Maebius

There are so many good points here, I can only add a brief summary of my own personal experience. Your mileage may Will vary, of course. I joined MD in a similar fashion. Maebius was mostly Me, Nate. I have the Hat, physically on my head when I played quite a lot. Yes, I filtered that through the lens of MagicDuel's realm and specific flavor, but I generally kept me as 'me' as if I were there in that place surrounded by folks and angien discussions and sundry. Then, a while later, I wanted to try things in a different light. I created a Character of Gort Hedera, who had a sorta personality, (but was STILL really just a part of me I wanted to play with under the veil of internet-anonymity!) and had a lot of fun with it. I didn't really keep her identity a secret if people asked, but also tried to keep that character completely removed from Me. It was a mask I put on, and toyed with, when the mood struck. Both characters (and the other minor very unplayed alts I have) were other experiments to test out a way of thinking, or viewing the world. Both Maebius and Gort had value for their own unique reasons. I have far too many alts, some to map out Story-mode paths, some to try a different personality play-acting, etc. Different playstyle=different character. Most didn't work out beyond MP4, so sleep eternally now. My suggestion, whenever I hear folks say something along the lines of "But I want to keep playing, yet I don't want to play XYZ" is to ask why you can't do both? It's not exactly an either-or world here, it can be a both/and. You may be judged by others, but really, the only REAL judge of whether it works or not is yourself. Nothing wrong with trying. :) Edit to add: in your specific case, I don't see why Change can't change. you say it may "require you to RP a complete 360" (which is a full circle back to where you started, fyi.) If it required a 180 degree flip-flop, well, there's always Mirror-symbolism. Balance, and whatnot. Cyclicity? Imagination? Nothing prevents that. Heck. Maebius even went rogue and killed people, which surprised a few folks. I got at least two "that's so out of character, what the heck?!" messages, but that was still "me", right?

Interesting descriptions on this. I myself prefer something akin to Amber & Intrigue. Not so much "energy" in the literal sense, but Potential Energy. Exergy is a great word! Remember also that your "Experience" is also termed Heat, and was meant to be a core concept of MD. That stored heat is also Stuff, but not in the same sense as I think "energy/willpower" describes. It is experience, and potential. Quanta of learning, or something I don't have words for, beyond "MD Heat". :) Ann. 1765 - [2011-03-25 00:21:59 - Stage 10] But then, while we are talking about Liquid Dust, how would Heat relate also to the Heat Veins under all scenes, that 'flow' towards the GoE and down under it? ;) Heat veins, you ask? => Ann. 2038 - [2011-09-30 04:22:37 - Stage 11]

Confirmed as reported. Initial solving of the mechanical artifact gives this error. Refreshing lets my ears bleed appropriately. :P http://storenow.net/my/?f=794b496bb3962c80345c30e1c5716b3c

confirmed, the arrow is there, and new folks 'may' stuck until next regen, but the Viscosity was only 1+36 when I visited, so not too "sticky" at all. I expected it, but new folks, maybe get frustrated for 10 minutes.. :)

I would implement an old recipe idea I had, for Gort's woven grass bracelets. ;) Sorta like candies/pickles, but they don't expire. for fun RP. Yes, yes, it's a personal item, but meant to be shared. If we talk about a Truly shared item, a Page from the Book in Sage's Keep. (yes, I also know it's not a normal clickable there) Abilities: use it to recover one cast of a personally known spell, up to your max. Cooldown until item reset. For those times you really REALLY need one more cast of something, unexpectedly. Balance is kept by not recharging it beyond max, and having longer cooldown. Plus, its your spell anyway, so is more a reminder of the Thought, in scroll-ish form. Spells of every shape and size, and would lead to someone's demise, potentially. :P

For reference: http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/15302-question-about-advertising-on-offtopic/?hl=advertising

Yep, what the subject says.

As soon as I find the SD card reader thingy (since my laptop doesnt' have a SD slot to just pop in) I will pull the original images off the camera and edit them. I'd been using other 'clipart' stock photos to get the hang of the tools, to make things easier once I got the actual project done. Sort of "Learn the process" in a sense, which is why I described the original post as I did. ... but your offer to sketch things is still appreciated!!! and in-mind for the near future. Hopefulyl I'll get the place cleaned up this weekend, and locate the cables. :rolleyes:

Sorry No One, I think you may have misunderstood. I did not mean to say that "questing will cure Viscosity". I was using it as an example of how a tool/action can temporarily 'solve' the problem. The fact it is temporary is due to the players, but Viscosity is part of the Land/Realm. I don't want to change it at all. To use my Gravity analogy again, it's part of the world. Building a jet aeroplane or balloon doesn't change Gravity, it lets us bypass it temporarily. Likewise, questing may bypass Viscosity issue for a time. Just as basic "random walking around" does. However, Your idea seems to fundamentally change how Viscosity 'works' by collapsing paths and "Folding the Cube", the way I am reading it, and I would disagree with that. I would like Pro-Con, but Rikstar said pretty much exactly what I would have. Pro: dynamic is interesting, and would encourage interaction to "unlock" scenes. It's something New, until the new factor fades. Con: I want all scenes open except a few that are locked by Story/Key (GG lab, Angien Shrine, Oak Tower, etc etc) and this effectively locks "regular" scenes that I may want to visit. Plus, no reason to travel if the realm shrinks even further. So will be a self-supporting collapse.

Just trying to clarify the terminology here, regarding "research" and "knowledge". To make an example: if I have an idea to wander all the scenes of the mainlands and see if they show signs of "wind" blowing. (smoke at the Defensive Quarters in LR, Trees bent in many scenes, etc). Map that to the Mainlands Map with fancy arrows like the weather channel uses. Is that resulting map the type of thing we mean by "research"? As far as I know, that wouldn't be any sort of Spoiler, would it? If I finished that project, and kept it secret, or shared it openly, how would that be perceived?

Hmm, I have thought about this for a few days and think I have the right words for how I feel about the topic. I tried not to sound like I'm "sucking up to Mur", but I agree wit him very strongly on one aspect of Viscosity. It all boils down to MD is MD. Certain archetypal truths about the world are part of the "physics" of the game, such as "you fight wit hcreatures against other players", and "you have a regen timer to recover stuff". Viscosity fits into this mold. It is the fabric of the world, for better or worse, and I do not fee lit is "for worse". Yes, viscosity is high in "distant" lands, and it's one thing to say "just walk there more" but human nature shows us that doesn't tend to happen. This isn't "wrong" in the sense of the game, it's "Inconvenient" in terms of the people in it. Look what happens when new Quests get implemented in distant clickies. Suddenly, the viscosity there all but vanishes. I've seen it happen more than twice, so know it was not a fluke. It's a reward-based effect getting people "over in that other scene", but the deeper "problem" of Viscosity solved itself through it's own functionality. No need to change it now. Want proof of this, make a clickie-quest that requires people to move between Awiiya's Way and the Aramory alternately, and often. Give It a WP reward and I can guess that in no time even a new player could grab papers on day one as the gates "fall open" from us active questers. (AP maths may not quite add up to truly allow new-new players, but the MDA gates would still get remarkably "open") MD is our world too, and malleable for some features and functionalities, but the core "Principles" of fenths, Heat, Viscosity, and such, are in my mind unchanging. They define the world, just like Gravity and electromagnetic forces define ours. we can harness those tools/features in many ways to make things like space ships and computers, and gardens and snowmen, but "Gravity" won't change just because you don't like tripping down a steep hill. We can only make sure staircases are a comfortable and convenient size, or invent the Wheel to help move along without falling.

Thanks Blackthorn. The issue I have with jsut filtering a picture is the "final image" is a composite of many other pictures. A cool tree in one photo. A friend in a second photo, one pic with a neat stool, but too much other stuff around it, etc... so it's definitely not a quick-sketch sort of thing. I'll keep fiddling in GIMP for a bit and email you the images tomorrow if you want to see what I mean :)

Note: Posted in off-topic since this is unrelated to MD, but I know there are some awesome and amazing artists out there who may be able to help me with a project faster than "learn to photoshop via google". ALSO note: I am willing to discuss monetary "commission" for help with this project, if completed in a timely manner. I am attempting to make a "composite" image from a series of photographs, and turn it into a line-drawing/Woodblock print style image. Think of taking a nice photo, and making it into a page in a coloring book for the kids, but a bit nicer with more fine details. I spent three hours so far in GIMP, and am not much further ahead than when I started. Mostly because I'm having difficulty getting thresholds and selections correct to convert "realistic" images into "lines". Perhaps I need to fiddle with contrasts? Here's where a "Proper Artist" with knowledge of the techniques and software might be able to easily say "oh, do _xyz_ first, then _abc". ;) I could use random royalty-free clipart for most elements in the final product, but the important factor is that the figures in the final image look like the persons I have the photo of. Not a random drawing. Thus, using a photo as a starting point. That, and I have a couple neat images on the camera that I'd like to use, so it's "real stuff". Essentially, I'm assuming I can crop my images, use the "Find Edges" filter to make portions of them into the black&white 'drawings', then fiddle with layers to copy/paste them together into a pretty picture suitable for my hanging. Any advice?

:) Still in, Sorry, had issues with work-blocking site, and kept forgetting to post this thread at home, since I had "read" it already. resolved now. :)

I still do this, but to a lesser extent than I used to. But to answer the main question, of where MD ends, and where reality begins, that is a Very good question. My answer, which is only valid for me, is about right there. *points*. The fact you can't see where I am pointing is part of the "answer". ;) MP9 anyone? :ph34r:

Happy Happy Birthday! May it be full of blessings in every Holi colour!

sounds worth giving it a shot, "Green Eggs & Ham" style. ...so where is this mythic forum? :)

awesome work so far. :)

Ditto, thricely. ;)

I'm still reading through the meeting logs, but my initial thought was also to simply apply some sort of algorithm to Visc based on Mind Power. The math below is hardly "fair' but should illustrate the concept. Viscosity needed = (ScentVisc * (MP/10)) [log='maths r tuff'] So for example V = (80 * .3) for a mp3, = (max of 24) V = (80 * .4) for mp4 = (32) V = (80 * .5) for MP5 = (40) V = (80 * .6) for Protectors (48 max) Protectors are slightly penalized here, yes, I admit, but to be a Protector, you have support of the realm, and hopefully know your way around, as well as getting the benefits of Prot-Spells and Heat and such, so it kinda balances out in my mind. Additionally, we could encourage the use of Tea. It's been tried before, but lost steam. (pun intended). Tea is lovely for helping burn through viscosity. [/log] Granted, perhaps changing the "max" from 80 is also probably needed, using that system. All numbers are subject to change for balance. I merely used them as "examples" of my thoughts.

Happy Happies, Birthday!

I support this idea, and forums (depending on where hosted) are much easier for me to keep track of, since my work firewalls MD and my internet time "at home" is quite limited lately due to other obligations and projects.

Sort of "Heat jars/stones" but credits? interesting idea.....

still working to get all rewards out. I keep forgetting to grab the ITC when I'm in-game and save them to forum or text file for PM later while at work. oops!

Hey, I remember this name! Happy Happy birthdays. MD misses you. :)