My one heroimm on CF auto'd because December can be really busy for me, and when I hit the actual holidays, I was offline for two weeks. #### happens, and I realized I could never unconditionally guarantee time would be free for me, so I never contested it.

I didn't avoid CF because Valg came off as the text-based version of an owner/manager I once had who sold out after punching an employee. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, as text doesn't always convey warmth or humor as intended. Nep, Baer, Lyr, Ysal, and Esh and the other hero imms were all great fun to be around, although they tended to be busy snooping morts or plinking through code. (I don't know exactly what plinking means, but it is vague enough to cover whatever it is they were doing at the time.) From a personnel standpoint, when I heard that Daevryn and Ray were going to be in my part of the country, I considered scooting up to the cities to buy them dinner. In short, there were nothing scandalous that turned me off of Valhalla.

However, I have to say being a hero-imm was painful. Imagine having 3 hours a day for CF, and you are expected to log on so you can monitor the newb channel and maybe once every two weeks spend quality time with an ELL player in the description room. We were warned not to create no-void triggers, so I coped with being locked in the hero-imm version of the RotD by listening to music and watching DVDs. Despite that, I still fell asleep while being logged on, I was so bored.


I realize that things may have changed since I was a hero-imm, but in the event they haven't, here are a few ideas to ponder:

1. First and most important, do exit interviews so you can improve the hero-imm experience.

2. Allow no-void triggers so hero-imms can work on their area while putting in their hours. I set up triggers to alert me when something happened while I was in another window, but things were so slow I tended to void.

3. The mentoring I had was good (M, you were a dear!) but I might suggest using something like Google Wave (or even just Google Docs) to make collaboration more powerful. I use the latter with my students all the time.

4. Create a RAD area development tool. Yes, it is an investment in resources, and a poorly designed area editing tool would need to be revisited whenever area formats or flags get changed, but a well-designed tool could be updated as easily as updating a config file. This is done anyway in the form of the CF area documentation.

5. Award furloughs to the Eternal Star for good behavior.

FWIW during my very, very brief stint as a hero IMM Valg, and actually all the IMMs, were very helpful.

I think the nature of the project I was given was a bad idea, even though it was an awesome project.

But I found that the higherup IMMs would talk to you as much as you wanted as long as it was about the game, so insofar as that goes, you get what you put in.

Sorry I burned out so fast to all you IMMs.

-Larcat

The project wasn't a bad idea, but giving it to me was :P

-Larcat

These differences might seem minor to someone who hasn't spent a month or more in the box, but what you have stated here diminishes that feeling of 'interminable incarceration' that I felt with Fadderth. And that is good thing.

Thanks for listening.

I still actually use your area proposal as a "This is pretty much what I want to see when you propose an area" example. (hope you don't mind)

I think now with the way we run things of "here's a good idea, this is what to do next" would be better for you, but in the end I think the single most important thing of being a heroimm is being able to set small goals and then accomplish them. Little goals like, I'm going to name all my rooms today, I'm going to line up all my exits, I'm going to write ten room descs, I'm going to stat 20 objects, etc, and it really helps.

No one who has "made it" past 51 will misunderstand the heroimm woes. I try to take the time to ask heroimms where they're at with their stuff and assure them that the juice is in fact worth the squeeze. 53 and a religion is a really cool thing that opens wonderful new possiblities in role play.

>5. Award furloughs to the Eternal Star for good behavior.


I like most of what's been said already, so I'll just comment on this one. There's no rule against this explicitly. I've taken several heroimms who wanted to attend a herald event to the inn. They have the ability to recall back to 1200, and typically I stress that in the event someone breathes on them wrong they need to get back to avoid being killed. If you see heroimm guy sitting in random area alone, chances are I'm standing there with them, or another imm is. I think a lot of your stigma aligns with what raybaer says... "most people just don't ask".

- Side note here... the heroimms usually have equipment that doesn't enhance a role play environment, and this keeps them tucked away too.
- Addendum, I'm just as guilty of having sordid eq. "Enlilth's magic pimp cane" for example.

Man. My heroimm had to stand around naked the whole time. Except for a crap-ass imitation version of my former leaderweapon.

We really do try to clothe the heroimms these days. If nothing else it makes them feel cool. I also still take it upon myself to assign long descriptions to heroimms when they've uploaded area if they want one.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the massive mithril axe, 'Victory' can be referred to as
  'zulghinlour special zulgaxe massive axe victory'.
It is worth 80000 copper, and is of the 53rd level of power.
It is an axe with an attack type of defilement.
It is made of iron and weighs 9 pounds 0 ounces.
It can cause 20d14 points of damage, at average 150.
When worn, it affects your damage roll by 524 points,
  your hit roll by 524 points, your hp by 3440 points and
  your mana by 3440 points.
It radiates light.
It emanates sound.
It is immune to purging.
It is imbued with a terrible, unholy blessing.
It is immune to normal attempts of disarming.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Klaak

Great spirits have always met violent opposition from mediocre minds.
-Einstein

nt

That's about how I went through it, too.

It helped make us tough and self-sufficient! We knew ShaidarHaran would as soon rip out our eyes and skull##### us as look at us, and we sure didn't ask him questions if we could help it. :)

I have an area that I developed about 8 or 9 months ago and would love to see it implemented, but don't want to become an imm to do it? Is there some way I could collaborate with a current imm who wants to take on the project? I've pretty much got the maps done (if I can find them again), some of the NPC locations (with a pretty good idea about the rest), a few item basics, and have the general idea and purpose of the area well developed. I've even got some pretty good ideas for built-in quests in the area or involving the area from outside. I haven't written any NPC or room descriptions yet, but those could be done pretty easily if I knew it was going to go somewhere.

Personally, If I was ever going to be an imm, this would be the aspect that appeals to me the most because I get to use my creativity and writing talent.

Klaak

Great spirits have always met violent opposition from mediocre minds.
-Einstein

Feel free to put together a general outline/proposal and email it to Daevryn and I. If we like it, we can always give it to a heroimm as a 52 project to make into an actual area file.

We have been very carefully trying not to add any areas to the game until we have the areas that need work spruced up. So any proposal should be one that will either revamp an area or replace an area WHILE still keeping around what that current area is good for or making it add even more to the game. A ++ if you will.

Thank you for the proposal, I will read it over and see if we can fit it in.

I don't think I'm alone in noticing the vast discrepancies in the way
that various areas are written. Some areas are basically copy/paste
of the same room with "nothing special there" no matter where you
look, while Loch Grynmear (as an example) is an amazing labor of
love with incredible discriptions everywhere.

Your post makes it sound like the staff would be open to playerbase
input on making some of the more boring areas look more like the
Loch. Is that the case?

And maybe I'm biting off WAY more than I really want to chew here, but I can definetly see a benefit if some of the players want to do some area fixing on a purely desc level.

As the mud has evolved, our standards of area writing have gone up significantly. Years ago, it wasn't required to have an exit description for all exits, or to have extra descriptions hidden in room descriptions for little details. Sayto descs are another good example of this. They've only been around the past few years, so many areas do not incorporate them even though they would add quite a bit.

That said, we now are looking at some of our older areas and cringing a little bit. Good examples are Arboria, Whitecloaks, Balator, Emerald Forest, Arial City and the Aryth Ocean. Valg loops Sirine Island in there though I don't think it's a badly *written* area necessarily. Actually, I shouldn't say any of these areas are badly written, more that they just no longer conform to the current standards. They are all good areas that provide something to the mud as a whole. Since we generally feel that the mud is large enough to support our player base, and many people feel that it is TOO large, we would rather rewrite or replace these areas instead of adding in more volume of rooms. Any area replacement would have to keep some of the important aspects of the old area in. For example, Arboria has the lich quest area and mob. Any new Arboria will have to have this in it even if the entire functionality, layout, and plot of the area is different. If someone wanted to rewrite Chessmasters, for another example, they would have to think about how that area works for xp, how it links two sides of the world, how it has higher level gear, how it has a unique locking function, its no magic room, etc. Not that these things *have* to stay but they should be thought about when looking at a revamp.

Ok! That was a long tirade. Sorry, the area team is my baby. :) In general, if someone wanted to do some general sprucing of an area to make it more Loch Grynmear'y, they can contact me directly about it. rayihn@carrionfields.com

I do not envy the insanity that this invites upon whomever must
attempt to sort the wheat from the chaff, but I think this could
be excellent.

I'd make it absolutely clear that people need to contact you and get
a list of ground rules before you start getting 10MB unformatted
notepad files written in engrish.

IMM: You can't put a potion of haste in the piano.
Submitter: Why not?
IMM: There is no piano in the room description, so only you would
know it was there. <facepalm>

Also, I know that some areas are already undergoing revamps. Rumor
has it that Arial City tops this list. Could you let us know which
other areas are getting poked at so no creative juices are wasted?

Arboria has wide coppers. Never remove those! Even if they might not be the best statwise anymore they are still the best in my heart.

>I didn't avoid CF because Valg came off as the text-based
>version of an owner/manager I once had who sold out after
>punching an employee. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, as
>text doesn't always convey warmth or humor as intended.

I know there are some that will disagree with me, and I don't want to turn this thread into one about Valg, but I thought he was very approachable and great to bounce ideas off of as a heroimm.

>1. First and most important, do exit interviews so you can
>improve the hero-imm experience.

Not a bad idea, although generally people write their comments in their deletion thread.

>2. Allow no-void triggers so hero-imms can work on their area
>while putting in their hours. I set up triggers to alert me
>when something happened while I was in another window, but
>things were so slow I tended to void.

I haven't heard anything recommending against making these triggers...not that I'm smart enough to set one up for myself.

>3. The mentoring I had was good (M, you were a dear!) but I
>might suggest using something like Google Wave (or even just
>Google Docs) to make collaboration more powerful. I use the
>latter with my students all the time.

Invites plz :) I use rememberthemilk.com to help me with my area writing, and could see using that with others on projects.

>4. Create a RAD area development tool. Yes, it is an
>investment in resources, and a poorly designed area editing
>tool would need to be revisited whenever area formats or flags
>get changed, but a well-designed tool could be updated as
>easily as updating a config file. This is done anyway in the
>form of the CF area documentation.

There is an aspect that I feel is neglected when people discuss heroimm areas. True, they do demonstrate that you have dedication/multitaskability/etc. But they also teach you a lot of things about CF that you need to know as an Imm in order to run quests that don't go horribly awry or be able to give informed answers to questions about gameplay features on the Forum/Newbie Channel. These are things that sometimes you can only really figure out after finally getting the ####ing locks on the doors in you area to work after the 5th try and figuring out what you had been doing wrong all the other times you thought you had it fixed. I think any tool that would make area development significantly easier would probably allow someone to gloss over these details and lead to people advancing without having the necessary knowledge to stand alone at higher levels. I don't think we're really hurting for more/better areas.

>I know there are some that will disagree with me, and I don't
>want to turn this thread into one about Valg, but I thought he
>was very approachable and great to bounce ideas off of as a
>heroimm.

During my brief, best-forgotten stint as a heroimm, Valg was totally awesome. Very friendly and helpful. What I wonder is, with Valg gone, who is stuck with the crappy job of smacking down the goddamn cheaters?

My failure as a heroimm stemmed not from fatigue per se, as just being kind of silly and having my attention diverted. It was also my first hero so I was basically totally clueless. Anyway, I was totally into it for a while, but I mostly wanted to be a coder, and didn't have the patience at the time (college) for the area. So it seems like the process correctly weeded me out.

I had (have) a no-void trigger that I used (Lyr actually helped me set it up, I think), but the MUD client was always open and visible such that I could see when something happened. My bigger problem was that when online, there was ALWAYS something to distract me from focusing on the area. Helping newbies, helping and roleplaying a little in the Academy (with permission, of course), description help, random odd jobs that come up, grabbing higher up imms' attention for laundry lists of questions... I almost had to stay logged off if I wanted to work on my area at all.

Working on the area itself is a trial, and it's supposed to be, I think. The docs could stand to be updated again (there are a few holes that make some niche things difficult). Someone, maybe Baer, sent me a template that helped immensely. I'm pretty good at notepad mapping, so that wasn't an issue.

But it's like learning to code for the first time. You have a vision, but dumping it down into a workable doesn't-crash-the-mud area file can be hard. Especially with all the other distractions!

At the same time, that's what you're supposed to be proving, right? That you can handle the work part of being an Imm, execute a major project from start to finish, and still pick up the little things and multitask. This is coming from a guy who only plays 5-10 hours a week, if I'm lucky.

Yes, the interaction part of being an Imm can be rewarding. I enjoy it. But at every level, there's also a new tier of "Things that make the MUD tick" style jobs. So in my limited view of things, you still need to be able to multitask, you still need to contribute to the work stuff, even after you pass the heroimm test.

And from what I can see, everyone shares the workload. There are teams of folks working major projects all the time. There are individual Imps doing insane work behind the scenes. Folks are donating their time to review new areas, to make minor improvements to existing areas, to mentor heroimms and help newbies, to answer prays and police people who think it's fun to see how long they can go without writing a description (and then be giant asses about it when you catch them).

My point is that while everyone up here ENJOYS being an Imm in this fantastic hobby, it's not all fun and games - there is actual work that has to be done. To me, the heroimm process is kind of a wake-up call to that effect... and if it isn't a good match, no hard feelings. Maybe it is too much of a pain in the butt, but I kind of think it's necessary to be that way. Anyway, rambling...

You make some good points. It sucks being a heroimm, in short. I did find it especially hard when I was a heroimm to write an area and be logged on at the same time. But, I'm sassy and I wrote most of my area at work when I could "focus" on it.

As far as trying to make the area writing process easier, I have been trying something a little new with some of the latest heroimms. Once their area idea is approved, I've helped them lay out the basic structure/create a template for an area using my generic room template and a map. The people I've run this by have had good feedback on it.

I'm not against anti void triggers in the least. It's the anti void triggers and not paying attention that is bad. You are a visible imm and thus you have to be responsive.

Furloughs to the Eternal Star are fine. I think more people have to speak up and ask. As an Imm I would never think to ask a heroimm if they want to take a stroll around the Inn. But if a heroimm says Hey there's someone I want to RP with...I'm generally fine with it. Also, Asgaard is partially open to mortals. I have no problems with heroimms having morts come up to Asgaard to hang out with them.

Likewise, a heroimm can work out their time committment with their mentor. If you have three hours a day to devote to CF, tell them that your plan is to spend 1 hour logged in per day and 2 hours working on your area logged off. This is perfectly fine. You need to have a consistent presence, but it doesn't need to be a CONSTANT presence.

I'm not familiar with google wave or google docs, though I will generally end up with heroimms on my gmail chat, which I am pretty well constantly logged into and available for questions at any time.

I know this doesn't help you after the fact! But please know we really do want to make the process more workable while still being a lengthy "interview."

And I honestly can't remember your heroimm's name. And now I feel bad about that.

>You need to have a consistent presence, but
>it doesn't need to be a CONSTANT presence.

What the ####...when did this change? I didn't get the memo...

Zulghinlour the Ebony Warlock, Dark Dream of Emperors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level : 60 Sex : male Race : fire
Ethos : Orderly Align : Evil Class : anti-paladin
Age : middle-aged, 14115 years old (26910 hours)

e edit can't spell for ####

nt

because that mean you will be around for a long time! YEAY

Being a heroimm is rough. But I view it as a survival of the fittest kind of deal. After about 8 months it isn't so bad, you become numb.

Payoffs are high as well though. There is nothing like getting your area uploaded, even if it isn't live yet, and seeing all the work that you did come to life. I can't wait to watch players explore my area.

I went the imm route because of the players. I love to RP and add enjoyment to others game time, as anyone that played with me as a mort would know. And when I finally get that big thumbs up, I can't wait to RP out a religion and add to the enjoyment of other players.

I read about the support that the players gave me when I Immed over on those other boards and if they are still cheering for me, you guys should know that I've stuck it out and the hardest part is over. The dreaded hour is nearing, so be ready!

But then again, I'm the kind of guy who pleases his partner before himself. :)

And on a side note, the other staffers are just awesome. I have gotten along well with everyone so far. Great group of people to work with.

... I'm the typical brainstomer/starter of projects... Not a finisher. I get bored/diverted far to easily so I'd never get passed the weeding out process. (Which I shouldn't. heh)

Hence the suggestion about starting with something small. Even if it seems a little simplistic.

Personally I found it impossible to work on my area while logged in. I would always want to be doing something in-game instead of area work.

If I were ever to try again, I'd want to get the vast, vast majority of my area done beforehand. At least the map and all room/item/mob descriptions. Mob/item stats could be left for later since they might need to be tweaked based on game balance feedback. But, honestly, writing all that text was what I found the hardest.

My first heroimm was a wash out.

On my second go, I followed a plan:

Everyday I would write 3 descs and STOP. That's it.

It took me 3 months(ish) to hit 52 (which is actually kinda quick)
but I didn't get writing burn out, and I could spend time BS'ing in
1200 and still know my #### would eventually get done.

My area is now one of the more trafficked areas in the game.

And on Valg... I really miss him this time around. He was a great
presence in the game my first run up the ladder.

G.

...it's like in Scarface.

'Say goodbye to the bad guy. You need guys like me.......say goodbye to the bad guy, because he's the last bad guy you gonna see.'

Play a mortal Valg you ninny ;)

Valg's caustic BS was terrible from a PR stand point.

I think he did more to disenfranchise players than any Imm or even any several bad Imms could of.

So he could code, so can Daevryn and zulg. And even when I get mad at Zulg, on Zulgs worse day he doesn't even approach Valgs brand of "I suckedness". In fact its not even fair to mention Valg in the same post as other Imms.

Valg drove off fun Imms like Grurk and players like Vladimr among others.

Good riddance I say.

P.S. These are the most possitive things I can think of to say about him.

He drove off Mekantos - well besides Daevryn's abusive father comment of "I expected more" on his PBF comments, Valg pretty much killed the game for Mek in a lot of ways.

Kinda glad he's gone.

To judge him based on the cracking on people he did, including you -- I think you may not realize how much better / easier to deal with of a player you are now vs. in the Valg era. I'd argue most of it was appropriate/necessary, but that's not really the point.

You also have to weigh him on all the things you like about the game that would not exist without Valg. For example, legacies.

(Edited to fix a typo.)

But you know what they say, build a thousand bridges...

I may have been a tad vitriolic in my characterization.

So to be fair, I personally don't like the guy but yes he's done a LOT for us.

Valg didn't drive off Grurk. Real life did. I know because, well
I am Grurk.

Valg didn't coddle players on the forums. Some people didn't like
that and chose to hate him and leave.

Pro, you have the same kind of forum personality. Reminds me of
some grumpy First Sergeants I've known from my time in the Army.
Nothing wrong with that, but it's just no nonsense and will rub
most people the wrong way.

G.

You're a great player and Imm. I always had possitive experiences with you as Grurk and in this new form.

I'll accept your word on it but I thought you specifically named him as a part of your first leaving.

Really glad to have you back though. Is there any reason Grurk can't rise again?

FTA right?

Grurk was great for the time Grurk was around.

I brought a lot of needed changes to Empire, most that
endure years after.

Empire has a few very active IMMs so there isn't really a
need for another Empire IMM atm. Who knows though, maybe
that would change down the road.

G.

I didn't know it was you that was Grurk. I guess I'm gonna have to roll me a Grobbak Shaman soon and return to my Draktel roots. :)

I'm glad you are back. One of my favs.

I wish he were back too. Though, I got the distinct feeling when he gave me the "you need to get this done or leave" talk that he was genuinely angry and genuinely didn't like me. Maybe he was just having a bad day or it was my imagination.

I can't speak for him, but there's a reason we call heroimms a gaggle of sickly puppies. They're fricking adorable and you love them and snuggle on them and give them TONS of time and attention trying to feed them and give them attention and keep them alive...and then 9 out of 10 die on you. And it sucks. I think he was probably more disappointed than hateful or angry.

I think he enjoys kicking them.

Don't try to church him up. 11 years of Proud Blade doesn't go away because he takes a well deserved (By the players) break.

The guy was a menace.

>I think he enjoys kicking them.
>
>Don't try to church him up. 11 years of Proud Blade doesn't go
>away because he takes a well deserved (By the players) break.
>
>The guy was a menace.

The guy was a menace to you, because he would call you on your many and varied lunacies, and thereby make you look like an ass on the forums.

In general, Valg was hated by egotistical a-holes because they couldn't stand being out-argued. Valg wasn't all cuddles and kisses, but he was definitely less of an ass than the people he was unpleasant too.

Valg rarely if ever out argued anyone. He would lock threads or arbitrarily ban people... Especially when he was losing a debate.

The forums improved when he stopped posting and the game has improved since he left. I'd not be surprised if it's in large part because his ego isn't clashing in Imm land.

Therefore Valg didn't like you.

Seriously, the dude was ignorant with his vindictivness.

You're getting more and more aggressive and this isn't the place for people to just post jerkish things. Go to Dio's for that ####.

I just really don't like Valg. I said my piece though.

Sorry to upset you. :)

Seriously, are you always so stupid? There are times when people should just learn to shut up, you obviously haven't learn this...at all.

Almost a month after a thread is dead?

What can I say, boredom kicks in, I read old forums, and feel like posting, I don't see a problem with that.