Magic and Other Stuff

First batch of S2Es done.

Lots of time mixing LEs to prep for more bear summon stones.

Kicked 500 bears with mana drains and radiation shields all around...

You advanced to level 67 of magic!

That also got me about 2/3 of the way towards another magic level as well.


Currently working on essies for yet another 500 bear mana drains + rad shields. Going to keep doing this a lot in the near future, both to stockpile bear furs for sum stones (got 4k+ in storage now) and more importantly get my magic level up to a point where I feel I can drop the magic god again.



Liking the update I woke up to this morning. Increased gc on mini events is noticeable, "Non Stop Day" with no stopping for mini events, No Grief day is back. Well, that's all that really affects me for now. All nice, hehe. Not concerned about the increased chance of Acid Rain day... being an all-rounder, I can always find things to do that make it only a slight annoyance rather than a big problem.

Other things are nice though they don't affect me, at least not yet: multi-summoning of yeti/giants, as well as the makeable mage robes. Hopefully the latter is a tailoring thing, the details haven't been released yet.


The KJ-to-PV boat working again, but with 50gc tickets... This I'm unsure of. Won't hurt, but the main reason it was used was for harving iron/silver in KJ. That was before things like the forest chims were added to the map. I don't personally think I'd harv there anymore even with this option, even after forest chims start to ignore me, and I don't think others will find it worth 50gc a trip to harv that way either.

Which leaves its use to being primarily for those who are training on forest chims. Or maybe those who train on the cockatrice in the KJ coal cave. Don't see it getting THAT much use for either, esp. since there aren't that many training on either of those creatures that I know of.

Still, it's back in use now at least, and will probably get used some. May be useful in invasions as well as a quick way to get to storage from KJ. So it's not a bad thing. Just don't think it will get used as much as may be expected due to changes since it was originally decommissioned.


Other stuff... I have no clue about the fighting changes, and they only affect PK/PvP which I don't do so they're of no concern to me, hehe.

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.

Server Update looking good...

Working on two things at once atm, stocking coal for an S2E batch as well as stocking for more potioning of course...


Meanwhile, woke up to another server update. Looks to be a good one so far.

1) Summoning gives 3 fluffies, 6 phantoms for the same ingredients as one now.

Good that the stones aren't affected, just real summoning. Keeps such power out of the hands of people who didn't earn it.

Not up to summoning either yet, but some day. ;)


2) Reduced mini harvest events.

Still enough to stop "afk-harving", but the annoyance factor is reduced pretty well. Overall a nice compromise, which makes it a definite improvement.

3) Harv medallion gives 1 in 3 chance that you don't stop harving when you get a mini harvest event.

Very nice. :)

4) Day of Robin Tell

New special day, gives double ranging experience.

I dunno about this. There's only a few spots that are truly useful spots for leveling ranging. This day is gonna mean those few spots will end up nastily overcrowded. Isla Prima may be among them, messing with the newbies trying to get their basic a/d experience there.

It hasn't happened yet, so we'll see. I like having a new day for rangers, just not sure what the results will be.


5) TS potion requires beaver instead of rabbit fur

This was announced and expected. Still hoping the ings for this potion don't keep getting changed like this. No other skill has to put up with guessing "what ing do I need this week?" so it feels very wrong.

Not to mention people normally stock up on ings and make a bunch at once. Stock up on an ing only to find it's been changed with a server update on a whim is going to just end up pissing people off.

Haven't personally made many of these despite my potion level, but still I know others have. Though with any fur it'll never be made as much as it used to be with just flowers.

6) Ranging Arena target adjusted

Did two rounds here, once at night (no visor), once during the day.
Night: avg 9.4 experience per arrow
Day: avg 9.61 experience per arrow

Still not close to the 11-12 experience per arrow average when sitting on NC wall. Only slightly better than before adjustment. Dunno what the real problem is here, but the cost of getting in the arena is enough without the experience itself costing more as well.

I guess if I was in a rush to level ranging I'd use it more. May use it when I've got extra gc to burn on occasion now. But if the target was just "more like a normal puma" without any adjustments it would probably be better.



Overall though, this is a positive server update, and a much welcome one, particularly when it comes to the harv event/medallion changes.



A few other minor changes were made as well, but being my blog I focus only on the ones that (potentially) affect me, hehe.

The Questionable Day

Yesterday was mostly harving, some minor potting. And a lot of curiosity about the future of the game.

Harving was a general mass stock of BSFs, as recent tailoring leveling using blue dye took a big chunk of those, as well as normal use for SRs. And continued work on ings for another 1k of creature food so I can finish leveling my mule (and I need to do some more wine hauling).



New server update... most of the changes didn't really affect me, more geared towards high level fighters as well as general invasion stuff (like tank rabbit summoning, something I won't be able to do for quite a long while), but three were on the list.

1) New ranging arena - Gave it a try. It's a good idea, I likey, will definitely get some use from me. But the target in it had problems that made way too many misses. That's supposed to be fixed on the next server update, so no more on this until then. Looking forward to trying it again after the next update though.

2) Change to the True Sight Potion ings - specifically removing the henbane and replacing it with brown rabbit fur. The rule of thumb for potioning is if it requires an animal part, it won't be used for leveling.

Granted, I've only made about 4k of them and gotten to potion 92, but I know they are commonly made for leveling. This put an end to that, which had to be the intention as the TS pot ings themselves had never been called into question before this sudden change.

SRs/BRs will be the leveling items now, which individually give much less experience. But those are what I'd been leveling on anyway so no biggie on my part.

There's already been talk of changing the fur, possibly to beaver.

Even worse idea was to constantly change the needed fur based on how many furs were in-game. Adding a fur to the ings alone will kill the making of these things (especially since there's limited use for them these days), but no other skill has to put up with wondering "what are the ings for an item this week", it makes no sense, common or otherwise, to constantly change the ings for an item.

Since I don't really make them much, it wouldn't matter to me. But I hope a tad of sense is used, and a single fur or other ing is found and stuck with rather than the suggested Wheel of Randomness.

3) New harvesting events - This is the one that got the attention.

Basically, some new "minor" events were added, in an aim at the gold farmers (they keep saying afk-harvers, but the afk-harvers were never brought up as a problem until after gold farming was brought up as an issue that was killing EL Shop sales).

These new minor events have about a 1/25 chance of happening per harvest, so they happen quite frequently. Not astro affected. (Old "normal" events are still around, and astro affected as usual.)

Lots of debating over these, some for, some against. I stayed neutral in the debating itself, though I participated in it. I still haven't made up my mind on them, so taking a pro or con stance on them wasn't really possible.

My only gripe was a bug with the harvesting eye candy, which should be fixed in the next server update so nothing to say on it now, heh.

At any rate, I did a sample graphic that shows what occured during harving a single load of BSFs, the green times showing how long between when harving was (re)started and an event occured:



(Like all graphics in this blog, click if it's reduced or you can't see the whole thing.)

I can't take a pro or con stance on them because for the most part I regularly checked my harving anyway even while doing other things, so the slowdown is minimal here.

It's a possible way to take a dump on the gold farmers. While a good thing, I don't think it's the best way to deal with them, so uncertain on that end as well.

Lots of chatter over this change at any rate, both positive and negative.

Very much expected to be a hot topic, having something like this sprung up out of nowhere on everyone. And of course some people will complain over it. Any thought that people wouldn't complain would be seriously misguided.

Best thing to do is let people get it out of their system, and in a few days they'd be used to it and move on. Hell, even stuff I've had a gripe about in the past I don't give a second thought to these days. (The boat from PV to KJ removal, killing a few harvables here and there, there's been quite a few, and none are even thought about now.) It's just a matter of giving it a little time for people to adjust, assuming it's not something of a game-killing nature, which this certainly isn't... and I say that with slight arthritis where the no-clicking time during harving is a welcome break from the clicking needed for every other skill.


Unfortunately, the time wasn't given to let this blow over. The drastic overkill response came way too soon, with "you're gonna click once for every harvest", throwing green day (no harv) at everyone, and then the real reason for it all became a discussion in channel 6... tired of working on the game and wants to move on, possibly sell it.

That's kinda obvious based on the reactions given to even the slightest thing. People are going to complain, it's human nature. Expecting people to act like androids is hardly realistic. Expecting praise for doing something that makes things more difficult is even less realistic, even though several did just that.

More importantly: People complain about something when they actually care about it. The complaints in themselves, while annoying at times, are a testimony to just how much people care about EL.

Yesterday was the first time I seriously questioned if EL even had a future. This kind of overkill reaction, not any actual change, is what will drive people away. A community-based game where one person can sweepingly screw everyone just because of a bad mood can't possibly last. And that would be a shame, considering how much work has been put into it as well as the community that's been built on it.

Selling the game just might be the only way EL will survive.

Despite any complaints I've had in my just-under-a-year playing, I love this game. And I appreciate everything Radu has done to make it what it is. But it's obvious he's tired of it, and it's not good to continue doing something so many people rely on when in that state. Besides that it takes its toll on everyone in the game, more importantly it's not healthy.

I've been in a similar situation. I ran an online community (full web designer, coder, and keeping things under control user-wise) for over 7 years. Quite an active one at that. Around the 6th year though, I was well tired of it. At one point, I shut down the site for several days in frustration, something I regretted ever since. That's when I learned that while I'd created it, I'd also created the community, and that community deserved better from me, as a human being. I put the site back up, got more people involved in maintaining the rules, postings and whatnot, so I focused almost solely on coding and functionality which kept me away from the majority of the frustrating issues. After the 7th year was up I turned the site over to someone else, so it could continue without me. And it still does to this day.

My thoughts that selling the game is the best option has nothing to do with Radu himself, but from understanding where he's at now. If he's truly at that point where he's wanting to stop working on EL, and sell it off or whatever, then he should, for his own sake. Before a mistake like mine was made. The mistake I made was easily rectified because there were no other communities at the time that focused on what mine did. A mistake like mine being done to EL would be the end of the game completely, as there are other options out there. At that point, selling wouldn't be an option anymore either.

This is not a rant, nor a complaint. Just an observation. Just that I understand where he's at, I've seen the same attitude in myself when I was at that point, and if he feels selling the game is his only option now, I support it. If he can find a way to make himself interested in continuing working on it, then all the better of course. Health and happiness first though. I wish him luck in whatever his decision is, and thanks for the game.

A Quiet Day

Not much done yesterday. Finished my 2k creature food. Muled 25k of wine, as well as some leather, thread, and mead.

Got my mule up levels 9 and 10 during afk-time when I went to the movies, and overnight. Almost complete!

Started harving FE ings, for another batch of moon medallions (silver bars).

Still haven't upped my HE stock. Getting to where I really desperately need to do that. Plans to finish off my next pot level as well, only needing to make some vial runs for that.


Woke up to a server update:
- Ninja perk - Avoiding positive perks like the plague, so this didn't stand a chance with me. The other ranging perks are more appealing to me anyway, since this one seems to be more for pkers.

- New harvesting events for dung - I don't harv it yet still, but I think the game's been screwed for harvers with this. As if harvers didn't have a hard enough time trying to level, a huge powerful monster can spawn from dung now? Whoever's bright idea this was is completely out of touch with actual gameplay. :/ Side note: dung prices to rise, less people to work on engineering. Those are my predictions.

- 3x lupines are gone - Not that I ever really used them. One (faster) source of gc is gone. Personally don't care since it was never a gc source for me, but the whining today from others is gonna be bad.

- Godless removal stone - No clues as to how to get it yet. Hopefully it'll stay rare to keep its value up unlike other perk removal stone values these days. I know this one has been waited for by many. Not me, I reset to get rid of godless last August.

- Harvester Medallion made more useful. Breaks less (wondering what "less" means right now), gives more exp and gc on events, and prevents the new monster from showing up during dung harving. That "less" breakage had best mean a LOT less breakage with this new use if anyone's gonna spend time dung harving anymore.

Few other changes that are cosmetic or I just don't know enough about to comment on...


Overall, server update has been one big screw for many players. Personally, not so much. Though the dung monster thing will affect me in the not-so-far future. Looks like a lot more cinnabar harving in my future.