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Wern8 was an outstanding person who made powerful and memorable contributions to the communities he touched. I am glad to have had the opportunity to play NWN with him for so many years, and am deeply saddened to hear this news. He will be missed and mourned by many.

RIP.

[Evangeline Nurjrit]

In the evening of Uktar the 15th, the election at last came to an end. Under light rain and the sputtering glow of torches, the villagers of Mistlocke looked on expectant as General Secretary Estelline Nettlehatch recited the results of the vote in the square:

Rovan Meyer -- 14
Daniel Amherst -- 15
Evangeline Nurjrit -- 38
Rodryk Sosay -- 40

Some villagers express relief at having been saved from another Caermyn term. But a wave of confusion and anger has rippled through some sections of Mistlocke over Rodryk's victory. Some villagers were seen to tear up their citizenship papers upon the announcement, and a Musterman is said to have stripped off his uniform in the middle of the rain and the gathered crowd, and accused Sosay of being both traitor and criminal. He then encouraged the crowd to demand the Village Elders exercise their collective power and remove the new Mayor. The village seems divided on the issue, some upholding the results of the vote, others declaring the entire election a farce.

Recently tarnished by accusations of hiring assassins, offering the Argenti a part of the budget for reparations, and allegedly serving the Conclave -- Rodryk ascends to his position amid heated controversy. Clan Caermyn seems especially sour at the result, having had high hopes to secure the seat again. In particular, the Mayoral candidate and Caermyn Retainer Evangeline Nurjrit has begun to campaign for the Village Elders to remove Sosay from office. The Aberdenn by contrast avidly accept the result as one better than the alternative. The Argenti Gypsies meanwhile seem smug and celebratory in their camp, drinking and feasting into the night as though they had themselves enjoyed a victory.

The commonfolk of Mistlocke chatter, wondering if subterfuge was involved, whether Sosay is a Conclave puppet, and what would have happened had other candidates not been eliminated. Some are content that Nurjrit's war will not come to pass, but others worry about Mistlocke's stability and defence under Sosay.

The footmen of the Numinous Order can be heard speaking about Castle Blackhearth with some concern, speculating on whether Lord-Mayor Sosay will  indeed provide relief. And amid the forests, the Wyrm Watchers are brooding and silent, as though spooked. When they do come to Mistlocke, Watchers talk of chilling rumours that H'balan plantlife has begun to grow in the desert, and it is spreading...

[9th of Marpenoth, 1381 D.R.]

9th of Marpenoth, 1381 D.R.

News of a brutal move made against the population of Old Stones disseminates throughout the village. Lord-Mayor Jokast Pleate today ordered the doors of the cursed tower sealed, and traffic between it and Mistlocke halted. The so-called Summerset Act saw a significant number of the tower's population attempt to flee before access to the village was cut off. All were slain who attempted to slip or break through the perimeter of mustermen and adventurers around the Old Stones. The doors were finally sealed after all resistance was broken by this massacre.

In the aftermath, a grief-stricken bellow from Chief Hamilcar Argenti is said to have been heard throughout the entire vale of Mistlocke. A bolt from the crossbow of Jacey Steel-Eyes had strayed and struck a small girl of the Argenti who had been caught up in the chaos, killing her instantly. Hamilcar is said to be furious, having opposed the sealing of the Stones in the first place. He has decried the Muster as murderers, and demanded Jacey's head.

The people of Mistlocke have welcomed the news with little enthusiasm. While pleased that the Old Stones has been sealed, the seething Argenti and the piles of bodies carted through the town have silenced whatever celebration there might have been. Some suggest that this is not the last breath of the criminals and ne'er-do-wells of Old Stones, and will cause more trouble for the village than it was worth, while others praise the Summerset Act as a strategic masterstroke for village stability through the confinement and starvation of its worst elements. Most often, though, the people quietly consider the cruelty of this act, fearing what will come of it.

On the Third of Eleint, in broad daylight, a heavily enchanted troll is said to have lumbered into the town square and snatched James the Bantam, the Mayoral candidate and Aberdenn Associate. Nobody has seen him since.

Though a response was formed shortly after, it dissolved among conflicting reports of the troll fleeing with Bantam into either the forest or Old Stones tower, and no trace of troll or Bantam has yet been found. Long-term residents and Clan Aberdenn are dismayed by the event, and Wyrm Watchers have been seen snooping about the village more than usual since.

Some speculate about foul play on the part of the other candidates or Clan Caermyn, gossiping on which would be the most likely to strike a deal with monsters. Others lay blame on the expansionist Transcendent Conclave, citing James' long-held opposition to their influence in Mistlocke. Still more vocal commentators hold the Muster responsible, complaining that Mistlocke's defenses are as weak as they ever were after the Comital War...

Going to be cutting back on EfU for a good, long while. RL starting to get in the way, and it'll only get worse from here. See you later, friends.

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[slave]

I'll be running an unusual prelude quest in around 10-20 minutes.

• There will be two possible groups of PCs. One is "slave" themed. The other is "hungry"/"poor" themed. More than that, I will not say.
  

• The Prelude will occur in the vicinity of Sanctuary. Existing PCs will be able to be involved, so no need to create a "redshirt".

• No expectations on participating players, this is just for fun.

Feel free to just make a PC and wait in the OOC area.

Feel free to discuss the newly available system. The DM Team definitely encourages high quality players to give advice and guidance to struggling low quality players on how they can improve in their problem areas. See the announcement thread for more info.

Since the beginning of EFU:R the EFUDM team has been using a confidential player evaluation system.

The purpose of this system was to use unsupervised passive surveillance to inform DMs about the quality of players. In other words, there are a number of background scripts keeping tabs on certain numbers, information, and behaviours such as:

• A large number of actions, behaviours, and maneauvres in combat. (eg. Luring very few monsters into combat when the total area monster count is comparatively high. Number of rounds per hour that your PC has used expertise and improved expertise (in and out of quest areas). Number of rounds per hour that your PC has been invisible (in and out of quest areas).)
• Build evaluation.
• Who your PC has subdued/FD'd, specifically their level and build compared to yours.
• Whether your PC uses the most popular perks, bard songs, general feats, and spell focus feats.
• If you quest with low quality players.
• Your XP and GP per hour.
• Your IP/Location.
• Your CD key and previous characters.
• Explicit DM modifications to your quality measurements.
• and more...

All of this information was condensed into an easy-to-read format, and expressed in three fundamental measures of player quality.

• Stupidity
• Lameness
• and Cowardice

The system would also helpfully indicate whether a target PC was deserving of punishing DM spice. This may not be surprising to those of you who have experienced such DM spice. Please know that DMs were never out to get you on a personal level. To their eyes, they were just doing their jobs based on the system. And unfortunately some people are just unlucky and get caught up in someone else's punishment spice.

The reason for this announcement is that we have decided to give all players access to the OOC information DMs see about them and other players. Henceforth, all PCs will have access to the Player Character Evaluation Tool, a new player tool accessible through the Crafting Menu. Using it on a PC (yours or another) displays the aforementioned fundamental measures: stupidity, lameness, and cowardice. As mentioned, it will also tell you if that PC is a target for punishing spice.

We are doing this in the interests of transparency.

We want to allow players to improve in their problem areas (whether stupidity, lameness, cowardice, or some combination of the three), and we also want good and honest players to see which players they should avoid.

We hope this information will help you to avoid punishing spice if you are undeserving of it. And we also hope this information being public will isolate those players that are lame, stupid, and cowardly... so that they will be forced to change their behaviours to improve their reputation and bring to EFU a much higher standard of play.

Some of you may be distressed by the numbers you see. They are not open to negotiation or modification, so please no appeals or apps. But feel free to discuss the new system in the General Discussion forum thread provided. We definitely encourage high quality players to give advice and guidance to struggling low quality players on how they can improve in their problem areas.

[The Character Advancement Bonus]

The Character Advancement Bonus

The Character Advancement Bonus has been restored to level 6.

This means that all PCs will now receive XP ticks every 10 minutes they spend actively online (not when deemed AFK, or inside quest areas), until they are level 6.

DM Faction Advancement

This has already been in place, but just want to make a note of it.

Faction PCs may be able to advance beyond level 6, to a (fluctuating) level of XP that depends on the number of active PCs in their faction, vs. the number of PCs in all factions.

In a later post a list will be released indicating which groups this Faction Advancement does and does not apply to. You can trust that major factions (eg. Spellguard), core minor factions (eg. Society), and some associations (eg. Watchers) will receive this. Others will not receive it, and members of temporary DM factions (eg. plot factions, peripheral minor factions, etc.) will not either.

The XP wage has been extended and increased for PCs who are in DM  factions according to the following formula. In addition to the standard  advancement bonus, PCs will receive:

XP Limit = 15000 + 30000 * Disparity Coefficient
XP per 10 minutes = 40 * Disparity Coefficient
Num := Count of PCs in your DM faction
Denom := Count of PCs in any DM faction
Disparity Coefficient = (1 - Num / Denom)^(log (1 + Denom) / log (2))

Thus a PC in a relatively less populated faction stands to obtain up to  40 xp per 10 minutes until level 10 whereas PCs in already  well-populated factions will hardly benefit at all. Players are  encouraged to plan their PCs accordingly to benefit from this new  change.

Thanks to Talir for his help.

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Hello players of EFU,

Recently I made the decision to ask to return to the DM team, and was gladly accepted back into the fold.

It's fair to reflect on recent times and gather that some of us, including DMs, including myself, have contributed to a culture of blame, criticism, navel gazing, and negativity.

One of the hopes I have in returning is to change this mood, and help to forge a culture of our mutual responsibility for our enjoyment of EFU and for EFU's general success of this persistent world and its collaborative storytelling.

I'm also going to implement some really awesome things, help develop EFU:R to be the best it can be, and keep my PM inbox open and my eyes on the suggestion forums for any players who have constructive things to say and alternate perspectives to offer.

Much doom awaits you, with my return. :)

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