Thu Mar 10 22:09:35 2005

At 9 o'clock AM, Day of Freedom, 32nd of the Month of the Ancient Darkness
on the Theran calendar Syfhos perished, never to return.

Race:	elf
Class:	warrior
Level:	40
Alignment:	Good
Ethos:	Chaotic
Cabal:	None, None
Age:	283
Hours:	92

I am not a regular but I just wanted to say a few things if
anyone cared to read this.


1- I started this elf thinking I could get into Fortress but the funny thing is in this mud this cabal which is dedicated to goodness wanted nothing to do with an elven sword master. What they were interested in is getting their collective butts handed to them. Am I missing something?

2- I found the game boring after the mid 30's as it became the same thing over and over. I found the ranking pattern for goods to be repetitive. I found myself completely bored to tears making it to 40.

3- I found that it becomes almost impossible to rank after a certain point if you are not in a cabal. You can roleplay all you want but at the end of the day you are last on the list. I was lucky to be asked a few times by what were obviously exp players.

4- Exploring is difficult for newbies like me. I found the learning exp of dying to deathtraps and aggressives detering.

5- Being one of those casual players I have not found the fun factor for players like me lacking. We cant follow a player stream, we dont get caballed, we get left behind.

I am not sure what a player like me has to do to get into a cabal or to keep the game interesting. I really tried hard this time but I did not get into the right click. Anyway, as in the game nobody will read this anyway so who gives a crap.

Syfhos the wanna be good elf

>1- I started this elf thinking I could get into Fortress but
>the funny thing is in this mud this cabal which is dedicated
>to goodness wanted nothing to do with an elven sword master.
>What they were interested in is getting their collective butts
>handed to them. Am I missing something?

Fortress is now (well, let's say we're talking about a week ago before a handful of top guys deleted) definitely on top of the cabal food chain. They've got huge numbers and it'd be hard to argue that they're not the 800 pound gorilla in the cabalwars.

When a cabal's like that it tends to get harder to get inducted.

Then why do they keep putting out a call for members? It makes zero sense to me for the Fortress to post to all asking for people to apply, and then treating applicants like they do. I have a character I was trying to get in, and Iramath told me to find a Maran and talk to them. Ok, I find a Maran. Can you talk to me? No, busy, I'll talk later. I wait three hours and they log off. Ok, next Maran...can you talk to me? No, busy. Ok...find another one. Do you have 5 minutes to talk to me? No, I'm really busy. Or the worst is that several of them have been like: I'm busy now, but I'll talk to you in a bit. And then they log off.

Sure, a "top of the food chain" cabal has every right to be selective on who they induct, but it'd be nice if they'd at least give you a shot.

If they dont talk to you, DONT worry. Go kill evil, rinse and repeat like 20 times. Everytime you kill, pray to your deity and offer the corpse for the light. In no time you will get an invitation. Maran looking for people who can do what they do, slay evil. And acolytes looking for people for what they do, preach. Choose your style and play. Play the MUD for fun, not as if you dodnt get in the fortress, you will die. And if that is the case, you better off dead. Nobody likes panzies.




Have Fun, its why atleast I play.

My first hero wasn't caballed, didn't have a problem finding groups
to rank with either (He was just fun to be around, even back in the 'depressed elf' era of his life)
my goal then was to a)have fun b) make the people I played with have fun too. c) make it to 30th level.

Lately I've had alot of caballed characters, I'm thinking because most of the 'goals' you can write into a role fit well into one
of the cabals (sometimes more than one)

So here is the advice I have:
First: you don't have to be in a cabal to have fun, or to have a
character who impacts the world of thera.
(Hell I was the most pathetic paladin ever I think, and Dimion
is still remembered fondly by many a player. A good feeling that.)

Second: 92 hours ain't squat.
Lerrik never got inducted into the fortress and he never stopped trying (not sure how old he was when he died) He was also the most
virtuous character I ever played, he was so 'good' it was disgusting.

Third: to rank you need to hustle up partners, don't wait for them
to ask you. ask everyone you think your character would be willing
to group with.

Fourth: (and last because I'm tired)
Just keep pluggin' away man. Trudge on. When you just got killed
for the fourth time that day, full looted every time, The cabal leader you are trying to gain the attention of tells you every time
you speak that he/she is busy, (They probably are that busy)
Your enemies talk trash, scoff at you, your 'alies' ignore you,
and typing delete seems like the thing to do... just don't.
go have a beer and get back to it later.<--That last I need to start doing again. hehe.

If any of this sounds harsh it isn't meant to be, it is sincere advice. try it, see what happens. OH! and for a cabal you are trying to get into: you brought up Fortress so I'll go with that and assume
Maran Brigade since you were a warrior. Kill evils, pop by the fort now and again and see who is inside. let those people know when
you drop some evil guy. if you drop by the fort and someone is attacking the maran, beat on em. offer aid to the people you saw when you went by earlier. See about joining in on raid/ret. and on top of it all act like what you think a maran would act like.
Worry about things like interviews later. Most people will help guide
you through what they are looking for if you don't get it.
(I think I may have a record of having every interview/empowerment
I have had result in the pulling out of hair by the player on the other end. Hehe EVERY time. I guess I just don't think like other people. :) )

Well best of luck with your next, and keep trying.
If you quit you learn nothing.

>I am not a regular but I just wanted to say a few things if
>anyone cared to read this.
>
>What they were interested in is getting their collective butts
>handed to them. Am I missing something?
>
Well, it's not like an elven sword spec is likely to be a PK god in the cabal wars. MARAN used to be the second hardest cabal to get into. Assuming you have yet to be in a cabal, Tribunal is probably your best bet for a first cabal. Empire would be the easiest to get into but you also have a huge target on you if you go that route.


>2- I found the game boring after the mid 30's as it became the
>same thing over and over. I found the ranking pattern for
>goods to be repetitive. I found myself completely bored to
>tears making it to 40.
>
Ranking is godawful boring from about 35-51. The thing is when it get's boring, stop and go kill people. As a new player, ranking past 35 is probably a detriment to learning the game anyways. Have a goal to rank up to 30 as quick as possible than either con die or pk 25 people. The lessons learned will be much more beneficial than an extra 50 hours ranking to hero. Do this a few times with different classes and THEN decide you want to hero.


>3- I found that it becomes almost impossible to rank after a
>certain point if you are not in a cabal. You can roleplay all
>you want but at the end of the day you are last on the list. I
>was lucky to be asked a few times by what were obviously exp
>players.
>
At higher levels, most classes that don't actively try to form a group won't find one. If you absolutely must hero and want an easy route, play a healer, paladin, or transmuter, most days people will be asking you to join their groups.

>4- Exploring is difficult for newbies like me. I found the
>learning exp of dying to deathtraps and aggressives detering.
>
Granted, but instead of exploring new areas, explore old areas THOROUGHLY. For example learning to get to from the ashes of nowhere to the Galadon healer blind is better than finding out how to get to the Jade Valley or some other new area. Decent gear can be found in shops, fully explore each of the major cities - which by the way don't have a single death trap in them as far as I know.
>
>5- Being one of those casual players I have not found the fun
>factor for players like me lacking. We cant follow a player
>stream, we dont get caballed, we get left behind.
>
I agree with this, but it depends on how casual you are. Less than say 8 hours a week and you are going to have a hard time keeping allies in your pk range as they will likely rank past you. A cabal does provide inherent support & allies but isn't necessary. Playing something more independant helps.


>I am not sure what a player like me has to do to get into a
>cabal or to keep the game interesting. I really tried hard
>this time but I did not get into the right click. Anyway, as
>in the game nobody will read this anyway so who gives a crap.
>
Don't bother with cabal's to start, PK is probably the most interesting aspect of the game. It becomes a far more interesting game when you are out their hunting and initiating combat than when you are running and ducking for cover. The aggressor has an advantage in 90% of fights so just changing from defesnive mode to aggressive mode will help you land a kill or two.

Thanks to those who offered even a small word of wisdom to myself a very frustrated mudder. I think the concensus is for me just to find a class and rank to the 30's then learn something in that decile instead of trying to make it to hero. I am giving up on cabals for the most part because of my last exp but who knows maybe it is like RL and just when you dont give a crap it will land in your lap. Anyway, thanks to those who had some constructive words I will give it another go.

If you have problems with this
try to play a character that can stay out of sight
and doesnt have many enemies, like natural enemies
Like if you play an Assassin you stay out of sight
most of the time, and you can PK fairly well
choose a Race so you get less natural enemies

then run a round do excatly what you want
if you wanna hang at the Inn do so.
if you wanna run and pK do so..or at least try
and Im speaking as a relatively none suckessfull
Pker only one with some success was an Assassin
but I have had farily successfull other characters
but I still come back for the fun of just
doing like I want ingame..