Dissemination of Information

[Hoodoo]

The problem inherent in this discussion in the past is this: while the problems of elite knowledge primarily coming from imms sharing obfuscatory keywords with their mortal friends are time-honored, and by far the most prevalent method for info like Uth vault or anything connected to Don Righ to be "discovered".... in order to get changes, we have to ask the people who most benefit to deliberatelu make their personal experience worse in order to make the general game experience better.

After all... why would someone who already received the benefits kf cheated knowledge want others to receive the same, or for the barrier to that knowledge to be lowered? That barrier is what makes him special.

[Kam]

Zones that have ridiculous keywords like this really don't make it into the game anymore.

I'm happy to have anyone send me a list of specific keywords that might need to be looked at and simplified or have better clues or whatever.

[blackmagus]

The problem inherent in this discussion in the past is this: while the problems of elite knowledge primarily coming from imms sharing obfuscatory keywords with their mortal friends are time-honored, and by far the most prevalent method for info like Uth vault or anything connected to Don Righ to be "discovered".... in order to get changes, we have to ask the people who most benefit to deliberatelu make their personal experience worse in order to make the general game experience better.

After all... why would someone who already received the benefits kf cheated knowledge want others to receive the same, or for the barrier to that knowledge to be lowered? That barrier is what makes him special.

I know you've never sat at the big boys table before, but it's not full of lobster and chocolate pudding like you think it is.

[Hoodoo]

*chuckle* I have either clanned with, or zoned extensively with, every clan in which I was ever interested.  Wouldn't have minded seeing more, but I have no complaints... and what I learned, I learned honest.

Fact is, I spent extensive solo time over three wipes learning kws in Terk zones which, when I shared how I learned them/figured them with people from major pk clans, earned me a laugh... because info like that was simply exoected to be handed to other people in major clans.  Same with Archimedes zones, and most of the other zones/solos I do. I played since Hobbes, know more than most, and had very little handed to me.

Of course, I would have wished to have had an easier time.. but such was not to be my fate.  Can't say I'm sorry about that, in the end.

[Stylus]

I guess I'd propose a spell/skill (Ex. Inspect)  that allows a player to see what objects have a purpose.  Once you "inspect" that trough and it glows green, by all means sit there until you get the magical "quickly nap trough" x3 (with 2 goblin corpses in your inventory) combination.

I know it's way too much work, but what would be really nice if attempts gave some kind of hint - "break trough" would give "don't you feel too sleepy for that?"  anything that would give the feeling of progress.

Neat idea!

[Alecto]

***UPDATE*** I just received confirmation that the Solace Sewer trough is just a water container in the zone. Dreams do come true!

[eli]

Majority of zone keywords should be like a copyright, expires at some point and enters the public domain. Especially true for old zones.

[Dagda]

Zones that have ridiculous keywords like this really don't make it into the game anymore.

I'm happy to have anyone send me a list of specific keywords that might need to be looked at and simplified or have better clues or whatever.

Does anyone who plays even have a clue how to solve emerald short sword anymore? It seems that quest is basically a cheat code.

[Kadaj]

"Does anyone who plays even have a clue how to solve emerald short sword anymore? It seems that quest is basically a cheat code."


You know, it's stuff like this that I would love to get the background details on. Like random stuff with no clues for anything but somehow got solved. It's a whole lot of nothingness that seems so crazy that it got solved.

[Hoodoo]

Last I heard, key to getting past that bookcase is a literal paragraph keyphrase from Weis and Hickman's novels, not otherwise mentioned in game.

[SArT]

 

Does anyone who plays even have a clue how to solve emerald short sword anymore? It seems that quest is basically a cheat code.

Unsure if it changed since I played seriously last.. but that is definitely solvable. Essentially quests like this come from doing other quests and having some weird remainder in your inventory.. and not just throwing it in the dump.

Newer players need to realize that there are a lot of quests that are not just isolated to a single zone.

Look at who created the zones.. explore all the zones by the same creator at the same time and get use to the way they write and think.

Look at all the zones by members of a faction that were created during a certain time period and look for similarities.

I wasn't looking for the blue ornate set when I was the first to discover it years ago.. it just happened to be there at the end of many days of exploring a particular zone. I was channeling my inner Hoss.. and was exploring zones built by his clannies and friends.

[Kholos]

If you come across something you think is wrong or not working feel free to ask or submit a bug report. Usually you can get an answer that either a) it's working as intended b) it's not a thing or at least c) if it's deemed too obscure it might be looked into. It really boils down to the zone creator adding messaging to keep you on track. Fortunately, zones go through a much stricter review than older ones.

As for opening your wall, maybe consider pulling a lever in a different room to open it. It's rare that a kw is a simple verb noun combination. Also consider a more intricate design where a certain order of operations will reveal a new area. Is it complex? Yes. But there should be clues or indications in the zone. Most zones are not intended to be solved in one go. You do what you can, develop a theory, and come back and try again.

Regardless of the complexities of high level zones, there is still tons of content that doesn't require kws to solve. There is a lot of content that you may not experience (IE gear) that you don't even know loads because the item is always maxed.

[oom]

In the past people grouped around a lot more. Now people seem to be much more insulated as a whole, maybe it's because the hardcore groups of friends stuck around and the soloers slowly died off. Either way, information used to spread organically a lot more than it does now. At this point most groups of people kind of know what they know and it doesn't much change without some outside help.

I would say that maybe some of the same people complaining about decays "because we're old and don't have time to chase decays" might be able to understand where others are coming from on this topic. There are zones I've explored on and off for literally 5 or 6 years and still haven't 100% solved. I do enjoy solving zones but if people want help and put forth some effort I see no reason, other than greed, to not want to help them out.

On the topic of dissemination of information... Why the hell can't we get some actual help files about stuff. What do stats actually do? Is 5 learn better than 1int when i study a book? What about a charm? What about when I'm learning? Is 4dex better than 10 bash? What do my spells do? The lack of information about how things work in this game is ridiculous to me. It's a game for nerds and it hides all of the math. I would have a lot more fun and maybe a lot of items/prep etc people constantly overlook would see more use. I just don't get this magic behind the scenes crap. I'll also say I think it's BS that some people know the behind the scenes magic from current or past status on the wizlist, or from shared info, and others don't and probably never will. It's one of the things that honestly has sapped a portion enjoyment of this game from me.

[Rajel]

I dunno; I skimmed this thread and I THINK I disagree in part... that this game continues to have mysteries is what has kept me coming back, on occasion, for 20 years.  On that note, being a soloist by nature has not helped on that front.  I think I should find me a guild.

[Alecto]

As a point of reference:
I have played this game every wipe since 1993. I have several zones in the game, and contributed so several more. I am currently active on creation. I am in one of the big clans that runs all the end-game content. I still have no idea if 4 dex is better than 5 bash (I'm pretty sure 10 bash is better, at least if you are trying to bash). Someone just told me that -AC impacts how quickly you learn parry. I cannot even figure out if its true or not, and I have more access to this game than about 95% of the players!

Arctic has always been a mystery, and the mysteries don't suddenly become apparent when you hit a certain point or make a certain friend. That mystery is part of its appeal, and is why the most cutting-edge technology of 1993 still drives an aging player-base to incur the wrath of their spouses and spend quality time sitting in front of a computer reading and typing really fast.