Kyphis the Bard

Ah, thankyou again Burns >.> This is the price I pay for independent knowledge... especially amusing since I spell checked that whole thing... Further suggestions:[list] [*]Where it tells you how to heal your creatures, include a picture that shows clearly the button you need to click to heal your creatures. [*]Make the FAQ a bit more in depth and its location more obvious. Since a lot of new players don't even know about the LHO button, they aren't going to find the FAQ, are they? [/list] Suggestions for the FAQ should really go in a different topic, so I will leave that to some other nutbag to crusade about (or wait until I go stark raving mad again)

Damnit, you broke my record of [font=Calibri]1019437 [/font]

That's the one! Thankyou Burns I'm going to have a look through that topic and see if there are any points I can look into in there... [quote name='The Great Wanderer' timestamp='1319425590' post='94532'] It’s also understood that there is a FAQ in the MagicDuel game… [/quote] Soooooo... anyone know where? I have never seen it >.>

Due to the Review of MD [url="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/23/rise-and-shiny-recap-magicduel/"]here[/url], I have made a new alt today called Manifold. Its job is simply to go through the starting orientation, and see what simple and important concept need to be made clearer to help new players understand the game better. [i][s]The first thing I have noticed is that the screen it takes you to after registering an account is incredibly bland:[/s][/i] [b]FIXED[/b] [log=[i][s]Registration Screen[/s][/i]] [img]http://i55.tinypic.com/viiq81.jpg[/img] [/log] [i][s]The Account activation screen also lacks a lot of MD's style, however the main thing it lacks is a background:[/s][/i] [b]FIXED[/b] [log=[s][i]Activation Screen[/i][/s]] [img]http://i54.tinypic.com/fcp93a.jpg[/img] [/log] Upon actually logging in, the first thing that appears is not a welcome screen, not the paper cabin, not even the game, but the DNA choice screen. For a new player, this is going to make the game look like spam. While I suspect there is a reason for this to be the case, I would encourage that interface to be altered to not turn up until the player has at least 5 active days. After the DNA screen, the welcome screen comes up. The first page is very good, however from the second page unnecessary vagueness comes into play: [quote] You are now in interactive story mode. First thing you should do is to click the shiny scroll and see what it tells you to do. You can also chat with other players, [b]click them[/b] to see details about them. Slowly you will unlock hundreds of unique map locations, recruit creatures to fight for you, participate in [b]multiplayer[/b] quests and much more .. ... but not right now, for now just read on... [/quote] [b]Click them[/b]: I have heard a LOT of new players confused about what that even means. It should make more sense if it said "click their name" [b]Multiplayer[/b]: I have heard a LOT of players asking about where the quests are and why they can't find any. A lot of this confusion could be alleviated if it said "player created" instead. Page 5 of the welcome screen begins talking about events in the game which don't occur for quite a few tasks, and also give the impression that you are supposed to fight monsters a lot: [quote] Dont expect to defeat those shades the first time you try they are like this so you can learn how to regenerate your creatures. [/quote] I would suggest moving these two sentences to the story page, rather than the welcome screen, as it gives the impression that a main goal in the game is killing shades, and can be confusing when you will not see the shades for quite some time, and then not again for a very long time after that. Page 6 introduces yet more confusion: [quote] After story-mode, you are out again. This stage is the main part of the game where you will upgrade creatures, unlock map areas and much more. Don't search for npc's to fight, you must train your character by fighting other players, talk to them, everybody will jump in to help you as they can. [b]Try to solve the puzzles you find, they are usualy interconnected and will get you deeper in the game.[/b] Communication with other players is most important, you could gain access to places and achieve interesting things just by talking and making new friends. [/quote] There are only [b]two[/b] puzzles in this game that look like normal puzzles: The Sphere and the Gazebo. The majority of obvious puzzles are player created quests, which are generally NOT interconnected and generally WON'T get you deeper in the game. While there are literally thousands of puzzles that are interconnected in the game, they do not look anything like a puzzle until you have been in the realm for a very long time, long enough to understand what it means by puzzle. I would suggest revising that line, if not completely removing it. If revised, I would suggest something like: "Many players create quests you can do which have interesting rewards, and are a great way to have fun while socializing and learning about the realm" Page 8 continues with yet more confusion due to a MAJOR need for an update: [quote] Each creature under your control has its own weak and strong aspects. Setting up the right ritual is always important. Its not brute force that wins a fight but the right ritual. Experiment different rituals and ask around other players for their best fight strategies. [b]Heat, indicated by the "Erolin device" in the upper right corner of the interface[/b], is very usefull and helps you get better reward from the battles but also lets you cast magic at later game stages. On the other hand, heat makes you get more [b]XP[/b] and you will hit your [b]XP[/b] cap faster and thats not good. [/quote] [b]Heat...[/b]: Firstly, MP3 players do not have an Erolin device. They cannot use that interface. It is not something that they need to know about there, they will learn it fast enough in the game. [b]XP[/b]: This is a MAJOR point of confusion, which is going to need some serious looking at due to the decisions that have been made in game development. Firstly, the obvious: XP does not exist, it is called.... heat. However, what sort of confusion does this create for a new player who looks at the list of things that you gain for moving location, when it says that your heat increases? And what about when they look at the explanation for worshiping, that says you sacrifice heat? Or any of the other references to heat, that mean the magic gained heat, but there is no explanation that it is different from the Experience heat? If I was a new player, this would be a major point of frustration and confusion to me, and I know a lot of people would quit because of this. Some kind of decision needs to be made about the choice to name two incredibly important, yet completely different, concepts and mechanics the same thing. It is unnecessary confusion. Wow, I discovered this by accident... If you go Idle while the welcome screen is open, it just takes you straight to the story and doesn't have a link to reactivate the welcome tutorial. Um... what? I would seriously recommend making the game keep track of whether a player has reached the last page of the welcome tutorial and opening it automatically whenever they resume the game, just like it opens on the first login. And obviously, fixing it so the link to re-read the tutorial, y'know, sticks around for a while? Maybe for the first 5 active days, keep the link there? EDIT: Found the link, however had to do a lot of searching to find the tiny, unobtrusive link along the top. I would recommend changing it to a banner link at the top that stands out, sort of like the other banners that have been used in the past, for the first 5 active days. Page 9 of the welcome screen again has unnecessarily confusing text: [quote] Each character will evolve on its own path, depending on the story he choses and on the way he is playing. Solve the puzzles , talk to other players about clues, try to reach beyond the aparent restrictions...[b]there is a reason why there are weapons that cost 40k value points and your maximum is just 1k[/b]. Most of the players will see just 80% of the game, the secret 20% left is up to you to discover. The true secrets of this game are not behind a puzzle or a door, but behind the way you will play it...and remember, even the newest noob can manage in time to "defeat" the oldest veteran if he understands the game mechanics well. [/quote] The bolded section is quite unnecessary, and actually missleading. The maximum isn't 1K. You will go above that number [i]before you even [b]see[/b] your first weapon[/i]. I started with 1011, before I could even explore. And almost everyone (we are talking close to 100%) will realize when they see an item like that that they just need to raise their VP until they can afford it. It is a basic gaming concept. However, the message it is sending IS a very important one, so something like this should mentioned. The solution? Viscosity. Eon tells me that a lot of the newer players ask about what viscosity is and does. Since the newer areas are generally free of viscosity, I wasn't going to talk about it until later, however here is the perfect opportunity to utilize a brief reference to get people thinking about it. Instead of the old bold text, I would recommend saying something like: "there is a reason why some locations need more than 600 action points to access, when you only start with 100 maximum." As a member of the CLC, page 11, the last page, has a confusing bit of text that really bother me: [quote] This game is thought to be played a bit every day, comming back daily will give you certain advantages over time. Talk to the other players, share ideeas and work together to upgrade your characters, they are always willing to help someone new out. [b]A lot of things like fast regeneration of creatures are possible only with help from other players, and no its not cheating, its a unique form of collaborative play so that you can bend the rules of the game in your favor[/b]. keep an eye on the changelog, things are updating frequently. From time to time "Game Borders" are expanded and new features, quests or even entire lands open for more adventure.[center][center] [/center][/center] [center][center] [/center][/center] [center][center] [/center][/center] [center][center]Welcome to my world, a one of a kind game, Enjoy [/quote] The message that this presents is not clear. While the statement is true, it doesn't mention that a lot of the ways that you might try to "collaboratively" play useing alts is against the rules. It needs to be clear that when it says other players, it means other players and not other accounts. However, this message is quite a good one for new players to see. Solution? Add another page explaining another one of MD's unique aspects: Alts. In MD, you are allowed to use alts. I'm only able to offer this review of the early game BECAUSE we can use alts. But there are a lot of things that need to be remembered when useing them, and none of this is made clear to players who won't know about the restrictions untilt hey have known for a while that hey, alts are okay. In a lot of other games, the only reason for having alts is to abuse the system. In MD, they have a genuine purpose. Think of it like the sex talk: You can be a good parent and make sure they get the facts straight up (from yourself or the school, or someone else you trust), or you can hide away from it and let them learn it on the street, with no real idea what they know and don't know. Having read through the entire welcome, I have to say that the spelling and grammar is not very good. The whole welcome tutorial needs to be heavily looked at, as a lot of the data is out of date, missleading, and poorly written. A lot of the reasons that players leave that have nothing to do with the filters could be fixed right here. [b]Further first impression, before going deeper and exploring[/b]: [/center][/center] [list] [*]At no point was any mention of LHO's made. [*]At no point was any reference to the LHO button made, it is a crucial tool for new players who have a lot of questions and a large chunk of them don't find it until they don't need it. [*]Official signposts, that aren't editable by most players, often contain important information that is missed. These sorts of signposts would be harder to miss if they had an orange glow until they have been opened by a player a least once. [/list] Into the actual story now, the story scroll page when you have acquired your first creature and need to head back tot he land guardian displays this message: [quote] "Now it is time to return to the Land Guardian. However, once you have a creature bound to yourself, [b]you begin to attract other creatures[/b] which desire only to devour your vitality." [b]Tasks:[/b][list] [*]- Deal with all the threats you encounter on your way back [/list] [/quote] For the reasons stated before, this is going to confuse new players. There are almost no NPC's in this game, fighting is between players. It is an important warning, however the wording definitely needs to be changed. I would recommend changing this to just tell you to head back the land guardian with your new creatures so you can continue exploring the land, and have a new page come up when you return to Old Mans Road telling you that Shades seem to be attracted to your creatures now. ie, for the exploration pop-up: [image of shade] "A strange creature has formed in front of you, consult your scroll" For the Story Page: "Now that you have creatures of your own, new creatures seem to be attracted to your presence, and threaten your life. Almost all the combat you engage in in this world will be against other players, very few creatures will threaten you as these ones do. Use this rare opportunity to learn how to fight, and how to control and look after your creatures." Generally, the combat interface is very friendly and user friendly now (thankyou Rendril) however one problem still remains obvious: The Battle Results tab and Summary tab still refer to XP instead of heat. This is as far as I will take the alt for now. Once a player leaves story mode, they are into the game proper. My main concern is with the first impressions upto this point. If anyone has any specific concerns with later stages of the game they would like me to look at, please post below and I will look into it as soon as I can. I would really appreciate if someone could provide me a link to the topic "What makes you quit MD" since I can't find it, and it was supposed to be pinned.

[url="http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/7260-english/"]I have a lovely Bicycle. You taste like Sunshine Dust.[/url]

We have already collected all but the most obscure Laws discussion from the forum, we are still working on getting the Announcement changes formulated into a coherent structure. Generaly, when something comes up that requires a degree of discussion, we discuss it and set a benchmark interpretation of how all the inter-related rules apply. A good example of this can be found [url="http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/10779-story-mode-options/page__st__7"]here[/url]. Once the project has moved ahead to a suitable stage we do plan to have most of the laws data available. However, it is not a quick process to collect all the data, and may take quite some time.

You do not need to be an LHO to apply, just state here and we will discuss the matter. The general process is:[list=1] [*]You apply [*]We discuss your application privately and see if there are any concerns that we may have that either we need to discuss with you or exclude you immediately [*]We discuss any concerns we may have with you [*]A final decision is made on our end, and if applicable ask if you still wish to join [/list] We try to keep the process moving as fast as possible, however with time zone issues it can take a few days.

I would recommend placing the jump option in the triggers box.

During the Day of Absurdly Blind Justice the PL laws where brought into question. Muratus made two suggested changes, which he would like the communities opinion on. Remember that these are two [i][b]separate[/b][/i] suggestions, with the second building on the first:[list=1] [*]PL entries can be flagged as inappropriate/offensive. Flagged PL entries will be sent to moderators to determine if they break the laws governing PL Content. A PL that breaks the PL Content laws can be edited by the moderator. Edited PLs will: be marked to indicate they have been moderated; be edited in such a way as to retain the original meaning without breaking the PL Content laws (ie lots of swearing will be replaced by "very angry", etc). Insulting entries that are worded to not break the PL Content laws will not be edited, as the PL's are for both positive and negative feedback. [*]The Kings/Queens will be the only people given the ability to flag PL's as inappropriate/offensive. If you have a PL you consider as inappropriate/offensive you will need to contact the King/Queen of the PL writer (not your own) for them to determine if it should be sent for review. [/list] [log=Muratus' original comments in the chat][list=1] [*]an alternate opinion.....listen /so, what if any comment that sounds unacceptable like the ones mentioned so far, get edited by a mod. reformulated! as a list of how that mod thinks the writer felt or what his opinion was. /the log will be flagged differently so peple know it was re edited /but the message keeps, they will know that whatever a mod re-writes keeps the original idea somehow close, so if he sais, "very angry" it means the writer went wild on insults /the editor cant add things on its own or miss meaning of the message, but will defenetly reformulate it in a less agressive way. to eliminate personality touch, they should just write a series of wo /ords, to describe the entry /that also means the if you really really want to offend someone elegantly, you have to try hard /the mods will handle just offending words posts, not elegant diplomatic insults.. [*]there is an other way /i just realised it /allow only kings to decide what is offending and what not only for citizens /you you got stuck with a more rude leader, bad luck, got stuck with a fluffy flowerpower leader..all citizens will talk nice /oh and i mean, the leader of the WRITER not of the one complaining [/list] [/log]

[quote name='SageWoman' timestamp='1319116163' post='94359'] It is my opinion, that the Forum is a place where Mur should announce well in advance where he intends to be and all other pertinent information. It is a fact that not everyone views the Announcements because of the volume and changes it goes through daily. I would also like to suggest, that Kings, Queens, Leaders, and MP6's then take this information and re-post it in their private forums as well as private Alliance Page. A simple copy n paste will do it. That way, no one has room to say that they didn't get the information. Do not Kings and Queens announce to their subjects declarations, intentions of War, and other things? The same goes for Leaders of Alliances and I would think Mp6 teach their adepts other things besides how to fight and to send Heat. Work together as a collective, not individualism, and this should rectify the MurGate issues. (Sorry Mur, but it sounded funny in my Head) [/quote] To which I say: Innocence (although she REALLY needs to start reading the forums.... no idea why she refuses to)

Interesting submission, but remember rule 1 with Jigsaw there, Tipu

Much. Although, just to clarify, my only objection is to the time factor. As far as the location goes, I don't mind if it is public or secret, and there are often events where the location SHOULD be secret before hand, such as item batch releases that have happened before. However, public events like Medal Awards should probably not be secret.

I'm not overly fond of the poll choices you provided... I picked No, I don't like the fact you need to be online, whereas what I actually mean is that I like you have to be online to attend, I don't like that you have to already be online to know when you need to be online to attend. I am a very busy person, as are a lot of other people who play MD. I don't really like having to take a whole day out of my scheduled just for a one hour event. It kind of pisses me off, not to mention my wifes opinion of it.

Have a good time missing us all

Certain types of spoilers are allowed to be discussed, however these are all in the category of information that doesn't make a lot of sense by itself (ie doesn't just tell them the answer, for example "The strength of the Loreroot Guards is their weakness"). Spoilers are not to be given freely, and are also not to be given for credits or other trade goods, as this turns the game into a click to advance style game, which is explicitly against the rules. You are allowed to give certain spoilers, of the type stated above, as rewards for things like quest work, as this represents an alternative method of of getting the same information without it being a simple click to advance; however the amount of work required to earn it in this method should always be more than the amount of work required to gain it through the intended means. However, under no circumstance are any spoilers to do with story mode allowed to be shared, as this is explicitly against the rules. So the final answer is that no, it is not allowed. [quote] Spoiling quests or posting puzzle solutions / walkthrous on the forum is not allowed. You can help individual players but don't hand them the solution, just give them all the clues they need and let them figure it out..you can even give them more cluse than they need , just do not make it a boring click to advance type of game by spoiling it. Posting story spoilers / story structure / walkthrous on the forum or anywhere else will get you a warning, refusing to delete them will have your account permanently closed. [/quote] -CLC.

Just as a quick interjection, it is firmly unaccepted to Sell spoilers. However, that doesn't mean that other ways of getting them aren't allowable, and that is what we are discussing. Selling Spoilers falls under a similar category to selling Exploits, and has been punished in the past.

I also would like that count, so long as it didn't say how many scenes there where (ie it just gave you the %: "You have visited 72% of all locations in MD") Opens up new achievements for exploration, as well, that get harder the longer you leave them.

May I suggest "...we shall [b]be forced to[/b] remove it..."

The Law Advisors [sup](volunteer, Mur many make his own official group at a later date)[/sup] are discussing this now, hopefully we will have a clear answer for you in about two days.

So long as you aren't actually the same person, its not alt abuse. In this specific case, however:[list=1] [*]You personally never hold any of the coins or items [*]You are posting on PL's, an ability he doesn't have [*]You are advertising in places he can't reach to advertise himself right now [*]You are, most likely, sending PMs to people with the ITC's, and receiving ITC's for the coins on his behalf (which you send to him to use, so you never hold the coins) [/list] The first point basically, says no, this isn't alt abuse. However, if at any point you actually move the items yourself (jars/coins) expect people to question whether or not you actually are alts. Points 2, 3, and 4, on the other hand, are where things get a bit more interesting. All three points are something that is fine to do if you are not alts. There are very few rules against helping a friend. However, if you where alts, these would all constitute alt abuse as you would be useing one account to help another. Any form of communication from one account on behalf of another can be seen as alt abuse (although it is a very minor form). That said, since it is such a minor form of abuse, you would most likely receive some sort of inquiry or investigation if it was deemed abuse (whether you know about it or not) and then a warning of some kind telling you to stop (so long as you don't have a history of alt abuse). Basically, so long as you keep rough records of the transactions to prove that you never hold the coins or jars, you should be fine. Make sure your friend doesn't decide that he wants to give you a present of coins for the advertising work that you do for him though Might make people suspicious (he can buy you credits if he wants to give you an in game present, just not items) [b]Long answer short, no it shouldn't be.[/b]

The music at scenes changes every now and again, in a few months it might be something more integrated

Personally, my main annoyance at the way Grido handled this is that he used the triggers instead of the Mood Panel. I don't like what happened, but aside from the use of the trigger box, as a player, disregarding his role, it is fully within his rights to have handled it the way he did. However, useing the Trigger box to advertise this matter, when generaly not disclosing the terms of other punishments, seems very unfair to me. That said, What Grido does is his, the councils, Mur, and the other parties matter, not mine. I don't need to know the details of a punishment, because I trust him to handle it correctly. If he doesn't, then it will be on his head. To use the example everyone else does, the dst matter. Why does his lack of disclosure not bother me on this matter, even a tiny bit?[list] [*]This matter was HIGHLY publicized. [*]The council/Mur involved themselves (as displayed by the announcements) [*]Grido needed to act in a formal capacity, not as a friend [*]While some people disagree, I personally feel dst is EASILY mature enough to understand the difference between what someone does as a personal choice, and what they do as an official choice. I am also very certain Grido feels the same, so he wouldn't be worried that what he did would be interpreted as a personal attack instead of a formal reprimand. [/list] Basically, because The Powers That Be where paying clear attention to the matter, if they are okay with what ever punishment Grido put on dst, I trust it was the right one. Because I trust Mur. I trust the council. I trust Grido. And I definitely trust dst.

Request this topic to be closed. The contest can be found [url="http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/10722-the-grasan-replacement/"]Here[/url].

12pm is 12:00 in 24 hour time. 1pm is 13:00. 12am is 00:00, so 12:15am is 00:15.