Tarquinus

Welcome.

As far as I am concerned, you should ignore people who assail your roleplaying or dismiss it as "stupid" -- even if it were true, saying that to a player of MagicDuel would be a bit like handing out speeding tickets at a race. This community has roleplayers of all degrees of experience, skill, and level of interest, from none to considerable. I find that most people are supportive and welcoming of new players, even if many, with good reasons, express doubts about secondary or tertiary characters (alts).

I offer but one word of advice, and that is to attempt to be considerate. If you wander into a scene where nobody is speaking in-character, don't force your RP on them (unless you deliberately wish to be viewed as obnoxious). Those of us, such as myself, who value good roleplay, have reason to hope that our courtesy will be returned by those who do not share our values.

Enjoy your time in MagicDuel, and don't be shy about asking for assistance.

[quote name='Ravenstrider' timestamp='1291070856' post='73734']My take: I really don't care about any of this (spell and lair related), but I do care about the direction of MD, and I agree with Kafuuka on this one. Making the game more automated and focusing on that part has made it less "special" lately.[/quote]
I have to say: I reject this line of thinking absolutely. You say MD is less "special" but you admit you weren't around to know what it was like before, and you provide no evidence at all, for example by citing similarities in other games, to support your opinion. And Kafuuka seems to be attacking a "straw hat man", to use his words, by claiming that WP for days (which I can only assume is his basis for saying this) will soon make Wish Points "common", and thus MD is "regressing toward the mean".

From my perspective, MagicDuel has improved steadily in almost every way since I joined it in the early fall of '08. No, not everyone has liked every change. No, not everyone has benefited equally. But this is a fairer and more open game than the one I joined. Don't talk to me about the good old days, which had different and in many ways uglier problems: the appearance of favoritism, the dominance of very exclusive cliques, and a far less balanced and more exploitable combat system.

I'd like to hear more constructive criticism from people who wish to raise problems. Don't merely say "this needs to be fixed" and append an emoticon - give a concrete suggestion so we can subject it to the relentless and wholly pitiless peer review of the forums.

One thing on which I can agree with you is that it is the fault of the players if the game has seemed less special. Mur has gone [i]out of his way[/i] to try to clue people in to what he is trying to do. The experiment of MagicDuel is as audacious as it is crazy. If conceiving and playing quests in a world of allegory sounds difficult, it is. Rise to the challenge.

For me, roleplay is about expression of character. No one says he spends enough time being himself; I roleplay precisely to be someone else. Tarq is not I, and I am not he. I use an aspect of my personality for part of his character. Keith is far closer to the real me - he's me as I might have been, 17 years ago, in a parallel universe. I did not create Keith to confuse anyone. I created him partly because I wanted to investigate a certain alternate path I'd learned about in story mode, and once that was done I had fun fleshing out his personality. And though his story is similar to mine, he's not I, either.
 
That said, I've never understood two things about the way some people RP in MD (and other places around the web): roleplaying without reference to a system and roleplaying to the detriment of the setting. In any roleplaying game I've ever played, rules define reality and sharply constrain what a character can and cannot do. I once heard an MD player say, "It [RP] is like 'let's pretend' - anything can happen!" I strongly disagree. The 'anything can happen' approach to RP requires an implicit understanding between the players that they will respect each other's imaginings. I find that tedious. In a proper RPG, character actions (especially combat, 'powers', and skills) are maintained by the system, and therefore the system should be used. That is precisely why I find it odd and disappointing when MD players choose to ignore the combat engine and outer magic system almost completely in favor of their 'RP combat' and/or 'RP powers'.
 
When using the setting to define a character, you help expand that setting, but when you ignore the setting to make your character a robot samurai werewolf fairy, you undermine it. MD has a very rich (and rather thought-provoking) setting. If you are going to ignore it, you should at least ensure that you do not detract from it with your character concept's oddities. Tarq is an older guy who thinks he was a wizard in another world, but there's reason to think he's more than a little crazy - and the powers he does have all come from being a character in MD doing things in the world of MD. Keith is just an ordinary guy who, like some others, learned about the MD world and grew powerful from his interactions with it.
 
On a tangential note, I think it is just plain rude to ask game lore/systemic questions as an alt if you already know the answers to them. I can assure you from experience that such deceptions are not necessary for creating a character that the people who know your main account are not likely to recognize for quite a while.

For me, roleplay is about expression of character. No one says he spends enough time being himself; I roleplay precisely to be someone else. Tarq is not I, and I am not he. I use an aspect of my personality for part of his character. Keith is far closer to the real me - he's me as I might have been, 17 years ago, in a parallel universe. I did not create Keith to confuse anyone. I created him partly because I wanted to investigate a certain alternate path I'd learned about in story mode, and once that was done I had fun fleshing out his personality. And though his story is similar to mine, he's not I, either.
 
That said, I've never understood two things about the way some people RP in MD (and other places around the web): roleplaying without reference to a system and roleplaying to the detriment of the setting. In any roleplaying game I've ever played, rules define reality and sharply constrain what a character can and cannot do. I once heard an MD player say, "It [RP] is like 'let's pretend' - anything can happen!" I strongly disagree. The 'anything can happen' approach to RP requires an implicit understanding between the players that they will respect each other's imaginings. I find that tedious. In a proper RPG, character actions (especially combat, 'powers', and skills) are maintained by the system, and therefore the system should be used. That is precisely why I find it odd and disappointing when MD players choose to ignore the combat engine and outer magic system almost completely in favor of their 'RP combat' and/or 'RP powers'.
 
When using the setting to define a character, you help expand that setting, but when you ignore the setting to make your character a robot samurai werewolf fairy, you undermine it. MD has a very rich (and rather thought-provoking) setting. If you are going to ignore it, you should at least ensure that you do not detract from it with your character concept's oddities. Tarq is an older guy who thinks he was a wizard in another world, but there's reason to think he's more than a little crazy - and the powers he does have all come from being a character in MD doing things in the world of MD. Keith is just an ordinary guy who, like some others, learned about the MD world and grew powerful from his interactions with it.
 
On a tangential note, I think it is just plain rude to ask game lore/systemic questions as an alt if you already know the answers to them. I can assure you from experience that such deceptions are not necessary for creating a character that the people who know your main account are not likely to recognize for quite a while.

Recent announcements about the night and talks about the moon made me remember that poem that I read some time ago.
Written by Li Bai in around AD 742.
Somehow it speaks to me, so wanted to share it with you.
 
 
Alone And Drinking Under The Moon
 
Amongst the flowers I
am alone with my pot of wine
drinking by myself; then lifting
my cup I asked the moon
to drink with me, its reflection
and mine in the wine cup, just
the three of us; then I sigh
for the moon cannot drink,
and my shadow goes emptily along
with me never saying a word;
with no other friends here, I can
but use these two for company;
in the time of happiness, I
too must be happy with all
around me; I sit and sing
and it is as if the moon
accompanies me; then if I
dance, it is my shadow that
dances along with me; while
still not drunk, I am glad
to make the moon and my shadow
into friends, but then when
I have drunk too much, we
all part; yet these are
friends I can always count on
these who have no emotion
whatsoever; I hope that one day
we three will meet again,
deep in the Milky Way.

I'm pretty sure this is some sort of astrological phenomenon...
 

(http://imgur.com/b1Ykx61)

For me, roleplay is about expression of character. No one says he spends enough time being himself; I roleplay precisely to be someone else. Tarq is not I, and I am not he. I use an aspect of my personality for part of his character. Keith is far closer to the real me - he's me as I might have been, 17 years ago, in a parallel universe. I did not create Keith to confuse anyone. I created him partly because I wanted to investigate a certain alternate path I'd learned about in story mode, and once that was done I had fun fleshing out his personality. And though his story is similar to mine, he's not I, either.
 
That said, I've never understood two things about the way some people RP in MD (and other places around the web): roleplaying without reference to a system and roleplaying to the detriment of the setting. In any roleplaying game I've ever played, rules define reality and sharply constrain what a character can and cannot do. I once heard an MD player say, "It [RP] is like 'let's pretend' - anything can happen!" I strongly disagree. The 'anything can happen' approach to RP requires an implicit understanding between the players that they will respect each other's imaginings. I find that tedious. In a proper RPG, character actions (especially combat, 'powers', and skills) are maintained by the system, and therefore the system should be used. That is precisely why I find it odd and disappointing when MD players choose to ignore the combat engine and outer magic system almost completely in favor of their 'RP combat' and/or 'RP powers'.
 
When using the setting to define a character, you help expand that setting, but when you ignore the setting to make your character a robot samurai werewolf fairy, you undermine it. MD has a very rich (and rather thought-provoking) setting. If you are going to ignore it, you should at least ensure that you do not detract from it with your character concept's oddities. Tarq is an older guy who thinks he was a wizard in another world, but there's reason to think he's more than a little crazy - and the powers he does have all come from being a character in MD doing things in the world of MD. Keith is just an ordinary guy who, like some others, learned about the MD world and grew powerful from his interactions with it.
 
On a tangential note, I think it is just plain rude to ask game lore/systemic questions as an alt if you already know the answers to them. I can assure you from experience that such deceptions are not necessary for creating a character that the people who know your main account are not likely to recognize for quite a while.

The catch-all:
"We require all posts to be positive, constructive, and on topic."
If this were enforced more often, it could get invasive, but that doesn't seem to be much of a problem here.
 
 
Pissing off your boss isn't illegal, and neither is pissing off people on the forum. But it seems like some people do the latter for sport—they gain their pleasure by siphoning off that of others, daimon/elemental-like.
If you decide to target "strong" or "random", fine. Fight the system or rebel without a cause, fine by me.
It's when you go for "weak" or "dying" that I'd draw the line.

For me, roleplay is about expression of character. No one says he spends enough time being himself; I roleplay precisely to be someone else. Tarq is not I, and I am not he. I use an aspect of my personality for part of his character. Keith is far closer to the real me - he's me as I might have been, 17 years ago, in a parallel universe. I did not create Keith to confuse anyone. I created him partly because I wanted to investigate a certain alternate path I'd learned about in story mode, and once that was done I had fun fleshing out his personality. And though his story is similar to mine, he's not I, either.
 
That said, I've never understood two things about the way some people RP in MD (and other places around the web): roleplaying without reference to a system and roleplaying to the detriment of the setting. In any roleplaying game I've ever played, rules define reality and sharply constrain what a character can and cannot do. I once heard an MD player say, "It [RP] is like 'let's pretend' - anything can happen!" I strongly disagree. The 'anything can happen' approach to RP requires an implicit understanding between the players that they will respect each other's imaginings. I find that tedious. In a proper RPG, character actions (especially combat, 'powers', and skills) are maintained by the system, and therefore the system should be used. That is precisely why I find it odd and disappointing when MD players choose to ignore the combat engine and outer magic system almost completely in favor of their 'RP combat' and/or 'RP powers'.
 
When using the setting to define a character, you help expand that setting, but when you ignore the setting to make your character a robot samurai werewolf fairy, you undermine it. MD has a very rich (and rather thought-provoking) setting. If you are going to ignore it, you should at least ensure that you do not detract from it with your character concept's oddities. Tarq is an older guy who thinks he was a wizard in another world, but there's reason to think he's more than a little crazy - and the powers he does have all come from being a character in MD doing things in the world of MD. Keith is just an ordinary guy who, like some others, learned about the MD world and grew powerful from his interactions with it.
 
On a tangential note, I think it is just plain rude to ask game lore/systemic questions as an alt if you already know the answers to them. I can assure you from experience that such deceptions are not necessary for creating a character that the people who know your main account are not likely to recognize for quite a while.

For me, roleplay is about expression of character. No one says he spends enough time being himself; I roleplay precisely to be someone else. Tarq is not I, and I am not he. I use an aspect of my personality for part of his character. Keith is far closer to the real me - he's me as I might have been, 17 years ago, in a parallel universe. I did not create Keith to confuse anyone. I created him partly because I wanted to investigate a certain alternate path I'd learned about in story mode, and once that was done I had fun fleshing out his personality. And though his story is similar to mine, he's not I, either.
 
That said, I've never understood two things about the way some people RP in MD (and other places around the web): roleplaying without reference to a system and roleplaying to the detriment of the setting. In any roleplaying game I've ever played, rules define reality and sharply constrain what a character can and cannot do. I once heard an MD player say, "It [RP] is like 'let's pretend' - anything can happen!" I strongly disagree. The 'anything can happen' approach to RP requires an implicit understanding between the players that they will respect each other's imaginings. I find that tedious. In a proper RPG, character actions (especially combat, 'powers', and skills) are maintained by the system, and therefore the system should be used. That is precisely why I find it odd and disappointing when MD players choose to ignore the combat engine and outer magic system almost completely in favor of their 'RP combat' and/or 'RP powers'.
 
When using the setting to define a character, you help expand that setting, but when you ignore the setting to make your character a robot samurai werewolf fairy, you undermine it. MD has a very rich (and rather thought-provoking) setting. If you are going to ignore it, you should at least ensure that you do not detract from it with your character concept's oddities. Tarq is an older guy who thinks he was a wizard in another world, but there's reason to think he's more than a little crazy - and the powers he does have all come from being a character in MD doing things in the world of MD. Keith is just an ordinary guy who, like some others, learned about the MD world and grew powerful from his interactions with it.
 
On a tangential note, I think it is just plain rude to ask game lore/systemic questions as an alt if you already know the answers to them. I can assure you from experience that such deceptions are not necessary for creating a character that the people who know your main account are not likely to recognize for quite a while.

http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/9232-change-forum-username/

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.”
 
Pan

I drew the boat (I KNOW NOT TO LACK) Tomorrow I'll upload that of the crew, when I made sure whose shape     http://storenow.net/my/?f=32dfb9c7e25c30bb7a301bce1c964536
 

In light of the recent (2569) announcement (though the idea certainly predates it) and in the spirit of slicing through what viscosity may be gumming up your creative juices, I present you a quest that's remarkably similar to one that ran two years ago.
 
Your task: Write a recipe that could function within the realm.
 
Guidelines:
Despite the name, a "recipe" in MD is by no means limited to food items or consumables: it is the term for a set of instructions for creating finished products on a reproducible scale. While it need not be in the official recipe format (see linked topic), it's to your advantage scoring-wise to write it as such. Besides, the lower the barriers to implementation, the better for us all. "Limiting your device to existing resoruces and situations will give it a much better chance to be implemented than if you make up new resources." To this end I wrote up this spreadsheet a while back; hopefully it inspires you to look first to what's already here before inventing willy-nilly.
If you feel you really need a new resource to complete your recipe, you may, but see the point above.*
Be realistic. If you find yourself stretching things ridiculously just to make them 'fit', consider looking elsewhere for inspiration.
Be creative! An original idea and an ingenious execution make for a compelling combination.
If people are really reluctant to using the PHP format then I may write up a form so that reticent participants aren't penalized.
You may submit up to six recipes, but they will each be scored separately. It's much better to submit one great recipe than five mediocre ones.
You are strongly encouraged to make use of the new item combiner feature, although it may be a good idea to learn something about how it works. I know only as much as is in the announcement, but we may hear more "soon".
NEW: You are welcome to incorporate creature totems into your recipes, although the above guidelines of sensibleness are still in effect.
These guidelines may be changed; watch the Mood Panel for updates. * From the Cauldron topic: (reformatted but otherwise as written)
"Potential resources that will be acceptable (because i am planning to add them for some time):
bilogical materials like leather, horns, hair, etc, from existing creatures only metals or metal as a general resource herbs, in detail or in general unusual but very md style things like color in a bottle, or get inspired from things like the memory stone and current resources  :) Understanding what i mean by md spirit/style is obviously essential to create a suitable item. Amaze me."
NOTE: Times have changed in the past few years, and these planned resources may not be implemented for quite some time. This is even more reason to stick to what we have unless doing so would severely cramp your style.
                                                                                                                                               
Judging: Currently taking applications for judges.
Categories will likely include creativity of idea and execution (separately), coherence, MDishness, and plausibility. More details to come.
 
Rewards: So far I can only offer a morph, some colored creatures, and some spellstones, but will probably be able to badger or scrounge up something more soon.
 
Implications: I haven't yet asked our new Council whether there's a chance of any of these being implemented, but I plan to contact them upon posting this. It's possible that while none of these recipes will be implemented in the form you submit here, ideas for items or steps you devise may be incorporated into another form somewhere down the line.
 
Submitting: Due to some uncertain phrasing in the previous topics about what parts of the recipes should be kept secret, you will probably be asked to submit entries by forum PM.
The deadline will be approximately two months from now, depending on what I hear back from various entities. Ideally submissions would be due before the start of summer festivities.
 
Note: Despite the attempts to stress realism in this, I can guarantee nothing with regards to implementation. There is a good chance that this will just be a "fun" quest with little impact on MD's development.
That said, this is a very creative community, and great ideas deserve airing. Let's see where this takes us.

It should say something about the general will toward Phantom Orchid that she is able to speak or idle in public as a fugitive.
 
as you're surely well aware.

No one, if someone's mere presence near you frustrates you this much, that speaks more to your own character than the person's. At least here we have an ignore list.

As far as I know she isn't doing anything to piss people off, you people piss yourself off and cry about it like a little girl on the forums. Mur can do whatever he wants and if Poe can help him then I don't see anything wrong with it.

Not so random, because it is namesake quote - but, still, I thought I'd share.  :)
 
 
"Of our studies it is impossible to speak, since they held so slight a connection with anything of the world as living men conceive it. They were of that vaster and more appalling universe of dim entity and consciousness which lies deeper than matter, time, and space, and whose existence we suspect only in certain forms of sleep — those rare dreams beyond dreams which come never to common men, and but once or twice in the lifetime of imaginative men. The cosmos of our waking knowledge, born from such an universe as a bubble is born from the pipe of a jester, touches it only as such a bubble may touch its sardonic source when sucked back by the jester's whim. Men of learning suspect it little and ignore it mostly. Wise men have interpreted dreams, and the gods have laughed."

I've just got back from a nice walk. The bloody sun is back again, so I've managed to gather a decent amount of snails :D
Maybe around 5 kilos. This should equal to around 700 grams of fine meat, after all the preparations :cool:
With some spices and a little bit of olive oil...Mmmm, tomorrow will be even better day than today :D

Thinking on the void as a gate, a point that drags the rest of the system around it. In order to reach perfection, something must require nothing, require the void. That places the void as our point of travel, dragging us like a black hole towards a complete, balanced system. Could the gate be both open and closed at the same time? Can something that doesn't exist truly open and close?
 
If void is required for something to exist, for systems to perpetuate themselves and ignite the energy that drives them, then perhaps one could ride both infinity and void at once, thereby gaining awareness of that system. Awareness of the system allows us to look outside of it, to the void surrounding it, or defining it. But perhaps superseding the system isn't the goal, since void exists both at the center and the surrounding of the system. Systems seem to be fractal, made by the balance of void and everything.
 
Sometimes the sun refers to ideas of realization or enlightenment, and perhaps it is the attempt to realize void (which is theoretically unachievable, since to think on it makes it something, rather than nothing, even though it is integral to our existence, it remains an untouchable point) that is supposed to be our gate. However that seems one sided, and I suspect attempts to define also break away from some greater truth I have trouble grasping onto.
 
I feel like I am skirting around an important point. 
 
Placing the point of void to the east creates a fractal, something infinite. Is this the way in which infinite energy is found, by making the point of void in a direction, driving us toward a goal? 
 
I've heard the east associated with the element of air, which has to do with thought, travel, and communication. There is a connection there, though I suppose any element could likely be used if considered heavily.
 
Sorry if I went on a bit of a rant, hopefully it was in a useful direction (and made sense haha).

They are bots. You can't stop them. Resistance is futile. You shall be assimilated soon.

I favor a system where people are held accountable for their votes. I do think it would cut down on the excessive neg-repping.

I favor a system where people are held accountable for their votes. I do think it would cut down on the excessive neg-repping.

I favor a system where people are held accountable for their votes. I do think it would cut down on the excessive neg-repping.

I favor a system where people are held accountable for their votes. I do think it would cut down on the excessive neg-repping.

When autocorrect does know your in game name, but not your real one.