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Topics - Ar7
1
« on: October 25, 2008, 05:12:45 pm »
A certain commercial reminded me about Layonara today, so I decided to check out the place that took so much of my free time back in the day.  Find out if it's still active and whether some of those I knew are still around. I must say that it is rather scary. I began playing somewhere in the end of 2003, back then I was still in the 10th grade. It is now 2008, school has ended, even the university has ended, and I now have something that looks like the beginning of a career. If back then I used to play for, sometimes, over 8 hours a day, then now I often work for over 10 hours a day. (not the best switch if you ask me!) It has been five years only, but these two times seem like decades apart. What I am now trying to blabber here, is that this website is like an old picture album, I look at it and memories come back. Playing Rufus, crafting, going on 5+ hour quests, doing the ECDQ (thanks Ed!), being awake the entire night simply because the party to raid east only played in PST. It was a happy time with no responsibilities whatsoever. Did I just sound old? Because I felt old! And I am 22, sheeesh. Alright, not old, sentimental is a better word. Sooooooo, anybody in this large online still remembers me? What has changed, what has happened? And why the hell do I have an inbox full of PMs with people looking for Rufus! *squints his eyes* Does my mansion on the Barbarians islands still stand? It had a lot of stuff hidden in those chests *grins*
2
« on: September 26, 2007, 01:54:27 pm »
“A thousand coins for a wine?! Sir, my master said he wishes not to owe to somebody, please take it back.......Sir?...Sir?!” The young tavern boy carefully waved his hand in front of the customer, quickly pulling it back, as to not become a cause for anger. Another moment passes, it seems as if eternity had descended upon the helpless boy, he begins to shift his weight from one foot to another, his eyes running around the room hoping to catch his master, he is lost and has no clue as to what to do next.
All the while the customer continued to stare at the center of the table, having hardly touched the glass of wine, or even moved for that matter. As the boy was already getting desperate, probably preparing to do something stupid in order to get out of the difficult situation he found himself in, the customer lifted his eyes and gave the boy a cold look. The elderly man then rose from the table, slowly took the pouch of gold back in his hands and continued to look at the boy. Needless to say the poor lad now wished the man would not have moved, having worked in the tavern since the age of 7 he knew perfectly well what an angered customer could do to a child, many a mark on his body gave material proof to that wisdom.
The young boy then covered himself, as the man took a swing, preparing to throw the pouch in the tavern boy's face. Yet as the rest of the customers were turning their heads in order to amuse themselves by witnessing a beating, a slight smile appeared on the man's face. He lowered his hand and extended it towards the boy, handing him the pouch back. “Then keep the gold to yourself, your master needs not to know,” having heard that, the boy was left to stare at the back of a weird stranger, who promptly disappeared into the doors.
Having exited the tavern the old man stood still for a while, leaning on a nearby tree, it seemed as if he knew not what to do next or where to further set his feet. Yet after a short, thoughtful pause he began to silently mutter something under his nose for a good minute or two, the result of this chanting were a few sparks of ruby red and a more lively expression on the man's face.
After taking another moment to contemplate, at least it seemed that it was what he did, judging by the look on his face and the way his wrinkles had aligned themselves in the most unnatural of ways, the elderly man saddled his horse with an amount of grace that could hardly be assumed for a person of his age.
A moment later, he rode off, with the wind gently setting a dried leaf of brown in his hair, as if saying good bye to a dear friend. When the elderly man looked back, he witnessed a whirl of leaves, dancing around as they fell from the tree he had just leaned upon. It was a beautiful site to behold, even more so because it was the only tree to shed its green robe in July.....
3
« on: April 14, 2007, 01:31:44 pm »
Hello to all who remember me *waves* Since I had heard that V3 had been released I have been getting a slight itch to begin to play again, but I've struck a serious dilemma that I hope to solve by asking for advice from the Layonara community. This is first and foremost a question to people who have been here for so long that they cannot remember what life was like without Layonara, but only because they might have faced a similar dilemma, so others are welcome to voice their opinions as well. Because, honestly, I am a bit lost. So the question is, whether to bring back my old character or begin a new with a totally new submission? The history, the effort put into the old character, all of the time spent playing him - this is both a pro and a con for continuing with Rufus. On the one hand it enriches the playing experience, on the other, it burdens it with problems that go back years into the past. Starting a new on the other hand requires a lot of time and dedication which is often difficult to find. A solution for that would be to begin in a group with other characters, but I am ashamed to say that I have started and ruined such an attempt. So I would like to use this post to apologize to the people that were involved in the said project. So the question is, what would you do in such a situation? Retire and begin a new Make Rufus an NPC and begin a new (with permission of course) Continue playing only Rufus Continue playing Rufus and begin a new character as well? Kill Rufus and get the hell out of Layo (really hope there won't be many of these  ) Another option? Another question that is tied to the first one, how many from the WL list are actually actively playing at the moment? (Well besides Ozy, we all know the elf is immortal and never quits ) The answer to this question should prove whether the epics usually grumble and talk a lot on the forums, but never actually play heh. Thank you in advance for comments!
4
« on: September 07, 2006, 11:06:31 am »
There are two problems with the said house
1) There are two small round areas that simulate the way down to the dungeon, but the transitions do not work. The transition also do not work if you want to get out of the dungeon.
2) The house is made out of two areas, the upstairs and the dungeon. In is not possible to place furniture in the dungeon area.
6
« on: August 17, 2006, 09:22:39 am »
I have rented out rooms in this house in spring. I have now returned from a long absense and wish to know who still uses the rooms, then I shall think what to do with the house next.
7
« on: August 17, 2006, 07:27:05 am »
[SIZE=32]The very best gold can buy![/SIZE] [SIZE=16]This store shall hold auctions annualy to provide the buyer with the rare items found across the entire world![/SIZE] [SIZE=16] [/SIZE] [SIZE=18]Auction number 1 - Gloves of the Ogre [/SIZE][/i][/b] [SIZE=18]///Str+2 [/SIZE][/i][/b] --- Starting price is 30 000 gold pieces --- --- Minimum bet increase is 5 000 gold pieces --- --- The auction ends when the bid has lasted for four days and the merchant has spotted no fraud --- [SIZE=16][/SIZE] [SIZE=16] [/SIZE] [SIZE=18]Auction number 2 - Greater Acid Resistance [/SIZE][/i][/b] [SIZE=18]///adds 10/- acid to any item, level req 13 [/SIZE][/i][/b] --- Starting price is 50 000 gold pieces --- --- Minimum bet increase is 5 000 gold pieces --- --- The auction ends when the bid has lasted for three days and the merchant has spotted no fraud --- [SIZE=16]NOW ACTIVE!!! [/SIZE]
8
« on: August 17, 2006, 07:04:09 am »
[SIZE=32] Militia recruiting![/SIZE] [SIZE=16]A Militia to be in the service of a local merchant and scholar is now recruiting members.[/SIZE] [SIZE=24]The brave men and women will be offered the following:[/SIZE] --- A fair amount of coin as payment --- --- A place to live --- --- Equipment and items of interests --- [SIZE=24]The tasks will include, but will not be limited to:[/SIZE] --- Protection of property --- --- Expeditions and the protection of the Merchant --- --- Various tasks to help the business of the merchant --- [SIZE=24] The Merchant seeks the following assistants:[/SIZE][/i] --- Footsoldiers --- --- Head of Intelligence --- --- First assistant in the Arts of Arcane --- [SIZE=18]All of those willing to apply should leave a letter with their name and the prefered position at the hands of the innkeeper in the Wild Surge Inn.[/SIZE]
9
« on: August 04, 2006, 07:21:08 pm »
During one of the silent nights, that often rule over Raven´s Watch, a ship slowly came into the docks. After a few moments a hooded figure stepped on the frozen land of the Barbarian Island. He was dressed in richly decorated robes and looked tired from the long journey, the sailors spoke that they have never had such a windless trip. The hooded man looked to the ship and slowly motioned towards one of the sailors, ordering him to bring his horse from the decks below. The seasoned sailor gloomed back disgusted, yet he was forced to head after the horse having caught the grim look on his captain´s face. The hooded figure nodded to the captain and slowly, perhaos without much skill, climbed on his horse. He then whistled and once again looked towards the ship. Suddenly a rather large panther ran from below the deck and jumped ashore making it´s way through the sailors towards the hooded firgure. The hooded figure slowly rode out of Raven´s Watch andmade his waytowards a large house located in the middle of frozen wastes of the Barbarian Island. On the way he looked rather satisfied and happy, especially if one consideres the lands he travelled. After a few eventless hours the man was finally home. He opened the large doors and entered adark and silent hall. He looked around for a few moments, nodded to himself and contiunued to walk through his entire house, stepping into each room and looking it over. After a few minutes he finally came to the library, sighed, and slowly went back into the hall. He walked towards the fireplace and smiled, he saw the ashes that remained from the fire that warmed him many months ago, just before he took this rather long trip. He then threw in a few pieces of wood and lit the fire again, afterwards seating himself comfortably in the chair nearby and picking up the book from the small table, once again, from where he had left it so many weeks ago. Taking a feather he bagan to write, seemingly not being bothered one bit by the fact that it was many hours passed midnight. I once again return to find only silence greeting me, I have not heard from the people I know for months if not more. Even though I do not enjoy this my head still argues my heart by telling me that it is exactly how my life should be. I have always listened to my head, having only disobbeyed it once, silencing the voice of wisdom inside and listening to the feelings I never knew existed. Now as months pass without a single word from the person that caused thismy senses are slowly coming back, I have yet to understand whether this was a large mistake or the happiest days of my life, only time shall put everything on the corret shelf. Yet I can not seem to shakethe thought that I would like these days to return. Yet I can not focus on these thoughts, certainly not now as too many things require my urgent attention. Now that Blood is out of the way many opportunities have openedfor bothmyself and my superiors, I feel that the day when I will no longer be in someone´s command is near. It is now time to gather all of my allies and find new ones, all who will stand near me shall feel the benefits ofthenew era that is about to come. After finishing the last words Rufus begins to scribble countless letters, rushing each word as though he wants to race the rising sun. ///This is me coming back to Layonara, so hi all I would appreciate if you would send some comments as PMs about the writing, what is bad, good, what can be improved etc. More post should come and I am hoping to improve with each one. Thank you for reading!
10
« on: July 16, 2006, 04:26:43 pm »
To those who still remember me and to those characters with whom Rufus is still tied together. I have not been playing or been active in the forums since May, apart from a few topics and the last plot quest. Many things have contributed to that and what should have been a two week break has grown to become two months and by the looks of things will be even more lenghty. First of all, I would like to say that I am still interested in remaining in all of the guilds and I still wish to take part in events that have lately been initiated, but got interrupted because of my computer problems, the person who I am talking about should know what I am talking about. Of course if you wish to replace Rufus for the time of my inactivity or permanently, then please tell me in advance, I wont be stopping your fun. Now comes the tricky question, specifically about the status of the World Leader, if of course Rufus still has it. I wish to say that I will be gone atleast until the end of July, then I am hoping (crosses fingers) to get a better more organized schedule that will allow me to join quests and play more or less like I used to. Having said that, will Rufus be stripped of the World Leader status or has he been already? So to all who still remember, I am hoping to return
11
« on: June 24, 2006, 01:34:12 am »
Iäve been asked by a few people to post my thoughts and I will do so. Some of them have been voiced over the passed days already and I apologize for any repetition, it simply took me a few days to write as I have been lacking time lately. I would like to begin by defining what Layonara is in my eyes and how I have come to understand it and its values coming from my experience in the game itself and on the forums. For me Layonara has always been a friendly, family oriented RP server. So I have always thought of it as a place where friends play with friends, simply to RP, talk to each other and have a good time. Now keeping the above paragraph in mind I shall try to throw in some organisation theory as I consider Layonara an organisation. There are many ways to divide organisations and one of them is by size e.g small vs large. Its hard to clearly define small or large, but most people can feel it without any rules. The important thing here is that in a small organisation the people are tied together by informal friendly relationships and that there is little need for rules as moral norms and consideration for friends keeps the members from breaking rules. In a large organisation we see the opposite: a large level of formalisation that eventually requieres a growing number of rules and punishments, which leads to conflicts and frustration. This happens because the organisation doesnt change easily and instead throws out what thinks differently. Now where am I getting with this? I have seen Layonara go from small to large. In the early days there was no favouritism, no banning offences (most bans happened in the last year or so) and no constant conflicts among players or players and DMs. It happened because people knew each other quite well, they did not brake rules because they didnt want to upset their friends and because most of the other players would immeadiatly find out. The players were keeping the order themselves, this is what I described earlier - rules vs moral norms. Now if we look at how Layonara is defined and what a large organisation is and how it works, we see that these two contradict. As such I can state my main point, the main issue of Layonara is in its size. Coming from this I will try to further state what I think is wrong with Layonara. So Ive already said that with size comes a large need for rules and managment and I do believe that in a recent discussion of Harlofs post the term managment has been mentioned in regards to the DM team. Now this causes a lot of problems, people come here to play and to enjoy a game, they do not want to managed or controlled or ruled etc. A counter arguement can be stated, that Layonara needs to be managed or it will fall apart. Yet this arguement holds no ground, as for years Layonara has managed to be open, friendly and mostly controlled by players themselves and this is what we should strive for again. Now the points of secrecy, fear before the DMs when voicing concerns and the overall players vs DMs feeling. All of this is coming once again from the size of Layonara and a growing DM team that acts as "managment". There is secrecy and I am not talking about issues like Krashin. I am talking about information that affects the gameplay (changes for spells, areas, creatures, plans for the future etc) Many time have I talked to people and heard info that never actually made it to the forums as well as I know a few people who left because of their disagreements. Hopefully I wont become a persona non grata to talk to now The fact is that all the important decisions are taken by the DMs and the players are never informed and their opinion is never asked. But the DMs are simply people who wish to run quests, so why should they decide everything? The following points add to the feeling of secrecy as well as fear before the DMs - Forum polls and discussions - whenever a poll is held, the players recieve no feedback. Same thing happens whenever players discuss important issues (Tensers comes to mind or Harlof post for example). The discussion or poll ends with a hallow "We shall consider your opinion" which usually leaves people wondering if their opinion even mattered in the end. - Bans - These are very important and you cant live without them, but often people are banned after they voice their critique (though it is true that it often happens in a rude way) so it leaves a really wrong perception in the communitys eyes and they are afraid to state the flaws. This opinion is further increased by the fact that people see the DMs as a separate managment. So to get rid of the secrecy and fear I would recommend involving the players more and giving them more decision power, after all GM are here to run quests not act as managment. Perhaps ask players to set priorities for changes and game additions, because even if 20 things are working perfectly and 1 isnt, but that 1 is the most important for players, the results will be awful. So even though farming and flowers are interesting and add to RP, we can still RP them without the actual items. Much more important issues for players are summons, classes, spells, abilities etc. I do know that the manpower and time is limited, so it becomes even more important to focus on things the entire community needs. I am sure you will get a great response if you fix the broken PrC and maybe add new ones or add epics spells for the growing number of druids, clerics, wizards and sorcerers that are becoming epic. No matter the issue, if it is what the community wants it is great. So having polls on "What to develop next" and "What should we decide here" where players actually see that the poll affected the end result would have fantastic results. Of course L would have a final say, so it would resemble a presidental democracy instead of what it is now. Having said all that, I would like us to stop promoting Layonara this much. We do get more players, but does it make the world better? In my opinion it has caused much more trouble than it has done good. This is not a cry for the "good ol days" it is a suggestion to keep expansion within the limits of the community, NWN and financial capabilities. A quantity vs quality question so to speak. I may have forgotten something I wanted to say, I most likely have, so I will try to make an episode two in the same thread as soon as I can. Thank you for your attention.
12
« on: May 13, 2006, 01:26:27 pm »
I'd just like to note that Rufus won't be around for atleast two weeks, maybe even longer. Not that he is online much anyway, but I am posting so that his absence from the series he has been part of is not regarded as simply quiting. So all of those wonderful quests like Angel's Tears, The Hunt, 1000 Years Promise, the new series Rev started, where Rufus is a cook and even the main plot quests will have to wait *sighs* Hopefully I will be able to join them once again.
Have fun all!
13
« on: April 25, 2006, 12:58:47 am »
Since the first official topic about NWN2 and Layonara is out and we know that Layo will go on into the future, let us speculate a bit. Those of you who have played one character for a long time - months, maybe years - what character are you going to start on January 1st? Will he be just like your old one or an absolute opposite, what class will he be etc?
14
« on: April 02, 2006, 11:52:41 am »
Since I have never played PnP and everything I know about DnD comes from Layonara, I would like to ask a few questions. So here goes....
My understanding right now is, that after a character dies, he is sent to the Soul Monther, then a deity can take him away into his own halls. If that doesn't happen, then the character stays with the Soul Mother and proceeds into the eternity just like in Greek mythology.
So question number one. Are the deity halls located on planes that best fit the deity? Like if a character worships Aeridin he ends up in a naturey paradise place, like Arborea?
If the above is true, then why in the nine hells would anybody worship an evil deity, if they end up in some wastelands afterwards? I am assuming that people who worship evil deities don't really intend to die?
Thirdly, can a person return from the plane into the material world?
Forthly, is it possible to know where each diety has it's halls, can we get a list or something similar?
And lastly, is there any good place to read about the planes, since I really don't know much :p
15
« on: March 29, 2006, 09:18:04 am »
Looking at the calendar I found two quests dealing with them. Now, these quests are overlapping each other time wise. Is this made on purpose or do I need to learn how to use the calendar?
Thanks in advance
16
« on: March 18, 2006, 08:57:02 am »
*The message hangs inside the tavern in Hlint* Six rooms for rent in Fort Llast. A wide choice of apartments suitable even for every adventurer's wallet. Store your goods, have a place to call home and all of that near the centre of the adventureing world - Hlint. *A plan of the building is carefully drawn beneath*  Prices: Room Nr 1 - 1000 coins a month Rooms Nr 2-4 - 800 coins a month Rooms Nr 5-6 - 400 coins a month ///Prices a are per RL month, I do not know the average Layo rent price, so if this is too low it may be a subject to change. Send me a PM if you think this is bad for the economy The house includes a fully furnished dining room and will also include a decorated hall and a furnished lounge, to relax and chit-chat with the neighbours. Please write your name below if you are interested, please include a room number, keys will be handed out when there is a good number of potential tenats.
17
« on: March 18, 2006, 12:35:05 am »
Not that it matters much, but what happened to my postcount? One day I looked and saw that after many many months I was nearing 1000, had around 850, made me feel kind of proud heh, but now it's down to 350? What gives, who stole my posts? :p So yeah, being curious here
18
« on: March 14, 2006, 11:15:44 am »
Well here I am, The Hunt series starting and myself unable to attend *sighs* I have a strange bug, namely I log into Layonara, NWN loads up and shows the area. Everything is normal until that point, but afterwards, no objects are loaded, my character is not loaded and the game freezes, I am left staring and the forest area picture.
I've had this bug before, but it only happened in the Port Hampshire docks area and a single restart usually fixed it. But now I got it in the forests of Mist and no matter how many restarts I do, the game refuses to load properly.
Any help would be useful
PS. I am going to miss The Hunt today *mutters*
19
« on: February 21, 2006, 11:59:02 am »
*Notices hung in the mayor towns of Mistone and in Dregar*
Attention people of Layonara!
We live in a fair and beautiful world, yet even these magnicifent lands are haunted by creatures that seek our lives and riches. To help with these problems I am willing to make enchantments and jewelry that will protect and enchance it's owner.
I am able to make any kind of enchantments and any kind of jewelry, even the greater type! Come see me if you have the materials and you wish a job completed for a fair amount of gold, if you do not have the materials, you should see me nevertheless, we can always work something out.
Leave a letter for R.C. to the dock keeper in Leilon, he shall know what to do.
20
« on: January 03, 2006, 08:43:00 am »
I know that suggestions have to go under the suggestions forum, but I figured that it will get more readers here and that people might benefit from it even if the sugestion never ends up in Layonara. Now the proposal, even with some additions made to the Layonara music folder, we have still heard it many many times and it is bound to become annoying. The same thing happens to all games that are very replayable. I found the following link on another forum. This site http://www.knights-of-honor.net/ has free medieval music to offer under the downloads/music. Give it a go and comment with what you think. Personally I would like to see it added to Layonara, it has a great feel to it
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