Ivorak

cool

well..... i am bored.... and i still say md isn't an pvp

[quote name='dst' date='10 November 2009 - 01:54 PM' timestamp='1257890098' post='47173']
Drats! I wrote half an hour a loong and calm post. Then I erased it.

So:MD is a hard game. Yes, it requires patience. Yes, it has filters. Yes, it is an elitist game. Yes, it has players like me who yell and shout at every player (no, I don't shout only at new players: I shout at everybody who gives me a reason). But it gives you something you'll never ever find in another game:freedom! You are allowed to do whatever crosses your mind. The limit is indeed your imagination. Are all those (patience, filters, elitism) a high price to pay? No. I say a big NO!.
There are lots of wrongs in MD but there are also many more great things to compensate.
MD is not the game where you have specific goals to attain. You have them but they are few and after probably 3 months you can reach them all. MD is about creating your own goals. If you don't do that you'll get bored and leave.
MD has no walthroughs, no help pages, almost no hints. It's the best like this. Why? Cause of the above statement. Imagine this: you register, go through the tutorial and then you are given all the information you need (game mechanics, crits levels, etc, etc). You will be bored to death in a week. You'll not have time to make friends, you'll not have time to integrate yourself.
Also, if you get discouraged by a member who yells at you (aka me) then you're not too <insert the word I want to but fail to remember>, are you? Let me tell you a story: I was a noob. Back then Wodin was the star. He was arrogant and full of himself. I used to love stepping on his toes! I wanted to be better then him. I wanted to make him cry . So, instead of running away cause big bad Wodin stole my toy I defied him. I started to learn, train and in the end I defeated him. I don't quit cause of players! If you do then you show weakness. You need a backbone to survive in MD. I told you something mean? Be brave enough and reply. I might hate you for that but at least you may earn my respect. Again, MD is full of hypocrites. So I prefer a honest swear then a nice a**-kissing.

Bah...I am bore to write those things again and again and again...



[size="7"]One last thing: BURNS!!! I am not OLD![/size] [color="#0000FF"]*undresses the troll costume and throws it after Burns*[/color]
[/quote]

I don't think anyone is suggesting that MD should have everything laid out in a walkthrough, or that we should all be forced to play the same way. Exactly where the balance lies between giving newbies too much info and not enough is tricky and obviously something we are still discussing.

But in a sense, I feel like you are making my point here. If the criteria for a new player to be successful in MD is someone who is extremely patient even when they have no way of knowing why the game is worth being patient for, who can create their own directions and goals with no guidance whatsoever, who doesn't mind being yelled at occasionally when they try to do so, and who finds being continually beat up by stronger players to be more challenging than frustrating - then that describes a fairly small group of people, and and we shouldn't be surprised that we aren't recruiting and keeping more of them. So, we can either accept that numbers will stay low and decide that's a reasonable trade-off to have only players who meet all of those criteria, or we can consider whether there are ways to support new players a bit more without sacrificing too much of what makes MD special.

[quote name='dst' date='10 November 2009 - 04:54 PM' timestamp='1257890098' post='47173']
But it gives you something you'll never ever find in another game:freedom! You are allowed to do whatever crosses your mind. The limit is indeed your imagination.

MD has no walthroughs, no help pages, almost no hints. It's the best like this. Why? Cause of the above statement. Imagine this: you register, go through the tutorial and then you are given all the information you need (game mechanics, crits levels, etc, etc). You will be bored to death in a week. You'll not have time to make friends, you'll not have time to integrate yourself.

Again, MD is full of hypocrites. So I prefer a honest swear then a nice a**-kissing.

[size="7"]One last thing: BURNS!!! I am not OLD![/size] [color="#0000FF"]*undresses the troll costume and throws it after Burns*[/color]
[/quote]

I hope you had something on under that troll costume.

I can agree with you on at least a few things but I have to disagree about the guides. Guides would not remove any freedom from the game, in fact I think they would give more freedom Or at least help people realize just how free they can be in MD. The guides would help people understand the world better and thus be better players. A well written guide does not tell people what to do but helps present options and correlations between ideas so others may better be able to understand and take free action themselves. I also disagree that guides would make people bored and thus hinder them from interacting and making friends. People choose to not interact and make friends. It's not hard for them to stand around and talk and make the effort.

I could agree about the hypocrites but that's the same anywhere you have humans. People have good intentions, say things but often times end up doing something different for who knows why. Nothing new really when dealing with people so no reason to get any under garments tied in a knot about it.

Maybe these points will help too:

I’m writing this list as I read the other postings in this thread. If I mirror what others have said I’m not trying to steal anyone’s thunder. These are my thoughts too. I really like MD or I would have left a long time ago. But it does need some help to keep new players and just simply to better itself. So here’s my input. I know it’s long but if you knew me this is me being short winded….

1) Any monkey (and especially gamer) should be able to figure out the basics of how to set rituals, recruit creatures and the basics of combat in MD. Nothing here should be changed. It may look like a Pokémon style game but it does hold its own and is different. One thing that could help is maybe better define or explain what creatures are for new people. Maybe even set up a flash introduction story where things are explained or (see #3) make a guide for the game.

2) If your losing players in story mode I offer a couple ideas why it seems that way:
A) They were trying to figure out the different paths in the story not caring about the specific character(s) being used at the time. (So they will make many to map out the whole story, cant really stop this without a lot of coding and work.)
[img]http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/public/style_emoticons//cool.gif[/img] They received some negative stats because of a choice they made in story mode, did not like it and dropped the character. (Will most likely repeat many times as many gamers would do this. But don’t change this, they made their choices they can live with it.)
C) Are a vet player trying to make a very specific character/story path and felt the need to try a few times to get what they were hoping for to create an Alt. (Will most likely do many times and again is normal. This would happen in any game, it’s just what gamers do.)
D) Are new, don’t realize what MD is about and don’t have any patience and need instant gratification and can’t wait up to 24 hours for each part of the story to unfold. (We don’t need that impatient of players anyway, let them go.)

3) Players may not realize that MD is so unique and specialized. They may think it’s a browser based MMO, find that it’s not and leave. (This can be helped with a better packaging of MD in its marketing. Maybe make a couple of guides too for the game that better explain it but this is lacking in MD. Players have to read many forums, hunt through archives after joining the game and or wait for discussions in game to really know what is going on. I’m willing to bet many older players don’t even know the story line and have not even tried reading everything or tried and gave up. MD needs to be better defined and presented to players, new and old alike.)

4) Create and present a better and less cryptic definition of MD, it’s storyline, players, lands, magic, etc. (goes along the lines of #3 but I can see how MD could be very confusing to many players and this would defiantly make them lose interest.)

5) Alter how players become confirmed. Require LHOs to fill out a quick hidden form on players as part of the confirmation process. For example they simply have to check off 3 boxes on the confirmation screen and “digitally sign” that they reviewed the player. Player’s characters should not be confirmed until they have become MP4 (passed MP3 and understand basics of combat), created their papers (have a defined character to even play), have an appropriate name (yes subjective but we don’t need 10 Darth Vaders or Great Demon Gods, running around MD). MP3 should be the discovery phase for players by MP4 everyone should have a fully developed and created character. (Basically I think the start of the game needs attention especially how new characters are created and how the MP 3 level is utilized).

6) Consider using an automated naming feature where players pick from a random list of first and last names like other games use. Then have the option for players to create a nick name of their own which can be displayed. This could be a MD shop purchase. But this would also alleviate naming problems and help with over all game continuity.

7) Consider throwing players a bone, or just altering the magic system and start giving magic to MP4’s and above. It is Magic Dual. When I had the time to try and help as a LHO (don’t have the time to be one but did help). Many new players thought they would be able to use magic right away. So consider adding some basic magic to the game sooner. You could simply offer magic spells as you do creatures for MP 4 and 5. These could be considered lesser magic for example and could fit into your definition of things Mur. And it could give you an alternative to using creatures to drain principles. So players would be able to use spells in their rituals with creatures. I read your old forum postings about how you envisioned creatures and I feel this idea of spells in rituals would still fit just fine in with your overall concept of things for MD. You could still keep your other forms of magic too with no problem.

8) If you do #5 then consider paying LHOs in some sort of point system. Each new member they review and then confirm receives the LHOs name in a tag on the character sheet. In turn the LHO gets paid X number of points for taking the time to do it. They can spend these points on WP, Shop credits etc. I don’t know, just an idea. They do have a lot of work to do.

9) In conjunction with #5, freeze players initial papers. So once an LHO confirms/authorizes them freeze that paper at that time. Maybe make a copy of it somehow or turn it to read only for everyone. Then make a second paper accessible to the player to record their player development, history, personal story, etc. This would better show and record the life of the players in MD and also prevent players from deleting their papers once made and approved by the LHOs.

10) Consider creating a perma-death arena for MP5 and above. This is where the character would enter into a dual with another but if a creature reaches 0 Vit it is automatically removed from the players character (ie. It dies) and the player loses permanently a certain percent of Max Vit and VP. You could tie this into your concept of what creatures actually are and how they are bonded to characters. BUT it is also just a game mechanism to give the more powerful players of MD something else to do besides grind stats. They can see which among them really has balls. You could create a new set of achievement medals just for them, surviving X number of perma-death duels, or killing X number of creatures for example.

11) Code an “EASY Button” for use with LHO’s. Yes it’s nice for them to be in the starting areas HOPING a new player will show but it’d be nice for them to be able to be out playing too. So how about a button in the paper cabin that when a new player presses it, it “summons” an LHO to that location. Of course this would require new players to read….(Or put a bot there, that way something is there to greet them).

12) I agree with Burns and the others, the start up does take some time. I also agree that the people who lack patience should not even be here BUT they should be made more aware that MD is unique and does require a lot of patience to play. But that goes back to my #3.

Okay, I'm a new player still, really. I intend on hanging around but I'm going to give you how I feel. I might not be representative. I know some of my niggles ARE NOT. I'm enjoying this game because it *is* different. It's sold as being completely different, and tbh it's not quite, however "like the best bits of quite a few games put together, with several twists added" doesn't roll off the tongue as well as "like nothing you've ever played". I like the game, however that doesn't mean it's perfect as I'm sure most people understand.

Most of the main issues were covered well a page back, and then shot down. However the attitude that comes with shooting down is part of the problem. New players are told to put up and shut up, discouraged from speaking up because they're new, treated rudely by certain people (some of whom are held in high esteem by the community), because they're new, not given a little margin for error because they're new. There are people out there looking out after new players, they are infact the majority and a lot of the community does look after them, however despite that, I've never played a game with such a large amount of discouragement and hostility to new players, both in the community and the game mechanics. When a new player says something that is oblivious to them because they're about 100 days short of amount of playtime needed to realistically have experienced it, you should be thinking "they can't be expected to see that" if they have no reason to know that it doesn't occur the way they see it, why should they be expected to see it? They will act based on the information they have, and that information paints a different picture. Or perhaps they see things the way they are for them. How the established player play is of no relevance to a new player because they cannot play like that.

This game is one that rewards patience, it also includes several "filters" if you have filters, expect to lose crap. That is normal. However without poor players those who would be "average" on other games tend to be pathetic here. The balance system sort of works but it's still dodgy. My experience of MP3 was that I could win fights by smashing people while they were down initially and only then. Eventually I built a semi decent rit and found aside from the demi gods I could probably beat anyone, I'd hit the exp cap and off I went. I hadn't succeeded in the LR task because while growing a few of this and that crit in order to sac to get certain crits to higher levels later I had hit the exp cap. I still need a bunch of wins and some time to get the required crit and get to LR. However now I'm an MP4. And this is where the game is just waiting, clicking a few links and biding time. I don't feel like I can beat anyone right now. Even weak people demolish me with a bunch of crits on 200 health. This isn't counter rituals, these are just the same crits I have 2 levels higher a lot of the time. I feel that because I hit the exp cap without doing it a certain way, I'm gimped. For a game with no advice it's very punishing if you don't do things a certain way. There's a huge number of crits I don't have access too, and so I *cannot* make a counter rit for most of the stuff I face because I can only really make a couple of distinct rits, really. It's very hard to learn at this point because I need stronger crits to win and I need to win for stronger crits. I could sit around asking for people to send out cheap rits for losses but that's a matter of chance, hit and miss.

(A personal niggle and won I doubt will make a huge difference, but one that makes learning as a new player a lot harder) The combat log goes too fast to interpret in combat and there's not enough info in the summary at the end. I would love to see a sum of damage done, taken, healed, stolen, for each crit, freezes done. I also play WoW and believe me I'm looking for something completely different, because lets face it, what WoW does, it's the best in the world at. However the supporting community is the winner, using world of logs, I can break down a raid after it's run and look at my strategy and see who did what, who wasn't effective and so on, then I can adjust accordingly. I know that this sort of request is pretty niche but being able to see what's gone on in a fight more clearly and in more detail would help some players learn. However largely they'd just sit and wish they could win more. This would let you learn more, more easily however, while still being useless to dumber players, however I suspect the bar would be set a bit too high regarding who it benefits.

The "how are players supposed to know if they cannot know?" conundrum is a good one. A few more vague hints might be good. For example drumming it into players to read ALL SIGNPOSTS, or that eggs usually require several levels of investment before they repay, but once they do so, will make you glad you did might encourage people to avoid silly errors (not that I didn't figure this but not everyone does).

I think the biggest issue not already mentioned is the number of players. Because this game has a trickle of new players it actually perpetuates the issue with the trickle of new players. The game is immensely topheavy, I think I probably fought less than 15 different people at mp5, one of them was godmode kyphis, I saw the other godmode mp3 and didn't ever bother to attack. No point. I could not win unless he said "I have a weak rit" and even then I'd struggle. The lack of new players gives new players few targets. So while we're at those clunky start of mp stages, we get stuck. Right now I cannot win. I'm hoping with time and maybe a couple of dozen lucky wins I might get a break but for now, I don't see it. The problem with a small trickle of new players is that there are few people who are new to the mp at any time, so other new players have no one to fight. Closing the gates will exacerbate this to some extent, but really, when most of the people at your MP level have maxed versions of your crits and several crits you can't reach because you need more wins you'll never get, it's depressing. To fix the problem, you either need a massive and sustained surge in new players, or some way of giving them more chances to pull away from the bottom of an MP level. People level at different rates, so once you're past the pathetic stage, it's fine. Giving more hints are to unlocking more crits or more room might help. Possibly extending the MP3 cap a bit so people go into MP4 with a slightly better creature range may help especially if followed by a little signing. An MP3 who can spend twice as long levelling crits can hit mp4 with more maxed crits and so stand a better chance. Or perhaps, for those people whose balance ends up hugely out of whack, putting some in game training in (I know players exist for those but there is an element of "meh" to people letting you win) to let them tighten their rits up might help. Of course that's abusable so if you limit the battles per day allowed, and remove the exp bonus for sheath, so it stays more appealing to beat players when you can... Might help. It would mean that the pathetically weak would still do okay, but you would have to get it right to ensure that players who get the training option advance slower than those who don't. I mean sure, you can clear an MP level with it, but you're better off hitting players once you're a bit stronger, otherwise it'll take twice as many wins. This might weaken the spirit of the game, so I guess the important thing is that I feel this is the problem.

In a nutshell, yes, the "this game is elitist" system works to an extent, but the more top heavy the community becomes the more exclusive to outsiders and the harder it is to get recruits. You can repeat those mantras about patience, filters, not being for everyone, but at the end of the day, new players don't want to be told by the most respected members of the community like DST, that it's all about older players, that they should quit whining and put up with being brutalised and lost so that after a very long period of time they can join their club (even though it feels at times like they're just chasing their tail), they'll just go play something which is more welcoming where they can make steady progress day on day until they're "in". You need to either find a massive and sustained inflow of recruits (and not be afraid of them dropping out past a way into mp4... because people can get all crits then) or make it easier for the trickle you have to get into the game.

[quote]YOU PLAY? I have seen you maybe 3 or 4 times in the last months. Just logging in is not playing. There are several so called players that log in just to get their active days. Nothing much. And if you log in and sit in a deserted place "researching" is not playing either.[/quote]
Yes, I play. I may have been busy in real life lately, but when I log in, I do play. I login, and then I stick around. And while I often sit in deserted places, it is not by choice. Sure, I could easily go to the GoE, GGG, or the Marble Dale Park. But the quality of interaction in those locations is often lacking. Those who are not idle are busy with combat, and when they do talk, it involves elements of the metagame. Of course I, a roleplayer, am not always interested in such discussion. I am a serious fellow (Pamplemousse has kept a tally of the number of jokes I've told, because the first was so unexpected) and often very quiet, but I do interact when spoken to, or when discussion around me piques my interest. And I do sometimes take part in combat, but to me, it just isn't as fun as other things.

[quote]Yes, the all time:"we don't need a coded system cause we have our freedom". Then why is HC so popular? Why are the shop crits so wanted? Why is everybody at the GGG training all day? Why do even crits exist? You can do just fine without them.[/quote]
I don't believe I said that. I dislike freedom and godmodders as much as any other (which is one of the reason I spend my time in far off locales; godmodders tend to like audiences). As for the question, "Then why is HC so popular?" it is not because the combat system is so great, but because competitions are fun (especially if you are successful).

[quote]Is is THAT hard to understand that it's NOT a RPG? Or at least not the common RPC you are all used with?[/quote]
The point is that MagicDuel is an RPG. You're right that it is also more than that. You're upset with me and others with views like me, but the fact that we are here should tell you something. No, not that you are wrong, but that you are not right either.

[quote]YOU PLAY? I have seen you maybe 3 or 4 times in the last months. Just logging in is not playing. There are several so called players that log in just to get their active days. Nothing much. And if you log in and sit in a deserted place "researching" is not playing either.[/quote]
Yes, I play. I may have been busy in real life lately, but when I log in, I do play. I login, and then I stick around. And while I often sit in deserted places, it is not by choice. Sure, I could easily go to the GoE, GGG, or the Marble Dale Park. But the quality of interaction in those locations is often lacking. Those who are not idle are busy with combat, and when they do talk, it involves elements of the metagame. Of course I, a roleplayer, am not always interested in such discussion. I am a serious fellow (Pamplemousse has kept a tally of the number of jokes I've told, because the first was so unexpected) and often very quiet, but I do interact when spoken to, or when discussion around me piques my interest. And I do sometimes take part in combat, but to me, it just isn't as fun as other things.

[quote]Yes, the all time:"we don't need a coded system cause we have our freedom". Then why is HC so popular? Why are the shop crits so wanted? Why is everybody at the GGG training all day? Why do even crits exist? You can do just fine without them.[/quote]
I don't believe I said that. I dislike freedom and godmodders as much as any other (which is one of the reason I spend my time in far off locales; godmodders tend to like audiences). As for the question, "Then why is HC so popular?" it is not because the combat system is so great, but because competitions are fun (especially if you are successful).

[quote]Is is THAT hard to understand that it's NOT a RPG? Or at least not the common RPC you are all used with?[/quote]
The point is that MagicDuel is an RPG. You're right that it is also more than that. You're upset with me and others with views like me, but the fact that we are here should tell you something. No, not that you are wrong, but that you are not right either.

[quote]YOU PLAY? I have seen you maybe 3 or 4 times in the last months. Just logging in is not playing. There are several so called players that log in just to get their active days. Nothing much. And if you log in and sit in a deserted place "researching" is not playing either.[/quote]
Yes, I play. I may have been busy in real life lately, but when I log in, I do play. I login, and then I stick around. And while I often sit in deserted places, it is not by choice. Sure, I could easily go to the GoE, GGG, or the Marble Dale Park. But the quality of interaction in those locations is often lacking. Those who are not idle are busy with combat, and when they do talk, it involves elements of the metagame. Of course I, a roleplayer, am not always interested in such discussion. I am a serious fellow (Pamplemousse has kept a tally of the number of jokes I've told, because the first was so unexpected) and often very quiet, but I do interact when spoken to, or when discussion around me piques my interest. And I do sometimes take part in combat, but to me, it just isn't as fun as other things.

[quote]Yes, the all time:"we don't need a coded system cause we have our freedom". Then why is HC so popular? Why are the shop crits so wanted? Why is everybody at the GGG training all day? Why do even crits exist? You can do just fine without them.[/quote]
I don't believe I said that. I dislike freedom and godmodders as much as any other (which is one of the reason I spend my time in far off locales; godmodders tend to like audiences). As for the question, "Then why is HC so popular?" it is not because the combat system is so great, but because competitions are fun (especially if you are successful).

[quote]Is is THAT hard to understand that it's NOT a RPG? Or at least not the common RPC you are all used with?[/quote]
The point is that MagicDuel is an RPG. You're right that it is also more than that. You're upset with me and others with views like me, but the fact that we are here should tell you something. No, not that you are wrong, but that you are not right either.

[quote name='dst' date='09 November 2009 - 02:07 AM' timestamp='1257728833' post='47023']
Cut the cr**! If i read one more time about how MD is a RPG and not a PVP I will delete the entry instantly! Is is THAT hard to understand that it's NOT a RPG? Or at least not the common RPC you are all used with? Hey! I might even call it a FPS! After all i chase players all over MD to get a decent amount of xp these days! Shish...Who are the most known players? I will tell you: the grinders. Except Z and Tarq nobody from the so called "good RPers" are as known as the grinders. And they are know because they were also RPCs. Sorry but as I already said a thousand times: combat system is superior to RP system (which actually almost doesn't even exist). Shish...again...
[/quote]
MD is not just an RPG. However if you claim it is a FPS you are making the same mistake as people claiming it to be an RPG. MD is a lot of things: roleplaying, creature battling, wish point gathering...
The reason good grinders are 'famous', is quite simple: they are good because they know how to beat your rituals and do it regularly, how can you not notice them except if you never do any battling? For roleplaying it is much more difficult. It takes at least two people to roleplay, or one shizo. When both people are good, they will produce an interesting story, which others might notice and participate in. If one is good and the other goes ooc or godmods, then you will most likely see the former person getting angry, going idle or giving advice on RP, none of which is good roleplay. And all of it requires you to read it, which you wont unless you are at least a bit interested in RP. So RPers will notice RPers, while grinders and everybody who at least has a single creature and is level 5 will notice grinders. (which excludes me, jay!).
Also: the fighting system doesn't look interesting to me. You all talk about 'tactics' but all i can see is a few creatures with useful skills, which means a limited number of possible useful rituals. For mp3 it didn't even require any thinking at all, since every headscontest you would get attacked with the best ritual that was available at that time. The dozens of people that did train months to win HC at mp3 before I went to mp4 all used the same kind of ritual, so if I wanted to have the best ritual, all I needed to do was copy it.
Certainly the RP system is lacking too, but don't be praising the battle system like it's the only thing that is perfect in MD. It is not perfect; nothing will ever be perfect because that would imply Mur wouldn't need to work on it anymore and the concept of the game is that everything is constantly changing.

I think it's logical and would be more intuitive for new players if players were factioned to a specific Land, either by free choice or application for admission. And that the use of Alliances was only done so to explain the RP or hard coded two way relationship between various Factions. I think it'd be better to use Guilds as a means to allow members of factions to join into smaller like minded groups. These guilds could also be used a different political parties or in keeping with a feudal system, Guilds could denote royal families.

This way players can still have their small run groups (Guilds) that are currently called Alliances and MD would have it's needed lands with players grouped in them (Factions). These Guilds could work together for their land for example, work to unsuper their lands current Ruler or protect the ruler such as the Musketeers; develop the culture of their lands through unified RP and writing; Function as a royal family with each one vying for the Rulers favor; or function as a traditional guild as merchants, traders, or educators; or as a small unique unified group: pirates, traveling circus etc.

But using factions or alliances in any other way can be too confusing for they are not being used in conjunction with their RL definitions that most people already know and understand. MD needs multiple levels of player interaction; that for whole lands and that for smaller player driven themes, but please keep this structure intuitive and logical.

I am looking forward to so many grievous and frustrated complaints.
But you have to realize, this game is always under development and things can change, abruptly, on the fly
It's why I like it so much. Except when I start pooping golden eggs or somehow live through a fatal head wound for 2 weeks..


Anyway, the archers do not have an initiative or a defence stat.
Now I realize that when they attack, they use power as well as the owner's principles.

But.. 0 def and 0 ini?

What happens if other creatures attack the dark archers first?

Is it supposed to be this way?

My issue is not with the reward, but rather the quest. New players should be encouraged to get their papers, but please also request that they fill them. Lately, I've seen far too many players with blank papers or papers with a promise to write within the papers at a later time. It is a waste of all our time to seek to read new papers only to find out they don't truly exist.

My issue is not with the reward, but rather the quest. New players should be encouraged to get their papers, but please also request that they fill them. Lately, I've seen far too many players with blank papers or papers with a promise to write within the papers at a later time. It is a waste of all our time to seek to read new papers only to find out they don't truly exist.

[b]Author's Note - make sure you have read the [url="http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/5476-story-night-disclaimer/page__view__findpost__p__45929"]Story Night Disclaimer[/url] before you read any legends. -Keith [/b]

What you are about to hear never happened, but it is true. Whether you believe it or not does not matter. If you listen with an open mind and an open heart you may perceive such wisdom as applies to you.

Once in the land of MagicDuel there was a girl named Marind. She was a beautiful girl with a melodious voice; she had a knack for getting everything she wanted, and was very spoiled. She was also very talented, and at an early age showed the potential to become the greatest sorceress who ever lived. When an indiscreet tutor told her the extent of her talent, she became consumed by the ambition for power.

By adolescence Marind had already mastered all the magical secrets of Loreroot, Necrovion, and Golemus Golemicarum. She could change the map of her world to her will; she could create beings from air, dust, and water; and she could destroy a thing utterly with a glance. But these wondrous powers were not enough for her, and her ambition burned brightly inside her for more.

She cast her powers beyond the realm of MagicDuel, and discovered other worlds. She met the goddess Athena, who taught her tactics, the rule of law, and subtle magic. She met the wizard Merlin, who taught her the resonance between all things that live and die, and the cycle of power that leads to greatness, and the cycle of shame that leads to suffering. She met the god Nyarlathotep, who taught her much of betrayal, cosmic order, and Ultimate Truth. And then she met a being unlike any other she had yet encountered: Dream.

Dream showed Marind that all worlds and all powers, possible and impossible alike, existed in his domain. When she mastered the secrets of one cosmos, he could show her another: and never was her thirst for knowledge and power quenched, for each new answer raised new questions, and each new world implied the existence of another. Marind greedily consumed the knowledge Dream provided her, and her powers grew beyond the understanding of mortal beings, and she became an entity before whom gods trembled.

It came to pass that Marind sought her roots, and sifted through the millions of universes Dream had showed her, looking for the place whence she had come. But so many were alike, and so many seemed familiar, that she found she could no longer recall where she had begun. And then, in a shadow realm among many others like it, she encountered the ghost of a young woman trapped in a wooden box. And she asked the woman, “Who are you?” because the woman seemed familiar, though Marind could not say exactly how or why. And the woman replied, “I am the ghost of Marind, slain at the height of my beauty. Who are you, before whom even gods tremble?”

And Marind could not remember her name, or her purpose, or say for what reason she had amassed so much cosmic knowledge and power. She passed into the deepest depths of Dream’s realm, where even gods may not go, and became a force of the interlaced relations whence all things originate and whither all things must end. But her ghost remained in the cube, beckoning to travelers in the realm of Dream, challenging them with a mystery and instructing them in the paths of knowledge.

And this much is given us to understand.

I propose the first ever [b]Cultural Fair Contest[/b] of MD (yes I know it’s not related to pain) where everyone from all the lands can gather and put their unique lands culture on display (post in MD forum). We Traveling folk (Gypsies) have been all around these lands and seen many unique and interesting things and people and I think it would be great for everyone to get together in this manner.

The contest is for players to work individually (or jointly if Mur allows splitting of the prizes) and create your own unique perspective of your chosen MD land. Players would need to describe as many of the below aspects as they can. Players should be creative but also use existing knowledge and use this as a chance to help develop their lands. They need to describe their lands from the perspective of how they see it or believe them to exist and this can be done visually and or in writing.

Regardless of the chosen medium selected you will be judged on your ability to express and communicate your lands culture in each category. You do not have to describe every category but the more you do the better chances you have of winning. You need to include the, Who, What, Where, When, Why and How as well as any other descriptive terminology you think of. This is a great opportunity for the MD community to come together and role play their lands and hopefully develop a better picture if you will or concept of each of the lands in MD.

[u]Categories, in no special order[/u]

[list]

[*][b]Customs and Courtesies:[/b] Include what the people do and how they interact with each other including festivals, holidays, dress and appearance, interpersonal behaviors such as unique greetings, etc.
[*] [b]Moral and Will:[/b] General disposition of the people, overall attitude, likes and dislikes, etc.
[*] [b]Diplomacy:[/b] View of people from other lands, thoughts on war, trade, peace with each of the other lands, etc.
[*] [b]Magic:[/b] Peoples view on magic, any specific preferences, any specific dislikes or fears and hopes related to magic, etc.
[*] [b]Political and Government:[/b] Describe the lands political structure, what the people of the land think about their leaders, how the government is run, etc.
[*] [b]Crime and punishment:[/b] Describe any crime that takes place in the land, how should punishment be given and in what way, etc.
[*] [b]Mercantile and Trade:[/b] Describe any unique trade goods or products that come from your lands, any special shops, any trade routes or partners in and to other lands, etc.
[*] [b]Religion and Faith:[/b] Describes any religious beliefs practiced in your lands, in BRIEF describe them but do not use this as a pitch to try and get people to join them, superstitions, etc.
[*] [b]Tourism and Fun:[/b] Describe any “hot spots” that people should be aware of in your lands including land marks, monuments etc. Also describe how exciting or not, your land is to visits and why etc.
[*] [b]Walk down the street:[/b] In brief describe what a person would see and experience walking done a street in your land. What would be going on, what are the buildings like, what would they smell and feel etc.
[*] [b]Culinary:[/b] Describe the foods and spices consumed in your lands, include fruits, meats, treats, etc.
[*] [b]Military:[/b] Describe any organized militia or armed forces, etc.
[*] [b]Organizations:[/b] Describe any organized groups or alliances in your land and how they contribute to the lands, etc.
[*] [b]Additional:[/b] Feel free to add anything else you feel sets your Land apart from others.
[/list]

Remember the focus of the contest is on your lands over all culture and not just one specific aspect of it so keep things descriptive but brief. Feel free to pull information from other player’s character concepts and any existing knowledge of the lands. Also feel free to be creative but anything that contradicts what Mur has laid out in the past about the lands or their history etc will not be accepted. Also feel free to work with the known artisans in the land you may commission them to do art work for your displays this does not count as a team effort. However you are not allowed to use copyrighted materials without written permission.

[b]Judging:[/b] Traveling folk will not be participating as we’ll be the overall judges but we’ll give our culture aspect as an example and to start off the contest. All, MD members may join the fair and review all the contestant exhibits and provide brief input as to how’s exhibit they like the best and why. This feedback will be used in part for judging.

[b]Prizes:[/b] Second and Third place winners will each get a good job sticker. First place winner will receive an all expenses paid trip to Mur’s house where he’ll pamper you with personal massages, breakfast in bed, and tell you all of MD’s secrets. Ok, just kidding, I know bad joke, not all of us Gypsies are good at comedy or entertaining.

Thanks for your time.

The winner of the contest is the FIRST player who manage to do the following:

Get 15 RPCs to post in their player’s log the following remarks:

1. I will love you forever and will always be by your side.
2. I am a noob compared to you, you are my king and I am your slave.
3. Sparrhawk is my love child and I am very proud of him.
4. I get turned on by manly man.
5. I find women very attractive.
6. I am a man and I am proud of it.
7. I wear black lacy lingerie when I go to sleep.
8. I love to wear 6 inch stilettos.
9. When I become GOD everyone dies.
10. I am the strongest player in MD, bow to me you insignificant insect!
11. I am in love with Death Ray and I think he is the sexiest player in MD.
12. I am doing this because I was paid 10 gold pieces.
13. Of course my wife is a dwarf.
14. My fav player is Mur and I want to have his babies!
15. I am only playing this game because I a loser in RL.


For RPC who wants to do the contest, they need to have 20 RPCs to do the remarks:
(The following remarks are only available for RPC)

16. I am a fairy and I love to dance among the flowers.
17. I’m so pretty, so pretty………
18. I am actually a guy who is preying on the ladies in MD.
19. I wear make up everyday because I love it.
20. I play with Grasan poop everyday because I love it!

RULES:

1. Remarks can only be used once and cannot be duplicated.
2. Remarks must only contain what is required and nothing else.
3. Only names on the RPC list during time of checking is allowed (Too bad if you got someone to write and when I read it that player was demoted)
4. Once completed, you must send me a PM indicating that you are done and will see me at Maple Road if I am there. (So send me a PM where ever you are)
5. I will check your player logs at Maple Road ONLY!
6. After I read your PM, I will go to Maple Road (if I am not already there) and will only wait for 30 minutes. After that, I will read the next player in my Inbox.
7. This mean luck will come into play as well. I am active everyday, it’s the timing that you have to watch out.

OBJECTIVE:

1. Allow more players to get to know RPCs better.
2. Allow RPCs to interact with players.
3. Its just fun to hunt people down to do stuff. LOL

Here is my idea:

Create the next [b]MD-based roleplay character (Hint: It dont have to a person, think about it!) [/b](similar to the knator commander or Wodin), his story, his Avatar (sketches maybe or explained in words), build up his papers and choose a location where he might be found (sometimes or not) and why this is so. Create the story of his appearance as well and give him a soul (which means, include some positive as well some negative habits on his background)

May the most original and best new RPC win

*generally dislikes Savels because they're too...religious-y* x3

*disagrees with this*

[b]

[/b]PLAINS OF HELL FACTION


I am Tara the Demon-Princess and I was chosen to be the Heir to the Trone
of Hell by my uncle.
Because of the fact that Hell creatures have no home place I made this Faction.
It is now stil a small faction but in time it will grow.

[img]http://magicduel.com/userfiles/154584/hell_070706_ms.jpg[/img]
a picture of home the Plains of Hell


When invited by me ore a factionmember you can a member of this faction
and we are picky *chuckles*
You must be evil ore a wanabee evil being.


The rules of joining the Faction Plains of Hell:
* Obay my comands and do take my (Tara/Ladytwin) advice when given.
* Help other Hell Creatures.
* Work on making Tara Town real in the mind of others and your self.
* Make evil plans and have fun. (but plans involving others run them
by me to be shure they are oke)
* We demons love to have fun so have fun like I do *winks*
* Copy this page in your pages somewhere.

Optional (just for the fun of it *winks*)

* Add me (Tara/Ladytwin) to your friend list.
* Be my (Ladytwin) adept.

Follow these rules as much as your own nature allows.

[img]http://magicduel.com/userfiles/154584/666-b.jpg[/img]
When given this will be our flag some day

All Hell Creatures are welcome to live in Tara Town (GoC)
[img]http://magicduel.com/userfiles/154584/ScreenHunter_02%20Jul.%2014%2011.48.gif[/img]
Plains of Hell Members:

Leader:
Tara/Ladytwin

Members:

Teufelhunden
Two Sides
Robin Mea
Cloud Elite
Jack Begemot
Shaogorath
Ectremere
Freezeblink

This is an out if date of date application my up to date one is two down

I should start by mentioning that i am not insane, i know how many things still need to be done, fixed, etc, i know i allready started other new features (like the other combat system) that i never finished, or the bot, or the factions, or mp7, or fixing tokens, or the translator, or the torch competition rewarding system or many more .... but without playing around with new features, i cant exist .. i dont have fun in md without doing this so .. LET ME PLAY


So, achievemtns page, new feature in work (i promise i'll work on it only after i do a bit on the pending stuff each day )

Main ideea:
a section within the interface with medal looking items, that will activate one item when you fullfill certain requirements.

Expansion ideea:
probably allready implemented from the start, the ability to create custom achievements so that they can assigned to individuals (rpcs, wishshop, side quests etc). An other thing, "on demand" achievements, for example you are assigned a task that will give you a specific achievement, untill you are assigned that task you will never know that achievement medal existed.

Achievemtents will be mainly granted by a system check based on some rules, but it could be also a custom rpc ability, for example for achievemtnts that involve communication or trading skills, and a human to decide who gets the medal.

Tehnical issues:
It will be very server intensive to constantly check achievements especialy if i plan to make them so highly configurable and personalizable. Thats why, they will be checked only on request by clicking a "check" button under each pending/disabled medal (let me know how it sounds or if you have better ideas)

Artworks:
i don't have them right now but they wont be a problem once i decide the main list. They will be colored probably and looking sort of alliance logos but with a medal-like feeling.

Logic:
Here i need your help. I do have plenty ideas, but i defenetly want to hear suggestions, in an organised form please (list or other way)

Achievement ideeas for example:


- "Full glow" :: get all creatures max level and minimum 6 creatures
- "Beasts mark" :: get vitality and value points at 666 at the same time
- "Noob trader" :: aquire a creature by ctc, one that was allready traded before and has before transfer at least 50 days.
- "Master trader" :: all you creatures were transfered by ctc at least once
- "Burst Burner" :: trigger a certain number of bursts
- "Combo Fighter" :: have 3 active rituals with 100 won fights (combo)
- "Above money" :: increase max vp over 100k
- "LHO" :: be promoted to lho (regardless if you get demoted after)
- "Apprentice Spellcaster" :: master at least 3 different spells
- "Mark of History" :: get something in the realm marked permanently by you, like place name, or other
- "Persistent Traveler" :: get over 500 visits in a place
- "Spellcaster" :: aquire all spell docs up to level 6 for any spell
- "Spell medal ??" :: one for each complete spelldoc series you have
- "WP collector" :: For reaching 10 wp
- "Creature collector" :: For having at least X creatures and each one of different kind (regardless of level)
- "???" :: for having at least 20 creatures all of a non damaging type (no other creatures)
- "Rich Nabab" :: for spending X amount in the mdshop
- "Creature Master" :: for having all creatures at max level and at least 20
- "Colored Creature Master" :: for having all creatrures at max level and premium and at least 20
- "Navigator" :: For visiting 100 different map locations
- "Explorer" :: For visiting 200 different map locations
- "???" :: For visiting 300 different map locations (there will be one for 400 too, soon)
- "Mr/Ms Popularity" :: For having over 100 friends
- "Stigmata" :: For doing something realy bad but still managing to remain unbanned
- "Alliance Leader" :: For getting leadership of an alliance at least once
- "Protector" :: For reaching Mp6
- "Rotten egg" Having an egg in your creatures for over 200 days without upgrading it.
- "Unholy gathering" Having 12 or more maxed unholy priests at the same time.
- "Sleepwalker" Stay online for 48 hours straight without going idle. (not sure i can)
- "That gotta hurt" lose 300 figts in a row.


(thinking on more, keep writing suggestions in a clear form pls)



both very easy to achieve things and dificult things

Interface:
i could splitt up the page in dificulty levels or just let a huge achievements page scroll, both sound fine to me....so let me know your clear list, based on the things you think they could be possible to count/masure/detect in the current system (as much as you know it)

On the character detail panel when clicking an ohter player, i think there can be a small sign to show that when clicked it will open on the entire panel a list of achievement ICONS

it is possible to get a drawn feel to the game with the right camera angle, and only drawn shadows..... no player shadows.... i think it could be achived to give it the drawn look it currently has......oh and you don't have to give me negative rep just because you say no
and that means not doing the same thing to this message as well.

As mur spoke of in one of his long messages it was some time ago, and i had forgotten until just now, but i think that if we had a lot more more players online at once than we currently do, it wouldn't work to have to scroll down a page something like twice the current length of a mosly empty md page, and the chat in that case would be hard to read, however if it were in a 3D environment, you wouldn't have the problems with the chat being over crowded, as you would only pick up the people within a certain distance of you, and it would also open up more roplay oppertunities, as isn't that what this game is about the roleplaying? although we would have to figure out how to get the fights integrated into a 3D world.... but i think it would be worth it..... and we would also have to figure out how to mark the bounderies of md..... and the map might have to be slightly bigger..... and you would have to figure out how to integrate the story mode, and tutorial into this..... and we would need some decent 3D artists for the entire thing, and we must find out how to make this all work.....

i will continue to edit this list of things to find/figure out as this topic progresses, and i will actually make it into a list, and not just a long paragraph....

Having worked as a mod on a game with a single-account rule, I can safely say it is almost impossible to enforce, for reasons others have mentioned above. IPs, cookies, etc.. are not reliable, and there is no sure way to identify multiple accounts of the same player, short of endless hours of work for mods comparing login data, analysing activity, friends, even dialects...

But there are worse problems than that. Any time a hard, abitrary rule like this is set, it [i]Invites[/i] many people to make workarounds. You will be encouraging new, secretive, methods for behaving in ways that are not now really harmful. And once you stigmatise things, it's hard to go back and in some ways encourages more scurrilous activity. So I say, leave it as it is. And monitor for gross abuses only. Farms, etc.. what makes the game truly unfair.

I agree with the above suggestions that it might help if it were possible to restrict certain transactions like shop purchases and CTC to only chars with a certain amount of activity...But how hard is it to get an AD? What is a proper disincentive to have golem alts, or incubators?

I did used to RP two chars here, as autonomous and unique individuals with separate lives, friends, goals and interests. One of them ironically had her life ended more or less because of someone else's banning for abuse of alts....