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ttlanhil

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Posts posted by ttlanhil

  2. Posted · Report reply

    Cat People
    Furries? Not original anyway.
    Shadows (semitransparent), Snake People, Eagle People, Forest Dwellers, ect
    Likewise, and would look odd, IMO.
    Another neat thing would be a race of only one gender, like the Amazons. Only females could be those. *Glances at siggy.* ;D
    Oh, puhlease... The stereotypical amazonian warrior is wearing very little and has idealised dimensions... While giving the impression that what society considers to be the idealised woman doesn't play games isn't a good idea, it's better to more accurately represent women...

    Having female characters as something for the Horny Net Geeks to drool over doesn't do anything to help the cause of the female geek (or other females, for that matter). (This should not be taken as derogatory towards those women who like the sexual attention, but I'm pretty sure they aren't the majority.)

    Luckily, Roja seems to do her best to cover this (well, we're all reasonably fit in EL, but other than that...) :)

  4. Posted · Report reply

    I'm not sure what you mean by harvest death messages. Do you have an example?
    Well, the current deaths counter only includes deaths from the wildlife or other players. Harvest deaths would be stuff like radon and bees. It's not ideal, but I imagine you can detect it by it being within a second or so of a "myplayername hit harv event" message.
    Then there is the "<character name> was blessed ..." messages. I only have those for harvesting but being godless I don't know if you get similar messages from gods you follow in other skills.
    Heh. So godless you don't know how it works? :) The god blessings are a temp plus to the skill, like potions except cheaper and larger. So not relevant here. The xp bonuses, apart from the one-off for mortos, are all passive, like scholar's day. So again, not relevant.
    Then we could count "Mother Nature got pissed off at...", "carven wall" and "bee sting" type messages. I have many hundreds of these and wonder if they are worth counting being so frequent. Any opinions?
    Well, I'd probably go with a new tab for all harv events, which would count all stones and such as well, so you might as well catch the full range. One other thing is the harv med. The numbers are changed for cash and xp, but the messages are the same format, so that's not a problem; it's just one more message for the med being broken.
    I'd like to keep the new "breaks" counter list just for breaks but I could add another such as "events" or "finds" to list some or all of these others.
    I'm not certain, but I imagine that if you had all broken equipment as well as harv events, well, it might not be as long as some of the current lists people already have. So I'd vote for making it one tab. Just personal opinion, of course.
    It's all doable, and I'm happy to do it, but it would be nice for some indication of what people would like. I searched for the stuff you mentioned but could not find anything specific.
    I've only seen a few comments in-game that I recall; surprisingly it doesn't seem to be something people have talked about a lot, although I expect people would appreciate it once they have it. Maybe some more people will post with their opinions, if that's help (hint, hint) :)

  5. Posted · Report reply

    One that takes into account the general level of development of the characters better still (as that will often, though not always, indicate the level of involvement of those players. Compare an account with almost no stats that plays an hour per week vs a high level and rich account played many hours a day).
    How is that going to help?
    It'll make the numbers more appropriate. Compare number of EFE that would be in-game if it was based on the number of total accounts, vs if it were based on the number of accounts that are being played at least once a week.

    While the lower level players may produce a number of EFE, they aren't going to be (or shouldn't be, considering the people who've used iron plate to hunt beavers and such) the people who consume them (as the mixer or user of the item).

    When you want to consider how many people are likely to use something, you have to exclude those who won't from the total set :)

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Although while you're at it, people have asked about harv deaths and events... Not sure if that's offtopic for this thread; if not, what would you think about that as well?
    I'll have a look to see what can be done with those.
    So, do you know if this is a yes or no yet? I'd think that there's a few patterns you need to match, but you should be able to just simply match local text..?

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Okay, I have a couple of comments.

    1) Please read before you ask a question. Several of us had already answered "Why is it bad?" when people asked (yes, in this thread).

    2) A static limit is a bad idea. A limit that's based on the number of active players is better. One that takes into account the general level of development of the characters better still (as that will often, though not always, indicate the level of involvement of those players. Compare an account with almost no stats that plays an hour per week vs a high level and rich account played many hours a day).

    3) No, this isn't an ideal solution to the hoarders (and as I said before, I don't have an issue with the people who make the items collecting a few before selling, or the people who use them buying a reasonable number; I have a problem with the people who buy now so that they can sell for more later. That's price fixing. And as soon as the prices start to go down, whether from Ent adjusting the rate or from a few of the hoarders selling, yes, many other hoarders will sell as well (why wait for the price to drop further)... In extreme cases, you may lose a lot, fast. Maybe even go from 5.5k to 4k in a few days. And when you consider how many EFE that might be getting un-hoarded, you can't say that won't have an impact on the economy). But it is something that can be done without radical changes to EL's game system.

  10. Posted · Edited by ttlanhil · Report reply

    For taking screenshots, use ctrl+p and it will be saved (the old printscreen method was required for the official windows release until 1.4; but it's very poor in comparison). EL will automatically save the screenshot in, by default on windows,

    C:\Program Files\Eternal Lands\screenshots\

    or in ~/.elc/screenshots/ on *nix, and similar on OSX if it's set up.

  11. Posted · Report reply

    If I recall correctly, Ent said to use the map bounds; no light should be outside of the map. However, yes, a light that close to the border will probably have useful lighting; it'll change angles and cut-offs depending on how far out of the map it is, so being less than 0 doesn't always make it bad.

    I would think it's unlikely that this is actually a corrupt light, as the values seem to be valid (compared to the range of values that you can see with the corrupt data; at least as light values).

    Unless there's a good reason to cut-off at 0, I think it's probably best to extend the check in the code to -10 or so

  12. Posted · Report reply

    On one hand, the hoarders are doing damage to the economy. Something has to be done. On the other hand, people would go nuts trying to figure out the changes to everything each update.

    Note that I don't have that big a problem with the people who use stuff having a bunch. I don't see a problem with the top 50 manu'ers having a few dozen EFEs in storage at all times in order to handle a sudden spurt in demand. The same would apply for people who do a lot of fighting having a dozen rostos (but probably not that many more than that).

    The problem is the people who are hoarding to sell later; as I've stated before, others have covered before, and Ent has said in this thread.

     

    So I think a good experiment would be to announce how many things have changed each update (or if nothing changed), but not which items or how much, so people at least know when to look, and how many things to look for. On the other hand, I also like the idea of more gradual changes, that can fix the issues without being a sudden spike.

  13. Posted · Edited by ttlanhil · Report reply

    Also same with tele rings in no-tp areas or diss rings when not in combat. That was reported before, and Ent said it was by design. *shrug*

    ed: Whoops, missed the point. That's what I get for answering one question on channel 4 for an hour.

  15. Posted · Report reply

    Cracking (not hacking) accounts might be a breach of trust thing, but it's not really the issue at point. Killing and even banditry in MMORPGs is, while not exactly a good thing, part of the game. But when you start to talk about things like rape, it's a whole different story.

     

    I'm going to talk in general here, not at any specific event. So don't read too much into it in the wrong way.

     

    Yes, you have #ignore... But why do you have to use it? Sure, there are cases where people over-react, mis-interpret (quite common online, with lack of voice (eg tone)/face/body language clues), or just don't get the 'joke', such as it may be intended. And there are, of course, many cases where #ignore is the appropriate thing to do.

    But there're also cases that really are inappropriate unless between consenting adults.

    "It's not a real person, so it's okay to kill them" sorta works. I mean, it'll probably have an emotional response (anger, frustration, fear, whatever), but it can be part of the challenge and atmosphere of the game.

    But "It's not a real person, so it's okay to sexually harass them" doesn't. Because at that stage, it's not the character, it's directed at the player on the other end.

    Now, the number of women who play online is a lot higher than some people would expect... Why? Because some guy's behaviour (largely the teenaged male, I suspect, though they're hardly the only culprits) gives them good reason not to broadcast their gender. There are other things that come into play as well, of course, but I imagine the bad elements online are a large part of the equation.

     

    Personally, telling people with valid concerns (where they really are valid, which they aren't always) that they should just use #ignore is about as bad (generally not as severe, but as wrong) as saying women should be careful of what they wear and where the walk at night to prevent real-world rape... It can help, but why should they be the ones to make changes because someone else did/does/will do something wrong? (I used to believe, without thinking a lot about it, that they should just avoid problem areas. And today I'd still suggest they do. But when I read the above elsewhere online I agreed straight away. They weren't the ones in the wrong, so it's not right they're the ones to have to change).

     

    Now, I know a lot of people won't agree (both male and female) with what I've said, but please consider it, and don't just brush off inappropriate behaviour because it's online.

    Because the person on the other end is a person, whether you talk to them face-to-face, on the telephone, by letter, or in an online game.

    Anything that you wouldn't say face-to-face (social interaction and proximity, the only distance of communication that evolution is close to preparing us for) or in a letter (where you have time to think about what you'll say) probably shouldn't be said online either.

  16. Posted · Report reply

    As above, not really practical... However, I also don't see how it'd help. If you need more space, increase the resolution EL is running at (and if you can't, well, where would you put those extra windows? Multi-monitor setups are still rather rare).

    I do know the problem you mean... But I don't see why putting windows in the right place can't help. When mixing at sto I tile the storage, inventory, and manu windows so I can click the "mix" button and not much else by default. Then it's easy to drag things back and forth, and then mix, without using up as much screen space (and hence I can see a fair bit of the chat in console).

  17. Posted · Edited by ttlanhil · Report reply

    Ostrich syndrome sounds good, but it's not the whole story... Why else would great sword prices be reasonably stable at 21-22k? Sure, the cost of a wolf bar has gone up with the cost of serp stones, but it hasn't been profitable for a long, long time.

    The problem is also with the people selling things.

    First up, there isn't just the one entry point for these items into the economy.

    Anything that's a monster drop (lets point the finger at ti long) is going to suffer badly from that. But anything that a PKer gets for less than the cost of killing someone is worth, to them, selling for a lower-than-cost price just to get the cash now. And of course, stuff that was made earlier when it was cheap is going to turn a profit now (some people are hoarders. Many aren't, as I'll get to, but some are, and they can afford to sell for less than the current cost price).

    Next up, people are looking for rares. This is exclusive to the steel/tit plates, great swords, and perhaps damage rings (the other things that come to mind, like FE, have a high enough demand for the base product that rare versions aren't the main motivator, they're a bonus). And heck, why not? If you lose about 3kgc per great sword, and after a few dozen you make one worth 200k, you're well in front.

    Then, there's experience. That's not just that you get experience (which is worth something, and can be used to self-justify asking less than it cost you to make something), it's also that you made something different from the leather helms (or whatever) that you normally grind on to get levels.

    People are impatient. There's valid reason to sell now for a little less than you'd get in the future, if that extra money now can be used to earn more money (that's sound economics), but people go well beyond the sound economic level in EL. They want it now. Sometimes this does make sense, if you need a lot of cash now for a big investment, though usually not.

    And now we come back to the ostrich. People have seen other people sell for less (or worse still, someone told them someone else sold for a low price, and they naturally not only believe this person, they assume this other price is a valid one, and not a once-off from someone who was clearing stuff out) in the recent past, and think they should be able to get a better or at least the same deal, whether it makes sense or not.

    There are probably a number of other factors as well, but those are the ones I can point to now.

     

    Unfortunately, I don't think we can change this... Why? Because there's a point to trying to get rares, there isn't ever likely to be enough of a market on things like great swords that supply has issues (and if there is, it'll probably be because of the lack of serp stones, EFE, etc, which just increases the cost price and hoarders keep the prices up).

    And because people in EL don't trade as if it really mattered and their livelyhood depended on it. Because it really doesn't. Unlike in the real world, if you go broke, you don't really lose that much... You just have less things which you can use to impress people and to gain more stuff (and as we all know, you can make cash as a newbie with nothing... A higher level player with no items can do it faster). It's "just a game", so people won't use realistic, logical planning and thought. And many players are probably young enough that they haven't done much economics beyond, occasionally, high school textbooks (I'm looking more at team leader to lower management level, or college/university economics). Not that they always should, of course, it is a game, and too much analysis isn't going to make it fun. But there are areas where an understanding of real world economics could help EL's market work better.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    Well, I find the idea somewhat scary, considering how much I've broken... Other than that, I don't have any issues with this idea... My silence is tacit acceptance :laugh:

    Unless objections do pop up, or there are problems in the code, I'll be happy to stick it in CVS in a lil while.

     

    Although while you're at it, people have asked about harv deaths and events... Not sure if that's offtopic for this thread; if not, what would you think about that as well?

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Building a snapshot setup would be possible, but it's a lot more complex than simply replaying what the real server sent to the bot... At the least, it'd probably look like a resync to change to next image... If not a full new map-load... And any chat from before the snapshot won't be showing on-screen, because while the client displays it for a while, it's only sent the once.

    On the up side, if I did have that working, I could make it automatically snapshot each minute, so people can jump forwards/backwards a minute at a time.

    And if that were done, and I could build lists of movies with offsets (as to the difference in when each started) then I could add a command to jump from one camera to another at the closest snapshot... Mind you, that's again at least a resync, and probably a full map-load. Some people's computer speeds will mean they miss a heap.

    The alternative to that is combining the video logs from several bots, which would look better, but would be more work again (just adding #jump would probably be more work than building the recording into the bots and the playback server was).

    Of course, for it to be worth my time to do all this, I'd need to be doing a fair few showings, which means having a number of camerabots approved to go to a wide range of events. I did have a short test video before, but this was the first real test of how it worked (as far as I can tell, it all worked as it should, although some people seem to have trouble with a double-login which is in some logs).

    As some people may have noticed, my 'Net connection dropped out earlier today (Ever since we upgraded to ADSL2+, there have been dropouts now and then, once per 2 weeks or so, on average. The 1.6MB/sec is nice, but still), and I have dynamic IP anyway; so it's no-where near being ready for many EL residents to be able to use.

  24. Posted · Edited by ttlanhil · Report reply

    I'm sure this was a learning experience for a lot of people :icon13: IMO, it turned out really well.

     

    Right at the start I realised I could record stuff, so I quickly got approval from Roja to bring on some bots... unfortunately, it took a while to get them into place and all, so the first half hour is missing, but the rest was recorded from 4 places (of course, since the action was generally only in 1 or 2 places, half of that isn't too exciting).

    If anyone's interested, and can compile C++ (or has a friend who can), you can grab my movie server software and the movie files from here: http://users.on.net/~gingerman/el-vidserv-EL_gala.tgz Mind you, that's 2.5-3 hours long for each of 4 camerabots, and there was a lot of activity, so the files aren't tiny (a total of about 1400 KB in movie files. For about 10 hours, and with the quality you can get, that's pretty good! The code and the rest is only like 50kb, so the package isn't that large).

    There's a quick readme in there, but as long as you can manage to compile the beast, you probably won't have too many problems beyond boredom in the slow parts. It comes with the ability to pause (though no fast forward/reverse), so please make the most of it and pause in the good scenes, pan around (afterall, you use the EL client to connect to the movie server, you have no control over the character, but the camera is free to move), and take screenies to share! :)

     

    ed: The movies are all uncut, mind you, and I haven't checked over them to make sure there wasn't anything inappropriate said. Which there probably is. You'll see PMs between ttlanhil and the bots, and you'll see a lot of spam from players. If you do want to try this out, don't complain about what you saw (only give feedback to me in private or the movieserver thread in programming (I think) if there are issues with the server)

     

    ed2: If anyone feels like hosting the server, feel free. If so, please spread the word so other can see as well (my computer has the uptime, 1278 hours and counting, but I don't have a static IP or dyndns set up ATM). You'll just have to allow connections from the 'Net on port 1999 and explain to people how to use your server instead of the EL server. :happy:

     

     

    Scratch that!

    I've set it up on my own computer. Hopefully it'll all work fine (you can still download and play locally, which will give a terrific ping, but not needed). To connect, do something like:

    ./el.x86.linux.bin -sa=ttlanhil.homeip.net

    or edit your el.ini to use that server address.

    Once connected, use any username and password you like (preferably not your real password, since you shouldn't trust me as much as the EL server, but as long as your client sends the login message it'll succeed)

    ed: Now should work on port 2000, so only address to be changed to connect to movie server.

    ed: Discussion about the server should go over here :happy:

     

     

    thats what those camerabots people were :o
    Heh, yup! :happy:

  25. Posted · Report reply

    I believe it starts in APPOX half an hour.
    In that case, the posted times are wrong, so it'd probably be advisable for someone to try to get a mod to announce it... But on the up side, being earlier than was stated means I'm more likely to be able to stay for the whole thing :D

     

    As for the times thing... UK time has daylight savings. So it's currently 17:35. UTC/GMT does not, and is currently 16:34. That's correct as of the time I posted this message :)

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