Lyanna

Might be useful, but don't the Forum PMs serve this purpose now?

There will be a pay-to-play version soon (under development), which will have a lot more items, maps, races, quests, perks, etc. That would most likely be the major source of income for the game in the future. However, currently there are also certain benefits you can get if you donate. Or rather, you can pay the game developers if you want to do certain things in the game, like change your clothing choice, create a bot, get your custom-designed guild house (not sure about this), etc. -Lyn-

Since I can't play the game anymore due to a promise I made, I hereby bestow my mantle of Master (Mistress?) Healer in the game to Ember, the most worthy successor I've seen. I'm retiring as a Healer. Time for a change of job. All the best with your guild, Ember. (Psst...can I suggest using HEAL as your tag? ) Hmm...how does Lore-Keeper Lyanna sound to you? :wink: -Lyn-

"A nice little short story", exactly as you said. After all the grand epics and great battles, mystical legends and whatnot, it's nice to have simple stories like these to round out the collection. There are still a few minor corrections you have to do, but they can be ironed out fairly easily during the final editing stage. If you want to do them now, though, replace "Aluwens" with "Aluwen's", watch out for the spelling of "painful", and you should try to replace some of your commas with full stops. But nevertheless, a nice simple story for light reading, lobonar. Hope you feel bored again sometime soon and are willing write more on these Forums. :wink: Good to see that you've tried to give your story a sense of time and place with those references to the WoTG and Great War. -Lyn-

One last question: What do you mean exactly by "~ 1k earth years ago"? Will 1k earth years be equivalent to 1k EL years? I've already sort of compiled a timeline for EL history in the first post of the sticky "Trying to pull all the major stories together" (first sticky in Storylines Forum). Do you think you can work with that, or should we see if we can condense the history a bit more? Comments and suggestions appreciated. -Lyn-

The 'freebie' argument doesn't hold. "I can't dance" and "There is no Fork" are already freebies to people who don't fight. It'll be simply a choice - whether the players want to take the perk or not, depending on how they want to play their character.

But in that case, what's the difference from having PK maps where people who want to PK can just go to, and meet OTHER people who want to PK? It's the same principle then. People who want to fight go to PK map / switch on PK. People who don't want to fight stay off PK maps / switch off PK.

This particular issue has been raised up so many times that I think a lot of people are tired of answering. Basically, the answer is: Yes, it's technically possible, but there are a lot of reasons why it shouldn't be, therefore it's not. So, I would encourage you to read through the rest of the Forums and some pages back before making another suggestion. (I think there was a similar thread a few days ago in the General Chat Forum). No offence. Just asking you to familiarise yourself with the game and past suggestions before asking or suggesting anything else. -Lyn-

Wow! This is the first time I've come across people actually mentioning that they read the Storylines Forum! Thanks, Flexo, for the unwitting encouragement! -Lyn-

One last thing to change, Kay. Make the time that the Dragons were trapped an unspecified time, instead of the two thousand years I previously suggested. Say something like, "for millennia", or "throughout the years", or something of the sort. Probably better that way, since it doesn't fix us to a definite time frame, and synchronises better with the Age Timeline. We won't have to constantly re-edit it too, if there are any discrepancies in timing later. -Lyn-

Haha...guess you got to it first. I was thinking of forming a Healer's Guild at some point in the future or another, but I'm perfectly happy that you did it instead, Ember. Have fun! (And remember - healing is a gift, not a ware) :wink: -Lyn-

Okay, I've just gone through the whole thing again, the first post has been massively updated and now includes a running list of all stories under development, plus each stage of development they're in. I've named the Second Age the Age of Princes, if you don't mind, and included general descriptions of all the Ages. Any particular objections to any of these? I can still change them. Also, seeing how fast Tumaros is proceeding with the storyline, I've shortened the Great War timespan to only one year. Saii and Kayliana, could you both do me a favour and put up another "finished" version of your masterpieces up? Especially your History of the Lands, Saii - I think it's been modified quite a bit, so it'll probably be important for the other writers to see the corrected version, and take off from there. Currently, the "Final Edit" version is a little messy... :wink: We're Back in Business, people! -Lyn- ADD-ON: After thinking a bit about what Entropy said in the "World Creation Story" thread, I'm considering major changes to the timeline as well as to my calendar system. I won't post the new changes yet, because I'm waiting to see what everyone thinks...but it's very definitely possible (with a little bit of help), and might be a whole lot better.

You've got a good point, CK. But I wonder, how would you explain the existence of demigods? Immortality (or least, extreme longevity) is being taken care of through magical means, in most of the stories that deal with it. (Case in point: The Necromancer in "The Curse of Naralik Catacombs") Basically, how do you draw the line between god, demigod, and immortal? Glilin, Unolas and Selain were all elevated into godhood straightaway from their mortal existence, so it would seem that demigodhood would be a little hard to describe. Nevertheless, having lesser gods and minor deities might work. What sort of qualities would they espouse, though, that the greater gods do not already have? -Lyn-

Okie dokie. Couple of questions, though, so that we know where the boundaries lie: 1) How far are you going to extend the world creation story until? Will it explain the existence of the Gods, underworld, major continents, ultimate purpose for the game, etc.? 2) It would be a bit difficult to write stories to tie in with this world creation story unless we know what it is, but if it can only be found through quests, then we may never know if we can't solve them. Or, if we DO find out, would our tie-in stories cause some spoilers in the quest? What do you think? -Lyn-

A few questions, and maybe one suggestion: 1) There's an entry fee. Payable to whom? 2) What about Remote Heal spells from friends in the audience? How are you going to prevent those? 3) Someone already mentioned it, but yeah - how is the magic battle going to actually work, if the maximum damage one can do is 10 mp per spell and it's fixed damage? Won't it be fairly boring to watch? 4) Did you ever think of maybe sponsoring a "celebrity fight", or something of the sort? Say, for example, if you could get Tornado and whitediablo to duel - that would be interesting for sure. "Champion of Attack" vs. "Champion of Defense", and all that... -Lyn-

Sorry...I'm a bit stuck right now. I have the story outline traced in easily, but I've got difficulty trying to write the romance in. No experience, you see. :wink: The next part is where I introduce the love interest, and I have NO idea how to go about it.. :? Do you think the story would benefit from having a girl in the party for Jarrett to fall in love with, or should I make it an all-guy action-adventure? I'm open to suggestions and comments. Oh, and someone please check up on my mistakes. I obviously can't edit myself very well. Thanks for the tip, Roja - always though titanium was heavy, thought. It's aluminium that's light, isn't it? Once I can figure out how to tell a love story, or get a lot of boos about that idea, I can continue. -Lyn-

I'll be very honest with you: this is one tough story/ballad to read. It tried my patience quite a bit, and I don't think many people will have the tenacity to go through the entire story. It rambles on and on quite a bit. HOWEVER, having said that, I do appreciate that you tried a different way of telling a story (ie. balladic poetic form), and there are significant difficulties with that particular style. Kudos for trying it. I'd like to suggest a few things, though: 1) For those paragraph/verses that are done in rhyme, I suggest you make it more obvious by italicising them and using [Enter] after each line instead of just a punctuation mark to show a break. eg. compare: My master staggered into the keep walking cautiously, and slowly as he moved the wolves encircled he. Smelling and tasting the air as they went, there purpose there was simple harm they were to prevent. They came up to about to his shoulders standing small, the wolves were huge, three times than he as tall; as any normal beasts they were twice as long, his protectors to the death, protecting he the weak from the strong with: My master staggered into the keep walking cautiously, and slowly as he moved the wolves encircled he. Smelling and tasting the air as they went, there purpose there was simple harm they were to prevent. They came up to about to his shoulders standing small, the wolves were huge, three times than he as tall; as any normal beasts they were twice as long, his protectors to the death, protecting he the weak from the strong. 2) Six years old is a little too young, I think. If you really want to keep him as a child, how about 9 or 10 instead? 3) Watch out for grammar, spelling, and ESPECIALLY punctuation errors. With this particular style, you have to be careful about those. 4) Hmmm...the storyline would also be a little difficult to sychronise with what we've got now. It might be possible as a Third Age story...but difficult. I'll think more on that and get back to you...unless you can suggest anything? After all of that, though, it's still an okay story. I especially liked the ending - the part about "reawakening" Wolf_Lord and finding all the other Guardians. That might prove interesting in the future. But, please, Wolf_Lord - a SHORTER ballad next time...please please please... :wink: -Lyn-

I'm back! Sorry, all, for being away such a long time. I still can't believe it took the people at my ISP THREE WEEKS to change our account from dial-up to broadband! :? I'll get back to work immediately. Oh, Kay, in case you didn't know, I came back some time ago, but then disappeared for a while because of those silly people...but I will not dignify them by another mention. Tons of new stories to read and follow up on. Thanks, all the writers (and some non-writers like CK) who have been giving helpful comments on other people's stories in my absence. And I see that Roja's been reading and giving approval to certain stories already. (Congrats, Kay...your Dragons are definitely a part of history now!) More comments and stories to follow, -Lyn-

Nice so far. Two things to watch out for: 1) Is the name of the lead character Filgana or Aigenia? 2) I'm pretty sure "You do believe in magic, don't you?" would be a fairly silly question to ask, since magic is quite common in the Lands. Something like "You have heard of teleportation magic, haven't you?" would be better - since there could very well be different branches of magic that people are not all aware of. Keep on writing, Geelef! -Lyn-

As usual, a very good story, Saii...a bit detail-heavy, but other than that, not bad at all. See if you can spice up some of the facts and figures in your earlier posts by changing the way you describe them (ie. "a score of..", "a ragged handful", "the massed legions of..." instead of just plain numbers). Folis' story is well-told, but Salia seems fairly left out of the picture. You might want to consider revisions here and there to give them both a little more characterisation. (They DO seem a little one-dimensional, after all...great, brave and noble warrior and cowardly, sneaky traitor...) However, this is optional, since historical tales and legends in general DO tend to polarise characters a bit. If you want to stick with the general style of the genre, you can leave it alone, but if you want to tell a more "human" (figuratively-speaking) story, it might be nice to see deeper, more multi-faceted characters. The stylistic choice is yours. This would probably apply to the way you describe numbers as well, so my earlier comments above would also be affected. About your ending...it seemed a little abrupt, but it's serviceable, nevertheless. You might want to add a few more details about Folis' death and burial, and the disbandment of the armies. Also, I'd be careful about Selain's punishment - whether he takes "an active role in the life of the Eternal Lands" should still be open to debate, I think. After all, despite it all, Selain IS still the God of Summoning, so... :wink: What happened to the Satyr? Are you going to write about their disappearance after you finish off the Centaurs? That's all I can think of for the moment. It's still a great story, nevertheless. It can easily tie in with the rest. -Lyn-

Hmm...why does this story remind me so much of the Lord of the Rings? Nevertheless, I feel you've got some potential as a writer, Cloud. Your dialogue and characterisation skills are good. See if you can work up another story. I have to say that the plot for this story isn't very original or well-thought out, so I would advise you to switch to a different kind of story. Offhand, I get the feeling that if you write a short story about a band of adventurers on a quest, you'll do quite fine. Leave the big epic war stories alone until you have a better grasp of the large amounts of detail necessary. And be patient when writing. You don't have to tell your entire story in one post. You can work on it, part by part, chapter by chapter, so that you can fully flesh it out, instead of rushing through the events. Keep going! -Lyn-

VERY GOOD, kat! This is something I really like - originality, and interesting ways of relating the storyline to characters currently playing. Keep going! -Lyn- P.S. Oh, and watch out for those minor grammar and spelling errors along the way.

Sorry to be so late. DeathGuard, this belongs better in the Role-Playing Forum. You'll get a lot more responses and continuations there. -Lyn-

Okay, here are my comments: 1) I'm a bit wary of introducing new things like demons into the game, but that's not really a major issue, since it can be replaced by an evil mage, or something of the sort. 2) The general idea of the quest is fairly simple and straightforward: Go fetch an item and use it to kill some person/monster to get a reward. That, I think, is one of the major difficulties. zapcory, Roja's looking for some really tough, challenging and long quests - and unique ideas too, so I doubt this fits the description. No offence. 3) Also, giving item or monetary rewards for a quest...this is just my opinion, but I don't think it that good an idea, since it adds even more stuff into the game, when we're trying to find out ways to remove items from it at the moment. Rewards that directly affect the player's status - such as exp levels or pickpoints - would be better, in my opinion. -Lyn- P.S. Other potential quest writers, take note.

Haha...I wonder how many people will recognise the bands I like to listen to: :wink: Hillsongs (Australia), Parachute Band (New Zealand), Passion Band (U.S.A), and Soul Survivor (U.K.). If you don't know them, forget it. Let's just say they're quite different from the ones you guys like. :wink: -Lyn-