BrimstoneVomit

The server is still around and truckin'. Joined recently myself and it's where I hitch my wagon these days. Consider making yourself at home in the public deed ("Trinity Refuge"). A growing sense of community with actual neighbors has been a nice change of pace, if I say so myself. Roads, tunnels, and guard towers are being planned, so public projects are open for people into that kind of thing. For a bit of RP, I intend to (someday) build a museum/town hall for keeping artifacts and records, officially naming roads, regions, and landmarks while occasionally funding the daring surveyor to collect notes on lands far and wide. And if you just want to brave the wilderness and stake out a deed, in typical Wurmian fashion, we're plenty glad to have you too. Feel free to say "Hi" in alliance chat! - Lucassen

Hey folks, I've been dabbling with streaming on Twitch since March and have only recently featured Wurm Online as often as I'd prefer. If you'd like to hang for a chat and direct friends and acquaintances who could use an introduction to WO outside Emoo's Wednesday streams, find me here: https://www.twitch.tv/brimstonevomit Doing a short stream tonight, in fact. ;)

Aye. I'll not forget the indignation either.

+1 for the general idea. Execution could go a number of ways. Being that I'm building my own tavern, I'd be rather excited if it wasn't just some aesthetic project. If there was incentive to have people gather for feasts, I could actually host and renting beds would be viable. In fact, I might even build affinities around location instead of the food and accessories. Like... 3 affinities will be given simultaneously. The 3 affinities will be randomized, but permanently attributed to the deed (or nearest deed) on which the toon is feasting. Make the affinities very long lasting (minimum of 24 hours) to account for any travelers returning home. Feasting should require a minimum time spent at the table (>30 minutes) to award such benefits. With benefits like that set, people will hopefully host for each other and create social events that are incentivized by game mechanics.

I get a little dismayed when a legion of horses (and other domestics) inhabit the sides of mountains, 40+ slope. Being a weird sight is one thing, but being unreachable for hunters to cull numbers is kind of a pain. So many domestics, I understand, can and will suppress hostile spawns. Is it possible to give spawns a behavior that leads them off steep slopes? Say, if one spawns and they're standing on a tile where two borders are 30+ slope, force their next move toward a lower corner (not necessarily the lowest). In case this leads to crowded tiles on isolated ridges, cliffs, etc, continue to force movements to lower corners, even if the crowded tile has borders with lower than slope 30. Just to disperse them.

Dear Santa, This year I would like coal for Christmas. Lots. Don't ask, I promise it makes sense. LavaPuke

+1. Having recently made myself a sacrificial knife for funsies, I wouldn't mind knowing that it was good for something.

Oh, balls. I totally spaced that. Shows how much I pay attention to my tile examines... (I struck out one part but decided to leave others where only the deed/town's name is given. Follows the theme of a "soft failure," I think.) I wouldn't be opposed to tacking it onto Tracking, though the purposes are different by nature. Tracking is meant to find the tracks of people or animals and where they may have gone. The "Pathfinding" principle is one's sense of direction and physical placement in the world. Since we see hierarchies like "Blades smithing" being a sub-skill of "Weapon smithing," might Tracking and Pathfinding have a similar relationship?

I'd like to propose a new skill and associated action: "Pathfinding." (Cooler name pending.) Since a number of newbies I've met (see: All) are taken aback by not being able to find themselves on the world map, I'd be rather stoked if they (and vets alike) had access to a skill that will give them a sense of direction. Chances under 100% will double if a player performs tracking on a road tile and finds another toon's tracks. After using on a tile, another attempt must be made a minimum distance away from it (starting at 20 tiles, scaling down quickly with skill) - this resets after 30 RL minutes. On a tile, use an action called "Locate." Depending on skill and where the toon is, they may get the following responses in their Events tab: Within Starter Town 1 - 10: 100% chance of town name. "You are in the town of Whitefay." 40% chance of hemisphere. "You know you're in Northeast Xanadu." 11 - 20: 100% chance of town name. 100% chance of hemisphere. 40% chance of nearest starter town direction. "Greymead is to the West." 21 - 35: 100% chance of town name. 100% chance of hemisphere. 100% chance of nearest starter town direction. 40% chance approximate distance to nearest starter town. "Greymead is roughly XX Km to the West." 10% chance for nearest player deed. "You've heard the village of Kittenhold isn't far from here." 10% chance grid location. "Looking at your map of Xanadu, you reckon this is I 20 on the grid." 36 - 50: 100% chance of town name. 100% chance of hemisphere. 100% chance of nearest starter town direction. 100% chance approximate distance to nearest starter town. 30% chance for nearest player deed and direction. "The village of Kittenhold is South of here." 30% chance grid location. 51 - 65: 100% chance of town name. 100% chance of hemisphere. 100% chance of nearest starter town direction. 100% chance approximate distance to nearest starter town. 50% chance for nearest player deed and direction. 50% chance grid location. 10% chance of another player village & direction (requires success for nearest deed). "You've also heard Tindrem is somewhere to the Southwest." 65 - 80: 100% chance of town name. 100% chance of hemisphere. 100% chance of nearest starter town direction. 100% chance approximate distance to nearest starter town. 100% chance for nearest player deed and direction. 100% chance grid location. 50% chance of another player village & direction. 20% chance of yet another player village (requires success for previous player village). 81 - 100: 100% chance of town name. 100% chance of hemisphere. 100% chance of nearest starter town direction. 100% chance approximate distance to nearest starter town. 100% chance for nearest player deed and direction. 100% chance grid location. 100% chance of another player village & direction. 50% chance of yet another player village. For perspective, if a toon with 81+ skill in Pathfinding tracks another toon on a road tile (ensuring they would locate a 3rd deed) in Whitefay they would read the following in their Events tab: "You are in the town of Whitefay. You know you're in Northeast Xanadu. Looking at your map of Xanadu, you reckon this is I 20 on the grid. Greymead is roughly XX Km to the West. The village of Kittenhold is South of here. You've also heard Tindrem is somewhere to the Southwest. You've also heard Nowhere is somewhere to the Southwest." Within Player Deed 1 - 10: 100% chance deed, but no name. "You realize this is a village, but will need to inquire with the locals as to which." 100% chance deed with name (replaces previous result). "You are in the village of Tindrem" 11 - 20: 100% chance deed with name. 50% chance nearest starter town. "Whitefay is the nearest established town." 25% chance nearest starter town and direction (replaces non-directional result). 21 - 30: 100% chance deed with name. 100% chance nearest starter town. 50% chance nearest starter town and direction (replaces non-directional result). 20% chance nearest player deed. "You've heard the village of Kittenhold is somewhere nearby." 31 - 45: 100% chance deed with name. 100% chance nearest starter town and direction. 50% chance approximate distance to nearest starter town (replaces other Town result). "The town of Whitefay is roughly XX Km to the Northeast." 40% chance nearest player deed. 20% chance nearest player deed with direction (replaces non-directional result). "The village of Kittenhold is to the East." 46 - 60: 100% chance deed with name. 100% chance approximate distance to nearest starter town. 20% chance name and direction of second-nearest starter town. "You gather that the town of Greymead is somewhere to the West." 100% chance nearest player deed. 50% chance nearest player deed with direction (replaces non-directional result). 30% chance another player deed. "You also know the village of Nowhere is nearby." 61 - 80: 100% chance deed with name. 100% chance approximate distance to nearest starter town. 50% chance name and direction of second-nearest starter town. 100% chance nearest player deed with direction. 50% chance another player deed and direction. "You also know the village of Nowhere is to the West." 20% chance yet another player deed and direction (requires previous deed success). "You also know that Whitefay by Glasshollow Market is to the Northeast." 81 - 100: 100% chance deed with name. 100% chance approximate distance to nearest starter town. 100% chance name and direction of second-nearest starter town. 100% chance nearest player deed with direction. 100% chance another player deed and direction. 50% chance yet another player deed and direction. In the Wild 1 - 5: 50% nearest town name. "The town of Whitefay is somewhere near here." If failed, toon is lost. "You are utterly lost and need to try locating from another position." 6 - 10: 100% nearest town name. 30% nearest town direction. "Whitefay is to the Northeast." 20% chance nearest player deed. "You believe Tindrem is nearby." 11 - 20: 100% nearest town name. 50% nearest town direction. 30% chance nearest player deed. 20% direction of nearest player deed. "Tindrem is West of here." 21 - 30: 100% nearest town name and direction. 50% chance nearest player deed. 50% direction of nearest player deed. 10% chance approximate distance to nearest town. "Whitefay is roughly XX Km to the Northeast." 31 - 40: 100% nearest town name and direction. 100% chance nearest player deed. 50% direction of nearest player deed. 30% chance approximate distance to nearest town. 10% chance approximate distance to nearest player deed. "Tindrem is roughly XX Km from here." 41 - 50: 100% nearest town name and direction. 100% chance nearest player deed and direction. 50% chance approximate distance to nearest town. 30% chance approximate distance to nearest player deed. 10% chance another player deed name. "You've heard Kittenhold is also nearby." 51 - 60: 100% nearest town name, direction and distance. 100% chance nearest player deed and direction. 50% chance approximate distance to nearest player deed. 30% chance another player deed name. 10% chance to add direction to another deed. 61 - 70: 100% nearest town name, direction and distance. 100% chance nearest player deed direction and distance. 50% chance another player deed name. 30% chance to add direction to another deed. 71 - 80: 100% nearest town name, direction and distance. 100% chance nearest player deed direction and distance. 100% chance another player deed name. 50% chance to add direction to another deed. 20% chance 3rd player deed name. 81 - 90: 100% nearest town name, direction and distance. 100% chance nearest player deed direction and distance. 100% chance another player deed name and direction. 50% chance 3rd player deed name. 30% chance add direction to 3rd deed. 91 - 100: 100% nearest town name, direction and distance. 100% chance nearest player deed direction and distance. 100% chance another player deed name and direction. 100% chance 3rd player deed name. 50% chance add direction to 3rd deed. Optional Factors - Allow "Locate" action on signs planted on road tile corners. Will increase chances of finding nearby deeds/towns if their exact name is on the sign. - Impose penalty on "Locate" action if toon is drunk. - Add synergies to other skills. I.E. a priest character may locate nearest altar to their deity. Chances increase with Religion characteristic and nearest shrine material (Gold easier to find than wooden.) - At higher skill on a road tile, learn vague distance the road continues in the direction toon is facing. "You can tell the road continues North for a long ways." - Suggestions?

Having thought about it, maybe there isn't a good reason to limit the requirement to deed. I'd like it if the training was more effective if someone became part of the tutor's deed (or vice versa), to reflect a level of commitment, staying and working in the community, et cetera. But perhaps opening requirement to train at all to Alliance (or to anyone, for that matter) is fine.

A new point of sale? How enterprising...

I’m not terribly concerned, personally. Some folks are power gamers and will take whatever small exploit they can get. It can be fun to play with mechanics. As long as I use it as intended for immersion, I’m happy. That said, I’m considering alterations to the list in OP. Capping a student at 2 weapon skills of 50 for training may result in all weapons skilled at ~49. It may be better to tag a toon for each skill that’s been trained for any amount by a tutor. I’ll elaborate more when I’m home and not tapping on a phone.

How do people feel about a combat tutoring function in WO? My figuring is combat can be darn dangerous. If it's not the threat of being unaware of a creature's lethality, a toon can also be surprised, flanked or - let's just say it - caught with their pants down due to connectivity/server hiccups. While the idea isn't to remove the tension of danger, it may be enriching to have a style and weapon training option that is more rewarding (and more interesting) than training dolls. With limitations, of course. - A tutor must be at least 50 skill in a weapon or stance, be a member of a deed with Tutoring perms granted. - Tutor can only train other members of the same deed. - The student can only be trained to a skill equal to half of the tutor's in a given weapon or combat stance. - To train a weapon skill, both the student and tutor must have that weapon equipped. Same for stance being activated. - A student will not be able to train weapons with a tutor if 2 weapon skills have reached skill 50. A student cannot train more than 2 weapons skills through the tutor system. - Also, student cannot train stance if 1 stance skill has reached 50. - Also, student cannot train more than 1 stance through tutoring system. - A maximum of 5 skill points can be increased per RL day - training dolls remain valuable to a point. - Equipment and health damage possible depending on disparity of skill between student and tutor. To visualize the process: A potential student joins the same village as their potential tutor. Both equip the same weapon type - for this example, long swords. The tutor right clicks the student, selects a newly available "Tutor (Long Sword)" action. The student's toon is permanently tagged as studying the Long Sword skill, which counts toward the 2-weapon limit as listed above. The student and tutor remain in combat proximity for a time, the student earning ticks for the tutored skill, with a very rare chance for the tutor to gain small ticks as well, provided they are not at max. This occurs until either move out of proximity, choose to stop, or the student gains 5 skill points. More points may be added, but the above is the meat of it. The value isn't fully mechanical. I recall a former member of my village setting up their own stronghold with ample grounds with the intent of a fully armory. I imagine the roleplay value of a combative toon wanting to take time to relax at a village, but takes on protégés - for a fee, probably. Heck, if a tutor with 100 skill in a weapon trains someone up to 50, imagine a title or item that can be granted stating "Student of the Way of [tutor name]." My two irons. May be more effort than it's worth, but I found it cool to think about.

+1. I'm very interested in the idea of making books. Also a less confining character cap on pages.

+1 Yes please.