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Messages - IdiotNoob
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« on: April 11, 2006, 02:08:06 pm »
Happy birthday old man.  I applaud you on your success with Layonara and I think this server represents an ideal model for others to emulate based on both quality and the perpetuation of integrity in gameplay.
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« on: November 13, 2005, 07:29:00 pm »
I made level 17 in two months on Layonara. That was playing about 6-8 hours a day. I quit angrily shortly thereafter. My character was well drawn in my mind but I'd not been around to really impress him on other people. Empty shell. I then went and played on Bastions of War for a month. It's team PvP, zero RP, like Cap said it gets it out of your system (it's funny I actually played with one of the DM's here... getting the 'game' out of your system is sometimes useful). Then since I'd very effectively burned bridges here I ran around from server to server trying to find the next best thing. Didn't happen. So I made my own server, it was beautiful but devoid of the player base, or as important, the squared away GM's here (you don't truly respect this side of things until your hair has turned grey from the nightmare that is finding good DMs). So what's the moral of this useless tale? Fast levelling is the root of all tragedy in the universe.
That said, you're a casual gamer and have a very different problem then a lot of people are trying to focus on here. It's really sad that balancing a world requires that you real time base it edging towards the maximum instead of the minimum. If you go too far in one direction, then you are flooded with high level characters with no substance, if you go too far in the other direction, casual gamers are just stranded. Unfortunately the former creates worlds with no substance themselves... so casual gamers are out of luck if the server wants a rooted and rich environment.
You're always going to suffer this fate not 'investing' a substantial amount of time, so the first thing to do is realize that the most you're ever going to get out of the game is the inter-character relationships and adventure. And if the adventure you momentarily find lacking due to lack of progression and inability to go someplace 'new' (and they will all become old at some point you should know... avoid the locust behavior and find contentment in flat out rp)... befriend a dwarven battlecleric a few levels higher then you and go hunt giants. That's what I did. Thanks Harg.
Your time limitations seem to not allow most GM quests. I'm assuming your 6 hours a week is spread out. I'd maybe PM folks like Idii or Enzo and ask them for advice. Forums rarely get you anywhere except down the road of two cents (see IdiotNoob's post). The folks that have been here a long time are nice folks that know the ropes. If you're cool about what you ask, I'm sure they'll be cool back. I mean... no one is purposefully unhelpful until you give them a reason to be.
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« on: October 24, 2005, 11:35:00 am »
Yep - for any that misunderstood - that was an apology plus lessons learned. Specifically an apology to Leanthar, Pankoki, Nita, Orth, Ozy, and the community in general for that matter. It's embarassing to realize you're a crybaby - but there's really only one good direction to go once you make the concession. Fess up so you can look the person in the eye again.
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« on: June 09, 2005, 03:25:00 pm »
I know you're waiting for this to die down, but I put my two cents in on the bioware forums Leanthar. Hope that helps. I doubt people will read that far and mr. angry did his damage, but what the heck.
Hope all is well folks!
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« on: December 28, 2004, 09:32:00 am »
I guess the real point of this is to limit the distribution of high level items other then that you put a ton of work into. As far as balancing - it works on any level you establish, they aren't super items if you build the table as such. That said, maybe another day you'll take a look - I know you guys are overworked and underpaid  . I'm going to submit an idea table nevertheless at some point for a better picture at what I was proposing. Thanks for reading over it though IDii.
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« on: December 27, 2004, 10:09:00 pm »
Apparently not. Though if it were on the flame forum, I'm sure it would go somewhere. Probably the trashcan.
No biggie. I'm sure they have bigger and better things cooking.
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« on: December 23, 2004, 10:43:00 am »
A lot of folks are against making a CDQ based around an item though. I personally frown upon it. That and I think it's hard to service everyone through CDQs. It would be one heck of a crafting options page to standardize it but it doesn't seem all that unlikely. Take a set of armor for example. You are a master tanner, and have a bunch of other mastery crafts, but you want to make your masterpeice leather armor. You get an options page that comes up with a dev-chosen set of possible stat combinations based on a point system. In this case they choose +2 ac 5/ pierce 5/ slash and +5 h/ms/ tumble to reach the total point possibility of 20 max for their masterpiece. Then they have about 1000 hours of trying to actually make it. Then they have a type in section to name their masterpeice. Likewise, the furniture crafter builds his throne. He chooses +10 regeneration and +10 INT while sitting in it to reach the 20 point max for his masterpeice. it would obviously require a TON of thought, I'd be happy to construct a baseline options page for the dev's to look at for balancing purposes. In fact, I'd be happy to put together the entire thing - just I don't know jack about scripting so what you'd get would unfortunately be limited to MS Word and prolly a balancing excel spreadsheet on how the combo's and point system work. Anyhow - keep at it guys, ideas are neat to play with when you're not a dev with 500 things to make before even looking at this doozy.
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« on: November 16, 2004, 03:44:00 pm »
I'm not a huge fan of using the term seasons. Then again I hate the CR sheet. If you are much higher level and want people to know it - it should come out in abstract pragraph form, as in, let me tell you a tale of the day I defeated the ancient lich of....
It works for lower levels too. I mean, what the heck are seasons and why are they asking me my age like that? Hrm... 548 I think? But the there are no seasons in the deep dark from where I come... I usually mess with people asking me that - sorry, it's not that I'm mean or dislike you - just don't understand the necessity for it. As far as leveling goes - it can be as simple as telling your party that you need to stop and think on things. I mean, that could mean you leveled or need to go talk to your lawyer - quite honestly - does it matter? And if you have buddies you like and want to shout out to them about making lvl 13 because it was such a haul - by all means send a pm if you guys like doing that. Btu I know a lot of people that just don't want to hear about tnl or lvls. Anyhow - find something you like, and do it. Unless it is cleaving noobs heads.
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« on: October 16, 2004, 03:46:00 pm »
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« on: October 13, 2004, 05:06:00 pm »
Bela Drake. Lvl 7 Rofirein Cleric. Would like to become a knight of Rofirein. Spoke to Ceal in game - it'd be great fun.
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« on: October 04, 2004, 12:01:00 am »
My apologies. I guess I assumed that this game was altogether unsuitable for young kids. But yes, now that I scroll through the entire pic set, it deserves a preface for people in general. I'll be more careful in the future, and again, my apologies.
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« on: October 24, 2005, 12:37:00 am »
I wrote an apology letter to the boss here a short while ago, but I think that a few points of good sense I've picked up along the way might save a few people the same trouble I've found in this relatively new medium of socialization and fun. Maybe there's something to take from it, maybe you're already a good ways ahead of me on figuring this out. I don't know, but regardless, it's some things I think most people playing online games should think about.
Having traveled the full spectrum of being a nuisance player on Layonara to pulling my hair out running my own server filled with nuisances just like me to finally sitting back to being ashamed with the whole state of internet gaming, and general social behavoir online... I'm kind of down on how we treat each other. It's amazing how little personal accountability we demonstrate. In the land where you don't have to deal with someone face to face it has become acceptable behavoir to burn any bridge you please and act in a fashion that would get you knocked out were you in the same room as them. It's juvenile, cowardly, and a fairly depressing tone for the future of personal interaction online. It's as though we're inclined to modify our values that we'd normally act upon with a person you deal with face to face and compromise our integrity because we've somehow found it acceptable to do so when the person is anonymous and a veritable million miles away. I personally, am embarrased at some of the things I've said to people online. In particular Leanthar and co. And seeing some of the things people do online... I'm astonished at how far from normal interaction this all has become.
The reason is simple.. there's no repercussion for your actions. And it really begins to illustrate the character of these people as they take advantage of this and simply act as though nobody else online matters... that they simply exist for your enjoyment.
So anyhow.. a few things for people to think about:
- How you behave online actually says a lot about what kind of person you are. If you don't think so, and you think it's totally separate from real life, then you should give it some more thought. There's a person on the other end of that line that you should be dealing with as though you're in the same room. Doing anything else really says a lot about how cowardly and petty you are as you take advantage of any opportunity to not be accountable for your actions as they bear repercussions for those around you.
- Staff, DM's, Devs... all people like you. They've just alotted a lot of time into production. And while no dev can abuse you because of all the 'work' they put into this... it certainly demands respect. The best way to think about it (again in my opinion only which may not be right) is to think in terms of how much money you make at your job. If you're young or don't have a job, think of your parent's and how much they make in their job. Now open up the NWN toolset and make a house interior that's 8x8. It's very easy. Press toolset when you prompt NWN and go from there. Decorate that house like it were your own and you were going to be able to have it as your house in game... so treat it like it counts. Make a custom creature and then give it a dialogue in conversation. It's not rocket science. Now after you're done look at your watch and think about that hourly salary I told you to think about. Salaries are all relative and we're all equal when it comes to time. It has the same stealing effect on all of us. Now think about the entire world of Layonara and picture making about 1500 of those that you just did with the same amount of detail and effort. Then add in scripts etc, and more importantly the time changing things because of bugs, changes, or player requests/ comments. It adds up to a lot of time. A whole lot. And while people tend to not value another person's time as much as their own.. I ask you to think of those hours in terms of your own salary at work because that's the only tangible way for most to equate it. Yeah. Lotta money. So respect that person's efforts. It never ends and they're continually taking their time to make a good game for you. It's actually pretty profound to look back at my utter lack of respect for it.
- It's incredibly simple. Act like you're on the same team. To the lead developer of the mod - all he or she is looking for is team players. And more and more everyday is what's going to make them happy. There is no 'us and them' to the dev. There's just the vision of having a big happy family where everyone plays like they're on the same team. There's no super secret decoder ring that you're given when you become a DM or Dev for the mod. Or that 'high level' player. It's just the time that's passed that lets them know they're on the same team. If you just come in and treat the people around you like they're on your team and you're working towards the same goal - you're gold. It's incredibly simple. The only 'us and them' that ever exists is what happens when YOU initiate it from your own insecurities. Then people wonder what's wrong with you. It's true. It's incredibly simple.
- Don't presume anything about the people playing next to you. There are a lot of habits towards treating this game like a dirty little aspect of your life. I don't know - probably because our mother's scolded us on how video games were rotting our brains when we were playing atari, sega, nintendo, etc growing up. So the notion many people have is that since we were raised to think video games represents something substandard that the people playing online games are substandard too. But it's alright that you're playing because you keep it separate from your life. Well hold on a second on that one. Wake up to the fact that you're playing video games like everyone else. And realize that there's no other correct notion then respect of an equal to these people around you. You can not presume anything else. Start treating them with the respect that you would ask for yourself because there's a pretty good chance they're as 'cool' a person as you are that demands just as much respect. Acting any other way of acting just illustrates that you either don't have the brain capacity to realize, or willingness to admit, that you're in this the same as everyone else. Respect others because they are people very much so like you.
- Deal with things like a man (and for the women here I mean it in the John Wayne/ honorable sense). There's a studly way to deal with your problems and/or complaints, and there are many very measly weak ways. Getting angry and going to the forum to spam angry nonsense is akin to an upset three year old girl leaving a toystore without the toy she wants. She kicks, screams, and pouts.. and hardly ever looks the problem source straight in the eye and talks it out like an adult. It's simple - if you have a problem in real life what do you do? What is the most honorable way of dealing with it? You walk up to the person that is the source and you talk to them face to face without bringing others into it. Online this means sending a mature PM to the person. We all sense a crybaby when they start shouting. Even I look at some of my old posts here and slap my hand to my forehead. "My wife would be embarassed I'm her husband". Be cool, be honorable... don't be a little girl. It goes nowhere.
- And the last thing. This is a simple one that's been said again and again. But let me give it from another point of view maybe some don't have. On Layonara I leveled as fast as I could. I wanted to see everything as fast as possible - mostly out of excitement for the module and what I was seeing. More more more. It's the standard self-indulgent behavoir we're seeing a lot more of in the world. Now later on... I've developed a world, let's say for figures I made all the monsters and 90% of the areas. So I'm now online and excited to play... but I've already seen it all. I know everything from the areas to where the thistle plant grows to the purple encounter triggers on every map. Well what the hell do I do now? Once you figure out that question you're guaranteed a good time on any server you're on. Because nothing will matter anymore except your roleplay - because it's all you have in the end.
I guess in all of this I'm really just saying that we should all show a little personal accountability in our actions online. It's a thing that seems to be vanishing from real life, which is pretty sad. More and more people aren't able to admit that they're accountable for the decisions they make, and they look elsewhere to place the problem or blame. Online it seems like it barely exists. People don't hold themselves accountable for anything at all... because there is no aspect of the 'person' in personal. If we were all in the same room forced to look each other in the eye one would immediately think 'wow this is going to be a pretty big fistfight'. Because the things we say to each other and the way we act are simply not acceptable social standards. But I don't think there'd be a fistfight really. I think you'd have the people who act with values and integrity in everything they do standing aloof from the people who act with no shred of respect for their own actions online... and those ones would be standing there unable to look the others in the eye. I urge everyone to act as though they're in the same room and their actions matter. I actually think this sort of thing is starting to matter more and more in the world. Show personal accountability in what you do and deal with people in an honorable and studly fashion. They do exist, and what you're saying does influence their lives.
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« on: December 22, 2004, 11:39:00 pm »
This is just a bored idea.
With the advent of rods, rings, etc of every type and flavor - the craftsmen have little to work or aspire beyond to. Don't get me wrong - it's fun and it's another medium for advancement, fun, and generally a character building aspect. This is a proposal that could take many different shapes and angles, so when you read it, think rather of what you could do with the basis rather then my literal late night write up.
Masterpeices could represent a craftsman's lifelong goal - an item that they would only be able to make once, in any trade (so 1 masterpiece total - ever), and obviously would not sell it or give it away as it's the culmination of their lifelong work. It would take an extreme amount of work, accumulation of resources and experience to make. By this I mean that the master armor crafter might have to acquire lvl 20+ in smelting, enchanting, gemcrafting, armor crafting, and baking in order to make the gems, metals, magic grains to feed the fire, and the armor to actually craft such an exquisite peice. And they'd need hordes of gems, metals of every type, and basically exotic things as resources. And the maximum success would be very low percentages, less then 20% regardless of experience or buffs. It would be the work of your own hands, luck, and the gods. It would be a long lasting adventure to make your masterpeice.
Now the masterpeices could be pre-generated for balancing purposes or a template script of some sort that would allow for customization. It would be really neat though if the crafter could name his masterpeice. The idea would be to make a script that would provide for a low maintainance system for the staff while creating a customizable masterpice that one could start rp'ing and working towards early and would take a long time regardless of how much you played or how tough you were. It would take luck, time, and some serious determination to put it together. This would also deter the common tendency for a staff member to have to put in extra work for a high level/ long-lasting player for a personalized equipment CDQ, which I think is a bit silly except in a few rare instances. It would provide a standardized balance for a master craftsman and would take a lot of work.
I mean, it'd be neat if you could design a masterpeice for your character and submit it, but it really doesn't work as too few are served, it generally is unbalanced, and this system would provide an unbiased baseline for overall balancing purposes.
But, it'd take a lot of up-front work for ye old scripter.
The idea is to make something special a crafter can work towards - and something that would never be distributed to the public or suffering widespread item inflation.
Again, take it with a grain and put a twist on it. Anyhow, just an idea.
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« on: December 08, 2004, 07:48:00 pm »
Part 2: The Church of Beryl
For over 100 years Caern has walked the lands, both below and above, carrying with him the teachings of the flawless diamond. A Greenstone of Beryl, he has walked with humility in his faith and the ability of his teachings. But at his age and in his experience and extreme wisdom, even in humility he understands the truth that it is time he did more. He understands his god very well, and researches all teachings that both Svirfneblin and those few 'outsider' races that follow her. For in the end, they all seek perfection in what they do.
And the realization of his tasks came to him as he located the city of Stone. A wonderous temple to Beryl it is, close to the rocky earth and with beautiful reflections of gems. A wonderous place to pray, but of it's location he questioned. Why would a temple of the Svirfneblin god reside in a place of snow and water though? Unnatural it seemed, though as a Greenstone it was not his place to question. So from this he has set out to do three things: First, become, with hope, a sapphire of Beryl so that he might, second, forge on to construct another temple in Beryl in a drier place, perhaps at a transition point between the great deep of Beryl and the surface world he now calls home. And third, in order to do all this he would have to seek out the Diamond of Beryl for guidance on the matter.
To achieve this all he knew he'd have much to do. First, he'd have to set out on a quest to find a perfect gem, one of each type of stone in Beryl's earth. Second, he'd have to find the head of his church, the Diamond of Beryl, and journey through the underdark for that he'd have to. And last, and on a longer term basis, he would have to horde gems and gold to enable the construction someday of another Temple of Beryl. That and find more willing to hold faith in her perfection. These goals set out before him, he hopes to find more faith in his own actions as they reflect the god that grants him such power. Soon he will begin this quest for a perfect gem of every kind, hoping to offer them to the Diamond of Beryl so that they might use them in reflecting the light of their prayers. With this gesture he hopes that the Diamond of Beryl might grant him allowance to both become more then a greenstone and furthermore provide guidance and permission in building another temple to Beryl.
Caern holds one concern in this, and that lies primarily in his noted inability to communicate well with the surfacers. They find his mumbling incessant, and despite his relative power and wealth, faith comes from something more - a charisma he does not hold. While in the great deep of the underdark he found that it did not matter much, but now he can not seem to overcome his poor quality in dealing with people. He cares little of this, but holds concerns that the Diamond, although a Svirfneblin and inherently lacking those qualities, may deny his search in leading surfacers to faith as he can not lead them at all. And in this, he has prepared himself in this trial of faith to do what he must to find perfection in his pursuit of being a cleric of the Flawless Diamond.
***********************
CDQ Part 2 Ideas:
- Obviously there are some long and short term aspects to this. A CDQ quest could encompass the search for a perfect gem of each type and the journey to find the Diamond of Beryl - but the construction of another Temple of Beryl is meant to be long term -probably very long term. This is the just the first step in it. If the gm who's interested in this wants ideas, I have plenty - otherwise I'm leaving it open to intertretation, it's a CDQ to flush out the aspects of his faith.
Note: By a trial of faith, Caern would be willing to face his god if it was found he must compromise qualities to attain that which he may need to succeed in his task of leading a temple. e.g give up some wisdom in place of charisma as his wisdom is godly while his charisma is that of an ogre, an ugly one.
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« on: December 08, 2004, 05:36:00 pm »
Part 1. Realities of the Surface World, Personal Ramblings
The wandering Svirfneblin has since ceased in his wandering and taken residence on the surface in a small home below ground, with earth all around the woodwork in which he lives so he might be closer to the flawless diamond. No longer a visitor, foreigner, wandering lost in translation, Caern now finds himself at home, far away from the desperation of his people below, perhaps too far. And while simple comforts abound for one that has found much power in seeking perfection in what he does, the answers he thought he sought have returned with riddles he wants not to hear.
For one so wise the answers usually come with ease, for simplicity remains the sole perfection of the questioning mind. As his history had been written, he came a wanderer, a healer and a sound warrior from a people oppressed and in constant hiding. And as a greenstone, he would aid those Svirfneblin in need, those who had escaped wretched captors, or those badly wounded by the depraved and manic evils of their neighbors. Though he himself, or anyone ever dear to him, had never faced the atrocities, but merely bore witness to the aftermath. And in the realization of what horrors truly exist, despite however many foes he faces, Caern has not a clue for he knows nothing of it firsthand.
A goodness has remained in his heart in all of this and he has taken to most sentient creatures with some degree of respect as even those things drow perhaps should be given some degree of a chance to prove their intent through action. He always wondered sadly at the long stares of absolute hatred and indifference of his people that he mended - always understanding their anger, but never the absolute indifference they would then hold for the drow or duergar, or any race other then their own thereafter. To him, it seemed goodness had somehow been beaten from them.
But now some years later, after this wanderings on the surface, he finds himself questioning his own actions. Does he not kill with ambivalence all things threatening around him? Does his genocidal tendencies towards all things not deemed of a "friendly" race truly make his intentions good in nature? Much thought he has spent on this point as he sits in front of the stone fireplace of this home. Is he really a good being? And if giving creatures such as what he kills a chance, is it something he truly wishes to be. For he lives in the goal of perfection of his own life, the discovery of oneself, and the realization of the world around him. Not to play empathist to those that have brought harm onto him. The orcs wandering where he lives for example *anger grows inside* almost killed him without reason one hundred times now they have! And without reason, thought or sense they do this. But in later reflection, he wonders if he himself is much different.
Caern has come to some realizations of himself, introspective as one wise should be. In what he does he does not see much goodness. Instead he finds only a black and white indifference to what is in favor of her perfection and what is not. He sees somewhat what those other Svirfneblin he'd mended might have felt, the origins of their neutrality - but still has no solid reasoning nor basis for what would cause him to feel the same way.
**************************
Part 1 CDQ Quest Goals:
- Shift towards neutrality as actions have met it more closely as of late and it's generally the way he is feeling towards things. The overall goal is to give Caern background and reason to have the perspective he holds.
Part 1 CDQ Quest Ideas:
- Put him out of the realm of sympathetic healer and more in the footing of someone empathetic and dictating fairly harsh reaction. That is, make him go through the horrors and give him legitimacy of experiencing great evils.
- Also, put it on his doorstep - have his neighborhood ransacked by duergar or drow (or whatever traditionally hated group of the smurfs) and then bring it to his old doorstep and bring in that cross-realization of the way things are everywhere
- Someone he knows or cares about is captured and tortured (easy idea would be Nob as he's a dm and could play both sides while not having to sit in a captive camp for a couple hours)
Obviously I'd like to see the ideas altered so that the image of the quest I have in my mind is ruined and we get surprises instead. As to the gm(s) involved I would like Nyralotep involved as either a player or dm - doesn't matter - otherwise, whoever's interested. I find Leanthar's challenges to be the most on the edge and that's fun, but he's usually busy. I like stormspirit and Rhiz's quests. Actually, I like every quest I've been on - so in the end it's whoever is interested. I can give a LOT more ideas if you'd like me to guide it more. I've a pretty big image of a quest but I don't know how much I'm supposed to give in these.
Kinda don't want to stomp on the creative rights of the gm involved.
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