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81

Layonara Server / Can't Connect Today/Last Night (or laggy)

« on: August 30, 2008, 10:45:59 am »

There are a few people reporting that they could not connect to the server last night and a few are still reporting that for today. I have also seen reports of the server being laggy.
 
 A few things.
 
 1) The company hosting the servers had problems yesterday with their core router. They sent me an email at 5:59pm stating they would be doing emergency repairs on their core router at 6pm. Sadly I did not check my emails until early this morning so I did not know this was happening and could not give you any updates. Sorry about that.
 2) It seems that their emergency maintenance took quite a long time (at least 30 minutes) but the servers are up now.
 3) I have restarted the world servers so the lag should be cleared. I don't know why they would be laggy due to the down time that the company caused but perhaps they did, I rebooted them just to be safe. This should cure the overly laggy issue (see #4 below though).
 4) I don't know what is going on with the some of you not being able to connect to the servers via gamespy or via direct connect. I am able to direct connect just fine (just did a few minutes ago). Currently there are 17 players online (after the server reboot). I am thinking that perhaps the company did something that is causing DNS to update across the internet (though our server IPs remain the same--so perhaps something on their router). If this is the case it will take a while for the information to propagate to the world (no more than 72 hours and probably less than 24 hours--of which it has been at least 12 now)....if this is the problem. I am not sure how else to help here other than to suggest waiting.
 
 Sorry for the inconvience.

82

General Discussion / A travelling bazaar!

« on: August 21, 2008, 04:56:14 pm »

Dream of opening an ingame shop?
First Friday Fair at Stormcrest

As much as I try, I cannot resist doing more than just hacking at giants ingame.  It is a curse, a plague, a feebleness of the mind.  So...

One thing about running a shop is that when there's no one around, it gets pretty boring.  You're standing there twiddling your thumbs when you suddenly get a whiff of an adventure afoot.  Do you join them and abandon your RP post?  If you do, you might miss that RP that is walking down the path just out of sight.  If you don't, you will likely kick yourself later as your buddies are leveling and you're dreaming of new PCs to submit for approval.

There is a solution provided to us by the very capable Layonara development team:  [lore]PC Quest System NPC and Chests[/lore].  See this image for an example of what is possible:  Dubbel's Store.

Here's what I'm thinking:  A group of RP-minded players band together and form a travelling market.  The goods in the chests would be RP items (foods, ales, pipeweed, etc.).  If you were there in person (between adventures) you could hawk your more durable goods.  Remember that the chests are not persistent across resets, nor are there any safeguards to theft since payment would be by the honor system.

I have some more ideas for this but following my own advice I'll think big and start small.

• Sign up one or more food, ale, and pipeweed sellers
• Partner with an existing PC-run business
• Send out bird messages with the week's menu and small tidbits about the vendors
• Have the paperboy sell the menu
• Work towards establishing a new tavern in a location like the Thundervalley Crossroads

83

Rumour Has It / In Memorial of Shiff Dragonheart

« on: July 21, 2008, 06:35:17 pm »

Word goes out quietly and with invitations to friends of the Dragonhearts of a small memorial service being held in Haven.  Shiff's remains will be interred on the hillside overlooking the town and the family Shiff worked so hard to protect during his life.  Those wishing to remember Shiff are invited to do so.

Shiff's armor and helm have been placed in a stone casket set in the ground, arranged in a manner recalling how they were worn in life.  Laying the length of the armor is Shiff's greatsword.  The arms and gauntlets of the armor have been placed on the hilt of the weapon, as if Shiff were holding the sword against his chest.

Val stands off to one side of the casket, supported on her left by her father.  Standing at the head of the casket is thirteen-year-old Drakus, feeling both important and scared.  He is holding an urn containing the ashes of his father, Shiff.  Val, refusing to cry, stands quietly, occassionally turning to speak quietly with her father.

After waiting a short while for those in attendance to settle, Val steps forward slightly to speak.  Her voice, none too pleasant to begin with, is noticeably rougher than usual, but is still strong and she is clearly heard.

"I'm not much for ceremonies, but I have a few words I'd like to say.  Shiff Dragonheart was a good man.  He was a strong man, a dependable man, a firm man, one who could be depended on, a loving man, and a protector.  He was a man who I always knew would support me.  Shiff was strong willed, unyielding in the face of adversity, and a man who worked tirelessly to accomplish good."

Looking upwards, Val continues: "Shiff, we are proud of you, and will remember you always.  As you kept us safe, we will keep your memory safe."

She takes on a slightly more formal tone:

[indent]"Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will!
 
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill."[/indent]

As she speaks the verses, her voice gets rougher and breaks several times on the last few lines.  Clearly barely able to contain her emotions, she says in a voice so quiet, even those in the front can barely hear her. "Shiff... you're finally home."

She steps back to her father, and he puts a comforting arm around her.  After a bit, when it seems clear she is too distraught to continue, her father moves towards Drakus, but Val reaches out a hand and stops him, quietly murmuring "I'll do it."  She reverently takes the urn from Drakus, setting it carefully under the breast of Shiff's armor.  The family then steps back, allowing others the opportunity to pay their last respects to Shiff Dragonheart.

//[size=-2]the poem is Requiem by Robert Louis Stevenson[/size]

84

Wild Surge Inn / Raven Trade Compagny Danger Trip #2

« on: July 11, 2008, 07:39:27 am »

* A post is tacked up on the message boards across various Inns Taverns and otherwise visited places by adventures *
 
The Raven Trade Compagny have decided to begin to host a series of gatherings, meant to illuminate and educate the infrequent adventurer in the dangers of the world. These gatherings will show and demonstrate the tenacity and sheer determination that all adventures are born with. This is the second of such gatherings.
 
 We hope that these trips will serve as a breeding ground for new friendships across the races and beliefs.
 
 A such first gathering is held here: Raven Trade Compagny Danger Trip #2
 
 Now a few small rules:
 
Because of the destinations travelled, the Ravens will hold the right to deny people if they are acting reckless or if they are otherwise known to cause danger to people.
 
We expect people to be of a mature experience, those attending can hold their own. Everyone can join in Hempstead, but due to whatever place we travel to, we may deem some inadequate to join along on the trip because of the danger involved. This is not to limit anyone to join along, but more to protect you and us.
 
Resources and items of value will be determined by need before greed. No items gained from these trips, are allowed to be sold/traded for profital use, and no resources will be given to people without a need for it.
 
 Lin'da Sul'kolindo on behalf of the Raven Trade Compagny.
 
// If RP is not initiated by the player either IG or with a letter, you will not be invited along, its as simple as that.
 
 If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, feel free to PM me.

85

Just for Fun / Timely warning

« on: April 08, 2008, 07:04:00 pm »

Pseudo's Community Service of the Day

Are you SURE you're ready to have children??

Test 1 - Preparation

Women: To prepare for pregnancy:-

1. Put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front.
2. Leave it there.

3. After 9 months remove 5% of the beans.

Men: To prepare for children:-

1. Go to a local chemist, tip the contents of your wallet onto the counter and tell the pharmacist to help himself
2. Go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home. Pick up the newspaper and read it for the last time.

Test 2 - Knowledge

Find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance levels and how they have allowed their children to run wild. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners and overall behavior.
 
Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life that you will have all the answers.


Test 3 - Nights

To discover how the nights will feel:

1. Walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 4 - 6kg, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2. At 10pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to sleep.  
3. Get up at 11pm and walk the bag around the living room until 1am.
4. Set the alarm for 3am.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2am and make a cup of tea.
6. Go to bed at 2.45am.
7. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs in the dark until 4am.
9. Put the alarm on for 5am. Get up when it goes off.
10. Make breakfast.

Keep this up for 5 years.

Test 4 - Dressing Small Children

1. Buy a live octopus and a string bag.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no arms hang out.

Time Allowed: 5 minutes.

Test 5 - Cars

1. Forget the BMW. Buy a practical 5-door wagon.
2. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
3. Get a coin. Insert it into the CD player.
4. Take a box of chocolate biscuits; mash them into the back seat.
5. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Test 6 - Going For a Walk

Wait
Go out the front door
Come back in again
Go out
Come back in again
Go out again
Walk down the front path
Walk back up it
Walk down it again
Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
Stop, inspect minutely and ask at least 6 questions about every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect along the way.
Retrace your steps
Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbours come out and stare at you.
Give up and go back into the house.

You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.

Test 7

Repeat everything you say at least 5 times.

Test 8 - Grocery Shopping

1. Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child - a fully grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
2. Buy your weekly groceries without letting the goat(s) out of your sight.
3. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.

Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Test 9 - Feeding a 1 year-old

1. Hollow out a melon
2. Make a small hole in the side
3. Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it side to side
4. Now get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5. Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6. Tip the rest into your lap, making sure that a lot of it falls on the floor.

Test 10 - TV

1. Learn the names of every character from the Wiggles, Barney, Teletubbies and Disney.
2. Watch nothing else on television for at least 5 years.

Test 11 - Mess

Can you stand the mess children make? To find out:

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains
2. Hide a fish behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flowerbeds and then rub them on clean walls. Cover the stains with crayon. How does that look?
4. Empty every drawer/cupboard/storage box in your house onto the floor & leave it there.

Test 12 - Long Trips with Toddlers

1. Make a recording of someone shouting 'Mummy' repeatedly. Important Notes: No more than a 4 second delay between each Mummy. Include occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet.
2. Play this tape in your car, everywhere you go for the next 4 years.

You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Test 13 - Conversations

1. Start talking to an adult of your choice.
2. Have someone else continually tug on your shirt hem or shirt sleeve while playing the Mummy tape listed above.
 
You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

Test 14 - Getting ready for work

1. Pick a day on which you have an important meeting.
2. Put on your finest work attire.
3. Take a cup of cream and put 1 cup of lemon juice in it
4. Stir
5. Dump half of it on your nice silk shirt
6. Saturate a towel with the other half of the mixture
7. Attempt to clean your shirt with the same saturated towel
8. Do not change (you have no time).
9. Go directly to work

You are now ready to have children.

86

General Discussion / Thank you!

« on: March 12, 2008, 08:57:32 am »

I want to take a moment to thank all of the people involved in the last three updates over the past two weeks. There has been many long hours (I would be willing to bet at least a thousand) put in to these updates and it is clear their love for the world and community is what keeps them working on updates. The past six months have been extremlly packed with RL happenings, holidays, family issues, and the list goes on and yet these individuals continue to produce updates for the community.
 
 There can not be enough thanks for them but I just want to make sure everybody understands that their selflessness is what continues to make the world a great gaming place that is enjoyed by many around the world.
 
 In no special order:
Gulnyr, muaddib, Chongo, Eorendil, Darkstorme, Weeblie, Script Wrecked, and Dorganth.
 
 Thank you and good job!!
 
I also want to thank everybody on the GM Team, now and in the past. I firmly believe that a major part of what makes Layonara so special is the GM Team and all of the events they run and all of the difficult work they do behind the scenes (online and off) in order to ensure that Layonara remains a RP server at heart. Your efforts do not go unnoticed and it is your attention to the spirit of the server which is what continues to make Layonara loved by many.
 
 Thanks folks, to each and every one of you!
 
And of course, thank you to the community! What a great RP community.
 
 You rock!