- Staff Updates
- Player Heartbeat
- Player Topics
Is there anything anyone would like to add to the agenda to make certain we discuss it today?"
Mika has returned from AFK.
Silrie has gone AFK.
Kinaed states, "I'll take the general silence for a no.
"Silrie has returned from AFK.
Kinaed claims, "So, kicking off staff updates - last week I dealt with some policy issues and we had a major bug in NPCs and public rooms reporting magery."
Silrie puts her weight on one stirrup and swings her leg over a sleek, coal black Charali bred stallion.
Silrie easily dismounts from a sleek, coal black Charali bred stallion.
Silrie sits down and rests.
Kinaed states, "I've been job searching IRL fairly intensively, though, so I haven't been around as much to tackle other things on my plate. Still looking at roles spec, but nothing else as far as I know."
Kinaed claims, "That's me."
Kinaed declaims, "I think Azarial is AFK, so Takta, you're up!"
Temi skips in down a rainbow, which sparkles away behind her. [OOC]
Takta exclaims, "Okay!"
Takta states, "While waiting on the final code for the Skyway, I've been busy trying to clear small items off my to-do list. This resulted in the introduction of suet (animal fat) to butchering and a chandlery recipe to turn suet into tallow for candles. "
Kinaed has lost link.
Kinaed has reconnected.
Takta states, "Also, staff discussed opening up herbalism as a non-guild skill, but consensus was that that option is undesirable. Instead, the herbalism-produced items required in chandlery are now purchaseable on-grid from Sweet Scents, off the candle shop."
Takta declaims, "I spent a lot of time putting out various small fires and as such, don't have too much else to report - so that's it for me!"
Silrie cheers for Takta.
Kinaed nods.
Kinaed says to Temi, "You're up.
"Temi claims, "Oh, well, I was at the chocolate festival, so that was distracting... let's see."
Temi says, "Taking up a plot a player fired off as a header due to amount of interest, so that's up now."
Temi says, "And general RPA, but no big projects currently."
Kinaed nods at Temi.
Temi claims, "And that's about it."
Adgen didn't think this much would happen from starting that plot header.
Kinaed claims, "Xinoe, your turn
"Xinoe says, "This past week I've logged:
14 typos fixed.
9 requests finished.
12 building tasks completed.
3 help files added or changed.
4 IC Events archived.
I've also updated HELP HOME and put most of the cost information into HELP COSTS which should help clarify what can be done to spruce up your lairs. I hope to pare down help home a little more too at some point as it's still mighty large. All this is helping move us closer to a more automated system, which should cut down on wait time for players and extra work for staff, but there's no ETA on that yet! I'm also expanding the auction house to spread repossessed items into different rooms. After that, new papercrafting is my top priority."
Xinoe claims, "I have a lot of preliminary work done for it. It's shaping up to be more of an artist's skill than anything so I may propose that it be removed as a guildskill, to function more like cooking and brewing. One last note, advance warning. I intend to run NaNoLithMo #2. So if you've been thinking about writing books in game, or starting or picking up a lapsed character blog, or submitting help files or lore, think about getting them into us in November! And that's my update."
Mika says, "Man i feel bad for whichever staffer has to follow xin"
Takta grins at Mika.
Silrie swoons.
Kinaed nods at Xinoe.
Kinaed pontificates, "Cool!"
Misune thinks Xinoe outshines most staff
Takta exclaims, "NaNoLithMo!"
Kinaed claims to Misune, "Probably."
Kinaed grins.
Kinaed states to Mika, "You're up, Mika
"Vaxin questions, "What is NaNoLithMo?"
Jahaezick states, "Ooohno"
Kato says, "A writing marathon, I believe. If it's anything like the RL equivalent."
Silrie questions, "National novel Lithmore month? XD"
Kinaed nods at Kato.
Mika pontificates, "All my busy stuff has been IC this week, but i finished the help hillman files with help from all you nice people!! other than that mostly small stuff and recs and things"
Mika says, "That is me"
Mika eats a party favor glove tied with opalescent ribbon.
Margaux says, "Wherein we write smutty literature about our fave. Lithmorrans from history."
Zaerieth says OOCly, "Just learning how to use papers and the like with my other char.. well, as she now has a need for it"
Kinaed nods at Mika.
Xinoe nods in agreement with Silrie.
Xinoe nods in agreement with Margaux.
Misune writes smut about flavious...
Zaerieth wonders to Temi, "By the way, did my plot ever get included?"
Kinaed says, "Okay, speaking for Az - lots of bugs fixed, some adjustments to the Indecent and Naked flags, and that appears to be the major stuff at the moment."
Kinaed says, "We're working hard on resolving the mage reporting bug."
Temi says to Zaerieth, "I got about two hours of sleep the night before last, so I made zero progress on them last night."
Temi claims to Zaerieth, "It's not forgotten, but no, not done yet."
Kinaed asks, "Okay, I think that resolves staff updates. Xinoe, want to explain NaNoLithMo?"
Zaerieth muses to Kinaed, "So, I now have to have zaeri wear sleaves?"
Silrie dances. "NaNo! NaNo!"
Kinaed claims to Zaerieth, "You don't *have* to do anything, but bare arms would be viewed as risque in Lithmore."
Margaux says, "Not keen on sleeves, personally. I always saw them as potentially integrated in the torso piece."
Aios nods in agreement with Margaux.
Otois claims, "I am more annoyed by the cloak rather than sleeves, especially now that there is summer"
Zaerieth says OOCly, "Ug. need to find something, that fits the gi's personality now.. she was never overly flashy"
Katrin states, "I was kind of confused by the sleeves thing."
Mika claims, "You no longer need to have the body slot covered"
Aios says, "I mention my sleeves in my tunic item, but they are "bunched up" so I guess that can still count as indecent."
Jahaezick says, "Oh thank god"
Takta states, "Sleeves can take so many different forms, though, it does make sense to separately describe them."
Jahaezick flips a voluminous cloak of soft woven fabric made without a hood back over his shoulder.
Jahaezick stops using a voluminous cloak of soft woven fabric made without a hood.
Otois stops using a plain, full-length cloak crafted from common, coarse wool.
Otois states, "Oh, cool"
Misune nods in agreement with marguax "I'v never understood the need for sleeves..."
Jahaezick passes a voluminous cloak of soft woven fabric made without a hood to a member of the Holy Order of Dav for the Alms box.
Misune states, "As a slot that is"
Takta says, "And you can have a sleeveless torso item."
Takta states, "So letting arms be a separate slot makes sense."
Jahaezick claims, "Jerkins, vests, slips, etcetera. Dresses without sleeves."
Silrie stops using a copper brooch fastens a trailing cape at the shoulder.
Kinaed states, "In a society where a woman showing a bit of ankle or wrist is risque, sleeves are a definite must."
Mika zips up her bear onesie
Kato states, "As a fellow advocate as the right to bare arms, I was told bangles and stuff is fine."
Temi claims, "Sleeves in this time period are traditionally a separate piece of the garment in many cases."
Silrie laughs at Mika.
Takta nods at Temi.
Adgen claims, "Exposure of flesh was considered a sin, i think. I mean it was considered scandalous for ankles to be seen at one point"
Kinaed states, "The question of whether or not they'd be integrated into a torso piece misses the fact that we have arm slots in general."
Kinaed nods at Temi.
Jahaezick claims, "This is that period."
Mika wonders, "You know what they say: bare arms? to the pyre with you"
Mika claims, "Im not as witty as galen with my rhyming mnemonics"
Jahaezick says, "I don't think anyone's said that."
Kato stops using loose black billowing sleeves tapered at the wrist to cuffs.
Otois claims, "Can always get bear arms to carry"
Kinaed says, "More like to the confessional, I think.
"Kato flips a loose-fitting wool hooded poncho, cut in the bardic style back over his shoulder.
Mika drinks vodka from a square crystal bottle of high-quality Vandagan vodka.
Jahaezick states, "Damn. Now I need bear arms to be heavily armed."
Takta states, "Think of the arm slot as a chance to sneak in yet more cool description of your clothes.
"Mika nods at Takta.
Silrie smiles.
Jahaezick claims, "I'm making bear arm maces."
Adgen prefers to arm bears.
Otois says to Jahaezick, "Sleeves styled as bear arms"
Margaux states, "That is why I usually toss them. Anyway, not too stressed. I usually have sleeves because someone else makes my clothes."
Kinaed nods at Margaux.
Xinoe says, "For those unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo which is where I shamelessy stole the name, it's National Novel Writing Month - where you're encouraged to write up a 10,000 word novel during the month of November. For our purposes, we attempt to reach 10,000 words as a community through help file additions, IC books, lore and character blogs. As thanks for participating and for fleshing out the game, you earn some QP. We did really well last year and got some great stuff out of the contest, so I'm really looking forward to what we get this year."
Silrie claims, "50,000"
Xinoe exclaims, "Oops yes, 50k!"
Xinoe says, "I'm being encouraged to call it LithNoWriMo too."
Otois claims, "10k is a lot of words"
osay And we are going for five times that!
Tomas says OOCly, "And we are going for five times that!"
Silrie queries, "But as a community, I think, so we just contribute what we can for that total?"
Kinaed says, "It's actually pretty tame when spread across 121 unique players per week."
Takta claims, "Last year I think we came VERY close."
Xinoe nods at Silrie.
Takta claims, "With a playerbase half the size."
Kinaed nods at Takta.
Temi wonders, "Did we do a prize for everybody that contributed if we met it?"
Temi ponders.
Kinaed states, "I don't recall. Maybe we should this year."
Adgen states, "I think qp, don't remembers"
Temi nods in agreement with Adgen.
Takta nods at Adgen.
Takta claims, "Yeah, some extra QP on top of general contribution QP based off how close we got."
Xinoe nods.
Kinaed says, "Xinoe will kick off with a post come Nov explaining what to do."
Zaerieth says OOCly, "Could go ahead and do a blog"
Kinaed nods at Zaerieth.
Xinoe claims, "I don't know where my logs are of it all, but I'll be sure to look them up before November rolls around again. If we didn't actually make it we came very close."
Aios claims, "Can we write dirty IC fanfic about nobles that can be tucked into the seedier parts of town? You know, hypothetically."
Takta grins at Aios.
Xinoe wonders to Aios, "Again?"
Silrie laughs.
Kinaed nods at Aios.
Ofelia states, "I kinda love the idea of a Lithmore pulp serial left at various inns."
Margaux questions to Aios, "Isn't that what you're already doing?
"Otois states, "He just wants more qp for it
"Kinaed says, "Okay, so that's Staff Updates, right? Time for Player Heartbeat. How are things going RP-wise, folks? Enjoying the game? Anything shitting you that you want to discuss (besides sleeves, we've already discussed sleeves)."
Aios snickers.
Adgen states, "I think we made it, I know we hit the first 25% of it in no time, really got it going."
Silrie shrugs. "rp's ok."
Vaxin claims, "Well, I really hate sleeves"
Otois says, "Non-existant for me, darn RL"
Adgen is having fun with the Plot system. Took some time getting used to it.
Kato claims, "I'm having fun as usual. "
Kinaed comforts Otois.
Ofelia states, "Good! Been getting a solid crash course in plot advances. (Also to friendlily remind people to answer their maaaaaaaillllll.)"
Mika says, "I've noticed people making an effort to embrace the bloodier aspects of the theme, which i appreciate"
Misune states, "Rps been interesting this last week. Been doing alot of behind the scenes stuff, but what has happened has been nice. Though accidently crashing the game wasn't fun"
Kinaed comforts Misune.
Vaxin claims, "I've done that so often"
Margaux claims, "Quiet week."
Otois exclaims to Ofelia, "No mail for prisoners!"
Silrie makes a mental note to work on that.
Kato asks Mika, "Embrace bloodier aspects of the theme?"
Zaerieth says OOCly, "Not from zaeri's stand point.. though, I didn't know just how bad punishments could get"
Lidiya is idle.
Kinaed comforts Zaerieth.
Ofelia says to Otois, "Tch."
Vaxin states, "I've crashed the game at least four times
"Kinaed states to Vaxin, "Wow, I think that's a record that beats even me in a given week."
Zaerieth says OOCly, "I litterly had to go f me, and walk away after a while.. it hit emotionally rl"
Lidiya is no longer idle.
Lidiya has returned from AFK.
Kinaed comforts Zaerieth.
Silrie hugs Zaerieth.
Margaux claims to Zaerieth, "I've been in that situation a few times."
Mika says to Kato, "There's more of a shift where people who think bloody punishments are barbaric are becoming the outliers"
Kinaed wonders to Zaerieth, "Did you want to catch up with me about it afterward, or let it go?"
Takta says, "It's definitely rough dealing with that side of things, but in the end it creates much better RP."
Mika nods.
Zaerieth says to Kinaed, "I'm torn on a choice, so might talk I'm not mad, persay though I do have some questions"
Kinaed nods at Zaerieth.
Kato claims, "I am anxiously awaiting the next whipping/execution."
Kinaed says to Zaerieth, "We'll catch up after then."
Silrie asks, "The whipsecution?"
Otois wonders to Kato, "Practiced your whipping music?"
Kinaed claims, "Okay, well... we're done with Player Heartbeat, so that puts us at Player Topics. No one has registered any with me today though."
Aios states, "I have to say I'm happy with how punishments have been generally. People don't go straight for a kill or a limb, but it's more stocks, community service, etc. and THEN down the road it's blood."
Kinaed queries, "Do we want to wrap up early, or does anyone have anything they'd like to further discuss?"
Aios says that stuff late.
Silrie thinks.
Kinaed nods at Aios.
Jahaezick says, "Yes, we should have those NPCs who falsely reported magery whipped"
Misune proposes we end the ooc chat by having death match. Last one alive gets to leave the chat.
Silrie questions, "Hunger Games TI style?"
Otois flexes his muscles at that idea
Kato claims, "I always think I have something to ask and then I forget by the time the meeting rolls around."
Zaerieth asks of Kinaed, "Actually, I do have a question. any applications for a arch?"
Misune says, "Just what people have or brought with them to the chat."
Ofelia queries, "But is 'talking to death' a suitable choice of weapon?"
Kinaed claims, "Oh! One change I forgot to mention - we found a bug in pooling where people who pooled very little were gaining subranks far more easily than people who were actually practicing to pool. We've made an underlying change to how pool values process."
Zaerieth would realy, like to offload some leadership (OOC Emote)
Kinaed claims, "Please report if things get significantly easier or harder."
Otois states to Ofelia, "You can easily suffocate soemone with your skirts, easy"
Ofelia sulks, "But I'm not wearing the really ridiculous ones.
Kinaed claims to Zaerieth, "No applications for arch bishop yet, no."
Jahaezick raises a hand. "I was actually considering apping for arch."
Vaxin queries, "One quick thing, why was the teaching of spells changed from being instant/does it have it be soo slow? "
Margaux claims to Ofelia, "We'll team up and use the 'wrap in red tape' combo."
Kinaed says to Jahaezick, "Cool."
Otois questions to Kinaed, "When did that change go live?"
Ofelia fistbumps Margaux.
Margaux states to Ofelia, "Then I'll shank you when it is just the two of us lift."
Otois trails off to Kinaed, "Because my pooling today was very... different"
Kato claims, "I'd like to see performance skills get more 'pool' for longer emotes or being done in more popular rooms. It's pretty discouraging to put effort into a non pre-baked dance just to have it do nothing to your pool."
Misune is pondering the same thing as Vaxin
Ofelia says to Margaux, "Are you sure you could? I'm super loveable and stuff."
Kinaed states to Kato, "The way pooling works under the hood, that'd be a bit difficult, but I can increase pooling rates for performance skills easily."
Silrie starts writing a note. (This is an OOC action)
Margaux pontificates to Ofelia, "I may fail at the last moment!"
Takta claims, "The pool change went in yesterday or the day before."
Kinaed claims to Kato, "Mind, it's not impossible, it'd just be a low priority and take a long time to get in."
Katrin has lost link.
Mika says to Vaxin and Misune, "I haven't noticed spell teaching going super slow? I can teach one spell in a scene, usually."
Takta questions to Mika, "Are you teaching only low-level spells?"
Mika states, "Yyyyes"
Takta claims, "That's why."
Takta grins.
Mika says, "Aha i didnt know they were different"
Silrie finishes her note.
Takta says, "There are considerable increases in time required for harder spells."
Vaxin states, "Maybe it has to do with too little charisma, but I've reached the point in scenes where we simply don't know what to emote about as we wait for the spell to finish"
Kato claims, "Just something I'm tossing out there. I wouldn't be master if I didn't do a lot of self training. I at least tried to mix it up and not spam, but eh. It was the only real way to make good progress and was indeed boring."
Silrie glances around.
Mika trails off to Vaxin, "Clearly the solution is ... get pretty so people will look at you while you're talking"
Takta states to Kato, "Well, you did also choose to master fast."
Takta grins at Kato.
Vaxin wonders, "So does the pooling change reward more knowledge in the pool?"
Misune trails off, "I have ran into the same issue... teaching a spell isn't exactly the same thing as teaching a skill... at least a skill you have some idea of what actually goes into it..."
Takta trails off, "So, the pool change..."
Silrie begins to count their money.
Takta says, "Before you had HUGE diminishing returns if you had large amounts of pool."
Otois states, "On the new pooling, today I had a skill at 99% before I went to train, and after session it took about 5 "ticks" for it to actually progress"
Vaxin says to Mika, "This is like dating advice. Just get handsome."
Mika grins.
Takta claims, "By far the most effective way to train was 1 or 2 skill uses at a time."
Ofelia states to Vaxin, "Applicable to everything."
Takta claims, "Now you no longer observe diminishing returns, so long as you do not hit More than you can grasp."
Jahaezick claims, "Mika confirmed for Eesma."
Takta says, "The actual time it takes for something in your pool to tick down into real knowledge has not changed."
Zaerieth says OOCly, "So, if you train, you should improve?"
Jahaezick claims, "Well maybe you should have thought of that before you were born UGLY."
Silrie muses, "Um wow?"
Takta says, "For most people the experience should be very similar, but let us know if you feel it's changed."
Mika buffs her fingernails
Otois claims to Takta, "Hmm, bad luck with that then. But i love the removal of punishing people who focus in pooling
"Kinaed states to Vaxin, "Sorry, just caught up - we changed instant spell teaching because that's what it was - not only wasn't it realistic, it was common for a mage to meet another mage and just exchange their entire spell lists in 2 minutes."
Temi claims, "Getting a bunch before you go RP and let it soak in shouldn't carry a penalty anymore."
Temi grins.
Takta nods at Temi.
Kinaed nods at Temi.
Takta claims, "Just an ancient hidden function that had been sitting there making things wonky like that for years."
Kinaed nods at Takta.
Misune glances at Kinaed "But why does it have to be so incredibly slow to teach a spell?"
Vaxin questions, "Can we tone down the amount required, or how penalized you are for having bad Charisma then? It shouldn't take more than an hour to learn spell, should it?"
Kinaed states, "So bottom line - new pooling should happen about the same rate, there are no benefits or negatives to practicing to get more pool."
Mika says, "I like the idea of it taking a while, but my concern is you run out of stuff to rp about teach-ways when it comes to spells"
Takta nods at Mika.
Takta states, "This is a problem at the higher spell ranks."
Kinaed states to Vaxin, "If it's a 5th Circle spell, I'd expect it to take more than an hour - even a couple of days."
Vaxin says, "This spell was the first one of an element"
Kinaed claims, "I'm not sure charisma is the big hit, it's not having the teaching skill, I expect."
Kinaed says, "If you're bad at teaching, then teaching will be hard for you in general, regardless of whether you're teaching magic or something else."
Zaerieth says OOCly, "Question, so does int and wis effect how quickly you learn if someone is teaching?"
Takta says, "A 4th circle spell took three days of several hours each, in my experience, at teach 36."
Kinaed states to Zaerieth, "Only in that it affects how quickly you process your pool and the maximum pool you can hold."
Kato wonders, "I've managed to get a lot of RP out of teaching dancing and acting -- easily 1 IC hour+. Spells shouldn't be that difficult to do the same with...? "
Misune says, "Which is kind of ridiculous"
Vaxin questions, "How many people actually take teach as well?"
Takta states to Kato, "There is not much defined magical theme at the moment."
Kinaed claims to Takta, "I think it'll take half that at rank 75 teach."
Vaxin claims, "You're punishing the learner for the teacher's choices"
Kato says, "I have teaching. Sort of."
Ofelia states, "I'm not seeing what's unfair about it, poor teachers have a hard time teaching no matter what they're teaching."
Temi says, "More of a punishment to the teacher. They're not necessarily getting a benefit out of it."
Takta nods at Temi.
Margaux claims, "People should be responsible for making up their own magical theme as fits the cell-like nature of magic."
Kinaed claims, "Er, it's not a punishment, it mimics reality. No one has a right to learning spells outside of their element 'easily'."
Takta claims, "The difficulty is RPing for that long on a single spell."
Margaux claims to Temi, "Good point that, however."
Adgen claims, "I think 3 stats affect with teaching, int and wis denote how much you understand, charisma denotes how much of your ranks you can teach(i.e.- 60 cha means you can teach up to 60% of your current rank) teach makes how much info you actually put across"
Aios says, ""You draw the thing, you wave the thing, then you cast the spell! C'mon, what's so hard to learn?!" said the crappy teacher."
Kinaed says, "As it is, the game hands over a mage's own element spells upon achieving castable rank."
Mika grins at Aios.
Takta states, "Right now teaching is a bit in flux."
say I don't see what the issue is either necessarily. it makes sense as far as the world goes, and the spells are super useful. seems silly for it to be like 'oh hey share your spell book, awesome, I can do a lot more now' in an instant
Kato claims, "Then again, I have 200+ RP hours and no actual useful skill to speak of = D And I can easily say teaching is probably my least used skill."
Tomas states, "I don't see what the issue is either necessarily. it makes sense as far as the world goes, and the spells are super useful. seems silly for it to be like 'oh hey share your spell book, awesome, I can do a lot more now' in an instant"
(This is an OOC room. Nothing counts for rpxp here.)
Kinaed nods at Adgen.
Takta claims, "I think there is a false dichotomy between instant and 6+ hours, however."
Misune sighs "There is a difference between making spells hard to learn, and it making it unreasonable to learn.
Takta nods at Misune.
Adgen likes the way teach works.
Takta claims, "2 hours is an excellent, challenging length of time to RP about one single spell, from my past experience."
Mika nods at Takta.
Kato muses, "IC or OOC hours?"
Kinaed says, "A scene can easily be 3 to six hours on its own. Having to meet someone three or four times to get a ranking spell in an outside element seems fine to me."
Takta claims, "OOC hours."
Xinoe asks, "I would say part of the trouble here is going from instant access to requiring more time invested in learning spells. And the greatest trouble with teaching seems to be in finding enough material to talk about. I don't think we're terribly strict though when it comes to what you talk about for teaching? It should be on the topic, but I don't think you'd be penalized if your lecture discussed broader aspects of magic?"
Misune claims, "I agree, most of my magical based scenes last about 2 hours"
Takta says, "Beyond that it becomes very difficult to continue to generate meaning RP on the subject."
Takta claims, "*meaningful"
Kato questions, "A lot of it can be teaching the application or suggestions rather than 'how it happens,' right?"
Kinaed states to Xinoe, "I think discussing the broader aspects of magic is fine."
Kinaed nods at Kato.
Mika says, "You end up tapering off from cool pseudo physics lesson to just "practices the thing again, alright here we go""
Takta says, "Even so, when we're talking 6+ hours, you're going to run out of content."
Temi states, "Or a long story about this one time when you casted this on that knight and it was hi-lllarious."
Temi grins.
Kato nods.
Misune claims, "Especially if you have to do it for multiple spells"
Kinaed states, "I think it should be broken up rather than attempted in a single run."
Mika nods at Temi.
Adgen says, "For an 'rl' way to see it. How many movies are there where the protagonist has to repeat the same thing over and over until they finally get their finishing move? That's what the new teaching of the spells does."
Takta says, "Movies gloss that process over with a montage for entertainment's sake."
Takta grins.
Vaxin states, "I'm not objecting to it taking time. I just think that teaching is not a extraordinarily useful skill, and players who aren't established and have XP to spare, or at least me, would never think to take it. Which means if a character of mine was to teach a spell, it could take a really really long time. And there are a lot of spells to learn. "
Mika claims, "That gets backgrounded in rp you can practice on your own"
Otois says to Adgen, "Karate kid"
Kato claims, "Clearly we need IC montages."
Takta nods at Vaxin.
Mika wonders, "Maybe if you could practice the spell yourself beyond a certain point?"
Takta states, "I -love- non-instant spell teaching."
Kinaed says, "This change makes teaching a far more useful skill overall as it's part of the innate utility of the skill."
Takta claims, "I am concerned solely by the durations required."
Kinaed claims to Mika, "That idea has merit."
Kato shrugs to Vaxin. "Unfortunately, there are a lot of useless skills. It helps when players go the extra mile to reward people who invest in the skills, though."
Otois asks of Kato, "What are the useless skills?"
Takta states, "I do like making the process more RP-based, which is the upside of the current method."
Aios claims to Otois, "I have Champion butcher."
Takta grins at Aios.
Kinaed has transferred Emma. [OOC]
Otois states, "I do not see that as useless"
Otois claims, "You can charge 5x for your meat"
Otois states, "I mean, just touch that prime cut, you will not get quality like htat from random butcher"
Vaxin says, "But I'm not being rewarded if I have teach really, I can always end the RP at any point. It's the student who is rewarded if I have teach."
Adgen claims, "Worth is only in the eye of the beholder. A skill one person might see as useless, is something someone else sees as priceless."
Takta states, "I would like to redo butcher eventually so it's more useful, more fine-grained variety of possible returns."
Misune runs a hand over his face "It seems like the majority of changes to magery as of late has in some manner screwed with mages and their abilities to somewhat effectively be a mage."
Kinaed claims to Vaxin, "Charge them in either money, or service, support, or whatever."
Takta claims, "(We should talk about that, Aios.)"
Aios grins at Takta.
Kinaed says, "No one says a teacher has to be benevolent."
Aios nods at Takta.
pose nods in agremeent with /kinaed
Tomas nods in agremeent with Kinaed
(This is an OOC room. Nothing counts for rpxp here.)
Vaxin says, "I agree with Misune, personally. Being a mage has become much harder recently."
Takta says, "I think the problem is just the fatigue of it. I have loved teaching magic in past RP."
say except for the greatly expanded magecrafting...
Tomas trails off, "Except for the greatly expanded magecrafting..."
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Misune claims, "Heck, when you have new players comment that they have no interest in playing a mage because of some underlying issues in it, you would think that says something"
Zaerieth says OOCly, "I'm finding the magic system as a hole, I don't know. I don't think I want to play a mage.. its just to...."
Vaxin says, "To learn the spells of another element if each spells took 3-4 hours would require 60 hours of RP just RPing with another mage. I've been playing this character for three weeks, and haven't reached 60 hours of RP"
Kato claims to Otois, "I'd say most perform skills. Especially acting. I would assume acting would be useful in a world of double-crossing and going undercovercovering your intent, but I think any attempt to create a rule or policy about it would make people pretty pissed. And honestly it seems to hinder Troubadours more now. We have a Theatre, but if you want to hold a play, people will need acting skill -- right? But that's just me."
say I think that when they see people constantly complaining about it, it often excacerbates things
Tomas claims, "I think that when they see people constantly complaining about it, it often excacerbates things"
(This is an OOC room. Nothing counts for rpxp here.)
Ofelia says to Misune, "I mean, most of the new player complaints I've seen are 'But I have to die!', that's more them clashing with the theme than with the mechanics."
Adgen claims, "I think it's going perfectly to show a need for the Manus and a private place for mages to meet and teach each other without worry of the reeves and such."
Kinaed claims, "I think both of these changes - teaching and reporting - are generally realistic. BEING a mage hasn't gotten more difficult, and practically speaking, being reported on wouldn't impact most mages anyway (most mages weren't going around evoking in front of NPCs in church square, for example). Getting out-of-element stuff has gotten more difficult."
Kinaed says, "But I think the blanket statement is unfair."
say I'm not saying that maybe it doesn't need improvement, but I think the amount that needs changing and the amount of complaining about it is disproportionate
Tomas claims, "I'm not saying that maybe it doesn't need improvement, but I think the amount that needs changing and the amount of complaining about it is disproportionate"
(This is an OOC room. Nothing counts for rpxp here.)
Misune states, "I was referring to a post on the 'Why use magic' topic recently. "
Takta states, "I do think so far everyone who's used new spell teaching at circle 3 or above has felt negative about the experience, though."
Emma muses, "What changed with teaching?"
Kinaed nods at Tomas.
Takta claims, "It is truly a great idea, it's just a small tweak needed for the execution."
Takta says to Emma, "Teaching spells is no longer instant."
Emma has returned from IAW.
Emma states, "Ahhh."
Mika says, "The recent evoke disable reminded me and others how much being a mage can be like playing the game on godmode"
Emma questions, "Teaching the element, moon, and spell all separate pools?"
Kinaed states to Misune, "To be blunt, the premise of the thread 'why use magic' struck me as self serving."
Takta nods at Emma.
Takta grins at Mika.
Otois trails off to Kato, "Well, if people ignore that someone may be a great actor and neer get "swayed" by it, well, there is a problem with the other players I have to say, but this is the bigger problem with many other aspects where many PCs are... well stoics"
Misune questions, "Self-serving how?"
Kinaed states, "The premise was 'if magic is not deadly, why be a mage because people won't be afraid of me'"
Takta claims, "Magic's usefulness is based on your creativity, and your goals. For many people it is extremely useful."
Kinaed claims, "And that was just about seeking to make mages more combat deadly so as to reduce the risk of acting as a mage."
Silrie listens with interest.
sayto misune the thread screams to me 'we want more power'
Tomas says to Misune, "The thread screams to me 'we want more power'"
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Misune states, "Yes, that is a little self-serving, but there have been many other points brought up, such as the risk far outweighing the reward of bothering to play a mage"
Kinaed claims to Misune, "Everyone is entitled to their opinions on whether or not they want to play a mage."
Misune states, "Points that just seem to be ignored for convenience sake"
say the risks are there for anybody playing a villain
Tomas claims, "The risks are there for anybody playing a villain"
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Otois claims, "Well the only reward that comes from playing a mage is RP it generates."
Temi states, "Yes, there's a lot of good points in that thread, and we've been reading and considering it"
Jahaezick states, "The introduction of magecraft really drove the point home that magic is hella useful already."
sayto otois they get a greatly increased rec level
Tomas states to Otois, "They get a greatly increased rec level"
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Takta claims, "Risk and reward vary tremendously depending on who your PC is and what they do."
sayto otois they get their own crafting, a lot of utility from the spells
Tomas claims to Otois, "They get their own crafting, a lot of utility from the spells"
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Kinaed claims, "It wasn't ignored for convenience sake, it was ignored because the points were wrong. If we built a game where mages were superior in all situations, then mages win."
Otois says to Tomas, "That too, but you still will be losing XP on having a mage due to purchase silver etc"
Kinaed says, "We can't build a game where one side wins in all situations."
Kinaed says, "That's not even a game, it's a route."
Jahaezick claims, "From the throne race event, I'd say we're pretty even right now"
sayto otois everyone has that though
Tomas states to Otois, "Everyone has that though"
(This is an OOC room. Nothing counts for rpxp here.)
Temi claims, "And trying to make it a better experience, which along with the increasing difficulties, we've been working hard to do. Focusing on making mages a rich, RP-producing option, rather than simply a powerful option."
Takta nods at Temi.
sayto otois having to purchase silver and losing xp
Tomas claims to Otois, "Having to purchase silver and losing xp"
(This is an OOC room. Nothing counts for rpxp here.)
Mika nods at Temi.
Kinaed nods at Temi.
Otois says to Tomas, "Same with REC level, just that non-mages have to work at it longer to get to 100
"Takta states, "The magecraft expansion. The awesome spell changes that have happened with changing up old spells for new, cooler, more RP-generating options. "
Takta states, "We have like 10 more spells than we had a year ago."
Katrin is idle.
Temi says, "And some of the ones on the bug board list, waiting for time to implement them, are super cool"
Kinaed trails off, "Okay, so where I'm at..."
sayto otois yeah... I know. mages get a huge head start on it to make up for their often relatively short lifespans
Tomas states to Otois, "Yeah... I know. mages get a huge head start on it to make up for their often relatively short lifespans"
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sayto otois I haven't seen how they are gimped in that way at all
Tomas claims to Otois, "I haven't seen how they are gimped in that way at all"
(This is an OOC room. Nothing counts for rpxp here.)
Emma states, "I have a thematic question/thought about mages and combattishness."
Adgen says, "If you want a good way to look at magery, watch Heroes, X-Men movies and the like. It's mutatants but it shows a similarity. You have people with a totally useless power that are still being hunted and treated as monster/criminals."
Kato nods to Otois. "It's gotten to the point to where tagging myself as master of acting when telling a fib is more detrimental than not. But again, I think it's fine as it is." Saying to the others, "As for the 'why be a mage' thread, I contributed to it. I take back my words about mages needing to be deadly, but I still think it's a lot of XP sunk into a character that you won't get a fraction of back. But, rec level bonuses certainly help! And again, I'm def not the person to ask about whether it's balanced. Just my input."
Kinaed claims, "We have some real world examples of mages trying to learn higher level spells, and apparently it's viewed as too difficult. I'm not sure how realistic this is, but we'll review it. We may need to review it a few times."
Takta nods at Kinaed.
Kinaed states, "Mage reporting to knights when done in public rooms or in front of human NPCs is not yet properly in, and needs to be fixed up, but at htis time I don't see it being any harder on mages than on thieves."
Mika nods at Emma.
Kinaed claims, "As I said, most people were already circumspect."
Kinaed states, "The impact is generally low."
Temi claims, "XP isn't there to get XP back. It's there to build a rich, fun experience."
Adgen has wanted Mage reports for Knights for a very long time.
Kinaed queries, "And that's where I'm at at the moment. Emma, you wanted to ask something?"
Vaxin says, "Honestly, I think these changes are the reason mages are so paranoid."
Kinaed says, "Mages are intended to be paranoid; that's their play theme."
Vaxin claims, "Or don't help the problem at least"
Otois says to Tomas, "Who said that they are gimped? It is just that for all the additonal hard work they require, the only reward is amazing RP. I love it, i tend to always have a mage so hey. But lets be honest, it is a lot of work and xp, running a mage is like having a sport car really"
Ofelia questions to Otois, "I mean, why be here if not for the RP?"
Emma muses, "There was something I noticed in that thread that got me thinking. Something about uhh, "Why would Dav have led the big crusade in the first place if all mages can do is blah blah". Back in the good ole days when Mages murdered the whole Royal family there were extra Circles of magic, right?"
Emma queries, "Sixth and Seventh?"
Otois claims to Ofelia, "I got plenty of sport cars
"Otois states, "Loving every minute of it, but not everyone shares that, especially epople who do nto have 20h/week+ to play"
Temi nods at Emma.
Kinaed queries, "How many poor people think bad things about rich people?"
Emma states, "And thematically, those circles stopped being a thing because of the HUGE crippling that happened in Mage society. Getting worse and worse over time."
Takta nods at Emma.
Kinaed says, "Magic is the great divide between the haves and the have nots."
Jahaezick claims, "Someone pulled the bathplug of the world, and the magic is draining out"
Mika says, "Yeah"
Emma claims, "So I guess it's not really a question so much as a maybe explanation - no need to ask the question of why people were so terrified of mages back then. Mages flatly aren't what they used to be."
Emma asks, "And thematically can't/shouldn't be?"
Takta claims, "We've never pinned down -precisely- what was lost and how it was lost, beyond the fact that a lot was lost irreparably, yeah."
Kinaed says, "History doesn't even specifically say that mages killed Dav's family, only that he accused them and politically speaking there was a chance of that. Also, in Dav's time, there were more than 5 Circles of magic."
Mika says, "Thematically and on a pc balance level yeah"
Emma says, "Right."
Kinaed states, "There's a help file... let me see."
Takta claims, "Now, mages can still do all kinds of horrible crap to you, but a lot of it rests on your shoulders to RP out the effects of it."
Takta declares, "(Though I should say: mages, hook up with friends/partners and plan and you can do so much more than you know!)"
Kinaed says, "There's a help file only the Order has called HELP ORDER ORIGINS."
Otois says to Takta, "But then we have a lot of stoic PCs who, well, just do not fear magic for some reason"
Temi states, "Throw your mage a bone and go way overboard on the RP when you get hit. Plus it is tons of fun to just be crazy about it."
Temi grins.
Emma states, "There are a lot of widely varying points in that thread, but that was one that struck me as odd. The 6th/7th circles are lost. Mages today can't even really be compared to mages then."
Takta nods at Emma.
Adgen states to Otois, "I think that's called the player base.
"Kinaed states, "It explains that Dav, similar to Emperor Constantine, raised a radical fringe sect of the Mother Church (the Order) for politcal reasons."
Takta states, "The most powerful mage who exists nowadays can still not even conceive of, say, inventing a spell."
Kinaed states, "Their doctrine was the eradication of mages."
Mika claims to Otois, "If you dont fear magic clearly you are a mage yourself"
Kato declaims, "I feared magic!"
Temi claims, "I don't know why people want to be stoic. Sure, you can 'look too cool to care', but you miss out on the fun freaking."
Temi grins.
Otois says to Mika, "Well, then we need more inquisitors enforcing that view
"Takta grins at Temi.
Takta queries to Temi, "Right?"
Misune wonders, "Would a group of mages even be capable of such?"
Mika nods at Takta.
Mika nods at Temi.
Adgen has a perfectly thematic reason for not fearing magery, it's why he's in trouble right now.
Emma turns to Agden. "Shunnnnn..."
Otois spent rl 3 days in recovery after just seeing a mage do his thing, go figure
Silrie smiles.
Ofelia trails off, "Ofelia may cease fainting in the presence of magic just from erosion. So many death threats..."
Takta claims, "I don't think this is written down precisely this way, but the way I think of it... Six and Seventh circle mages could invent. Fifth circle mages can at best develop new applications of existing spells and objects."
Kinaed says, "When you're raised to believe that a crow croaking on your windowsill means that you or someone you know is about to die, I don't think it's really thematic for even people who handle magic on a daily basis to believe it's entirely benign."
Takta nods at Kinaed.
Kinaed states, "A mage mis-casting a spell can fry themselves."
Kinaed claims, "A mage shouldn't view magic as benign. "
Silrie nods in agreement.
Misune chuckles "I have had to explain backfired casting several times... oh the stories I have weaved."
Otois muses to Kinaed, "Maybe a helpfile highliting that fear of magic would help? Seem like having one to point to would be useful"
Kinaed grins at Misune.
Kinaed nods at Otois.
Kinaed states, "I'll put it on the list."
Otois claims, "I mean the one with medieval torture and such did work I think"
Misune and typically those stories end up blaming a drunk fool
Zaerieth says OOCly, "Wow. didn't even know that order file exissted"
Gretel says "May I had my newcommer opinion? Mages are inexistents in my humble point of view, and not frightenning at all. The order is frightening, and have the ingame role of the "evil"."
Kinaed says, "Okay, we're at the end of this meeting."
Adgen states, "And I'd like to point out that mage spells aren't entirely harmless. I mean mind-reading alone is a very aggressive spell when you think about it."
Kinaed nods at Gretel.
Misune trails off, "It makes me wonder how... secretive that helpfile should be... it's rather potent"
Mika nods at Gretel.
Kinaed states to Gretel, "Certainly an opinion we should think about."
Margaux says to Gretel, "The mages and Order are both capable of evil and.. neutrality and sometimes (rarely) good."
Emma declaims, "Oh hey guys!"
Zaerieth questions to Otois, "Are we saying that inquisitors aren't helping the fear of mages?"
Takta says to Gretel, "I'd urge you to flip that around to an IC view, though: the Order wants to save you and help you."
Otois wonders to Zaerieth, "Am i getting inquisited?
"Takta claims to Gretel, "If they hurt you, it's only for your own good."
Silrie waves.
Emma states, "I got here waaaay too late for player topics, but: Please don't set pmoods for perfumes/cosmetics that can be bought from chandlerers.
It's bleh for the people who try to make them."Silrie stands up.
Silrie begins to descend.
Mika declaims, "Please save all inquiring for on grid !"
Adgen states to Zaerieth, "Ummm, personal opinion, The Order is helping with the fear of the Order more than the fear of mages."
Silrie leaves down with the soft rustle of skirts.
Kinaed nods at Emma.
Otois nods at Adgen.
Ofelia says to Zaerieth, "I think it's more that the Order is present vs the hidden mages. From a first degree impression, it'sa lot more potent."
Margaux claims, "I echo Emma."
Takta declaims to Emma, "Good point!"
Kinaed states, "I think it's against the rules to fake having non-prop items, by the way."
Kato says to Gretel, "It's a tough sell given our modern perspective."
Otois says to Zaerieth, "What adgen said. My gripe was that there doesn't seem enough drag-to-confession for not chalicing when mages are metnioned"
Ofelia trails off, "Plus cosmetics give you an app boost! So's..."
Otois states, "And other things like that"
Gretel says "I agree with Ofelia, that's what I meant."
Kinaed says, "If it's just a prop (ie, a non-functional item), then you can just RP having it, but if it's a functional item that you need to get somewhere, like a sword or perfume, you may not just RP having it."
Margaux claims, "The Order is supposed to be about fear of the Order AND fear of mages, imo."
Lidiya has lost link.
Lidiya has reconnected.
Ofelia says to Gretel, "You're supposed go give it a bit of swilling suspension of disbelief, though."
Ofelia states, "To gretel Ofelia hasn't met a mage (that she knows) yet magery made her faint where problems with the Order merely make her annoyed."
Zaerieth says OOCly, "Ok. I didn't know that. I'll work on that"
Kinaed states, "I have to admit, with so many people in the room, I've gotten a bit behind the commentary. I will reread this OOC Chat when it is posted."
Takta claims, "Only 15 years ago ICly, mages killed 30,000 people in this very city."
Zaerieth adds that to her growing list (OOC Emote)
Takta states, "Flooded the city magically and murdered a tremendous amount of innocents."
Lidiya says, "The Order is more the villain you know, but both can be very scary, depending on your PC's pov."
Kinaed states, "In the meantime, our hour is up. Thank you everyone for coming and participating. I hope that, even if your views were initially disagreed with, you see the value of raising your points and know that we take your opinions and thoughts seriously."
Takta states, "That situation was extreme, but most everyone would have likely encountered some harm done by mages in their past - it totally happens. Okay I'll shut up now."
Takta grins.
Kinaed says, "In the interim time, please use autovote and continue to vote for us. This brings other players to come play with you here."
Kinaed states, "If anyone feels up to writing a review for TI on TMC or the other major mud sites, I'd appreciate that - and if we know who you are, we will provide QP whether the review is good or bad."
Kinaed muses, "And I guess that covers it for me. Is there anyone else who would like to add a quick plug for anything before we sign off for the week?"
Jahaezick claims, "I shall write the most scathing review."
Kinaed says to Jahaezick, "It'd be interesting to see what that would say.
"Mika exclaims, "Recommend your villains!"
Adgen claims, "Mages need to make a more violent threat *sage nod*"
Kinaed declaims to Mika, "That's a good one!"
Misune says, "Well once we are able to cast again, I have a rather potent threat planned"
Kinaed smiles.
Otois pontificates, "And if someone puts themselves in potential bodily harm in scene you are in, recommend!"
Vaxin asks, "ANy idea when that the will be?"
Otois states, "Do not be shy about it"
Kinaed nods at Otois.
Vaxin claims, "That will be*"
Xinoe declares, "Please finish your items with full sentences on their long descriptions, and capitalize regions as proper nouns. There will be a general note posted it that soon!"
Takta grins at Xinoe.
Kinaed states to Vaxin, "We thought it'd be this morning, but when we tested it this morning, it was still borked."
Vaxin nods
Kinaed states, "Az's irl partner had an accident, so the change may be delayed. It's a bad set of circumstances."
Zaerieth states to Takta, "I still feel like I'm playing catch up if fear of mages isn't being given its propper due, need to fix that"
Kinaed claims, "We're sorry about the delay, but it is the most urgent thing on our plate. I'd be surprised if it persisted further than another day or two."
Margaux says to Zaerieth, "I don't think it is through any fault of yours, Z."
Ofelia says to Zaerieth, "I don't think you should be too hard on yourself for that; it's a tough sell."
Kinaed states, "Okay, we're 7 minutes past the top of the hour."
Otois claims to Zaerieth, "Aye it mostly should be on other players so do not beat yourself over it
"Kinaed pontificates, "It's time to go, so hug your neighbor!"
Zaerieth claims to Margaux, "I hope not.. trying to do things right order wise"
Otois hugs Ofelia.
Ofelia wave Goodbye friends! I will see you on grid... uh...
Vaxin hugs Mika
Kinaed declares, "I'll retrans everyone shortly. And thanks again for coming and participating, everyone!"
Jahaezick collects as many people into his gigantic arms as he can