and the fine point of expert sword wielders.
 
 There was concern however that necromancy had saved the creature from final demise but it is hoped there will be a relative peace and that nearby disturbances in the Al'Noth which have been dealt with by Spellswords out of Spellgard will also come to an end.
 
 Rumours from the Toranites of the return of a Demi Lich to the area were played down by officials.

2

Layonara Server / A note on future updates

« on: November 06, 2010, 12:41:47 pm »

Hello Layonara Community,

I just wanted to let you all know that I'm trying something different with the way I've done updates.  To put it briefly, I'm going to try doing smaller, more frequent updates.  Some of them may also be "stealth" updates, meaning that I may not announce them at all.  Others may be quick-fix updates, such as those I have done since 3.30 has gone online.

So what does this mean?

Well, I'm not making any guarantees, but simple changes and quick fixes will hopefully find their way into play more quickly. Also, I'm hoping to keep better pace with plot-relevant changes as well as possibly add some unexpected variability into the world. Such things may not be frequent, as it is still subject to my rather full schedule. However, this is my intent, and I wanted to let you, the community, to know what is going on, so that when you go on your "usual" and find bugbears instead of ogres, for example, you will know why.

We'll see how it goes, I guess!

3

Layonara Server / Significant update coming soon!

« on: October 17, 2010, 10:24:28 pm »

Hey all,

I'm sure you've seen by now at least one mention of me saying "in the next update" and "almost done" and the like.

Well...it's really almost here.  The last few details are being sorted out, and while I'm hesitant to give a specific day (yet), you can count on seeing it in the very near future.

[SIZE=-1]In preparation of this, you'll need to download some files:
        http://nwn.layonara.com/downloads/files/layo_resv3r1.rar (HAK)
        http://nwn.layonara.com/downloads/files/layo_ctrlv3r10.rar (HAK)
        http://nwn.layonara.com/downloads/files/layonara_v24.rar (TLK)

You can download these files now and place them in their appropriate locations.  They will not impact your ability to play before the update.

Regarding the HAKs, the first one listed, the "res" HAK, is new.  The old "control" HAK was getting kind of large, so I split off all the large graphical resources that had been stuck into the "control" HAK up to this point, so that future HAK updates in the "control" (now "ctrl") will be smaller and easier to manage on my end and yours.

That's it!  Happy downloading!
[/SIZE]

4

Layonara Server / Forums and IRC - September 24, 2010

« on: September 24, 2010, 09:29:26 am »

Dear Layonara Community,

We are aware that there continue to be issues with the forums, and efforts continue to bring them back to the proper level of functionality, including the visibility of posts made prior to last night (US/Canada time zones). It is pretty much a forum-wide problem that affects everyone equally, including those of us with higher-level access.

A side effect of the database problem affecting the forums is that the NickServ, ChanServ and aragen services on IRC are also down.

All I know about is that the forum database experienced a couple of crashes over the last couple of days, requiring a repair process.  Last night, orth indicated to me that the database in question was quite large and he did not know how long it would take to run the repair completely.

At this time, I can offer no information as to when these services will be back in full operation or whether any data has been lost and/or corrupted due to the crash.  I do not yet know the root cause of these problems either.

We are aware that this causes an inconvenience to people and a difficulty in conducting various RP and social functions for Layonara.  We're also aware that this has likely suspended things like Character Applications, as the CA team cannot access the threads to comment upon or approve them.

So please bear with us as we work to sort this out.  As more information becomes available, someone will update everyone.  Until that happens, please assume that things are not working properly and assume that we are working toward a fix.

5

General Discussion / Ideas

« on: September 01, 2010, 09:14:42 am »

Was just reading akata's post and Dorg's responses ... to be truthful, got me a little disheartened. One of Layo's longest serving players (and world leaders) obviously not happy about some things ... anyways, you can read that thread.



I really want to write a long, well-written post with lots of good ideas and an accurate, sensible summary of some of the thoughts that are in my head ... that said, I don't know where you guys get the time!



I was going to jump on tonight and had a peek at the server status .. again, only 2-3 characters on across both servers. I ended up watching TV and playing Bejewelled on Facebook. Unfortunately, that is becoming the preferred option more and more often - and it seems like not only for me?



Why?



I have my thoughts on the matter ... forgive me they aren't couched in loquacious (*nods to darkstorme*) paragraphs. Hopefully the gist is clear.



1. More scheduled quests please! I know GMs are doing it on a volunteer basis, I get it, I do. I did it for a couple of years and know sometimes you really can't be bothered or RL is busy or you'd rather jump on as a player ... but 2-3 a month is achievable, no? How can you incentivize the running of more quests for GMs? Give them XP for their chosen character for their time spent running quests? I certainly wouldn't begrudge a GM earning the same XP for one of their characters at the same rate my character does attending the quest they spend their time running. I don't know ... maybe others have got some ideas to encourage GMs to run quests?



2. Please change existing areas every now and again. Just a tweak, that's all I need. Does it take that long to shift a spawn two inches over? Add another goblin archer around the corner there, some warhounds with the hobgoblins there, a trap in the minotaur caves, a vampire in with the mummies, a treasure chest here, a carrion crawler there, whatever ... I contemplated making (another) new character the other day and had the thought if I have to run them through the same 100 areas that I have done literally hundreds of times previously with other characters I will seriously do myself in. I'd do it myself, honestly I would but ... *hugs his Mac*



3. Less rules, more fun! I have played here for over 4 years and I don't know the rules anymore. If people wanna make a goblin to join in on Lonn's gobbie night, go ahead! The will system and inter-character transfer of assets and house remodels and restricted classes and 4 CDQs to move from A to B and 2 CDQs to change from Y to Z ... I dunno, maybe it's just me but i'd rather play with 20 people, half of whom play as NG when their approved alignment is LG than play with one person who plays their alignment by the letter of the law. If someone is ridiculous with relaxed rules, kick em out ... but do the excesses and abuses of the past have to erect these impossible barriers for entry for new players?



4. More positions for characters! Ongoing responsibilities! Ability to change the world! I know this has been gone over numerous times elsewhere ... don't think there is an easy answer and I understand the lore books are to be released at some point and lore needed to be crystallized at some point and for various dramas lore has had to be re-written but it is a little demoralizing. I think Acacea has written about it elsewhere, all the challenges of the world are these new things that for whatever reason weren't a danger to everyone last week? WLDQs especially. I don't want to go into the ins and outs of all the WLDQs of the last few years but prior to Blood's fall the WLDQs run seemed to affect existing plots and people ... now it seems as if each WLDQ tackles a newly introduced foe so as to not affect existing lore? Fenrir's mithril-eating Balamti? Never heard of them prior to his WL. Daniella's unhappy God. Was it a concept that was created for her WLDQ? Alandric's child of chaos? Never read about him in lore. If other WLs agree, maybe this topic is better taken into the WL forum for dissection?



5. Re-attachment of DTs. Again, it's been spoken about to death elsewhere ... but again I keep coming back to how many of those players/characters now gone due to their character perming would have remained versus those people who remained because of the existing DT system? I'd put money down that the former is more numerous than the latter. Ark is on 9 tokens, if/when he loses No 10, there (most probably) goes yet another player.



Please read this as written from the perspective of a player who wants to get excited about Layo again. Do they read as criticisms? I don't mean them to be. Read them as from a player who wants to look at the server status of a night and jump on and go for a run with a dozen others on west or a different dozen on central.



Dorg, I don't need a response from you individually addressing these points, it's cool.

6

Just for Fun / If only...

« on: December 14, 2009, 12:54:41 pm »

=D

7

Just for Fun / What a dwarf needed for his drinking party..

« on: December 09, 2009, 07:55:50 am »

Or just an angry wife toward her husband instead of spells (winks at teagan)

Everyday's life objects

8

NWN Ideas, Suggestions, Requests / Hlint

« on: December 01, 2009, 01:45:42 am »

LOL, this probably will give Dorg a heart attack after the last prolonged discussions about tweaking Hlint, but I couldn't help myself.

I was driving on the freeway today and was pining for the days when Hlint was a hub of activity and roleplay. I of course know the people of Hlint are more than happy to be rid of troublemaking adventurers and am familiar with all of the reasons behind those feelings. Anyway, I was just thinking it would be sort of cool considering all of the destruction caused by tidal forces if the opportunity was taken somehow to shift things in the direction of how they used to be with a little town having all of the craft halls and other things that would cause us to gather in one particular area more often. Perhaps some sort of additional plot twist in the campaign... It was a lot of fun logging on at any point and time and having several people waiting right there to RP, or putting together expeditions, etc. I guess this is a little more like grasping at some nostalgia than a real suggestion, but what the heck. :rolleyes: And yes, I know all the arguments for doing what was done before as well, which were, and in some ways still are valid.

9

General Discussion / Spy network

« on: November 22, 2009, 07:44:28 pm »

This is completely OOC. The only reason I'm posting this is to get people involved.

Okay i have some things in the works right now and need to build an information network or spy network to make it happen. If you have a character that is willing to get involved in something like this then please PM me. I'll make arrangements for you to get involved. There is no level limit on the characters.

Sending me a PM does not guarantee you will be apart of the network. You will need to meet certain criteria.

10

General Discussion / Two low level trips (Today and tomorrow)

« on: October 30, 2009, 11:04:09 am »

*posters around various places in mistone, for some reason not hempstead*

Adventurers, one and all, I invite you to join myself and whoever else is brave enough to venture to places rarely witnessed by the average eye.

Bring your swords, spell books, and whatever other skills you may posess.

Perhaps we shall even find some work to do along the way.

*details written below outline the location and date for those interested*

//

Tonights trip: 20:00 GMT / 16:00 EDT
http://forums.layonara.com/calendar.php?do=getinfo&e=14492&day=2009-10-30&c=2

Tomorrows: 12:00pm GMT / 08:00 EDT
http://forums.layonara.com/calendar.php?do=getinfo&e=14502&day=2009-10-31

11

Just for Fun / Reclaiming my evenings and weekends!

« on: October 27, 2009, 02:08:09 pm »

Good news for those of you who were wondering where I've been these past two months.  I've finally traded out my horrendous job at the fetid zoo of Wal-Mart to a much better paying, more dignified career working in the campus computer store full-time, oggling hot college lasses and selling flash drives for a living!  Tomorrow shall be my last shift ever in that third world nation supermarket that robs workers of their health benefits despite being the richest retailer in the world.  Which schedules you for 12-9pm and then 4am the next day.  Which makes for darn certain that every person with kids or family WILL work christmas morning.  A company so foul that only salaried managers are allowed to have keys to the trash compactors, otherwise we would have fed said managers to their bloodied iron jaws already.  No more Wal Mart!  No more carts!  No more showing up to work sick with swine flu to go stock produce!  WHOOOOOO!!!!

P.S.  If you've seen that documentary "Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Prices"... it's all true!  Single mothers getting their hours cut just to deny their children healthcare, "optional" unpaid overtime, people with shifts so close together that they sleep in their cars for 2 hours just to make ends meet, and every bit of that paycheck being re-absorbed when they shop where they work.  Worse even.  When I was a wee boy growing up in the Cold War 80s, my parents would point to the news clips of long lines for toilet paper, the workers being given slave wages, people being beaten down by thought police and the horrible quality of life and say "see son?  aren't you glad you don't live like that under communism?"  Then I went to college to work at Wal-Mart, with its shelves stocked with 90% chinese prison labor goods and it dawned on me.  Wal-Mart is the new Axis of Evil, and it's right there smack dab in our back yard!  It seriously is the return of the worst days of the industrial revolution, where children worked 12 hours a day and pople who lost limbs in the line of duty were kicked out into the streets.

12

Layonara Server / Update coming soon! New HAK required

« on: September 20, 2009, 11:15:24 pm »

Hello all.

Sometime in the next few days (I hope) there will be an update to the modules, and some of the changes require an updated "control" HAK file.  You can download it now and unpack it into your "hak" folder, so that you're prepared when the update comes online.

The download link is:  http://nwn.layonara.com/downloads/files/layo_controlv3r8.rar

Enjoy!

13

Trade and Market Hall / Angels Guild--Adventure Outfitters

« on: October 26, 2015, 03:47:35 pm »

Angels Guild is a brotherhood of crafters eager to help you with your adventuring needs.  Visit our well-supplied shop to browse and buy.  You may also leave word of your needs here or send a message to any member.Prices are competitive with other guilds, and bargaining is allowed with personal contact. Generous discounts are given for multiple purchases (10% for 2 items, 15% for 3, and 20% for four or more). If you provide all the materials needed for an item, it's half price. [Special note: All materials for half-price items must be presented at one time. We just don't have room to keep them separate and store them for you. If you ask though, we may be able to help by partially processing such items at no charge--smelting ore, making patterns from cotton, etc.]

We can craft your mithril without fail, and items made with our mithril and emeralds are still available. (No multiple purchase discount if our emerald or mithril is used.)//NOTE: We can't hear knocking and we don't keep regular hours, so feel free to send a message requesting help. If someone can't help you right away, a speedy appointment can be arranged.

Currently active members available to help you:  Daniel Benjamin Poetr //cbnicholson; Elohanna //Anamnesis ; Ferrit Pandorn //Serissa; Tralek Rivarmar //davidhoff; Vrebel //willhoff; Celador //Tobias; Sibbicai //silverblades; Quenton //swoop.

The following items are sometimes accepted as barter, but only when needed.  Do not leave them at the store without checking with a guild member.  Unneeded items may be donated to a good cause if not picked up promptly. 
//Updated 12/26/19.  Note that box prices are mostly invalid, now that many things take less space.
Alexandrites/Amethysts| 100|
Aloe, Comfrey, Thistle| 28|
Ancient dire bear, badger| 25|
Apple |60|
Barley |30||  Barley Flour |100|
Birchbark |40|
Blackberries |45|
Blueberries |50|
Bodak Teeth| 500|
Butter |210|
Clay| 25|
Cherries |50|
Coal| 50|
Corn | 30| needed now
Cornmeal| 65| needed now
Corn flour | 100|
Crag Cat skin|75|    needed now
Cranberries | 30|| Cranberry Juice |250|
Diamonds| 1000|
Dire bear hide| 200|
Dire boar, panther hide| 50|
Eggs| 140|
Elderberries |30|| Elderberry juice |250|
Emerald, raw |40,000|
Ettercap gland| 50|
Feldspar| 40|
Fire Opals| 250|
Garnet| 80|
Garlic, Ginger root| 56| Garlic needed now
Ginseng| 150|
Glass per ingot| 97| 1358(14 per box)| needed now
Grapes |45|
Graveyard dirt | 50 |
Greenstone dust| 7 |
Greenstone, raw | 28 |
Hazelnuts| 75|| hazelnut oil | 310|
Hickory Branch| 25|
Hickory Scroll| 20|
Honey| 50|
Juniper berries |30|
Knuckles| 10|
Lion skin| 75|
Mahogany branch| 200|
Mahogany scroll| 140|
Malar Hides| 1500|
Milk |100|
Molds, 1 Lump| 30|
Molds, 2 lumps| 60|
Molds, 3 lumps| 90|
Mushrooms, Purple, black or red | 50|
Nuts, except Hazelnuts |60|| oils |250|
Oak Branch| 50|
Oak Scroll| 40|
Panther | 75 |  needed now
Pear |60|
Peppermint | 70|
Raspberries |45|
Rye |57|;  rye flour |180|
Sage |57|
Salt |10|    needed now
Sand, per bag| 40| 560 (14 per box)| needed now
Sapphire| 250| 8750|
Skullcap| 66|
Spider silk| 100|; Thread |210|  needed now
Spotted Mushrooms| 115|
Topaz, raw | 100| 3500|
Wheat| 30|;  wheat flour |100|
White mushrooms| 10|
Witchhazel| 66|
Yew Branch| 1000|
Aventurine, Fire Agate, Malachite, Phenelope|10/raw stone|2.5/dust|

Copper|10 nugget|20 ingot|
Tin|10|20|
Bronze|-|40|
Iron|50|75|
Gold|50|100|
Platinum|100|200|
Silver|100|300|
Adamantium|200|600|
Cobalt|300|900|
Titanium|250|1000|
Mithril|2000|8000|
Crystal Rod I - 500
Crystal Rod II - 1000
Crystal Rod III - 1500
Crystal Rod IV - 2500

14

General Discussion / New web IRC interface

« on: September 15, 2008, 09:33:07 am »

Hi all,

I've integrated a new web based irc widget which is provided for free by mibbit.com .  It seems to be a bit more featured then our existing one, specifically being able to handle private conversations.

For those who use IRC via web, please give it a try and let me know what you think.

http://forums.layonara.com/betairc/

Cheers,
orth

15

Just for Fun / Joke

« on: May 10, 2007, 10:01:45 pm »

// I think this is fairly PG //

One day there was a young swordsman who wanted more than anything to be the greatest fighter in all of Layonara. He practiced every minute of his spare time, but he knew that he wasn't yet first-rate and that there must be something he was doing wrong.

Sitting in the Wild Surge one Saturday night, he recognised an elderly dwarf standing at the bar who had the reputation of being the doughtiest fighter in the West. The young swordsman took a place next to the oldtimer, Kobal Bluntaxe, bought him an ale and told him the story of his great ambition.

"Do you think you could give me some tips?" he asked.

Kobal looked him up and down and said, "Aye lad, show me your stuff."

The swordsman took out his sword and rattled off a few moves.

"Well, for one ting, you're holdin' your sword too high laddie. Hold it a little lower on da handle lad."

"Will that make me a better swordsman?" asked the young man.

"Sure will" replied Kobal. The young man did as he was told, whipped out his sword and did an amazing riposte that took the bow tie off the piano player sitting nearby.

"That's terrific!" said the hot shot. "Got any more tips for me?"

"Yep," said old Kobal. "Cut a notch out of your scabbard where the blade exits. That'll give you a smoother draw."

"Will that make me a better swordsman?" asked the younger man.

"You bet it will" said the dwarf.

The young man took out his knife, cut a notch in the scabbard, stood up, drew his sword in a blur, then cut a cufflink off the piano player in an amazing move.

"Wow!" exclaimed the swordsman. "I'm learnin' somethin' here. Got any more tips?"

The old dwarf pointed to a large can in a corner of the inn.

"See that axle grease over there? Coat your sword with it."

The young man went over to the can and smeared some of the grease on the handle of his sword.

"No" said the grizzled old dwarf, "I mean smear it all over the sword, handle, blade and all."

"Will that make me a better swordsman?" asked the young man.

Kobal grinned, "No, but when Remi gets done playing the piano, he's gonna insert it where the sun don't shine and it won't hurt nearly as much if it's all greased!"