Is there any command that lets you know which area you're currently in? And if not, is there any chance that one could be implemented? Or, failing that, could it be made possible to search the areas by author name, so that when you see a sign saying "this area was created by such and such", you can figure out its name right away without having to scan the entire area list?

Would probably have to be limited:

1. Level 10 and below.

2. Specific areas: roads, cities, areas on 'help newbie3'.

As for the signs, most of them should have the area author's name and the area; at least, that's what I recall. If you see a credit out there that doesn't have both of those things, typo it and I'll take a look.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

It would be too big an advantage.

You teleport, out of moves, and unable to recall.

Friend goes "where are you"? You use the area command and he comes to your rescue.

Feels wrong to me.

It could only apply if you entered the area by walking, or if you are at the sign.

Ah, that makes sense. Still, I'd be happy if you could just search the area list by its author. The signs at area entrances only seem to list the author's name, without revealing the area's name. It would make it easier to quickly discover if I'm entering some place too dangerous for my level.

Too big an advantage? Out of the 20 to 40 logged on, 18 to 36 of them already know exactly the area they are in when they teleport. This just creates a club to beat newbies with until they do what this newbie did and roll up an exploration gnome that spends all day teleporting around, or they play a succession of non throw-away characters for a year.

So, really, this issue is:

make newbies roll up a throw-away mage to be competitive with the playerbase

Or

put in something that won't affect game balance, since almost all of the people know the area they are in almost all of the time, but will help the game to be

1. friendlier to newbies

2. not incentivize OOC mechanisms such as a throw-away explorer char

The RP/game balance decision on this game has come down in favor
of people rolling up level 1 young characters with the game knowledge of 5 successive caballed heroes, probably due to a combination of unenforcability and what would be fun for veteran players. That's a reasonable decision, but if I understand correctly so is the OP's suggestion in light of it.

Too big an advantage? Out of the 20 to 40 logged on, 18 to 36 of them already know exactly the area they are in when they teleport.

I'll loudly disagree with this. I'd say I know exactly where I teleport to roughly 30% of the time, and that's after a scan that shows me a mob or two. And I'm intimately familiar with a LOT of areas.

Though I could just have a crappy memory!

This just creates a club to beat newbies with until they do what this newbie did and roll up an exploration gnome that spends all day teleporting around, or they play a succession of non throw-away characters for a year.

It's not so much the advantage of veterans over newbies, but the advantage this gives to teleport in general. Right now, one of the drawbacks to teleport is the fact that you might not know where you end up, and have to teleport again - risking a plunge into the mists of Thar-Acacia or the Whitecloak Encampment. If you always know where you teleport to, that risk decreases substantially.

Teleport is supposed to be risky. Despite recent changes, I still don't think it's risky enough, but that's probably just me.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

If you are blind, you probably will not know where you teleported to. You will often be teleporting whilst blind, because many of the people that curse you are also the same people that blind you.

So don't give me the "elitist anti-newbie" argument please.

This would make vets survive far more often, because I can tell you that IF I knew which area I'd landed in after each teleport, I could pretty much guarantee being able to walk to a healer.

nt