Calyx of Isis

Now there are two votes for C. It ought to be obvious. There is no reason to choose A or B. They are duals of each other like paired quantum particles. Either both exist or neither. As neither A nor B can be chosen without choosing the other, the answer is obviously C. Besides-- I would vote for Glai even without quantum mechanics and Zen!

Funny how people choose only one even when more than one is permitted! Ah! Now I understand why so much happened while my back was turned. It is definitely getting better and I'm sure the improvements will continue. Great start, Ren.

I bow to and appreciate your superior experience. I will have to fight many battles before I see it as you do. You have given me something to look forward to.

Calyx of Isis Mistress of the Dojo Founder and shepherdess of the Dojo. Wisdom teacher and healer. I learn as I teach and teach as I learn.

The Imperial Aramor is worth the effort. At some point you will be unbalanced and be stuck at 5,000 homor. When that happens, splurge the 3,000 honor points. Bloodpact is very worth while and may be the best of the three. All three of these are slow to grow. They need lots of creature xp. I can't think of anything in this game not worth the time and effort required to earn it.

The poll has been closed. It provided guidance I needed. I thank all those who participated, you are deeply appreciated. Once again I have been editing this topic's lead posts. Please see post #1<{POST_SNAPBACK}> for current staffing, post #2<{POST_SNAPBACK}> for announcements, and post #3<{POST_SNAPBACK}> for dojo rules. I have updated the rules to account for heads contest. This is the same as in sanctuary. Six (6) heads or less and you should be safe and have a right to complain. Seven (7) or more and there is no safety. The is no way we could defend any other option. I've also included a bit about idel players. Don't attack unless staff knows it's ok. We are very close to an adventure log entry. Mur is just waiting for me to write and send it to him. I will dig out my prior version of the announcement and send it to him. 6:47 AM 30 August California: I have emailed the first of two adventure log entries to Mur. Assuming his spam filter does not reject it, we will have an adventure log entry! The second entry will tel of dojo's invitation to Loreroot.

Living up to your name, as usual, I see.

It's not your spacial sense. As you move from scene to scene it often happens that the perspective has changes and right becomes left and visa versa. Fixing this would require a lot of new artwork and code. Many of these discontinuities are deliberate and you are intended to be confused. For example, the rear exit of Loreroot is supposed to be hard to find. Most travel arrows name where they link to. That's what you need to pay attention to until you are totally familiar with a new area.

Players create characters. Sometimes the character and its actions become part of the story. Additionally, sometimes the player also acquires special powers and abilities. These are of two kinds: [A] appropriate to the player's character, to fulfill some needed game function. When a player leaves, their character leaves with them. Their legend remains. Significant players are likely to appear in the archives in one or more stories. A hall of fame might be nice, but in this world I would expect it to be spread among several locations. To the extent that a player gains type B capabilities, these have to be passed on. Type A capabilities can be left with the character in case the player chooses to return. However a returning player no longer has the game role or abilities. For example. if Ren were to leave, I'm sure there are some interfaces created for him that need to be passed on and others that need to remain with Renavoid. If he the returns he has emeritus status, that is he is honored as a former, indeed, the first chief archivist, but the alliance is not affected by his return. I understand that Golemus and Mur need to preserve Wodin's type B abilities. However, I fail to see the need to preserve Wodin as other than as a legend. Wodin, per se, has already been written out of the story. Presently the leader of GG can summon Wodin. However, thinking of and implementing it in this way long term seems a mistake. Rather, the being summoned should simply be identified as a Light Lord occupying Wodin's deserted husk. That preserves the existing feature of the landscape without raising issues of the being's personality and history. This gives the reigning GG Leader freedom to give the Light Lord a different personality and objectives. Wodin had adepts. This is obviously no longer appropriate. It should no longer be possible to be Wodin's addept. Far better that players adept to the principal, not to the summoned creature. I know some of Wodin's former adepts feel abandoned and confused. One has chosen to become my adept. I have no idea what others will do, but remaining attached to Wodin seems a mistake. I hope we can avoid this problem in the future. In all things we should hearken to the ancient declaration: "The King is dead. Long live the King." The role persists without reference to the personality that inhabits it.

As long as I am stuck in bed because of my leg, I might as well make an attempt at drafting a Wikipedia entry. What should be on it is a good question. I'll draft something and post it for comment.

I still have no idea what WoW is. The persistent references have yet to make me check it out. MD is my home. I like the idea. The frequency of events could be variable. Encountering shades near the house of liquid dust should be more frequent than running into the Sphinx and having to solve a riddle or pay a penalty. If the Sphinx showed up once or twice a week, that would be a lot and they would be significant events. Events with less impact could occur more frequently. Players should have a fair chance of one random encounter per day, depending on how much time they spend in game, where they go, and their luck stat. Presently we randomly find VP (gold coins). I have yet to be able to do anything with found gold, but we do have this already as a random event.

My thoughts exactly. Thank for putting it so succinctly.

I accept the point you made and reinforced it with the quote from DST. I am not accountable for what others do. Next time I can spend time online I will clarify this with dojo staff. Even then it won't stop PM's like the one you got. Un fortunately, Mur hasn't put up signs for dojo. They've been requested and would state the rules.

I need help As some of you already know I have had a reoccurrence of a very nasty leg infection. For at least a week or so I will be be online only a few 30 to 45 minute periods a day as I cannot sit at my computer for any longer than that. I would appreciate dojo staff and others filling the gap created by my absence. Thank you! No, it does not have to be "dojo," so make a suggestion. I deliberately chose this name because what I am creating is modeled after real world dojo's and it is something that a majority of players already understand. At a well run dojo, the ultimate object is self mastery. Part of that is self respect, self restraint, self respect, respect of others and cooperation with them. Of course to maintain all of that one must be able to defend one's self as well as "innocents" and ideals. As a practical thing, what urged me to create the dojo was the impracticality of healing rituals and setting rituals in a jungle. It can and has been done, but this game cries out for far greater player cooperation than was evident at the time I was dreaming of an MD dojo. Basically this is saying that the same rules should apply in dojo as in the sanctuaries. I recall DST's post and thank you for bringing it forward.

As the creator and official Mistress of the Dojo: There is an "official" dojo thread. The dojo is not formally recognized by the game, but it was created with Mur's foreknowledge and approval. I have a PM from him in which the dojo staff are acknowledged as an informal alliance. The staff will never be a formal game alliance as our members come from all the alliances and others are non-aligned. The dojo location most used is Marble Dale Park in Marind Bell. Yes, this is where players emerge into the game. This was one of the reasons for locating it there. There is a dojo in neutral territory, presently it is located at Gates of Marind Bell. There is a third dojo location in Loreroot by invitation of Neyla Setesh and the Loreroot Council. It is at Defensive Quarters. Mur and I discussed game changes that would prevent combat without permission. We concluded that at least at present, such a change could lead to many technical problems and exploits. At least for now, the dojo works because almost all players see and understand it's value and work to defend it. Right now I need assistance from as many people as possible as a very nasty leg infection is severly limiting my ability to sit at my computer for any length of time. Heads Contest: RJ has an excellent point that not even the sanctuaries are safe. However, please also consider DST's anticipatory words on this subject: In other words, the dojo should be at least as safe as an official sanctuary.

I generally take Ren's point of view, but things are moving and changing, and Mur has a serious problem. We very definitely need to distinguish between characters and a POSITION or ROLE they happen to fill. As Calyx of Isis I happened to have created a new JOB TITLE in the game, "Mistress of the Dojo." I hope neither I nor that position completely define the other. Certainly, if I were to leave the game, someone else could be the Master/Mistress, but none could be Calyx. What needs to happen is that job and characters have to be made separate. Right now RPCs fill a dual purpose's and this is the source of the problem. As RPCs gradually relinquish their roles, the interfaces created for them need to be stripped down to fulfill a specific game function and given a name, e.g. "Chief Astronomer" or "Head Archivist." That interface/job can then be handed to another player who has earned it. It may be that eventually there are a few kinds of special interfaces that can be awarded to players to help them be the character they have created, and other interfaces that get passed around to players to fulfill a specific purpose within the game. Role playing and fulfilling some game purpose are not necessarily the same thing. They need not be connected, though pairing a unique character with a specific game purpose leads to interesting story evolution.

The Calyx of Isis

MD shop has an add-on for the RPC role that tells you where they are. I use it on a regular basis. It is often the case that others ask where is a particular RPC and I refresh the RPC list and tell them. Of course, by the time you get there, they may have moved. Happens to me all the time.

I agree completely. I requested and received a title only when it became obvious doing my job (playing my role) required that I have some standing. I neither wanted nor expected bonuses for this. Players with well defined roles (PWRs) and RPCs are already promised rewards from the current contest. I assume the contest will be repeated from time to time if it proves to be a successful experiment.

It's going to end where it ends. That this game is about deep, deep philosophical ideas, self growth, and spiritual exploration has been apparent to me since the moment I found the game. I could feel, know it even before I created my account. The game has not disappointed me and I doubt it ever will. As the universe wills, I found this game the day after spending a whole evening trying to envision a game that would not be based on hack-and-slash, but on some meaningful spiritual principles. I've seen the tip you mention. You make a good point, however consider this: combat between all mind power levels is possible so long as both players are members of an alliance. It is only prohibited for non-aligned players. I don't understand Manu's thinking in this, but it makes me wonder how rigidly separation of the levels ought to be.

One of my meditation choices for Calyx wound up giving me negative initiative. I'm finally out of that hole. What bothers me is the warning that some story choices can cause death. Total complete death as in all the time you've invested in a character is flushed down the toilet dead? I totally get Manu's post about the game being balanced because all chapter three exist are unbalanced. Manu has created the rare game that forces one to always think and adapt. there are no do overs, you can only adapt to your current situation or give up and start over. Most amazing is that total recovery is possible in almost every circumstance.

I just looked at the last few posts. Setting up a wiki is easy. The software is free. If someone is looking to create and administer a MagicDuel wiki, I am happy to spawn one as a subdomain of SpiritSeeker.net and provide the hosting. I will not administer it though. I have to many other game related things to do. The wiki software would be MediaWiki, the wiki created for Wikipedia.

Thank you, and Metal Bunny, and Eny, too. Yes. The dojo was an instant hit. There are still problems, but I expected it would take a while for current players to know and accept the dojo. New players are not an issue as they are born into the dojo. They find out right away. My latest news: A few hours ago Lady Neyla Setesh invited me to create a dojo in Loreroot. As of now, Defensive Quarters is a dojo. I'm not sure when the "official" opening will be. Neyla's interest is to bring more people into Loreroot. This may work out well for higher level players... not having to deal with MP3's and questions.

You go, Dark Lord! This is so delicious. I love it! I hope you get something, er..., dark and evil! <G>

Just ask for combat. Seems to me you got a few wins by asking this past night. Not to tick you off any further, but at the invitation of Lady Neyla Setesh, the Defensive Quarters (outside the shop) in Loreroot is now a dojo. This happened in the past few hours. Vlad, I appreciate your cooperation as do all who use the dojo. It is my hope that in the end you will find the dojo more of an aid than a hindrance.