Ivorak

Approval: when there's only two options there's no problem. If you're suggesting people should only list two possible choices, I doubt many will listen.

Cumulative: suppose several choices are close to eachother, more like nuances than actual differences, and one choice is an extreme which has nothing in common with the other choices. The ones voting for the extreme will put all points on it, while the ones voting moderately will spread points because they don't want to put all eggs in one basket. Note that if everyone who reads this argument decides to never spread their points, the system is defeated as well.

Ranking: the same as cumulative but forcing people to stick to one type of spread. An obvious problem is if there's no second choice you consider worthy.


There's one method you haven't mentioned: elimination. People list all choices in order of preference. First you count all the choices which are ranked 1. If there's no majority, you look for the choice which has the least votes and then remove it from everybody's list. You shift all votes ranked below that choice to the left and recount the votes which are now ranked n°1. This quickly gets rid of extreme opinions. To illustrate it with your example ballots:
[quote name='awiiya' date='26 May 2010 - 07:38 PM' timestamp='1274895506' post='60413']
Let's give a hypothetical system. Say we have a common system of voting, were majority rules, and each person gets one vote towards a choice. We have four choices: A, B, C, D. We have three 8 people: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Here are the preferences for the choices, if each person ranked the choices:

1 - A, C, D, B
2 - D, C, B, A
3 - B, C, A, D
4 - A, C, D, B
5 - D, C, A, B
6 - D, C, A, B
7 - C, B, A, D
8 - C, A, B, D
[/quote]
Step 1. The first choices are a d b a d d c c => no majority, b is least popular => remove b, shift left
New ballots:
1 a, c, d
2 d, c, a
3 c, a, d
4 a, c, d
5 d, c, a
6 d, c, a
7 c, a, d
8 c, a, d

Step 2. New first choices are a d c a d d c c => no majority, a is least popular => remove a, shift left
1 c, d
2 d, c
3 c, d
4 c, d
5 d, c
6 d, c
7 c, d
8 c, d

Step 3. 5 c vs 3 d => c wins

Alternatively you could look at the last rank and remove what is most voted for in that rank. In this case the result would be the same, which is good. It would also not kick out the choice that is everybody's number 2 but nobody's number 1 (ie the best compromise). Although you'd assume with large numbers that wouldn't occur. Or you could do both, and check for agreement, but then the process is semi-automated; if there's no agreement you'll need to decide manually (and be biased of course).

Boundaries are the thing that keeps me from doing certain things in game (potentially harmful things or at least annoying). Boundaries are the thing that makes me think twice before replying on the forum (well..also common sense ). Without boundaries set by someone or by yourself we would have nothing but chaos.

And now back to the subject ([color="#FF0000"][b]btw: this started to be a bit offtopic so I am considering splitting the topic - let me know what you think[/b][/color]). When I think at role playing I think at pretending/playing things you cannot do in real life: be a knight, princess, toilet lion . I even have no problem with the cooking you all do at DQ. I don't like it but I just ignore it. It's innocent and causes no harm. BUT from baking cookies up to giving birth in the game is a HUUGE step.
Mur likes the diplomatic way (after all...he has me and Akasha to scream and shout - kidding). He will not tell you into your face that you're stupid. If he does then it means you reached his limits. And why do you think that Mur is ok with giving births? Just cause he didn't do anything about it up till now?

[quote]You can either role-play along or you can walk away and do your own thing.[/quote]
What if my own thing is to mess with your RP? Isn't that considered RP also? After all...you are the one saying we should have no boundaries
Yeah, I think the same in a way. Don't like it, go away. The difference is that if I see something I don't like I do something about it. And I don't even need to do too much. Seems like all I need to do is be there and say 2 sentences


[quote]When we let our egos, feelings, and other "real life" issues, become part of the game, then we are setting ourselves up for failure and a world of hurt[/quote]
I know: this is directed at me and I will reply accordingly. You'd be surprised how wrong you are. I do have an ego, I admit (and it also gets me into trouble but that's mostly my problem). I do have feelings but I will not stop them cause just so I will not "harm" someone. Why? See the ego thingy . As for real life issues...the most bald moves i've done where when I was feeling the best ever . Failure? I am a winner. I am not afraid of speaking my mind, I don't hide from players, I am not afraid of stronger players.

[quote]We have lost a lot of good players because of this same issue.[/quote]
You don't understand something: players come and go. It is called a life cycle. Sooner or later they will leave. Saying they leave cause of "the same issue" is wrong. They do not leave cause of MD issues. It's just a normal thing. So I don't believe they left cause MD cause them harm or god knows what.


[quote]Let us drop our egos, our personal feelings and let MD evolve like is it suppose to and let her people grow and evolve as well.[/quote]
MD is made of players who have egos, feelings. The players make MD evolve. Their wishes, their needs are what makes it spin. If you drop them then you'll have a dead world. That's the flavor of MD: the players. Otherwise it will be just another game where you go and kill/interact with bots.

[quote name='Windy' date='27 May 2010 - 08:32 AM' timestamp='1274967153' post='60448']If a player chooses to role-play mundane things not related to the game, who cares? As long as it is not vulgar or against the rules set for us, no harm done.[/quote]
I could not disagree more. Someone is plotting to assassinate a king: that is interesting. Someone is pretending to have magic powers that are not supported by the system: that is all too often uninteresting, and it undercuts the magic powers that [u]are[/u] part of the system. I have seen someone get indignant that her magic "powers" failed to heal someone else's roleplayed injury. That is why we have a system. It establishes what can be done, and by whom. Without the system, all roleplay occurs with the consent of the other players. It is not impolite, it is damned rude to impose your personal roleplaying vision on everyone around you by dictating the terms of the shared reality.

[quote]My point is this. Why set boundaries for other players? Why set boundaries for yourselves?[/quote]
That is precisely what distinguishes a strong roleplayer from a weak one: boundaries. I have heard someone say of roleplaying, "anything is possible!" For a weak roleplayer, perhaps. A strong roleplayer sets limitations for her character and uses them to define the character. Sherlock Holmes is addicted to cocaine. Achilles is vulnerable at the heel. Even Superman, a godlike character if ever there was one, is vulnerable to kryptonite. A character's weaknesses -- limitations -- are intriguing, and for the purpose of a strong story, necessary.

[quote]The tradition of starting "children alternates,"...yet this is just more ammunition to be used by those who believe that role playing has no place in this game.

If this is what role playing is turning into, and it pains me to say this, then they are correct.[/quote]
Allow me to say that firstly, I agree, and secondly, that not every person who "roleplays" in MagicDuel agrees that role-played children are a good thing or role-plays in the same way.

I will go further: I am very annoyed that some people seem bound and determined to remove the "fantasy" from what is advertised as a fantasy role-playing game. I do not refer to those who famously oppose role-playing, but to that same camp of those who think "child alternates" are good for the game, for they undermine, whether they mean to or not (and I think, on balance, that they are unaware of the effect they are having), the consensual fantasy and the magic of the MagicDuel game setting, and they undermine it with the basest of humdrum, everyday details. As my "alt" Keith Moon observed, no one cares whether there is toilet tissue in the invisible WC of the Defensive Quarters. That is a detail we can all live without.

Until that second camp agrees to study the setting, analyze it, and attempt to understand the impact the setting has on their characters, I, like you, have only the feeblest of answers to the first camp: "It ain't me done it." Among the second camp, I must include, with no pleasure at all, those who smile and nod with approval at "events" such as are the subject of this thread.

As a proud citizen of Loreroot, I, as the character Tarquinus, sometimes find it hard to be proud; and indeed some might say the pride I exhibit is only for the sake of role-playing the Latin [i]cognomen[/i] of that character.

It's interesting how people react. Sasha, you are a naive person which is not necessarily a bad thing (it is if you ask me but I am just one person expressing an opinion). You sometimes put too much hart into what you do. I have always imagined you as a person with really big eyes and with tears in the corners of your big dark (yeah, I can't imagine you with blue eyes ) eyes. MD is a battle field. You have to be vicious sometimes. Nobody cares about your feelings (or maybe some do but there are others to compensate for that).

If you wish to leave no problem: do it. But please! don't use such reasons. You have been playing for quite a while. You knew what to expect. I agree: there are straws that break the camel's back but don't point at that straw and blame it for everything. It's just a tiny innocent straw.
If you wish to leave no problem: do it. But please! spear the drama. The ones that will miss you will miss you. The ones that will not will not. Also blaming anyone for your leaving is useless (except maybe for using it to point fingers:X made Y leave! - which btw:I respect X for doing that; X was more powerful then Y, good for him!).
I've seen people come and leave. The ones leaving with a simple "good bye, farewell and maybe a swear" won some of my respect (I don't care if you care about it or not ). The ones leaving with tears, pointing fingers, firecrackers and all the drama just made me glad they did (another drama queen or king left the building!).

I will stop now. Maybe you'll take your time and read my post and think about it. If not then...oh well...life goes on.


Take care and have fun!


ps: aaront: reading your post made me laugh this time which is bad (for me )

I appreciate the fact that you came to your senses and like i've said i believe the recycling of avatars is "wrong" but none of us"resold" them in the shop, and i understand why Mur would do it. The matter is that there is a sentimental value behind every avy and especially those from people who are of great importance. I also understand that greed is a strong force and if people wish to profit of someone's history then so be, "I" simply consider this morally wrong. Again i thank you for reconsidering.

ok this discusion is closed to me. I took insipration from some pictures every one of us can inspire whith other pictures, its not forbidden

I think this is a reasonable idea...however I also think it shouldn't be in the wp list but rather deep in the MD shop several reasons for this:

If you want your name changed for whatever reasons be it your messed up or you want a change from who you were shouldn't be something you need to earn. Earning something like a WP takes time and effort to achieve something, whereas a name change is something for your own personal reasons if you want it so badly pay for it.it'd help support the game. you'd get your fancy new name. and nobody can complain about WP abuse.

Princ, dst, and I'd assume all of the MR's choose their names because thats what they wanted they are unique and have reputations built up on those names.

If this was to be put in the MD shop I'd say put it deep in the extras section with requirements of 1 year and some various loyalty and/or honor, that way if after a year of having your current name you decide you still for whatever reason don't like your name go dig in the extra section for it.

As for the past crimes and offense's and all that a person is still known by their ID it never changes and if they go and change their name to get away from a past that's all fine and well unless they get around to committing the same crime or another which point if they are found out they should be stripped of their new name and anything else gained from it and proper punishment handed out.

Anyone else consider it funny that some think a name is too important to change, while others argue it is not important enough to change?

As others have said, I doubt it is easily exploitable. Even cheating to a WP, if such does happen (let's not go there in this thread), requires you to know - suck up to - people that have WP to spare. Which should take enough time for several people to know enough about you to notice your 'disappearance' and be suspicious of that new guy with 100+ AD that looks faintly familiar but absolutely nobody ever saw before.


@dst: why are you against people wasting WP on silly things? Consider it natural selection.

I think in some cases the point is still being missed.

Imagine for a second a parable: a story designed to represent something deeper. An allegory works as well.

Now this is what story mode is. A story that on the surface is understood as a lovely fairy tale, but goes significantly deeper than that. I will give an example of a parable we all know:

The tortoise and the hare. The story where the hare initially starts out ahead but is eventually defeated by the tortoise due to hubris. What is the important part of the story? By far the moral, and the lesson we can take from this.

So what people have done with MD's lore, MD's parable, is extending on the story. They wrote about the tortoise's mother, about his father, his childhood, where he grew up, how the tortoise and the hare used to be friends, about this and that and even more things! People have missed the point entirely: it is not the setting, the characters, or the history and context behind the story that matters. It is the deeper meaning, the story within the story, the lesson to be learned, that should be paid close attention.

Do NOT be distracted by the who's, the what's, the where's, or the when's. Learn the lesson, look for the meaning, and do not be distracted by hare's in top hats with flashing yellow signs.

Awi

im tired to explain, all i had to say is there already. i can just reformulate so you get it better. Adi was not a player, he was/is a brilliant writer that wrote a story discussed with me. ancient lore, means stories that explain the past of md, before it existed. As long as they don't refer to things outside md, md didnt existed before it existed, if you get my point..

I always support historic events that happend for real in md. One of the best examples is the Wodin story, a md character that existed, played, and created his own present. I agree to all histories, stories, legends, that once had a present. Adi's stories outside the ones officialy approved by me that were discussed by us two, never had a PRESENT. Those are baned. I cant approve your madeup stories about an inexistent path, when that path influences everybody.

Who is marind, why and how come the angien opened the box, how the lands formed, and so on..these are questions that do not need a lore or history to be discovered. Give them a history and you ruin it.


After 5 years of md you could shift the ancient lore concept to events that realy existed. You dont know "recent" history of md but you keep on talking bulshit about madeup ancient stories...i tell you why, nobody can say you are wrong, you can use it as you want and support your present with false memories, i cant allow that and of course those that do it dont like it. You have plenty of memories of things that realy happened in md.

Before md there was an empty mind, that slowly started to see its borders, then to see itself. It started to take shape and the reasons of its existance spread across its landscape creating the logic network, like a broken mirror shows fragments of the refleted image.

[quote name='dst' date='31 March 2010 - 04:38 PM' timestamp='1270067884' post='57267']
Cause people like you seem to pass the filter.
[/quote]
I joined MD when I was 18. I'm twenty now, and lots of things have changed with me. You forget what I used to be like, then what I became and now what I am.

When you have a new idea open a topic(in which all can comment) but also post it here so it will be easier for us to keep track of them.
If you already opened a topic please post the idea here and also post the link to the topic with the comments.
Thank you!

[quote name='dst' date='23 March 2010 - 09:52 PM' timestamp='1269361336' post='56798']
2)The overall quality of the quests has decreased. Even I went on the dark side and made the Asteriks quest. I haven't told you back then but I did it to mock RP-ers. Too bad for me that my plan did not work and players took it seriously. When I saw the responses I had to comply and play along. To be honest I never thought anyone would take it seriously and I expected almost no participation. Anyway, I am disappointed. I thought that now, when Kings would have the ability to give out WP codes, there will be a flood of quests. Not only that there aren't but many of them are pure crap. Even more: there are "secret" quests (yes, I am talking about Mya's "quest" for the Loreroot people).It's just pathetic...

[/quote]

First of all, your defnition of crap may not be same as those around you. People who enjoy solving puzzles or decoding stuff may find art quests and prose/poetry quests stupid. And vice versa. People who are good at experimenting stuff, learning more about rituals may like Burns' quests. People who like solving puzzles may like cutler's quests. People who like to write may like Asterdai's or Gremlin's quests. You can say that YOU didnt like a quest. But you cant label quests as crappy. You dont have any right to do that. Especially when you aren't an active quest creator. If you think there are very few good quests in MD, set an example by setting a quest which you consider good. Let people judge the quality of your quest. Make sure its not something that only vets have a chance to win. Try to get active noob participation. Make it a perfectly interesting quest, a quest which every single player in MD likes, and then Label other stuff as pathetic.

Coming to Mya's quest, you can stop quoting her in every second post. She has a full right to set a quest with any number of limitations to its participants. The last time I read the rules, WPs were not to be traded. She didnt trade the WPs. She set a quest, and distributed WPs based on that... So quit picking on her... Just because she keeps quiet and maintains her dignity, doesnt mean that you quote it as pathetic.

EDIT:
1.Did you read the word ACTIVE Quest creator? I suppose not...

2. As for the Mya's quest, she needn't explain herself to anyone but Mur. I was merely pointing out the fact that you had quoted her again and the thread title WPs giving abuse says it all.

3.My post is not spam. I confirmed it with the administrator. I do not intend to argue with you. Its never fruitful. So I'll simply ignore your further posts.

I do not agree at all with your "signature creatures." Drachorns, remains, Angiens, and Shades are all on vastly different planes of complexity. Have you ever heard remains speak? What about Drachorns?

The fact remains that each land is different, and instead of striving for equality we should pay close attention to the nuances of each land.

Have you ever heard of the idea of linguistic determinism (credit to Whorf)? The theory is that a person will express themself in a different way, depending on which language they are speaking. I believe the bilingual people in MD can attest to this: a person sometimes feels that they act different and have different personalities in their two different languages.

I view the lands in a similar way. Each of them is a separate way of thinking, and the longer you spend in that land the more you begin to think in a particular way. I've had conversations with others (Jester, especially) about what makes a person a citizen of one land or another, and it is surprising how obvious it is which land a person belongs to. This stems from the fact that lands act as a lens through which people see the larger realm. The following are some oversimplifications of the trends (feel free to skip. The part related to the topic comes later):

Necrovions tend to more outwardly melancholy, and in fact seem to take pride in the less starkly moral actions. Insanity is a common theme, whether feigned or actual. Seem to struggle with right and wrong, and in the best of cases give up the struggle in favor of a more blanketing acceptance of the lack of a universal moral code.

Lorerootians on the other hand mention often the beauty of nature, and bowing to a spiritual ebb and flow. They also tend to be more simple in thought process, and are saved from a good deal of messy introspection and wallowing due to their strict adherence to the belief that nature is good and beautiful, and those that endanger it are bad.

Those from Marind Bell are fighters, knights that fight for there internally held beliefs. There is no greater ideal than martyrdom, which often times benefits the entire society. Politeness and respect are also forefront in the society of Marind Bell, and it is no accident that they are the caretakers of the new, the ones to initiate others into the realm. Who better than those with a sense of duty? There is also an eddy of education and study, though often times it appears to be steadfast in the search of good and truth.

The citizens of Golemus are somewhat divided. There is a large faction of those who love to tinker and explore. The pleasure of solutions and answers cannot be avoided, and in the search for the answers sometimes the more interrelated subtitles that are less cut and elegant are evaded. There is also a penchant for help and an altruistic tendency to educate all those that seek higher learning.

Okay, now that I've gotten my critique of your "signature creatures" out of my system, I still would like to say that I highly favor the new timers and the reduction of AP in wild card members, those who have not chosen a land.

I will say that it seems people care less and less about alliances, focusing more on the functional benefits of remaining a floater. I cannot stress enough that by putting an anchor into the land you will find the rewards are far greater than a faster attack timer. It is the next step in becoming a member of the realm. How many active and influential members are there that are not, or have not been, a member of an alliance?

So I think the increased pressure to join a land is acceptable, and totally in line with the principles (not those) of the realm.

Awi

The thing about a stereotype is that rather than being a rule, one which all items in the society or list follow, it is a trend, something that a majority (it could be 51%) follow.

Awi

[quote name='CrazyMike' date='25 February 2010 - 02:10 AM' timestamp='1267081847' post='55164']
Granos plays a delicious villain.

He is so good, he is even respected as a villain.

But his character has always been done in the realm with RP, but to do this scam in a Forum, it is possible he may have crossed the line.

Granos cannot always say that he is a villain and gets away with everything. There must be a boundary. Does his character allows for scamming? If I am to scam another player, can i say that it is coz my character has been seduced by the dark side? Or maybe I can say my character is now playing a lying thiefing scoundrel... would that be allowed?

Can you imagine Granos knocking on yr door and saying "Give me all yr money", and you cannot report it coz he is Granos!
[/quote]

What he did here is really what anyone can do. Jaco should have been more careful when dealing with such a shady character as Granos. That said, I too am curious as to what Jaco will do now against Granos. Perhaps trade embargo, perhaps attacking him in a way that will hurt him? Perhaps beg? Or even perhaps do nothing and cut his losses. Or something totally unusual/amusing that Granos will follow through with the trade. Who knows. And if Granos ever came to my house, I'd give him a couple beers or money for them and invite others down to have our own MD party since it costs too much to go to Romania

Yes, it does. And honestly... nothing will happen to him either. Granos is a villain. Jacoand should have known that. He is over 300 days old.

If I remember right, you got the pass papers for free, did you not? Just putting that out there.

I really wanted to stay away from this forum topic for a number of reasons but mostly because I get depressed when I talk about the "lack" of what MD seems to have lately. I personally don't see myself fitting into any of the major categories that people seem to be defining MD by --- RPers (I am really bad at RP) and stat grinders (this seems like mindless repetition and the few times I tried it I got so bored I had to take mini-vacations to want to do anything with MD).

I gave up on the MD fighting system when skill damage was introduced for having excessive losses. I understand it is my fault that I let people heal on my nutcracker and racked up 3K losses. (Which didn't ever give me a benefit) I even tried to reduce that and got it down to 2.4K losses but since GGG does NOT give victories in general (only against MP2s) even the mindless stat grinding doesn't help. Oh well, as they say no good deed goes unpunished. I still think a WishPoint shop item balancing out wins/losses would be a good addition (I had to add in something for people to complain about hehehehe).


At the same time, I really enjoy participating in other peoples quests and I also enjoy making quests and helping others make puzzles and quests.

I fully understand how people feel about being ignored and made to seem like their actions are meaningless. For the most part I just ignore people ignoring me and go and do something I think is interesting.

Here are some examples:

1) The astral plane.

This was initially just a way to make quests more interesting and interactive since there were so few locations which could be interacted with in MD. Now it has an inventory with items which can be used, combined, sold, bought, traded and some new interactive games will soon be linked in with this as well.

2) Fishing System

On the first of next month I will be releasing a fishing system for MD which will allow people to use different fishing poles, and lures (19 different ones at present with all new artwork) to play a new logic game I made based on minesweeper but with some new twists. For those of you who would like to try it out before then, there is already a way to play it if you go and find some materials which could be combined into a fishing pole. This will be released as a fishing tournament for people to compete in and will have a bunch of prizes.

3) The impossible maze

In coordination with Grido we have made a brand new labyrinth maze in the same location as the MDA labyrinth in the astral plane. This maze will open in the middle of next month (see Gridos announcement) and will have 3 WPs as quest rewards. It is a really tricky maze!

4) The anti-maze

I released this puzzle this week as a new logic interactive game for people to play at the stairs to the champions challenge. From what I have heard most people like it although it has given a few people actual headaches. I liked making this puzzle since it made me think in a way that our brains don't seem to like to work which made my brain hurt as well.

5) The jigsaw puzzle

I released this interactive puzzle a month or two ago at the berserkers challenge location in necro as a fun game for people to try. I actually made this puzzle at the request of an MD player who wanted to make a quest with a treasure chest you had to solve the puzzle to open. Although this quest hasn't happened yet, it might soon be released as a Loreroot quest since I just heard from that person about completing the quest and I have almost everything I need now to help him pull it all together.

6) The MD Tarot Card Game

I made this card game a few months ago with the major tarot arcana cards represented by MD players, but it wasn't actually that fun to play so I never released it. But another person just asked me about making a similar type card game for MD and when I receive the card images and stats, this game will be released as well now that there is a better play system than what I had initially come up with.

7) Puzzle Quest #2

I made Puzzle Quest #1 almost a year ago now and it was supposed to be very difficult. Only 2 people solved the first one and I know lots of people made it to the 3-4th leg. I got a little bit depressed with this at the time since an RPC lied to me about rewarding WPs for the winners, but it worked out in the end. I have most of the Puzzle Quest #2 pulled together and will be releasing that sometime in the next month or so.

8) Loreroot Houses

Since I am currently building a RL house for my pregnant wife to have a nice place to nest after giving birth to our child, I thought it would be nice to let others have that same experience in MD by designing and building their own houses in the astral plane where I can add any new content / locations I want. This project turned out really well with 2 of the 4 houses being complete and the other 2 are just waiting on some more scene images to be drawn. I really enjoyed making private chats for the houses with integrated doorbells to let people enter the houses and have a place to make your home here in MD. I have had MANY requests from other people to do the same in other locations and that is something I will move forward with when these four houses are all complete.

9) The new GG town / university

This is a concept the king of GG had which we will be developing over the next months. At present the only scene which has been released publicly is the Mt Kethella overlook which I think turned out really nice. There are plans to have a full university, town with shops and public spaces, homes and work sites. This town hopefully will have some really interesting interactive locations as well as maybe be a site for study and learning within MD for both teachers and students. The old MD university was a nice idea but it never had a real location to let people go be part of the university community and hopefully some nice new scenes with classrooms and whiteboards will move this "semi-dead" idea back to a more active state.



So why did I just detail some of the things I have been working on the last few months? Well I have a lot of respect for Mur and what he has created in MD, but he is only one man. There is enough freedom in the way MD is put together to make it into anything we as members of the community want it to be. I agree with many of the points people have made about what is wrong with MD. So I just settled down in a sanctuary where I wouldn't be hit with stat damage constantly and worked on things I was interested in. Maybe you don't have programming experience or know how to make a quest, but I am sure there is something you enjoy / are good at. Why not just jump in and do it.

I personally will be happy to work with / pay artists who want to make new scenes to expand MD. I have like 30-40 scenes in mind already and many others already drawn just waiting to be implemented.

I will be happy to help anyone who has a quest / puzzle idea. There are lots of WP rewards sitting idle with the Kings and if you have a creative idea want to make something new in MD, come talk to me about making it happen, I know the Kings would all be happy to support anyone who has an interesting quest idea.

So if you want to do something my advice is to just do it. I have been impressed by a bunch of people doing quests lately ladytwin, Bloodprince, MasterB, Burns, tara, Granos, Indyra, and others I can't seem to remember at the moment.

I guess my point is just because Mur doesn't seem to be doing anything new with MD and has abandoned a bunch of project while only semi-complete, that doesn't mean that we as members of the MD community can't do stuff ourselves.

It would be great if the AL were resurrected, but look at Awiiya's Oak tree stories, there will soon be more there than the whole AL combined.

It would be great if the tribunal were finished and not just a ghost land.

It would be great if ... fill in your own pet peeves.

So how about this as a direction to head, if you want to wait for Mur to complete everything and get his batteries recharged, fine, but in the meantime why not do something in MD yourself?

I would be happy to help.

Cheers,

Cutler

[quote]PS: did someone noticed that rants come from ''profi' rp;s? or their group? .. what can i say..in the end that profi rp ends...leaves nothing to do more and it simply end...it limits you[/quote]

Guys! Can you seriously not see it? You just can't resist to take a pop at the 'others'. MD being divided? That is EXACTLY the problem. MD is broken down into little clans of friends and divisions between 'grinders' and 'RPrs'.
Yes, people do need to start doing more. Yes people can try to make things more interesting. BUT, how the hell can they, when there always seems to be someone that wants to jump up and down on them because they don't agree?

I've seen the dojo pulled cos people didn't like it, now we want the ggg pulled. I've seen quests condemned because we don't like 'story' quests or whatever bloody thing it happens to be.
I've seen people shot down for attempting to offer to help out.
Its going on ALL the time.
Division of lands? Half the bloody people in alliances in different lands are alts. How the hell can you divide them when its the same bloody people involved? How can you have Alliance A at odds with alliance B, when Johnny is in both of them? Then what?
I've seen conflict erupt WITHIN MD over matters OUTSIDE of it.
Without getting into a debate on RP and what is good or bad, it seems that some people are completely incapable of distinquishing me (Barry) from Firsanthalas. And it seems that this inability in general is the cause of a lot of problems to boot.

There ARE problems with MD that need to be resolved by MUR. There are ALSO problems that WE, as players can resolve.
EVERYONE is seeking to blame someone else, or find fault with one area or group. It is NOT that simple. Its a multifaceted problem. It won't be fixed overnight.

FACT: the AL has been dead since September.
FACT: it does not represent player actions. If that is not the intention, then perhaps something like Yrth's suggestion of a PAL should be looked at.
FACT: Combat does have serious issues and you can't get away from the fact that there is an issue with losses and stat loss for some.
FACT: Quests are a mess. I have a load of WPs to give out for quests and there are almost zero going on in Loreroot right now.
FACT: The torch competition in its current form is grossly unfair. If you want to have any contest between lands, then it has to be based on some principle of fairness. Right now it is not.

I'm not sure what you expect kings or anyone else to do right now to be honest. Lets talk about people whining about lack of tools and abilities shall we.
As king I can make a person a citizen of Loreroot. I also got a bank of WPs to distribute.
That is it. I get requests from people for various things, which I have no control over. Before the ring was given I got continuous requests for citizenship and even complaints as to why I had rejected their applications (applications to a form in the side panel that doesn't work and therefore never got seen let alone rejected).
It go so annoying that I asked to have an announcement made to say that kings couldn't make people citizens and didn't get the applications (as was the case at that time).
I may be king of a land, but I am only one person at the end of the day and there is only so much that I can do. Perhaps I have fallen down in some areas (I know of one thing I have not done for a certain person). I need other people to help to get things moving too. Right now it just seems to be extremely difficult if not impossible. There just seems to be a general malaise about the place.

Items. I have a list that I'll be sending to Mur later on. Personally, I think this is a total can of worms. Some people refuse to trade items, or if they do, want crazy prices. My personal opinion is that people are going to be unable to get hold of items they suggested after they are given out randomly. And then yours truly here is going to be listening to the whining afterwards.

I am personally demoralised. It even seems that even when I try to keep doing things that I am 'too involved' or something. If I do nothing, then I am lazy, if I do something, I'm too involved. What do I do?

This is not a 'poor me', this is simply how I feel and how I suspect many people here feel. There are a lot of people that are running quests or trying to be sociable in general in MD. But it just seems that people are all too quick to find fault with everyone else (and yes I'm sure I am guilty of that too).
People around here seem incredibly keen to jump on and point out the bad things. You never really see anyone applauding the good.

One final point.
Regardless of whether or not you want to go around fighting or RP, MD needs interaction. Even if its just a simple chat. I can walk about MD most of the time I am on and there is bog all chat and interaction. I say hello to people and nothing. I can paint someone's head green and get no response. I'm not going to say that is the grinders fault, because to be honest, its daft. I can talk to people anywhere, the problem is they ain't talking back.
There is currently talk of removing the GGG. Can I say simply that you seriously need to consider stuff like this VERY seriosusly. MD really really needs focal points. Places where you can go and expect to find people to talk to. Sanctuaries don't really fit the bill it seems. If you remove all the focal points, then you will really have a scattered and divided landscape. Every community has a focal point, it is part of what makes a community.
And I have to say that some people that speak a lot on this forum don't seem to actually say much of anything within MD proper. Just something to think about.

Good points all, Burns, and I could raise another big issue which, in my opinion, killed 90% of the story in the game. But I don't want to point fingers or feed back on negativity, which really only perpetuates more negativity.

I am an alcoholic in recovery. We in recovery like to talk about our problems, yes, but the more experienced among us note and repeat (as many times as we must) that focusing on the problem only makes the problem bigger. What helps us, who used to feel ourselves in a hopeless state, is to focus on what might be the solution to our problem.

So let us focus on the solution to MD's woes: story.

Right now I am re-playing one of the best games I have ever played: [i]Mass Effect[/i]. This game is a shooter. I hate shooters. So why do I like [i]Mass Effect[/i] so much? Story. The story is amazing. It's well fleshed out, deeply researched, and solidly written.

Those of you who have played other roleplaying games and enjoyed them will notice a common feature shared by all of them, which is story wedded to the mechanics of a combat system. This kind of quest is a thing I had hoped to introduce to MagicDuel as RPC, but was too lazy really to implement in time to make a difference. But it can be done. It will take long hours of work, cooperation from at least six people who are willing to be online nearly all the time, and/or who have reliable understudies to take their parts so the "actors" (non-questing characters) can keep the quest running constantly. And it will require a good story.

A good story doesn't have to be original. A novel way of presenting a story can be brilliant, but it's just not necessary. While playing [i]Mass Effect[/i] and games like it, I navigate through one over-arching story and encounter dozens of mini-plots along the way. The elements of the over-arching story are familiar: [x] is going to destroy the world/galaxy/universe, and our hero is a rugged, rough-and-tumble outsider who rises to the occasion. Meanwhile, in addition to the corruptions, seductions, and betrayals among the story's principal characters, minor characters are also reporting, and need help resolving, small betrayals, corruptions, and kidnappings in their own minor spheres. Everything's broken; everything needs a hero. You're he (or she). Where you go, change comes, and history is written in your trail.

MagicDuel prides itself on originality, and originality is good where it keeps a story going. Where there is no story, originality is interesting for a few moments, and rarely more. Don't want to click to advance? Fine. Learn how to excel in this dueling system, manage the maze of conflicting personalities in MagicDuel, and forge your path in a complicated situation fraught with obstacles and ambiguity.

If you don't have the time or inclination to write a story-based quest yourself, create a small one and get some other players to help you. Just remember the three essentials of a good story quest:

[list=1]
[*]Use the fighting system. All stories require conflict, and in a roleplaying game, conflict must have a system of arbitration. Yes, some people can "roleplay" fighting pretty well, but there is no structure to keep players "honest", reasonable, or in proportion. Solution - take advantage of the existing system.
[*]Be true to the setting. Many quests in MD are cool but don't have anything to do with the "story" of the game world. That dissociation, in addition to a generally arbitrary level of difficulty, prevents most quests from seeing many participants.
[*]Use existing characters and situations as a springboard. Characters and events that don't happen "in game" don't interest the average player. We want to interact with characters we know and things we care about. Here's the acid test: does a person who solves a quest have an interesting story to tell? If not, the quest is going to be of academic interest at best.
[/list]

There are lots of players hungry for story who will be glad to help you, and there are several who can code clickables to help automate parts of your quest. Here is my challenge to the MagicDuel community: write a quest that people want to play [i]just for the fun of being part of the quest[/i], where rewards are nice but a secondary consideration to having a fun, memorable experience.

Good night, and good luck.

[b]Edited to complete a sentence [doh!][/b]

Just as an example, my char Czez has used [b]Cedar B[i]ark[/i][/b] in an adventure-quest, which generated several unique items and could have easily included this one. Later, she received as a gift a [b]Cedar [i]Plank[/i][/b], which is considered a "Raw" item. Do I really have to spend a WP to make [i]Bark[/i] from a [i]Plank[/i] (which is sort of implausible) in order to keep this item in my char's inventory?

[quote name='Aeoshattr' date='08 February 2010 - 08:45 AM' timestamp='1265611550' post='54057']
And what about resources, the items needed for crafting? don't you have to 'browse' for those?
[/quote]

As I said, post on the forum, ask around, put up fliers, search items pages. The owners list is hardly the only method avaiable for finding items, it is handy though, but due to extortionate prices, it might as well not be there since nothing gets sold as a result.

I can add an mdscript to some clickables that serves the fucntion of an advertising board if someone wants it.

As Rhaegar said, it was just a random idea, but I'll humour you

[quote name='Chewett' date='07 February 2010 - 11:56 PM' timestamp='1265579775' post='54015']
So how do you tax trades?

unless you revamp the system, how would you make people pay these taxes? unless you work it from every X coins traded you have to pay some, it wont work since how does the system know every time you "trade"?
[/quote]

2 ways:
Either each transfer of silver has the tax percentage withdrawn, therefore the receiver gains a perentage less (as with age on creatures)
Or you pay VAT (value added tax), in other words, you pay the percentage in addition to the amount, so to give someone 10 silver, you must pay 11 in this case.
Payment would be defined as any time you send someone silver. Trade can't be defined fully, since we can barter with items not tangible in MD, such as information or even artistic works.

[quote name='Shadowseeker' date='07 February 2010 - 11:58 PM' timestamp='1265579937' post='54016']
And even then, there are ways to circumvent that..another reason for alt abuse. Say every 10% is tax, so you make them pay you in 9 silver on alts you name. No tax then.
[/quote]
Alts can no longer transfer creatures to eachother, do the same with silver, or make them pay heavier taxes.
Any amount that makes the tax less than 1 silver, is either free of tax, billed a flat rate of 1 silver, or even deducted by some other method like VP decrease.


Anyway, this doesn't solve the item hoarding, it was an idea in response to Metal Bunny's post regarding the devaluation of money.