Volume Two Issue Fourteen
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............./ / THE LEGENDARY TIMES
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..../ /_/..\______/./_____/./__/.../__/./_______/ MUD
.../________________/ running on sylvester.cc.utexas.edu 9999
128.83.108.29 9999
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http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/Web/People/johnmil/legend/legend.html
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VOLUME TWO, ISSUE FOURTEEN Feb. 19th, 1995
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...:/:[ CONTENTS ]:\:...
IMMORTAL NEWS
- K'Mala resigns -
UPDATES AND ADDITIONS
- new spells! -
- average damage fixed -
- fixed spells -
- fixed repairs -
- area updates -
FUND DRIVE STATUS
ARTICLES
- the great playerkilling debate -
SOCIAL EVENTS
- Bremmar tells a story -
- Birdy and Peleg and Byron DEAD! -
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K'MALA RESIGNS
K'Mala is resigning from her position as immort at LegendMUD. She doesn't
have the time to do the duties of an immort because of RL pressures
(including bronchitis and pneumonia for her daughter, at the moment--
send her get-well cards!)
K'Mala will continue to work on her redesign of the skills system and will
present it to us when she has time. Nor will she be giving up the
management of the Legend Discussion List. She hopes to return to Legend
(and play a new character) once her free time has increased.
For now, however, K'Mala will be retired to the Hall of Legends, along
with her razor-sharp wit. :)
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NEW SPELLS
- WALL OF FOG is now in.
- WALL OF FIRE is now in. The damage it does will obey clan limitations.
- WALL OF STONE is now in.
Note that wall spells are directional. You have to cast them on a given
direction for them to work.
- DETECT ILLUSION is now in. Being affected by this spell will not only
permit you to see what are illusions and what are not, but will also
keep you from being damaged by doppelgangers, swords of light, or
affected by the above listed wall spells.
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ARMSLORE AND IDENTIFY OBJECT FIXED
These two now give the correct average damage for weapons which have no
special effect. Until this fix, they were giving 1/2 of the correct
average damage.
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FIXES IN SPELLS
- When you repair an object with the trueform spell, the armor class
change is now reflected immediately.
- Homunculus and doppelganger now give the correct names instead of
giving all the keywords.
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FIXES IN SKILLS
- Mend and repair now reflect the armor class change immediately when
you fix an armor item.
- Praise and satire should now give the correct names in the messages.
Also, they can no longer take you over 100 prestige or under 0.
- The medical skills field surgery and first aid now work properly, not
that there are any teachers for them yet. :)
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AREAS UPDATED
French-Indian War updated yet again, fixing some bad exits and upgrading
the difficulty of some of the Indians in the village.
Hell has been updated as well, with a few bug fixes and with the addition
of a few more Legendary characters to the Hall of Legends. Look for Sune,
Dew, Deathstalker, and K'Mala there!
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.' '.
.: FEATURE :.
'. ARTICLES! .'
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LIVING WITH PLAYERKILLING
by Ptah
Recently with the advent of Sylia and Bremmar as menaces to society and
as playerkillers with few compunctions and even less remorse, there has
been a great deal of argument and controversy over playerkilling (pk).
Let me start off by mentioning some of the things I have been asked to
do in the last few days:
- delete Sylia and Bremmar on the grounds that they are mean
- restrict pk to 5 levels instead of 10
- not permit you to clan till 15th or else enable permadeath at 10th
- ban immortals from playing clanned characters
- ban immortals from playing mortals at all
- remove all penalties and rewards from pk--no XP loss or gain
Some of the rumors I have had told to me:
- Bremmar cheated in a way that is not possible in the code
- immortals are in some sort of conspiracy to prevent players from levelling
- the mud officially encourages bullies
Let me start by assuring all of you that there is no such conspiracy, that
we as immortals were indeed concerned with how stagnant and dull the
clans had gotten, and to that end decided to liven things up with some
roleplay. (Please note that Sylia is not an immortal's character). But
immortals are not going on some pk rampage to destroy the playerbase. :P
We have no reason whatsoever to do this.
The immortals of Legend are not particularly willing to change the pk system
that has been working quite well till now. Most of the complaints center
around the fact that a well-prepared high lvl character can ambush and defeat
almost anyone. Unfortunately, this is true. Also unfortunately, this cannot
be coded against, nor should it be really as it is how life works.
Likewise, someone ambushed is at a severe disadvantage in any fight, and
there isn't much we can do about players getting killed because they were
not alert enough, not prepared enough, or not expecting attack. It is part
of the hazard of being pk enabled.
By my count we have the following conflicts going or near to going:
- Sylia and Bremmar have killed several Bards
- Sylia and Bremmar have killed a Knight
- Edith, an Antipaladin, has killed a Bard
- Someone has attempted to kill Edith
- Some Hermetics seem to side with Sylia and Bremmar despite the alliances
the Hermetics have with the Knights
All of the above are cases where the victim is someone with a substantial
support group behind them. Now is the time for the clans to serve their
defensive purpose; but it is not likely that the immorts will somehow
code things so that they don't have to.
What I can do is help you work on fighting strategies that can help you
survive the current violent climate.
1) remember, this is just a game
2) since you know who the violent people are, don't antagonize them unless
you intend to back it up with a fight. This includes activities such
as spying on them while invisible, guppy-bashing, or whatever else you
think might set off a homicidal maniac
3) never rest in the open where you are easily discovered, if you think you
are or might be on a Hit List. I suggest to you that currently all
Knights, Bards, and Antipaladins are on SOMEONE's hit list, as any of
the attackers above have grounds to consider themselves in danger from the
clans.
4) choose your ground. Don't fight in rooms with closeable exits. If you're
a water mage, don't fight on land or indoors. Don't move farther away
from your clan trans mob when someone is after you.
5) use your clan channels! This is the safest way to get in touch with your
friends, fill them in on the situation, and not reveal your location.
6) if you know that whoever is after is strong and you cannot fight them
toe to toe, make the tough call: honor or living to fight another day,
perhaps dishonorably. if you truly regard the enemy as a homicidal maniac
then they have no honor and you can feel free, I would think, to bash
their heads in next time you see them sleeping, and think that you have
done the world a favor. Maybe it'll get you expelled from your stuffy
clan, but you will have saved the world... think about it
7) surveillance of dangerous people is a must. Use clan channel and tells
to keep an eye out for likely killers. When you see them weakened, or
fighting a tough mob, may be the best chance to do them in.
8) Blind. Entrance. Stun. Weaken. Idiocy. Steal. Clumsiness. etc. The weaker
your opponent, the better chance you have of surviving.
9) Ambush, ambush, ambush. It is a military verity that the attacker has the
advantage.
10) Leave your escape routes open but try to block theirs. Kill their clan
trans mobs. Kill the innkeepers, if you can and dare. (Remember that this
will affect other people and may just get you more enemies).
11) Don't do it alone. Get help. And make the help the sort that plays to
your own weaknesses. Mages, find bards and tanks and healers. Warriors,
look for magical help and healing. A well-organized team can take ANYTHING.
12) make good use of tactics like shooting them from another room, throwing
things at them, etc, to lure them into places where you have the upper
hand.
13) If you really can't handle the heat, rent. This may get you called names
but you are ALIVE and can fight another day.
There are countless other tactics and methods, this just scratches the
surface. You could play friends, ask them to group with you in the Savanna,
then assist the elephant. You could do the Seoni jungle quest with them
and then leave them trapped in the tunnel. You could hire an assassin,
be it of the Assassin clan or not.
What I would beg you not to do is to spread more rumors about how the
immorts are out to get you, about how unfair the system is to the weak,
and about how players who are simply playing the game with an eye towards
capricious evil are necessarily jerks. Remember that the PLAYER and the
CHARACTER are not one and the same. Remember it's only a game, albeit
one a lot like real life in some ways.
Just like real life, the strong can prey on the weak, until the weak get
organized. This is why you have CLANS and aren't all rogues. It's time for
the clans to take some action.
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FUND DRIVE STATUS
TOTAL CASH IN HAND: $120
TOTAL DONORS: 1
ROUGH TOTAL PLEDGED: $800
TOTAL PLEDGES: 10
NUMBER OF FORMS MAILED: 0
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o O | Wonder what folks are |
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The following account arrived in the LT offices written in a bloodied
hand... certainly the supposed author of the piece has done his share
of murders recently:
"Following their duel in Ireland, the Dirty Pair were off to Industrial
Bengal, where they had a run in with Greyscot. Apparently, this encounter
started in a series of yells, with Greyscot inquiring about the presence
of the Dark Lord, and mentioning that he was going to 'clean his tank.'
When it was affirmed by Sylia that the Dirty Pair, not the Dark Lord, was in
Bengal, Greyscot asked whether they needed *their* tank cleaned. Bremmar
replied with a query about Greyscot's ability to do such cleaning. At this
point, having met face-to-face, Greyscot responded with remarks about not
being able to 'change air filters' or 'clean algae.' Bremmar, by now, was
quite willing to engage in a little swordplay, but unfortunately was unable
to, due to level restrictions. Both he and Sylia voiced encouragement to
Greyscot in his attempts at gaining a level. Greyscot took this to mean
they wanted to slay him, but the two never actually voiced this. Eva
arrived at this point in the conversation, and told the Dirty Pair that
Greyscot was under her protection. Bremmar pleaded the favor of their long
friendship, but Eva persisted in defending Greyscot's honor. Finally,
Bremmar agreed to let the Scotsman live if he apologized for his rude manner
towards him. Greyscot responded with: 'Well, if you didn't want to kill me,
I apologize for saying that you did.' Ergo, he did not apologize. Bremmar
let the matter be, and Eva gave him a peanut-butter cookie before the Dirty
Pair departed Bengal. On leaving, Bremmar was heard to mutter something
about 'kept boytoys' and how Greyscot's life wasn't worth the bribe of the
cookie."
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And indeed a night later, the Dirty Pair were at it again... only this time
it resulted in a trio of deaths. It seems Eretz was exploring Canada with
Hunter_Rose when he began having link troubles... there's dispute over what
happened next, but some witnesses claim Assassins were involved, others say
that Sylia was responsible. Eretz's items were stolen from him and Sylia
auctioned them off saying that they had been laying on the ground.
Well, it turns out that there was a group of Bards who rushed to Eretz's
assistance... the group was accompanied by Birdy, Knight of Legend. Sylia
and Bremmar discovered they were there despite their invisibilty. Later on
when Birdy and Byron and Peleg were in the inn in London, the Dirty Pair
ambushed them, slaying all three!
The repercussions from this event are still being felt. It is uncertain what
sort of clan enmities may result from this. At the very least, the Dirty
Pair have now made enemies of the Knights and the Bards, and rumor has it
that they may be declared outlaws by the clans and hunted down and killed.
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...then again, maybe not. There seems to be dissension within the ranks
of one of the uninvolved clans. The Hermetic Order has a treaty with the
Knights, as well as a long-standing friendship; but Sylia is after all
an ex-Hermetic and retains many friends within the Order. Among them:
Eva and Magda, both of whom remain on good terms with Sylia and seem
reluctant to take action against her. What's Rusalka saying? Well, she's
not saying anything in particular, though mutters have been heard about
resigning...!
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Legendary Times is put out by the gods of LegendMUD. Please send all
replies/additions to [email protected] for inclusion in the next
edition. We, however, reserve the right to moderate this discussion,
and may object to some submissions. If you feel we have wrongly omitted
one of your messages, please talk to either Kaige or Ptah online or
through EMail and see if we did indeed receive it in the first place.
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