The World of Layonara  Forums

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - orth

Pages: 1 ... 11 12 [13] 14
241
General Discussion / Today's American Election
« on: November 04, 2008, 07:20:25 pm »
I respect that some members of our community (both American and globally) may be politically passionate and may wish to discuss the occurrences that will transpire over the night and the next few days.

We all know however that politics can cause very flammable debate and even moreso online with anonymity and loss of physical expression.  Respect all the community members and refrain from sharing your feelings on the outcome within our forums or ooc in game.  There are many other places for this discussion to take place and Layonara really does not need to be one of them.

Please don't 'Thank' me for this, it is not necessary.
The following users thanked this post: Drizzlin

242
General Discussion / Yeah it's OneST8's birthday
« on: October 10, 2008, 12:24:17 pm »
Personally, I think he made the forum servers go down so I couldn't do this...

In all seriousness, have a good one, and being the nice guy I am, I'll let you off the hook for the day and only demand 5 hours of MMO programming tonight.

Cheers,
orth
The following users thanked this post: OneST8

243
Layonara Server / Donation Pooling - Community Drive
« on: October 05, 2008, 05:59:00 pm »
Alright as you may noticed there's a thermometer for donations on the front page and the Donate page now has a report of the last donors.  This is all maintained through a site who operates this sort of thing called Donations Tracker.

What I've tried to do is set this system up so I don't have to do anything.  Yes, programmers are lazy.  As much as I love Chongo, I don't want him nagging me to get some details on things when I'm busy.  

Secondly, I don't have access to Leanthar's PayPal account nor do I want it.  Never have, hopefully never will. When dealing with private financial affairs the last thing I want is communication of passwords from my system risking others.

What this system does, and it must be used for your donation to be tracked, is collect payment information from PayPal and form it into a report for me.  THEY DO NOT COLLECT CREDIT CARD INFORMATION.  They basically collect your username (or you can remain anonymous) and then they generate a neat image or report of the campaign's current numbers when PayPal reports back to them whether you did indeed go all the way through with a payment and for how much.

The report you now see on the Donate page will indicate a surplus for the month, so if you exceed the payments I will roll it forward. Please try to keep it to shorter periods for recurring payments.  I don't want people paying for 6 months and us not being here in 6 months for whatever reason, try to keep everything to 3 months or less.  You will also be able to account for it easily.

I thank you all for your exuberance, and I hope the tracker system will help you determine where you stand.  I know its a bit askew for this month, but I expect when it resets next month, things will start getting into a nice system.  We will work through any issues as they arise.

Cheers,
orth

244
Layonara Server / New Server Status - Complications and Delay
« on: October 03, 2008, 03:50:16 pm »
Okay, so yeah, we got a phone call about technical complications for our hosting providers in other areas causing the expected completion of installation to now be slated for Monday, Oct. 6.  This would most likely mean we will not have the modules up until Wednesday or so.

I'm as upset as you about this delay and we're trying to find a means to gather the community together in some other capacity to enjoy their weekend.  While we can host an NWN server on our Linux machine, we can't host Layonara's modules due to the need for the speech system and the dynamic resource system being Windows only.  

We've tossed a few ideas around, there are several modules on the vault we could host on multiple ports for small groups to get together and play or roleplay. We could also host a simple area for those looking to roleplay, but without having your characters, the attachment just won't be there.

I'm open to more suggestions or feedback, but please be aware we don't wish to be spending an insane amount of time setting up something.

Thanks again for your understanding,
orth
The following users thanked this post: Drizzlin, Dorax Windsmith, Hellblazer

245
Layonara Server / Donations & The Future of NWN
« on: October 01, 2008, 11:36:47 pm »
Hello again,

I've received a couple queries to the status of donations which I wanted to address with the upcoming changes to the servers.

Essentially what we've always hoped for in terms of donations was enough to offset the costs to host NWN.  That was five servers and their bandwidth.  At its peak, Leanthar was paying over $500 a month for these servers.  Over the summer it was closer to $300, but the charges were going to be over $1000 a month with the new billing structure.  An impossible price.

The donations always helped and each of us was always afraid of the potential of Leanthar just really not being able to cut it any more.  I lost sleep when he told me of the new pricing and the inevitability of the downtime.  In the end Leanthar and I both had many reasons for finding every way possible to keep NWN going.  Despite the financial weight which could be better spent, the occasional stress, the time lost better spent on future development, we really want NWN to keep serving our world.

There are a lot of people who help right now, the developers, the gamemasters, the character approvers, the lore team, the writers, the mmo team who have all helped us in the direction we seek and to continue to serve Layonara as a magnificent world realized in the form of a video game.  To not bridge the time from now until the release of the mmo with a video game entity of Layonara would in our minds have been a disservice to everyone who helps out.  Then there's the rest of the community, those who have been here for long times and those of you who have just fallen in love with Layonara.  Despite the very limited amount of rotten apples in the orchard, we really enjoy hearing about the great times you've had.  Your creative outlets both in game and in the forums.  Your community spirit and support.  

It is also no secret, we are hoping each of you will see NWN to the other side, and give us a chance in our future generation. Having even a fairly small starting community will be a boon to attracting more folks.  Especially those very well versed in roleplay and its potential for enjoyment.  And I certainly know the benefits in terms of seeking beta testers with technical aptitude.  I truly hope we can carry this weight that NWN can sometimes be across the bridge.  There are still concerns beyond the financial strain.  The most important being time dealing with the inevitable issues that serving the world brings up.

Finally on a personal note, where would I be without having some Plenarius time?  I'm not ready to just write him off in a story, I want to play it out where it all started.

So we have taken quite a downsize, we've lost 7 servers, 5 for NWN which will be combined into 2 in Montreal. 1 for DB and fileshare, and 1 to run West and Central. We'll probably have to do without a Quest server unless we can run a third module on the one server, which Dorganath and I doubt.  We also lost 2 of our development servers.   All of our hosting, 5 servers, is now in Montreal. 4 of these are paid by OneST8, one of them is piggy backed with some of our (him and I) other personal pages.  The 5th one we're getting tomorrow/Friday will be paid by me.  The tasks the 2 development servers from San Jose handled are now squeezed into the 3 remaining servers in Montreal. We have assurances from EdTheKet, Dorganath and Thak that they can help the financial strain if necessary.

So here's the deal, if you want to keep helping out to say thanks for fronting the cost of the bandwidth and server for NWN, keep donating.  With that said, the truth is that we will continue to eat the costs ourselves regardless if you donate or not as the servers will be used for our future whether they host NWN or not.  NWN Layonara is in good hands for now, but be willing to accept its inevitable departure, hopefully with fair warning.

If you want to say thanks to Leanthar for all he's paid in the past until now then donate.  (Expenses incurred are over $20,000, that is minus all past donations.)
If you want to help OneST8 and I foot the bill, hey thanks... donate. (Average monthly bill for the two NWN servers will be $200)
If you're excited about our future and wish to help us in that regard, donations are welcome.

To recap, you owe us nothing but continuing to enjoy the world, or if you have the time, continuing to volunteer as you can and hopefully you will give us a chance with the future generation of Layonara.  

If for whatever reason you just can't donate.  It's cool, don't feel bad, we'll do our best to stay alive. Alas, all good things eventually come to an end, but we're pretty confident we'll have a phoenix rising from the ashes.  Hope to see you there to witness it!

-James

246
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

247
Just for Fun / Layonara Church Sign
« on: September 14, 2008, 07:13:31 am »
Try your own at Church Sign Generator

The following users thanked this post: Leanthar

248
Just for Fun / Always the First to Die
« on: September 08, 2008, 07:49:53 pm »
I swear I've posted this before, but can't find it anywhere, and since Masterjack brought up the Hobbits to Isengard video, I was reminded of my longstanding favourite.

Warning: The video contains the 's' word (just once).

Watch it Here
The following users thanked this post: Kethryc

249
The Dragon Storm Campaign / An Epic Storytelling Saga
« on: September 08, 2008, 12:01:49 am »
[SIZE=24]Hark!
[/SIZE]

Forge our future with lessons and clues from the past.  Join me and many other witnesses to history and lost lore.

  • At least 10 Epic Tales
  • Food and Drink
  • Entertainment
  • Make new friends
  • Trade opportunities
  • Question and Answer periods
  • Fully organized timetable of events
  • Surprise speakers
come and gather around, leave with knowledge and wisdom of many

Blackford Castle
Host: Plenarius Ashaley
//September 26 7PM EDT

Calendar Link
The following users thanked this post: Leanthar, Lynn1020

250
Trade and Market Hall / Seeking Security Team for Event
« on: September 07, 2008, 10:44:45 pm »
Security Team Wanted

Group of organized individuals to provide security at a sharing of knowledge.  Tasks will include background checks of participants, entrance detail, rotating watches for those resting and active monitoring of the general affairs.

The event will last a couple days (16-24 hours real life), so be sure your group is big enough to share a timetable of adequate security.  If you're looking to join and help a security team and earn some gold, please seek out a security leader, or become one and form a team.

All interest will be equally considered, small groups will have a difficult time ensuring me of ability, but will be considered.  Expected commission for the full event will be around 100,000 True.

Please send any bird messenger a message for me detailing your desire to form a team and your listing of participants and their abilities.

For more information on date and location, read the flyer below.

An Epic Storytelling Saga


-Plenarius Ashaley
The following users thanked this post: mixafix, ShiffDrgnhrt

251
Layonara Server / Lifting of the ban on McLeve41/Naiather
« on: June 13, 2008, 01:33:00 pm »
After quite a bit of discussion we have decided to lift the permanent ban on McLeve41.  This was a difficult decision but the circumstances in the end led us to give him a second chance.

The player was very new when he broke the rules and never had a chance to own up or apologize since he stopped playing well before we even realized he had broken the rules.  Typically what we do in this case is ban the player then wait for them to check the forum and/or PM one of the administrators to plead his case.  In this case it never happened as his interest from Layonara faded.  So we just left the ban as permanent.  His maturity and commitment to be a positive member of the community at this point in time 2 years later led us to believe it would be beneficial for the community and him of course to lift the ban.

Additionally he could have just bought a second copy of NWN diamond or whatever and been right back in game without us being the wiser but he's taken the time to try to do this the right way and be a positive member of Layonara.

We will not be reinstating the Naiather player as his bank account and inventory are tainted, uncertain what truly belonged to him. But we're giving him another chance with a new character.

Please make him feel welcome and trust that he will bring a positive role to the world.  

If you have any concerns, do not hesitate to contact me.

-orth

252
Just for Fun / Wizards DnD Final v3 Errata
« on: April 01, 2008, 02:42:11 pm »
Some interesting changes here, I'm not sure I agree with them all, but you have to agree some make sense.

Player’s Handbook & Monster Manual Errata
The following users thanked this post: lonnarin

253
Forum Discussion / Using Layonara RSS with Feedreader
« on: March 26, 2008, 06:24:26 pm »
The forums are equipped with RSS capabilities now for registered users.  It used to be only the forums that were guest viewable were accessible, but I've changed it so you must pass in your login details.  This way you will get notification of new posts in all the forums in which you have access.

Here are some steps for feeding new posts with the popular RSS reader called Feedreader.

[LIST=1]
  • Download and install FeedReader.
  • Press F12 to bring up the Options dialog.
  • Under Behaviour on the General tab, set When I click a weblink to Open link in default browser.
    (Optionally set any other preferences you like.)
  • Press OK on the Options dialog.
  • Press F3 to add a new feed.
  • At the top of the application window should be a text entry line, copy and paste the following URL into it:
http://forums.layonara.com/external.php?type=RSS2

  • Press the Ok button to the right of the text entry field.
  • You will be prompted for your username and password, which are your forum credentials.

254
LORE Bugs / Wrong Characters under LORE Profile
« on: March 19, 2008, 04:33:34 pm »
Post in this thread if a character that does not belong to you shows up in your LORE list of characters.
The following users thanked this post: Blackguy, Anamnesis

255
General Discussion / Daylight Savings Begins Sunday in North America
« on: March 07, 2008, 01:43:55 pm »
Just a friendly reminder that daylight savings begins this Sunday morning at 2am in most of North America as we move forward an hour.  

If you have anything scheduled for Sunday, please keep this in mind.
The following users thanked this post: Leanthar

256
Ask A Gamemaster / Keeping Bird Messengers In Character
« on: February 29, 2008, 03:16:29 pm »
Hi all,

While working on updating the LORE documentation, we wanted to establish the process that actually happens in character when using the Bird Messaging system.

There is no absolute process that using the bird messengers from LORE equates to in game.  Druids or rangers may be able to personally communicate with a bird to help them send their message.  Other players may like to roleplay it as going to the inn to use their messenger service, the inns of course use birds.  Others may play it as a local postman who gathers messages and then distributes them via bird.  Even still, others have played it as though they have their own personal bird at their beckon all the time (which might be a little far fetched unless you're Plen :P).

Point is to try to keep the LORE Bird Messengers in character of course.  Ask yourself if sending the message from where your character is makes sense.  Think about the time it would take to send the message based on the distance to the recipient.

We're not going to be sticky here because the Bird Messaging system is just as much an OOC benefit as it is an IC.  We know there's no way to stop you folks from communicating externally to coordinate meetings or such, the messaging system was just a way to provide a means to play it out IC.  

With that said, be wary of your usage of communicating by bird during a GM quest.  While mechanically your message may be received by the recipient in as little as 5 minutes provided he/she is out in open air, a GM will typically not accept that reality.  

-o
The following users thanked this post: Leanthar, lonnarin, Dorax Windsmith, Hellblazer

257
General Discussion / Thanks and good wishes to Aragon
« on: February 25, 2008, 04:53:07 pm »
I'm not sure if Aragon made it a point of leaving in relative peace, but last night he came online to IRC to bid adieu to some of the team members until September as he ships out to serve his country.

If it were his intentions to simply fade away without any fanfare then I apologize to him, but I felt a showing of community support was deserved and could not let it pass.

Thank you very much for your efforts and hard work for the community and the future of Layonara Aragon and get back safely, we're going to be needing you again.

If you wish to share your well wishes of a safe and speedy return and thoughts for him, please do so without turning this into any sort of political debate.

Get home safe Chuck!

-orth

258
DO NOT USE potions/magic/bandages to heal people below 0hp in the arena and thus earn XP

THIS IS NOT ALLOWED.

In the meantime the logs are being parsed for extensive abuse of said practice.  Rest assured any extensive violators will be dealt with.
The following users thanked this post: Falonthas

259
Forum Discussion / Short Forum/Web Site Downtime
« on: February 08, 2008, 06:44:34 pm »
At approximately 8PM Eastern, 5PM Pacific, 1AM GMT tonight the forum/lore will be down for 5-10 minutes as I run some backups and archiving.
The following users thanked this post: Leanthar

260
Just for Fun / Hey, no recursing
« on: January 25, 2008, 10:10:05 pm »


The following users thanked this post: lonnarin, Marswipp, Chazzler, Stephen_Zuckerman, Falonthas, Link092

Pages: 1 ... 11 12 [13] 14

anything