We had a couple roll-backs on code changes that are worth delving into. The first was to revert the change that caused a player’s retainers to sit or be left behind when the owner mounted. The second was to revert the change that wiped IC activity game-wide every two weeks. It decays over time again, like it used to. This should also resolve the “There are no GLs active, you get automatically guilded!” issues from cropping up every two weeks.
By player request, “idle follow” now works on players who are sitting or resting, allowing the idlers out there to be walked out whether they’re standing or not. This combined with “idle_kick” should cover most idler situations in private spaces.
We solidified the costs of Staff loading books for players and created some policies around when a book will or won’t be loaded by Staff. A lengthy write-up on why this was done and how can be found by clicking here. In short, however, widely available books under 5 pages now cost 25 QP to load, books over 5 pages cost 50 QP to load, and books that aren’t widely available require an IC explanation by the player. Books written by players and not submitted to Staff won’t be available for others to copy with Staff aid.
HELP TWINKING was updated to address players immediately assuming any animal in the city has a mage possessing it, as it has become a trend since the release of the Familiar spell. Please avoid this behavior, as it makes life a little harder on your friendly (or not) neighborhood mages!
A new, public helpfile was created for the Merchant Blacklist. Previously the only information available was in a Merchant-only helpfile, which made it difficult for those actually on the Blacklist to know what they were dealing with. This has been resolved with a public helpfile, which can be found in the information index.
The HELP DISTANCES file was greatly expanded upon, also at player request. The distance to many core landmarks in the Kingdom of Lithmore have been solidified and put up for players to use, up to and including the oft-referenced Edessan Mountain Passes.
Ideas and requests are now posed into the Ideas and Requests forum, rather than a confusing-to-newbies sub-forum.
We adjusted the size and weight caps on items for pets and horses, making them considerably larger and heavier than they were at implementation. The original sizes and weights were a baseline to tweak over time; we’ll keep tweaking them until we hit the sweet spot, but for now they should at least be capable of holding and wearing things like saddles, bridles, and collars.
Bone and ivory pipes have been added as craftable recipes to the Artwork skill, so get out there and carve some fancy pipes!
Our HELP RP CULTURE file was updated to reflect standards around sharing OOC information. Specifically, it was solidified that revealing the alts of other players to third parties, particularly in effort to cause issues for that player, is considered an abuse. Furthermore, it was specified that players should not reveal their own alts to others without their permission, for example providing a list of alts played in a forum signature or whois profile. Sharing your own alts with people that have given their consent to know is, of course, completely the player’s prerogative.
Dropping, junking, donating, or walking away from a book or board that is currently being written into/onto no longer works.
The Prestige expansion, detailed here, is now one hundred percent complete. Freemen, Gentry, and savage races are appropriately measured by the system. Tithing above and beyond generates prestige. Being Blacklisted by the Merchants, warranted by the Reeves, having a fine pending, or being imprisoned in Ahalin Tower all impact a player’s prestige negatively. Excommunicated or exiled parties are appropriately recognized as reviled. The benefits of Prestige are fully codified and tested to ensure their functionality. Bards should check out the “celebrate” helpfile and everyone should read “tithe” to read about how these commands are used, as well as how they interact with the Prestige system!
To cut down on the number of mysteriously magnetic cupcakes players are getting stuck in their purses, we’ve made sure that the split bites from installed food items no longer retain the notake flag.
Guildleaders can now check “roles held ” to see the coded role of their guildmembers, which will come in handy when it comes time to start giving out promotions.
Lastly, the make_gentry and make_freemen commands will now post a record to the Staff board when they’re used, making it a ton easier for us to keep track of the when and how for fielding questions or plot advances.