Maebius

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. :)

Perhaps a bit belated, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)

From this thread: http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/15275-maebius-monthly-minimadness/ A bit delayed due to some unforseen situations, and a lack of Sprogling + Camera time, here are the results of the random-names-from-my-Hat drawing for this latest quest! (results obtained by listing the rewards, and pulling names from The Hat for each list item, until all names were drawn. All entries have won a Silver Coin, in addition to the SpellStones listed below. I will try to get these to folks via forum PM or in-game as soon as possible this week. If your character is an alt that is not on the forum, let me know privately and I'll coordinate another method of getting these to you. [spoiler]Lania = 18 Mineral Water (rewarded) TheRichMerchant = Toadspeak stone Gljivoje = Guardianarmy stone Petty Dodds = Boostdefence stone Rophs = Weaken stone (rewarded) Intrigue = Acousticremains stone *Syrian* = Guardianarmy stone (rewarded) tomten = Prot Defence stone Acrisius = Prot Movelock stone *Sunfire* = Prot Curse stone (rewarded) Soothing Sands = Prot Heal stone Yag Nhad = Guardianarmy stone Asthir = Boostdefence stone Bash Chelik = Boostdefence stone (rewarded) Xavax = Boostdefence stone [/spoiler] edit: silly me forgot to include the Dowser's contributions of Water to the cause... I'll save those waters for next month. :) oops!

Ok, here we go. The submissions.... in no particular order... results of prizes will be added in a few hours when the sprogling childe is available to pull names from my hat. :) [log='The Submissions:'] [/log]

Quest closed! (I miscalculated the timing, and it apparently locked a couple days ago rather than yesterday) I'll be trying to grab my camera and film the results drawing this weekend. I will also post all the submissions hopefully tonight or tomorrow morning. (local time, not server). Excellent results! You'll love them. ...soon! ;)

LEdah has already quoted the most common hint. But I think I can elaborate on it a bit. Consider the creatures you have, and their abilities. Expand your thoughts to include how those abilities may either synergize or balance or cancel the abilities of the Guards. (note what the guards do to you in the battle log, as well as what you are doing to the guards). Took me a looong time for me to come to the sudden realization of what that hint meant, but then, like all riddles, makes perfect sense. Kudos for trying it yourself. Have patience though, there's plenty of time, and another entrance to that Land if you absolutely, positively, need to see inside with help. :)

Yep, what they said! ^ :D

Wow, it's a Triple Party Birthday Feature! Happy Happy Happy, Birthdays, to you all.