Many moons ago (in the late 90s), Lord Jarleth took a young giantman ranger named Alshazar under his wing and taught him the ways of Elanthia. Over Thanksgiving weekend 2017, a new giantman ranger was reborn and started working his way through Elanthia. Here's my report on the good, the bad, and the ugly of that experience. I realize that this feedback might be of limited use due to the age of the game and technical limitations (not to mention bandwidth of the team), but since I saw this come up in a few recent Simutronics videos, I figured I'd offer what help I could.

*About Me:* Former game designer at TSR for Dungeons & Dragons who moved into marketing and eventually into MMO game marketing, including lots of work in market research, player onboarding, etc.

*Character Creation*: This was generally pretty good, though I wish it was more forceful in terms of recommended races. Some thing like "A and B are great racial choices for this class, while Y and Z will prove more challenging. Focus on roleplaying, though, and have fun." This assumes that making a "bad" choice doesn't exist and no one will work their way into endgame with a race/class combo that clearly can't advance any further.

*User Interface*: The default was better than I expected, and the Stormfront UI was even better (though I really want sit/kneel/stand commands at a click vs. the actions menu). Despite numerous attempts to install Lich, each failed (other than a few suggestions to carefully follow instructions). I'm fairly computer savvy, having worked at a few MMO game companies for more than a decade, and this still has me baffled. <Recommendation>: While keeping a default web UI makes sense as an option, I'd push everyone into Stormfront (or Lich if it can be made to install correctly, since that seems to be what everyone is using).

Community: I'm surprised about how good the community is, especially to new players that are stumbling around. While I have played in the past, there were a lot of nuances that were escaping me and folks were pretty helpful. Mass buffs in the Courtyard have made a HUGE difference, and the more of this the community can do the better the hunting experience will be for newbies. With that said, without a crystal amulet that's active, it's unlikely most new players will know mass buffs are happening. <Recommendation>: Turn on ESP on login, and give experienced players the option to turn it off for their characters.

Maps: The built-in maps of the client are a great help and give me a better sense of where I am in the world. It's strange that some buildings I go into in the starter city don't have maps for them. <Recommendation>: Add maps to all buildings in the cities.

*Reading is Fundamental*: As a giantman starting out in an elven city, I'm already at a disadvantage in that I can't read the signs. <Recommendation>: All signs in the starter cities should be in common. If the elves want to be snooty, that's fine--don't start non-elves here.

*They Hate me!*: The merchants in my starter city are demanding more than retail price for goods. This gets back to RIF; don't start me where I'm not wanted. Make my new experiences as good as you can. <Recommendation>: Don't start players off in cities where the merchants hate them.

*Debtor's Prison*: My first death was to a bear, and I was fortunate that someone was nearby to drag me back to the city for a rez. I'm not sure where I ended up 3,000 silver in debt, but I suspect it was this. Being first-level and already in debt was a huge downer.

*Thanksgiving Day Massacre*: Killed by my dinner. I wasn't expecting this at level 2 outside the main gates of Ta'Vaalor, but it did bring everyone together. Thanks to the active GMs that made it fun, and for the survivors that hauled my giant corpse to the court to be brought back to life.

Deeds: Not certain how important these are now; lots of conflicting information out there between 3 and 4. I managed to find the shrine and get two anyway...

*Sources of Truth*: There's a lot of information out there about Gemstone, but it's not all complete. The GS4 Wiki (https://gswiki.play.net/Main_Page) was my go-to. This should be embedded in the client somewhere and part of the introductory email that you send out.

*F2P vs. Sub*: I spent the first few levels playing for free, and then subbed at level 4. The difference between F2P and Sub in terms of experience gain was night and day. F2P felt like I was scrambling to get every point and constantly resting. I'm still resting a lot as a sub, but two levels just flew by. No recommendations here; this is more alchemy than science. There really isn't a grand level-up ding in GS, so giving those rewarding moments to free players probably isn't as big of a deal. Might be worth a test though...

That's it for me now. Safe travels, all!

-Kellafar

Welcome home!

As for Lich, it took me three times before I got it installed correctly. I am pretty computer savvy, and in retrospect, I am pretty sure I skipped some innocuous looking step each of the two times it did not go well. Because I figured I knew better.

After a complete removal of everything and a deliberate step by step re-install ... all the while rolling my eyes, I might add, heh ... the third time was the charm.

The GS Discord might provide more technical help, however: https://discord.gg/qYnKfpD

Maps in SF: Only a few cities have those maps. There are many at the wiki. Sadly in Lich's maps, many indoors places have no maps, either.

I'm kinda surprised a giantman started in Ta'Vaalor - but you know there is a free travel token to take you anywhere. Be warned the trip from Ta'Vaalor via the travel guide is long.

And again, welcome home to Elanthia! I returned after 20 years, and I do not regret a single moment invested in relearning - everything.

~L.

---
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Welcome back! If you are ever in need of help IG please feel free to look us Mentors up in Silverwood Manor. Type DIR SILVER inside town for directions then ring the doorbell. One of us will adly come help you out.

Welcome back! As said above, please feel free to seek out the Mentors at Silverwood Manor - they'll be happy to get you up and running again! We have an Open House every month (next one is December 18 at 9:30 PM), and tonight is the kick off of the Elanthian Conclave, a free event (11/27 - 12/3) focused on the Elanthian Arkati. Make sure you stop by to visit and learn about those pesky deities.

Hope you enjoy your time here!

~ Haliste ~
The Forest Gnome of Silverwood Manor
SGM, Events

Omrii: Okay, thanks Haliste. You're way better than Wyrom.