The trouble with valk...

[Weasel]

I thought the 4x20 chars were around because of Valk restricts, not tri tokens.. once they've got their stats anyway ..and actually there are (or at least used to be) the occasional quests restricted to those levels or held on Valk, which I would guess is why some people kept chars at that level. The sleeves forge recently added is another good reason for keeping a Valker char.

Who cares if someone wants to keep a Valker anyway, that's their choice and wont effect your own play in any way whatsoever. Err.. I kind of went off topic I think.. The issue was what, exp bonuses? At those levels, seriously, who gives a toss? At higher levels it seems to level out, so no worries. Valk is about gaining experience as opposed to gaining experience [i:2j07enep]points[/i:2j07enep] I believe, so why worry, almost everyone seems pretty happy with it, so why mess with it? Worried about the diff between level 17 and level 20 prime in groups? Then level up - it doesn't take long.

[*juggleblood*]

[quote="Weasel":112bs8jw]Who cares if someone wants to keep a Valker anyway, [/quote:112bs8jw]

I'm not against it. I'd just advise players who are new to the game to focus on getting stats and getting off vk because xp cap at level 20 stinks and the higher level skills/spells are better.

[13]

and because valk sucks

[PolkAdotS]

[quote="Rynquald"]Sa is indeed the most spectacular example, because he maintains hard xp runs longer than anyone else has. But on a per-hour basis, anyone that knows how to handle stab/blast can match it. Frankly, I should know, I've been taking advantage of high speed stab/blast xp for a long while.[/quote]

Ya know Rynquald it's a shame we never ran more often together. We would have been able to run maaaaaaaaaaassive amounts of exp. Err except you've got a 5x40 thief anyway. Wish I could still play *sniff* ...this is a test to see how long it is going to take someone to go right onto the 'being an asshole' defense and begin calling me names. They're jealous cause I got a better stab than Autolycos and he spent MONTHS trying to get 2 razors. Someone stole my eq, deal with it.

[Yinao]

I've yet to see valkers run with razors, find a new thread poser

[Tap]

How did they steal your equipment when you quit! out? Did a mate come by while you were in a can and quit! you out and disconnect? I hope you do make it back. If you just make a new char, I can set you up with some newbie gear to help you get started.

[aeole]

[quote="PolkAdotS":32rlvg36]Someone stole my eq, deal with it. [/quote:32rlvg36]

Boo-hoo. Quit your bitching and just leave already instead of teasing us with your empty promises and whiny posts. Between you and Yasik, I don't know who is worse for posting inane, off-topic crap on every thread you can get your dirty little hands on, regardless of what the topic actually is about, while Yasik apparently posts as many times as he possibly can simply to get his numbers up. What matters is that it winds up being all about poor pitiful you. Apparently, neither one of you can read, otherwise you would start your own Yasik and Polk Whines about Sloth thread and leave all the other topics alone. Maybe then your posts would be on topic at least some of the time. In fact, I will even start it for you so that you two can troll and flame each other all you want.

As for your "missing" eq, Polk, either shut up and pop more or follow through with your threat/promise to leave. Here is the bottom line: you quit! out. Plainly and simply put, the imms are NOT going to reimburse your eq. Period. YOU were the one who screwed up, so suck it up and chalk it up to bad experience or.....leave. Quit!ing is not accidental. In fact, I seem to remember you bragging that you were going to quit! out and sit there and wait until game either crashed or reset so that you could "be sure the eq poofed." Well, you got what you wanted. It poofed. Now shut up about it. No one sympathizes with you in the least, and your oh-so-wise decision to log in and firestorm that group and kill people the other day was another nail in your coffin. What was the point of that, anyway? "I'm not getting what I want, wah-wah-wah so I am going to take out my temper tantrum on people who have no relevance to the problem to punish you imms." Really smart there, Darwin. If before anyone had considered having pity on you and helping you out, now for sure they won't bother. And if you think anyone is threatened by your "threat" to email Jake to try to get him to do whatever it is you want, think again. Jake doesn't look kindly upon someone intent upon disrupting the harmony of his mud. Jake is not on your side, kiddo.

In the immortal words of Tap: MAKE A NEW CHAR.

[Autolycos]

[quote="PolkAdotS":1lg5dm2d]They're jealous cause I got a better stab than Autolycos and he spent MONTHS trying to get 2 razors. [/quote:1lg5dm2d]

only stab better then mine is Vaire.

[firebrand]

[quote="aeole":261vd1c9]In the immortal words of Tap: MAKE A NEW CHAR.[/quote:261vd1c9]

ack! one brad is enough on this mud. we don't need two! hell, brad's chars comprise at least one-half of the current playerbase as it is

"28 days... 6 hours... 42 minutes... 12 seconds. that... is when the world... will end." -frank -->donnie darko

[12345]

I used to power-level people on Valk. Its actually very easy. I watched the shops and bought up greenish rings, the kobold helms and other equipment without restrictions and mailed them to a character on Valk. Transferred the stuff over whenever I made a char. You can run AC 2 with a level 1 character without too much trouble. Send yourself about 50k gold, and run 2 man.

The trick is, if you're the same level as the person you're leveling, you each get 50% of the xp. And if you know how to play the game, you can make up a level 1 warrior with double attack and wreak havoc. Set the other guy up with a holy sword or dagger to collect work xp and you're off like a shot.

A quick note on power leveling. Get them to level 1x20 as fast as possible. At level 20 the xp cap is 800k. At 19 prime, its 350k. Lower levels give less. Unless its a quick level to pick up the armor spell or double attack, concentrate on getting to 1x20. Once they're at max Valk cap they can benefit quite a bit from joining the random xp group or at least deflect a bit of the power-sponging that your 4x20 will do if you decide to break them out.

Second trick... stay a few levels behind them. Once they're higher level than you, they get most the xp. You can get someone to 1x20 very rapidly. Hit the auction house in BH and get them equipped on the cheap.

The trick with xp is that all the areas in the game are have a formula. Elders in Newbatia are cake with AC 6, a red potion and holy sword. Bugbears in Blasters AC 4, a red potion, holy sword. Autumnal, AC -7 for everything except warty, dragon, kender and hunter. Ersa is -7, curse, blind (poison if you have it). Catacombs, AC -6, curse, blind, holy sword. Stalkers, AC -8, curse, blind weaken. Theris, AC -9, damn, blind. Upper Cano, AC -9, damn, blind weaken. Lower Cano, AC -10, damn blind weaken. MH, -10, curse/damn, blast. Dmount...

I can do this all day. Once you know what you need in each area its just a matter of getting it and running the area. Running 2-man stab/blast is like showering in XP. If the blaster is any good you'll get raised when you die and you don't have to sweat shocking much.

In short, levels are quick once you learn the game. If more people are learning it, that's a good thing because the big complaint before was that too many people were botting in groups and had no idea how to play the game.

[Atwell]

[quote="12345":3r80h30y]The trick with xp is that all the areas in the game are have a formula. Elders in Newbatia are cake with AC 6, a red potion and holy sword. Bugbears in Blasters AC 4, a red potion, holy sword. Autumnal, AC -7 for everything except warty, dragon, kender and hunter. Ersa is -7, curse, blind (poison if you have it). Catacombs, AC -6, curse, blind, holy sword. Stalkers, AC -8, curse, blind weaken. Theris, AC -9, damn, blind. Upper Cano, AC -9, damn, blind weaken. Lower Cano, AC -10, damn blind weaken. MH, -10, curse/damn, blast. Dmount...[/quote:3r80h30y]

Good to see you around, 12354 . Sage advice.

[Poggle]

My somewhat limited experience leads me to agree with 12345 in that gaining levels is not a problem.

However, there is one aspect of this game that I believe could be tweaked to make it a bit more newbie-friendly...and what is the point of VK if it is not a newbie-friendly starting area where new players can learn the ropes of this rather challenging MUD?

This aspect is EQ. 12345 mentions that each area has a formula...each requires a certain amount of AC and a basic strategy for general success. However, if there isn't enough AC to be had, success is a bit difficult. And at the moment, AC is difficult to find because there is a lack of information in-game, and newbies haven't memorized EQlist just yet.

I propose the following system for increasing the amount of information available to newbies:

Make notes drop randomly on mobs newbies can kill, informing them of the location of items or spellbooks which are going to be very useful in the near future, and which they can also pop by themselves or with a peer.

example:

note found on the corpse of an elderly man

Dear Grandpa,
It's terrible! That mean old stone fish snuck up while I was playing on Aisholm beach and stole that nice orange spellbook you bought me! Maybe when daddy gets back from Castle Black he'll help me go teach that stone fish a lesson.
Katie

I think something like this system would keep newbies interested in the game long enough that they could start to enjoy it, while also encouraging safe exploration of other areas. By all means, keep it tough to get equipment, but at least give them a reasonable starting place.

[jezer]

[quote="Poggle":oaahgp0k]My somewhat limited experience leads me to agree with 12345 in that gaining levels is not a problem.

However, there is one aspect of this game that I believe could be tweaked to make it a bit more newbie-friendly...and what is the point of VK if it is not a newbie-friendly starting area where new players can learn the ropes of this rather challenging MUD?

This aspect is EQ. 12345 mentions that each area has a formula...each requires a certain amount of AC and a basic strategy for general success. However, if there isn't enough AC to be had, success is a bit difficult. And at the moment, AC is difficult to find because there is a lack of information in-game, and newbies haven't memorized EQlist just yet.

I propose the following system for increasing the amount of information available to newbies:

Make notes drop randomly on mobs newbies can kill, informing them of the location of items or spellbooks which are going to be very useful in the near future, and which they can also pop by themselves or with a peer.

example:

note found on the corpse of an elderly man

Dear Grandpa,
It's terrible! That mean old stone fish snuck up while I was playing on Aisholm beach and stole that nice orange spellbook you bought me! Maybe when daddy gets back from Castle Black he'll help me go teach that stone fish a lesson.
Katie

I think something like this system would keep newbies interested in the game long enough that they could start to enjoy it, while also encouraging safe exploration of other areas. By all means, keep it tough to get equipment, but at least give them a reasonable starting place.[/quote:oaahgp0k]

Can someone make Poggle a coder? Thx.

[Tap]

That's a pretty neat idea. It's almost "questish" in newbie form with the reward being something a newbie could use immediately. Good Job.

[Gimlet]

brilliant idea