Sorry, I am new here and am looking at writing some articles about MUDs, but I cannot play with the white text on black background. I searched. but I have found most MUDs look at changing text and background colors as something insane.

I really need to change the look of the game somehow, what would be the best place to start? The client information is not exactly newbie-friendly. :)


Beau

Now THAT's what I have been looking for. I have been through maybe 15 MUD clients and not a single one allowed me to simply change these options. Such simple things! lol

Thanks again!


Beau

Heh! VALISKD beat me to it!

Well done!

~Sherlise

I also can't read white on black, along with a decent percentage of the world. Black on tan for me too (book like). Welcome to our little world btw.

AIM: GS4Menos

>Here lies the formless world we´re living in
>Gravity is finally giving in
>High altitudes and still upward we go
>I was never meant to lead but to follow

Tsoran's excellent maps are being hosted here: http://kyaloria.com/archives/tsoran by the lovely Kyaloria.

Sereh

Here's another quick question: how do I view these forums, you know, like a "normal" forum? I have been struggling just to find my original post and topic. The threaded style seems to mix all topics WITH their replies in on one page. It's odd...I have been gaming for 12 years and have never seen it.

What setting am I missing?

Also, any clues on how to buy a trip from the travel guy? I finally figured out I had a debt to pay the city (thanks to the guide's help) but had no idea on Earth how I would have know that the debt I owed was somehow standing in the way of my "free" travel token. I mean, the token said it was was free and to give it to the travel agent, but once I did he said I had some debts. I got those paid, but now he wants me to pay for it after I "order" it.

This is seriously confusing. I am not writing a guide at all, but I would love to cover this stuff and move on. Honestly I am really enjoying the writing style/descriptions. Good work, person who did it. :)


Beau

No, just threaded view.

Beau

There are so many issues popping up, but I am still very interested in the game. The main issue I am seeing is that the developers have given new players tools that simply lead them astray. Giving me a coin that is marked "free trip" but forgetting to tell me that I have to pay some debts off first (but it is mentioned in the newbie guide on the homepage) leads only to confusion. Confusion takes me out of the game. Now I have finally figured out how to get a travel guide and he or she proceeds to take me (what seems like) around the entire world. That's fine, but was I really travelling with him or her? Was it just being described to me? The text has flown by so fast that I absorbed none of it.

I slowed him down, then lost him for a minute. Finally I got him back and now he has led me to who knows where (I have no map for the area) and has essentially abandoned me without even being able to contact a mentor. I click the normal spots for assistance or help and nothing happens.

I understand that in hindsight this will all seem elementary, but until then it seems like some very basic things are not covered. The little green fairy at the beginning was great, she led me around and explained some things. After that, everything else (very basic things) have been a struggle.

I don't mean to complain, but this is a "concern." :)

I will be streaming the game live today at 5:00 pm EDT at http://www.twitch.tv/massivelytv if anyone wants to watch. I stream pretty much every day and Mondays are the day for games that I end up writing about in my column. I am a bit frightened that the entire time I will sit there telling the chat room "Uhm....so...yeh. I am stuck all thanks to what I thought was a newbie experience."

Strange. The game continues to fascinate me, though.

:)

Beau

Oh, if worse comes to worst, you can do an assist I suppose.

The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me

Yeh, the DIR doesn't work. Too far from towns. I asked pretty quick after I noticed that he was taking me somewhere.

So I need to look up the map but that's hard to figure out. I'll see if I can get it straightened out on today's stream. :)


Beau

>Which town did you get taken to? The DIR command will only work if you're in the Landing, Icemule, or Ta'Vaalor, but travel guides can take you to other places. Once you're in another town, you can check your map, or ask other people to see if they can point you in the right direction.

Solhaven is their only other destination (and it really should have DIR or it shouldn't be a destination).

Alright the guide does nothing, and I cannot figure out how to tell him to "take" me anywhere specific. we are just wandering. The advice does nothing, and I cannot be taken to a mentor. Help lists subjects, but none do anything. I can tell the guide to stop but as soon as I click on a different thing like "advice" he starts up again and I have to ask him to stop. Once he even told me we would not stop because I just did.

I have essentially been kidnapped.

To be fair, it's an adventure. The text is descriptive and I enjoy that part of it. :)

It just seems that something as basic as this should not perplex everyone. The big mystery of my time with the game? How to stop and get back to town! hehe

Beau

If you're still with the travel guide, there is no way to stop and go back. The only function of the travel guide is to bring a person from one town to the other. You're not wandering, but traveling to the other city.

Gretchen

Meeting Nilandia: http://www.gsguide.net/index.php?title=Nilandia
Nilandia's GS4 Info Repository: http://www.nilandia.com
AIM: Lady Nilandia

You can get them to pause and wander away for a bit.

Just imagine how lost you would be if you did dismiss the guide in between towns. There is a good reason why you are stuck with them all the way.

Hello Beau!

I took some time to watch your saved show today, very interesting! I can certainly understand how some of the issues you've had can be confusing!

When an NPC (non-player character: not a player-controlled entity), like the halfling barmaid, suggested that you "take a look at the menu and order", she was giving you hints as to how to interact, as you surmised.

You can also use the dialog box (where you type your commands and speech into) to interact. In the above example, typing LOOK MENU (At the tavern you were in within Icemule Trace) into the dialog box (make sure you have a ">" and not the speech bubble curser marker) would give you the same information as when you clicked the underscored MENU text where you selected "look menu". But, the halfling also suggested you order... When in a shop, try typing ORDER and see what wares they have for sale! Or food, or ales. (Often, folks will illustrate in caps a word that is a verb in the game, meaning a trigger word that does something.)

Try typing into the command line bar, (with the > curser) PROFILE FULL (It doesn't have to be in caps, again, the caps are just being used to illustrate something you would type into the game for easier communication here). This should show you what your character LOOKs like, and his INVentory.

The highlighted words you see after you click something are also commands you could type in by hand. Of course, the point and click is a really nice feature, and it's there to use! Just letting you know the option is there to type in.

Last note for today... type in VERB
The game will then give you the usage of how to use the information, so next, try typing VERB LIST W
You will now see a lengthy list of verbs that start with the letter "w". Here's part of that list...
waggle
wail
wait
wake
warble
warcry
warn
warsalute
watch
water
wave
wealth
wear
weave
weight
wheeze
whimper
whine
whisper
whistle
who
wiggle
wince
wink
wish
withdraw
wobble

You can commonly use those verbs just on their own:
WAVE
>You wave.

Others see:
>Beau waves.

OR, you can direct them so that the verb specifically actions to a particular person in the room with you!
WAVE SHERLISE
>You wave at Sherlise.
>Beau waves at Sherlise.

~OR!~ you can try the verb on yourself!
WAVE BEAU
>You fan yourself.
>Beau fans himself.

The WAVE verb is probably in the Roleplay menu to select from, but there are tons and tons more. You can TINKER with items, or others, although gnomes TINKER best. You can SENSE to get some interesting information about where you're standing at right now to get a bit more information perhaps, not always. Different professions have different things to SENSE so what YOU sense might not be what another character senses if they aren't in your profession (For you, a Ranger).

I hope you have fun exploring the game! The starter towns will be your best bet to begin play: Ta'Vaalor, Icemule Trace, Wehnimer's Landing.
When you die in Elanthia (GemStone IV), you will want someone to recover your corpse and get you back to life after healing your body. (Empaths and Clerics do these jobs.) There is a self life-restoring option, but past the initial learning levels, it is not one you'd want to take.

Try DRAGging an item, a USELESS item

IMPORTANT NEVER PUT THINGS you want to keep (like your weapon or armor or valuables) on the ground!

In the same way, you can also DRAG a body or a person. Conversation is recommended first! Heheh.

There is so much to see in GemStone IV that you simply won't discover in a week, but I do hope you very much enjoy your stay!


GM Sherlise

When you want to remove an item you are holding from your hands without losing it, use the STOW verb; the stow verb needs a target for item storage. I usually use my backpack as a default. Hence "stow maul' is the equivalent of the command "put my maul in my backpack". "Stow right" (or left) puts whatever is in your right (or left) hand into your designated storage device.

Using stow will reduce loss of items. For example, a common mistake is to issue a command such as "put maul in backpack", without specifying "MY backpack"; if there is a backpack on the ground, your item will be defaulted to that backpack and not yours. A good way yo lose a precious item.

The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me

I recommend typing READY LIST and setting this up. If it says (none), click on it and you can select what you want to set for that category.

Once you have this set up, you can use GIRD to ready weapon/shield, SHEATH to put your weapon in the container you specified (will allow for cloaks/backpacks as well as sheaths). STORE ALL will sheath your weapon and wear your shield.

If you have set up the STOW SET option (allows you to select where stowed items will go) you can simply STOW ALL and whatever you are holding, regardless of the hand it's in, will be put in the container you specified.

If you use SHEATH, STOW, or STORE ALL, you will NEVER lose an item to a container on a bench or on the ground.

I was ill most of last week, so I have pushed off writing up my experiences with Gemstone until this Sunday the 29th. That means I will stream the game again on this Monday the 23rd at 5 PM EDT if anyone wants to check it out. I'll make up for the time I lost, essentially. Normally I play a game between 8-12 hours or so and write up a first impressions.

Yes, I know...MMOs are hard to sum up in 8-12 hours of play. That's why we call it a first impressions and make it clear how long I played and that it is a newbie experience. I apply the same thing to pretty much every game I look at. The first impression is pretty much the most important part of a game, considering that many players will easily just skip it if it's too wacky.

Thanks, and see you in game!

Beau

Yes, for Stormfront and Wizard front ends.

Check out squelch strings, too. Those annoying things that you don't want to see, you can copy some or all of the string to the squelch section, and viola', no more annoyance.

Another pro tip, check out combat brief and battle brief flags (FLAGS SET, or Options / Advanced in Stormfront).

Doug

You can do the same thing with e-scape. I have friends' names highlighted in color, (same thing for people I hate; different color though), as well as key words and phrases (door, ledge, opening, ridge, hill, trail etc etc. for room descriptions, for example, so I can see exits better).

The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me