Stipple

The tutorial quest that Rhaegar has done had the advantage of offering not just information about MD but also imparts the flavor and feeling behind some of the reasons for the different lands. I learned a lot that will help to provide a solid base to grow on. It was thoroughly enjoyable and taught me where to reasearch the past and how to build on that to see the present and dream the future. All in all the questline was better than the best lectures of my favorite history professor.

Although I am very new in age compared to just about everyone else that plays Magic Duel, I have played browser based games for more than a few years. Similarly to small businesses, a hundred start up with grand dreams that don’t last much more than a year or two for 99% of them. The failures seem to fall into several broad categories:

•Limited content that depends on a repetitive grinding routine or stylized PVP rules.
•Shallow, unchanging back story that does not contain enough flexibility to grow on.
•Single coder, game master who rigidly controls the game and does not accept input from the player base.
•Games that fall apart over arguments about multiple changes, constantly chasing for new players without keeping the older players interested in staying.
•Lack or time, resources, funding to keep a good game alive.


Magic Duel has set itself apart from those failure categories by providing a framework allowed (encouraged) to be fleshed out by the player community. A new player reading the forums can readily see Mur and the council have encouraged the evolution of game mechanics, environment, creatures, back story, quest lines, etc. The current richness of the game is directly attributable to that unique approach.

Of course it has not all been pie in the sky rosy; growth is hard work and there is no such thing as a “fair to all” approach in games or in real life that ever succeeded. No matter what side of the screen one sits at, an evolving society swirls and ebbs around conflict into resolution. Certainly the cross cultural player base of this game has added places, quests, changed places, set up rules, dropped them and added more over the years of history in the archives. Some had lots of conflicted postings, a few slid in with little notice, and there must be at least one that the whole community cheered over somewhere.

To me it seems that the changes to the Angien Shrine are only one more step in the evolution of this game. Is it fair to a new one like me to make it harder to acquire one? Or is it more fair to hand a new player a complete pack full of goodies to instantly make them equal to the seasoned players that spent years growing their main? If I thought that way I could go play a different game but would miss out on the very things that make Magic Duel so enticing to me. So I came into the game while it is in flux and changing - is that not better than starting on a static game that you can leave for two years and come back to only to find it is the same boring game you left?

Reading the forums leads me to believe the true constant here is change, and I have to wonder what is so wrong with that? I’m happy to watch and learn as the world evolves in front of me. If those that are closest to the Angiens feel this is a necessary change, then who am I to try and say it isn’t?

[quote name='Grido' timestamp='1317162333' post='92644']
The exploit/bug itself isn't overly serious, it's been known about for a while and not so much abusable, the issue stands that she was at the time trying out to be an LHO, and then became one. Selling bugs or exploits, of any sort, is NOT lho behaviour.
[/quote]
I do not want to participate in this discussion, but I feel I must - not because Phantom Orchid is a friend, which she is, but because I question your judgment, and because by posting this thread to the triggers box you have invited public discussion on the matter. Nor do I want to drag in the case of another LHO, but your handling of that other case sets a precedent for evaluating your handling of this one.

In your own words, Phantom Orchid's offense is relatively minor, but (not in so many words) the integrity of the LHOs as an institution is at stake. I must ask, therefore, why you punish a trifling offense but completely ignore actions that are, at best, borderline violations of the rules as listed on the "Restrictions" page, and further, actions that result in the actual jailing of an LHO. If your concern is for the institution of LHO and its integrity, I urge you to apply your standards fairly. In my view, your action against Phantom Orchid and inaction against that certain other LHO has made a mockery of the office.

More is at stake than just the general perception of LHOs and you as their Inquisitor; as a community, we by our actions present a face to the global Internet community. Do not let it be said that MagicDuel is a joke. Do not let it be said that MagicDuel is corrupt, and that those with friends in the right places are quite literally above the laws that are strictly applied to those less fortunate.

Happy Birthday dst!

Happy Birthday dst!

Although I am very new in age compared to just about everyone else that plays Magic Duel, I have played browser based games for more than a few years. Similarly to small businesses, a hundred start up with grand dreams that don’t last much more than a year or two for 99% of them. The failures seem to fall into several broad categories:

•Limited content that depends on a repetitive grinding routine or stylized PVP rules.
•Shallow, unchanging back story that does not contain enough flexibility to grow on.
•Single coder, game master who rigidly controls the game and does not accept input from the player base.
•Games that fall apart over arguments about multiple changes, constantly chasing for new players without keeping the older players interested in staying.
•Lack or time, resources, funding to keep a good game alive.


Magic Duel has set itself apart from those failure categories by providing a framework allowed (encouraged) to be fleshed out by the player community. A new player reading the forums can readily see Mur and the council have encouraged the evolution of game mechanics, environment, creatures, back story, quest lines, etc. The current richness of the game is directly attributable to that unique approach.

Of course it has not all been pie in the sky rosy; growth is hard work and there is no such thing as a “fair to all” approach in games or in real life that ever succeeded. No matter what side of the screen one sits at, an evolving society swirls and ebbs around conflict into resolution. Certainly the cross cultural player base of this game has added places, quests, changed places, set up rules, dropped them and added more over the years of history in the archives. Some had lots of conflicted postings, a few slid in with little notice, and there must be at least one that the whole community cheered over somewhere.

To me it seems that the changes to the Angien Shrine are only one more step in the evolution of this game. Is it fair to a new one like me to make it harder to acquire one? Or is it more fair to hand a new player a complete pack full of goodies to instantly make them equal to the seasoned players that spent years growing their main? If I thought that way I could go play a different game but would miss out on the very things that make Magic Duel so enticing to me. So I came into the game while it is in flux and changing - is that not better than starting on a static game that you can leave for two years and come back to only to find it is the same boring game you left?

Reading the forums leads me to believe the true constant here is change, and I have to wonder what is so wrong with that? I’m happy to watch and learn as the world evolves in front of me. If those that are closest to the Angiens feel this is a necessary change, then who am I to try and say it isn’t?

Oh yes! In case you were wandering if it is still happening, I have the answer. It is.

I have the chat. The culprits? Our dear Innocence and apparently a noob (in case it's not an alt).
Where? In the good ol' MDA. Maintenance Access Stairs to be more exact.

And the Announcement with the rules changing:

Ann. 1260 - [2010-01-10 00:24:30 - Alpha 9]
Rule change
As from now, due to the existance of a dedicated private place where you can talk anything you want, sexual explicit chats (more "types" pending to be added) will no longer be tolerated anywhere else in MD. This means that if anyone catches you talking such things anywhere, labirint, remote places, not to mention public locations, you can get baned for it. There are a lot of kids playing and reading your ..things.. this can't be allowed anymore. Thank you for understanding.


Mods, please, close the topic. I just wanted to make this public because I will escalate the issue to higher management.

I find it fascinating that we all have approached these submissions in our own unique way. When the contest was first announced I did enquire whether we were to do a classic newspaper article (who, what, where, why, why) or if subjective articles were acceptable. I think Fyrd’s openness to accepting either method shows a lot of flexibility.

It is hard to separate the persona of the avatar from the persona of the forum poster at times, but I did attempt to achieve that goal. My forte is in research, flavored with my own impressions of the avatar in-game that I write about. I admit it makes for subjective articles as dst points out but also contend I do try hard to show rather than tell about the person I write on. Sometimes that might “pretty” someone up more than others might like, but never to the point of making them unrecognizable.

Others have submitted purely factual articles that detail the who but not perhaps the why. They provide valuable nuggets of information and illuminate deeds that might otherwise be obscured by time.

Both methodologies are valid and leave it up to the reader to decide what portion of any article is relevant to themselves. Certainly critiques should not be based on the mechanical aspects of the presentations but rather on the dynamics of them.

As some in game know I rely on a screen reader to play this game. This is because my personal real life world is reliant on aural rather than visual input. It tends to flavor the way I react to others when their words are divorced from the nuances supplied by tonal changes. I have to be extra vigilant that I do not read into the cold equations of verbiage any unintended slights or slurs. I’ve been told this is not a problem unique to the visually challenged, that most people can misconstrue the written communications of others. I will try hard to express courtesy of other’s viewpoints and request the same in return.

For me this particular writing contest has proven to be as much an internal journey of exploration as it has been a method of reaching out and appreciating some of the others that share their time in game with me. I cannot thank Fyrd enough for offering that opportunity.

[quote name='Grido' timestamp='1312286265' post='89317']
Sorry XD

I (almost) promise that it'll be before 6th (so under a month from it being over ) - time has been lacking lately.
[/quote]

Aww.. We still love you Grido

Magic Pirate posted their winning story so apparently there was at least one story. Do the other two have to post their stories to avoid punishment? And other WPs being rewarded - do people now have to save off logs to prove worthiness of them? I question merely to understand and decide if it is ever worth it to win a WP or will I in future face an inquisition if I happen to win one. That now appears a bit scary to me but I am new to the game so perhaps there is past bad deeds performed by Innocence, Magic Pirate, Aranna, and Karak that I am not aware of that makes their story contest suspect? Do they make a practice of spending weeks and weeks on setting up WP trading scams? Seems like a lot of effort for little gain to me.

I agree transparency guidelines would make sense Princ. As you state there are a number of quests with non-published winning works. That is a valid point and a rational discussion starter. Much more so now that everyone who has been here more than 60 days has at least one WP. Discussion on the general framework might be in order.

In Australia the creater of the item is presumed to be the copyright holder unless they have ceded rights to another.
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_Australia#Ownership_of_copyright"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_Australia#Ownership_of_copyright[/url]

A [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_notice"][color="#0645ad"]copyright notice[/color][/url] (©) is not required on a work to gain copyright, but only the copyright owner is entitled to place a notice. It is useful in publishing the date of first publication and the owner. Where a copyright notice is used, the onus in infringement proceedings is on the defendant to show that copyright does not subsist or is not owned by the person stated in the notice.

The grey area resides in the TOS of many forums and websites that state anything used or published on them is now the property of said forum, website. I fall under North American copyright rules but they share a commonality with Australian rules. If I display a work on my own website and list a copyright notice on it - linking to said work off another forum does not take my rights away. I still own the copyright and at the MOST only will sell FNASR (First North American Serial Rights) to a publisher or sometimes donate them to a particular forum/website on anything I plan to use sometime in the future. I have elected not to assert those rights on anything written for Magic Duel consumption - these are just fun, quick dashings for me. But Aranna might have different choices for the story written.

Aranna if you elected to put the story on your own site, or an author site (like Author's Den) you would not be giving up the copyright and could link to that external source from here if you wished. That would preserve your future rights and still display the creative work in question. As an author I understand your qualms but wanted to let you know there are ways around them that still keeps your creative work belonging to you.

In Australia the creater of the item is presumed to be the copyright holder unless they have ceded rights to another.
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_Australia#Ownership_of_copyright"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_Australia#Ownership_of_copyright[/url]

A [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_notice"][color="#0645ad"]copyright notice[/color][/url] (©) is not required on a work to gain copyright, but only the copyright owner is entitled to place a notice. It is useful in publishing the date of first publication and the owner. Where a copyright notice is used, the onus in infringement proceedings is on the defendant to show that copyright does not subsist or is not owned by the person stated in the notice.

The grey area resides in the TOS of many forums and websites that state anything used or published on them is now the property of said forum, website. I fall under North American copyright rules but they share a commonality with Australian rules. If I display a work on my own website and list a copyright notice on it - linking to said work off another forum does not take my rights away. I still own the copyright and at the MOST only will sell FNASR (First North American Serial Rights) to a publisher or sometimes donate them to a particular forum/website on anything I plan to use sometime in the future. I have elected not to assert those rights on anything written for Magic Duel consumption - these are just fun, quick dashings for me. But Aranna might have different choices for the story written.

Aranna if you elected to put the story on your own site, or an author site (like Author's Den) you would not be giving up the copyright and could link to that external source from here if you wished. That would preserve your future rights and still display the creative work in question. As an author I understand your qualms but wanted to let you know there are ways around them that still keeps your creative work belonging to you.

In Australia the creater of the item is presumed to be the copyright holder unless they have ceded rights to another.
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_Australia#Ownership_of_copyright"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_Australia#Ownership_of_copyright[/url]

A [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_notice"][color="#0645ad"]copyright notice[/color][/url] (©) is not required on a work to gain copyright, but only the copyright owner is entitled to place a notice. It is useful in publishing the date of first publication and the owner. Where a copyright notice is used, the onus in infringement proceedings is on the defendant to show that copyright does not subsist or is not owned by the person stated in the notice.

The grey area resides in the TOS of many forums and websites that state anything used or published on them is now the property of said forum, website. I fall under North American copyright rules but they share a commonality with Australian rules. If I display a work on my own website and list a copyright notice on it - linking to said work off another forum does not take my rights away. I still own the copyright and at the MOST only will sell FNASR (First North American Serial Rights) to a publisher or sometimes donate them to a particular forum/website on anything I plan to use sometime in the future. I have elected not to assert those rights on anything written for Magic Duel consumption - these are just fun, quick dashings for me. But Aranna might have different choices for the story written.

Aranna if you elected to put the story on your own site, or an author site (like Author's Den) you would not be giving up the copyright and could link to that external source from here if you wished. That would preserve your future rights and still display the creative work in question. As an author I understand your qualms but wanted to let you know there are ways around them that still keeps your creative work belonging to you.

In Australia the creater of the item is presumed to be the copyright holder unless they have ceded rights to another.
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_Australia#Ownership_of_copyright"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_Australia#Ownership_of_copyright[/url]

A [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_notice"][color="#0645ad"]copyright notice[/color][/url] (©) is not required on a work to gain copyright, but only the copyright owner is entitled to place a notice. It is useful in publishing the date of first publication and the owner. Where a copyright notice is used, the onus in infringement proceedings is on the defendant to show that copyright does not subsist or is not owned by the person stated in the notice.

The grey area resides in the TOS of many forums and websites that state anything used or published on them is now the property of said forum, website. I fall under North American copyright rules but they share a commonality with Australian rules. If I display a work on my own website and list a copyright notice on it - linking to said work off another forum does not take my rights away. I still own the copyright and at the MOST only will sell FNASR (First North American Serial Rights) to a publisher or sometimes donate them to a particular forum/website on anything I plan to use sometime in the future. I have elected not to assert those rights on anything written for Magic Duel consumption - these are just fun, quick dashings for me. But Aranna might have different choices for the story written.

Aranna if you elected to put the story on your own site, or an author site (like Author's Den) you would not be giving up the copyright and could link to that external source from here if you wished. That would preserve your future rights and still display the creative work in question. As an author I understand your qualms but wanted to let you know there are ways around them that still keeps your creative work belonging to you.

In Australia the creater of the item is presumed to be the copyright holder unless they have ceded rights to another.
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_Australia#Ownership_of_copyright"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_Australia#Ownership_of_copyright[/url]

A [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_notice"][color="#0645ad"]copyright notice[/color][/url] (©) is not required on a work to gain copyright, but only the copyright owner is entitled to place a notice. It is useful in publishing the date of first publication and the owner. Where a copyright notice is used, the onus in infringement proceedings is on the defendant to show that copyright does not subsist or is not owned by the person stated in the notice.

The grey area resides in the TOS of many forums and websites that state anything used or published on them is now the property of said forum, website. I fall under North American copyright rules but they share a commonality with Australian rules. If I display a work on my own website and list a copyright notice on it - linking to said work off another forum does not take my rights away. I still own the copyright and at the MOST only will sell FNASR (First North American Serial Rights) to a publisher or sometimes donate them to a particular forum/website on anything I plan to use sometime in the future. I have elected not to assert those rights on anything written for Magic Duel consumption - these are just fun, quick dashings for me. But Aranna might have different choices for the story written.

Aranna if you elected to put the story on your own site, or an author site (like Author's Den) you would not be giving up the copyright and could link to that external source from here if you wished. That would preserve your future rights and still display the creative work in question. As an author I understand your qualms but wanted to let you know there are ways around them that still keeps your creative work belonging to you.

Happy birthday Peace!

Happy birthday Peace!

I think we're not quite there yet, to me the big bang to introduce 11 would be the new MP6.

Stage 11 in my point of view needs 2 major events:

1) Magic concept change, temporary spells, and memory stones.
2) MP6 system changes.

Explaining point number 1:

Well the game is named MAGICDuel. Magic is supposed to be a big part of it. Without the latest announcements MD wouldn't have spells. Only old vets or people with a good experience would reach spells, but now all is different. We can gift an enchanted stone and even a newb could cast a spell, and that is FANTASTIC!

Second point:

Well most of the people know I was mp6 for a long time. I know that system limits the protector in a Lot of ways. The new system I hope fix that and make mp6 a bit more interesting. It's part of MD and should be implemented ASAP.

BOTH makes the perfect scenario for a new era (stage). Protectors enchanting stones and gifting them to people (as I see it) to loyal adepts and warsheeps A more public magic, happy players, a Bigger MagicDuel.

I would agree that while the creature-upgrade changes, and Viscosity have adjusted and re-balanced the way some things work in the realm, and Stones added a nice new feature, re-writing a MindPower level to change it would be considered a shift in the fundamental Nature of things, depending on what you have planned for it.
Thus, Stage 11 would consist of the "New MP6" assuming it integrates things with our newer understanding of Heat, Memory (stones) and the 'physics' of movement (Viscosity).

I don't know if that's the main reason why stage 11 is not yet in place but it's definitely what this games NEEDS :

As Burns said: The new MP6 release !

[quote name='dst' timestamp='1312664480' post='89660']
No, you misunderstood me. I wanted to say this: if a story is posted late then I may assume that the delay was caused by the fact that the story did not exist in the first place and it took some time until one was created.
[/quote]

Actually dst that is not a valid assumption. One might not choose to share a story (perhaps because of it needing to be rewritten or perhaps they might be disinclined to post on an open forum something very personal), or one might be on vacation or not a forum reader and thus time lapses between your post and their reading it.

I will state that reading the quoted words might make me see red if it was a story of mine being questioned about its existance. I would be very apologetic but probably would refuse to post anything needed to prove my merits as a writer But then again, although I try to be intellectual there is a solid facet of me that has an emotional component. Obviously it must be that core part that is responding rather than the rational being who thinks "I know dst does not mean it the way it sounds".

[quote name='dst' timestamp='1312664480' post='89660']
No, you misunderstood me. I wanted to say this: if a story is posted late then I may assume that the delay was caused by the fact that the story did not exist in the first place and it took some time until one was created.
[/quote]

Actually dst that is not a valid assumption. One might not choose to share a story (perhaps because of it needing to be rewritten or perhaps they might be disinclined to post on an open forum something very personal), or one might be on vacation or not a forum reader and thus time lapses between your post and their reading it.

I will state that reading the quoted words might make me see red if it was a story of mine being questioned about its existance. I would be very apologetic but probably would refuse to post anything needed to prove my merits as a writer But then again, although I try to be intellectual there is a solid facet of me that has an emotional component. Obviously it must be that core part that is responding rather than the rational being who thinks "I know dst does not mean it the way it sounds".

I find it fascinating that we all have approached these submissions in our own unique way. When the contest was first announced I did enquire whether we were to do a classic newspaper article (who, what, where, why, why) or if subjective articles were acceptable. I think Fyrd’s openness to accepting either method shows a lot of flexibility.

It is hard to separate the persona of the avatar from the persona of the forum poster at times, but I did attempt to achieve that goal. My forte is in research, flavored with my own impressions of the avatar in-game that I write about. I admit it makes for subjective articles as dst points out but also contend I do try hard to show rather than tell about the person I write on. Sometimes that might “pretty” someone up more than others might like, but never to the point of making them unrecognizable.

Others have submitted purely factual articles that detail the who but not perhaps the why. They provide valuable nuggets of information and illuminate deeds that might otherwise be obscured by time.

Both methodologies are valid and leave it up to the reader to decide what portion of any article is relevant to themselves. Certainly critiques should not be based on the mechanical aspects of the presentations but rather on the dynamics of them.

As some in game know I rely on a screen reader to play this game. This is because my personal real life world is reliant on aural rather than visual input. It tends to flavor the way I react to others when their words are divorced from the nuances supplied by tonal changes. I have to be extra vigilant that I do not read into the cold equations of verbiage any unintended slights or slurs. I’ve been told this is not a problem unique to the visually challenged, that most people can misconstrue the written communications of others. I will try hard to express courtesy of other’s viewpoints and request the same in return.

For me this particular writing contest has proven to be as much an internal journey of exploration as it has been a method of reaching out and appreciating some of the others that share their time in game with me. I cannot thank Fyrd enough for offering that opportunity.