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Messages - Chongo
61
« on: June 21, 2007, 05:02:45 pm »
Hello all, Please note that this post is the opinion of me alone and does not represent what others on the team. This post is just to clarify something that I have noted while I have been on as GM especially when I have been providing custom encounters to the party. I would like to state that to me being a DM means providing an entertainment for players. This is either by quests or providing dynamic encounters through challenge. I don’t have an issue of people requesting a Soul Strand. Nor do I have a problem with people thinking that "perhaps this encounter has unfair". That is in your player’s right to make a request or to have thoughts like that. What I have a problem with is when players have the mindset that because they have faced a losing situation or your character has died that the DM is out to punish them. I hear things like "What did we do wrong?" "Oh we must have got someone out there angry". For me I would normally never use spawns or even overpowered spawns to police a situation or because I am angry at the players. Instead you are going to receive a tell saying that we need to have a little chat. Getting a GMs attention for 20 minutes filled with creatures encounters and mayhem or more at a time is a privilege and not a punishment. It is sad to see that the playerbase view the DMs in this way. I want to say that as far as I am concerned, getting a custom (harder) encounter from me is because I want to spice up an experience or because I feel happy of what is happening in regard to RP. You will also find that the encounter will be suited in for your tastes. If you are at the inn, during a player event, you aren't going to see monsters instead perhaps you are going to talk to the bartender or the waitresses or whoever...to make the experience better. That is also why after each encounter where you are safe I will spawn in just to let you know that I hope everyone had fun *regardless* of the outcome and that is because I did it for your enjoyment. There are however times when we as DMs spawn things to keep things in the Lore of the World. But in those circumstances I will notify you about that too. Much Respect, Tanman
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62
« on: June 21, 2007, 12:58:40 am »
Right, Summer is around the corner but I will try to fix some events anyway. 28th of June will be the beginning of the third season 1. season Rebuilding of Bloody Gate 2. season Dwarven Warparty As you can see I put no level restiction. Server rules counts. This time it is not only for dwarves - or not totally 
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63
« on: May 21, 2007, 02:40:40 pm »
Pen N Popper's thread about spicing things up [thread=116347]over here[/thread] got me thinking about something. What did nobility in the real Middle Ages do when they got bored? Declared a holiday! The Handbook is full of holidays for races and deities. Goran's "Day of Fixing," Lucinda's "Hosting of the Weave" (though maybe not the Night of Flesh and Magic, ahem.), Prunilla's Planting and Harvest Days, and many more. The new Handbook probably has an even more extensive list. So let's declare some of these in a way that players know when they occur and watch what happens. There are time dialation problems, of course, since the "annual" holiday would come around just about every RL month or so and last just a few RL hours. It probably wouldn't line up with the Layo calendar for the holiday, either. But let's just ignore that and have a given festival last a real life week and only celebrate any given holiday once a real life year or whatever makes sense. It would give people something new to discuss. It would give followers of certain deities, home towns, races, etc a change to role play something different. It would give people a reason to go buy new clothes or to stock up on pie. If something went wrong, you could explain it on account of it being the Black Sun's Day of Darkness (as an cheesy example-- not a real thing as far as I know). All kinds of superstitions could be roleplayed. I think if we got organized and calendared some of these holidays, people would respond with player run events around the themes (a pilgrimage, a party, a Voraxian axe sharpening festival, ...) to flesh out the events. Is there a list of holidays already compiled somewhere by the Writing Team? Is there some reason we can't just take the forum calendar and throw some of these existing feast days onto it and watch what ensues?
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64
« on: May 18, 2007, 04:01:46 pm »
As I have mentioned before, these are an excellent idea for supporting Layonara Online. I am scheduling our next Donate Your Level Day for this coming 16 June. http://www.layonara.com/calendar.php?do=getinfo&e=203&day=2007-6-16&c=2 I am hoping we can hold these events quarterly. So I have scheduled Level Days for later in the year, September and December. Please join me in supporting our wonderful on line world! -Ylly
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65
« on: May 09, 2007, 05:42:13 pm »
You know how some times you have "good" days and "bad" days? Being part of the Layonara community is like that too. Dictionary.com defines community as, "A social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage." There's no need for me to point out the truth in each of those aspects of community; I'm sure you all can think of examples that would qualify. When I logon, there is often some sort of expectation or goal in the back of my mind. XP, getting a tidbit for a story, crafting, etc. There are times I logoff disappointed, having not accomplished the goal. Other times, though, I logoff quite pleased even though I did not accomplish the goal. Why? Because of the community. A two hour boring stand-around-hoping-to-see-someone can be changed in a moment by a chance encounter with a sum total of five minutes of RP. Or it can be discovering that "~[The sky is falling" will write on a piece of parchment in a language ear. Yes! Bee can write in brownie! He can even read it back with "~~translate" command. Those bad times, though, can sometimes overshadow the exciting times. It easy to forget that the GM/project team is working hard behind the scenes. Sometimes our perspective of the pace things get done is skewed by the fact that we alternate between RL and playing whenever we want. They have to multiplex their schedules between RL, playing, preparing quests, running quests, scripting, toolset, etc., etc.! I was rightfully chided today to have "patience young Skywalker!" That is true. What is another week or two for a new system? What is a week before quest is run, or a level gained? Sometimes that week can seem interminable but on the other side of the fence that week is rushing past too fast to accomplish everything that must be done. A wise fellow once said, "No! Try not. Do or do not. There is no try." A community ebbs and flows just as our perception of time ebbs and flows. Do not try to have patience, do what you can when you can and enjoy it.
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66
« on: May 03, 2007, 03:50:40 am »
This is not a post for rants, This is not a post for raves, This is a post, A post for the Most, Bah, enough with the bad attempt at poetry. Any how, this is a post for people to tell the world the cool and exciting things that have happened to them lately. The good, the fun, the silly. The in game stuff that keep you coming back. I think there are some people, as in The Team, that need to hear that their efforts are appreciated. So... The other night I was killed in the depths of the Broken Hope cave. As I lay there dead (still watching everything) the door opened... And out walked monks.... scary monks... they walked around my body and waited as I could hear the party trying to rest to raise me... I was sitting there just panicked, worried that my party, Rose, Silver, Krys, and Clarissa were just going to walk right into the trap! Nothing I could do since I was dead... The party handled them raised me and we were off... but, thank you to the GM who took the time to make my heart race a bit. Next... Mylindra and Tyrian were comming out of the opal cave when Ty noticed webs all over the trees in the forest... Out came a mass of spiders... Tyrian of course fireballed the web and I think I got something like the following from the GM: You destroyed the last of the web... AND everything in it. So... We missed something cool cause Tyrian likes to destroy things. Tonight.... I had the best time wandering around fishing. Balazar, Rose, Mandalorian, Uvhe, Nemo and Ty went fishing. So much fun, just the RP. They were trying to teach us women how to bait a hook! So entertaining. And the wemic... Saw an awesome temple that I had never seen and caught a pike. I know this is rambling and stupid, but, I think there are people who need to know, to hear, that their efforts are appreciated. My Thanks, Merlin34baseball
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67
« on: April 13, 2007, 01:45:54 pm »
How about we come up with a set of rules for dart competitions at the Stormcrest shack. Post your suggestions below. The game: - Suggestions that are doable with three rolls of d20?
- Need DCs for chance to:
- Miss completely
- Outer double ring
- Inner triple ring
- Outer bullseye
- Inner bullseye
[/LIST]The throw: - Each dart is RPed thrown with a d20
- Applicable bonuses are added via emote
- Each shot is a called shot (eg *aims for double 3*)
Bonuses to throw: - A PC must have three of the type of darts they are using in their possession (and must show them OOCly if challenged to do so).
- Copper +0
- Iron +1
- Adamantium +2
- Mithril +3
- These darts are not actually thrown ingame, they are just for RP. Players may optionally have copper darts on hand to "bash" the dartboard with instead of rolling a d20. The modifiers applied to the bash are not counted, though, just the base roll.
- Feats
- Good Aim +1
- Weapon Focus Darts +1
- Epic Weapoin Focus Darts +2
- No other attack bonuses are applicable.
Allowed cheating and opposing checks: Completely unallowed: - Any sort of to-hit combat modifiers (DEX, etc.) other than those listed above.
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68
« on: April 08, 2007, 05:41:25 pm »
*posted on the bulletin board in the Stormcrest Shack* As a guide of the Stormcrest, I will be guiding a tour to the Temple of Folian S'pae. Any follower of the Longstrider may and is encouraged to attend. If you are new to these parts or lack the funds for four boat rides, I will pay the cost for the tickets. These tickets include the trip there and back. I rather pay the cost of the tickets and strengthen the bounds between the Prince of Wolves and his followers then have someone not go because of money issues. The story of the hidden path to the temple will be told. Juices and eats will be provided at the temple in company with Kara and Eliniawith. Bring your temple donations! The tour will start at the Stormcrest Shack. May The Prince of Wolves watch over you. Rodlin //This event will be posted on the players calendar in the near future.
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69
« on: April 01, 2007, 05:35:57 am »
Okay this is a combination of quite a few things so bear with me here. For some reason I decided to keep them all together though it's kind of three posts in one. Many of you were left wondering just what the heck was going with regards to this thread: http://www.layonara.com/general-discussion/114789-messenger-bad-news.htmlI've been in communication with Zelda1 and she had a few things to say and a few confessions at the same time and has asked me to relay them. First off, in regards to the mentioned thread, she insists she has no idea where that came from and was no part of it. So we're still a bit up in the air on just where that all came from. But Zelda1 does want to clear the air on some things anyway and has asked me to relay them. She originally came to Layonara and was instructed to pretend she wasn't as young as she is. She, like many of us have had at times, got a little too caught up with her character, but also the persona she had taken up and decided to take a break. She returned again but due to some more conflicts left once more. She returned in V3 and the new forums under a new username to set the record straight on her age and who she was but that never came to fruition before this event with the alleged coma took place. She is upset and sorry for the grief she may have caused for this mistaken identity, she didn't realize how caught up one could get. I have asked that she focus on her studies and keep in touch, but she will not be playing. I believe also she has a few friends to contact to set the record straight. Layonara is going to leave this episode to those who are very closely involved and step away from it. Now onto a few of my thoughts...I thought about some things and while my initial anger probably was a fuel for the harsh tone I had in my post that closed that thread, I think in retrospect I should have handled it better. Obviously there were some people who would be feeling great emotion if they have been going through this thinking it's the full truth and for me to "slam" the door with terms such as "sick joke" might not have been the best. I think a more calm "Something is not adding up here and I fear some people are not hearing the truth as the evidence of this story's fabrication piles up" might have been a bit more sensitive. So to those who I may have offended in that regard, I'm sorry. I also want everyone to know that we have a protective nature here as well and are looking out for the best interests of the community and we'll use all the information that is available to us to protect Layonara and it's community. Some of you may not know but when you connect to the forum you leave a trace of your internet connection. This sort of information is viewable to the Administrators of the forum who can be viewed on the User Groups Page. When you're in game you also leave this information and Dorganath, OneST8, Leanthar, Nibor21 and myself have access to that information via the database and Pankoki and EdTheKet through server logs. One person asked me about Forum PMs. OneST8 and myself have access to this information only via the database though, there's no "Read this person's Private Messages" or anything like that. It's on a database, it has to be stored somewhere... But that's the risk you take when you submit most information over the internet. That is why you should always make sure your network admin gets cookies. With that said, we're not going to read your PMs. Unless a law enforcement agency asks us for them or we have an extremely strong suspicion that you may be guilty of something illegal or very detrimental to the Layonara community. All poll voting is private but the information is stored on a database so once again OneST8 and I have access to that information. No one can see tells in game. No one can see private IRC communications. I want everyone to understand that even though to some it may not seem so evident recently, we do really care for the players here. Our number one goal is for you to have fun and enjoy yourself. We want you also to meet new and interesting people in a family friendly environment where the magic of our fantasy world can help us feel young and creative and for us to be able to take out some of the real world woes on monsters. Emotions can flow in every single direction when a group such as our playerbase joins up. Many relationships have evolved from Layonara; great friendships, confidantes, mentors, coworkers and even love. Alas these emotions bring along other ones though. There is indeed a Balance to the Layonara community too (oh no here comes the Plen!), and things go on tilt. Scores of differing opinions rise, rumours flow, relationships end, people fade, deception behind the computer, envy, frustration pile up then to add to that, there has been a lot of change recently to Layonara. Very balance upsetting! I've talked to a few people who are concerned about this and I find a rather large irony in the fact that these people approached me much like I think characters would approach Plen. I as a person can do for the community what Plen has tried to for the game. Because like the cycle of Layonara's Nature, there is the one with the Layonara community and I intend to help keep that balance in whatever capacity I can  -orth(y)
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70
« on: March 27, 2007, 09:59:39 am »
I'm pleased to announce that our new hardware will arrive sometime today and be installed at the Montreal data center (along with OS, KVM extension, reboot ports and etc) within 24hrs. The new hardware consists of three new high-end machines for the explicit and dedicated purpose of handling the next three years of the Layonara Studios web presence. Even with the recent RAM upgrade to the current server, the overall load is rather intense and the hardware is constantly under moderate to heavy load due to the sheer amount of services being run on the single box. One of these new machines will be dedicated as a webserver for both LORE and the Forums, another will be fore the databases and the third will be for IRC, E-Mail and such. The migration process to this new setup will not be a short one and will most likely take about 2-3 weeks to fully implement, test and roll-out to the general public / Layonara community. During that time, the current site will continue to run as-is and no actual downtime is forseen though we must always keep in mind that Murphy's Law has a tendancy to interject some commentary on that topic. For the curious, the machine specs are all roughly as follows: CPU|P4 3.4 Ghz (Dual Core)
RAM|4Gb
Drive|160 Gb SATA
NIC|Gigabit Ethernet At some point when we're actually switching over to the new hardware there will be a high potential for downtime due to DNS changes and general propagation issues though every effort will be made for this to be as seamless a process as possible. Again, Murphy's Law will most likely apply. So far, we're looking at the following order of migratory events: [LIST=1] - IRC Services
- E-Mail & Webmail
- Database(s)
- LORE
- Forums
Please note that when all is said-and-done, we're intending for all LORE features to resume 100% functionality at that time. Thank you all for your patience and understanding in this matter. -OneST8 PS: This thread will be updated with all significant stages and events of notable progress (and/or setbacks as the case my be).
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