So, borrowing from reddit, I thought I would toss out my own little CF AMA. Like the subject says, ask me anything; CF, Fort, or whatever comes to mind, and I'll try to have an answer. It's been a while since I was around, so if you have questions about my philosophy regarding any of this stuff, ask away. Empowerment, religion? Shoot. Recipes for baking a pie? You can ask, but I wouldn't suggest it.

And do please ask something. I'll feel silly if the thread only gets two replies.

Aarn

Do you have any comments you what to throw out on the topic of DEX based warriors vs. Non-DEX warriors?

Lately the DEX warriors (Wood-elves, Arials, etc.) Have been stomping all over the Non DEX ones (Giants, Dwarves, etc.) to the point that a lot of players have commented that they wouldn't want to do things like Storm Giant warrios anymore. I realize this is not always the case, but with a majority of the PB looking at it in this manner do you think that the situation needs tweaking?


Bonus Question:
Polearm has been in the same boat for a while with swords seeming to be the defensive choice now. Any comments on that? Do the two topics go hand in hand?

Sorry, I've basically been away for ten years, and have come back relatively junior.

You'll have to stick to questions I can answer!

N/T

Yes. I think I mentioned it elsewhere in the thread, but I intended Aarn's religion to be easy to follow at a basic level (empowerment) but hard to follow at a high level (tattoo).

Basically you can get empowered by Aarn if you've read the helpfile and put actual thought into how it fits with your character. Many of the questions that will be asked in empowerment don't require right answers so much as they require an answer that reveals any thought whatsoever.

Which specs/legacies would make the most deathful gnome warrior in all of Thera's history?

-Jaeg

Hours works around your general blandness with all weapon specs and fist gives you a wider range of choices. With gnome edges and HP you wil have solid passive defense and a lot of room to soak damage. Add hand because it is somewhat stat agnostic and has stun and maybe spear dimly for impale and go to town.

There are a million games out there. Why CF?

I like the balance of PK and RP. Each enhances the other, and since experiencing CF I find games that only do one lack lasting appeal.

I also really like how actions have consequences, and loosing is a real setback. You die, and someone maybe takes your stuff. It's frustrating when it happens, but in the big picture that's exactly what makes it meaningful when things go well. Similarly I also used to enjoy playing Eve Online for just this reason; losses are real setbacks and the winner can loot your stuff. But Eve can't really be played seriously unless you can log on regularly for 4+ hours without interruption, I find, so I didn't stick with it.

The shared history of CF is great too, which is why I almost always include references to real players in my areas. Big MMO-style games often have a very impersonal history. On CF the characters who rose to great heights are often still legends today, with their names inscribed in places of prominence. Being able to contribute to that, or remember the role you played in that, is awesome.

And finally, the community. Obviously like all communities, our community has some undesirable elements too, and for some people the internet and especially anonymity brings out the worst in them, but just because they're more vocal doesn't mean they're in the majority. I've met a lot of friends through CF, everything from the casual sort you chat with occasionally online to the sort who you're in each others wedding parties. You forget about the trolls quick.

Aarn

I find myself agreeing with everything you said. It is a wonderful blessing to have you back. Thank you.

.

If you were to adopt a signature quest form for your religion what would it be and do?

This, obviously:

https://www.google.com/search?q=bearded+dragon&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwimv_j-mI3NAhXMHx4KHb04DlwQ_AUIBygB&biw=1525&bih=736&dpr=0.9

Or maybe this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=bearded+collie&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj126ynmY3NAhVC1h4KHXGxA08Q_AUIBygB&biw=1525&bih=736&dpr=0.9

In all seriousness I'm not a particular fan of quest forms, at least of the sort that is more powerful than normal ones, and even if one fit well I probably wouldn't want it. I suppose I could get behind a quest form that was essentially just an existing form reskinned, with maybe one little added something, but I don't know of anything that would fit the religion very well.

Aarn,

I have 3 questions, if you don't mind.

After a few attempts to play characters, I usually end up getting bored and losing my motivation for the char because it feels stagnant, so what tips do you have to help keep players interested in playing out their characters instead of chronically rerolling after 100 hours?

Second, lightforge is so much fun, so I was wondering if bards could forge instruments ever, or might in the future?

Finally, what's your favorite fantasy novel series, as I assume everyone who plays CF has one?

>After a few attempts to play characters, I usually end up
>getting bored and losing my motivation for the char because it
>feels stagnant, so what tips do you have to help keep players
>interested in playing out their characters instead of
>chronically rerolling after 100 hours?

I know exactly this feeling. What works for me is to come up with some sort of hook that constantly pulls me into the character, even when the "real" me is trying to take over because it's easier. It can be as simple as a language tick, even. That goes hand-in-hand with developing a roll well.

>Second, lightforge is so much fun, so I was wondering if bards
>could forge instruments ever, or might in the future?

That's an interesting idea, I can't say I've considered it. We do allow wands now. But if bards could do instruments, what about shields? I'm a little bit ambivalent about the idea, but I'm open to being persuaded. Persuading the rest of the staff would be just as important though.

>Finally, what's your favorite fantasy novel series, as I
>assume everyone who plays CF has one?

That's a brutally difficult question...

Okay, I can't think of just one. For a sampling I'll go with Wheel of Time, Dresden Files and virtually everything Brandon Sanderson has written. But I could go on!

nt

Apparently I should have asked on the newbie channel first, where I belong.

Welcome back! Your Fort presence in my penultimate Fort character's life, Azidreth, was awesome. I'm tempted to try an Aarnite comeback despite my limited time.

Since you're now essentially flying solo with MARAN, do you have any different goals for either the cabal or your own interactions than last time you played?

>So, borrowing from reddit, I thought I would toss out my own
>little CF AMA. Like the subject says, ask me anything; CF,
>Fort, or whatever comes to mind, and I'll try to have an
>answer. It's been a while since I was around, so if you have
>questions about my philosophy regarding any of this stuff, ask
>away. Empowerment, religion? Shoot. Recipes for baking a
>pie? You can ask, but I wouldn't suggest it.
>
>And do please ask something. I'll feel silly if the thread
>only gets two replies.
>
>Aarn

Thanks!

I do have some different goals for Maran, but you'll just have to wait and see what comes of it. As for my own goals, I want to spend more time doing little random interactions. Very low overhead to pull off, and are often fun for everyone. The big stuff like quests are fun too, but takes tons of effort to pull together.

I appreciate that you didn't name names, but part of the question is still something that people should find out IC.

My bad.

PS: mind unblocking my real IP? Realy annoying to use proxies to post each time, and it's already months passed since.

I'm not interested in playing whack-a-mole with you, but if you're going to post things to the effect of "I was previously banned and I'm circumventing my ban" then I'll bother to spend the 30 seconds it takes to disable the account.

1) is there any chance we can put something into cf that let's mortals access some of the old Valma Katol lore, so there might be an IC basis for some mortals to incorporate that into their role? (I thought the mystery that was the Valma Katol was my favorite IC "hook" I've ever seen in cf)

2) if the answer to that is yes, might it perhaps be possible to do it in a way that might give an IC nod to Alarian... (the player of whom, Wesley, I served with in the infantry. He was an Army Officer who died tragically)

Really glad to see you back,

Odrirg.

I'm not opposed to incorporating stuff from Velkurah somewhere, but to be honest I don't have a ton of records from then. I would have to dig around to see if I even have my help file and shrine...

Welcome back, you were one of my favs (even when you were playing under the radar chars as a simple player).

1) I know some of the basic backstory of Aarn (since he showed up around the same time I started playing CF), has any of that changed/been updated or is it basically still old-school Aarn?

2) Shaman paths: Are you the type of IMM that chooses the paths for the player based on their role/RP? Or will you give them a choice (I know some IMMs do the former and some do the later).

3) Any chance we see any Ki-Rin sightings? :)

PS We love you Aarn, so don't leave again. PLZ DONT LEAVE AGAIN.

>Welcome back, you were one of my favs (even when you were
>playing under the radar chars as a simple player).

Thanks!

>1) I know some of the basic backstory of Aarn (since he showed
>up around the same time I started playing CF), has any of that
>changed/been updated or is it basically still old-school
>Aarn?

Should all still be accurate. My shrine has some info in it, and the rest would best be discussed IC, maybe with my priest mobs.

>2) Shaman paths: Are you the type of IMM that chooses the
>paths for the player based on their role/RP? Or will you give
>them a choice (I know some IMMs do the former and some do the
>later).

So, shaman paths are an entirely new thing for me, even since the last time I dabbled with a mortal, so I'm not all that familiar with the specifics. I would say, generally speaking (e.g. virtues also) I wouldn't want someone to straight up say "I want this one!" but I would be perfectly fine with very strong hints written into a role. If the role-suggested path feels appropriate after some roleplay too, it's basically 100% I would give that one.

>3) Any chance we see any Ki-Rin sightings? :)

I don't have any plans to carry a remort around right now, but I assume it's a possibility in the future. But it probably won't be Velk unless it's Tribs that need the help!

I suck at discusional RP. I struggle to get past I want empowerment because I want to play this class. So my chats are basically, you are cool, I am cool, give me some juice so we can be cool. Generally I get pity empowerment but it's obviously unfulfilling for both me and the imm.


You mention role playing with shrine mobs. How does that work? Pray I'm here, then start chatting with them?

Well, in most cases if I'm on I probably know when you enter my shrine. If I'm free at that moment, I'll take over the priest mobs. I think generally speaking you can pray like normal, and if it's the priest mobs that respond then this is what happened. If they don't, I'm probably not around. Unless you catch me vis, most of our early interactions will likely be through them.

I get you with the struggles. For me I think there are two things to keep in mind. One, I want to know you thought your character through somehow, so that more effort than "i'm cool you're cool let's be cool together" went into it. But you don't have to have all the right answers right away. You can even say something wrong. Just listen to what the mobs say and adapt.

That's another good reason to prefer going through the mobs. I can be way more forgiving through the priests than I can through a dwarf god of rage persona, though Aarn is fairly level headed by and large.

If you're looking for a tattoo expect multiple talks over a period of time. I'm also partial to swooping in and giving rewards when I see you do something cool, but obviously that requires me to see something happen.

Hi Aarn,

I was wondering if you had any pointers for young dwarves looking to kindle a forge of love. Dwarven women are somewhat perplexing to me and I always find myself unable to earn their affections. I try to be very nice and give them presents but they usually just belch in my direction. What am I doing wrong?

And wash your hair.

And not really with "followers", but if RP and character concept matches Aarn's stand on things to a great extent?

Like "I approve this guy" kind of tattoo.

P.S. I just happen to play a lot of rage and destruction guys :)))

I'm not aware of a "standard" on this question, either now or from when I was active in the late 90s and early 2000s.

It seems like, for spheres to have any meaning at all, it has to be at the least very unusual for this to happen. I actually did it with a character of my own once, a sphere honor paladin getting tattooed by Shokai. However, that was an unusual situation where I was trying to follow a sphere with no god at the time, and Shokai's mortal background in Knights and my characters position in the Fort made him suited to the whole thing.

So, I wouldn't roll a character planning for this. But if the situation arises where it fits very well in some way I can't really imagine right now, I think it would be possible.

Is there any chance that anti-script code for OBS/EXP will affect people who don't use scripts?

Like, if I try to look at things in the desc of a room and 3 in a row don't have a desc, will it trigger a penalty or turn off OBS exp for awhile?

Can you give anymore specifics about the code if there's anything I should avoid as a non-script user?

Thanks

asd

These don't.

I don't care to know specifics if the IMMs are sure I cannot trigger it w/o running scripts. They would only be used to circumvent the code with more sophisticated scripts, so I get that.

That said, there's a reason people write scripts for this stuff. It's boring as watching grass grow after you've done it a few times. I struggle with the thought of OBS/EXP with every char I roll (I want edge points bad enough to go through it, though).

.

How dare he

They do unless you are an idiot.

He's answered the question. He hasn't said "no, because our anti botting code checks for x" but then that wasn't what was asked.

I always find it cool if a random non-cabal IMM sees it fit to watch my char and interact with them even if it leads to a plague or a smite. If you can find the time to do that, that's be cool. :)

I definitely like to do that, and Aarn the character has always had a bit of an affinity for Battle in particular.

That said, I do have to watch the Fort most of all, especially seeing how sparsely covered it has been recently. Hopefully that'll open up eventually.

1) If someone started a follower of yours but plays at times opposite what your Wizlist says, what advice would you have?
1a) Would it be possible?
1b) Could meetings be arranged if needed?

2) What general advice would you offer for following Aarn?

3) Are you the original Aarn?
3a) If so: What made you want to return?
3b) If not: Why did you choose Aarn?

>1) If someone started a follower of yours but plays at times
>opposite what your Wizlist says, what advice would you have?
> 1a) Would it be possible?
> 1b) Could meetings be arranged if needed?

That's tough. I've had a lot of daytime availability, but that should mostly end this week when I start a new job. If you won't be around at all in the evenings, EST, I would say it'll be difficult but you can give it a go. Happy to try and work over email.

>2) What general advice would you offer for following Aarn?

So, Aarn's religion was planned deliberately to be an easy one to follow simply, and a hard one to follow at an elite level. In other words, I expect empowerment to be easy and tattooing to be hard.

The best advice I could give to someone who wants empowerment from me is to make sure you've thought your character through. If you can't tell me why you are the class you are, or why you want to join a certain cabal, and how your rage matters to all that, or what it looks like if you fail to follow the path you've set out, you'll struggle. All the elements that come with thinking your character through are what you need for empowerment - there's no special trick here. Read the helpfile and work it into a role.

But that same simpleness makes it hard to stand out.

>3) Are you the original Aarn?
> 3a) If so: What made you want to return?
> 3b) If not: Why did you choose Aarn?

All original. I always missed imm land and CF, so I was happy for an opportunity to get back.

I'm around some evenings, just not a ton. Usually pretty late (10-11 est).

Thanks for the answers!

How does one use their tattoo when they have earned it? I am not looking to learn the powers of tattoo's just want to know how one engages it when one is lucky enough to earn one.

One auto prog in combat, and one "invoke aarn" prep prog with simple, self-explanatory effects.

Mostly good for melee classes. Sorry mages.

They're the original progs from ten years ago, since there wasn't really any reason to expend coding effort on changing them.

So "invoke (IMM)" is what one needs to say then for all tattoo's? I have never had one before and recently earned one but other then showing my characters devotion I was sure how to enhance it.

That's totally up to how the tattoo progs are designed. I do think "invoke <imm_name>" is a common setup though.

"invoke <immortal name>" is somewhat idiomatic, but ultimately the answer is "it depends", and if it's not particularly obvious then consider it taboo to ask.

That why I figure I'd ask here since it does say ask anything.

asd

So we all know Shokai then Baerinika are like the Fort IMM Maran that is kill all evil with a vengeance.

How is Aarn on this spectrum? It's been a long time since I've played so I don't remember much of anything these days, but I thought I remembered that Aarn followers had similar philosphy, maybe not as extreme who knows.

I'm also asking this question because I think one reason the playerbase would be excited at Aarn return is that Fort doesn't have the Shokai or Baerinika afaik.

So, there's a bit of a conflict for Aarn here.

On the one hand, Aarn the individual used to be a Tara'bal, which is described in my shrine but is basically one of Shokai's servants.

On the other hand, my religion is alignment agnostic. In fact, I'll drop a hint for any evils who might be interested in following me: there's an evil tattooed mob hiding somewhere in my shrine. If you want to follow Aarn, the path most likely to simultaneously lead to success and not lead to ugly treatment at the hands of Aarn is to work your roleplay through that mob.

Did that answer your question, or were you wondering about something more specific? Keep in mind I was pretty absent for most of the last ten years since I left.

Keep in mind that the Maran part of the Fort basically began as an extension Shokai's religion, similar to the Scarab cabal and Scarab's religion. Tara'bal for example are right out of his religious dogma.

So to some degree it's inextricable from Shokai, although it has certainly evolved since then. I'm not terribly familiar with what changes Baer made, so you would have to ask about specifics.

Thanks and the evil hidden mob is very intriguing!

nt

Complaining, gloating and trash talking. It almost always borders on OOC, and it almost always feels like the player coming through, not the character.

It's remotely possible it could be well-RPd, but it would have to be in moderation. If you're annoying the person its directed at you're probably annoying the person listening in too.

So, don't do those things.

Since the house owner has changed.

It's not really hard and fast, in part because it's subjective by nature and in part because I'm not fully up on what's reasonable now days.

In general I would say I look at five areas:
-hours played since Squire
-weeks since Squire
-evil pk wins
-quality of play (both RP and just getting in there and getting dirty, even if it's dying)
-recommendations (like if other Maran/Acolytes/Leaders suggest it)

As a very loose benchmark, say four weeks for a character completely average at everything that stands out in no way but isn't bad in any category might be my goal. If you have four weeks under your belt and only 6 hours played, that's going to set you back. But if you have just two weeks as a Squire with 50 hours played, you might be in. Likewise being particularly good or particularly bad in any of the other categories may push that time frame around. Figure a week would be for an outstanding character.

There's also the problem of not being around at the same times I play to be watched. That's where, hopefully, recommendations from others come in. I give a lot of latitude to mortal leaders, so if the Captain or Marshall suggests you for Maran and I don't know something huge that they don't, you're probably in.

Aarn

p.s. Please note that I'm literally pushing these figures around off the top of my head, so try not to crucify me if it doesn't work out 100% of the time. :)

.

Above my pay grade, sorry!

.

I would speculate that it's for two reasons: one, because it's always been that way, and two, because there's a lot of vitriol on Dios and the imms don't want to spend all their time engaged in arguments that go nowhere.

This is really just my speculation though; it is above my pay grade.

Disclaimer: I didn't write that rule and it's been around a lot longer than I have, but my two cents is:

We would prefer to contain our engagement with the community to a venue that isn't polluted with trolls, conspiracy theories, misinformation, etc. If/when players, especially newer ones, see posts by staff on a forum it's natural for them to assume that forum's contents in general represent the game and it's staff, which wouldn't be true on Dioxide's.

I can think of a handful of other less significant reasons as well that have to do with PR, security, etc., but I think the above is the crux of it.

Agree or disagree, it's probably not changing any time soon.

and I disagree -- it does not represent the staff, but it definitely does represent the game, and the playerbase.

(Sometimes I wish it wasn't so.)

This is a super great post that definitely won't negatively influence any imms on interacting with players outside of the game or, who knows, some day supporting posting on Dios.

But thanks for using my attempt at interacting with everyone to get it out there.

It's you personally :)