Muratus del Mur

As someone so nicely pointed out, matching rhyming words is not enough for poetry. It might be difficult to get some things to rhyme, and it seems i failed in certain points (i had no idea that identical words are not considered rhyme). It seems that both online and offline the reaction to this ...poem attempt .. was to reply with other rhyming words (sorry i cant call them more). I am wondering, to avoid wrong assumptions due to the "language barrier" was this sort of a "keep trying" reply? For example when a "fellow programmer" sends me a bit of code to tell my opinion about it, if i say its nice, then send him a different version of the code, to do the exact same thing, its probably because i want to show off i could do better. Since here it was not the case, i am curious what could possibly make you reply in rhymes? ..because if i were to reply in rhymes to all the poems i liked or disliked on the net , i would write a poetry book by now. .. Also to reply to someone that pm'd me his (valuable) impressions, i will write here. I posted on the (public) forum to get a public opinion, not a pm about it. [quote]Line 7 (kingdom lost) and line 28 (you won't... lose me) hint at two different themes. If we won't lose you because MD is your legacy, then what kingdom was already lost? Hinting at two slightly different themes confuses. I'd like to see one more verse after line 28 elaborating the legacy theme, and change kingdom to something less -- grand? "childhood" perhaps?[/quote] And i was thinking making you read between the lines was the biggest achievement i could get with a poems, now you want me write it out in plain text? No it is not childhood, and no this is not a "guess that word" riddle. [quote]Line 2 & 9 contradict about owning your words. Suggest replacing end of line 2 with "the words come not"[/quote] Line 2: "My thoughts are mine, my words are not" ... Line 9: "My words are few, but they obey" first one means "i'm not talking in my own words", since English is not my main language, second one means that those few words that i have (praise google for giving me more), obey what i want to say..like saying much with few words. [quote]Line 27/28 don't rhyme as well as the rest of it. Stands out.[/quote] I wish i'd finish but I can't One day I'll lose me but you won't yep ... kind of clumsy "rhyme" if any at all. hmm..i'll see how i can improve that. [quote]Line 3 "I've" (I have) seems the wrong conjugation. "I'd" (I had) would work better, but you're perhaps avoiding repeat of line 1? [/quote] Is repetition so bad? (i have no clue) . If it is indeed a grammer issue i will change it, ...honestly, it is a miracle if that is the only grammar mistake i did in this one, if you see more please let me know. Thank you for your enlightening opinions

i was discussing a topic about a possible compass in md, when i realised how many things could be done with the location spell combined with inventory items. I didn't saw anyone using it so i thought to place it on forum. Sorry if i spoiled any of your ongoing quests.

yep sounds like a flash problem..

This is not sample code, it is just a note on a possible quest concept i was thinking. by using uv(location) on an item, to determine someones current location, you could create a list of locations and based on that you could return a message like "you are getting close" or a direction indication like "go left until you find a tree". In this way you could create items like a compass that will point you to a predefined location the editor picks, or quests like treasure hunting. If you combine this with the storage and the date functions you could for example ask someone to find the propper place for some seeds to grow, considering soil, light or anything else you want. The quester will have to wait one day in a place to see if the seeds start to grow or not, then try an other one. The one that manages to get them grow first wins. Other things like a dynamic map direction items are possible in the same way, all you need to do is to use the location of the current player and prepare a list of responses based on that location. Maybe someone can point out why this might not work, or provide a sample code for it.

i already have the premium artworks for the LR archer. :D:D

@blackwood - read the book and you will see:P... short answer: no - you are right about the 3 characters - Is it something i want to tell you with md? - im not sad/upset or anything

I finished it! read

Random words at 6 am, unable to sleep, thinking about md, my life, and such... --- ~~ --- The Mur I wish I'd rhyme, but I can not My thoughts are mine, my words are not I wish I've seen, but I was blind How could have been, what was behind In shattered glass, In pints of pain I drink my past, I drink in vain Where is the kingdom that I lost Where are the years that I exhaust My words are few, but they obey I tame my thoughts, and make you stay For if you knew what was behind You lots would see what is my kind I hide in lines, in code I see What others only guessed could be I turned my tears, my tears you see To build the walls, that set me free As walls grow moss, so did my soul To cover past, to cover all I built my walls, but walls do fall So kept my guards, most dear of all My shield is wide but is not wood On plains of dreams I wish I could To shield my pride, I wish I would Instead to hide, to scream I should My sword is sharp but is not steel My heart does burn, but I don't feel I wish i'd finish, but I can't One day I'll lose me, but you won't I'd shed my tears, if any left To heal the walls I can't forget I mount my horse and hit the spur For nobody knows what is a Mur. END --- ~~ --- p.s. made some minor changes.

Loreroot archers...anybody explored their full potential? When i made the change on them i thought it will be devastating, since they are supposed to do percentage damage, making them really good against ultra powered players...but it seems i was wrong. Believe it or not i am not a fighter, so what i see from "behind the (st/p)age" might be totally different in the "battle field". Maybe their ability is not working as i intended or their settings need to be adjusted..idk

no it is not a simple copy paste replace. that order you talk about is one of the things that gets me brain damage when i think about it. I will have to investigate the exact case of those two things to know for sure , but what i can say now is that i am forced to load things in a certain order because they might depend one on the other. There is also the issue of future flexibility, things that are more likely to get more expanded than others need to be loaded last so that they have access to the things loaded before them. Tokens will not change anytime soon, they are hard to change because they also need an image and currently i dont plan to push anymore image on that poor little creature icon. So tehnically tokens should be loaded first because they are more "fixed" than influences. Influences can expand in the future a lot more, so it is better for them to have access to what tokens did to the creature in the first place than the other way around. just a sec, i will check something .. yep, listen to this, freeze for example. A creature needs to be frozen first in order that the antifreeze will make any sense. Otherwise, if you unfreeze it first then the freeze comes into play, it will make no sense because it will get frozen regardless of how well it is unfrozen "before". .. i think there are more such issues with the "order". To switch places of these two, i need to review all the abilities and see what will get broken if i do so. Right now there is a big comment i see above the token loading function telling that it should be _before_ the influences. I honestly don't remember all the reasons i put that warning there (for myself to read later), but i dont plant to switch them without analyzing every possible aspect first.

fixed for the last two (the others where ok from before). id 80, 81. unfortunately i cant fix backwards for those that already reset, you will have to get them a second time to unlock the others, but won't happen again. Thanks for the report.

Some of the things i am working on will be done to enable features that the astral plane showed are needed but can't be found in md. They wont be exactly the same. I hope you all understood that my purpose is not to destroy nice things but to prevent them of doing damage without intending so. Some of the things like houses, believe it or not, were in the initial plans of md but because the logic abnormalities that could have arised from having places to live for each person in md that wants one, i decided NO. What you know now as the land capitols, was initialy the Oak fort, and a big hill you probably can find in ancient screenshots, that were supposed to be places to live, where each player could get a room and ornate and such. At that point, some of the things that are now possible in Md were not even in my wildest dreams, so probably the ideas that were once impossible to do and caused logic problems on a large scale, are now more possible. Untill jumping to wild features, i will continue finishing those started and adding new ones only within certain limits. Each new feature supposes more or less additional things that need to come after it to support and complete it. A house for example, involves a lot more things than a new creature with a new ability. The items right now have a long path ahead of them, a path that will lead to a total different gameplay. Some of things in plan you already know from the announcements, others you will find out. You should also know that things like custom functions for mdscript to use on items are put in place but wont get public until other things are done first. Right now for example items could be used to cast spells, and spells in turn could be used to trigger custom illusions. Imagine a potion item that will turn you into someone else or into a crit, that is right now possible, but not public because of the implications it has at this moment. In time, with new features that will come, they will become public. If i put now such things out, imagine how wish shop features will go obsolete over night and together with them a lot of other things depending on wish points and the motivation they bring as rewards. My point is, doing something because is cool is your fun, like cutler did with the astral plane, like you did using it. I have nothing against it, and it is a source of inspiration for future things in MD. But ..my fun, and "job", is to think also of what it involves outside of just that one quest or feature. You think about rewards, I think about the lack of those rewards that makes you think about how to get them. It is a different point of view and it can't be anyhow else. Sometimes when I don't say NO from the start, it reaches such situations when a lot of work goes to waste all in one day, but better now than later.

I won't be so sure about that, considering the things i am about to do involving items and clickables. You will see what i mean.

An other game developer i know, requires some artworks for one of his games. He needs a series of characters, similar to avatars in MD in a way. There are 12 kids that need to look funny, one taller, other shorter, they should look crazy enough to demolish a building and innocent enough to get away with it. The drawings can be also cartoon style, but under no circumstances they can be copied, traced, or inspired from cartoons, comics and such. If you think you are able to do this, please send me on email a sample of what you draw and I will put you in contact with him. You can sort out prices and requirements from there, this is not MD related. please don't post here, send me by email. Thanks [i] Edit by Shadowseeker: Email use art@magicduel.com To prevent any messages I just closed this.[/i]

I can provide in mdscript the number of visits to a location for the visiting player.

i just said that the friends list as it is is affecting the "find someone to message him" kind of concept. I don't plan to remove it too soon. The reply is an other issue. One way to solve it is to allow reply to pm for just a limited number of days or hours since the pm was sent. In this way you wont be able to keep ancient pms just to pm those people anywhere they are. Adding a delay to pms is actually a very interesting idea. Unfortunately it would work as intended only in a closed system, but in our case it will only force people find other ways of communication. I might consider it for later, at least at a symbolic level to have seconds/minutes delay depending on the distance. Not sure how distance can be calculated in MD. This is not a topic about friends list or pms, is about this but also the other issues. Don't stick to one of it to much. I think thats all about the friends list since like i said i am not planing to change anything about it anytime soon.

Functionality restrictions of items [size="5"]PLEASE READ, IT IS IMPORTANT. Pretending you had no idea of this won't be a valid excuse when i will erase your items and remove your editing ability. [/size] This announcement refers mainly to the astral plane, private chats, private messages, quests revealing game locations you are not actually in, scripts that alter the interface to allow functionality that is available in other forms through the shop or partialy available, and so on, but applies also on other similar situations, if any. [b]Rule 1[/b] [color="#FF0000"]- MD Scripts should not be used to duplicate game features, enhance already existing features or allow functionality similar to features in MD Shop.[/color] Reason:[i] Game features have a purpose to be in a certain way. The Md shop is the one thing that keeps md alive and free. If you use md script to enable functionality that is otherwise to be payed for, you make it pointless for someone to get it from the shop anymore. Some of the game features are indeed insufficient but it is not up to you to complete md functionality with partial functional code or code that will torture the server, because md script is far from being optimized for actually developing new features. Friends in shop list is already a issue in my point of view. Being able to message anyone any place is NOT what i want. Geographic factor, like "you go far away to hide from someone" should be possible. Characters should be able to get "lost" or people to forget about them just because they no longer see traces of them. People that stay in a place build around them sort of their own "home", that "home" would have no meaning , if you can poke and talk to someone from any place without entering his "Home". See this as how telephones ruined the personal communication in RL..if you get what i mean.[/i] [b]Rule 2[/b] [color="#FF0000"]- MD Script should not be used to allow alternate ways of communication. If you want that you use your messenger , go in remote locations, or whatever[/color] Reason: [i]Communication is a very important aspect of MD. If you turn that into an alternate reality you will cause a lot of mess. Things talked in private can not and should not be used for argues, proof, or role play situations IN md. Placing such private chats or alternate pm methods in md is like creating a virtual world inside a virtual world. Most predictable rumor i can foresee i will hear is that i want private chat baned because i cant control or monitor it... I CAN, if i want to, its still on md server, but i have better things to do, and i dont plan to play hide and seek with this. I don't check your pms, or such, and i rarely look at the chats in locations i am not in at that moment. I mostly do it for fun on rare occasions. Its either md chat or your own private chat just not an alternate chat/pm in md. things you say in chat, like cursing, porn stuff, advertising, etc can get you baned, things you say on pms can be used as trial proof, IF reported by the one receiving them (no mod can see your pms!!). Anything in MD is within the "ecosystem" of MD, see it as a mechanism. A tertiary feature to allow chats can not fit in that mechanism.[/i] [b]Rule 3[/b] [color="#FF0000"]- Content placed on clickables or generated by MD Script should not reveal images of locations that are not normaly accessible[/color] Reason: [i]Not being able to see certain places is part of what makes you curious and keeps your interest alive in md. If you can simply see those places in a custom script, you won't care so much to actually get there on the map. It is spoiling, or better said it is cutting off the interess and makes you less involved with finding ways to get into certain places just to SEE them. The location images that can be used in scripts, are the locations in each land available to people in that land but not the inner locations, or locked locations in that land. Use your common sense when trying to understand what i mean. Some lands like Golemus and Necro are harder to access then Marinds Bell or Loreroot. The tool, item, quest you build should not allow people to see any of the lands you are not sure they can see anyway, and defenetly should not reveal limited locations. [/i] [b]Rule 4[/b] [color="#FF0000"]- items that show alternate reality sceneries using location images from md (cutlers astral plane), or continuation of map locations (nothing like that yet), should have age requirement of 70+ active days before a player can enter them.[/color] Reason: [i]Even if they are not spoiling location images. walking around a virtual land inside a virtual land can be very confusing to a new player that still doesnt understand that the item he clicked is a custom script. People can easily believe it is some sort of a portal and confuse the locations in that virtual tour with the actual locations in MD. I beleive a little over two month is enough for people to already know that things like astral plane or future similar quests, are not the same thing with the actual locations in MD. Regardless how many disclaimers you would put on them, it is about the visual message you are sending since you are using md scenes in there.[/i] [b]Rule 5[/b] [color="#FF0000"]- Zero tolerance policy for abusive scripts that are used to harm other players. [/color] Reason: [i]Someone that manages to get scripting ability but uses it to confuse, cheat, or damage other people accounts is not worthy of using it at all. Ability will be removed and account penalized according to its deed. By damaging i do not mean attacks, or war items, but i mean hacking attempts, items that present false interfaces to trick you to do something and items that forcefully use your own interface to do things you would normaly should be able to chose if you want to do or not. The interface can prevent this up to a point, but there are still ways to do it. An item that will talk in chat in your place, post on the mood panel, or transfer creatures, items, or anything of this kind, will get his editor baned, together with his alts, and the one using it will be investigated to determine if he used it knowing of its kind or not. Exceptions are people that research usage potential of such items and dont create them with the purpose of actualy cheating , like Rendril for example. Other people that want to test, should test on their alts first then report a potential abusive usage to me, for confirmation, before using it on other players. [/i] [b]Conclusions:[/b] Astral plane should be changed in such way that it will not contain locations not normaly visible by ANYONE. It should also require the age limit before entering it, because it uses images across lands. No more chats inside items/clickables. No more post office. (chewett kindly already removed it). I can help you remove the unwated storage variables, just provide me their name. I can support with anything you require to make it easyer for you to make these updates ASAP. [size="5"]Quest, clickable items and scripted inventory items should be adapted to fit these new rules by the end of the week or they will get removed (without properly cleaning up all the references to them) and scripting access will be also removed from their editors. [/size] Special actions: Because this should not be something to punish the people that worked so hard on these features and that opened new ways in how md script could be used, I will give a "symbolic" reward of 10Gold (or 70 credits by choice) and 1Wp to Cutler and Chewett, the two most affected by this rule, and I kindly ask them to read and understand the reasons why their scripts fall under these rules can no longer be accepted. Also consider these reasons, but also these rules, when building future items. Chewett already removed the post office. If Cutler decides to remove astral plane entirely instead of making the changes, is his choice. All i care, this time, is how things should not be, but how they should be is up to you to shape them. Any questions or complains can be added on this topic.

The publishing house that sent me the initial softcover sample ....stopped answering my phones and emails. I guess they translated the subtitle part related to god and they freaked out. I called them today from an other phone and they answered. They told me that they have no clue and that i should try again next week. Its unbelievable but so typical Romanian. At least they could say "we don't like you, good bye" but they chose to hide behind their phone like little kids... I will try with different ones too, see who gets it done first. Sorry for the delay.

"MD pissed you for the last time" ????? there were like a hundred ways to go about this other then that. Since you said yourself that you won't play anymore, I suppose you won't having anything to say about your account being locked just to be sure you dont just say that to escape further investigations now. Afterall if you leave you won't be needing it anymore. There is one way to win, but so many ways to lose. You picked the wrong one but thats entirely your choice. Regarding the avatars, i will start removing them slowly in the order of how copied they look, over time it will be all cleaned.

when an avy gets confiscated only the shop price gets restored. If the avy is in use you will get two credits, if it is in vault just one credit. I can't cover for any possible cost that person payed for an avy. If the buyer has any doubts regarding the originality of an art , they should not buy it in the first place. Punishment is also decided depending on the level of damage someone cause by uploading avatars that later get confiscated. It is the price for having more avatars in the shop and also allow you to upload your own.... i get to take them out anytime for any reason in case something goes wrong with them. Either like this or like it was before when i was the only one uploading commisioned avatars ..and you all remember how it was when the avatar gallery was always empty.

Since i insisted on the terrible things that will happen to you if you try to send copied art pretending it is yours, i will not check if the art is copied when i approve it because it is a waste of time. From time to time i place a temporary hold on your upload feature so you will stop before you send me a hi resolution scan. Of course anything can be forged, but sending something as original and "high resolution" it is punishable forgery and won't allow you later to say you had no clue it is not allowed to take art from others. Of course i see when art is copied, you can't forge style and you mostly are not THAT good to alternate styles while being original. I worked with artists for years and i can tell. It is mostly a matter of proof, or innocent untill proven guilty so to say. I give you severa chances on the way to retreat and back off. I ask for scans, i warn you, i deny them repeatedly, but if you insist you want them approved because they are "original" ..fine, its your account afterall. What bothers me badly is when people become angry that they are great artists and that i have something against them. I've punished people after two years of a crime, there is no way someone will escape it, and since its me doing the punishing , hiding behind multiple accounts is not a real option. I suggest you - all - , not just sir kamil, to take advantage of my few busy days and solve these things fast before i check them. The less time i will lose confiscating avatars, removing credits and deciding jail/ip ban , the better. Same way you found ways to get them approved same way you will find to revert this and minimize the pain so to say. Sir kamil, if you still consider that is original art and those images are the one forged or curiously similar to yours, no problem, i can check it over and over, but the more i will check the worse it will get if i find out you stole them. Same goes for others too and they know their names. [b]To clarify. tracing of an existing art or doing it in too similar shape and position means to copy. Taking the picture from an other place directly without drawing it yourself means stealing and it is the worst thing you can do. Making a drawing after someone elses art, copying idea , not in same position , not traced, means insipring and will get the avy confiscated if you repeat it to much or if the art is to similar or to known (like cartoon characters). [/b] I can't believe I have to explain this.

i see thing like this... you should learn from mistakes. I detail the reasons why an avy is not accepted so you can improve but also remember that for future avatars you will upload. talking/chatting about an avy will waste a lot of time for little outcome. Try fixing the things i say, one at a time, even if that means you will upload the avy 10 times to fix 10 wrong things each time i add a deny reason. So far ppl that fixed the things i asked manage to upload future avatars without making mistakes. Example: i say: "add alpha transparency" without the reply ability, you will be forced to search on forum or ask around how to make that, or what "alpha transparency" IS. In the end you find out how on your own. Now imagine with the reply ability, you will ask again and again about this and i will reply again and again, or even check the things you try to say do that or do that. The "tutorial" part and support can be covered by the forum and by the other people that managed to get their avatar approved. Also, from time to time, i will ask you to send hi-res scans of your drawings. If you fail to do that, you will remain restricted from uploading future avatars. Consider them routine checks , not something against you. Please share your experience with avy uploads and try solving your questions before uploading them again or asking me about it. In cases that seem ridiculous, for example you place "MD" on the avy but i say it is not, just place it some place else and try again, its probably not visible. please do not upload same avatar multiple times just to get one approved. I might aprove more by mistake and then later you will get baned (real ban not avy ban) for posting duplicates. If you are not satisfied with a pending avy you uploaded , remove it and upload it again.

I can't change your country manually. It is autodetermined by the IP using a geo location db. It seems there are some problems with it lately. Some Ip's get located in the wrong country, but i found also clues that the IP's might be saved wrong (affecting alt checks too) It would be helpfull to have a list with wrong coutnry flags if possible. I will update geo db and probably reset ips that got saved wrong.

ummm, is anyone that wants softcover? i might order just hardcover considering your reaction ) funny thing: I talked to the director of the publishing house, and he told me something like "I hope its not something like davinci code or so, or people will give us headaches" . Obviously he doesnt know english and after translating the subtitle he was a bit worried ) Defenetly the version translated in romanian i wont be able to print it with the same house. For now i explained them its nothing against church or so, its just a coincidence the name is like that He was more relazed after that. Along with the book they sent me an other sample book to show me the capabilities they have for color printing, now listen to the title: "God damn you satanists rockers!" ..im not jocking Now i might be exagerating but i think its to much of a coincidence and he put that "sample" there on purpose. I thought its funny and i'll share it with you QUESTION: is there anyone from romania but not from bucharest, that wants the book? If so please contact me in pm.

you want hard cover, if so tell me fast? I am still not decided if the price difference is worth, and i also don't know how they will come out (quality). ...BUT... i did some research and i found an artist that binds them in genuine leather engraved, a beauty. One day i will make one but will have something more to it ( like 20 pages of secret notes. enough teasers ) (now, if you thought this topic was going offtopic, prepare for even more offtopic, ...damn i cant stop myself doing this ) I gave a good thought to this. I am not a writer , i put to much soul into writing all this, i almost feel its like prostitution to write my researches and sell them for money. I wish it was a debate not a fixed writing. On the other hand, its valuable information and most of you wont reach it if i dont publish it. I don't think i will go on and mass publish this in libraries here (in romania at least)...im not decided yet, it is a hard decision. it will depend on your feedback and impressions after reading it. But there is an other fun thing i can do, and it will probably be the next step in my "career". I was a sculptor before learning design, then i was a programmer in tottaly different language than i currently use, then i swithced languages and get deepr into programming. Then, i was a manager, team leader on differet projects, and also a businessman, my life changes so fast, in 28 years i can say each year brings something new to me. Same way as md is so totaly different from year to year and i cant imagine how it even worked a year ago, same way i change. I believe i fell in love with writing. I will start writing Mur's story, md related, but not from the past..it will be his future story. No, i dont think i can integrate it so well and make it so short to fit adventure log, i want it deep and as well planned as md itself is. It needs a intricate logic structure, and it needs to be able to tell what i want to tell, _without writing it directly_. Its is a fantasy story one where you will read "Mur's" soul in a deep and tasty adventure book. It will be based on my personal experience in some matters, but i will make it fantasy, very fantasy, a fiction story with a true core. That core some of you already feel, but none of you spoke it open. Maybe..maybe...i will answer what's a mur..maybe not... If i slowly go away from developing md, its because i will slowly go even deeper in it , making myself part of once more , like "King Manu" once was. Now I have Rendril to work on things, he is doing amazing job, as long as you dont contact him to waste his time with things. Years ago i felt md will one day will end. I also feel when the day i will die is, but that doesnt mean i will know how, or i will know how md will end. It is a wild thought that this "death" of md is actualy this detaching of myself from it, but if it is so, its rebirth will be me becoming part of its story, getting even more deeper into it. FINALY PLAYING IT. I want to apologize... I want to ppologize in front of you all, because i might turn MD more around "Mur's" story than i deserve. I might use the new AL interface to present you the new book one page at a time, change it based on your feedback. I realisze its not fair towards those of you that have interesting things to tell, write, but i will do myself this favor so to say. MD has some secrets that screem to be found out. And I myself have things that screen to be told... *wipes a tear* I love you all, I truly do... now i should stop writing, someone unplug my computer before this becomes to boring to read This calls for a MD beer for sure.