Sunday, March 27, 2016

File under Funny - College Job

In the early 1990's, I had a "job" watching the computer rooms at my school. I didn't take much effort, either it was nailed down or too old to be of use to the average student. I wasn't required to know anything about computers. Which was good, because I didn't. 

One day, a guy who had interviewed for the very job I currently held came in the room. He knew a lot about computers and for whatever reason wasn't given the job. I think he had a relative at the school and it was a political thing. Anyone but him as show of "fairness". 

His sudden appearance set off alarm bells. He was acting oddly, fidgeting with stuff and moving from work station to work station. Since the room was fairly full, it was a distraction. If someone got up, he plopped himself in to the empty chair and fidgeted before moving on. Final, I asked him what he was doing. 

He muttered something and turned bright red. It was clear he was both angry and embarrassed. I asked him to repeat himself and he shouted "I'm cleaning mouse balls!" 

I nearly died.




Thursday, March 24, 2016

Old Voln Symbol List

I was looking at some old logs and noticed one of my characters accessed the old Voln Symbol list.
For those who wish to see the old stuff:
Symbol list
Symbols known to you:
Symbol of Recognition
Symbol of Blessing
Symbol of Thought
Symbol of Recovery
Symbol of Courage
Symbol of Protection
Charl’s Throw
Kai’s Punch
Phoen’s Kick
Symbol of Calming
Symbol of Sleep
Symbol of Turning
Symbol of Mana
Symbol of Sight
Symbol of Holiness
Symbol of Submission
Symbol of Restoration
Symbol of Need
Symbol of Retribution
Charl’s Improved Throw
Kai’s Improved Punch
Phoen’s Improved Kick
Symbol of Preservation
Symbol of Dreams
Symbol of Return
Symbol of Invitation

Sunday, March 20, 2016

How to get the Deeds done – Wehnimer’s Landing Temple

Deeds are critical to avoiding death’s sting. Obtaining Deeds in The Landing is fairly easy and is one of my favorite places to purchase Deeds.
The basic formula for deeds is:
101 coins for the deed plus your level times 100 plus the current number of deeds times 100.
This formula works in the Landing, River’s Rest, the Caravansary, and Icemule Trace.
There are a couple of caveats, in River’s Rest you may only use gems. In Hearthstone Manor you may use wands but no coins. In the Temple in The Landing, gems are worth triple their value. In Northern Caravansary you may only use items while in Icemule Trace you can use items in addition to wands but no coins.
In Wehnimer’s Landing, the temple accepts silvers and/or gems, and the gems are worth triple their value. This appears to be the best value for your money.
Enter the temple, go through the black arch, go through the tapestry, use the mallet to hit the chime two times then kneel. Drop your gems and coins and hit the chime again.
If you attempt to kneel before hitting the chime twice you will receive a warning. Once complete, you are escorted from the room.
Trivia 1: In the old days, there used to be ONE tapestry and people would line up to use it. You literally had to wait for others to figure out the puzzle.
Trivia 2: The Caravansary sells a Ruby for 5000 coins. By the formula, one Ruby will always be enough for one deed for characters 100 levels or less and having less than 48 deeds. For the 49th deed, you need to drop one coin and for each deed beyond that you need to drop an additional 100 silvers. This is only possible at the temple not the Caravansary’s deed shrine.

Game Mechanic Shafts

Sorcerers are known to have one of the cruelest game mechanic shafts – low strength and/or constitution and a requirement to tote a ton of kit to work spells. Many spells require some sort of component: 740, 735, 725, and 714 just to name the major ones. Bottles, rune stones, ink, paint brushes, pens, chalk and so on.
For this reason, I role play a slightly built sorcerer with glasses and robes. No one should be surprised when he rummages in his backpack for a bottle or sack for some found prize instead of wielding a weapon.
This isn’t the greatest mechanical screw in the game. I think the record holder is the old Tapestry in the Temple, Wehnimer’s Landing’s. Back in the day, the Tapestry was a unique item and space. One character at a time could enter that part of the Temple. So, queue it up and play nice for a deed. Yes, one deed because you were pitched out by the acolytes, just as you are now.
This mechanic was removed years ago, but I still recall the wall of text and line of characters waiting their turn.

Back in the Rest

I finally reactivated my account and now have my main character, Magarven back in River’s Rest.
A lot has change since I left three years ago. Sorcerer’s have Balefire (713) and a new version of Nightmare (713). I managed to curse myself right in front of a bunch of trolls. Actual trolls, tomb trolls.
Years ago, I used to be a master of this area. I would lay down a cloud of Nightmare and then rely on Maelstrom (710) or Pain (711) to wipe out the trolls. That doesn’t seem to work anymore. The trolls have far too many HP. Perhaps they were tweaked or perhaps I am rusty. In any event, I discovered that the lower levels of the Citadel are more to my liking.
As a Volner, I am enjoying the changes to the Order. Symbol of Mana is much better and Symbol of Seeking is amazing. The ability to seek out undead and teleport there from any monastery is wonderful.
As I explore all of the updates, I hope to see you in the game.