Invisible Dragons and Wet Diapers

So we got a new creature in yesterday's server update. After several hours of some of the best "hunters" in the game looking for it, myself included, thoughts went back to how I'd suggested an invisible huntable creature years ago.

With that in mind, I started using true sight on main C2 maps and running around. Out of luck, I actually ran into this new creature in NRM. Turned out to be an invisible dragon (size of a little blue).

With more luck, as it turns out it can poof and change maps before you kill it, I managed to kill him before he did so.

That drop was a banana (use currently unknown) and 11,662 gc. Not bad at all!


I spent most of the rest of the day trying to hunt it down, but was unable to find it again. Only one other person managed to kill it the whole day.


Difficulty: Very High - and in a rare twist, not due to a/d like most everything else added these days, but due to how hard he is to find.

Reward: Perfect for such a difficulty level.


This is possibly the most unique creature to be added to the game in a very long time. Requires a style very different from everything else to hunt it down. It finally gives a good regular everyday use for True Sight potions and magic.

I'm looking forward to trying to hunt him down again in the future. It's great to finally have something added to the game that's not geared solely towards people with high a/d, but actually provides a challenge instead.

Wet Diapers

But of course, people with wet diapers hate challenges. They want the exact same shit, handed to them on a plate. Anything that involves them actually having to look for something makes them pee their diapers even more.

Fuck each and every one of them.

Waaaaaah! It's not what I want! Waaaaaaaah! Fucking Waaaaaaaaah!

Radu may have been in error in calling it an "endgame" creature, but that's no excuse whatsoever for the childish whining that followed because of it. Channel 6 has far too many 5-year-olds still in diapers.

Shit gets added all the time that I can do absolutely nothing with. Hell, even with this update (though we think it's broken on the NPC), the new powerups that act somewhat like saving stones. I'll never use them because I don't do the Luxin quests which are required to get them.

You won't see me fucking crying like my diaper's wet over them, though. Nor that I can't handle little pink dragons. Nor any other addition over the past few years that's well beyond my ability to do.

If you don't like or can't do something, you just don't do it. Others can, and trying to ruin *their* experience is the ultimate form of childishness.

This shit happens with everything that's unique and different. These crying little shits can't handle such things. They want something that's exactly the same, requiring the exact same gameplay, and if that diverts in even the slightest way, their tears are rolling.

Almost everything new that is unique risks removal solely because of these crying fuckers.

I have a better suggestion for radu: For the crying fuckers that wanted an "endgame" creature, just end their fucking game. That's what they want, give it to them.


Personally I don't like the term "endgame" in any way used for EL.



Shit, in about two weeks we get a client update including new map additions. Three of the largest additions were designed with high a/d-ers and invasioners in mind. Two of those were my idea. Despite the fact that I rarely participate in invasions and certainly don't do high-a/d things, I added things anyway that I'd personally have little use for.

Why? Because I'm not the only player, nor is my play style the only acceptable one in a game like this.

They should be happy I don't take their childish approach. If I did, the only map changes would end up being for harvers and mixers. I don't stoop so low as to fuck up the game for everyone else.

Whiny fuckers, you're the problem with EL. And I truly hope radu takes my suggesting to end the game for anyone whining they want an "endgame" item to heart, instead of ruining what is an excellent new addition over you whiny little twits.

If we lose this excellent new addition over these whiny fucks, I'll have to rethink what I want to spend months working on when the time comes for 1.9.5. I don't want to be adding more for the same people who take away from the game for others. They're not worth wasting my time on.

Guard Bots... Not Very Guarding

With all the ways you can easily slip past guard bots, it's really not doing its job by being PKable, in a PK map and moving around.

Oh yeah, secrets requiring use-with items added as a redundancy. Still doesn't fully protect the map, as secrets tend to get out. (Not from me, but... all it takes is one disgruntled ex-guildie.)

The Almost-Perfect Guard

There's really only one way a bot could protect a map from being entered. And it involves absolutely no PK.

1) The start of your map should have the only way in include an area where only 1 person at a time could walk.

2) That start area of the map should be set as "no magic".

3) That start area should *not* be PK.

4) Code the bot to stand in the area where only 1 person at a time can walk. Code him to move only when guild members or designated friendlies come within two paces of him. He steps out of the way to allow them to pass.


It's not pk, so an unfriendly can't do anything to make the bot move.
It's no-magic, so an unfriendly can't tele-to-range past the bot.


Now there's other issues of course, but done right this would handle keeping out most everyone that's not wanted.


Issues:
1) Bot goes offline - Not really an issue, since that can happen with a pk guard bot as well. But during that time, the map's a free-for-all like any guild map would be.

2) Unwanted player finds map, stands nearby waiting for a friendly to get the bot to move.

Yeah, that would require someone with seriously no life, willing to sit around all day doing nothing. But we already have some types like that in the game, so... ;-)

You'd have to figure out how to handle that. (Guard bots have True Sight, so they'd see the unfriendly even if the friendly doesn't.)



The bonus: No PK, all the bot does is move for a friendly to enter, so even a brand new character could be used as the bot. No having to train-up a character.

The added bonus: Your guard bot will not become [@PK central @ 6] fodder like some others have.


Just a random thought... Okay, back to your boring harvesting with ya. ;-)

Concerning Guild Map Entrances

(Reference: http://www.eternal-lands.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=59313 )

A situation seems to have arisen. Years of moderators (and most others for that matter) thinking guild map entrances were considered secret was quashed recently as radu apparently stated that they were not, in fact, secrets.

The usual all-too-familiar-names have their panties in a bunch because mods had said before to them that they were secrets when someone got in trouble for publicly announcing one on channel 6.

And of course, without knowing any facts, they played the blame game. "Power-mongering mods" and other such stupidly childish shit being said. From people you expect stupidly childish shit from, naturally.

The simple fact is this, as both mods Aislinn and Maxine stated in the above-linked thread: As far as anyone knew, guild maps were secret. There was never discussion of it, it was just assumed that people who pay that much money for a map would get some semblance of protection in the form of not having their locations randomly spewed by inconsiderate, thoughtless types on public channels.

What makes a location deemed secret?

 On the subject of secrets in general... I've always considered anything which does not have a directly normal entrance to be a secret.

Cave entrances, doors, boats. These are obvious, and as such none could be deemed a secret.

If it's not directly obvious, it's a secret.

- You have to "use with" a specific item on something to enter.

- You have to click ("use") something that is not a normal entrance. A random rock, a cobweb, a cork, a tree, a sword on the ground, whatever.

These are considered secret throughout the game. Some (EVTR mine for example) are less secret than others, of course. But no matter how "non-secret" such secrets are, you're not permitted to post them on official channels.

The rule on secrets applies to official channels. Nothing stops anyone from giving such info through PM, or GM, or whatnot.

It's not permitted to link to sites that give secrets publicly either. Which is why this blog never has secrets on it. Not that I normally post links to it in the game, but I can.

All Guild Entrances Fall Under Those Secret Definitions

Some more secret than others, just like regular game secrets, but every single one is either "using" an odd non-entrance object, or you have to "use with" an item on something.

As such, it's fully understandable that, considering the issue had never been brought up before until one thoughtless type recently decided to disrespect the map owner and post entrance instructions, all such entrances were considered secret.

I Disagree

Just as every moderator who has spoken on the issue has said, I agree with them. They should, in fact, be considered secret and as such not open for discussion on official channels per the rule.

Yes, I'm disagreeing with radu's decision on this. It happens on occasion. This is one of those times. Based on what's been seen so far he probably has the whole mod team disagreeing with him as well, or at least the overwhelming majority. I seriously doubt any map owners agree with his decision, either.

Honestly, not that they're exactly hot items anymore, but I can't see why anyone would buy a guild map at this point, if they can't get that one simple ounce of respect to not have their entrances publicly posted, and treated like any other secret. Especially considering how much they cost.

To All Guild Map Owners

As you know and can see on the right column on this page, I have been doing image blog entries of guild maps. There are still many more I have to do, and I do know all but about 6-7 of the 30+ maps' locations. Even if your map hasn't been done yet, there's a high chance I've already been on it, and it'll show up here.

But do not let that concern you. I do not provide entrance locations to anyone (except one person who also shares with me, and that person is equally responsible with secrets, a secret-hunting teammate of sorts). Not here, not in-game, not anywhere.

You can look through the maps I've done so far, and you'll see that I took effort to not show where the entrance is... even censoring one image that gave just the map away. I take great effort to ensure both your entrance as well as any secret paths within the map remain secret. The only purpose is to show off the map to those who will likely never actually get into them, nothing more.

Guild Maps Will Remain Secret Here

Even though I am "sneaking into their maps", I have no intention of disrespecting the owners of those maps by giving away their entrances. While some are practically common knowledge, many are quite difficult to find or figure out the proper item(s) to enter, and it took me a lot of time and patience to figure those out.

So not only will I not provide guild map secrets out of respect for their owners, but also because I put a lot of work into finding them, I'm not just going to give away that info to lazy wastoids who like to be spoonfed everything.

The number of requests for guild map entrance secrets since this fiasco happened has gone up, and I have continued to refuse/ignore all such requests.

If anyone doesn't like that... "tough shit, your opinion is irrelevant".

We can only hope radu will change his mind on this issue. Regardless, I won't be changing mine. The only people who should have the right to publicly announce where a map is are the ones who own the map.

New Invasion Creature: Vulture

We've been given a change to invasion creatures, where they can be "capped". People above the cap level will not be attacked by the creature, nor can they attack it. (There's some magic issues atm but radu's forbidden that for now and it'll likely be fixed.)

Rules about these invasions haven't been completely decided yet as far as over-the-cap players are concerned. Understandable, as it's still new and it'll take several runs to see how this system plays out and what will need to be done in the way of mods enforcing rules and any possible tweaks that may need to be done.

So for now, the only rule that's been put in place is "no magic" from overcapped players. Not on the creatures, not healing fighters, nothing. (That's called neutrality btw. Some have complained about the no-heal part.)


Right, overcappers shouldn't be dropping summons and mines/caltrops and such either.

Some confusion over the rules also occured in the beginning as well, leading even to incorrect moderation. Regardless of what's been said before, that's been clarified by radu now that he's not ready to decide on the rules yet, and only the above applies for now. No decision has been made yet on any other aspect of overcapper interference (positive or negative), despite confusion that may have occured from previous posts by moderators, including myself.

Disclaimer: The following is personal opinion as a player, not a moderator. It's not the basis of any rules, or moderation. This is solely my opinion, and does not reflect the opinion of any one other than myself. DO NOT QUOTE ANYTHING BELOW AS FACT, or actual rules. They're not, just opinions, and I'll be the first to call you out as wrong in doing so.

The Lower Level Right to Have Fun in Invasions

Maybe "right" isn't the correct word. Capped invasions of any sort were essentially non-existent back in the time when I was low enough to find them interesting. If things had remained that way I'd see no reason to complain.

But now that they're a regular part of gameplay, I think it's essential that the fun of these be for those who are actually under the cap and can participate. They're unable to do so in global-scale invasions where even I would have problems participating. High-levelers have their fun there, generally without interference from low-levels.

These invasions were designed with lower-level players in mind, and I personally believe all rules concerning them should solely be considered on their participation, noone else's.

Overcapper Participation... No

Overcappers cannot harm/poison/life drain/whatever invaded creatures. This rule was put in place because it's possible and has the unintended effect of overcappers being allowed to participate killing invaders that weren't meant for them.

Overcappers cannot heal those who are participating. Thus "no magic use at all by overcappers that in any way affects the invasion".

I agree with this, despite some protests by people wanting to heal their fighting guildmates and such.

Why? Overcappers, IT'S NOT YOUR INVASION.

I agree not only with this, but a complete prohibition of any overcapper participating in any way, whether it is beneficial or harmful.

One side reason for this is just that it would be much simpler to moderate. There'd be no question on what you're allowed to do as an overcapper... absolutely nothing.

I believe that's the way it should be. Why? These invasions aren't for the overcappers, period.

So no harming creatures, no healing fighters. Just watch.

Low-Levels Help Each Other

If the low-level fighters need help, they can get assistance from others whom the invasion was designed for. I've watched quite a few of these style invasions that have occured so far. The low-levels are quite capable of handling the invasion themselves without the overcappers who feel they "have to help somehow".

Can you go into a 60-80 instance as a level 140 a/d-er, restocking fighters or healing them? No. Yet they manage to do that all the time. Invasions are no different.

They don't need overcapper help. They don't need overcappers pushing them to finish invasions (more on this below)... they need nothing from overcappers. Again, this isn't for overcappers, at all, period. Overcappers, what's happening in low-level invasions is none of your business, and in no way affects you. Go back to whatever you were doing.

If you want to watch, fine. That's not participating in any way. But remember, it's not about you, it's not for you, and it doesn't need you. You're not a part of it.

No Bags. No Jumping. No Saving. No Harvesting of them.

With the addition of these creatures, overcappers have found it possible to walk right into the middle of an invasion and be completely immune, able to walk around and watch, do dailies, harvest, or whatever they need to do on a map.

However with this addition comes the ability to grab bags. As the overcapper won't be attacked, they're free to grab stuff while those actually participating are too busy fighting, who could otherwise grab those things themselves once the invaders have thinned out in that particular area.

Bag 1) No harvesting of drops by overcappers

I believe this should be part of the "no interference" rule. While yes, there's gatherer medallions, the lower the level the less likely they can afford regularly using such a thing. The bags should remain there for actual participants of the invasion. Whether they get picked up by the person who did the actual kill or get jumped otherwise, the drops should go to those who are under the cap and as such considered participants.

Bag 2) No bag saving by overcappers

As a moderator, I would sometimes in the past go to invasions wearing my "green" name, and watch looking for people over the cap trying to participate. Sending them out as needed.

That "green" name gives me a sort of power in that invaders won't touch me, safe on pk maps, and so on. That name also meant added responsibility in remaining completely out of the way of whatever is going on.

It meant I couldn't pick up bags. It meant I couldn't save bags. I had to remain neutral, and only do what I was there for, keeping the overcappers out.

I watched someone drop a lot of stuff once. Them knowing I was near them at the time, I got PM after PM begging for me to save it. There was no way they'd be able to get back to it into as the map was flooded with invaders.

I had to say no, no matter how much I wanted to help. They had to rely on themself, or another participant helping them. But as an observer, only there for moderation purposes, I was required to not get involved in any way. I couldn't be there at all without that immunity the green name provided from invaders.

Overcappers now have this immunity. But I feel there is a need to ensure overcappers do not get involved in any way, positive or negative. And as such, should not touch these bags either, no matter how noble the reason may be felt to be.

Bag 3) No bag jumping by overcappers

With the immunity from invaders comes this possibility, and we're seeing it already. Just like saving bags, overcappers should not be allowed to get involved by jumping them either. No positive, no negative.



The Rise of the Vulture

That last part, as there's no rule around it yet, has led to the creation of a new invasion creature that only those participating in the invasions have to be concerned about.

The vulture.

The vulture comes disguised as an overcapped player. Like a vulture, it stalks around the participants of the invasion, waiting for death. On death, they swoop in to grab the bag left behind.

Whether they get a bag or not, they become a nuisance to the participant just by their constant stalking of them, when the participant is trying to have fun or is preoccupied with actual participation fighting creatures.

No matter where the participant goes, the vulture follows, constantly a few steps away, waiting.

Even add to that, the vulture will be the overcapper who is posting in 6 for people to "come fight these creatures who can", constantly. It's their sole purpose for posting. Why? They're a vulture, there's noone for them to stalk and wait for death. They don't want you there for the invasion itself, they're after their own self-interests.

Participants themselves have told me of just how annoying this is, to the point words were exchanged of the not-so-polite sort (between the fighters and the vulture) which led to moderators having to get involved anyway. That's just from people who didn't die or lose anything to the vulture. Just the fact that they're constantly there following them around is felt like harassment, and seriously reduces the fun of the capped invasion.

Now, if there's no rules set in place for stopping overcapper participation, the vulture population will only grow. We've already seen from past experience that there is a crowd of people in the game who will stop at no length to make a complete nuisance of themselves. The "vulture" crowd will grow as more overcappers realize they can get away with it.

The call for a "Grubani Invasion with level 80 cap" will more and more become a call for people 81 and up to go to Grubani for free stuff.

This is not theoretical. I have myself witnessed this "vulturing" of low-level players.

"Well, they could do that anyway before!" - No they couldn't. In a capped invasion, they'd get tossed off the map by a moderator if they were caught by us or reported. Regardless of their reason for being there. They'd get attacked by the old style monsters, and there was no way they could stay on the map without violating the cap because of that. So they were poofed away by mods, regardless of reason for being on the map.

"Well, they could go in invisible before" - Invisibility spells/potions only last so long. This would be a long, tedious, expensive means, which left them vulnerable to getting attacked should the spell wear off. It wasn't something that was *regularly* attempted before as it's just not worth the hassle. And never attempted when overcapped in a capped invasion as mods would deal with them just as directly as an overcapper trying to fight the creatures.

Unlike now. With complete immunity (just as us mods are when we go into "green name" mode) overcappers are free to stalk low-level participants, just waiting for something to grab, with absolutely nothing to interfere with them doing so.

These vultures are not only making attempts to ruin what has been an otherwise great addition to the game, but they're attempting to ruin the fun of the low-level players whom this was intended for.

I've already had a couple who've lost bags to a vulture say they don't want to participate anymore because of the vultures. (Well, they used names, I'm just sticking to what they are here, not who they are.)


As said, there are no rules for these things yet. Other than what was mentioned at the top of this entry about magic and such, it's still a free-for-all, as The Powers That Be need time to see how things go and what concerns arise before making a decision on how to go forward with any rules about overcappers.


"But just allow positive things like healing fighters and bag saving!" - Sorry, no, I don't agree with this. On a personal level because I don't feel overcappers should have any participation whatsoever in something that is NOT FOR THEM. And that in the interest of neutrality, if bag saving by overcappers is allowed, so is bag jumping.

People within the level of the invasion can save bags, jump bags, pick up drops, whatever they wish, just like a normal invasion. Stuff will continue to be lost that way, or saved that way. It should not, however, be dictated by vultures and other overcappers who have creature immunity who gets what.

And yes, overcappers will be on bags long before any fellow fighter. They're not hindered by creatures, so they can instantly jump when a bag drops. There's no chance that fellow fighters will be able to help (or jump) their other fighters. Things they should be able to do in THEIR invasion.

And from a moderator perspective, I don't agree with allowing "positive" participation by overcappers because it by default would make more work for us. Enforcing complete no-participation-whatsoever is a lot simpler than having to have regular back-and-forths on who took what bag and was it returned or jumped and such. Mods don't need more shit like that.

IT'S NOT YOUR INVASION, DON'T PARTICIPATE IN ANY WAY. A very simple rule to enforce for overcappers, that ensures the fun remains that of the participants, keeps the growing number of vultures out of the way so as not to become the #1 annoyance of the game, and would make things so much simpler for mods in the long run.

Again, that's not a rule, just what I'm hoping for, as an opinion. Once the rules are decided, as a mod I'll enforce whatever is decided, even if I don't agree with it.


Remember people, should this become a topic of discussion on the forums, that if you want to be an overcapper who positively helps, you have to allow the negative ones as well. Remember that these capped invasions aren't intended for overcappers, they're intended to bring more fun to the lower levels.

You know, that whole thing of adding new stuff to try and keep lower level players from quitting? Yes, that. Getting more people to stay in the game. Overcappers are doing a serious disservice to the game by trying to get involved in these capped invasions, in any way.

The vultures in particular, completely detrimental to the whole point of the capped invasion.

We need to remember these invasions are for those who fit the level criteria, and need to leave it completely to them, in all respects. Overcappers, IT'S NOT FOR YOU, find something else to do. You even have the ability to do things on the same map now, something you couldn't do before. Do your dailies, your harvesting, your laughable pk-boasting about owning KF as you actually sit at VotD storage for hours doing nothing... whatever it is you normally do, do it. The capped invasion is none of your concern, in any way.

The Alchemy Dead Zone I: The Wolfram Bar

There's several items in alchemy that are just never made, at least not without some sort of insanity being involved.

Having worked so heavily in alchemy, I've thought about these time and again, wondering if it were possible to change that.

The primary reason being that the NPC price is cheaper (in some cases much cheaper) than the ings. The NPC prices were set way back when many items cost a lot less.

They do, however, keep the price down in some cases for certain items.

I wondered if an ingredient change might make the actual construction of these items worthwhile again, without upsetting the delicate price that in some cases is only held down by the NPC price.

The first item I decided to look at is the one that is the absolute worst bar to self-mix...

Wolfram Bar


Current ings:
- 10 wolframite ore
- 1 serpent stone
- 30 fire essence

Suggested change:
- 15 wolframite ore
- 10 coal (approx.)
- 30 fire essence

Reasoning: The combo of wolframite and serpent stone makes ings valued at over 18kgc. The NPC sells for 15kgc. The serpent stone being in the mix completely disrupts the value of the ore itself. The serpent stone is currently worth about the same as 10 wolframite ore, whereas it was nowhere near this value back when the NPC price was set.

As such, there is no real reason to mix this bar, and most all of these bars enter into play solely from NPC purchase.

With the above-suggested change, the cost of the ings get brought down to just a bit below the 15kgc NPC price, despite having 5 more wolframite ores.

Benefits: While people could still just buy the bars directly for 15kgc, they could also choose to mix the steel longs (or buy them from other players), harv the wolframite, and mix the bars.

This would not only encourage the mixing of wolfram bars (with the option to buy still), but would also put more value for manuers to mix steel long swords for harvesting the wolframite.

Steel longs cost 900gc directly from the NPC, putting the price of the changed ings at a bit under 15kgc, however there's plenty of places here for lost ings which would likely result in the bar cost from players staying at around the same as the NPC price.

And as well, people would actually have a reason to harvest wolframite again.

The NPC price (and thus the market price) would not change, so this wouldn't affect the current price of items that use wolfram bars. It just allows for more possible mixing to go along with the ability to directly buy from the NPC.

The Method to My Alching Madness

As of this post, I'm about 80% of the way to Alch 128. Alch mixing stats thus far:




My Alch Guide: Many moons ago, I wrote a personal-experience guide to alchemy items and leveling. I have just updated it, though not so much has changed since I originally wrote it.

You'll find it here: Burn's Alch Guide


About Power Leveling

There's a tendency to think that if something gives higher experience, it must be the thing to level on. Thus, many use bars and magic essence to level.

Not so here. I do make bars, but only for actual use... I have done S2E projects in the past, I need them for ring crafting, and so on. I did use magic essence at one point to level, but as can be seen by the mere 236k of them mixed, I didn't stick to that.

I generally make what I need. The only thing I've been known for when it comes to sales is the thing that I use to level... health essence.

And those are the #1 mixed item by a huge margin. Why? Harv mums myself, and use a combo of buying and harving silver (mostly buying). Mix, easy sales, repeat.

Experience isn't the only factor in deciding what to use to level. Power leveling a mix skill means you need to find something to mix where the ingredients are easily obtainable. Silver is a heavily harved (for sale) item.

Compare to magic essence... emeralds and lilacs are not generally seen on market. The only real way to level using those is to self-harv. While cheaper, and the magic shop will buy all your excess magic essies for an okay price, this is incredibly slow. Leveling? Yes. Power leveling? Not even close.

Am I saying Health Essence is the only way to go? Absolutely not. Perhaps you're in a guild with a lot of harvers that sell other ings to guild members. What I'm saying is take everything into consideration:

1- Experience - LEs can be as easily made as HEs, but HEs are better experience.
2- Ing Access - Can you quickly and easily get access to the ings that are necessary?
3- Cost/Sellability - Having easy access to buying gold isn't going to do you a world of good when gold bars are rarely bought. You need to ensure you can both be rid of the finished product, and as well in a way where you're not losing gc in the process.
4- Your Skill Level - Don't expect to make something for profit without self-harving for at least 30-40 levels above the recommended level for the item. There's a comparability to combat training here... You may be the same a/d as a mountain chim, but for easy training without depleting your HE stash and less armor breakage, you're more likely to train on a desert chim.

In my personal case, I found means to efficiently get the ings, make, and sell what is one of the most popular and used alch items available. And well, at my alch level, I didn't have to worry about step 4, heh.


My Alching

As a Jack of All Trades, I try to level everything. Alch being the base for many other skills (crafting needs essies and bars, manu needs bars, tailoring needs essies, magic needs... you get it), I mix what I need when I'm not looking to mix just for power-leveling.

Thus my alch list looks like it does above. A quick overview of how the top 10 items got there. There's of course other reasons to make each, but these are the primary ones:

1- Health Essence - Power leveling, plus of course my own training.

2- Fire Essence - Not done much anymore, this will drop in the list some day. But of course, for bars. And Ashes for engineering. I'm more likely to buy these nowadays though.

3- Energy Essence - I teleport a LOT. I also have sold these on occasion.

4- Magic Essence - Early attempts at power leveling. These days I normally only make them when I plan to magic train using radiation shields.

5- Life Essence - Normally only made when I do my occasional attempts to level summoning. That being done by mixing summon stones which require tons of these.

6- Air Essence - For my rare attempts at magic leveling. (I don't pk/pvp, so I mana drain bears, then radiation shield to use up the drained mana). I would never make these to sell, too much wasted time on the diamonds.

7- Steel Bar - Mostly thanks to my occasional S2E projects, working on buying a nexus. Though most of my S2Es these days come from phantom warriors so mixing these is a rarity of late.

8- Water Essence - A combination of my days of crafting (polishing gems), but these days more likely being made for dyes for leveling tailoring. (Actually, I hate making these, so there are times I'll mix other things for profit, and use that profit to buy WEs instead from the magic shop.)

9- Matter Essence - For some reason in my more newb days I thought these would be good to level on and sell. I got over that quick enough. These days I'll every other month or so set aside some time to bag mix 850 or so of these in the feros cave at once, primarily to have a stock for teleporting magic. Otherwise I generally don't touch these.

10- Earth Essence - A dying one on the list, at one time I used to make batches of matter conglomerates (which also explains the matter essence count). I can't remember the last time I did those though. These just don't get made anymore.

The Reduction Potion Price Situation

There was discussion last night on chan 6 about dragon scales. Geared towards Radu's idea of making dragon armor repairable with scales, but it veered off a while to the current prices of scales.

Which led to the inevitable bringing up of reduction potions which were partly designed to help get scales out of the game. They never really caught on though.

My Reduction Pot Experience

I'm one of just a handful of people in the game who can readily make these. "Readily" meaning (1) a high enough potion level that ing loss isn't too big a problem, and (2) have actually read the books.

And with the exception of when they were first brought in-game, I'm the only one who's recently attempted to sell them, at least publicly. This being either via market channel, and later on my bot IWannaRock. (Unlike what happens on many bots, they were not price-hiked either, but given the exact same price I offered when selling myself.)

Pots Were Abandoned

Now, I did abandon these for a while, as did every potioner I spoke to who could make them. After the initial people who wanted to try them out bought them and decided they weren't worth the cost, they became just another thing to gather dust in storage.

Due to the cost of scales at the time, I certainly wasn't going to make more just for that. Especially considering at the time I was still only about 10 levels above recommended, and a fail was a huge loss for me. (The "rich mixer" theory that gets trotted out at times doesn't work on me, as my profits go primarily towards working on my gc-loss skills, buying books, etc. - I'm an "all-rounder", not just a profit mixer.)

For months, noone was seen selling these on market, and noone was even asking for them.

The Return to Making Them

More recently, as I attempted to open an "all pots available" potion shop, I noticed prices on scales had dropped some, which meant they could be sold for less.

I made a couple batches, put them on my "shop" page, and as well advertised them with their lower prices on market regularly.

Another wave of minor sales came, as new people tried to test them out. But that tapered off, as the end result was the same... still too expensive. I had one customer who came back for a second batch, but only a second. The rest never came back for more.

It's the repeat business that says if they'll keep selling, not the one-timers. What looked like it might start to work again didn't.

Pricing the Pots

Last night, there were people claiming the pots were overpriced. Here's how I priced them: I got the cheapest scale I could find at the time, mixed, and sold at a price that was only barely above the cost of making them.

Quite frankly, these pots will be a permanent gc sink for me and anyone else who makes them due to ing loss. A single ing loss will wipe out the little profit I was asking for and then some. The people claiming that the potters were overpricing them are seriously clueless.

But when/if I do make them, I'll continue to do the same, even with the eventual loss. Just to do my part to try and get them a functioning part of the game... we've already got too many potions deemed useless and never bought, so I really don't want another.


Last Night's "Pricing Madness" Discussion

During the course of the pot cost discussion last night, a price of 2kgc was brought up for red dragon scales, putting the price of the pots WAY below anything they'd ever been sold for before.

However, the only pots on the market were made before this sudden drop. Hell, before someone brought it up there I'd never EVER seen scales being advertised for that little.

We (potioners) were called greedy "overpricers" for this reason, as everyone decided the prices were way too high based on what was supposedly the current scale cost.

Noone brought up black scale prices, and even later when I asked noone could give me a straight answer on them.

Bot-wise, red scales were being BOUGHT at 2k, but sale prices were 5k or more, which was the lowest I'd seen them advertised on market by players as well to this point.

Holar's bot (as of last night) was giving the best offer to buy black scales, at 4500gc. Since people on 6 were claiming red prices were the same as what bots were offering to buy them for, I used that price as a base.

The Test Plan

Despite my attempting to get out of potioning for a while (just dropped the potion goddess even, to focus more on other skills), I decided that for these potions, I'm going to give them one final chance, with these decreased scale costs.

The plan:

1- Buy 5 of each red and black dragon scales. (red at 2k, black at 4.6k to be better than the current highest bot offer) Buying through my bot IWannaRock so people have a 24/7 chance to sell at these prices.

2- Make potions from all 10 scales.

3a- Sell them at this lower-scale-price cost. Price will be (scale cost + other ing cost + food / 12), with a very minor profit to help (but not fully) offset losses*.

*Keep in mind that every single ingredient in this potion has to be bought by me and/or other potioners. We have a tendency to not be able to grab scales from the dragons themselves, and vials cost way more to make than buy from the NPC.

3b- As well, offer batches of 12 of them (pre-mixed) in exchange for the appropriate scale and 150gc. (That's about 100gc for the other ings + food, and about 50gc for helping cover ing loss costs, not profit)


Now, with scale prices at 2k (supposedly) and 4.6k, that puts att red pots at 200gc and def red pots at 400gc. (Approximate prices)



A Wrinkle

Last night, bots were offering max 2k for red dragon scales. This morning I checked again and found 2 bots offering to buy them at 2.9k and 3k.

Apparently people are starting to speculate already that the ability to repair dragon armor is going to happen. Scale prices are going to go back up, and likely big-time.

Which means the above-mentioned pot prices won't happen for long... if at all. :/

If that happens, I'll have no choice but to increase prices as well, obviously. The trade option (scale+150gc for 12) will remain the same of course.




(12 hours later) Edit: Looking at around 3k for red and 5k for black scales now. I smell higher prices coming too so long as the repairable-with-scales armor idea doesn't die off. Looking at about 285 and 450 gce for the pots respectively.

Getting More Players - Kill the Beta Status?

(The following is a personal opinion on the current state of the game. I could be way off. But, you know, that's how opinions work...)


There's been several threads on the forum of late about how we're not getting many new players. A number of those who are new don't hang around as well.

The latter is to be expected. People try a game, decide if they like it or not, and move on if they don't. But some will stay.

The focus of the threads tends to be changing things/adding things that will keep more staying than going. And while there's some merit to a few of the ideas, I'm beginning to feel that's not the big problem.

The big problem? For me, I think it's the "Beta" status of the game.


First, I think back to when I first tried out EL. It looked interesting, but I'd tried too many alpha/beta programs in my time that never fully fleshed out. The "Beta" status is a bit worrysome to some. Sure, it worked for Google but chances of Google abandoning something like Gmail were slim to none.

But Beta on what is a homegrown project can many times mean it'll never be fully "finished" or stable. Now, of course after playing for over a year I know the game is quite playable and functioning in its beta state. People just starting, however, don't know this.

Honestly, it was boredom that kept me going in the beginning. Because of the beta status, I didn't know if I wanted to invest much time into it. It was only after my boredom kept me around a while that I learned of players who'd been on for several years, that the game didn't seem to be on its way into abandonment, and so on, that I started "really" playing.

If I hadn't been really bored at the time, I may have moved on to trying something else instead. Something that wasn't "beta".


What to do?

Still just my opinion of course, but at this point I think all changes done should only be for making adjustments to the what's in the game now to "complete" it in a way that makes removing the Beta status a viable option.

I don't mean that's the end of new stuff or anything of that nature, but there's several things about the game that feel a bit "wrong" or off or missing or such that have more to do with "tweaking" rather than bringing in completely new stuff.


The things I'm thinking of:

1) Fix the item graphics - Several potions look exactly the same because of new ones brought in using old ones' images. The matter conglomerate is still a cabbage and the vial mold still a carrot. "Little shit" that doesn't really affect actual game play but would make the game "look" better.

2) Missing Gods - I know there's not a big interest dev-side to bring in the 3 missing gods (Harv, Range, Tailor), but for completeness sake, they should be added. It gives a feeling of being "unfinished" without them.

3) Continue the new NPCs - Of all the new stuff and changes made the past year, these are what I think have been the best for "fleshing out" the game, putting stories and life onto various maps. It adds to the maps, making them feel a lot less "abandoned". (In particular on the maps that newbies tend to hang out on. I recall wondering why so many buildings were abandoned as a newbie when I first started exploring.)

4) Clear out any outstanding bugs - I haven't checked to see if there are any (or how many known), just including this because if there are any, they should be priority over new stuff.

5) Map Issues - Little things like the tiger lilies south of Naralik storage being "too far away" when you click on them standing directly beside them, just because they were too close to storage. Just remove them. Changing to "You can't harvest here" is just wrong since "too close to storage" doesn't make sense as an actual reason in game play. Yes, I know things like that would require a client update, but I'm thinking long-term to remove the beta status which would have to include a client update anyway. "You can't harvest here" makes sense inside houses and such, that's theft of private property. ;)

Oh yeah, not that I harv there anymore, but I believe the WS underground had a lot of "you can't harvest here" messages on everything but two items. Now that hazmat storage is moved, maybe those should be cleared up just so it makes more sense.

6) Adjust the harv spots - I'm not talking making them harder, as honestly it takes long enough to harv as it is. I'm not talking making them easier to harv either.

I'm talking dealing with overcrowding... add spots that are at almost the exact same "distance to storage" elsewhere that will help split up the crowd.

Preferably on opposite continents. If something is almost exclusively harvested on C1, an equivalent-distance-to-sto spot on C2 may get more people to use C2. Too far or too close in comparison will only cause people to not use it or everyone migrate to it (eventually) respectively. People look to getting the absolute closest-to-sto spot as possible, and there's really no way to change that train of thought. Adjusting with that in mind could get more maps used and the crowd dispersed a bit. (Don't wanna lose the crowd? Consider this is to get the game out of Beta status to get more people in. More equivalent spots will be needed anyway.)

(And yeah, a single piece of iron leading to a frustrating constant "move please" as people fight over it is not even remotely fun. That needs to be fixed. I used to love EVTR before it became the "choice" iron spot. Can't stand being in that mine anymore though because of that.)

7) Fix what's already in-game, forget new stuff - I suggest a complete drop of any plans for new items and such for now. A "freeze" if you will.

Instead, take a look at the items that are already in the game. What's not being used, and why? Rather than the previous "noone's using it, remove it" mentality, determine why noone's using it, and can anything be done to actually make the item useable.

As a potioner, I see a large amount of potions that just never get bought or used because their effect is useless for the most part, or simply not worth the cost. (+5, +4, +3, +2, +1 per minute in harvesting from the Harvest Potion for example... +5 really doesn't help at all when it comes to harvesting. Could something be done to make that pot of any real use? That's just one example.)

That example goes to weapons/armor/engineering items/etc. as well. Almost every skill has those "abandoned items" that just (almost) never get used. Perhaps figuring out a way to make them useful, even if only to a handful of people, rather than bringing in new things might be easier than the new stuff. And will make some of the skills feel less like they're limited to 1-2 items.








Bah, I've rambled on enough. Really no point in getting overly specific as the idea was to just give some general meaning of what I meant by things that would get the game out of "beta" status.

Of course, this doesn't mean the game won't continue to evolve. Just that what's already in the game should be tweaked more, with only the new NPCs/Quests added as they help flesh out the game itself overall. This would allow the ability to remove the "beta", which in itself with lots of hype over the "end of the beta, here's the official game" just might be what's needed to help pull in players.

Yes, I've suggested new things to be added before, and while maybe sometime in the future I'd like to see them, I'd gladly give them up to see the stuff already in the game tweaked for useability and the game finally leaving beta status to help attract more players.

I think others need to likewise put a moratorium on begging for new stuff for the sake of the game as well. Just until the point where "Beta" can be killed.