Avlis Notebooks - a NWN multi-dynasty

[QuikSand]

Some help, please?

I have signed up for the Blackdagger forums, I can see my name on the "membership list," but am unable to sign on. I suspect they sent me an emil, but I either missed it or did not receive it.

When I request to haev my password resat and mailed to me, I am told:

Sorry, but your password cannot be retrieved because your account is currently inactive. Please contact the forum administrator for more information.

At this point, I have searched in vain for a "forum administrator."

Does anyone here know whom I need to contact about this? I cannot read the "in character" forums without being signed in, and currently stil cannot do so. It's getting a bit silly.

[Bee]

I think you can email avlis AT blackdagger.com

[Fritz]

Originally posted by QuikSand
I was traveling in the outer sewers when my PC partner taunted one of the clerics, who then initiated combat. Since he was then attacking us, we fought him, and then took his (valuable) stuff. There were other clerics around later on, but we did not get in their way.


Clerics have NO sense of humor.

[Daimyo]

FWIW, I read somewhere that a taunt is considered an act of combat equal to an attack.

[QuikSand]

Regardless of "class" Fritz is always a hooligan.

[HornedFrog Purple]

An update on my fine and punishment:

Well Hornace had to pay 5000 gold for trespassing and has another punishment yet to be determined.

The servers have had some trouble lately and it seemed it was getting cleared up then boom it happened again.

I personally dont mind the XP thing and I also spend a lot of downtime roleplaying Hornace. I made a simple character background for Hornace which goes something like this:

Hornace was a member of the Dola tribe which was a group of miners in a land far east. The tribe was ambushed and killed by vampires but Hornace was spared. Since I enjoy mining anyways, it suits me fine.

I have narrowed it down to a couple of "gods" to worship but I havent decided which one yet. They are minor deities, one of them is the god of warriors I forget his name at the moment. I figure the more I learn about the world, then I will make an educated decision. Some of the few orcs I see on the server serve Valok(?) but it doesnt suit Hornace's persona.

I think eventually I will join the Tnanshi army when I get some more levels which will take a long time.

[Daimyo]

Is ingame Fritz chaotic neutral? I love the way you play him if he is.

[KWhit]

I have often been a member of the dola tribe myself.

[QuikSand]

Went to the wilderness this evening... when visiting The Way, I went into the building with the merchants, and when I was done, the door wouldn't work to get out. So, I'm trapped.

Cannot do anything in the wild, cannot sign on to another server for an hour... guess I take the night off. They're making it tough to keep the faith here.

[Thomkal]

Hey GB,

Saw your post here and on the Avlis board about Sh'ael being really dead. As in quit the game dead? Lovely. I think what I should do is to go run up to everybody at that meeting they are going to have about the lich. Give them something to really worry about. :)

The cure requires eating 25 (or more) of a particular seed and 25 (or more) of something else-don't have my notes with me here. To the best of my knowledge you can only get these things from a vendor or whomever in the thief tunnels. I've never been there or know how to get into them nor do I know the prices. Don't worry about it, sooner or later someone will give me the cure. Though I have to say I'm a bit peeved that only one person out of the "established" players has offered to help. By established I mean players who've been there longer than us FOFC'ers and love to post on the boards all day about how good they are.

Thanks for offering to help, I appreciate it.

Quik,
Any update on your forum situation? I'll be glad to post for you on the board to ask for help for you if that will help at all.

[Daimyo]

Go to the Temple of Gorethar and hang out there until someone cures you... they're LG, they have to cure you right? :)

[Fritz]

Originally posted by Daimyo
Is ingame Fritz chaotic neutral? I love the way you play him if he is.

I picked NG, but have been playing him more of a NG/CG. Sometimes you don't know how you are going to play until you do. The server is not flexible enough to deal with that.

I haven't really done much of a back story, but I do have one for the green beard.

The "Fritz" character takes a little from here and there. He likes bright colors, and frequently comments on peoples dress. He likes bad jokes, is spontaneous, and is curious. He is prone to exaggeration (have not played this up yet) but has a good heart. He generally approves of law and order, but not THIS law and order (Mikona). He rejects the current power structures as illegitimate (OoG) because they seem to have lost their way.

holy shit. I'm playing me!

[Fritz]

Originally posted by QuikSand
I went into the building with the merchants, and when I was done, the door wouldn't work to get out. So, I'm trapped.


This happens when the server is having problems.


yes, the fait his getting hard to keep...

[Thomkal]

Originally posted by Daimyo
Go to the Temple of Gorethar and hang out there until someone cures you... they're LG, they have to cure you right? :)

You would think that wouldn't you?

I finally got fed up with sitting outside town and only have one person with the cure willing to help. (GB was willing too of course). So I decided to run into the City Gate Inn screaming frantically about the Spite being after me. There was a good five or more players in there at the time. I ran right through the middle of the main room screaming that the Spite was after me...and people just kept right on talking as if I wasn't there, except for one person who "cocked an eyebrow".

So I kept hollering and finally a player or two came up to me, the one who cocked an eyebrow I believe, and someone who was talking to Gloknall (the high mucky-mucky of Gorethar) cast a spell to increase my endurance so I could make more of my saves. The guy who cocked an eyebrow told me I needed to seek out Timo Karr for the cure. Gloknall said, "Is that man infected?" and then went back to his conversation. I sent a tell to Timo, but I got no response, I think he might have lost his connection though as he logged off shortly after I sent the message and came back on a couple minutes later.

So Fritz how's that for roleplaying? Someone runs in screaming about the Spite, a highly infectious disease, and no one made a move to get away from me, and for a couple minutes or so, to help me either. I'm beginning to think we should all create elf characters and reduce Mikona to steaming piles of rubble.

There my character may not feel better, but I do now that I got that off my chest. :)

[ACStrider]

Fritz...I find your character compellingly funny...though we would probably be at odds on MANY issues (Arena that is of course) ;)

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Thomkal
Hey GB,

Saw your post here and on the Avlis board about Sh'ael being really dead. As in quit the game dead? Lovely. I think what I should do is to go run up to everybody at that meeting they are going to have about the lich. Give them something to really worry about. :)

Sh'ael sent me a PM saying that once his character really dies he stops playing him/her, and starts a new one. Hardcore. So he's still in the game, but apparently will start from level one again.

Originally posted by Thomkal
The cure requires eating 25 (or more) of a particular seed and 25 (or more) of something else-don't have my notes with me here. To the best of my knowledge you can only get these things from a vendor or whomever in the thief tunnels. I've never been there or know how to get into them nor do I know the prices. Don't worry about it, sooner or later someone will give me the cure. Though I have to say I'm a bit peeved that only one person out of the "established" players has offered to help. By established I mean players who've been there longer than us FOFC'ers and love to post on the boards all day about how good they are.

Post the types of stuff to eat if you can find out. What thief tunnels? Godbolt has nothing important to do, so maybe he can help. Maybe the stuff can be found naturally, in which case I can go try to pick some. Hell, maybe we could have an FOFC herb-picking party.

I'd offer the services of my elf wizard Godwillian, too, but he had to flee Mikona; I almost got in two or three fights with other PCs (all in character and well done, I thought). The war really has them on edge.

I ended up taking a boat to the TNanshi shoreline, then joining up with a powerful wizard who tried to get me through the woods to the town. I'm such a rookie though. I ran off the trail to pick some kind of berry, and got jumped by some nasty Druid thingies. Fireworks started flying everywhere, and I hightailed it out of there, but the wizard jumped in to fight. I realized that honor required I turn back to help, but then I got hit again with a game freezing, two-time reboot system crash, and when I logged back in I was in the town of TNanshi and no other players were on the server. Major bummer. I felt bad, too. The guy must have blown 1,000gp on potions and scrolls to make me invisible. Couldn't even find him to say thanks, and now I forgot his character's name.

Four major crashes tonight and lots of lag time-outs. I think I'll update my video card drivers tomorrow to see if that helps. The game is great, but two-plus crashes an hour would get old fast.

[Chief Rum]

Remember, you have an actual thief among you. :)

If anyone needs something from the thief tunnels that I can sneak out or that is not in area I am too weak to go into, I can get it for you. If it is with the black market merchants, though, I have to admit I don't recall seeing much in the way of seeds or plants or berries or what not.

Chief Rum

[QuikSand]

For what it's worth, I believe the "thief tunnels" are the underground passages that travel from the Rompin' Romini's bath houses (and perhaps from other places as well). I've tried everything I can, and cannot get down there - but I saw someone else go there, and I know he had at least some rogue levels.

Chief Rum, if you're volunteering, I suspect you'd find a number of us interested in black market purchases from down there. Any light you can shed on what's there would be helpful... I have cash to spare for useful items.

[NAIWF]

I'm guessing I may have accidentally deleted the e-mail I've been waiting for, but I can't seem to find the application again, if one of you guys could kindly direct me to that link, I'd really appreciate it. Yes, I am that stupid :)

[Fritz]

avlis.blackdagger.com

[Fritz]

taking lalaland too seriously

http://boards.blackdagger.com/viewtopic.php?t=14249

[Chief Rum]

I'm certainly not against helping you guys with that, but in reality there's not much available down there that you can't find anywhere else. There are a handful of really (and I mean REALLY) pricey magic items with one dealer, but most of the rest are selling stuff you can get above ground. The thing I use them for most is buying potions, which they seem to have a ton of. That helps a lot on quests and such. There is also a guy down there I haven't foiund anywhere else which sells thiefly items--no interest to you guys, of course. And then there's a little tavern down there, too (no one ever in it except for a bartender), and the bartender sells illicit drinks and drugs. :)

Also, going down there may be a risk to my health. I am not a member of the rogue's guild yet, and I have already been told by a member that they consider the area guild territory and warns of "repercussions" if I go down there a lot. So I am very careful when I am down there, and would not want to make repeated trips a lot (I try to doa lot of spree shopping ;) ).

Anyway, if it's a critical item or one that can't be found elsewhere, I'll help you out, but if it's something relatively common, I would recommend you stick to above-ground sources. :)

Chief Rum

[Bee]

I have a character who is currently living down in the thieves tunnels...if anyone needs something from down there I'd be willing to get it for you (for a small profit ;)).

[Godzilla Blitz]

Thomkal: Do you know what you have to eat to get rid of the disease?

Anyone having any luck getting onto the Elysia server? I've had no luck getting on for the past two days.

Patched my graphics card drivers and that may be helping. No crashes in an hour spent exploring Le'Or T'Nanshi this afternoon.

[Thomkal]

GB,

They are apparantly having massive problems with some of the servers today.

As for Thomkal's (and Pollio's) continual plight, I have kept in contact with Sha'el the player who was going to give me the cure. He has an alt and wants to give me the cure, but prefers it stay all IC. He asked who he might give the cure to in case I wasn't online at the time. I mentioned both you and Chief Rum, so if you encounter or get a tell from a Sh'Arlemayne or Tsuomaa, its because he has the cure for me and hopefully Pollio.

The cure is 25 (or more) of Brownsmoke seeds, to be eaten first followed by 25 (or more) bloodfury crystals. 25 may not be enough, you won't know until after you've taken the additional doses. This appears to be a human only disease-there is a very small chance a non-human will catch it. I don't know if these seeds or crystals can be acquired elsewhere (and possibly created through alchemy). The only reliable place to find them that I know them is from a vendor in the tunnels.

Thanks for your help in this,
Dan

[Fritz]

pretty sure the brownsmoke seends can be found up by Elysia.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Thomkal,

See the IC thread.

Pollio has the disease too?

Damn. I'll see what I can do.

Had a blast tonight in Elysia trying to find a cure. Played Godbolt (level 3 human fighter) in Elysia. One of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. Like being in a Indiana Jones movie. Went from one near death experience to another out in the wilderness (level 3 fighters should not be in the wilderness alone), and just made it through them all. Kept running into obstacle after obstacle, and managed to just get around them, mostly with the very timely help of others. This game rocks. The elves are giving my character a hard time, but overall they're not as nasty to humans as the humans are to elves in Mikona. Godbolt has got a better sense of humor than my elf character, so that seems to help.

Patched drivers may help to stop the crashes (only one time-out in three hours tonight after patching this afternoon). Great gaming.

[ACStrider]

GB - We should team up sometime in the wilderness. I just joined the AKN guild (alchemy in case you didn't know) so I'm going to start wanting to work on my potion making skills. If you're familiar with the area, you can show me around. Nearly all of my time to this point has been in Mikona with a little bit in the Wilderness. When I went in the Wilderness, I had some guides, though, so I didn't really see where we were going. I'm now pretty familiar with Elysia after spending an entire day basically making a map. I'm sure you wouldn't mind having a level 5 bard to help you out on your journeys. :)

[Fritz]

getting rid of healing potions?

http://boards.blackdagger.com/viewtopic.php?t=14331

[NAIWF]

I just re-submitted my application. Hopefully I'll be up and running by the weekend as I have a Stats Final on Friday that I should probably study for :)

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by Fritz
getting rid of healing potions?

Nah, but there are some pretty good points in that thread.

I agree generally, that the two biggest "balance" problems with NWN generally and Avlis specifically are:

-relative ease of acquiring healing (potions, kits, and especially rest)

-relative strength and duration of summoned creatures and companions

[Fritz]

I dont agree that either are ballance issues. The summoned creatures do not create a serious advantage, and healing products are pretty darned essential.

I think their is a issue with the ease with which some magic items flow. Look at most standing characters and they seem resistant to most things. This is so common as to be almost a function of character level.

[QuikSand]

I guess I just make comparisons back to PnP games. I recall spending lots of time marhcing around with half my HP and low on spells... because resting to get healthy was a real chore. Clerics were ever-important for that reason.

In this milieu, anyone can sit down for two minutes and fully heal themselves of all wounds and totally refresh spells. I know Avlis restricts resting in many areas - but to me, that's just too easy. If you can continually recharge (even with the four hour limit) it just takes the edge off any sense of economizing.

Same with Avlis' sense of "lots of gold, but very little magic." When you can just go up and buy potions for 30-60gp at a time - why not buy and hold 10 or 20 or more of them. Again - playing PnP, I corralled my potions, and used them sparingly, because there was never a wide open market to simply walk around and buy them for modest cash. (Not to mention healing kits, making everyone with a few gold pieces into a cleric)


As for summoned creatures - how long does the creature stay around in the PnP game? A few turns? Long enough for one combat, perhaps? In the NWN computer game, it's basically forever. So, every spellcaster character (supposedly having their powers offset by the inability to be effective in combat) gets a perpetual and solid combatant at his side. I guess it's a matter of starting point, but when compared to the PnP game, this just seems like a huge shift. It may or may not be good for playability in the computer world, but in my view it really lessens the value of characters who don't benefit from these skills.

[Fritz]

Sure, but this off sets abstraction in terms of time, distance, range to encounter, respawn, etc... In PnP I am stingy as both a player and DM, but NWN moves at a different tempo.

In 3rd ed PnP you recover 1hp + const bonus per DAY spent doing nothing but resting. Obviously something has to change for playability.

Originally posted by QuikSand
I guess I just make comparisons back to PnP games. I recall spending lots of time marhcing around with half my HP and low on spells... because resting to get healthy was a real chore. Clerics were ever-important for that reason.

In this milieu, anyone can sit down for two minutes and fully heal themselves of all wounds and totally refresh spells. I know Avlis restricts resting in many areas - but to me, that's just too easy. If you can continually recharge (even with the four hour limit) it just takes the edge off any sense of economizing.



Most "summons" are for a round per level (I think). I think the druid and ranger's animal friends are more like the game.

The PnP game also lets you bring multiple summons, or have multiple animal friends. More importantly, the duration was increased so that spellcasters could adventure alone. I hardly feel for the melee type characters who don't benift from this. The mage types get few HP, little to no AC adjustment, and can do minor damage in combat. For playability they must have some sort of "hitter." The BG series is closer to PnP than NWN in terms of summoning, but then the BG series was designed for a 6 man party while playing the solo campaign.

I just don't see it as a problem.

Originally posted by QuikSand

As for summoned creatures - how long does the creature stay around in the PnP game? A few turns? Long enough for one combat, perhaps? In the NWN computer game, it's basically forever. So, every spellcaster character (supposedly having their powers offset by the inability to be effective in combat) gets a perpetual and solid combatant at his side. I guess it's a matter of starting point, but when compared to the PnP game, this just seems like a huge shift. It may or may not be good for playability in the computer world, but in my view it really lessens the value of characters who don't benefit from these skills.

to be fair, we all have our gripes. My big one has to do with magic items.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by ACStrider
GB - We should team up sometime in the wilderness. I just joined the AKN guild (alchemy in case you didn't know) so I'm going to start wanting to work on my potion making skills. If you're familiar with the area, you can show me around. Nearly all of my time to this point has been in Mikona with a little bit in the Wilderness. When I went in the Wilderness, I had some guides, though, so I didn't really see where we were going. I'm now pretty familiar with Elysia after spending an entire day basically making a map. I'm sure you wouldn't mind having a level 5 bard to help you out on your journeys. :)

That would be fun, but if you're at level 5 you're going first. I'll be right behind you with my level 3 fighter. :)

I would love to get some people together to explore the wilderness. I'd also like to try to get a few people together to try for some of the more difficult signature quests, which it sounds like you've already done. There is some boar dung I need to get in a cave south of Elysia, and some ore from a cave north. I'm guessing that those would be fun to do in groups of two or three, and I don't think imagine they are too dangerous. However, I really don't know much about the wilderness, despite spending a couple of hours there last night. I pretty much spent the whole time in four sectors, either fighting/running for my life or talking with people that just saved it. So I don't have a good idea for where stuff is. A mapping expedition would be fun, though.

Along the lines of making the game more interesting, I've been trying to play my characters more along the lines of "if you're dead, you're dead", as in "game over for that character", so I've been really cutting things on the conservative side. If I see something that might kill me, I run to fight another day, unless it would be out of character to abandon companions. So far so good. I've only gone under three times, and all three managed to get revived without going to a death corpse. Quiksand got me pretty close to total death, though, when he punched that fairy. Playing this way really has made the solo ventures into the wilderdness pretty tense.

Also, how do you join the AKN? I need more alchemy knowledge if I am going to try and make the Spite cure.

[Daimyo]

In all the PnP games I played I don't think any of my DM's ever had healing potions for sale in stores... we would find a few here and there and they were always a treasured thing! In PnP, doesn't each potion require some cleric or mage type spend a full day + XP loss to create? Are there factories in Mikona full of migrant cleric workers slaving away producing all these potions?

In PnP, my friends and I certainly didn't use them in the way they're used in Avlis either... I can't imagine in PnP gulping down a potion in the middle of a fight! "Okay, I'm going to try my best to avoid the Ogre's sword while I reach in my backup, grab one of the 30 potions of cure serious wounds and gulp it down" (wouldn't that at least grant the opponent an attack of opportunity?) When we used them it was always between combat to recoup from the last battle....

Then again, I also never once soloed in PnP... :)

[Daimyo]

How does crafting/alchemy work? I don't see any skill related to it... can druid/fighters not learn it at all?

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Daimyo
How does crafting/alchemy work? I don't see any skill related to it... can druid/fighters not learn it at all?

The little I know is this...

You'll want to buy a "Book of Tradeskills" (or something like that). When you "use" that, it shows you your experience at a number of trades. I think the bookstore in Elysia sells them.

I'm not sure how all the skills work, but it seems that they center around dropping things into the related crafting item, closing the screen, and selecting the thing you would like to make from the pop-up dialog box. For example, for alchemy, you click on an alchemist's workshop table, put a few items in it, and close it. A dialog box springs up, asking you what you want to try to make, and giving an approximate difficulty for making that particular item. You select an item, then you get another dialog box that tells you whether you've succeeded or failed. If you don't have the correct items, they'll still be on the table, so there's no risk to failure, except when you have the correct items and fail due to incompetence. In that case, you do lose your items.

I'm guessing all the general skills work this way. Carpentry must use the sawhorse. Blacksmithy must use the forge, etc. The other skills, I'm not so sure.

The hard part seems to be getting all the combinations correct, and building up enough skill to actually make useful things.

I did find a book on weapons crafting that lists lots of good combinations for weapons, but have yet to find anything similar for potions, etc.

Some other confusing things...

There seems to be two tools (table and a bath) in the alchemist's shop, and I'm wondering if some things don't require a two-step process, or different equipment makes different things. Same thing with the blacksmith.

Also, from conversations with other players, it seems that the combinations to make certain items gets changed every once in a while, making it necessary to keep studying to keep your skill useful.

All in all, it looks like a pretty interesting game within a game.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by Daimyo
In PnP, my friends and I certainly didn't use them in the way they're used in Avlis either... I can't imagine in PnP gulping down a potion in the middle of a fight! "Okay, I'm going to try my best to avoid the Ogre's sword while I reach in my backup, grab one of the 30 potions of cure serious wounds and gulp it down"

Actualy, no. NWN is HARSHER on potion use than PnP (3ed). Drinking a potion is a partial action, which means you can still make a partial move or perform any other partial action like swing a weapon (not multiple attacks though). The requirement is for the potion to be handy. The example shown in Swoed and Fist has a fighter with one tucked into a belt. I am guessing the potion is about test tube sized. NWN makes it a full round action.

The NWN problem is the quickbar/invantory access system. In NWN you can pretty much do anything in a single combat round but change clothes.

The easiest thing to do in NWN would be to make potions have a .5 of 1 lb weight and to only allow 1 in a given quickbar slot. Also, items in containers should not be allowed slotting. I keep almost everything in bags and slot from them.

In the old AD&D days having more than one potion in your system was a setup for ill things. That might help with the "buff up" potions.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz
The little I know is this...
All in all, it looks like a pretty interesting game within a game.

IMHO this is poorly implemented.

Item crafting is a FEAT in 3rd ed and one of the reasons that Wizards get so many feat slots. Depending on the item, there are SKILLS that may also be required. In PnP chosing feats and skills that allow item creation means you must sacrifice others.

[Daimyo]

So anyone can craft in Avlis, and everyone starts equally (with 0 XP in that skill)? Does it cost real XP (as opposed to tradeskill XP) to make powerful items? Do you get real XP for making things?

[Godzilla Blitz]

Fritz: Please keep in mind that I'm speaking from largely a position of ignorance. I'm sure there's more to it than I understand. I can see your point though. Never having played PnP, I'm coming at if from a different perspective, I guess.

One of the things that I've always found limiting though, in some role-playing systems, is the boundaries of classes, and the blocking of certain types of weapons, armor, skills, to certain classes of characters. I really enjoyed Daggerfall and Morrowind's skill-building systems though, which give advantages at certain attributes to certain types of characters, but basically allow a character to take all paths. The more you perform a certain action, the better you get at it. Want to make your wizard proficient at archery? Get him a bow and arrow and start using it in combat. In this sense, I like the apparent freedom of Avlis' skill system: the more you mess with alchemy, the better you get at it, and anyone can give it a go. There are enough trades, and enough complexity to each one, that getting good at them all is probably very difficult, but I like the idea that my fighter can dig in at an alchemist's table and try to figure things out. I think that could lend to a greater variety of characters.

Daimyo: As far as I understand it, I think you're right on your first question. It doesn't seem to cost XP to make something, but I'm not sure on this one, as I was only able to make one basic item. I got 4xp for making grainshot, and my alchemy skill went up by four points as well. If I remember correctly

[Fritz]

GB - understood. I love the daggerfall/morrowind system. My only complaint is that higher level players are every class, more or less.

With Avlis - not sure if the tradeskill system rely on things like INT, but they should.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Fritz
GB - understood. I love the daggerfall/morrowind system. My only complaint is that higher level players are every class, more or less.

Good point. I can see how omnipotent characters would be even more of a problem with multiplayer games.

Originally posted by Fritz
With Avlis - not sure if the tradeskill system rely on things like INT, but they should.

This is an excellent idea. To make it even more interesting, maybe each skill should be dependant on an appropriate attribute? Blacksmithy should be strength, carpentry could be dexterity, etc. That would in essence give certain characters advantages over others, but allow anyone to pursue any path. I wonder if the system actually works this way now? Be interesting to see as we learn more.

I found the thread on blackdagger about the AKN, and have asked to join.

[Thomkal]

Hey GB,

Saw your posts here and on the Avlis boards. You may have come up with an alternate cure, but just wanted to let you know that if so its one nobody knows about or at least has posted about. I hope it works. :) Sha'el's player is on the lookout for both you and Chief Rum, and noted that he's seen Chief be in the game at the same time as him a lot, so be on the lookout Chief. :)

I'm glad you are getting some quality roleplaying and fun out it all though.

[Godzilla Blitz]

AC: Sorry, kept crashing at the end there. I gave up.

Um, PM me if you don't hear from that person about that stuff.

[Fritz]

On the AKN

I was invited to join but have decided against it. My reason is fairly simple: In a world with finite mysteries, an organization like the AKN takes away some of the joy of discovery. I would like to know how to make more things, but tracking down that information will be part of the process. The AKN is like a metagame spoiler.

[Bee]

I think Fritz mentioned before about the roleplaying being a little stereotypical and stale. I have to agree. I've spent the entire time online trying to find people to "roleplay" with, but it seems there isn't anything like that going on. Every encounter with other players seems to go along the same lines. Introduction. Offer to join group. Go kill stuff until I grow bored and leave.

Maybe I just haven't met any of the folks who actually do anything other than the obligatory roleplaying required to justify their leveling. Perhaps the higher level players are more into the "roleplaying" part since they've already accomplished much of the leveling?

[Fritz]

shoot, I feel like I have topped out at 8th level. So hard to get exp....

I may create another character and complete base his personality on the comic book version of the Tick.


Wet One? Want a Wet One? How about a Wet One? You look like you could use a Wet One.

[Fritz]

more on roleplaying

a few days ago I was with HFP and some mid to high levelers in the underdark. While at a resting point I went to partake of a mellowsmoke leaf. Instead of making me blow smoke the leaf "confused me."

My 8th level gnome mage started to punch (no weapons in hand) one of the 14th level ish OoG types. She nicely hacked me to bits. Lawfull good paladin my ass....

[Bee]

You should really obey those no smoking signs...

[Thomkal]

And the fun continues...

I saw the player that had offered me the cure was online this morning. So I jumped on and he was more than willing to help...but in between lag and constant crashes whenever he accessed his inventory he was unable to help...and he got too close to me and got the Spite himself. :( So I'm still sick and getting angrier with every passing moment of it.

I see another player has posted on the Avlis boards about having a cure for me, so we'll see how that goes.

[QuikSand]

By the way, if you guys with the Spite need help, I might be able to offer my services. I don't get diseases, so I might be a useful courier for the cure, if it comes to that.

[Daimyo]

Just received this email... posting it incase anyone here didn't receive it. Its very god to hear they're doing something about the lag issue. I haven't been on more than 5 minutes this week because the lag is so bad for me!


Hello Avlis Community,

The table of contents for this message is below. If you wish to be removed from this list, send me a personal email and I will do it asap.


Table of Contents:

[1] Mythos Linkup

[2] Serious lag issues

[3] Passwords and closing


[1] Mytos Linkup

Very soon now we will be linking Avlis to Mythos: Isle of Legend. There is a post about this on our boards at: http://boards.blackdagger.com/viewtopic.php?t=13892 and on the Mythos boards at http://athenaxus.proboards12.com/index.cgi?board=mythnews&action=display&num=1052601661
.
Read up and get all the info and updates.

When the link is established permanently, all Avlis members will automatically become Mythos members and all Mythos members will become Avlis members. A mail will be sent out to everyone with the passwords for the servers.



[2] Serious lag issues

Good news and bad news.

Bad news... Optimum online has apparently cut down our bandwith by a LOT. This is causing a huge outcry of lag desperation and problems. We are looking into why they did this, but we believe we won't be able to continue on with this internet subscription.

So the good news...

Fairly soon, perhaps within the next few weeks, we will be moving Avlis to a new connection. The new connection will be a business class cable connection (10 mbs down, 1 mb up) purchased from Lightpath, Inc. (Cablevision) by Blackparadox Enterprises, LLC (me and Silk's company).

HOWEVER, this process of switching over will take TIME. We just became a coporation yesterday, which means we have yet to set up a bank account. I should be getting the documents to do it either tomorrow or this weekend. Once that is done we will STILL have to move the ENTIRE server network over to a new location and REBUILD it from the ground up. If I were a betting man, I would prepare myself for Avlis to be down for a few days within the next few weeks.

Then we will cross our fingers that the connection from Lightpath will be turned on quickly.

This is a rocky time for us for a lot of reasons, but the potential for an explosive growth is immense right now too. If and when we come out of this, we will be one of the fastest and biggest and BEST servers out there. Anyone with a little business knowledge understands what we can do now that we are a corporation.

What can YOU do to help? The connection will cost us $120 per month. Keep donating to the paypal link on our homepage: http://avlis.blackparadox.com . Send me, Orleron, a PM on the boards if you need a snail mail address. Also, we now have an online store where you can buy products from http://www.cafeshops.com/blackparadox . There's not much on there right now, but we plan to have numerous Avlis t-shirts available by the end of next week. The Avlis Map mousepad is available right now, and that may be handy if you want one. Every little bit helps.


[3] Passwords and closing

Here are the passwords for the Avlis servers, for your records:

Address is avlis.blackdagger.net:port#

Mikona, port# = 5121 password: ******
Wilderness, port# = 5122 password: ******
Elysia, port # = 5123 password: ******
Le'Or T'Nanshi, port # = 5124 password: ******

We have a lot of exciting things going up once we get rid of this internet demon of lag. Be faithful that the team is aware of the situation and scrambling to do everything we can. If you would like to take a break from Avlis for a few weeks, we understand. But be sure to come back! We'll be bigger than ever and lag problems will likely be a thing of the past no doubt.


Sincerely,

--Orleron
Avlis Team Leader
CEO, Blackparadox Enterprises, LLC

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Fritz
On the AKN

I was invited to join but have decided against it. My reason is fairly simple: In a world with finite mysteries, an organization like the AKN takes away some of the joy of discovery. I would like to know how to make more things, but tracking down that information will be part of the process. The AKN is like a metagame spoiler.

I was concerned a bit about this as well. I had a blast stumbling onto four basic alchemical formulas. One was told to me, two I "discovered" by intuitively mixing ingredients, and one I overheard when passing two other characters. So I had the same fear when I realized that I was going to be given some of the formulas.

However, it's not as bad as I thought, for four reasons.

1. There are so many combinations of ingredients that you pretty much have to hear them from someone to get them anyway. Randomly mixing and matching ingredients at a table got old quickly.

2. You don't get all the formulas as an apprentice, just the basic ones.

3. Much of the challenge comes from actually getting the ingredients, and being in the guild doesn't change that, as far as I can tell.

4. It's only one field. There are still all the other skill areas left to discover on my own.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by QuikSand
By the way, if you guys with the Spite need help, I might be able to offer my services. I don't get diseases, so I might be a useful courier for the cure, if it comes to that.

I would love to team up with some people to go out into the wilderness in search of ingredients to make the cure. AC Strider (Arena something) and I have talked about exploring the Elysian wilderness as well.

I'm having trouble with the Elf guards in the wilderness, though, so I'm not sure how wise it is to travel with me now. I think I have to walk in the open, maybe even unarmed, in order to for them to not attack me. Not sure on all this yet, though, but I'm getting attacking quite a bit now. Sucks being a human.

[Bee]

Do you have a list of ingredients that are needed?

[Daimyo]

If the lag ever dies down I'd be willing to help explore the wilderness looking for ingredients for the cure... I'm human so I'll probably get it eventually too. I'm not that tough, but I can bring a small army of pets if needed and provide some enhancements for my party members (barksin, bull's strength, etc).

Besides, I was planning to map out the wilderness anyway next time I get to play.

[QuikSand]

For what it's worth, in the Elysian farms, there's a pretty decent mid-level quest - might be worth doing some time when we have a few characters together. If you exit the Dracon Gate, and go to the south farms, there is an orchard (gated). Inside, the owner has lost his daughter... in the southern orchards, for which you get a key.

As my (newly) 8th level monk found out, most of the stuff (beetles) down there he coudl handle solo, but eventually it got too tough. I went back with a decent level (9th or 10th, I think) mage, and we managed to clear the area and find the daughter, for a reasonable reward.

There's also a reasonable opportunity for an alignment adjustment, too.

Anyway - it's probably worth a look, if you have the muscle to handle it.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Quick: I've been to that locked orchard, but couldn't figure out how to get in. Sounds like a good quest.

Thomkal: I bumped into Pollio. He's better now. Bought a cure from someone.

By the way...

The lag sucked today.

Unplayable for me in Elysia.

Went to Mikona (after waiting an hour). It was real sluggish too, and I got dropped quite a bit.

Now the master server is out.

Gurrrrrr.

[Daimyo]

I wonder if maybe the Mythos server is a temporary solution to the lag? Does anyone know how to get to it? Seems we could hop over there for the next few weeks until they get Avlis upgraded...

[QuikSand]

Fritz and I bumbled around the wilderness near Le'Or T'Nanshi this evening, and came across Gloknall Heartcrusher. But the server crashed just before we got a chance to do anything.

I wonder what he was up to... this is a serious guy, if you haven't folowed the forums. Last I read, he had stolen the 10,000,000gp amulet.

[Fritz]

quik will post more, but we hit the motherload of money. I ran out of space on robes worth 2000gp each

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by QuikSand
Fritz and I bumbled around the wilderness near Le'Or T'Nanshi this evening, and came across Gloknall Heartcrusher. But the server crashed just before we got a chance to do anything.

I wonder what he was up to... this is a serious guy, if you haven't folowed the forums. Last I read, he had stolen the 10,000,000gp amulet.

I've seen him three times now. When I've seen him in the wilderness he's been invisible (for as much sense as that makes), so you only catch glimpses of him. The first time I saw him, he freaked me out. It was in the middle of the Elysian wilderness, in the middle of the night, and there were only one or two other players on the server. I was walking in the middle of nowhere, hadn't seen anyone for two hours, and bang, this mammoth guy with all kinds of stuff bubbling over his head appears, running, right in front of my guy. I nearly shit. Split second later he was gone.

The second time I saw him was leading some of the Order of Gorethar (isn't he the leader?) in attacks against clerics in the Goverment district of Mikona. I have no idea what was up with that.

Last night he appeared for a split second again, as I was making my way to the Fairy Garden.

I read that someone put a reward on his head for something else he did as well.

Interesting character.

[ACStrider]

GB - another note about us going into the wilderness...the elven guards can be easily ignored if you're traveling with me because I can case invisibility on you. =) That should make the guards a lot more friendly.

[QuikSand]

To follow up on Fritz's comment... we did find quite a bounty in the wilderness near Le'OrT'Nanshi last evening. There were a seemingly endless upply of evil clerics and lizardmen in the area, and each one left behind a loot cache - plenty of +1 spears, valuable magic robes, magical bastard swords, and magic missile amulets. All told, I'm guessing that the two of us raked in something like 75,000 gp over the course of the evening. We were in some danger, and had a few near misses, but never had to be relocated. (And how exactly did we get away with that, I'd ask?)

Perhaps Glocknall's presence was a factor - he might have been triggering some extra numbers of bad guys, as an uber-high character. Regardless, we fough off our fair share of bad guys, and just came across a fairr number of loot bags along the way, too.

Overall, it seems like a worthwhile area to bring a party - the opposition seems to be fairly tough (and perhaps adjusts t the party strength), and there are some meaningful potential rewards for doing well. (Though practically nothing in XP, of course)

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by QuikSand
To follow up on Fritz's comment... we did find quite a bounty in the wilderness near Le'OrT'Nanshi last evening. There were a seemingly endless upply of evil clerics and lizardmen in the area, and each one left behind a loot cache - plenty of +1 spears, valuable magic robes, magical bastard swords, and magic missile amulets. All told, I'm guessing that the two of us raked in something like 75,000 gp over the course of the evening. We were in some danger, and had a few near misses, but never had to be relocated. (And how exactly did we get away with that, I'd ask?)

This might be the location that someone was talking about on the Blackdagger forums, when players were saying that many types of enemies never have treasure, while a few types always have treasure of tremenendous value. One guy claims to be able to make 250k an hour by fighting the types of enemies with such treasure. I think he mentioned lizardmen as one of them. He's probably exaggerating, but the point may still be valid.

The argument some players were making was that it would be better if the treasure were scattered a bit more randomly in Avlis. Right now it seems that an emeny either has treasure or doesn't. Players were arguing for a system where not all lizardmen would have tremendous value, and where some of the lower enemies would occasionally have something of value. Right now, they claimed, it was too predictable. Lizardmen always have lots of valuable treasure; bandits never do.

[Chief Rum]

Godzilla Blitz, if the cure for the Spite is indeed brownsmoke seeds and bloodyfury crystals, they aren't as hard to find as you might think.

Gallipoli, the "dealer" in Raven's Loft, the inn in the ports in Mikona, sells them right to you. He's easy to find once you go inside--he's the only guy with a name.

The inn is about halfway between the docks and the north end of the district, and about halfway between the Temple District entrance on the north end and the entrance to the slums on the east end. There's a mass of little square buildings in the area; if you go up and down the little corridors, you'll find it somewhere in the middle.

Chief Rum

[Daimyo]

Quik and Fritz:

If you guys have any plans to go back to the place with the lizardmen, I'd love to come along. Hopefully the lag won't be too bad... I need an Avlis fix badly.

[Fritz]

Daim,

we can go whenever. The lizzies do NOT generate treasure nuless there is enough CR on the map. Solo the LM had nothing.

HFP, Quik and I went to an elemental tower. the mssion was fun, but interrupted by server failures.

900 to 9th level. I can taste the 5th level spells now...

[Godzilla Blitz]

I should be around this weekend, and should be on in the evenings 8:30-10:30 CST (maybe later on Sunday night). I'd probably get my ass kicked against lizardmen (I'm just shy of 4th level), but would love to go exploring some of the caves nearby Elysia, or doing some of the easier quests.

In an interesting side note, it looks like the sewers of Elysia might be becoming more interesting. The latest three posts have some news...

http://boards.blackdagger.com/viewtopic.php?t=14061

Chief: Interesting. I logged off this afternoon about 50 yards from the spot you're talking about. If that's the case, Thomkal should be able to go in a buy a fix right away. Good find! I'll try and find the guy this evening.

[QuikSand]

Fritz, I am finding that the amulets of magic missile from the fallen clerics seem to only be good for one shot, rather than the 10 indicated. This caused me some real trouble in the elemental tower, as I kept trying to quickslot them (as I had before with my first one) but they kept idsappearing on me after one use. Just FYI... might not be quite as handy as I had originally hoped.

[Daimyo]

Fritz, Quik et al... It sounds like you guys are finding nice areas for mid-levels. Do you guys not get insane lag? I tried to play a little yesterday. Someone opened a goblin pack right outside the mines, so I teamed up with a couple others to kill them. I suffered constant lag of approx 5 seconds every 10 seconds or so. Eventually it lagged out for about a minute before I possessed one of the goblins. I logged out and logged back on to find that I had died in the lag... collected my things and logged out for good.

[Thomkal]

GB and Chief Rum,

After reading Rum's post I logged in and found the Raven's Loft and the guy who was selling the stuff needed for the cure. That was until the server crashed that is. Who knows where I'll be when I log back in.

Anyway, I'm even more annoyed no one either IC or OOCly could tell me that's where I could find the stuff for the cure. Wasn't in any of the threads I searched either.

I may need a loan depending on how expensive the bloodfury crystals are though. :)

Thanks so much GB, Chief Rum, and Quik for offering to help. Free healings whenever you need them. ;)

[HornedFrog Purple]

Random thoughts....

Me and Fritz went into the slavers and cleaned up. I thought it would have been more difficult than it was even though we were lucky in a way to finish off the two "bosses". But that was due to a lack of warning on my part and not Fritz. I think we made about 30000.

That elemental cave is fun too. We did better than I thought there.

The bugbear cave kicked my butt. I will definitely need some help meleeing those.

I predict the same for the minotaur cave also. I fought one and almost died.

When Fritz buffs me up I am a cleaving damage sponge heh.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Daimyo
Fritz, Quik et al... It sounds like you guys are finding nice areas for mid-levels. Do you guys not get insane lag? I tried to play a little yesterday. Someone opened a goblin pack right outside the mines, so I teamed up with a couple others to kill them. I suffered constant lag of approx 5 seconds every 10 seconds or so. Eventually it lagged out for about a minute before I possessed one of the goblins. I logged out and logged back on to find that I had died in the lag... collected my things and logged out for good.

I've been finding that it varies tremendously from day to day and hour to hour. Yesterday was unplayable for me in Elysia, and only moderately better in Mikona. This afternoon, for the hour I was on, was fine in Mikona. All in all, I'd say it's playable about half the times I try. I usually give it three tries, then give up if it's bad. Playing with bad lag just gets me frustrated.

Be nice when they get the new server up and running.

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz
In an interesting side note, it looks like the sewers of Elysia might be becoming more interesting. The latest three posts have some news...

Good twist. I hope the place is riddled with traps... that would be a neat touch.

[Chief Rum]

Looks like the Isle of Mythlos connection is up. Check your emails. I still haven't even explored Elysia, so I'm going to be there, but maybe I'll go over to the Isle a little later.

Chief Rum

[Fritz]

Originally posted by QuikSand
Fritz, I am finding that the amulets of magic missile from the fallen clerics seem to only be good for one shot, rather than the 10 indicated. This caused me some real trouble in the elemental tower, as I kept trying to quickslot them (as I had before with my first one) but they kept idsappearing on me after one use. Just FYI... might not be quite as handy as I had originally hoped.

then something is wrong with your amulets, or how you are using them. Perhaps it is a class thing. I get 10 uses from the amulets.

The monk needs to work on targeting. The stoneskins were absorbing most of the mis-targeted shots, but our party was near hammered a few times....

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by QuikSand
Good twist. I hope the place is riddled with traps... that would be a neat touch.

HA and I explored pretty much the whole place this evening. No traps, no army of kobolds, and no halfliing.

Humm.

[Chief Rum]

Hey HA,

You mentioned earlier that you had found a camera hack that worked for you. I'm assuming you used the camera hack program that can be downloaded at the site. Might I ask what camera and angels and zooms you are using? I would like to try it out for yourself, and I figured it might be good if I could piggyback on the work you already have done with this.

Chief Rum

[daedalus]

This thread is a pretty awesome read. Keep up the good work, folks. :)

With regards to the amount and usage of potions versus the way it is in PnP or being realistic, it seems to be a compromise in favor of gameplay. Most of the MUD I've tinkered with have gone this route, otherwise I would imagine there would be a lot of downtime and either solo'ing or fighting in a small'ish party would probably be pretty difficult.

Out of curiosity, are most or all of you guys playing on broadband? [I am currently amongst the remaining bandwidth-challenge peoples still.]

My 8th level gnome mage started to punch (no weapons in hand) one of the 14th level ish OoG types. She nicely hacked me to bits. Lawfull good paladin my ass....

Alright, this is probably WAY stretching it and I highly doubt the person actually thought along this line but . . . if the OoG has become as corrupted and twisted as it is suppose to have become, it wouldn't be out of the question for one of their higher level people to become all high and mighty. After all, the one God that matters (whoever it is, in this case) is on their side.

Besides . . . this is all the better motivation for y'all to work on that plot to mess with them. :)

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by Fritz
The monk needs to work on targeting. The stoneskins were absorbing most of the mis-targeted shots, but our party was near hammered a few times....

This, unlike some of my character's bumbling, was out of character - my fault.

With my problems getting them to work properly, I ended up hastily shooting off amulets. I saw that I hit a party member once - if it was more than that... aw, geez.

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by Fritz
The monk needs to work on targeting. The stoneskins were absorbing most of the mis-targeted shots, but our party was near hammered a few times....

If you have any suggestions, I am open. I still have one amulet that shows me how many shots it has left in it when I quickslot it. But if I use the one right beside it in my inventory, even though everything looks the same, I get no such indication, and it will be spent and disappear after one use.

I've had simimlar things happen with the magical robes (that I cannot wear). I can sell one set for good value, but the next one comes with a response "I have no interest in that." They initially appeared to be identical, but something subtly seems different.

It may be a race or class issue... or perhaps some sort of "regional" coding?

[Thomkal]

Daedalus,

So when you are signing up to play with us on Avlis? :) I too am still using dialup.

Thomkal is cured of the Spite now and is currently off to the Romini baths to fight off the addiction. Once I recover I'd love to team up with those around my level (3rd) to get into the swing of things with the character again. Any interest?

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Thomkal
Daedalus,

So when you are signing up to play with us on Avlis? :) I too am still using dialup.

Thomkal is cured of the Spite now and is currently off to the Romini baths to fight off the addiction. Once I recover I'd love to team up with those around my level (3rd) to get into the swing of things with the character again. Any interest?

Thomkal,

I just hit fourth level with my fighter, and there seems to be a few regular people on the Elysian board right about that level. We had a group of five last night that went through some Spider caves. Good fun. Come on up (with a character that likes both humans and elves, not that human hater you had last night). I'd love to explore more around the area, and there are a few others as well. Join the AKN, or just start messing with alchemy at Janos' shop, and people will drop by. That place is always busy. Arena (AC Strider) is there a lot later in the night.

Chief,

For the most part, I really like the camera hack. The only thing I did is drop the camera angles down to something like 12 degrees. You really don't have to worry about getting the settings exactly the way you want them, because you can adjust them on the fly (page up=raises camera angle; page down=drops down camera angle; home=maximum zoom in; end=maximun zoom out; mouse wheel=tweaks camera zoom). You can toy with the settings as you go along, and get it just the way you like it.

I find that dropping the angle way down (maybe 12-18 degrees?) and zooming to a couple of notches shy of max zoom makes the game much more immersive, and gives you a much better chance of seeing enemies before they see you. The only problem with the low camera angle is that building and dungeon walls can cut off your view and sometimes do screwy things with the camera, so I end up adjusting things as I go along a lot when I switch locations. After you get the hang of it, it comes second nature.

The game is much more visually striking with the angle lower and zoomed in. Much more of a feeling that you are actually there.

[Daimyo]

I dropped the minimum viewing angle to 0, although ingame i guess I almost always use somewhere between 20 and 30. I also upped the viewing distance to 100 meters and the set the min and max zoom to their respective extremes (5 and 30 I think). Also lowered the camera to the height of a human female (1.65m). I found it GREATLY increased my immersion in the game... no way I could back to the default settings now and get near the same enjoyment out of the game.

[QuikSand]

Magic belts... any advice? I currently have nothing at all.

I have seen some with the Belt of Abundant Mending, but I hear it's now hard to find - no longer avalable via any merchants.

Are there any other belts out there that might be useful?

Does anyone have any other items that they might like to sell or trade?

[daedalus]

Originally posted by Thomkal
So when you are signing up to play with us on Avlis? :) I too am still using dialup.

I'm glad someone is using dialup without too much problem since I won't be able to pony up for broadband for awhile. This means I can actually fully consider it. Now I just need to get my hands on a copy of NWN. Heh.

It's good to see you back with us again. :)

[QuikSand]

I'm fiddling around with the camera hack, but as of yet haven't found any real illumination. I'm trying the near-FPS view that Daimyo recommended... I can see the idea, but am having trouble with so many things not quite working well - walls and buildings getting right in front of the "camera," that sort of thing. Heck, as I was first trying it out, I nearly got killed in the Mikona slums... a few bandit mages had me reeling pretty good, mostly because I kept looking at blank walls and couldn't find the bad guys.

I need to give ait a little longer, I suppose.

[Daimyo]

My view isn't really near-FPS... I use max zoom out with an angle somewhere between 20 and 30. The angle is just a bit less than the default min (I think 40) and the zoom is a bit farther out. You can always use page up and page down to change the angle too. I very rarely go below ~20 because the walls really get in your way when you get that low. I did set the min to be 0, but I hardly ever use that and never during combat.

[QuikSand]

Gotcha... my misunderstanding. I knoww there are people who are yearning for a more truly FPS view, which it appears was (sort of) available in previous versions of the camera hack.

Daimyo, you have praised the virtues of having farther sight... but elsewhere I have read some criticize this as "cheating." Any thoughts on that? Have you said anything to the Avlis GM people?

I don't have an opinion, but am curious. I have tinkered with my sight distance, but it doesn't seem to have made much difference to me thus far.

[QuikSand]

If anyone happens to read this in a timely fashion... I am wandering NE T'Nanshi, looking for my things. I am weak, unarmed, and in trouble. Any help would be great.

I'm looking for a spot called Karak Der'ek... it's in the NE somewhere, but i cannot relocate it.

[QuikSand]

Looks like it's too late. It was fun trying to elude everything as best I could (without any potions or any aids at all), but as I type, I'm on my way back to the temple... not on my terms.

[QuikSand]

Well, I'm about to leave my third corpse in the NE T'Nanshi... I guess it's time to give it up. Ugh - lost oots of stuff, it looks like.

[Thomkal]

Quik,

You arent alone in lost corpses. Lag was really bad for me tonight, rubber banding all over the place and I got to the map where the Mikona Crypt is (not the one outside Mikona) I was exploring a bit, lag hit, and then all of a sudden I was fighting a boar and I think some of the Romini. Crashed while trying to get away. Came back and was unconscious. Died. Went to Elysia, came back to the spot I know I died and no body. Some kind soul could have picked it up and is holding my stuff, but I'm not holding my breath.

Between the Spite, the drug addiction from the cure for it, and now losing everything I own possibly, I believe I give up on Avlis.

[Daimyo]

I don't consider it cheating to extend the viewable distance because you still can't see enemies to infinity... It does let you see them before you could see them otherwise, but it seems to be an actual ingame function that determines when you begin to see them. I think it might be wisdom based because I've noticed that my druid (16 WIS) can see things pretty consistantly well while the wizard I'm playing solo while waiting for the lag to go away (10 WIS) has a hard time seeing enemies until he's pretty close, and its very inconistant to when he can see them. I think WIS is the key stat for spot, so I imagine it is a behind the scenes spot check to determine when you can see enemies you approach.

I didn't talk to anyone there, but I sort of assumed if they link to it on their downloads page without any disclaimers about what you can and can't do, that it is fair game. The thing that first led me to try it was that one time a high level character (Fjorlin Hammerhands or something like that) rescued me when I got lost in T'nanshi and ran into a bunch of Vampire Warriors at lvl 5. He was shooting arrows at enemies well before they were on my screen... so I sort of figured if a high level, highly respected character is using it AND they advertise it on the downloads page, it must be legit.

[Chief Rum]

Looks like it's been a rough day. Sorry to hear that, guys.

Thomkal, don't give up so easily. You have been through too much. If you need some capital to get your feet underneath you again (i.e. you need some cash for new equipment), look for me online. I'll help you out.

Chief Rum

[Fritz]

Originally posted by Daimyo
I don't consider it cheating to extend the viewable distance because you still can't see enemies to infinity... It does let you see them before you could see them otherwise, but it seems to be an actual ingame function that determines when you begin to see them. I think it might be wisdom based because I've noticed that my druid (16 WIS) can see things pretty consistantly well while the wizard I'm playing solo while waiting for the lag to go away (10 WIS) has a hard time seeing enemies until he's pretty close, and its very inconistant to when he can see them. I think WIS is the key stat for spot, so I imagine it is a behind the scenes spot check to determine when you can see enemies you approach.


Skill based, (listen, spot).

[Godzilla Blitz]

Basic Alvis Principles:

1. Accidentally shooting an Elf Ranger in a crowded elf inn in a crowded elf city is not conducive to living a long time.

2. If you run into someone called Arena, and she suggests going to the Forests of Midnight, the correct answer is "No".

3. Remember how you got somewhere. This comes in very handy when you are naked and looking for your corpse. You'll know what I mean when the time comes.

[Chief Rum]

I can vouch for all three of the above. #1 is quite a funny tale.

Chief Rum

[ACStrider]

Hehe...yeah GB, I guess I had the question of what lies in the Forest of Midnight answered. I won't go back there until I'm a good four levels above what I am now and with a party of people who are similiar. It was nice being able to use the good arrows that I've been holding onto vs undead. They do bludgening dammage instead of piercing (good against skeletons) and add an extra 2d6 dammage on a hit. I took down 3 undead in that battle. I admit, though, I was lucky to come out without having died at all.

On a side note. As Fritz mentioned, using a camera hak to get a better angle on spotting isn't cheating or breaking the game in any way at all. How quickly you spot someone is completely dependant on your spot and listen checks. They are countered by the enemies move silently and hide checks. I guarantee you, pick a character (non-elf, though) who has no points in spot and listen, and who wears heavy clunky armor, travel alone, and you'll be surprised how often the enemy seems to appear right on top of you. As an elf with a lot of points in move silently and hide, I'm able to sneak around and spot things long before they spot me. That's when I break out the bard song and start letting the arrows fly. =)

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz
3. Remember how you got somewhere. This comes in very handy when you are naked and looking for your corpse. You'll know what I mean when the time comes.

Yes, that one is pretty wise. Another one might be:

"Don't write down 'northeast' when in fact you died in the 'northern" area."


I've tried to play my INT 10 character fairly, and have decided that rather than make him a dummy (stereotypical) I'm just going to make him lacking in common sense and rather forgetful. I suspect this straddles the line between INT and WIS in the game milieu, but it seems to suit him fairly well.

So, I'm trying to stay in character by getting lost frequently - and that sort of thing.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz
3. Remember how you got somewhere. This comes in very handy when you are naked and looking for your corpse. You'll know what I mean when the time comes.

this struck me as the kind of funny where you want to jump up and show somebody. then I remembered this is about a D&D video game...

[Fritz]

anyone been to Mythos?

[Daimyo]

Don't know how to get there... I'd love to go if I knew how so I could actually play without lag for a while.

[Thomkal]

I just guessing here, since they say the portal is in Elysia. The god Ptah, is the god of travel and there are several portals in that temple. Might be a good place to look. Not that I'm playing Avlis mind you. :)

[Daimyo]

Come on Dan... I'll give you Dorazio if you reconsider. ;)

Fine print: I will actually give you the right to bid on Dorazio in the 2010 offseason

[Thomkal]

Heh,

I'm too nearsighted to see that fine print, so I'll just take Dorazio now. ;)

[Godzilla Blitz]

Anyone else having trouble logging in to Elysia?

Three days in a row it's been down for me.

[Daimyo]

The server died... I think they're working on getting it fixed. There are some threads about it at the avlis forum.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Daimyo
The server died... I think they're working on getting it fixed. There are some threads about it at the avlis forum.

Thanks. Just found the threads. Should have checked there first. Apparently they have a temp server running now.

I think I'll play in Mikona tomorrow, as it's unclear whether the experience gained during play on the temp server will carry over when they reboot the main one.

[QuikSand]

I got in a pretty good session in the wilderness, near the entrace to Deglos, this morning. However, it seems the server has gone down - maybe all of them are out again. *sigh*

I'm getting very close to leveling... *itching*

[Thomkal]

In my continuing quest to find some place other than Avlis to play NWN, I found City of Arabel. Had 40+ people on at the time, so figured it couldn't be all bad could it?

Created a character and found myself in the "holding pen" where you read the rules and such before you can enter the game proper. I was there a couple minutes when a female char joined me. She was fine at first, then asked me to join her in a group, to which I said no because I like getting a feel for the world alone before joining a group. She was fine with that...or so I thought.

She started running all around me, and all of a sudden began acting like she was having sex with either me or the NPC guide in the starting area. Lovely. She got bored when I didn't respond and quit the game. Went into the city proper, which looked real nice, found the new players area (Visitor's Center) easily, and got a couple of newbie quests.

As I was talking to the NPC's there a dwarf came up to me and I got the message that my longbow had been stolen. And looking at my inventory, the little money I had remaining. The dwarf quickly departed. At that point I figured I had enough of the City of Arabel.

So I checked the list of Persistant worlds and saw that there were a whole lot of ALFA worlds. It stands for A Land Far Away, and recently came out of Beta. Its a PW that strives to eventually have a server dedicated to each and every part of the Forgotten Realms setting. Quite a goal, but they already have quite a few areas. You have to send in an application though which I've yet to do. According to their website, http://www.alandfaraway.net/ they already have over 1200 players which seems like it can't possibly be true.

They have extensive message boards, a player's guide, and once in the game, you can take a RP 101 class when offered which I think is a neat idea. The drawback is that you have to have at least some knowledge of the Forgotten Realms setting though they do have some links for you to help with that. There is a Hak pack you need have no idea how big it is though.

I also checked out a PW (in the PW Story lits I think) called The Triad. It intrigued me because it had a seperate server for new characters. You start off shipwrecked on a small island, with apparantly just one survivor (plus any players that join while you are there) He tells you that we need food and water to survive and sends you off a mini-quest to get you off the island that's easy to figure out if a bit klunky. You don't gain experience while on the island for killing things, but when you complete the first two parts of the quest you gain a level. Oh and you got hit in the head when you shipwrecked, so you're not sure why you were on the ship in the first place. You're fed a little info when you complete parts of the quest and it looks like you will continue to find out more when you reach the main server.

Not sure I like starting the regular Triad world at 3rd level or not, and I worry its going to be a power/magic heavy world. I had to stop playing when I got off the island to the next part of the quest (or just the transition area not sure yet) because a sign tells me you need a hakpak to continue. The hakpak is called the 18in1 hak pak and a google search will find it easily (the link they give in game didn't work for me and there's no website I'm aware of for the game) It's over 100 MB which is going to take some time to download on my poor dialup connection. There is a small message board devoted to the Triad on the bioware official NWN site.

Dan

[Fritz]

for those that missed it, the website has moved to www.alvis.org

Don't use www.avlis.com unless you are interested in Raingutter & Downspout Accessories.

[Thomkal]

Would help if you spelled avlis correctly, you doof. :)

[QuikSand]

Has anyone from here traveled over to Mythos yet?

I was in the wildernes yesterday, and came upon a Mythos guy who was downright breathless over the ability to make so much money on Avlis. Reinforces my opinion that merging two worlds-- with two different standards about XP, GP, magic, and so forth-- is likely to cause some short term upheaval for both sides.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by QuikSand
Has anyone from here traveled over to Mythos yet?

I was in the wildernes yesterday, and came upon a Mythos guy who was downright breathless over the ability to make so much money on Avlis. Reinforces my opinion that merging two worlds-- with two different standards about XP, GP, magic, and so forth-- is likely to cause some short term upheaval for both sides.

Ah, if this guy has tried to earn some exp yet....

[QuikSand]

Actually, I'm finding the open wilderness (North of Le'Or) to be a pretty palatable blend or challenge and reward on Avlis. I can handle myself fairly well there alone, but I do get into real peril sometimes. The XP awards for the foes are at least above the usual trifle... I think I am getting about 10xp for a lizardman cleric, and about 18xp for a T'Nanshi who comes after me (I don't provoke, but they come after me occasionally). If I spend a fairly productive hour or so doing that, I can make almost as many XP as I would by doing a rat pack, at (or course) no risk to myself.

It's hard not to thirst for XP on Avlis.

[Fritz]

my problem with the area north of LeOr is that some high level people frequent it. If they are on another part of the screen the mosters that spawn can be too tough for my Conjurer to take on.


----
Hornace, Misty, a rouge, and I did the Darrington temple the other day. A nice adventure, but not the most fun because I was mostly along for a ride. The exp was good (about 1000) and the treasure was decent. At then end of it, Lord Darrington offers a selection of Magic to pick from. I picked a green robe, which turned out to be Wizard Robe that grants +2 to AC and damage resistance vs acid. I will probably not wear it, but the sale price is good. In all the Darrington quest (Slavers/Elemental Tower/Temple) was very enjoyable. I hope they add more things like this.

Fritz has slipped up to lvl 9 and has some empowered fireballs (9d6 x 1.5) to burn his friends and new dire bear with. Just 8,000 more exp for 10 or 18,000 for 11 and 6th level spells....

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Fritz
my problem with the area north of LeOr is that some high level people frequent it. If they are on another part of the screen the mosters that spawn can be too tough for my Conjurer to take on.

I find this can happen anywhere. Today, I was outside the gates of Mikona with two other low level characters, when some turbo characters in the same zone (but nowhere near us) triggered a [i]huge[i] wave of bandits, zombie warriors, mages, etc. There were at least two dozen enemies swarming all over the place. The three of us had almost no chance. I ran back to the gates with about eight in tow, and let the guards help rip them apart. Then I hightailed it back to the graveyard, just in time to see our level one player get killed. I tried to get to her with a healing kit but got swarmed by four or five zombie warriors, and had all I could do to stay alive (I'm still only level 4). Then a new wave hit. It was by far the most intense melee I've been in yet. Must have gone on for five or more minutes, and I burned through more than 15 full potions tyring to stay alive. When the smoke cleared, the level one character had gone to a full death corpse, I was down to a handful of potions, and the other character in our party was nearly dead, having burned through all of her potions. We actually fully lost the level one character for good, as she could never get back to her corpse from limbo. Bummer. Picked up about 200xp in the battle though. Wild stuff.

I felt pretty bad about that player dying though, as she had joined our party by a mistaken invite, and we then had offered to help her find some farmer she was looking for. We were running protection for her, and had told her that bandits would be no problem. Oops. Sorry bout that. Back to start you go.

Then the same thing happened in the slums about an hour after that. Some turbo character with all the bubbles and floaty eyes and stuff jogged through the slums at the same time we did, and all of a sudden there were a dozen bandits led by some kick-ass half orc, and turbo player of course is long gone. We got the bandits, then stupidly charged the half-orc. Two hits later we were in Arborea, running the naked mile. Had to lure the half-orc away from the bodies in order to get some guards to kill him before we could finally get to our stuff.

_________

I too have been finding the wilderness a fun place to explore, although I spend a lot of time running when I'm alone. I found a secret hideout cave that came out right under LeOrTNanshi, but couldn't get past a locked door the second time I tried the route. Elven rouges are too much for me to handle out there, and druids kick my ass as well. I run from the Elvish warriors that attack me based on the principle that it would be out of charcter for me to kill them, plus some of the elven players get pretty uptight with a human they see killing elves in their territory. Some of the other stuff isn't a problem any more, but I still need a couple of levels and better weapons to be able to handle the bigger stuff.

__________

Finally advanced a level in alchemy. Took forever, but now I can make some reasonably useful stuff. Anyone tried any of the other sciences yet (herbology, carpentry, blacksmithing, etc.)?

___________

Been finding some good quality roleplaying, and some very poor stuff too. Some of the best sessions have just been sitting around somewhere and talking with people in character. Janos' shop in Elysia is always an interesting place to hang out. Seems like everyone comes through there at some point, and it's definitely gossip central for Elysia. Some of the players there are very good at playing their roles. There also seems to be a steady stream of beginning characters that type in broken leet speak, don't offer much in the way of conversation, don't seem interested in trying to recreate normal interaction within the parameters of the game, and seem to come from the "do whatever you can to get experience as fast as possible" school of thought. They don't seem to last long, though, which is probably a good thing.

[ACStrider]

Well, I'm back guys. I was in Dallas last week, so I wasn't able to play much. Since then I have been in Elysia and the Wilderness working on my alchemy.

I had one annoying day where I died, went to the Arborea, and was unable to leave because there was no exit (a real roach motel). Even a raise dead scroll used on my body didn't work.

Later I was doing alchemy in some nasty lag and the servers completely shut down. Several hours later they started up. Needless to say my nine magic bags (including one which had my bow hidden in it) were nowhere to be found. Fortunately I ran into Vedette who took me to her house (yes, she has her own HOUSE) and gave me some high quality magic bags, a replacement bow, and a +3 item!

Overall my character is really coming along (level 6, almost level 7). She's probably going to join the warrior maidens of Dre'Ana pretty soon (fascilitated by an encounter with Misty Moonbow). I think I'll eventually break my ties with Mikona and when I reach a high level I'll actually fight for T'Nanshi. Hopefully this alchemy will also pay off. I spend a good bit of time in it and with about 700 more experience in it I will be level 3.

Lately I have been exploring the Wilderness with Emilia de'Brogenhold (my roommie's other character) who is an energetic archer in service of Dre'Ana (another reason for me to become a fellow warrior maiden). We fixed the router issues, so we can play simultaneously. He likes Emilia a lot more, so you are actually a lot more likely to run into her then you are to run into Pollio.

Well, this is Arena Helerin signing out. Take care!

[QuikSand]

I have yet to really explore all the tradeskills. Can someone give me a paragraph explaining how it works, generally?

I presume if you're doing alchemy (seemingly the popular thing) then you run around picking up ingredients, take them to an alchemy table somewhere, and mix them up... and see what happens. Over time, you learn what works and what doesn't. And I guess there's some sort of separate XP system for these skills... so you gain levels at that, also?

Is that basically the whole thing?


Speaking out-of-character for a moment (not that this is new) - I'm not really sold that this is how I want to spend my time on the server. I'm finding cash awfully easy to come by, so buying the stuff I need doesn't seem like a real hassle. I can run in cirles for three hourse trying to get glowmoss and bitterroot and whatever... or I can just go kill somebody and take his money, more traditional D&D fare, actually.

I don't mean to be as disparaging as it sounds... but is there more to this than I'm gathering?

[Daimyo]

Judging from what I've read on the board you can craft much better things than you can buy in stores. AlsoI've seen many comments from DMs that once players get better at crafting collectively, magic items and potions will stop spawning in shops and the sole source of them will be from PC crafters.

EDIT: Well I assume you'll still be able to get the regular +1 stuff from normal enemies, +2 for completing quests, and +3 for DM quests.

[KWhit]

Originally posted by ACStrider
I had one annoying day where I died...


This struck me as funny as hell.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by QuikSand
I presume if you're doing alchemy (seemingly the popular thing) then you run around picking up ingredients, take them to an alchemy table somewhere, and mix them up... and see what happens. Over time, you learn what works and what doesn't. And I guess there's some sort of separate XP system for these skills... so you gain levels at that, also?

Is that basically the whole thing?

That's pretty much the basics for alchemy, but some of the other systems appear a bit more complicated. One other thing though...

Although there is a seperate leveling system for each of the skills, the experience you gain in a particular field also applies to your overall experience.

For me...

The negatives
When you know how to make something, and you know where to get the ingredients, and getting the ingredients isn't challenging, the process definitely gets monotonous, although a quick run to make a couple dozen medium healing potions only takes me about 20-30 minutes now.

Trying to make stuff in lag is a royal pain in the ass. You get dropped and can lose all the stuff on your table. Also, since stacking ingredients isn't possible, you have to manually move each item from your inventory to the table. This works quickly when there is no lag, but in Elysia (otherwise known as "Lagland"), it can really suck at times.

You end up with a lot of crap in your inventory. I've got samples of almost every kind of flora I've run into.

The positives
There is a "puzzle element" to figuring out the ingredients to make stuff. This makes wandering the wilderness more interesting. You end up paying attention to the flora more, and when you bump into something you've never seen before, you find yourself thinking about how it could be used to make something.

Once you know what the ingredients are, actually getting them can be very challenging. First, you've got to find them, and second, you've got to survive the trip. When I was down at level 2, just trying to get to the damn Fairy Garden was a life-threatening adventure if I went alone. Both of these factors force you to interact with other players more often, and give you, in a sense, a lot of mini-quests (e.g., go find dire animal blood to make such and such an ingredient, etc.).

It's something to do when there is no one else online to go kill stuff with, and when you're too weak to go kill fun stuff on your own.

There is the usual sense of accomplishment when you gain a new level.

Originally posted by Daimyo
Judging from what I've read on the board you can craft much better things than you can buy in stores. AlsoI've seen many comments from DMs that once players get better at crafting collectively, magic items and potions will stop spawning in shops and the sole source of them will be from PC crafters.

EDIT: Well I assume you'll still be able to get the regular +1 stuff from normal enemies, +2 for completing quests, and +3 for DM quests.

Ah! Very very interesting.

[ACStrider]

Good post GB. I think I'll add my .02 while we're on the topic of alchemy.

Things I like:
Making better potions then can be found in the shops
There are several items that you can craft that give MAJOR enhancements to your base stats. For example, Fey Wine gave me a +9 to Charisma, Brownsmoke seeds gave me a +7/8 to Constitution, Kao Kao Powder gave me a +10 to Dexterity, and so on. The downside is that these items are addictive (you suffer withdrawl if you don't take them continuously), illegal to consume, and my guess is that the more you use them, the less effect that you get. All in all, an interesting featur, though, and once you get to the higher level potions, they are less potent but also not addictive.

I like that it is a puzzle to figure out combinations for new potions
Any time that you can have an enduring problem that is constantly in the process of being solved, it keeps things interesting. It seems that time put into alchemy could pay off in the long run once you figure out how to make the more difficult potions.

Things I don't like:
Experience
I like that you get dual experience, but I think it ought to be reversed. As a level 2 alchemist I get 16 XP and 8 Alchemy XP for a cure moderate potion. I think it should be the other way around. The character should receive 16 Alchemy XP and 8 XP. I've gained a level now almost entirely from Alchemy. Maybe it's a reward for time spent gathering, but it seems like it's going to take forever for me to get to level 3 in alchemy.

Working tables in lag
Yeah, GB mentioned this above, but it's worthy of two mentions. Working an alchemy table in lag sucks royale. Moving each individual item from the inventory to the table is time consuming and tedious. On top of that if you have stuff in bags, you have to remove it from the bag outside of the table to your inventory before placing it on the table from your inventory. There are two good things to note. 1. You can place magic bags or containers directly onto the apparatus and it will work properly with the items within the container. (I wouldn't recommend doing this with a high percentage magic bag seeing as how rare they are) 2. The new AKN guild hall is about to become under construction. It will be in the Wilderness so you won't have all the lag issue that you face in Elysia. There will be tables there to work with, of course, along with people who sell things.

Well, I reached level 7 last night. Yea! So I look forward to seeing my character get a little more daring. C-ya all around!

[ACStrider]

Dola...
Hehe...I love your post at the Avlis Forum GB! I get a kick out of that. It can be a sort of running gag whenever there's a lull in conversation. "...as long as we're not going to the forest of midnight" Anyway, I'll see ya around.

Good running into you again Hornace! It's been a while!

[ACStrider]

Today I joined the warrior maidens of Dre'Ana along with Emilia. It seems really neat. I get my own place to live, a room where I can keep things, and I get to hang out with the warrior maidens. It looks promising.

[Fritz]

with all the server problems and such I have lost much of my interest. Anyone else in this boat?

[ACStrider]

Update on the servers...one of the biggest problems (if not THE biggest problem) was the lag and server instability. As of today they upgraded the entire system to a business connection. The lag and server issues are MUCH improved. If you got fed up with the lag, I suggest giving it another try. You might be pleasantly surprised.

[QuikSand]

I still have the bug to play, but will be away the next couple of days and unlikely to get on. However, perhaps this weekend I'll get back. Glad to hear there's good news with the servers... I got *very* angry after dying due to a server glitch recently, and it left a very sour taste with me.

I'd still enjoy getting together a decent group of FOFCers and trying to make a go together sometime.

Hornace might be too big of a celebrity to hang around with us, though...

[HornedFrog Purple]

Boy the new servers are very nice now. Sometimes there is occasional lag but its pretty smooth.

I guess Hornace is somewhat of a celebrity, people walk up and say Hi Hornace and I dont even remember them.

In some other news, he is now attacked by some Mchek guards even though I never pledged or joined the TNanshi army. He got the spite the other day and is going through withdrawls from the cure. So now he basically hangs out up north near Deglos and crafts and lumbers down invis to mikona when he needs some silks and ice crystals.

[Daimyo]

Originally posted by Fritz
with all the server problems and such I have lost much of my interest. Anyone else in this boat?
I haven't played in over two weeks now mostly because of the lag. Hopefully I'll get some time to try it again now that the server's have been upgraded. I've been thinking about starting a new character though, but I'll probably wait until they decide what they're going to do with the prestige classes.

I'm thinking about a half-elf ranger in T'Nashi, with human as the favored enemy, to be prestige classed into assasin.

[QuikSand]

I was just on the wilderness server for a while... got kicked off once, and had a "can't do anything" lag episode that lasted over five minutes. *sigh*

[Fritz]

I wonder if trying to use NWN to function like an EQ type game might be going a little far.

[daedalus]

But is the problem a result of the limitation of the game or is it because of the server?

[Fritz]

I was talking in general, but as far as Avlis goes, I think there are four things to look at:

1.) Bandwidth
2.) Server Hardware and configuration
3.) Game
4.) Game Mods

1.) They have increased their bandwidth, but they are still limited by their network. T1, OC3 doesn't make a difference if they run through 100 Switch. I don't know if this is an issue or not.

2.) At one point it sounded like they were using workstation class machines for this. So many things could be here.

3.) NWN might not be well coded for 30 players at once. From a game play point of view I certainly thing there are some multi-party issues with the software.

4.) Custom scripts including a live data connection to a database (Access I think) might be a culprit as well.

----
Anyhow, I have no doubts that serving 1 5-8 party the game works as intended. But as you add people and parties I think it may have some problems. These problems are likely compounded by less than optimal hardware and modifications to the software.

I don't mean any of this as a gripe. Just thinking out loud...

[daedalus]

1) What does having a 100 switch do? (I am network ignorant.)

2) Hrm. That's certainly a possibility.

3) That's one possibility. Or just that having to process 30+ players and actions at once just really tax it (going back to point 2).

4) Ick, ick and ick some more. Depending on how it's coded, database access could be seriously messy. What do they use it for?

[Fritz]

It just has to do with network speed. It is not uncommon for people to increase the size of the bandwidth (network speed to you site) but not consider network speed withIN the site.

Originally posted by daedalus
1) What does having a 100 switch do? (I am network ignorant.)


In the case of Avlis, they do some nifty things with persistance. These things come at a cost though.

Originally posted by daedalus
4) Ick, ick and ick some more. Depending on how it's coded, database access could be seriously messy. What do they use it for?

----------
Last night I was reading the Avlis board and somebody was bitching because he would have to spend skill slots to learn 1 rank of unlock if he wanted to use a key to his private area. "I only get 2 points per level, I shouldn't have to waste them to lock my door!"

People (myself included) quickly lose apprication for cool things.

[QuikSand]

So, I was on Avlis for a while this morning... was in the middle of a manageable fight with the clerics in blue (from the northern wilderness) when the Avlis lag hits me hard. After being frozen for about 90 seconds, we come back - and I am surrounded by at least six of them, and they quickly make mincemeat of me.

After struggling through my "task" to get back to the PM plane, I am now heading northward to try to retrieve my belongings. I have had intolerable lags three times, have been kicked off twice, and am now signed back in, able to see my character, but cannot do anything but move from place to place. There are mercenaries who are also immobile - but they'll attack me once we get started, and I may not survive. (I came here invisible, but that's gone since I was kicked off by the server)

Lots of f-bombs on my end right about now... I thought this place was supposed to be getting better...

[QuikSand]

Has anyone else run into Drem Glinklestein, in the Eastern Outskirts of Mikona?

I did by accident... he is apparently a very powerful druid (?). Anyway - I was battling with some bad cats and wolf-types, and he stepped in and let loose some fierce lightning on the whole area - french-fried all the beats, and me as well. Very thunderous.

Anyway, i wound my way back there, and eventually talked to him, and received his "quest."

has anyone else received and done this event? It sounds fairly interesting... anyone have insight?

[QuikSand]

Well, I have finally advanced to level 10 (a big step for a monk, getting an additional attack) - but things seem to have slowed down. Alas.

[QuikSand]

Hmmm.... it seems that I am unable to patch up to version 1,30 of NWN - probably due to the legion of haks that I have used for camera angles and so forth. I don't know what i'll need to do here, but at the moment I cannot get onto Avlis.

If anyone else gets on in the next day or so - please send a message to Hornace (HFP) - that he needs to come up for air at some point and comfirm his Hattrick match for the Cup this week.

Feh, it's all my fault. He's completely hooked, spending 16 hours a day on Avlis.

[Godzilla Blitz]

It's so easy to get hooked.

I was away for the past two weeks and have been wavering as to whether to log on again to Avlis now that I'm back. I can't just play a little bit. Absolutely impossible for me to stop.

I think of all the things I could get done in the real world, and realize that none of them will get done if I fire up that game just once.

[Airhog]

Looks like I need to buy this game when I can afford it :D

[darkfire]

Hey, just wanted to let anyone that still plays NWN1 that Avlis is still up and running, atleast 1,000 strong.

Got 10 servers going, a very active playerbase and lots of DMs.


www.avlis.org


Hope there are still some of you around :D

-Darkfire