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The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 03:37 AM |
I would just like to say here how much I enjoyed this (apart from seemingly endless lag and crashes which I nor anybody else had control over!)
The day in total up to the point I finally gave up relogging was for me a very enjoyable one, which was only made better by what seemed to me to be excellent co-ordination by the DM team and a story which gripped me from start to (my) finish, and exceelent RP from just about everybody I encountered during the day.
Well done all and thank you |
Elvalia - Chosen of Aros
Elrith Mellin
Perin - 'Cleric (an' drewid) o' Elbreff' Weddin's an' pies a speciarality
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 03:50 AM |
Thank you for the kind words Benny. Hope everyone had a happy Halloween...which is obviously what the event was centered around.
I know Dens, pd, Grimjester and the rest of the team put a huge amount of effort in...so huge thanks definitely owed to all of them. We didnt get to run everything we hoped to but think there was enough anyway. All Sol and I really did was some atmosphere stuff in the first half of the event plus the "getting the key" quest...who knows maybe one day it will become obvious what the key is actually for! *chuckles*
Lag on such events is an issue...and a high chance that in future quests, especially on that scale, may well end up with groups going off to do different things simultaneously, especially if combat is to be involved. The lag with 20+ players and several dm's all in the same area is horrendous.
Things like that and a few other minor things the dm team learnt from I think, with running such a big event. But really hope all the players enjoyed...that's what we are all here for after all!
Cheers,
Sirac |
'The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.' - Richard Bach, Illusions. |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 08:06 AM |
I had a great time!
you guys rule :)
-Chandler |
My lamentable plight... I am calamity.
fire... burning....agony...
sultry shivers of a dark essence
why am i tortured with this nihilistic existence?
-Maddox |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 08:14 AM |
Yeah! What Benny said. It was great fun. Thank you for all the time and effort that was expended on this event.
-Ken |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 08:38 AM |
It was the first time I was able to be a part of an event from beginning to end, so I was glad to be a part of it. It was a tremendous amount of fun and I certainly think an extremely effective story...that atmospherics and the little touches were what really brought the story to life, so big applauds there.
Sirac, I think I must agree with you that, though no storyline becomes fun when it becomes an exclusive event, at the same time there seems to be so many ways that the experience is unfortunately dragged down by such a large group of people as it creates lags and crashes, as well as propegating so many conversations at once (I'm new to online rpg...I'm a pen and paper D&D'r myself, and I get lost when there are three conversations going on at once within earshot).
Within a storyline like the Tears of Elbereth, I think that smaller groups working together for the greater cause of the story would be extremely feasible, and make it more enjoyable for all. Besides, it gives us an excuse to meet at McGillicutty's and pound some ales as we all get up to speed on the storyline!
And *cringes as he makes radical suggestion* what if there were level-based quests offered, or level-based subquests within the main storyline? I will be honest in saying that I couldn't help but feel my character was more getting in the way than actually moving the story along. If I were a powerful hero within this storyline, I would have told my character, "Listen, Bennigan, we know you want to help, and the best way to do that would be to...ah....yeah, guard the Four Winds! Yes, that would be a brilliant amount of help to us, Ben!"
The most fun yet I have had on Vives was when my little character was used to perform a small task for advancing a storyline that larger characters were a part of. It was EXACTLY what a low-level bard would have been used for, and how he would get experience. He became mesmerized by these amazing heroes, was totally confused about what was going on, and got some great XP for fulfilling a task that helped his character to grow. One day, Bennigan WILL be big enough to be apart of the hero's quests, but not yet. He hasn't cut his teeth on it yet.
The only problem currently is, there has seemed to be little else for Bennigan to do in Vives besides glob onto the big heroes like a troublesome gnat. And this does little for him because he gains virtually no XP by doing it. *Looks ashamed and blushes* Not...that...I'm INTERESTED in that kind of thing. *Shakes head too vigorously* No, no. *Smiles guiltily*
Anyway, believe me when I say that I am having an unbelieveably good time in Vives...the players are incredible, the world is amazing, the rp'ing is fantastic...just some thoughts from a part-time player who loves the experience but just finding it difficult for his character to grow. |
Willom Wilde--Actor, Playwrite, Head of Wilde's Vials, and fearful of all things cheesy
Califus Sarten--Mercenary for Hire
Bennigan Songsinger--Brooding bard. |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 09:16 AM |
James, I think all of your post is valid and am sure the dm team will discuss it and take it on board. Like I said we already know we have lessons to learn, events quite that large are still something of a novelty to us!
Only response I will offer is that whether a full timer, 1000's of hrs IG type player or one with more limited time here, it does take time and patience to "grow" your character, and is equally possible for either type of player. And yes experience and levels are one of the things needed for this to happen, nothing wrong with wanting that! *grins*
But it does happen. Maybe not as fast as we would like...but those players who love the rp here and keep coming back for more...well sooner or later they turn into the characters that you are currently feeling a little overshadowed by.
I started playing round about the same time as such greats as Macha, Ronan and Elvalia, and myself and my wife were in much the same boat as you. They could put in a lot more hours than us...and even worse all too often in our timezone there was no DM and very few players. We spent a lot of time just going off and "adventuring" together. But that was interspersed with just enough amazing rp and interaction, and very occassional dm quests to keep us coming back again and again for more. Now I personally think Vives is an even better world, with a much bigger and yet still very high quality group of players and coverage across all timezones. And as we spent longer with the world we got more and more involved, first as Sirac and Sol then as Muga and Ilyana, and now I have too many characters to even remember them all!
Ilyana Fiirhaart, before we ever thought about becoming DM's, was made high priestess of her temple. Not something she sought or asked for, but it is possible to achieve. Yet she is nowhere near the highest level character on the server, nor amongst the most powerful in terms of pure stats. Its the same thing as people flocking from every timezone to any announcement of a performance by Macha. *grins* Just came about as a natural progression of playing the characters.
There are no guarantees of position, or status, or the like for anyone in Vives. But to be involved in plenty of storylines, and known and respected/hated and (dis)liked IC...that's less to do with level and much more to do with being IG and interacting and rp'ing with people. And something I am sure you and your wife will find comes in the next weeks / months in Vives as well...indeed I think it is beginning to happen already.
As for Sol and I now...well now Vives takes up far, far too much of every spare minute we have. And we still cant dedicate as much time as we would like to to it. *grins* So if I was to offer you one piece of advice at this stage it would be...flee!!! Before it's too late and vives takes too great a hold! *chuckles*
Cheers,
Sirac |
'The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.' - Richard Bach, Illusions. |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 09:38 AM |
Totally understood, and appreciated. Believe me, I was never the least bit interested in online gaming before because I never thought such a large group of quality gamers could even be possible, and if I'm going to hack and slash (which admittedly I am sometimes prone to do) I certainly don't need to go online for that...any decent NWN vault mod is perfectly good for that.
And I am very appreciative of the warning provided to flee the world of Vives before it takes hold, but sadly your warning comes a bit too late for me, as I have become too addicted...not to the world of Vives, but to the PEOPLE of Vives, who still amaze me every day with each wonderful story or journal I read, and each bit of excellent IG rp'ing experienced. What I really wish is that I could get some of you around a table for some awesome, good ol' fashioned pen and paper rp'ing!
No, my earlier post was simply a still-newbie player throwing out some all-too-obvious suggestions that are already being worked on...*smiles sheepishly*
But to the DM's, the players, the scripters, et al....well done and I look forward to the next bit of adventuring! |
Willom Wilde--Actor, Playwrite, Head of Wilde's Vials, and fearful of all things cheesy
Califus Sarten--Mercenary for Hire
Bennigan Songsinger--Brooding bard. |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 09:45 AM |
No, my earlier post was simply a still-newbie player throwing out some all-too-obvious suggestions that are already being worked on...*smiles sheepishly*
Nope, all the things you said were of value, and very welcome. Please keep the advice and feedback coming, that is as needed if not moreso than feedback from estd players.
As for the PnP sessions, we're still waiting for one of our players to win the lottery and establish the Vives commune! *chuckles*
'Til then, this is as good as it gets.
Cheers,
Sirac |
'The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.' - Richard Bach, Illusions. |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 10:01 AM |
Kudos to the DM team for pulling off this event. Byron didn't get to participate much (I'm one of those people that can't donate a lot of time to Vives) but overall, it seemed like everyone had a good time.
I've never been one to like large groups. There is so much opportunity for character development that is lost when a large group gets together. The small interactions are what I like in roleplaying. The subtle looks, the gentle touch, the glances that speak volumes...these are some of the things that drive character development.
That's not to say that a person should spend all their free time standing around trying to act subtle. Adventure has it's place in Vives, but in smaller doses. This is not meant to disparage the DM team, they worked hard to put on a great even (I especially was tickled to see the undead wandering around Vives, the fact that it was never daylight, and that some NPC's were turned into undead...poor Shira,) all which made for an interesting time. I would suggest something along Bennigan's thinking....to have multiple, smaller quests with a more focused group. There are times when people are usually logged in, and while there is some variation, it's usually a good bet to say that Elvelia and Trent, and will be in the game during hte day (this is CST, i'm talking about) while Melphus and Byron will usually be around in the evening. Yeah, there are those lucky few that seem to be on all the time...but let's not talk about them yet.
Coordination would be difficult, but it would be possible to subdivide large quests into time zones. This would allow for a few benefits. One, the same characters wouldn't be involved in every tiny aspect of a quest. So stage one of the adventure (after the appropriate build up, of course) could involve X group of players, while state two would involve Y group. There would probably be some overlap, and some players from group X would not be allowed to go with group Y, but it would keep the party sizes down and allow for more roleplaying during the event itself. And, as Bennigan said, levels could determine who gets to do what in such quests.
Of course, this idea is mostly applicable when applied to large, DM quests. Hey, I like getting lovin' from the DM's as much as the next person, but when it comes right down to it, I like making my own stories. I figure that I'm pretty wide open in what I can do, unless I roleplay something that is obviously contrary to something set up by a DM or the world. And anything that may conflict with a DM, well, it's an easy enough thing to touch base with them to let them know what you have on your mind. In my mind, DM's not only are there to provide large, sweeping, and impressive quests like the one yesterday. They also can provide support for the smaller, more intimate stories that may only involved three to five people.
Okay, so I am ranting on now. The quest was good, and it is also a good lesson in quest planning. Maybe there are lessons here that we can all learn. Things like: Not everyone can be involved in everything, nor should they; or, lag sucks (okay, that's not so much a lesson as a given, but hey, it's true.)
Anyways, good job guys. The world has been saved again, and peace will reign in Vives (at least for a few more days) Congratulations.
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My name is Byron Lorian....I am the Last Son |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 10:02 AM |
As for the PnP sessions, we're still waiting for one of our players to win the lottery and establish the Vives commune! *chuckles*
*Eyes turn glassy and stares off dreamily* Ooooooh......Sorry, lost in a moment there.
EVERYBODY START BUYING LOTTERY TICKETS!!! |
Willom Wilde--Actor, Playwrite, Head of Wilde's Vials, and fearful of all things cheesy
Califus Sarten--Mercenary for Hire
Bennigan Songsinger--Brooding bard. |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 10:11 AM |
| I have a couple of acres in western NC in the middle of nowhere, on a hill , in the woods. It's allready graded for building. All we need is a few thousand stone, some lumber and bodies (warm bodies only.. animated ones aren't reliable) and we can build this thing! |
My lamentable plight... I am calamity.
fire... burning....agony...
sultry shivers of a dark essence
why am i tortured with this nihilistic existence?
-Maddox |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 10:24 AM |
I have a couple of acres in western NC in the middle of nowhere, on a hill , in the woods. It's allready graded for building. All we need is a few thousand stone, some lumber and bodies (warm bodies only.. animated ones aren't reliable) and we can build this thing!
And loads of cash to pay for everyones flights . |
- Solitaire, Wizard
- Ilyana Fiirhaart, High Priestess of Naruth |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 10:25 AM |
We could call it a religious organization to take advantage of a tax free status.....
Hey, I'm just sayin... |
My name is Byron Lorian....I am the Last Son |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 10:27 AM |
Coordination would be difficult, but it would be possible to subdivide large quests into time zones. This would allow for a few benefits.
Not sure people realised but the event yesterday actually started at about 7am my time, and finished some time after I went to bed, Im guessing round about Midnight my time!
PD had already prepared a "halloween" version of Vives beforehand for us...with perpetual night and the changes that we had been putting in at the tears as DM's done permanently for that version of the module.
Just before the server was due to reset, at about 7.30 am UK on Halloween, there were four DM's IG giving players hell as the world literally went mad. And a bunch of descriptive server wide shouts. Then we had the reset and the halloween module started.
There were only about 4 or 5 PC's around to witness all this, but we put them through a lot! Poor old Johe in the seven sisters! Dont think a character has ever respawned twice when already in the seven sisters! *chuckles evilly*
Then from 8am onwards we kept doing bits and pieces, lots of undead rp and little one on one rp events. More and more players began to log on, and eventually after being run ragged all over the place congregated together. And the first quest commenced, to go get a key they believed would be needed. This started about 1pm UK time.
Then Dens took over and unleashed true hell on Vives! His Gukathul autograph was pretty memorable. *shudders* And I got to play a DM event. And get killed. Yay! And after the PC's finished at Gorlath, Grimjester took over and ran yet another top class quest, into Maldovia.
So this really was an all timezone, all day event. The problem came with the fact that even though it ran for a good 16+ RL hrs all 3 big "quests" on the day were oversubscribed! Too many players and DM's in one area.
So more likely when and if we run such events again, we will probably run two events at the same time, splitting people up and hopefully cutting some of the lag...to an at least acceptable amount.
That said the Nethar'u storyline has run well with large groups, open to all. So until that concludes will probably stay that way...but Sol and I have a huge advantage DM'ing such events sitting right next to each other at adjacent computers. And we still have learnt the value of splitting people up if a quest is going to have a fair bit of combat. But conversations with Malakai or Alianda have run fine with large groups...at least I think so but would welcome feedback on that?
Just my thoughts, and a little clarification of what went into yesterday, and some of the lessons we learnt from it.
Cheers,
Sirac |
'The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.' - Richard Bach, Illusions. |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 10:33 AM |
Coordination would be difficult, but it would be possible to subdivide large quests into time zones.
This was done yesterday, Sirac was DMing GMT morning, Dens took over in the afternoon and Grimjester carried it on long into the night - so early GMTers through to late USers got to take part in at least one of the three key events of the day. Of course a die-hard (or should that be die-often?!) few were there for all/most of the day!
I must say the that once Sirac and I were DMing a large group on the Nethar'u quest and we deliberatley planned that the party should split into two (low levels and high levels). So we suggested to the party that they split in an IC way by saying there would be two attacks on the stones, one smaller attack and one large scale attack. Unfortunately they decided to pool their resources and all go to defend at the large scale attack.
I even think Dens tried to get some of the very large party to go off to Maldovia yesterday afternoon and away from the main party in Gorlath Keep (could be wrong about this as I was playing not DMing) and it seemed that everyone wanted to stay with the big group and see what was happening!
So I guess next time we need to be more "forceful" about it as DMs and not make it so easy for all players to stick together in a big bunch ;).
As Sirac says, lots of lessons to learn .
- Sol. |
- Solitaire, Wizard
- Ilyana Fiirhaart, High Priestess of Naruth |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 10:35 AM |
| *chuckles at the fact that her and Sirac picked up on the same bit to respond to at the same time* |
- Solitaire, Wizard
- Ilyana Fiirhaart, High Priestess of Naruth |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 10:39 AM |
I agree with a lot of what's been said here, and qualify for a lot of what's been said... I play a variety of chars, classes (and yes due to circumstances over which I have no control, play a hell of a lot of the time) all at varying stages of development.
I have one 'heroine' who is in a lot of ways just as vulnerable as some of the lower level characters, but for reasons of my own she didn't take part in a lot of what happened yesterday.
I would point out that while I enjoy the bigger events (even though at the moment they are a nightmare from a lag point of view - not the fault of anybody or anything) some of my most memorable moments have come one to one, or in small groups.... highlight for me yesterday was Perin's argument with Winky through the locked door.
James it is hard at first, and yes I do have the advantage of playing a high level character, but it's taken almost a year of hard graft, by and large RPing, and even more so crafting, to get her where she is... and I'd like to think I play her largely for the RP element.
There was a time when she was in the same position as your character, tagging along on quests - which in those days were far less frequent - with a lot of higher level characters and little idea of what was happening.
It is hard to start with, and I still find the same as you with my lower level characters, but that doesn't stop me sending them along and shouldn't you. Yes there is a risk if you are lower level but a lot of what happens during these quests is made more enjoyable by the RPing that takes place during them, and was one of the factors I enjoyed yesterday. Your character whatever his level is just as able to contribute to that. |
Elvalia - Chosen of Aros
Elrith Mellin
Perin - 'Cleric (an' drewid) o' Elbreff' Weddin's an' pies a speciarality
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 10:51 AM |
I'm sorry, Sirac. I dind't mean to sound overly critical. But I suspect the general idea of my comments was recieved by you, so I appreciate that. I imagine coordinating DM's and playes is a difficult prospect at best. I'm not saying I know how to do what I was sayin.
Eh, just ignore me. |
My name is Byron Lorian....I am the Last Son |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 11:01 AM |
His Gukathul autograph was pretty memorable.
each time the server crashed I rushed to create the blood sign..
When I think about it... the only time it -didnt- crash was when I didnt write it..
something to think about!
=P
I even think Dens tried to get some of the very large party to go off to Maldovia yesterday afternoon and away from the main party in Gorlath Keep (could be wrong about this as I was playing not DMing) and it seemed that everyone wanted to stay with the big group and see what was happening!
we thought about starting the vampire part and then split it (after about 4 crashes) but the lag
became 'playable'.. so Grim and I decided to finish it one 'event' at a time.
(oddly, it didnt crash =p)
Dens |
You are more than welcome to ignore my spelling mistakes =p |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 11:03 AM |
I'm sorry, Sirac. I dind't mean to sound overly critical. But I suspect the general idea of my comments was recieved by you, so I appreciate that. I imagine coordinating DM's and playes is a difficult prospect at best. I'm not saying I know how to do what I was sayin.
Eh, just ignore me.
Eh? Bah...I hate the internet sometimes! *grins*
Didn't take a single thing you said as critical...never mind overly so. Just realised the scope of yesterday's events might not have been fully known, and so discussion of how to proceed and what to learn would be better with an explanation of how the Halloween event had been structured.
My turn to apologise if came over at all defensive...totally not my intention. And I don't even have Dens' excuse of 9 hrs at school!
Cheers,
Sirac |
'The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.' - Richard Bach, Illusions. |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 11:44 AM |
Wow, there was a lot going on on Halloween, wasn't there? I wish I could have seen more of it!! Sirac, I am glad you took the time to let us know what all went into the Halloween event...some of us would have never been able to fully appreciate it!
As for the Maldovia subgroup...yeah, I was all geared up for that...got kinda excited that we might be splitting off, but it just didn't turn out that way.
It is, however, an amazing amount of work that you all do, and it just keeps getting better and better! Well done! |
Willom Wilde--Actor, Playwrite, Head of Wilde's Vials, and fearful of all things cheesy
Califus Sarten--Mercenary for Hire
Bennigan Songsinger--Brooding bard. |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 11:48 AM |
James it is hard at first, and yes I do have the advantage of playing a high level character, but it's taken almost a year of hard graft, by and large RPing, and even more so crafting, to get her where she is... and I'd like to think I play her largely for the RP element.
There was a time when she was in the same position as your character, tagging along on quests - which in those days were far less frequent - with a lot of higher level characters and little idea of what was happening.
It is hard to start with, and I still find the same as you with my lower level characters, but that doesn't stop me sending them along and shouldn't you. Yes there is a risk if you are lower level but a lot of what happens during these quests is made more enjoyable by the RPing that takes place during them, and was one of the factors I enjoyed yesterday. Your character whatever his level is just as able to contribute to that.
This is all true, and well said. A large part of the development will be for me as a player--not just the XP of my character-- to learn all the in's and out's of Vives. But the learning curve is still a blast! |
Willom Wilde--Actor, Playwrite, Head of Wilde's Vials, and fearful of all things cheesy
Califus Sarten--Mercenary for Hire
Bennigan Songsinger--Brooding bard. |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 12:31 PM |
I just also want to thank the crew for the good event. Great timing to put it out there with all the undead and such on halloween, I was quite surprised when I entered the server :)
I also think it was great that you posted on the forums here many days in advance since it allowed me to schedule in the event and show up, good for those of us that cant spend so much time IG to find out about these events.
Thanks again,
MrPink aka Arawen |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 03:44 PM |
*jumps up and down* that was fun! I got to meet Gashers mom and go in a wizards tower and.....*babbles on and on
Great job DM'S |
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Re: The Tears Event
Posted: 01 Nov 2004 03:56 PM |
There were only about 4 or 5 PC's around to witness all this, but we put them through a lot! Poor old Johe in the seven sisters! Dont think a character has ever respawned twice when already in the seven sisters! *chuckles evilly*
Hell isnt the word I got the shock of my life.
I wake up and think to myself, lets play a little bit of Vives for a few hours which I dont ever seem to get spare nowadays.
So I log in, and just as its loading turn to pick up my drink, turn back just in time to see 5 skeletal thing majigs rush towards me and dispatch of me before I reach for the keyboard.
Im sat there, shocked as can be thinking "so its no longer vv_onAkrilenter_severreset; its vv-onAkrilenter_spawnsomereallyhorriblecreaturesandmakesurehedies."
Fortunately Sirac appeared and held them all back why my resurrected corpse could flee like a nervous reck to a near by group to cower behind.
Then I realised it was halloween. Thanks guys.
Just before I go, I realised today my hand-eye co-ordination is not as great as I thought. Check out his little test. Keep going and let me know if any of you can get to level 3.
Hand-Eye |
Never argue with an idiot.
They drag you down to their level
and then beat you with experience.
Akril
Quinellieth. 20th Circle of the Order of the Ring |
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