I am somewhat perplexed by some of the in-game interactions, with no real in-game guidance. I returned in February after a 12-13 year absence.. and I recently talked my RL Hubby into playing as well. So many things have changed and it seems.. for the most part.. most of the game help is found OUTSIDE the game. It was this way before, as well.. and you learn as you go.. however.. it can be.. and is.. frustrating at times.

For instance, I was trying to work in Alchemy at the Empath Guild. I spent a good 2 hours trying to find the right NPC to even talk to. You can "Go Chair" to find one NPC.. but if you didn't know that.. which I didn't.. you have to ask or try to find web resources. ONCE you talk to that NPC... I thought I was bugged. She kept offering me to join the guild.. would take my dues.. but no further information was forthcoming. After a few weeks of this, I finally assisted and a Game Host showed up, told me I was already a member and that I had to find the NPC to start my tasks. Had the first NPC said to me "Go find so and so in the garden area, I could have just gone there. Instead, it turned into a timesink to find it all online.

Another.. My character got arrested. A box found pendant had quake in it and she rubbed it in town. Blamo! she was in the big house. I had a character arrested once eons ago, so I knew what was going on.. and the fruit stained clothes are a nice addition.. thank you very much. After her hearing.. I knew I had a box somewhere with my items in it. I wandered all over Moot Hall.. where she came out of after her hearing.. but .. I could NOT find the box. I spent better part of half an hour, going into each room looking for my box. There was no in messaging that my items would be back at the Constable's office. I had to ask on the net for help.. quite frustrating.

More recently.. I am trying to remove my character from a House. I was told to go see the guard east of TC at the hall. Once again.. I could not find what I was looking for. There is no in-game messaging on how to do this. I have been to the house clerk.. everywhere I can think of.. and I cannot find it.

Am I missing something on in-game resources?

That's precisely what I am talking about. So many game mechanics are just.. unknown in game.

Hubby was trying to stand.. and couldn't. I told him to go stance off to stand.. which he did.. and then stood. All of these little tips that we know as players, can make the game daunting to folks who are new and just don't know.

IF I hadn't known so I could tell him..he would still be trying to stand.

I think she was hoping there were more in-game resources and ways to find things out without having to constantly ask other players. I can understand the frustration intellectually, but it's been so long since I've wondered how anything worked that I can't truly grasp how horrible of a feeling it might actually be.

>I spent a good 2 hours trying to find the right NPC to even talk to. You can "Go Chair" to find one NPC.. but if you didn't know that.. which I didn't.. you have to ask or try to find web resources.

>I think she was hoping there were more in-game resources and ways to find things out without having to constantly ask other players.

yes, but before I spend a half hour (not 2 hours!) running around on any issue I remember that this is an interactive game with at least 100 other players. Regardless of whether someone has been gone a long time, players need to realize that the best in game resource is each other. The task master NPC is clearly labeled.

>There was no in messaging that my items would be back at the Constable's office.

I'd have to check my logs but I believe there is messaging about where to find your stuff.

A simple whisper or thought out on the amulet asking for help works just about every time. The game is designed to require interaction.

>In contrast to my character, I'm helpful.

Silvean is totally helpful to other Faendryl sorcerers.

Oh yeah, you are just as likely to get a smartass answer on Lnet as you are to get a correct answer. People will purposely mislead and troll you just cause they can. I've never really understood all that, but it happens. Lnet is extremely juvenile by nature, but I live with it because of its utility.

A nice thing about having access to Lich, and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to even talk about this on these boards, but there's almost a script for everything. I actually don't use scripts to do too much (and never use any AFK scripts, it's just not my thing), but you can learn from one, just by using it once. Lets say for example, you forgot how to get deeds at the temple, or how to get deeds from the drawer. Chances are there's a script called ;deeds and one called ;drawer (I have no idea if either of those exist, which is convenient for keeping this discussion safe).

You could proabably run ;deeds once, see how it gets you a deed and then learn the mechanics. Sure, that's "Cheating" compared to figuring it out, but at least you didn't have to ask anyone. Or by using ;go2 to get to myklians, you would learn an old in-game puzzle that not many people understand these days.

I know that's not an in-game solution to your problem, but it's just a thought. You can do ";repo list" and then paste the whole list into word/notepad and then do a search for various names to find scripts that might help, even if you only use them for learning purposes. Lots of guilds (like warrior, rogue) have repetition scripts on there that would take you to the NPC and ask for tasks, which would at least show you where they are. No clue of there's an Empath one on there.

But yeah...to actually address your point: It would be great if there were more in-game hints/pointers. I think stuff that's been coded in the last 5-10 years has gotten better at that, but all the older systems just throw you to the wolves and make you have at. it.

If you use Stormfront with the hyperlinks highlighted, be sure you use your mouse at times for NPCs. It'll often give you a list of questions you could ask them about..or actions they might respond to.

Lochiven

>That map is actually incorrect.

it would get her over the chairs issue, which she spent 2 hours looking for.

GLD is the command for guild stuff and you can often sort out the ambiguities of what the NPCs say by checking your status with GLD.

It won't help you find the training administrator if that particular guild has them parked inside a locked cabinet at the bottom of some dark stairs with a notice on the door saying "Beware of the Tiger", but it will help sort out just what your status is.