Accounts can now be created at the login screen. These accounts will have a VISITOR flag that restricts them in much the same way that a Guest is restricted, but with a couple of important differences:
First off, to start with they will not be able to leave the Godswood (we may change this if it turns out we can accomplish certain other code changes, to allow them to at least visit the other OOC areas). Secondly, they will be able to use the +mail and +bb system and they will be able to join any other channels than what they start out with (Newbie and Connections). We are hoping this means they will be more useful for potential players who want to talk to current players before deciding which character to apply for.
It will take us a while to update all relevant files to include this information and to catch all the spots on the game where information that might now be outdated exists. If you see a Visitor connecting and asking questions about the game, please help out by informing them that they need to apply for a character from the CDB before they can start roleplaying, as we are expecting that it may confuse people into thinking they can create any character they want.
After introducing the Events and liking that format, we’ve decided to rework how some of the Long Info fields of the CDB work. Hints, Notes, Rumors and Secrets will be moving to the new Notes attribute which works similar to Events as shown by +HELP CDB NOTES. Each note is identified with a title and can be set to public or private. Notes can contain both IC and OOC information and will occasionally be used by Staff to place information on a character for a future player.
All current Hints, Notes, Rumors and Secrets have been moved into public Notes called Hints and Rumors and private Notes called Notes and Secrets. As Notes are fully editable by players, feel free to rearrange these as appropriate, but keep in mind that secrets that were part of the approval may not be removed and any Notes placed by Staff should also be kept if still relevant.
We have raised the XP rewards for various player-level +jobs as well as added XP rewards for some additional ways that players can help out but which aren’t part of +jobs: recruting new players, running NPCs and submitting logs.
The Policy & Roleplay files listed below have been updated and all players are required to read them as soon as possible. If anything is unclear or if you have any questions, please get in touch with us.
One reason for this update has been that we have been informed that players supposedly have left the game over issues with other players. This is not the first time such claims come to us afterwards, and we are quite frustrated by the lack of communication on behalf of these players. The simply fact is that we cannot do anything about situations that we are not informed about, and by that we mean informed by the party or parties involved.
If players choose to leave the game rather than communicate with us, then so be it, it is up to them. That said, we sincerely hope that none of them then complain about issues with the game elsewhere, if they never even gave us the chance to address said issues.
We’ve made a few additions to the list of descriptors for the Flaw Defects: Anxious, Cruel, Fanatical, Insecure, Jealous, Miserly, Pacifistic and Paranoid. We’ve also changed Liar to Dishonest.
Ever since the MUSH opened, we have found that a lot of prospective players struggle with or have no interest in going through the full CharGen process. Based on player feedback, we have continuously tried to improve the process as well as added alternative ways of getting started on the game. As things stand right now, a player is able to get started quite quickly by selecting a previously played character. But we still get a fair number of prospective players who don’t like the idea of taking up a character that someone else made and who also don’t want to go through the CharGen process. We are now going to experiment with a new approach to this problem.
If you would like to play in Sunspear, but you do not want to play a previously played character and you do not want to do the CharGen setup yourself, we can do the CharGen setup for you from a written concept that you send in. This offer applies both to current and prospective players, and the following limitations and caveats apply:
1) At this time the offer is only valid for characters based in Sunspear in Dorne. This means that it is preferred that you have read A Storm of Swords and maybe also A Feast for Crows. Exceptions can be made for experienced MUSHers. If this experiment turns out well, we may extend the offer to King’s Landing-based characters too.
2) We ask that anyone interested in this offer first take a look at the CharGen process, to decide whether or not they really want us to do it and to give them a sense of what to put into the concept writeup.
3) The concept does not have to be lengthy, but the less information that it provides, the less likely the character will be just what you were hoping for. It is definitely suggested that it includes anything you are totally against as part of your character.
Thanks to a suggestion from one of our players, we have introduced a new switch to the +CDB/VIEW command: /ALL. This will display all information concerning a character that you are authorized to see. It is a compliment to +cdb/rview’s /all switch, and combined should give a very good overview of any character on the game.
Balerion has been hard at work on filling out some of the articles in the Theme wiki. The articles on Geography and Organizations have now been completed, leaving only Lifestyle and Society. We’re not quite sure what to do with these yet, and would appreciate any suggestions for what people would like to see. The same goes for any suggestions for additional articles to add to the wiki. Keep in mind, however, that the Theme wiki is intended as an overview of key elements of the setting that can help those who are more or less unfamiliar with the books.
The CharGen process for previously CGed characters has been tweaked slightly to allow them to pass straight through the CharGen, just like Cameos. This means that once the initial Setup (the email & alt registration) has been completed, both Cameos and other CGed characters will enter CharGen, get moved automatically to the last room and there they can choose to exit and be automatically approved without setting anything extra.
If anyone has any other feedback on how to make the process of getting a character on the game quicker and easier, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ve been working continuously on streamlining this as much as possible, but sometimes our perspective is the wrong one for seeing that something doesn’t work or how to fix it.
The alt policy has been modified to remove the requirement that a player’s first character has to be at least 1 month old before the player can acquire a second character. However, the first character does have to be approved before a second character can be requested. We are hoping this will encourage more players to try out a Dornish character now that the rebellion is about to begin.
+Rumors has seen several modifications, following recent feedback.
* Botched investigations will now only return PCs from the area of play as possible sources. Currently, the code does not check for connection time, so some of the results may remain implausible (from an OOC perspective). We will evaluate whether checking for connection time is also desirable.
* Rumors with an obfuscation of 2 or higher (ratings run from -4 to 4) were previously impossible to discover the source of. This how now been changed somewhat. 4’s remain impossible to discover under any circumstances—the person who has started the rumor has simply covered their tracks too well. However, if your investigation roll is superior to the obfuscation value of a rumor, its obfuscation rating will fall by one point. This means that a rumor with an obfuscation of 3 will, after two superior roles, be reduced to a rating of 1 which would then mean a subsequent successful investigation will discover the source.
Finally, each time the source of a rumor is successfully discovered, the obfuscation rating is dropped by 3 points. This means that when it hits -4 (the lowest value), +rumors/view will show the source of the rumor to all people.
Some of these changes are, again, experiments in an attempt to find the perfect balance for the system. Please take that into consideration when using the system and providing us feedback.
The guidelines for the Rumor system have been expanded on and, we hope, clarified. The following addition was made:
For targetted rumors it is important that the contents of the rumor actually constitute a positive or a negative rumor that realistically would affect someones Influence or Renown. This means that although targetted rumors still can be false, they need be believable. Players who feel that a targetted rumor fails in adhering to these standards should report this to the Admin via +jobs (+HELP JOBS).
Since the system is seeing a lot of usage now, make sure you have read the whole Rumor Guidelines file and make sure to direct any questions to Admin as soon as possible.
The nomination code has now been overhauled to be a general nomination code as supposed to just nominations for SP. Players can now submit 5 general nominations per month, and the Admin will base their decision on what to reward on the reason given in the nomination. Options include SP, XP, Influence and Renown (not yet). Please see +HELP ADVANCEMENT for the new in-game helpfiles for the code and SYSTEM ADVANCEMENT for the helpfiles on the web which discuss other aspects of the system.
We have been tweaking a few things about the in-game boards. Most of the boards now have a longer timeout, and we are also adding more detailed descriptions of the board to help players see what they can be used for. To see the timeout and the description (as well as some other information) about a board, simply type +bbinfo
.
The most significant change so far has been to establish the Plots board. We are hoping to use this board as an easy overview of on-going plots that guests and new players can be pointed to. Players are welcome to post plots to the board as well, just make sure to follow the established format.
If there are any suggestions for boards to add (or drop), please let us know. The current list of boards can be seen with +bblist.
As a further step to making influence more useful, we have now instituted code that will automatically increase or decrease current influence levels at the beginning of each month. Influence points available to be used shall be raised or lowered each month, depending on whether they are presently above or below their current base level, and by what margin. Players who are significantly below or above their base influence will automatically gain or lose influence at a higher-than-normal rate.