Since we have found that the unset tier (represented by the ?) is a source of complications and confusion, from now on all characters that we do not have a preconceived notion about will be set as IVs or Vs (primarily in the case of some personal NPCs and some others that we have intended as Vs). The relevant files have been updated to reflect this. If we have managed to miss any, please let us know.
I have reduced the multiplier determining how easy it is to successfully pick up a rumor, from 4 times how widespread the rumor is to 2 times. After looking at the results, it currently seems like everyone eventually picks up every single rumor on their own, and that seems to mean it’s a bit too easy. We’ll see how the new multiplier works. Any feedback, please feel free to direct it my way. :)
+Rumors/view now takes the “all” argument, which should allow a person to get all rumors they have access to in one go rather than having to view them one by one.
Also updated, the rumors will indicate when a rumor is a targetted one by indicating whether it is of a positive or negative character, and whom it concerns.
An elementary bug crept into +rumors awhile back. Reports were initially spotty enough that I thought people were just not having luck finding rumors, or no one was inserting rumors, but it became clear that it was a broader issue. I’ve since corrected the bug. If there are any other bugs (for example, being unable to properly investigate or quash a rumor), please report it via +jobs. Note that success is not guaranteed whenever you try such activities—there are roles involved—but if you seem to just consistently not manage, there may really be an issue. Feel free to try and investigate and quash the present test rumors. I will try to remember to reset everyone’s influence at the end of this month, so you can use points with abandon.
On top of this, I’ve at least temporarily increased the odds of hearing a particular rumor. This should matter most for those rumors which are strong but a person has very little in the way of the arena-relevant skill (for example, Politics for the Court arena) to pick it up. It will have less effect on weak rumors, which would be difficult even for someone with the relevant skills to pick up on it. Let me know if it seems to help any with more regularly hearing rumors.
The +joust system has now been completed and can be read about in +help +joust. It is likely that the system will undergo some tweaking as it sees more testing, and the gain and loss of Renown has not yet been added in, but the basic functionality of jousting someone else is now functioning.
The +rumors system has been at the same stage of completion for some time now (see +help rumors), but we haven’t announced this as we had hoped to get the Renown in there. That will take a bit longer, so we would like to announce it now anyhow. Basically, it will work as it should for untargetted rumors and targetted rumors using Influence rather than Renown.
A new Type, ‘Extra’, has been added to the CDB. This will be used for NPCs added specifically to be used by any player who needs them for a scene. They are intended primarily as background characters; septons, guardsmen, merchants, etc. We have already had quite a few suggestions (but more are welcome) for such characters in the thread we created for this purpose on the board and we will start adding these as soon as we can.
A Roleplay channel has been added. Its described as follows:
Channel for roleplay-related discussions. If you are looking for roleplay you are encouraged to use this channel to ask if anyone is around but you may of course also use Public. However such questions are more easily lost in the spam on Public.
Do consider adding yourself. We will be starting to auto-add newly approved players to this channel. To join, use @chan/join Roleplay
The official end of the beta will take place at 1500 Eastern Time on Saturday, December 9th, with the celebration of King Daeron’s return to King’s Landing in the company of Prince Viserys and the Dragonknight, will be featured at the River Gate. It will be a bit of a reprise of the arrival of the Dornish hostages, except with a lot more pomp and a deliriously happy crowd. A feast will follow, although it will be the first of many. We know the notice is short notice, but it turns out to be the best time given the holiday season.
Within a few days, the king will be holding the first court session since his return—we plan to make these regular events at this point, aiming for one RPed court a month. Once the king and all his various company are settled and rested, there will of course be a rather magnificent tourney. I think the format will be of interest, but that’s a closely guarded secret until we nail down a firm date. Given the holiday season, we will probably have to push the tournament until after New Year.
For those who have or will request personal meetings with Daeron, you’ll start receiving possible dates for this shortly.
At the end of November (exact date to be determined), Blood of Dragons will move from being in beta to being fully open. This will coincide with the IC return of King Daeron to King’s Landing. Since the Submission of Sunspear over a year ago, the Young Dragon has had to fight both long and hard to subdue all remaining rebels, but now it appears the situation is finally in hand.
Would you like to be one of those already gathered in King’s Landing, waiting for the kings return? Or would you prefer to be a returning hero of the Conquest who has accompanied Daeron on his journey back? If so, you may not want to wait too much longer before finding a character to apply for.
The consent policy file has been overhauled. Please make sure to re-read it. The basics are the same, but we’ve restructured the file and emphasized a couple of points.
The player profiles page is now more or less up and running. There may still be some tweaks to the information included and how it is presented (if you have any suggestions, let us know), but feel free to make use of the submission form if you want to be included. Just make sure to read the information about what is and isn’t required information first.
We’ve added three new channels: Politics, Sports and XXX (for those really dirty-minded, late-night talks that might shock new players off the game ;). That doesn’t mean these topics are entirely banned from Public, but lengthier discussions should be taken these specialized channels in order to keep Public from getting too spammy.
We’ve implemented several modular parts of Talvo’s MUSHCode Suite, which provide players some new functionality. We are currently in the process of finalizing help documentation for these and making them available to players.
The new code systems include +Wardrobe, which is a description storage system that makes use of the MySQL database; +Lwatch, a system where players may recieve notifications when selected players connect and disconnect; and +Top, a basic system for tracking the total time players spend on the game.
The information on the Applications page has been updated to reflect some changes in the application process. From now on, the first step once you have selected a character should be to use the +cdb/request command (see +help cdb request) to request this character. This way, we will be able to ensure that no one starts working on an application for a character that is not suitable as a PC during the beta.
At this stage of the beta, we feel we have enough experienced players around to remove the requirement for 1 year of MU*ing experience. The beta application has been updated to reflect this change. Players with less than 1 year of MU*ing experience will be able to apply for Open characters only and initially we will be accepting a maximum of ten applications from new players.
New players should also be advised that our helpfiles are not fully finished and we do not yet have much staff on board. As such, they will be expected to be able to learn the basics of the game more or less on their own. We will help out when we have time, of course, but we have a lot of things to work on both on and off the game.
A useful page for learning the basics of MU*ing is A Beginner’s Guide to MUSH.