Player Staff Meeting from May 1st, 2005 Vanth: "Please respect the Staff of Pontification and do not speak unless you have it. If you wish to speak, let me know. When you have the Staff, please speak in a timely manner. " Vanth: "Typing up what you need to say beforehand can help with this. Once done speaking, return the Staff to me. If you need to leave the meeting prematurely, typing 'leave' should take you back to where you were." Vanth: "Our last meeting ended with a discussion about clans and how to make them more enjoyable. We can start there unless someone has a burning issue they'd like to bring up." Vanth: "The syntax to tell me you want to speak is 'wish vanth '" The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to Sanvean the Enigmatic. Sanvean the Enigmatic: "One of the things I like about these meetings is a chance to get feedback from the players - what's happened recently that you like (or don't), what direction you think the game should be going in, etc..." Sanvean the Enigmatic: "So I'd like to ask people to give in a single sentence either something they'd like to see happen in the game, or something that should be removed form the game, if that makes sense." Sanvean the Enigmatic: "This is your chance to affect where the game is going and how it gets there." Sanvean the Enigmatic gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the black-haired, pale-faced man. The black-haired, pale-faced man: "Xygax recently brought up the issue of the harshness of the game not being reflected through the higher class citizens. I myself am really intrigued by this subject and was wondering how exactly we can do this:" The black-haired, pale-faced man: "Either by decresing the stipend given too them? What sort of roleplay changes should be made etc." Vanth: "Please use ooc So that every language can understand you. Sorry to interrupt." The black-haired, pale-faced man: "Xygax recently brought up the issue of the harshness of the game not being reflected through the higher class citizens. I myself am really intrigued by this subject and was wondering how exactly we can do this:" The black-haired, pale-faced man: "Either by decresing the stipend given too them? What sort of roleplay changes should be made, or how the players playing the higher class citizens, can change their attitudes to bring more down to zalanthas in their mannerisms." The black-haired, pale-faced man: "Their attitudes, and what can be changed within the houses as a whole." The black-haired, pale-faced man gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. Vanth: "I'll let a few other people bring up their topics then we can open discussion." The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short figure in a hooded, sandy-brown dustcloak. The very short figure in a hooded, sandy-brown dustcloak: "I'd like to see a few *minor* tweaks made to the "harsh" factor of sandstorms even in naturally stormy areas, for playability's sake." The very short figure in a hooded, sandy-brown dustcloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak . The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "I'd like to see more player-driven plots that are important to the world on a whole (more important needs more staff approval)." The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. Vanth: "Anyone else have any topics they'd like to bring up in response to Sanvean's request?" The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the dust-covered, tattooed dwarf. The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "I would like to see more plots that are "in the open". I'm adept at finding the ones that aren't, but not e" The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "But not everyone is able to get involved in such secretive things, which tend to take a lot of time to hunt down and slither your way into :-)" The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the leathery, birthmark-faced dwarf. The leathery, birthmark-faced dwarf: "A thought, this may already be inexistence, but wouldn't it be cool and spice things up if, once and while, you immortals tossed in a few 'Seeds of Evil', particular characters with incredible stats, solely designed to stirrup trouble." The leathery, birthmark-faced dwarf: "The character itself would be designed by an immortal and played out by a loyal, significant-charisma-holding player. If the scale fell too far in the direction of chaos, a 'seed of good' could be implemented to counter this atrocity. It'd make things...exciting." The leathery, birthmark-faced dwarf gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak . The very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "I've noticed a small problem with the Nak tailor, the others may be like this, but to get an item tailored it often costs as much as the item originally costs." The very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The very short figure in a hooded, dun-colored dustcloak: "I would like to see some limited control over stats (strength, agility, etc.) given during character creation via some combination of rerolls and ordering." The very short figure in a hooded, dun-colored dustcloak: "This is a topic that seems to come up every few months on the GDB and sparks a long discussion before fading away." The very short figure in a hooded, dun-colored dustcloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short female wearing a scrub-camouflaged facewrap . The very short female wearing a scrub-camouflaged facewrap : "A smarter, not necessarily more deadly, wilderness, meaning things like.. more of those NPC scripts that prod a player to treat NPCs like living beings.. dangers presented by the terrain and plantlife (the thorn scrub is an example), etc." The very short female wearing a scrub-camouflaged facewrap gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to Nidhogg, the spry undead monster. Nidhogg, the spry undead monster: "Addressing Noble Harshness, I think it's a matter of choices a lot of times." Nidhogg, the spry undead monster: "Maybe instead of a new purple silk cloak that differs slightly from the house purple cloak Lord Fale can hire more spies, and rumor mongers." Nidhogg, the spry undead monster: "Or instead of new silk boxers for her catamite, Lady Rennik could give her favorite catamite his enemy's head. Driving plots and the economy by hiring the killers." Nidhogg, the spry undead monster: "I think the idea of harshness comes down to choices about where to spend their sid, what should occupy their time. And what their passions should be." Nidhogg, the spry undead monster gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak . The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak : "In response to the "harshness" that Xygax brought in GDB: The problem with the "harsh", the independents make already more coins than the clans. So there should be a step in the independent economics, if that will make the game harsher. The..." The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak : "The stipends I think are fine." The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak : "What is needed, I guess is to make the independent living expenses more reasonable. If someone is making five-six times that in an IC month than a clanned one with just using "forage", I guess the problem is there." The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak : "Clans can be enjoyable, if they offer something else aside from the independent. The IC reasons make sense but the ooc reasons currently make the "enjoyable" part." The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak : "Good clan leaders are always handy at that enjoyable part. But not all the clans have it." The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak : "There can be a good step in making those "mini quests" that we saw in the GDB to start with, if that will not be a burden on the clan imms." The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak : "But more likely, I think that populated clans are the ones that make the most fun. So, instead of having clans with one or two people in it, maybe having clans with more people, and closing some that does not seem to be populated can make..." The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak : "... things a little better?" The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the short figure in a dark, hooded cloak . The short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "I wouldn't mind seeing more NPC houses with furniture that contains items for burglar types to steal. I believe it would be quite fun and enhance the game for a lot of folks." The short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "I wouldn't mind seeing more NPC houses with furniture that contains items for burglar types to steal. I believe it would be quite fun and enhance the game for a lot of folks." The short figure in a dark, hooded cloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to Ashyom the Cynic. Ashyom the Cynic: "sec, finishing typing this out" Ashyom the Cynic: "Going back to the topic of good and evil, and getting people involved with plots.." Ashyom the Cynic: "I want to point out that in Zalanthas, there isn't really good, as we know it, or have seen it - like in Lord of the Ring movies. What is (or rather, should be since players don't always follow this principle) evil versus worse evil. " Ashyom the Cynic: "This is a harsh, gritty world, after all. If you aren't feeling it, then perhaps you aren't playing up to that atmosphere? If you make tons of money, and it's just sitting in your bank, why not use it?" Ashyom the Cynic: "Hire assassins, buy spice, get drunk regularly. Get in trouble, cause trouble. Don't just sit in bars moaning about how you're bored and have nothing to do." Ashyom the Cynic: "Put the money to use, rather than letting it sit in your bank. After all, if you don't use it, it'll go to waste when you die. This is a more open, visible way of getting involved, or initiating plots by yourself." Ashyom the Cynic: "Disclaimer: For those of you who do enjoy sitting in bars, by all means, continue to do so. ;)" Ashyom the Cynic gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the slight, wispy-bearded half-elf. The slight, wispy-bearded half-elf: "I need my "nosave" status to be in my prompt. I've ideaed that before, but it's something that might've saved my previous character. I'd also -really- wouldn't mind seeing a "noresist" to automatically fail subdues only." The slight, wispy-bearded half-elf: "That is really important to me, if it's possible." The slight, wispy-bearded half-elf: "I also really want to see more documentation on statistics on the people of Zalanthas: demographics, percentages of those in certain professions, ect. Zalanthas (especially the cities) is a world that I've never been able to quite "get". The..." The slight, wispy-bearded half-elf: "...virtual world is just in everyone's imagination. " The slight, wispy-bearded half-elf gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to Sanvean the Enigmatic. Sanvean the Enigmatic: "In answer to the question about ordering stats - it's come up numerous times on the staff side of things as well." Sanvean the Enigmatic: "We would like to put that in, and probably will eventually, but there are some things we want to take care of first." Sanvean the Enigmatic: "One is simply figuring out the implementation and how it will be handled." Sanvean the Enigmatic: "The second, which is trickier, is that we'd like to see a webtool for submissions, so people can do things like edit their descriptions more easily..." Sanvean the Enigmatic: "Add tattoos and scars, etc. This would make it easier as far as ordering stats as well, and I'd like both (pretty big) changes to go into the game at the same time." Sanvean the Enigmatic gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak . The very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "I'd like to see more activity and plots from NPC/VNPC clans like the non-player noble houses, so it feels like more than just three of them are active in Nak, two in Tuluk, etc." The very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "It's sort of the same as what the guy just said about knowing more of what's happening in the virtual world." The very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the dust-covered, tattooed dwarf. The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "1.I agree with Nidhogg that its all about choices that Higher class players make. My biggest concern is uses for coin. You might get 5000 a week, but, short of giving someone 1000 for giving you some meager piece of information, its really hard to spend it all on plot creating things." The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "I also would like to say, that learning more about what virtual clans are upto would be extremely benefital in rounding out the world." The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "Perhaps regular in-game rumor posts could be made, like they have been in the past, to give a "political overview" of whats going on in the city on a regular basis." The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to Naiona's evil twin. Naiona's evil twin: "Just to really quickly elaborate on what Ashyom said, I'd like to remind everyone that the south vs. north ongoing conflict is not good vs. evil. I see a lot of characters that seem to think that Tuluk is a safe, good place." Naiona's evil twin: "It might help to imagine it as more of a secret police state where you never know if your best friend got eaten by a tembo or simply vanished for looking at the wrong person cross eyed." Naiona's evil twin gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The slight, wispy-bearded half-elf raises the hood of a desert-colored sandcloth greatcloak. Vanth: "I wanted to comment briefly on a couple of things brought up earlier." Vanth: "One, the harshness of the world for independent characters, particularly in the wilderness. This is something that we're always looking at and trying to balance." Vanth: "On the other hand, when we do make the world harsher, some people think it goes too far, and I know many of you have voiced frustration with the sandstorm code." Vanth: "So I just wanted to reiterate that's something we're always looking at and that balance is a concern we discuss a lot." The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to Adhira the late night prowler. Adhira the late night prowler: "Adding on to what Nidhogg has said about the use of sid by the nobility. I think part of the problem also lies with the more 'common' populace as well. When a hunter can earn a ton of sid and walk around in silks, or an aide have thousands..." Adhira the late night prowler: "or an aide have thousands sitting in the bank it can be hard to restrict a noble, who is not allowed to go out to earn that sid." Adhira the late night prowler: "I think this is something that every player, as well as staff need to consider. Yes, you can earn the sid, but should you? If you do have it, is it realistic for your hunter to have that nice silk outfit?" Adhira the late night prowler: "It's up to us all to keep that harsh balance in the game." Adhira the late night prowler gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short figure in a hooded, loose black silk greatcloak . The very short figure in a hooded, loose black silk greatcloak : "My current problem: IC vs. OOC things. People who log out to avoid being punished, people who retire their chars right in a moment someone hires assassins on them or if something bad happens. People who are never on, but are angry they are not..." The very short figure in a hooded, loose black silk greatcloak : "...part of the big things. Sometimes it makes IC life hard for OOC reasons." The very short figure in a hooded, loose black silk greatcloak : "And about coins: I am sure is not a problem to spend 5k per irl week just in bribes/spies etc." The very short figure in a hooded, loose black silk greatcloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak . The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "I almost always play independant characters that have very little coin. I just can't keep my 'sid in my pocket. So I would be screwed by making things more difficult for independants. I doubt I'm alone." The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "Perhaps Nidhogg's comment about choices extends to independants. Instead of hoarding your coin, spend it. Instead of buying that silk dress, buy someone to spread a rumor for you about your enemy." The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "Another choice is to not leave the city. I've read somewhere most citizens haven't ever left the city-state, the PCs don't represent this. Instead of having pick-pockets forage because you know you can forage salt for lots of money (only..." The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "(only experts in the wild should feel comfortable out there, which pick-pockets are inlikely to). Play out the harshness of struggling to get by." The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "Independants can (and should if they want to enjoy the game more) ask one simple question "What can I do to start more plots?"" The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "Not everyone is going to be the best at it, but everyone can try. I've had fun with my attempts in past characters, and I'm not overly good at it." The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak . The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak : "In response to Noble's having not enough coin for plots: I think they do. The information business, I can assure you, is going well with much lesser coins. just that, the noble should first make a plan of payment with it and it all works." The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak : "In Response to Vanth: The frustration is always there. Before the storm code, there was a bigger frustration for the independents making much coins. Now some of it just shifted to storm code." The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak : "The storm code made a step in the balance. I think it was the right step. Next could be the economy." The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. Vanth: "Is there anyone whose wish I've missed in the spam? If so, please wish to me again." The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the dust-covered, tattooed dwarf. The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "I believe that the problem surrounding the "harshness" factor is that there aren't enough people who want to be harsh." The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "There are some die hard harsh roleplayers out there, but they're not in the bars interacting on a regular basis. So its easy to forget how harsh the world really is." The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "In order to recognize harshness, there has to be something to compare "rich to", and that example of poor, harsh, struggling common-folks is what I believe is sourly missing on a regular basis." The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the robust, crimson-eyed templar. The robust, crimson-eyed templar: "I usually see players hesitate to use their wealth to earn more power within population and their house." The robust, crimson-eyed templar: "Even an unnamed citizen with some coins can make a rival to suffer to death, by simply giving some coins to militia or even templars, or a Salarr merchant can bribe a noble to speak a few bad words about the Salarri advisor. IMHO twisting minds..." The robust, crimson-eyed templar: ".. and Great eager for power would give the atmosphere easily." The robust, crimson-eyed templar gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak . The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "Problem with being harsh, is if you're the only one doing so, all the players can gang up on you. No-one wants to be the -only- player that dislikes half-elves, so peer pressure can result in not being harsh." The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "Another problem is a lot of players see harsh as killing people." The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "In regard to giving a Templar coins. A problem can be "Are templars really your thugs?" Should you bribe a templar to do something to your enemy if you're a nobody with lots of 'sid?" The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short figure in a hooded, sandy-brown dustcloak . The very short figure in a hooded, sandy-brown dustcloak : "I'd like to see Red Storm completely removed from the Hall of Kings options new players, for their own benefit. It really isn't a place for brand new people to the game." The very short figure in a hooded, sandy-brown dustcloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to Dakurus the *censored*. Dakurus the *censored*: "Just two things, I'd just like to remind people, especially in clans to take a few more chances and take some more initative." Dakurus the *censored*: "Also, I'm curious how people feel about the overall harshness outside the cities. I personally think it's more difficult to get money and survive, but certainly not impossible." The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the short figure in a drab, weathered stormcloak . The short figure in a drab, weathered stormcloak : "About OOC vs. IC - I believe people should OOCly enjoy themselves, or else theres no reason to play -" The short figure in a drab, weathered stormcloak : "So I would encourage earlier mentioned pickpocket to out and forage up some salty sid, in order to OOCly not be concerned with their chars starving/offording that sharp knife/whatever." The short figure in a drab, weathered stormcloak : "But that same character Icly should still be worrying about starving/the sand in his crack and the dire economic conditions his tribe/family lives under, -because that gives him a reason to generate his plots-." The short figure in a drab, weathered stormcloak : "OOC and IC are separate, and theres no reason we can enjoy watching OOCly as our chars struggle IG. Id make similar suggestions to revamping clans etc." The short figure in a drab, weathered stormcloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. Vanth: "I'd just like to say, briefly, that if you've never had a character codedly on the verge of starving to death, you should try it sometime. it's fun." The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the bronzed, brutal-featured man. The bronzed, brutal-featured man: "I think the problem is what everyone's opinion of harshness really is. In my day I've tried to do a great many evil things, the rare time, it has suceeded" The bronzed, brutal-featured man: "More often then not it runs into imm interferance. Though I believe I read at least three times by now that players should keep running plots themselves." The bronzed, brutal-featured man: "For example: In reality, if a person is dead then you know they can't come back at you, thats much more desireable then torturing a person just to give them good rp opportunity. But then you are looked down on by players and staff." The bronzed, brutal-featured man: "Is there some sort of guidelines to what players can be doing, without stepping on imms toes? Or maybe imms could get a few more plots going, open to the public" The bronzed, brutal-featured man gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the leathery, birthmark-faced dwarf. The leathery, birthmark-faced dwarf: "I think the main problem is there aren't enough opportunities for Harsh characters." The leathery, birthmark-faced dwarf: "If you're harsh and have no power, you're not going to go anywhere fast. I'd like to see more harsh clans, and I don't necessarily mean bloodthirsty ones--more things like the Byn." The leathery, birthmark-faced dwarf gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short figure in a hooded, loose black silk greatcloak . The very short figure in a hooded, loose black silk greatcloak : "About the bribery: it was a good point. I think people should bribe more. Bribe not only templars and militia. There is lot of reasons to bribe other peoples too." The very short figure in a hooded, loose black silk greatcloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the dust-covered, tattooed dwarf. The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "I would like to see a poison or other readily available ability that can hinder the use of the Way for a short period of time, so interrogations can occur before killing. So people don't tell all their friends your killing them while your talkin" The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "I would also -love- for there to be a way to hide your description more readily. Yes, it can cause potential problems, but the limitations of the 0h-mighty look command is extremely hard to deal with for sensitive roles." The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "I cannot say how many times the fear of the "look" command has stopped me from doing something I would want to do." The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "I also wanted to bring up my thoughts on the question "Are templar's your thugs"" The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "I believe for the common independent nobody, they aren't. And then the second question comes...so who DO you hire for jobs to be done? Finding a regular old assassin, that won't just rat you out to make a pile of sid more than your paying..." The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "IS such a hard task, its nuts." The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to Savak, lord of mists. Savak, lord of mists: "On the points of harshness, good vs. evil, and clan numbers:" Savak, lord of mists: "I hear at times people suggest closing clans in order to "condense" players into fewer clans, so each clan can theoretically "do" more." Savak, lord of mists: "Although closing clans might lead to more people in a given clan (or it might lead to more independents, who don't jive with the limited clan options), I find that large clans rarely go head-to-head. Instead, they find ways to be excellent to..." Savak, lord of mists: "one another" Savak, lord of mists: "Note..there is nothing wrong with that IC'ly, as it's perfectly natural to find ways to keep yourself and your clan "safe." But, clans without enemies have relatively little to do." Savak, lord of mists: "NPC enemies -- oh, let's be bold and use "gith" as an example -- are generally unintelligent (or frustratingly intelligent), require rpt times to do much, and overall are just less cool than PC enemies." Savak, lord of mists: "Furthermore, it's my feeling that options are interesting -- so long as those options don't overlap too much. Seventeen noble Houses is probably too much, because in-game, it's all but impossible for each of those Houses to be doing..." Savak, lord of mists: "significantly different things on a day to day basis." Savak, lord of mists: "But, a niche for most of the major races & cultural types is, I think, a good thing. Even if player (and staff) interest cycles among them and some are quiet from a PC point of view for extended periods." Savak, lord of mists: "Different clans mean different ways of looking at things. I am good, because..well, I am. Anyone against me is evil. But, they certainly think the same way. An outsider may wonder what the fuss is about, because it looks rather grEy (but..." Savak, lord of mists: "certainly not grAy) to them." Savak, lord of mists: "This is not only what makes the game interesting, it allows conflict to literally kill off the clan for a while -- without necessarily eliminating it from existence (though that can & should happen at times too), leaving room for a natural..." Savak, lord of mists: "re-growth..someday." Savak, lord of mists: "Anyway -- bottom line, I think, is that harshness is most interesting for -everyone- if it derives from PC's. Scripts on beasties are briefly neat, until people "figure them out," weather is hit or miss, staff NPC's..are sometimes good, but..." Savak, lord of mists: "tend to be reactive more than proactive." Savak, lord of mists: "and, as part of that, having "multiple" clans out there with different ways of looking at and handling things, increases the probability of PC conflict -- too few, and the natural inclination is to minimise the conflict (at least, the big grand..." Savak, lord of mists: "grand scale stuff -- the little stuff is often better)." Savak, lord of mists: "Lastly, the notion of "imm interference" -- this comes up a lot, and is usually a result of misinterpretation. We LIKE people to get nasty with one another. But, it's our responsibility to make the world respond, too." Savak, lord of mists: "Sometimes that means getting nasty with you, IC'ly -- that doesn't mean we don't like what you're doing, or don't like how you're doing it (usually we're direct enough about that..I hope)." Savak, lord of mists: "the key in such situations is to find a WAY of doing things that is believable, even if it's IC'ly naughty. The biggest problem I see is that people's methodology just seems too..OOC." Savak, lord of mists: "So, that's my way of tieing harshness, clan numbers, and good vs. evil together. Thank you for your cooperation." Savak, lord of mists wiggles his eyebrows. Savak, lord of mists gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short figure in a hooded brown sandcloth cloak . The very short figure in a hooded brown sandcloth cloak : "As to harshness and the economy, the problem is that its too easy just sell stuff to shops and make piles of money, that's what the economy is unbalanced, not how many mekillots/gith/ubertembos are standing outside the gates." The black-haired, pale-faced man nods. The very short figure in a hooded brown sandcloth cloak : "I mean, really, should shops buy piles of items from people off the street for significant amounts of money? Can I go to wall mart and sell them a shirt I took off a dead guy or five branches from a forest?" The very short figure in a hooded brown sandcloth cloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the tousled, vibrant-eyed woman. The tousled, vibrant-eyed woman: "It would be nice to have more immortal interaction in every aspect of the ingame world. It's possible that it's happening and I'm just not seeing it? " The tousled, vibrant-eyed woman: "Also, if the world is supposed to be a spectrum of harsh to harsher, I'd like to see some forces come into play which would send the inhabitants of Zalanthas cowering in fear " The tousled, vibrant-eyed woman: "or rising up to protect their land, homes, families, values.. as the case may be, banding together against something. Of course, that's not really the sort of thing that can happen perpetually." The tousled, vibrant-eyed woman: "As far as players being harsh.. I think it can be a double edged sword in some cases. While just about every truely enjoyable experience I've had mudding involved some level of fear for survival, " The tousled, vibrant-eyed woman: "those players who choose to play a really bad element risk a lot of OOC badmouthing from those who don't really understand their motives and this can leak ingame. " The tousled, vibrant-eyed woman: "I.e. "Watch out for the one with the scales, he's a super high-powered robotic mindbender with a lust for human blood" Right? " The tousled, vibrant-eyed woman: "And much as we dislike the OOC chatter, this happens, and then so and so avoids him or her and no one gets to experience the fun of having your mind robotically bent." The tousled, vibrant-eyed woman: "in conclusion, those of you who love tot alk about the game and swap experieinces.. please think twice. And then think again, because you don't know when the next plot you start will get dooped by someone doing the same thing." The tousled, vibrant-eyed woman gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the short figure in a flowing, hooded cloak of pure white silk. The short figure in a flowing, hooded cloak of pure white silk: "On the subject of making clans more enjoyable, I think that interaction with the higher-ups in a clan can make things a lot more fun for characters. I've noticed the IMMs do this in the clans I've been in, and I really like this." The short figure in a flowing, hooded cloak of pure white silk: "I think that perhaps it should happen a little more often, especially for leader PCs because that gives them fodder for creating plotlines. That, in turn, leads to getting the lower ranked PCs in a clan involved in more plots." The short figure in a flowing, hooded cloak of pure white silk gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to Naiona's evil twin. Naiona's evil twin: "Two points very quickly. The first regards templars and bribes." Naiona's evil twin: "We have set it up for you all so that templars have every reason to accept even small bribes from PCs. That doesn't mean they will always do as they are asked, or that your enemy might not bribe more, but you should see templars responding to..." Naiona's evil twin: "To cash gifts. This is more true for the lower ranks of templars then the higher. I wouldn't suggest any PC in their right mind approach a Red Robe in Nak without good reason." Naiona's evil twin: "If it isn't happening, please feel free to let us know. That doesn't mean you will necessarily get your way. But it is part of the realistic environment we are trying to provide." Naiona's evil twin: "Secondly, even more briefly: the OOC issue. Just don't do it. Be the person that says 'no, lets talk about something else' when people start sharing IC info with you. Trust me. You'll be a lot, lot happier in the long run if you do." Naiona's evil twin gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak . The very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "The thing about large clans is that the PCs inside a large clan have more chances for intra-clan politics, too. Not everyone in a big clan always gets along, and internal power struggles like that can be lots of fun. " The very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "Smaller clans and independents may not get those same opportunities for plots." The very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "I don't know how to reconcile that while still giving a wide range of opportunities to people except getting more players... but I just wanted to say that increasing clan numbers sounds like a good idea." The very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak . The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "If you're shit-scared, you should have difficulty waying someone. If you're having your fingers broken one after the other, same deal." The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "Something for victims to think about (yes, I know it's difficult to stop yourself OOCly. You really want that character to survive. But if you think fast, I've found most of the time you CAN survive)." The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "That was in regards to the request for an easy to access poison that inhibits the Way." The extremely short figure in a dark, hooded cloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short figure in a hooded, sandy-brown dustcloak . The very short figure in a hooded, sandy-brown dustcloak : "To add to the point about shops: I think they need a total overhaul. Many PCs get rich from them by showing up at game reset. Most people end up with a bag full of stuff no PC wants, shops that already have 5 of each, and no coin to show for it." The very short figure in a hooded, sandy-brown dustcloak : "I'm not sure what the best way would be to "fix" it, but I think changing that system drastically to be more efficient and spread out would really help solve the "problem" of these incredibly wealthy independents (who I don't think are in the majority)." The very short figure in a hooded, sandy-brown dustcloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to Bhagharva the Purulent. Bhagharva the Purulent: "Before I became an imm I took a certain pride in that I could accomplish quite a lot without ever needing the imms." Bhagharva the Purulent: "Little did I realize how much had gone on under my nose, what characters I had met that were not PCs and not to mention the myriad of plots that I was involved in." Bhagharva the Purulent: "I've seen players get angered at those damn immz more than once when they assumed that someone was 'interfering' or just simply 'messin' with em'" Bhagharva the Purulent: "The more amusing times are when no imm is doing anything at all to them, they make up their own conspiracy. Happens more frequently than you could imagine." Bhagharva the Purulent: "Familiarity appears to breed contempt and when you assume that you know what is going on behind the scenes it really affects your play." Bhagharva the Purulent: "It seems to me that harshness is in the eye of the beholder and unfourtunately those that know the game really well sometimes tend to keep track of where things pop up, tend to be more successful financially." Bhagharva the Purulent: "That same player will most likely be the one complaining that things are too harsh." Bhagharva the Purulent: "Lastly, I have never been accused of not being harsh enough. :p Halaster and Nessalin taught me how, nuff said." Bhagharva the Purulent gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. Vanth: "I'm going to close the queue for general comments, but Ashyom has a question she'll be posing after Dakurus speaks." The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to Dakurus the *censored*. Dakurus the *censored*: "Just a comment about the subject of the merchants buying everything and that being a problem." Dakurus the *censored*: "Imagine if they only bought one of any finished good, or three, and it saved across reboot, until a pc who had an actual need bought it. Very very quickly we'd run out of markets for most things." Dakurus the *censored*: "Just the same, for raw commodities, such as food stuffs, salts, etc, perhaps there could be less to no limits, or direct trade for food/water for newbies." Dakurus the *censored*: "This would be very dramatic, because the spread of demand from players is never wide reaching, and always changing. And would need likely constant tweaking and consideration." Dakurus the *censored*: "simply put, the database wasn't really built to satisfy an ongoing supply/demand structure of player characters. There's a slew of stuff that can be crafted, skinned, foraged, hacked, loaded, that almost no one wants, but are all sellable to npcs." Dakurus the *censored* gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to Ashyom the Cynic. Ashyom the Cynic: "Ok, we're wrapping it up, I'd like to open this to general comments and whatnot. But also throw in a question for ya'all. In ONE sentence, is there a code change or idea that you'd like to propose?" Ashyom the Cynic gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. Vanth: "wish to me if you have a response to ashyom's question or a -brief- closing comment." The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the figure in a dusty hooded brown sandcloth cloak. The figure in a dusty hooded brown sandcloth cloak: "I'd just like to see a command to stealthily give something to another person... they would know, but others in the room wouldn't, if it succeeded" The figure in a dusty hooded brown sandcloth cloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the dust-covered, tattooed dwarf. The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf: "Disguise System. (To battle the oh-mighty "look" command)" The dust-covered, tattooed dwarf gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short figure in a hooded, black aba trimmed in azure . The very short figure in a hooded, black aba trimmed in azure : "The tdesc idea, an alterable section of the main description." The very short figure in a hooded, black aba trimmed in azure gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak . The very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak : "I'd like to have a way to plant things in people's backpacks instead of just inventory." The very short figure in a dark, hooded cloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the soft-featured, black-haired templar. The soft-featured, black-haired templar: "I'd like to see more weapons that are usable like whips. IE: use whip." The soft-featured, black-haired templar: "or use knife." The soft-featured, black-haired templar gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak . The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak : "Put a delay to NPC soldiers, in crime code. Like other npcs. Scrabs have delays, soldiers not. Also thumbs up for "use weapon"" The short figure in a black skull-studded greatcloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the stalwart, scar-faced man. The stalwart, scar-faced man: "About the NPC shops and economy: One thing that could be implemented for NPC shops is to have a timer after buying a certain number of items from PC's." The stalwart, scar-faced man: "Depending on the demand for the item, the timer could be shorter. Resetting the timer would allow the NPC to buy those items again." The stalwart, scar-faced man gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short male wearing a thin, grey-sandcloth facewrap . The very short male wearing a thin, grey-sandcloth facewrap : "This has been brought up for ages: I'd like to be able to end combat somehow without either fleeing or death involved." A swarm of fireflies engulf Adhira, their light increasing in brilliance then fading abruptly, leaving only emptiness in its wake. The very short male wearing a thin, grey-sandcloth facewrap gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile gives the Staff of Pontification to the very short figure in a hooded brown sandcloth cloak . The very short figure in a hooded brown sandcloth cloak : "Now that time has been fixed - item decay!" The very short figure in a hooded brown sandcloth cloak gives the Staff of Pontification to The dented, rusty Vanth-mobile. Vanth: "Anyone I missed?" Vanth: "Ok, if not, we're opening thing up so you can look at the IMMS. Do not look at one another (PCs)." Vanth: "When you're done here you can type 'leave' to return to where you were."