Wecome to the TownCrier’s Discord Digest! In this space, we at the TownCrier will attempt to provide a daily digest of select conversations at the Official GemStone IV Discord server from approximately 10 pm EST the night previous to 10 pm EST the night of. Not all conversations will be reported and we will endeavor to utilize a neutral tone (although our unique senses of humor may show through).
Links may go to the Official Discord post itself, to the GemStone IV Wiki, or other useful and relevant places. In the case of Discord links, those links will send you to the Discord web interface.
This digest record was compiled by the player of Qafziel Nalfein/Darcena Wolf-Valslayer. Have an error to report on this digest or some information to pass along? Contact Jen on Discord at ArmyJen#0001.
What You Missed
“Box-Found” Unique Treasure Discussion
In a conversation on boxfound items in the #festivals-and-events channel, GM Quilic stated, “It would make most ‘arpee’ folks sick to learn that I have put out ~30 or so notes like that at various times over the last 6 months, inviting people to a (very small) murder mystery. And not a single person has engaged with it.” Aaaah! I feel very nauseated.
Ragz followed up by wishing there was a pawn table for discarded relics full of the boxfound items people automagically sell with ;sloot or leave lying on the ground when they run their box-opening scripts. The conversation on boxfounds continued here and in the #mechanics channel. Ragz asked: “Would there ever be something in place to redistribute those discarded hopper items to a more appreciative audience?”
Erek provided, “now here’s an idea… a box found “token” that can be exchanged for a weapon type that an NPC has, with greater variety (ok yeah that’s stolen from another game). That might be interesting if done right.” Along the same lines, Jyinaer explained they feel that it’s better bang for the buck to just have an “extra altering session available” or even dropping an alteration voucher, since the boxfound item is usually mechanically weak with an alteration that may not fit your character. Raelee responded that for some it’s the thrill of the hunt.
Several people discussed how sometimes its hard to tell something is boxfound. Naamit suggested making a box containing a boxfound sparkle when it is opened or MARK hopper items to give people pause. Midgar said they had probably missed out on some things because they weren’t above the sale cap, as anything priced above the sale cap gets sung to by a bard. Darcena added she is confused by what is generic treasure and what isn’t, and wish a line was added to GM-created items that says “You should take this to a bard” or something similar.
GS4Lass mentioned that she had acquired a boxfound item several months ago, describing “an etched azure ova schiavona with a cinereal marble hilt” named “Cloudy Day” that is 4x and infused with lightning flares. GM Xeraphina, the creator, was happy it went to someone who would appreciate it.
#general
LostRanger and Naamit mention that if sonic armor is interacted with (such as by POINT or PEER), it is dispelled and wonder if maybe it could be looked into to be less restrictive?
#premium
GM Quilic reminded people about the meeting at 8:30 PM EST that evening (Wednesday, July 3rd) to catch people up on The Nazhor Chronicles. Later he tells people, “Elspie is incommunicado, and has stopped ordering food. Some people have reported an odd masked figure popping into existence, screaming to be “let through”, then popping back out again.” Avawren posted a log from the encounter with Greth.
GM Tivvy announced she would be doing alterations in the garden on the Isle of Four Winds shortly after posting.
#mechanics
Conrash/Zannath had some questions about the Citizenship System. Apparently even if you are only partially eligible to citizenship due to your race, you may still get some conflicting messaging. Naamit suggests modifying the NPCs to allow ASK CLERK ABOUT ELIGIBILITY to clear it all up. Her suggestion could include a way to tell if you can only be a partial citizen, a full citizen, or no eligibility at all.
Naamit asked when berserk would be fixed to work with UAC. Unfortunately, only crickets answered her…
Lots and lots and lots of discussion about the new(ish) 925 Enchant.
Arianiss asks “Has anyone heard of a merchant service that would convert an imbed that used RUB to an imbed that used WAVE?” Sadly for him, it doesn’t seem so…
Ragz asked how feasible it would be to “explore negative bonus enhancives as an item-balancing component” and provided the example, “Something like an item that granted sheer fear immunity but reduced your AGI bonus to 0.. or a tiering model that uses negative enhancive bonuses to offset cost.” Others chimed in that they have seen negative enhancements in the game. Maybe we need more?
#help
Ragz shares two Lich scripts that help wizards with tracking their levels of essence (colloquial tongue-in-cheek: wizard tears): “;essence tacks on a minimum possible essence value to the sense readout, and ;tears gives you access to some relevant tables and does some basic math for you”
#festivals-and-events
ReverendCatch (Dreanor/Sensou) sparks a few comments about player locksmiths and how to incentivize using them. Tsalin suggests a guaranteed minimum treasure amount in boxes to encourage people to pick them up. Others comment on the encumbrance system. You know, same ol’ same ol’ locksmith convo. We should probably name this conversation for future ease. The Locksmith Rekey, anyone?
#roleplay-in-Elanthia
Questions of the Day
“If you play multiple characters, do you find some more challenging to “wear” than others? Do you enjoy that challenge? What makes a character easy for you to inhabit?” [Lylia]
“How much “act” kissing is too much act kissing in an unoccupied room on the street?” [GS4Lass]
“If your character has a personal crest or signet, how did you decide it?” [Traiva]
“What is a key characteristic of your character’s personality that people are generally unaware of?” and “is there something about your character you wish people did notice more often?” [Nimaera]
“Is there some sort of standard for what 100 in a stat should translate to for a character, conceptually? Like does 100 STR represent the pinnacle of strength for a member of your race, and enhancives push your character into “superhuman” categories?” [Ragz]
“What is your character’s stance on romantic relationships, and why? How much of you as a player is involved in that character decision?” [Nimaera]
“Where on the scale do you tend to be in terms of playing characters who are beautiful uber-beings vs. goofy messups? Would you rather play a gorgeous badass, a Joe Average, or an awkward stumblebum?” [Juspera]
“In the same vein, do you fine folks have art of your characters?” [Nick]
“do you have any character quirks that are sometimes hard to maintain?” [Nimaera]
“What kind of drunk is your character? A happy drunk? Sad drunk? Angry drunk? If they don’t drink, what kind of drunk *would* they be?” [Zilal]
Other
Leafiara reminds people about the targeted ACT changes for when you want to do an ACT without dropping a “you” all over everyone. The player added, “A few days ago, I mentioned that I remember # = possessive because it’s like someone’s phone number that they own, and Gavrien mentioned that % is an object pronoun if you think of the circles like little Os.”
Naamit comments that it would be “neat if there was a register of elven crests” players could inspect. Alisaire adds that “It’d also be cool if the PROFILE verb had a field for crests.” And Naamit adds something about developing a CREST system. Players went on to talk a little more about heraldry in general and to showcase their elven crests.
Arianiss mused a little about how realistic it is that his character can understand elven but not speak it. Discussion ensued on that and how players wish their characters could learn other languages. Alisaire commented that there is an old elven phrase in game “”Frae naira vers deiam, Je esais bevre tua a te draekeche” that translates to “From dusk til dawn, I stand between thee and the darkness”, which were part of the release of the day/night system and related to the glaesine orbs. Elysia admits she wrote those when she was GM Lyredaen. More discussion surrounds the topic throughout the channel for awhile.
Leafiara starts a discussion about using tones and verbs in speech, with various people chiming in on how they format their SAY verb.
Bristenn wishes, “Even though the ACT verb is pretty robust at this point, I wouldn’t mind seeing it beefed up for multiple targets.”
In an ongoing discussion regarding alcohol and our characters, Gavrien comments, “Not a huge fan of ‘here is the one mechanical interpretation of drunkenness’ but not a hill I’m going to die on. If I’m going to roleplay a character getting hammered, unless the drunk scripts are in line with how I think they might behave, I’ll just roleplay it manually.”
#duskruin
zeph asked if there were any official dates for DR yet and PM Wyrom responded, “It will be before the Premium festival. I don’t know if we’ll be running it the first weekend or the second weekend to start though. Just going to boil down to the big boss. It’s likely going to stick to the longer schedule (14 or 15 days).”
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