Sept 1, 2001 News from the Realms: Kiri: * Thanks to Would, Shishi-san in Kyoto is now selling his potions. * Thanks to Brodgar, the beast of Shar-Quin can now wield its weapon (it's no longer invis). As for typos, I'd like to thank Mana, Xorex, and Oldguy, who all went nuts and reported tons and tons of typos :) Oldguy wins this time's typo award for the most reported, and should see me for his prize! Joysinger: Rescue the Princess! - questrules 1. You may have a group of max. 3 characters, all must be able to group (no multiplaying, mort only, loners accepted) 2. Every team must chose a groupleader before starting the quest. 3. Only 1 attempt per char is possible, if Lillinsith dies the quest is over (teammembers who died may continue questing) 4. Track/summon/astral/tp may only be used with other teammembers during the quest (no tracking mobs, or the princess) 5. You may not order Lillinsith to recall (this includes potions, she may use anything you hand her except equipment, though) 6. Do not accept help from anyone not in your group while questing 7. Questsign instructions must be followed 8. Please don't use any of the path options your mud client offers (speedwalk, backtracking, etc.), it's not fair to those who don't have these options 9. Once you have a group and a date set up you get no second chance (only with a VERY good excuse!) to quest 10. Do not use/group charmies. on a sidenote: Every successful team will win a prize, roleplaying will matter. Try to be as fast as possible. HINT: collect anything you need for this quest in advance, it'll save you lots of time! Good luck! joy Kiri: Voting & Reviews Some of you have been commenting on how low we've been on morts lately. People go back to school and usually disappear around this time. If that bothers you, you can do something about it. Feel free to go to: http://www.topmudsites.com/cgi-bin/topmuds/rankem.cgi?id=brkiri and click on "Vote for this site and enter" You can also write a review about us by going to: http://www.topmudsites.com/cgi-bin/reviews/robboard.cgi?action=review&subject=Barren+Realms+MUD Thanks in advance, guys :) Fossil: "Burning Man" Once again, the annual insanity of "Burning Man" is happening in a desolate desert in northern Nevada. This week, a "temporary art community" is created on "The Playa." It culminates with a huge bonfire Saturday night, where a forty-foot tall wooden "man" is burned. Last year, over 25,000 people attended. Why? Other than the laws of nature, it appears that no laws are enforced, and a lot of people set up various activities which appeal to attendees. In the desert, at somewhat high elevation (4000 feet), in August, the laws of nature are hard to ignore. Try 100+ degree heat, 75 mph winds, no running water for openers. Stir in 25,000 free spirits, music, art and erotica and you've got it. For more information, you can visit www.burningman.com There...you should be healed by now. IDEAS: Liquid: some way to know the level of the mob you charm. You can't always group with them, it'd be useful to know Micah: dwarves should have an ability called stun where the kick a mob in the solar plexus stopping it from attacking for a round or more at higher levels Shiloh: tellh should work for the tells you sent not just only the tells you recieved BIO BY COBALT: 1) What's your BR name? * Cobalt 2) What race/level are you? * 151/avian 3) How did you pick your Br name? * At a loss for something creative, I picked a favorite color. 4) What's your favorite area? * Tie between Castle in the Clouds and the BR Museum 5) Where do you live (state or province/country)? * Florida, US 6) What do you do for a living? * Go to college. ;) 7) If you're a college/grad student, whats your major? * Computer info systems 8) What do you want to be when you grow up? * An astronaut! No.. a lion tamer! *grins* Actually, I think I just want to be an interesting person. (and of course that would involve actually growing up, so I'll get back to you on that later) 9) Are you single? * Nuh uh. 10) What are your hobbies? * Messing around on the computer, reading, building with my Legos, rollerblading, swimming, beachcombing, and animals. 11) What's the hardest thing you've ever had to do? * Probably waiting to find out of one of my older brothers was dead from an accident and then helping him adjust to being half paralyzed. 12) Who do you most admire? * People who overcome incredible odds against them to achieve major things, whether it's personal or for others. 13) Which celebrity would you like to hook up with? * Hmm.. there are several I'd love to hang out with, but none I'd want to hook up with at the moment. 14) What's the last book you read (including for school)? * Pastwatch, The Redemption of Christopher Columbus - by Orson Scott Card. It's one of those novels where the actual past is really worked over with a twist, kinda similar to the 13th Warrior. 15) What's the last movie you watched? Did you like it? * Gone in 60 Seconds, and yes, I did. 16) If you could be anywhere in the world for a week, where would you go? * Wander around western Europe for a few days, then check out either the south Pacific or Carribean islands. ARTICLE: I recently got this in my email and figured I'd pass it along to you folks: With the rising popularity of MUDs (even spreading into the general public via commercial graphical MUDs), I have noticed an increase in MUD fan fiction. Some MUDs and clans have discussion boards for their fiction, and I know of at least one which has MP3s of recitations available. Thus, I have been brainstorming the idea of publishing an anthology of this fiction. The collection will include stories from all over MUDdom, whether the MUD be fantasy, sci-fi, historical, or modern day thriller, or whether it be pure RP or hack-and-slash. Likewise, authors are welcome to submit all types of stories. Character sketches, mythology and tall tales, retellings of glorious battles, and even epic poetry will all be considered for inclusion. As well, the any stories may be either directly from the MUD's events, or simply "inspired by" the MUD. The primary qualification for the stories (besides those listed in the submission guidelines) is simply that the stories should be well-written. The current plan (subject to change) is to publish the collection as a trade paperback, primarily through Amazon.com. Projected release date is spring of 2002. While I cannot, in one volume, include a story from every single MUD out there, I'm going to try to maximize the number of MUDs represented by limiting the number of stories included from any single MUD to only one (although multiple submissions are welcome). As an appendix to the anthology, the MUDs represented will be listed, as well as brief summaries of their themes. Of course, the MUDs' administrators will have the option of not allowing any stories published which depict their world's unique characteristics if they so choose. If you could pass word of this project on to your players, I would be grateful. Also, if your MUD comes up with any interesting contests, challenges, etc to get your players' creative juices flowing, I would love to hear about them. More information can be found at http://65.7.194.93/~frank/index.html or by emailing me at frankbliss@30below.com Story Submission Guidelines Stories should be 3,000 to 10,000 words in length. Shorter works may be accepted if well written, but longer works will only be used if there are few competing submissions. Please polish up your story before submission. All works included in the anthology will be edited, and those which will require the least editing will be given preference. "Adult" subject matter, excessive profanity, and graphic violence should be avoided. Emphasize PG13-rated content over R-rated content. Stories describing MUD events derived directly from another author's works will not be allowed without that author's permission. Names and concepts which would be identified exclusively with another author will probably be changed before publication. (in other words, I am NOT looking for fan fiction of the novel or movie which inspired the MUD) Stories sent by email should be included as an attachment in *.DOC or *.TXT format, and must include the author's name, contact information, story title, and the name of the MUD which inspired the story. Stories sent by post must be typed on 8.5 X 11 paper, and include a cover letter with the author's name, contact information, story title, and the name of the MUD which inspired the story. Deadline for submissions will be November 15, 2001 - subject to change as the project progresses. If an author submits a work, this does NOT necessarily mean the work will be included in the anthology. Likewise, follow up correspondence by myself shall NOT be considered acceptance of the work. If the work is accepted, a contract will be drawn up between the author and myself. For more information, feel free to visit "http://65.7.194.93/~frank/index.html". Newsletter responses by Packor to the May 1, 2001 newsletter: Wasabe: We should be able to enchant shields... to provide a reason for dwarves not to just use weapons but shields... to bash! Packor: Uhh, no. Shield enchanting, first of all would be for defense, secondly, only humans and dwarves have bash, and third, if we have enchant shield for bash, it would be for humans to have because dwarves suck at spells and, also, they don't need bash. Solkanar: could we have a 'donated' flag on items, until they are used or for a set amount of time, so people can't just sell them Packor: Imagine people creating an alternate character that sits at recall with a lot of donates and sells it after the time has expired :> People selling donations is a problem, but we need some better method of controlling it. Wasabe: Teleport and astral should take away some amount of movement... like 1/2 movement... so that it isn't used for EVERY THING!!! Packor: It actually takes up mana, more so for teleport, I believe. If you'd only read the help files... It'll explain why it doesn't take mv :> (I like the part about dwarves having to walk) Wasabe: MEGA HEAL : 500 mana for 1,000 hp... simple Packor: Also simple: unavailable to people that don't enhance until level, uhh...35? Also, not needed by people who don't enhance until, uhh... 40 something or higher. By the time you hero, you can restore anyway. So, nope... sorry. Wasabe: How about the ability to c 'spells' onto items... like we buy an empty stave. and cast a spell on it. Cost should be VERY high though... Packor: In terms of mana and hp, no cost is too high. It can always be regenerated... Also, only magic users will be able to do this and being able to do that is too powerful. Rhyme: a way to modify the prac command so we can see in guild and out of guild skills, skills we've practiced, things we haven't... and sort by skill level and percent.. etc Packor: I think they are working it out *shrug* Wasabe: What if the shopkeeper sold a : CR bag... contained therein would be 1) purple fly potion, 1) invis elixir 1) torch !!! Packor: 1 and 3 are available at the general store to get, Clericus casts invis if you heal invis. Also, balls of light can be gained by misfiring or casting continual light. You are missing potion of see invisible, btw, and maybe giant strength(optional). April: Would it be possible to have some brief-combat mode, or to gag some of the fight-messages? I have a poor link, wich makes it hard for me to group ... specially with all my human kicks :) Packor: That might be possible, like the option of shortening descriptions, maybe we can have the option to remove extra action text like fireball, kick, teleport, etc... but it makes it harder to identify spells cast and other stuff.. like being summoned and maybe you have to count how many kicks you've made. Very: why not get rid of kick for druids, at level 25 it is hardly worth the bother... Packor: Well, hey, you can bang, and at least it doesn't cost mana. Also, maybe your mob's only got a few hp left and so do you, you got no mana... also helps when fighting higher level mobs which, parry and dodge a lot. Armageddon: when mental barrier causes the mob to kill itself, you should get exp for it Packor: It mostly doesn't, unless you have a powerful weapon... but, hey, mental barrier is very powerful, it SHOULD have some drawbacks. WasabE: Heal faster whilst sleeping in a tent. Packor: You are still sleeping on the ground, we should have beds and maybe be able to use pillows :> Turale: make trip in-guild for humans! Packor: Why trip? Use roundhouse :> Give me a reason why humans should have it in guild, when Kenders deserve it more than they? Rice: spell... : know hitpoints... ;) Packor: That's easy, mobs have like maybe 3 or 2 times a char their level while 'boss'(or extratough mobs) have maybe 4 to 6? Anyway, just compare an arena kill with a mob kill :> Also, like know alignment, you couldn't cast it on chars if we made it. Wasabe: how about when you fail a spell..you say the wrong words... like 'ouranholi' versus ouranihol Packor: Failing a spell is not misfiring a spell, read misfiring spell messages for reference. WolfBane: auction channel should not be a affected by drunkness. Getting those numbers mixed up is no good Packor: Yeah, but it's fun to read. 7916, WHOOHO!! Anubis: messages for teleport and astral like goto :) Packor: You emerge from the portal into... How's that? Now that I think about it, that would just be a luxury, because you would know if you went. Asimi: When you grin at someone, their alignment should drop. Just like the social says Packor: Just a saying.. Besides, people would be mad at you if their equipment falls off, I mean, you didn't even use the strip social yet!! ;) Wasabe: how about a double breasted tent... for two people? or more? Packor: A tent can already hold more than one person. Wasabe: I want to kick people out of the vehicle I purchase... it should be the owners right... Packor: It's not your property once it's on the ground, like all the other BR objects. The exception being only pets, and disarmed weapons. AMystery: when two invisible mobs or players or players & mobs fight, they should remain invisible. only when one is visible should the other become so. After all, invisible creatures should be able to see eachother and fight Packor: Ahh, but that's not the point. You become visible because you fight, like you come out of hiding because you move. Xorex: I've suggested this before but I'll do it again for fun...the practice dummy is too frickin' hard...newbies always die from him Packor: Really.... I never had that problem. They are supposed to read directions and wait for the instructor to cast spells on them. Kharn: make "give all. " and "look 2." work Packor: The second suggestion DOES work. Just not so well with the same keyword item on the ground or equiped. I don't know why you should give all of something to someone. They should get it themselves if it's something stockable like that. Otherwise the multiple would only be 2 or 3 items, in which case, doing it seperately is not such a big deal. Wasabe: I would like to be able to send coins to a user via mail... like a money-gram. Packor: The bank is really just a storage for coins, it doesn't even have interest, so even less likely to get money. Also, think not-modern. Wasabe: when I emote a ' I would like it to appear immediately after my name... like so emote 's feet are green. = Wasabe's feet are green. Packor: have green feet. I do agree, but that would be put in a more advanced command than emote, which purpose is what it does now. Vian: Make trophy list. Like when i kill in arena it put to whe thropy list and i can see who i kill, level, how much time....(sorry for my inglish) Packor: I like it, because it spams the mean high levels because they keep killing people who want to fight in the arena. It should also include what equipment is broken too. Each kill of even the same person would be added in too, unless we took steps to prevent that, but I don't want that, it helps the spam! :> Excellent. Armageddon: a weather man, you can pay him money like clericus to make the weather better or worse PAckor: Druids and elves can control weather, though the later only oog. They do need it for call lightning. I know someone who does use it, sometimes weather changes to bad are intentional. A good weather is drizzle, you can still scan. Johan: pass door should have an -ac modifier as well - if you're translucent you must be harder to hit Packor: This is only prompting for pass door to be removed or altered so you won't have the reason to have -ac for this spell, because the reason it doesn't do that is that we don't want it to. Responses by Rachel to May 8, 2001 newsletter: >Mathis: you should at least be able to put nodrop items in a pack or >something. its not noput... Rachel: mmm.. no drop means you cant get it out of your hands dear.. how are you going to let go of it to put it in the pack... hmm.. for that matter.. anyone ever wonder how on earth your going to weird a weapon while holding a nodrop item??? just thought of that one myself > > AMystery: aggro mobs that spontaneously attack other mobs and > > players. they hate everyone > >Cord: I like this idea. Would add some excitment to the otherwise boring >job of being a mob. =) Rachel: i actually did something like that in an area once i think baced on alignments, the mobs would attack the ones on opposit sides cource.. they attacked the players too. but twas a not too unwanted side affect :)cource.. it was pretty interesting to try hunting the area if it was near the end of a time before the reset.. all the mobs had killed each other off leaving nothing for the poor players.. hmm.. theirs an idea :) Kiri's WWW of URLs: See Scavenger, Dove, Kiri, Everybody and Faustus at the RennFaire: http://homepage.mac.com/aberkvam/PhotoAlbum1.html Info on loan consolidation for students: http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov/ Talk for free over your computer: http://www.rogerwilco.com/ What Can Be Learned From TV 1) Good guys always shoot better than bad guys. 2) Good guys are always outnumbered. 3) Good guys always win and get the girl. 4) Good guys are always good-looking. 5) Good guys are the only ones with a sense of humor. 6) Good guys will only get shot in the arm or leg. 7) Nothing cures the blues like killing 30 or 40 bad guys. 8) Good guys don't take drugs. 9) Heroes wear clothes that dirt can't stick to. 10) Ugly people are always bad guys. 11) Bad guys will make elaborate inventions to kill the good guys, but they will never stick around to see if it works. 12) The bad guy chickens out first. 13) The police are smart. 14) Police never wait for back-up. 15) Undercover cops are too good to be spotted, especially when wearing dark sunglasses. 16) All police killings are in self-defense. 17) Police chases must include a car going through a plate-glass window. 18) Car wheels screech on any corner, even on dirt. 19) After being shot, there is always enough time to escape. 20) The chances of getting into an accident increases proportionally as the car goes slower. 21) A burglar alarm system's connection box is on the outside wall. 22) Private detective work is glamorous. 23) Cars will explode in all accidents. 24) Court cases are all solved with a surprise witness. 25) Teenagers who have sex are destined to die in grotesque ways. 26) Teenagers are always smarter than their parents. 27) High school students look 30 years old. 28) The suburbs are exciting. 29) Cream pies are made to be thrown, never eaten. 30) All Chinese people know karate. 31) Indians make good fodder. 32) All baseball games will be won with a home run in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the bases loaded. 33) Everybody wins in Las Vegas. 34) Nobody has time to watch TV. 35) Nobody ever has trouble finding parking spots when he or she is in a hurry. 36) Housework is never needed. 37) Street vendors' carts are magnetically attracted to high-speed car chases. 38) Everyone knows how to pick a lock with one tool. 39) The last five minutes of any TV show will explain the entire plot. 40) The last five minutes will be stretched out for 20 minutes with commercials. 41) In case of emergency, speak in clichés. 42) Ninety-five-pound women in tight skirts can throw around 300-pound muscle-bound men. 43) Fistfights don't result in bruises. 44) Helicopters are attracted to mountains. 45) No one ever mumbles, stutters, or says, "Um ... " 46) People normally wake up in the morning with make-up on. 47) There are no really ugly women, only really ugly men. 48) If a women is running away from someone she will trip and fall. 49) Your car will always start immediately unless you are being chased by a maniacal killer or a monster of genetic creation. 50) Crazed maniacs have super-human strength. 51) Everyone has a "dark" secret. 52) Haunted houses are never locked. 53) Murders will always be accompanied by sinister music. 54) Rich people are unhappy. 55) Thunderstorms spontaneously create murders. 56) When someone is dead or dying, there will be a trickle of blood from the corner of his or her mouth. 57) Christmas Eve and Halloween nights last for three of four days each. 58) Midnight happens more than once in a monster movie. 59) To kill a vampire, you must set out five minutes before sunset. 60) Nobody ever realizes until the end of a monster movie that everyone who went into the dark cellar never came out. 61) The group always splits up to look for the alien. 62) Movies based on true stories are always made up. 63) Computers never crash. a) Teenagers can access any computer by using their home PC. b) Computers know everything. c) You must type frantically to keep a 3-D image moving on the screen. 64) In the end, all resource limitations are overruled. Sept 9, 2001 Welcome to the Newsletter! Kiri: typos Sun Sep 2, 2001 Typos once again have been corrected on the mud (I do this whenever the typo file gets big.) I want to thank Redeemer for reporting 1, Liquid for reporting 7, and Oldguy for reporting 36. Once again, Oldguy wins the reward (trust me guys, this is worth it 1,000 point stat raise straight across.) So keep reporting them and enjoy! (Not in notes, btw! Please use the typo command! (help typo) Be sure to be in the room with the typo when you report it so I can have the vnum saved. Kiri: pictures, pictures, pictures Tue Sep 4 2001 Updated pics of Gryn, Elric, Daliah, Arcane, and yours truly, Kiri. And a new picture of never-before-seen Firestar. See them all at http://www.coredcs.com/%7Ebarren/pics IDEAS: Vishnu: some kind of throwing item that is sold by default at the weaponsmith? See: you should be able to throw through open doors Darkcrad: i think it will be cool to type a command showing the history of battle updates hehe you could keep track of people leveling or dying and entering the battle arena ooOooOOoOOooo Snarf: put buy - buys of s on the help page of buy and the sign.. Lehua: how about every item have a key word somewhere in its description... this'll save time on the guesswork.. ;-) Darkcrad: a super cool spell called "kamakazy" it kills yourself and kills all the mobs in the room oOOoOOoo well of course not all mobs will be affected by this spell cos that would be kinda cheap :P Holocaust: Humans kick should do a whole lot more damage! I know some of you are gonna say. Use roundhouse, it does more! But i refuse to believe a *martial artist* lvl 1-151 can only bang and knock with a kick. Hell no! Cord: allow a system field for your prompt... %t : Display the current mud time BIO BY WISEMAN PLEASE SEND MORE BIOS, I AM COMPLETELY OUT. a. What's your BR name? Wiseman, Temper, and others I don't remember. But will most likely start a new character named Matt or Matthew. >b. What race/level are you? 36 dawrf and 24 elf. >c. How did you pick your BR name? Well Wiseman from the best rpg Xenogears. >:) And Temper because I couldn't have the name Tempest. :( But that's ok. >d. What's your favorite area? Don't really know. Just whereever I can level >I guess. >e. Where do you live (State or province/Country) Good old Colorado. :) >f. What do you do for a living? Well I'm a senior this year. :):):) But I >plan on becoming a music teacher. And marrying my beautiful girlfriend. :) >g. If you're a college/grad student, what's your major? Music teacher after >this year. :) I can't wait. >h. What do you want to be when you grow up? Music teacher. And a wonderful >father and husband. >i. Are you single? Nope. And at Prom next year I plan on proposign to my >beautiful angel. :) >j. What are your hobbies? Well I'll do almost anything I think will be fun. >But mostly play my tenor sax, roller blade, read, or write poetry. LoL. I'm >pretty boring. >k. What's the hardest thing you've ever had to do? I don't really know. >Orcan think of right now. >l. Who do you most admire? My parents, Jenna, my family, or my best >friends. >n. What's the last book you read (including for school). >Did you like it? The Grapes of Wrath. That book sucked. Because they only >concentrated on teh turtle for like a chapter. I think he should have hada >a longer role in the story. >o. What's the last movie you saw? Did you like it? Planet of the Apes >twice. Once with one of my best friends Greg and brother. And then wit >Jenna because she really wanted to see it. It was ok. But the ending >sucked. p. If you could be anywhere in the world for a week, where would >you go? Ummmm. Europe with Jenna in this honor band we were invited to >attend with. :(:(:( But most likely won't be able to go. Responses by PACKOR to Newsletter of May 8, 2001 Hiatus: infravision should work against the "too dark to tell" in the exit command Packor: I believe it to be a bug or fogotten point. I bet they'll fix that sometime. Mathis: you should at least be able to put nodrop items in a pack or something. its not noput... Packor: Correction, no leaving your hands. Containers can be dropped too, so letting you put nodrop items in a small bag is kind of cheating. Lehua: change the wink social to something like "Winks at you regarding the joke he just made." Packor: The wink is intended as, you know. Suggestive. You want something for a joke, you could use chuckle or use emote... There are other socials people want to use for something else, but one social can only do so many things, hehe. You could send an idea of your own social :> Lehua: If you want I can write a help blurb on lag Packor:??? Rhyme: a spell for illithids which will allow them to send objects to another player anywhere in the realm, and when they are high enough they can send players to other players Packor: Spells that can change is a no-no :>, and illithids deal with the mind, mostly. Telepathy is okay, but energy channeling, translocation, and stuff like that are a bit far fetched. Kharn: make help files avaiable with "help ", for example make "help exa" show "help examine". the mud interprets the shortcut anyways, so why not at the help files? Packor: It makes you have to work to make the quotations like you do for a spell. Borriinnngg. Of course, there's always the possiblility of mixing up spells with abilites and commands. Why not just get in the habit of typing the whole thing out, like you should do if you arn't taking notes, and save the trouble of getting the help file for another thing when you wanted help for something else and end up having to type in the whole thing anyway. >> Saffron: Bah add wear location to identify >Cord: That would involve a lot of re-coding of the items already in the >game, and probably would be more work than it is worth. That said, I >*do* >think it would be a nice feature. >Kytar: The only re-coding it would take is a single extra line in the identify function to interpret the wear bit into a text string. Packor:I didn't see this at first, but this whole idea presents a problem. Potions... can be held, but arn't for that purpose. Also, I believe you know of items that can be worn or held or some other form of bizarre combinations. Also, projectiles can be held, so can containers, which I would discourage, as most of those don't modify status. There is at least one projectile I know that can affect status, if people identify it and find it can do that, they might think most projectiles might do that, when not a lot do. Difference between magical weapon to weapon ratio and projectile ratio, you understand okay, I hope? Responses by CORD to May 8, 2001 Newsletter: > Mathis: you should at least be able to put nodrop items in a > pack or something. its not noput... Cord: So you can put your nodrop items in a pack and then drop the pack? ;) Only way to prevent that would be to have the no-drop flag for all packs be able to toggle when the packs did and did not contain nodrop items. > Rhyme: a spell for illithids which will allow them to send > objects to another player anywhere in the realm, and when they > are high enough they can send players to other players Cord: Well, I really don't think we need another teleport-like skill, but I like the first half of your idea - the ability to send items to other players would be pretty unique and interesting. > Armageddon: an auctionh command ;P Comeon Slart, it won't be > too much work. Same thing goes for hackh, etc... Cord: I second this idea with enthusiasm =). > > > Saffron: Bah add wear location to identify > > > > Cord: That would involve a lot of re-coding of the items > > already in the game, and probably would be more work than > > it is worth. That said, I *do* think it would be a nice > > feature. > > > Kytar: The only re-coding it would take is a single extra > line in the identify function to interpret the wear bit into > a text string. Cord: Me and my silly misconceptions of how things in the game are coded. I'll have to write an area so I actually know what I'm talking about. Anyway - if it's not all that hard to do, then I'm all for it. Kiri's WWW of URLs: The official list of 555 numbers: http://home.earthlink.net/~mthyen/index.html From Uthar, funny captions to pictures http://www.humor.com/html/past_winners.html Dress 'em up Dubya http://www.oddcast.com/vhost/bush/host.php?id=8350 Um, I can't explan. http://www.ideatown.com/richardcheese/audiosample.html THINGS I WISH I HAD LEARNED BEFORE ENTERING THE REAL WORLD 1. Any and all compliments can be handled by simply saying "Why, thank you" (though it helps if you say it with a Southern accent). 2. Some people are working backstage, some are playing in the orchestra, some are on stage singing, some are in the audience as critics and some are there to applaud. Know who and where you are. 3. Never give yourself a haircut after three margaritas. 4. When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste. 5. Never continue dating anyone who is rude to the waiter and doesn't like dogs. 6. Good sex should involve laughter. Because think about it, it is funny. 7. You need only two tools. WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use the tape. 8. The five most essential words for a healthy, vital relationship: "I apologize" and "You are right". 9. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them. 10. When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm. 11. The only really good advice that I remember my mother ever gave me was "Go! You might meet somebody!" 12. If he/she says that you are too good for him/her--believe it. 13. I've learned to pick my battles; I ask myself, Will this matter one year from now? How about one month? One week? One day? 14. Never pass up an opportunity to pee. (this one gets truer as the years pass) 15. If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance! 16. Living well really is the best revenge. Being miserable because of a bad or former relationship just might mean that the other person was right about you. 17. Knowing how to listen to music is as great a talent as knowing how to make it. 18. Work is good but it's not that important. 19. Never underestimate the kindness of your fellow man. 20. And finally ... Be really nice to your friends. You never know when you are going to need them to empty your bedpan Sept 18, 2001 NEWS FROM THE REALMS: Our condolences to the families and friends of victims of the tragedy on Tuesday. Slart: Tuesday's tragedies By now all of you around the world will surely have heard about the tragic events which happened on Tuesday. Many of you are feeling confusion, grief, and anger, feelings which only intensify as disbelief fades and it becomes clearer just whom and what we have lost. It is natural to react strongly, to seek vengeance or to hide behind humor. It is human nature to try to fit everything in one's head any way one can, to reduce the complex geopolitical realities of the world to a punch line, or a battle cry. Times such as these make it more important than ever to remember what a truly global community we have here on the net. The person on the other end of the wire may well have lost someone in the attacks, or be a perfectly innocent member of the religion or nationality against whom you want to rage. It is imperative that we be cautious with our remarks, especially publicly, that we do not inadvertently wound family or friends of the victims, or tar innocent people with the black brush of terrorism and hate. Our efforts must be to heal and not to hurt. If Tuesday taught me anything, it reminded me that life is short -- too short -- and there is far too much pain in the world already. The things that matter most in life are people -- loved ones, friends, acquaintances -- for it is they who make life worth living. Joysinger: rtp!-quest it's still running. tell me if you're interested and need the rules. i didn't update them in the notes as i hoped to be going to the states, but i'm not leaving for another 2 days at least (if at all) on a sidenote - i have a new ip contract which means that i'm no longer limited with net-time - so i can tell you guys exact times again. happy questing - joy p.s.: it's a hard and challenging quest (i think so at least) do me a favor and don't waste my or your time, so PREPARE. :) AMystery: Insanely Hard Quest #12 This is a simple quest, find me weapons that are of type suction. This means that when used the message says: "Your suction <> Xor Be the first one to tell or note me with a weapon that does this and you get a prize. I want as many weapons as possible so find 2, get 2 prizes Yes, there are weapons like this in the realms. Joe's Bong of Doom is one example, and no, you can't claim that one. EbonII already has. Go forth my evil minions and find me the suckiest weapons in all the realms! The quest has officially ended with Oldguy winning, however, if you do find another suction weapon I will give you a consolation prize for each one you find. AMystery: Quick quest I'm holding a quest from right now until all the items are found. I scattered 30 tickets throughout the realms. The placement was entirely random. I used prayer and if I saw a mob I gave it a ticket. The only exception is hero areas, all the tickets are in mortal areas. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to retreive my tickets without using locate object You can use any other spells or skills with that one exception. There are 30 tickets and roughly 300 areas in the realms. I figure that only 10% of the areas are commonly used, so statistically there will be 3 tickets total in those areas. My observations support this as I did place them all Also, the odds are slim that any area will have more than 1 ticket, however I am aware of 1 area that does have 2 tickets in it. You can identify the tickets because they are called "a ticket" and because they have both keyword ticket and keyword amyquest. So if you aren't sure, try getting amyquest and see what happens. Good luck and happy hunting. IDEAS: Cord: allow a system field for your prompt... %t : Display the current mud time DwarfMan: a skill called "shield block" for dwarves. Works just as good as dodge and parry, actually. Actually should work even better, not like there's much technique involved. Just raise the shield infronta you. But the shields should get damaged frequently - the same level or lower. So they should at least have the advantage of not getting hit that much too. :) AMystery: scuba equipment should recharge itself while it is not being used. rather slowly, say 1 point per tick Repugnant: why not insted when you cast a spell that you already have and wasting mana, the spell gets refreshed, meaning if i had 5 hours left of fly and i cast fly then it takes that fly spell upto the highest hours that i can cast, if you dont understand no Colador: I think it would be cool to be able to send objects to each other through notes Padan: pummel a high level ability like 30 for dwarves only where you pummel the mob with the handle of your weapon doing somewhat good damage I'm currently out of bios! Please send me more :) RESPONSES BY CORD TO MAY 20, 2001 NEWSLETTER: > >>AMystery: aggro mobs that spontaneously attack other mobs and > players. they hate everyone > > Teagan: The thing is they would be attacking everything in that > area...which is not good for people to get their levels. Cord: Not really tho; it would depend on the level of the universal-aggro mob. Eventually, the would get killed from attacking too many mobs (hit points only regenerate so fast). > >>AMystery: two argument socials, ex: pie joysinger divebomb = You > throw a pie at joysinger for divebomb's amusement > > Teagan: If a person can code something like that...it would be fun, > although there are already tons of socials Cord: Doesn't so much add new socials as it does add new functionality to previous socials and any new ones... but it would add quite a few more social lines to be defined... 3 more, by my count: person A socials persons B and C person A socials persons B and B person A socials persons A and A That said, I really like this idea. In the event it were coded, I'd be willing to go thru the existing socials and add the new lines. > > Cord: make it so you can't unlock/open doors while in combat > > Packor: Actually, I thought you can open doors in combat , I think I > have done it. I think unlock is also possible too, but I haven't tried. > If it doesn't, then I agree with the open door, but you would have to > fumble to get the key in and your hand will get chopped off. Cord: Heh... forgive my use of a contraction. I was suggesting that you make it so we can NOT unlock/open doors while in combat. Both are doable now... Upon reconsideration, opening seems fine, but unlocking still seems a bit far fetched for someone in the midst of combat. > > > Winner: should be able to learn skill without practicing it in > > > guilds be using them many times to gain some % > > > > Cord: Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but that's basically the way > > things are now... pratice a skill once to "learn" it, and then, as you > > use it over and over, your percent does go up... > > Packor: She said learn, hehehehehhe. Winner wants to keep failing at > zero until she gets a 1% or 5% or so. Cord: Ahh, I see. Well, I think this might be a problem; would make it much to easy to accidentally "learn" out of guild skills that someone really doesn't want. And besides, I've never heard of anyone complaining that they have too *few* pratices... RESPONSES BY PACKOR TO MAY 29, 2001 NEWSLETTER: Darth: make peck and headbutt actually improve with levels, like roundhouse for humans, for example 'your headbutt strikes the mob on the temple' and make them stunned, or do an increased amount of damage, but only at higher levels Packor: notice that kick doesn't get better with levels. Peck and headbutt are similar. They are intended for low level balance, I believe. In higher levels enhanced damage does it all. If you really want a high damage skill, you'll have to play another class. Darth: a birthday command to find out your BR birthday, would be interesting to know Packor: I believe that should be included in profile, if it's added. Darth: make the blazing air making you tired actually make you tired, i.e. take of a fraction of your movement or something Packor: Might be a bug like enflame weapon's. Darth: an 'enflame armor' command - would be handy, esp. when enflame weapon is working... Packor: I just don't feel making spell casters too 'handy' is good. Especially when illithids no longer have the ability to enchant armor items. I also don't see how wearing flaming armor would be comfortable. Darth: being drunk should have a +AC -hit +dam effect - when you are drunk you get more aggressive and lose regard for personal sefety, but it shouldn't be too much of an effect and not level-based either, maybe race-based... Packor: damage has nothing to do with being aggressive. It's all about strength. You should be aware that drunkeness can also cause more cowardice. You are thinking more in terms with becoming insanely mad. Leshrac: make more damages above discombob, or perhaps a different set of damages for heroes? Packor: Having more damage messages before damp is not a bad idea, but... how far can you go after discombobulate, really? There's no room for the damps anymore if you got total annihation coming in... Also, morts want to have damps too :> and as previously stated, not much damage above discomb means heroes can't have another set of damage messages. Chromium: illithids should have a spell similar to identify, where they feel the aura of the creator of an object on the object and thus know what he or she intended the object to do. Packor: Think weak spell casters, divine creations, dadada. How can weak spell casters leave any aura on their items? If they are very powerful, how can a lowly illithid sense it? Psychics don't have the power to see fate or destiny, they are mind readers and telepaths.. Chromium: illithids should get dual, they are not THAT overpowered... or if they do it should be in the help and slist Packor: One phrase is all I need, POWERFUL SPELLS. Both defensive, offensive, restorive, and weakening, I might add. Very round spell caster. Did I mention strong magic? Anubis: an option to instead of seeing all the hits/misses per round of combat. have it just do some type of total damage delt and spells cast to cut down on the amount of text Packor: Significant reduction in rp aspect, if a lot of people really want it though... Brazen: have slist ig and oog as well, and possibly slist as other arguments... would be handy, not completely essential but still handy... Packor: We had some ideas about putting stars on oog skills and stuff. Level level isn't really needed though, a skill table is only about 2 pages, and not hard to read. Liquid: When you get hp from a sacrifice make it a permanant adjustment to your max hp, same with mana Packor: Yeah, sure. Everyone forget enhancing. Don't forget to create food and sacrifice it, and sacrifice your body parts, unwanted items, 1 gold coin's, and the like. Might as well add give 1000 exp for sacrifice as well :> Kiri's WWW of URLs: This is the funniest site in years: http://www.engrish.com/ Since I was away this week, that's my only link. More next week! Humor forwarded by Dove: THE RULES OF HOUSECLEANING 1. Vacuuming too often weakens the carpet fibers. Say this with a serious face, and shudder delicately whenever anyone mentions Carpet Fresh. 2. Dust bunnies cannot evolve into dust rhinos when disturbed. Rename the area under the couch "The Galapagos Islands" and claim an ecological exemption. 3. Layers of dirty film on windows and screens provide a helpful filter against harmful and aging rays from the sun. Call it an SPF factor of 5 and leave it alone. 4. Cobwebs artfully draped over lampshades reduces the glare from the bulb, thereby creating a romantic atmosphere. If your husband points out that the light fixtures need dusting, simply look affronted and exclaim, "What? And spoil the mood?" 5. In a pinch, you can always claim that the haphazard tower of unread magazines and newspapers next to your chair provides the valuable Feng Shui aspect of a tiger, thereby reducing your vulnerability. Roll your eyes when you say this. 6. Explain the mound of pet hair brushed up against the doorways by claiming you are collecting it there to use for stuffing hand sewn play animals for underprivileged children. 7. If unexpected company is coming, pile everything unsightly into one room and close the door. As you show your guests through your tidy home, rattle the door knob vigorously, fake a growl and say, "I'd love you to see our den, but Fluffy hates to be disturbed and the shots are SO expensive." 8. If dusting is REALLY out of control, simply place a showy urn on the coffee table and insist that "THIS is where Grandma wanted us to scatter her ashes..." 9. Don't bother repainting. Simply scribble lightly over a dirty wall with an assortment of crayons, and try to muster a glint of tears as you say, "Junior did this the week before that unspeakable accident... I haven't had the heart to clean it..." 10. Mix one-quarter cup pine scented household cleaner with four cups of water in a spray bottle. Mist the air lightly. Leave dampened rags in conspicuous locations. Develop an exhausted look, throw yourself onto the couch, and sigh, "I clean and I clean and I still don't get anywhere..." Sept 25, 2001 Welcome to the September 25, 2001 Newsletter from Barren Realms! NEWS FROM THE REALMS: AMystery: Ticket Quest My ticket quest has now ended. An amazing number of tickets were destroyed by people who either weren't getting from corpses and letting them melt or who had autosac on but not autoloot. The number destroyed was much more than the number recovered. 13 returned, 17 destroyed. In results, Hazard was first by finding several and trading or buying for several more. Gryn was second in a tie with Snarf These are the people who have 3 or more points and are elegable to participate in my semi-final round. Oldguy, Eitri, Cynic, Sykle, Isis, Iggypop, Snarf, Lacuna, Cord, Snipa, Wolfbane, Gryn, Hazard, Colador, Devilsangel Please contact me when I am online and you are ready to undertake your quest The rules are simple, you can use any spell or skill but locate object will be useless. The items are called "One point in the inanely hard quest" You will have to use either get all or autoloot to get the items, they have no keywords, which is why you cannot locate them . You can use any spell or skill otherwise. Only one person will be in the quest at a time and there is a 1 hour time limit for each person People who are not in the quest can help or hinder though. If you find an item you can give it to the quester, sell it to them or otherwise trade it to them (if the quester is a hero and you aren't then they cannot give you anything) Or you can just sac the item and not tell them which would hinder the quester. As a kind and generous person you would probably want to help... The items are not entirely hidden on random mobs but they are on mobs. most of the mobs are rather unique though, for example Xor is a unique mob (he doesn't have a point though) Good luck and happy hunting Darkcrad: tag quest results I had a tag quest earlier today and lotsa people showed up :) daliah won the tag quest cos of her fast running hahaha i would like to thank the people for joinign my quest :) it was really fun i maybe have more tag quests later thanks joy! you really helped the quest a lot :):) Kiri: this month's typos I had an OVERWHELMING amount of typos reported this time! Remember, the winner of the most verified typos reported gets a 1000 hp/mana/move stat raise. Remember, if you reported more than you see here, it's because someone else reported it before you and it was a duplicate, or because it couldn't be verified. Here we go: With one reported typo, we have Hugin, Isis, Dekaos, and Pyrrhuloxia. With 2, Leiland, 3, Hazard, 5, Snarf, 7, Evileye. Guinan, 17, Mana, 20, Redeemer, 25, and Remnant, 84. And the winner is: OLDGUY, with 284! Vain: Quest: The Southern Belle The lovely Belle has inspired me to conduct a quest, so here it is! As the young lady is a true southern Belle, she deserves to have some items that suit her. So please search the realms for the three items you feel best suit a southern Belle and have them ready to present at 8:00pm EST on september 29th. Both heros and mortals are invited to join in. No renames allowed! And creativity will count! The prize will be something cool befitting the level of the winner! PLEASE USE THE IDEA COMMAND OR EMAIL IDEAS & BIOS, AS I AM ALL OUT FOR THIS WEEK. BIO BY KIRI: 1) What's your BR name? * Kiri 2) What race/level are you? * 155/Druid 3) How did you pick your Br name? * From an opera singer, Kiri Te Kanawa 4) What's your favorite area? * Since I'm in charge of implementing areas and I'd like to see more submitted, I will reserve my opinion on this ;) 5) Where do you live (state or province/country)? * California, US 6) What do you do for a living? * Law student slave 7) If you're a college/grad student, whats your major? * College is over, but I was a law and society major. Now I'm a law student slave. 8) What do you want to be when you grow up? * I'm supposed to be a lawyer, I think. I'm not sure what I want yet. 9) Are you single? * Nope. 10) What are your hobbies? * reading, mudding, going to pretty places 11) What's the hardest thing you've ever had to do? * Survive a year of finding out more and more things that are wrong with me, and still finding out more. 12) Who do you most admire? * People who are unconditional in their love and their joy of life. 13) Which celebrity would you like to hook up with? * Heather Graham and/or Trent Reznor. 14) What's the last book you read (including for school)? * Thanks to Scavenger, I'm now reading the Harry Potter series. I highly recommend it! 15) What's the last movie you watched? Did you like it? * Momento. Yeah, it was pretty good. 16) If you could be anywhere in the world for a week, where would you go? * Milwaukee, Wisconsin. RESPONSES BY PACKOR TO NEWSLETTER JUNE 7, 2001 AMystery: be able to put mental barrier on mobs when writing areas. the spell lasts until someone attacks the mob then it goes for the normal one round Packor: How will it get the spell back? I mean other mobs must be dispelled, but with a MB mob you only have to attack. Leshrac: clericus should cast the newbie spells on you for a price Packor: I think he's only doing it because of the goodness of his heart, and does not feel like giving the service out to ppl. Faaip: Alignment movement should not happen until lvl 10. The character should stay neutral till then Packor: At low levels, there are already bad, good, and neutral items. Also, doing that makes it less realistic. Mv and alignment arn't major stats to worry about at the beginning anyway except for that. >>Blackwing: We should have hangovers in BR.. Such as new heroes who >>drank most of their mort lives couldn't move (or move with great cost) >> for 3 or 4 mud days Packor: 3 to 4 mud days is a lot of time, it encourages wizards to drop out of BR, or lose connection due to inactivity caused by the widely spread but non-contagious disease called boredom, :> which brings death or magically causes sleep to its victims. :> :> :> RESPONSES BY CORD TO NEWSLETTER JUNE 30, 2001 > > Mylo: incremental healing - each tick you heal a standard amount - how > > about the more you got hurt, the more you'd heal each tick, and as you > > got closer to full health the heal would lessen. This wouldn't really > > change the amount of time to get to full health. > > > Packor: One phrase: 1000 + hp. Maybe 600 + too. Takes an awful lot > longer time on steady gain rate. Note that you regen fastest sleeping, > faster resting, slow standing, and quite quickly drunk. We like to go > to the healer or get healing potions. Druids are good too. At your > level ( as you say incremental and steady doesn't vary much), it doesn't > matter much if you have to sleep to get to it, it's not that bad at all. Cord: I may have voiced this idea once before, but since the idea is bouncing around again, I'll throw it out for fun. I'd put a spin on Mylo's idea: The more ticks you sleep, without waking, the faster you heal. Even has a loose correlation with real life: the longer you sleep, the shorter the time span between each individual R.E.M. session. Just a thought. RESPONSES BY FOSSIL TO NEWSLETTER JULY 6, 2001 A comment regarding this newsletter item: >Well... in true rp style, you're gaining more and more endurance, so you >can move farther as you level more. In the mud, this is mostly useless as >people just use fly (spells, potions or gear) so they don't have to worry >about running out of movement in the first place. So... learning how to >use less movement across varied terrain isn't very useful in any case, as >everyone is always flying, instead. It seems to me that if the weather is bad enough, it might just "knock the fly out of you." Just a thought. RESPONSE BY BALTAR TO AUGUST 15, 2001 NEWSLETTER > Shiloh: a command to see your pets stats without making it report Try GROUP... Kiri's WWW of URLs: Lego's screening room, from Scavenger: http://www.lego.com/studios/screening/movie.asp?opt=qts Peep Surgery http://www.learnlink.emory.edu/peep/surgery.html Also from Scav, What Badgers Eat http://www.whatbadgerseat.com/ When Books Get Merged "Green Eggs and Hamlet" Would you kill him in his bed? Thrust a dagger through his head? I would not, could not, kill the King. I could not do that evil thing. I would not wed this girl, you see. Now get her to a nunnery. (Robin Parry, Arlington) "Machiavelli's The Little Prince" Antoine de Saint-Exupery's classic children's tale as presented by Machiavelli. The whimsy of human nature is embodied in many delightful and intriguing characters, all of whom are executed. (Erik Anderson, Tempe, Ariz.) "Fahrenheit 451 of the Vanities" An '80s yuppie is denied books. He does not object, or even notice. (Mike Long, Burke) "Where's Walden?" Alas, the challenge of locating Henry David Thoreau in each richly-detailed drawing loses its appeal when it quickly becomes clear that he is always in the woods. (Sandra Hull, Arlington) "Catch-22 in the Rye" Holden learns that if you're insane, you'll probably flunk out of prep school, but if you're flunking out of prep school, you're probably not insane. (Brendan Beary, Great Mills) "2001: A Space Iliad" The Hal 9000 computer wages an insane 10-year war against the Greeks after falling victim to the Y2K bug. (Joseph Romm, Washington) "The Maltese Faulkner" Is the black bird a tortured symbol of Sam's struggles with race and family? Does it signify his decay of soul along with the soul of the Old South? Is it merely a crow, mocking his attempts to understand? Or is it worth a cool mil? (Thad Humphries, Warrenton) "Jane Eyre Jordan" Plucky English orphan girl survives hardships to lead the Chicago Bulls to the NBA championship. (Dave Pickering, Bowie) "The Scarlet Pimpernel Letter" An 18th-century English nobleman leads a double life, freeing comely young adulteresses from the prisons of post-Revolution France. "The Invisible Man of La Mancha" Don Quixote discovers a mysterious elixir which renders him invisible. He proceeds to go on a mad rampage of corruption and terror, attacking innocent people in the streets and all the while singing "To fight the Invisible Man!" until he is finally stopped by a windmill. "Singing in the Black Rain" A gang of vicious Japanese druglords beat the daylights out of Gene Kelly. "Of Three Blind Mice and Men" Burgess Meredith has his limbs hacked off by a psychopathic farmer's wife. Did you ever see such a sight in your life? "Planet of the Grapes of Wrath" Astronaut lands on mysterious planet, only to discover that it is his very own home planet of Earth, which has been taken over by the Joads, a race of dirt-poor corn farmers who miraculously developed rudimentary technology and evolved the ability to speak after exposure to nuclear radiation. "Paradise Lost in Space" Satan, Moloch, and Belial are sentenced to spend eternity in a flying saucer with a goofy robot, an evil scientist, and 2 annoying children. "The Exorstentialist" Camus psychological thriller about a priest who casts out a demon by convincing it that there's really no purpose to what it's doing.