Thoughts on Roleplaying and PK

Posted on September 29, 2009September 6, 2019 by samakhulis

Over the recent months, I’ve noticed an increased amount of PK, especially in my area of allegiance. Of course, it is acceptable and allows for a bigger player-base. However, it seems as though much of the PK that occurs is due to spite and grudges. None of it, in my opinion, is roleplayed very well. As I’ve been working on my own MUSH, I read through the PennMUSH developers’ writings on roleplay, factions and things. And I have to say that they brought up some very good points.

From what I see, and from what I perceive, those factions specifically aligned against my own seem to know when our defenses are low and make gigantic and harmful attacks at those times. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s how it seems to be. Javelin, or was it Raevenos, or someone else..I don’t remember, said that factions and roleplaying should be best brought together with agreements by faction leaders. It seems a little backward from the way things are, and I admit that true underhanded playing adds a LOT that you would not have with roleplaying agreements. But the idea was this: HL1 gets together with HL2. House1 is enemied to House2. HL1 says to HL2, “I want to try a roleplay where our houses fight it out and do such and such” and HL2 says, “Okay..but make sure you do it around this time, because my members will be around then and you won’t have an unfair advantage.” And so it goes on and the house leaders make some sort of arrangement.

I really like this idea, simply because I’m horrible at PK. And it seems more enjoyable to me and I’m sure to others like me. I mean, I’m not into PK. I’m into roleplaying and monster-hunting. If I experience an unexpected and unfair attack by an enemy faction, well, it pretty well depresses me for days on end, because I can’t stand how I’m not that good at doing what I’m supposed to be good at doing (specifically DEFENDING Nature). So this idea of agreed roleplay between factions seems like a very nice idea.

Of course, I know most people will disagree with me, and even -I- might disagree with me, because, like I said before, underhanded and unannounced roleplay is so much more exciting than a planned out war.

Okay. I’m done! And it’s late. And I’m tired. And I don’t want to wait for the Fairy Garden to shut itself down (which it now does at 3:00am EST).

8-2-09

Posted on August 2, 2009September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Okay..for a special request from Alynia who is the second person to discover this thing and actually TELL me, I’m posting.

Now to get back in the mood…I was writing these in first person, was I not? I think so. So I will.

Things have been quiet. I got HR5 in the Druids, which is the BEST! Also, Alynia, a long-time friend of mine has come to stay permanently at my house as a sort of house-keeper you might call it (thanks for the inspiration, Alynia. I almost forgot this blog existed!).

So I made HR5, Level 81 and reached 2 million sovereigns in my bank account. What else? Not much. A huge credit and crown sale just started and I can’t do anything because my soul is penniless.

It’s late, and I’m tired..almost a zombie..and I must get going. Hopefully I’ll remember this thing a little more so I can get it updated more often than not.

Take care and sweet dreams (which reminds me.. I also joined Valnurana’s pre-Order – The Emnia Ecstasia).

-Samakhulis Moonflair

P.S. Where’d the Moonflair come from? I was bloodlined to Aohara, if you didn’t already know.

3-23-09

Posted on March 23, 2009September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Okay, so I’m kind of mad and at the same time upset. Who wouldn’t be? I mean, our house head, Kaiya, just retired, dormanted and disappeared seemingly forever. If I thought swearing were ethical, I’d swear right now! Kaiya, I must say, was the best head I’ve ever seen in the house. Of course, up until now, she was the ONLY head I have seen in the house, so you can see where I’m coming from. But golly! If it weren’t so sudden and if she hadn’t went so darned DORMANT, I might be in a bit of a better mood.

Okay, I must confess..the previous paragraph is written in anger, because for the first month after the announcement and actual leaving, I was depressed. But depression was no good, as it was making me loose sleep IRL and all other kinds of problems. I figure being angry is better than being depressed. At least brooding in anger seems to feel a little better than brooding in depression. Either way, it still makes me really sad to see her leave, especially in this manner. That’s all for that. Except I wish…oh never mind.

On a happier note: between now and the last post, I have gotten married (Loreen), gotten a bloodlined mother (Aohara) and almost finished my schooling in the Druids. So HA!!

I’m not done with the Kaiya issue though. Between the first of the year and now, it seems that she’s been spending less time in the realm, and I suppose that’s to prepare all of us. Still, her departure was rather sudden and heart-wrenching. I SO want to swear. Darn it! I’m so mad. Of course, when something like this happens, you kind of lose your motivation for anything, as I have. I mean..its not like she hawked over my shoulder on everything, nor did she have much of a personal relationship with me as she did with others, so I felt pretty much on my own anyway, but the leaving has still killed my motivation. There. I’m done now.

So what else? Um..I won a few arena spars against Soopay. And boy do I get ribbing about that!

Oh! Another thing! On an OOC note, I downloaded PennMUSH from Nick Gammon’s website and that is pretty darn cool if you can figure it out. It’s not as customized as Achaea, but hey..twelve years makes for a pretty customized game, compared to a month of figuring out a whole new MUD engine. Plus, this one doesn’t seem to MUDdy, as you can’t really kill stuff all that nicely. Just one “kill” command and that gives the target a bit of gold and sends them to their set “home.” That’s all..pretty boring if you ask me. Of course, all the forums say that the only real way to customize is to know C++ and to edit the source code and recompile. But there’s only a few problems with that. 1) I don’t know C++, 2) I don’t have time to learn, and 3) I don’t have a compiler, nor do I have the time to find one and learn IT! So I’ll live with the base engine. Good note is that I’ve created a world of about 2500 rooms so far. No..not 2500 rooms. But 2500 THINGS including players, rooms, exits and objects. And exits are a lot more plentiful than rooms..for obvious reasons. Each apparent exit is two exits as you have to have a return path for normal travel. Of course, you could do the Lady Eris thing and go north to one room and south to a completely different room, rather than returning to the one you just left..if that makes sense. One more rambling..I created something called the Font of Life and if you @pemit #110 = help (That’s YELL TO FONT, “HELP” in semi-Achaean) you are transported INSIDE it which exists in the Room 2, which is the starting point. Pretty cool if you ask me. That’s the most in-depth I’ve been with object customization. I can’t figure out how to do the delayed-reset on objects. Nick’s example was wander into a bunch of shops and if you have objects in your INVENTORY, then you can enter, otherwise the shop owner snarls at you and throws you out. It didn’t really work too well for me, but I suppose if you want to get really IN-Character, that’s the best way to do it. I DO prefer the IRE method of GIVE OBJECT TO THING and get gold back…but again, I don’t have time to do figure that out yet.

For now, I’ll stick with Achaea and I’m done rambling and Kaiya, you’d better either get back in the groove or give a good explanation for leaving, including some encouragement. I so need an explanation or encouraging word. The ‘rememberances’ are NOT encouraging one bit. Like “she WAS..” or “remember the time when she…” I mean, just leaving WITHOUT explanation is, in my opinion, uncalled for. I’m sure SOMEBODY got an explanation, but the only thing I heard was “I’m gone, not coming back, and here’s the keys. See ya!”

Okay, Sama…shut up now.

7-28-08

Posted on July 28, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Sheesh, seems like it’s been forever! Well, I’ll bring it up to date. I’ve started my patrol path, which means I’m patrolling one of each of the different kinds of terrains in Achaea. Just today, I did my yearly patrol of the Black Forest. In fact, let me quick do something while I’m thinking of it.

Okay, I’m back! I just scanned my hand-drawn map of the Black Forest, with my reference designators on it (personal room numbers). At least I’ll be able to point to this image if anyone asks what I mean when I say “Room 38 change to blah.” That’s the idea!

That’s it for now. Not much else, except I did start a Facebook in order to get that extra 25% XP Gain when I level up (and I am now at 70 (woot)). I probably won’t use the Facebook thing, since I think that sort of thing is dumb, but I DO like the gain, so I’ll just let it sit, like the Pentad suggests if you don’t like Facebook and now I’m rambling so I’d better shut up!

Anyhow, enjoy the map…oh yeah, I’d better at least upload and give reference here! 🙂

Stupid computer…I just scanned the map, and it turned out to be 11×17 600dpi, which essentially came to 10200×6000 px. Well, I’m resizing to somewhere around 1000px high, like a photo, and the resize hit the memory like crazy. In fact everything else has been pushed to the bottom, and my pagefile is having a real time of it. Hopefully it’ll finish soon. It’s been already 5 minutes at least…….okay!! Now it’s done! Here we go:

6-24-08

Posted on June 24, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Wow…it seems I’ve forgotten about this for a while. Well, not all that long, compared to other things I forget. But anyway, I’ll do my best to bring you up to date.

So I’ve been hanging out, getting gold and getting stronger too. I found a new place for gold, only it’s a bit higher level than most. You will note that I have mentioned Actar as being good for fresh-out-of-newbie-schoolers. Well, there’s another that I would say is good for those who are fairly strong, and can take out a low-hitting Extrodinary Power denizen.

It turns out that the strongest I can take is probably the wolves and boars in the Black Forest. These are classified as the “Appears to be Extraordinarily Strong” types and I have died frequently to them in the last few months. Most people equate your strength with your level, but I have found that this is not always the case. Defences and experience in certain skills affect your percentage strength also. I mean, I figure a good solid experience-gain denizen should be easy to kill, but not too easy. It should not hit too hard and yet, if it doesn’t hit hard enough, you will not gain much. I have found that most Extraordinarily Strong denizens will hit, and I can hold out just long enough to kill them, but they slowly wear on my health and more often than not I have to retreat in order to regain health. The wolves in Black Forest are this way.

Anyway…back to the place. It’s the island of Ulangi. If you’ve been around a while, you know about it, not only because it’s there, but because IronRealms has included a map with it. So here it is: Ulangi. Very nice for making gold. It includes some rather strong buck deer, and extraordinarily strong moose. Both of these have extremely high gold return, which I really like. They amount to about 8 Actar goats each (a little more than 600 gold). And there are quite a few, so you will get a credit’s worth of gold in no time. Plus there are a few quests that you can discover that have very high return (I just completed the Pirate Treasure one).

So I’ve been hanging out there. In fact, I have my soul “bookmarked” there for when I return because too many people were hanging out and making all the gold in the world, while I struggled to find any serious game to hunt (they hogged it all first).

Another trick I just came up with…that is Grove Vigour. It boosts your health about a third per hit. Very nice. I didn’t remember it and because of it I’ve died I don’t know how many times in my grove when I could have sacrificed a hit on the denizen for a Vigour boost. Unfortunately, last time I tried it, I almost died, so it still didn’t do much good. I think the problem is that I’m not used to using it. I’ll have to practice on them wolves.

I’ve been at level 62 for the past 3 months and can’t seem to get further. I’m hovering at 63 and for some reason keep dying to stuff and dropping below. This happened at least three times just this month. Fortunately I used those 5 lessons before I died the last time, so I had my abilities heightened before I died.

More later…because I can’t think of anything else.

One more thing I forgot…next month is my birthday. I’ll be turning 22 I think!

6-11-08

Posted on June 11, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

This month was a bit more boring than others I’ve seen. Probably because I’ve been busy with other things. But I did manage to get a few days in the realms later on. And I learned all about prickly pear from the dear fellow Apprentice, Druuna. Actually, we’re no longer titled apprentices, but whatever. Druuna’s the same house ranking, and yet she’s been around a LOT LONGER than me, so she knows her way around.

I finally found the cyclops village in the Vashnars. It’s on the way to Actar, only instead of going southeast from the turnoff, you go east and up the trail aways. I also learned that heading down-river, you can jump off of a waterfall and land near the island in Actar. That was pretty fun. And I didn’t even break anything! It was like and indian canoeing of the waterfall and landing without sinking. Of course, I couldn’t get back up without going all the way around again, but it was exciting!

Other things. Not much else. A quick bit of advice…if going to the Shala’jen Monestary, DO NOT go into the cave down in the canyon below. That is the hangout of the Prince of Thieves, and since I got my vials stolen by an Adventurer a couple months ago, I was not prepared with immunity when the prince hit me with Voyria. Thankfully the others in the house were aware and got me resurrected rather quickly. With all this dying (and I am good at it), I’m finally beginning to learn some strategy in order to get resurrected as quickly as possible. Of course, having the Resurrection ability would be awfully nice, but I’m not there yet.

One big annoyance…people keep killing the cyclops in Actar. He gives good gold! Please don’t!

Anyway, that’s all for now. I bought a new game called Myst Uru…Complete Chronicles, so I have a new deterrent to keep me away, but I’ll try to get as much time in as possible.

And a note to Profit…if he reads this. You may have gotten my journal, but you can’t get my logs. *tongue Profit* I HAVE BACKUP. And you won’t find much in there to help you, so HA!!!

6-10-08

Posted on June 10, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Wow, I’ve been out of the loop for a few months. Probably just trying to get something actually interesting to talk about. Which I did! Our dear Rinji got engaged this month! Actually it was even on the New Year. And who’s the lucky lady? Why, it’s Miss Linelle! Congratulations to them both! (Oh, and Happy New Year!)

On a different note, before the festivities and a few months ago, I got to kill my first wolf in the Black Forest! I’m so excited. Of course, I had to retreat to heal about five times, because he hit hard and my health elixer could not keep up. But I did it, and gained a bit of experience (more than the usual quarter percent).

A few of you, and others from different houses, have been asking about quests after the newbie area. Well, there are many, many places you can go. From fresh out of newbie training, a good money-maker is the valley of Actar. Experience can be gained there as well as in the Great Rock and the Enverin Marsh. If I’m not busy, you can send me an in-game tell, and I’ll see if I can help you out.

Of course there’s always the little animals like the jarbo and gecko lizard in the Mohjave Desert, as well as rabbits, groundhogs and what not everywhere else. The big advice you will get from anyone is PROBE THE CREATURE before attacking. Recall my previous post showing levels of Denizen strength and their respective descriptions. Figure out what you can handle and stick to that strength until you advance in the circles. Be aware that not all denizens who look “weak and feeble” will have the same attack scheme. A rattlesnake is rather weak, but venomous. Some denizens web in order to trap you so you can’t move. Others hit rather hard but will die within a couple of hits, while others don’t hit that hard but, for some reason, keep on living.

All in all, experiment and if you are getting low in health, get away. Don’t live by the old hunting saying of “put it out of its misery.” Don’t feel sorry for it. Remember that if you leave for a long while, it will go to sleep to regenerate its health, just like you do, and will be chipper and ready for the second round in a few minutes. And if you die, just remember that the Great Mother Maya is waiting for you.

Another idea from leaving the Newbies: if you have not already done so, you can work on your tasks. No doubt you have already seen some, as catching butterflies from Vellis and buying vials from Seasone will accomplish those respective tasks. There are some tougher ones though. You can get hints by looking at TASK DETAILS. Some fun ones for druids are the fire drill and the scavenger hunt tasks.

So here’s the rest of the story…late into the month, I attended an anti-theft class. Hopefully I’ll be able to deter any more attempts at this sort of thing, as I have been targetted by a few others lately. I won’t tell my secrets, as that will give them strategy on how to circumvent them. Heh. But I will say this. It’s going to be harder from here out.

6-5-08

Posted on June 5, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Early in the month, I spent my time learning the Grove skill from the dear Druidess Nixxe. After attaining the Rain ability, we discussed a few things before she moved on. That was in the early month.

Later in the month, I travelled to the deep Southern Vashnars where I climbed Mount Nicator to enter Erymanthus – The flying island above the mountin. I had visited it before while gaining my Voyager status, but it turns out I had not seen it all. I had only experienced the lower level of Erymanthus above the misty ascent from the gates. Here there was a waterway and a huge forest. But after wandering around some, I came upon a steep rise of a mountain. Finding that I could climb it, I did and discovered at the top a village known as Arcadia, where winged Atavians live. Of course, me being an Atavian, everyone there made me feel welcome.

Arcadia was reached by first wandering around the Erymanthus forest for a while, and then finding a cave, which I entered. This cave deepened into a long tunnel, which came out on the face of a hill. Climbing the hill, and following the path, I soon came to the gates, where I was greeted by the gatekeeper and addressed as “Dear Sister.”

Inside were somewhere around four to five different levels of city. Each level contained guards and archers. The first level consisted of the Plebians. Second was the farmers. Third level was the royalty. Fourth level was a market (in which the merchants did not sell anything). Fifth level was a university. In the middle of the university was a path that led to the top of Erymanthus and into the clouds where Lord Vastar’s Arcadian Temple was located. The temple is called the Sky Tower in which Cassandra, the healer-priestess resides. Of course why should I tell you about it. You can read it all for yourself at http://www.achaea.com/lore/Arcadia.

Wed. June 4, 2008 – Denizen Afflictions List Part 1

Posted on June 4, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

Denizen Afflictions List Part 1

Here is a list I’ve been working on that puts together some specific Denizens and their afflictions that they can hit you with:

Minia:
Imp – None
Pixie – None
Hellcat – None
Pygmy – None
Kobold – None

Actar Valley:
Goat – None
Rabbit – None
Crow – Runs away
Deer – None
War Goat – None
Cyclops – None
Halfling – None
Fish – None
Ghost – None
Owl – None

Savannah:
Hare – None
Gour – Unknown

Mohjave Desert:
Rattlesnake – None (Can Flay)
Sidewinder – None (Can Flay)
Hyena – None
Monitor Lizard – None
Gecko Lizard – Unknown (too weak and dies after first hit)
Jarbo – None
Coyote – None
Unformed Thing – Stun (may also have venom)
Scorpion – Paralyse, Stupidity (yellow are aggressive)

Great Rock:
Stirge – None
Cerberus – None
Cultist – None
Bearnath – Shield
Beastlord – Shield
Ophidians – Loki (can flay Sileris)
Beetle – Unknown
Arinas – Unknown
Kasha – Unknown
Lotash – Unknown
Slug – Electricity (no effect, but strong)

Black Forest:
Boar – Runs away
Wolf – None
Grizzly – Equilibrium strip
Woodsnake – Curare (following command not followed) and Epilepsy
Fisher – None; causes a lot of bleeding

Aalen:
Fox – None
Rabbit – None
Basilisk – Paralysis
Grizzly – Equilibrium Strip
Black Bear – Leg Break

Western Vashnars:
Sheep – None
Mt. Lion – None

Dun Valley:
Opossum – None
Frog – None
Crab – None
Lion – None
Snake – None
Gorilla – None
Hippo – Stun
Elephant – Stun
Elephant – Stun
Soul – Freezing
Wight – None
Warthog – None
Rat – Venom
Beetle – None
Water Strider – Venom
Mud Crab – None
Swamp Wyvern – Flame
Crocodile – None
Parrot – None
Jaguar – None
Piranha – None

Dun Fortress:
Ogre – None
Orc – None
Xulu (Orc Witchdoctor) – Flame
Ogre Mage – Freezing
Water Snake (Sewer) – Unaffecting venom (only really hard health hit)

Zanzibaar Island:
Cobra – Loki, Paralysis due to hypnotism

Green Lake:
Bear – None
Python – None
Fox – Runs away
Mosquito – Lose Footing
Horned Toad – Lose Footing
Clam – None
Eel – None
Pelican – Lose Footing
Flies – None
Qurnok – DSTAB Loki
Muskrat – Loki (got me with Voyria)
Troll – Unknown
Crocodile – None
Frog – None
Catfish – None

Siroccian Mountains:
Wolverine – None
Skunk – Stink
Treesnake – Voyria
Dwarves – None
Orcs – None

Water:
Salmon – Blindness
Oyster – Blindness
Carp – None

North Ithmia:
Lamassou – None
Tamarin – None
Buckawn – None

East Ithmia:
White Elk – None

Manara:
Gnoll – None
Mingruk – None

Mesmerium:
Dream Horror – Web, Venom (can flay)

Mhaldor Isle:
Leviathan – Doesn’t need any tricks.
Lycopod – Lose Footing, Web

Isle of Harae:
Wasp – Unknown, VERY nasty

Gypsy Village and Enverren Marsh:
Gypsy – Unknown
Mosquito – None
Slugfish – None
Rat – None
Glubber – None
Salamandrin – Venom (cannot flay)
Glubbian – Unknown
Enverren – Unknown
Bubblefish – Stun

Forestwatch:
Slugbeast – Flame, Lose Footing, Web
Buckawn – None
Buckawn Mage – Freezing
Zombie – None

Xhaiden Dale:
Weasel – None
Yak – Loose Footing, Crushes Limbs
Rajamala Villager – Unknown
Coyote – NoneMole – None
Ishkynd Worm – Venom, Breaks Legs (can result in lost footing)
Water Strider – Flame from Acid, Blindness
Crane – None
Caribou – Loose Footing
Veshina – Cold

Ulangi/Mysia:
Balai – Freezing
Moose – Lose Footing
Stag – Lose Footing
Fawn – Flees
Doe – Flees
Bobcat – None
Buck – None
Balai – Frost
Drunken Pirate – None
Jarvace – Chases
Oyster – Blindness

Magma Caverns:
Beetle – Blackout
Wyrm – Flame
Ancient Wyrm – Deafness, defoot
Leech – Flame (I think)
Nuskuwen – None
Spindly Fire Centipede thingy – Flame
Wyrm Lord – Holocaust super-hit (3000+ health)
Whelp – None

Southern Vashnars:
Drake – Freeze
Grizzly – Equilibrium Strip
Manticore – None (Rear Cave Manticores are VERY hard-hitting)

Here is a list of the denizen probe descriptions in descending strength.
Almost glows with nearly god-like power
Does not even register your presence as a threat
Exudes an aura of overwhelming power
Has an air of extreme strength
Looks to be crushingly strong
Appears to be extraordinarily strong*
Is quite powerful
Is not one to be trifled with
Seems strong and confident
Exudes a quiet confidence
Seems to be unafraid
Appears to lack strength
Does not look particularly dangerous
Is a humble-looking creature
Looks relatively helpless
Looks weak and feeble

Note: as the Help scroll says, these descriptions are absolute. They are not based off of your current strength. They will be the same for everyone.

So, at Level 59, being a 20-year-old Druid with a Hyena Morph and a flailed quarterstaff, I have found that I can take out the White Elk of the Eastern Ithmian Forest, which registers as a Strong and Confident Denizen. I tried a Black Lamassou of North Ithmia, but she brought me down into the red at Not One to be Trifled With. I have a feeling that some Denizens hit harder than others, even if they have the same strength.

6-4-08

Posted on June 4, 2008September 5, 2019 by samakhulis

I really love this Father’s Day gift for us all. 30 free credits!! WOW!! That’s something like a free artefact vial from Moghedu. I’m not sure what I should spend mine on yet. I usually tend toward the lessons, since I have not transed in anything yet.

So, today, I did not get a lot done. I’ve been trying to put together a list of denizens and their tricky afflictions. I’ve gotten a fair list so far. Like the Worms in the Dakhota Hills have limb-breaking. Land-striders can set you on fire, blind you and poison you, or is that the worms? Things like that. Treesnakes inject voyria.

Not much else. I was in the realm for about a half-day today, and I think I can get in a few more days later. Where is that Aohara when I need her? She’s my mentor and she says she’s been busy. With these 30 credits I’ll have plenty of learning to do and I want to wait for her so she can benefit from teaching me. But on the other hand, I want to keep learning so I can gain more abilities, such as, say, harvesting. Hmm. I’ve gotten pretty far to level 60, and at 60 I’ll be getting another 10 credits, as usual, so I’ll have 60 more lessons to burn, or maybe I’ll break down and buy a vial or two. HMM!! This requires thought. What ever shall I do? And on top of that I’ve been trying to increase my income on the credit market.

Okay…enough ranting and dreaming. Because of the nature of myself, I’m going to post my list of denizens and their afflictions so everyone can benefit. The list is not going to be complete, nor do I have every single Denizen in Achaea listed, so it’ll be spanning over a number of posts. I’ll do my best though.

Samakhulis of the Druids

Tag: druids