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The perk advertises Weapon Specialization Unarmed Strike, but instead seems to provide Improved Critical and NOT Weapon specialization.

[tface=salt]SKREKARYJAVEK[/tface]

It is Scrave's word, and its meaning does not translate well to your silly and inadequate language. It means many things, but it embodies one principle, and it is what makes Scrave into Scrave, instead of Scrave into the silly Duke of Wind, who flails and boasts.
Let this book explain it to you then.

Skrekaryjavek is the challenge Scrave sets for himself

Skrekaryjavek is not the path often travelled. It is not the path less travelled. It is the path untravelled.

Skrekaryjavek is not easy. Skrekaryjavek is not smart. It is not the best way. It is Scrave's way.

---

On a deep and boundless ocean, the Goliath Hrnghibrblfard was sailing a stoneship west, in search of the first pillar of God. His mithril-line was cast into the deepest depths of the world, for he believed the first pillar could be found there below.

He sailed, and fished for many years, but did not starve, for to Hrnghibrblfard, years to him were as days to us, and he occasionally became peckish, but was always otherwise satiated by his all-consuming mission. It came about one day as the sun rose to the great warrior's unblinking eyes, that his hook had caught on something, and the stoneship was being pulled under.

Attending quickly, he grabbed hold of the line and pulled, and pulled, and pulled, and as the hook came free, and his line suddenly grew slack in his hands, the sky seemed to explode around him.

A deceitful dragon, born from the void of time's beginning, as old as Hrnghibrblfard himself, chose this time to do battle with the Goliath.
Hrnghibrblfard was in great danger, but he believed in things greater than himself. He was a warrior of principle, and so he decided immediately how he should finish his opponent, for the idea of defeat was alien to his superior mind.

The battle waged on for many days, and Hrnghibrblfard's most worthy crew grew weary, and the dragon grew ever more wroth, and the Goliath was patient, and kept the ship aligned.

Sensing the chance he waited for coming close, he howled into the wind, and the Great Roc, Kiporolox grabbed him up, Harpoon in hand. Bellowing his challenge, which was heard from four directions, (as his voice carried around the world,) he called upon the mindless Dragon's attention from above.

He flew from the aft of the ship to the bow and ever upward, until the Dragon's maw gaped below him, and he dropped, the point of his harpoon aiming ever for the Dragon's innards.
He was wreathed in fire, but did not notice.
Finally, putting his weight behind his great harpoon, backed by the force of the sky which him down,  and buoyed by the sea that held up the Stoneship, and empowered by the dragon's own fire, Hrnghibrblfard tore throw the Dragon, scourging it from within. So it was that the four elements conspired around the Goliath, and the Great Dragon was slain. In the end, nothing was left aboard the Stoneship but black ash, the Goliath, and his stalwart crew.

It is possible that Hrnghibrblfard may have won much more simply, and much sooner, but that is not the art.

An easy victory is not Skrekaryjavek.

There are more tales. They will come too, in time.

When I select and activate the Stone Shape player tool, I receive no bonuses. I've tried this while standing still and moving. There is no graphical effect, no bonuses are applied, and nothing changes. In the combat tracker it states Stone Shape has been activated.

If I try to use it again, it says Stone Shape has already been used the allotted number of times this resting period.

As the whole subrace is rather poorly documented, I don't know whether there is supposed to be a level requirement or something to that effect, but I will continue trying different things and will report back if I find anything that works.

Character name is "Scrave", Gamespy account is "Chotank"

[Thursday, February 9th, 2012 at 03:23:52 PM]

Gaten was conceptually intended to be a long haul character. One who I could stick it out to the very bitter end with, who would be around when H'bala or the Agony were finally destroyed, and, ideally, would have a major role in it. With those ideas in mind I built a character who would be brutally competent in fighting the Undead, and for the most part I succeeded. He was certainly strong, and he certainly managed to stay alive for a long time. Longer, probably than any of my other PCs since Cail Durris in the Underdark.

I'll let the EFUSL record tell that particular story:

This character was created on Thursday, February 9th, 2012 at 03:23:52 PM.
Since creation, this character has logged on and off 143 times.
The character has spent 7 days, 10 hours, 41 minutes, and 42 seconds online.

So while I did succeed in some of the goals I set out to accomplish, ultimately I don't consider Gaten a successful character. That aside, there was -some- cool stuff, and I don't really regret playing him, I just hope to do better.

Born an Eldathan, Gaten was raised a man of peace. When a necromantic cult shattered his home life, that changed, and he grew into the man on Ymph, who had fought twenty years against undeath wherever he found it.

His personal goal was to unite the disparate 'Tribes' or Factions of Ymph into a cohesive force to fight H'bala. In the beginning he was almost idealistic in his belief that it could be done.
His undying commitment was to be the bane of undeath, to destroy the Agony, and earn a victory for Life.

He spent a great deal of time in the Mist at one point, where he very much lost his mind and barely escaped. When he returned, Squire Reach was one of the first people he met. The next bunch were a little less fortunate. (Pictured, Gaten holding the defeated John Rossart shortly before his execution. Gaten didn't know any better, and would later turn against Redthorn, as well.)

When the most recent Mayoral term came around, he meant to run and win, but was talked out of it by Squire Reach. He so admired her confidence and clarity, and the scope of her vision for Mistlocke, that he backed her utterly. And would until the end of his days.

 At her side, and for the Red Knight, Gaten's victories were indeed swift, sure, and brilliant. (here was the reward for that)

Things eventually became grim. Though the history is still unfolding in-game, Squire's mayoral term took a turn for the worse. It seemed that much of their work was coming undone, and Gaten learned despair.

He spent more and more time outside the village, patrolling the Withered Lands, when eventually he was infected with Lycanthropy by Kirby Collingsworth.

At first he considered the new power to be a blessing, before very long at all, it broke him. He made his last farewell, and left.

Stripped of his sanity and his humanity, he rampaged the crossroads, desperately seeking the supplies he needed to continue his mad one-man struggle against H'bala's forces in the West.

In the end though, it seemed an immeasurable maw of blackness yawned open before him, and he gave himself to it.

Trace Gerion in the Mist's End has a quest. Her description says it's for parties sized 2-5. I was able to take this quest alone.

/c desc reset does not do anything. /c desc -reset and /c desc --reset don't, either. I believe the error message says Aborted, or some such, and that the parameter doesn't exist.

Another error:
/c desc rep X WITH Y merely appended Y to the end of the description, but did not remove or change X.

Recently a bunch of broken color tags have shown up.  It's not all of them, so I don't have an exhaustive list, but the Caermyn Recruiter contains several broken ones. The Wyrm Watcher that greets people in Muskroot's tower seems to have a few.

He also calls probably a dozen s.

Doesn't function at all, even with the quest from Volkmar Plowman.

"Sorceror Token" from Touch of the Maiden appears to drop on death and can be picked up by other characters.

9:40 PM EST, Boss monster didn't spawn in the Quest "The Ruins Below."

#efusc2
come chill talk hang and game

honestly, what else is there to say?

oh. channel is for Starcraft 2, obv, I mean, I guess that was clear but hey some people you know?

Herein are recorded impressions of colonial mercenaries gained through the experience of cooperative pursuit of mutually held contracts.

The purpose of this index is to provide a resource for determining the relative prestige and capability of local mercenaries, so that informed decisions may be made in whether or not to hire an individual.

All entries are to be based on factual observations. Slander and libel are impermissible. Contribution is extremely welcome. Vandalism is strictly forbidden.

Format for entries:

Alias:
The Facts:

-Signature

As it is, Zen Archery requires a Base attack bonus of 3, meaning that the first opportunity for a pure-classed, secondary AB progression character to take the feat, is at level 6. Considering how useless the feat is for 90% of characters, I believe that lowering the prerequisite to BAB 1, or BAB 0, would let the feat be taken at levels 3 or 1, respectively. The change proposed would let this could-be-neat feat  be more viable, and therefore more widely used.

Naturally I've got little idea as to how balanced this change would be, with respect to clerics and monks; it would however, make wisdom-based rogues and bards competent at an earlier stage in their progression, which is the whole intent.

The ladder by the rat and bat infested towers on the Ziggurat can be climbed, but not descended. The "Climb down" transition points to a waypoint at the top of the ladder, instead of the bottom.

In line with this forum's title of "Serious Suggestions", I am making this thread seriously, and am serious about this suggestion that I am about to make.

If it can at all be done,

I suggest characters with the "Obese Stigma" perk be weakened against characters with the "Cannibal" perk. Whether this means Cannibals do extra damage against the Obese, the Obese take extra damage from Cannibals, or some form of circumstantial AB bonus that is granted turn by turn as long as the PC continues to attack an obese character.
The bonus will be considered a "bloodlust" for the fatty rinds of a nearby enemy, and so it could be justified if the bonus continues to apply to other creatures in the area who may or may not be obese.

I do not imagine that this is such an amazing thing as to really truly improve the server. I do believe that this suggestion is frickin' awesome, regardless of its viability.

It also really lends itself to a "Fat Guy Strangler" concept, which the server is SORELY in need of right now.

Obviously a very trivial bug at this point: I used nightshade, and cast a spell. I got the message of "a strange tingling" and then a magic eater showed up.

I don't recall Abjurer's Nightshade EVER failing in the underdark, so it seems possible something went awry with the script at some point.

Transcendant Conclave needs a Spawn Point, still.

A trash barrel in our meeting room would be great.

We still don't have persistent storage, which we all sorely desire.

Caddies said that he would move the Conclave's portal to the Temple District, but whether his plans changed, or he just hasn't gotten to it yet, I don't know. It's still fairly desirable.

Guys, anything I'm missing?

[Loot and Levels]

Folks,

EfU has been pretty amazing lately. There's been non-stop action for days, but there's also been a lot of unpleasantness. Not all of it is related to PvP or conflict. There's spite on the forums, vitriol in IRC, and people have even been piling shit on the DMs, for just about any small issue imaginable. Everybody just seems to be predisposed to bitterness. I don't know whether it's because of the way EfU is set up to be very conflict oriented, or if four years of playing has made the server as cliqueish as some people think. I'll say with certainty that it's not because of the Holiday Season, this was a growing trend for all of 2009.

Whatever the case may be, there is something patently ridiculous about having OOC enemies on EfU. Something I've seen all the time (and I've been guilty of it myself) is that people often approach me, looking to vent about this or that. I can't be certain but I suspect just about every player on EfU who comes to IRC knows what I'm talking about. "____ is such a fucking asshole," "____ is a griefer, he targets people OOC!" There's been plenty of discussion already about the cancer of rumor-mongering, though, and that's not what I want to address.

What I want to address is how bitter people are getting over EfU. I also want to address certain ideas people hold about what the server requires for success, or to have fun. What I'm going to say amounts to "It's a HOBBY," or, "RELAX," but that isn't enough. I didn't understand it when Howland said these things four years ago. I don't know if I've completely understood them yet, myself. So this thread is as much for me as it is for you.

Loot and Levels
There is, I've noticed, a common assumption on the nature of the server, that goes more or less like this:

1. In order to have fun, or be successful, I have to be at least level 7.
2. In order to get level 7, I have to quest a lot.
3. In order to quest successfully, I must not have any bad luck whatsoever, or I will lose hours of work.

Until very recently, I more or less agreed with this sentiment. I have spent ages on the levelling treadmill, and somehow, the same thing has always happened. I would get too ambitious, or just run into some honest-to-god bad luck, and I would die, and the last week of playing would be out the window.

There is also an assumption, considerably more toxic, that goes like this:

1. I always see the same people getting custom loot, and going on quests
2. I'm almost never one of those people, and if I am, it's just a random DM quest that anybody can turn up to.
3. Therefore, those people who get loot and quests are DM favorites, and I don't stand a chance.

Well... Yeah. They are DM favorites. Of course there's DM favoritism on EfU. How else would it be? Should every player get one piece of DM loot with exactly the same usefulness, once a month, and no more than that? That would be equality, in the sense that everybody is being treated exactly the same. It would also make EfU into World of Warcraft, in the sense that everybody will end up in exactly the same place if they play long enough. It may sound appealing, or a better way to run things. In some ways it is. For this server though, it would not be good in any way! It would ruin the very dynamic that makes EfU worthwhile - the thing that keeps everybody playing here; the very singular thing that every single player wants above all else from EfU - to be a Legend.

There is a process you can follow, to get loot. I've discovered it painstakingly, over my time playing here. Through observation, and personal experimentation, I've found the process that works. Here it is:
1.) Make a character with a distinct personality, goals, and opinions.

2.) From the moment you get in game, be proactive. Make sure everybody you meet, knows who you are, and what your goals are. Don't wring your hands, hoping somebody will talk to you. Stop people on the street, have a conversation. It doesn't have to be about questing. In fact, it shouldn't be about questing. Questing comes later. Questing is irrelevant to your character's success. Every conversation you have with a character you haven't met before is an opportunity to make a new ally, or a new enemy. Every ally you have is one more person who will recommend you when they need somebody else for a DM quest. (DM quests are where loot comes from.)

3.) Once you've made friends, hang out with them.

This is what questing is for. It's a situation in which you can hang out with friends, and learn to trust eachother. If you're just meeting somebody for the first time when you both show up for a sending made by a guy neither of you know, here's what'll probably happen: You're not even going to talk during the quest, except for some generic grunts and (maybe) some coordination to overcome the challenges. You'll proceed through the bland quest, staring at your XP counter, and clicking your mouse, until one of two things happen: A) you leave the quest area with more XP than you had before, B) you died during the quest, and there was nobody around to even care.

4) Once you've gotten to know your friends, and you know what they're all about, work together for success. If you're always working together, you can share your resources. Make sure the right people are getting the equipment they need. Look out for them, and they'll look out for you.
If you have a steady quest group of people who are fun to hang out with, then XP starts to matter a little less. You are having fun, just hanging out with these people. When you die with friends around, the death isn't meaningless. It takes some of the bite out of that lost progress, because you're not thinking of it as "those hours of hard work." You'll think of it as "Easy come, easy go." When you're having fun, the XP comes faster and easier than it ever will if you try to bust through half a dozen quests with strangers. I promise.

5) Do things to pursue your goals. Be sure to involve new people sometimes. Go search the island for treasure, or patrol for orc warbands, or look for clues to finding ancient relics. Seek forbidden knowledge in the colony's ruins, or set up a toll in the inner-city ruins. Intimidate merchants into raising/lowering prices, or into paying protection money. Why wouldn't you? You have the people, and you have a reason to do it. And you know what I hear? I hear the DMs love to see players doing stuff like that.

Guys, you have to distinguish yourself, to get attention. It's the very most important part of EfU, and it starts the moment you set foot in the gameworld. Everything I said after number one comes naturally. These are the things everybody should be doing. Make it easy on yourself: take a few ranks of Charisma. For god's sake, don't play a mute/shy/antisocial/angsty character unless he still has a reason to talk to people.

Take it Easy

People spew endless garbage in EfU's IRC channel. People lie to, insult, and shit on eachother constantly. The jokes are crass, the links are random and generally worthless, and just about any conversation about stuff that happened In Game is either spoilerish or something that happened three years ago that you may or may not have been around for, and in which case the conversation is pretty much always the same.

So why should the stuff somebody says to/about you in #efu matter, in the slightest bit? Honestly, yes, I'd prefer it if trolling and insults weren't an issue in #efu at all. There are a few people who do it on purpose, hoping to get a rise out of others. The only way I can see that stopping though, is if it stops being fun. Ignore the shit. Laugh about it. If somebody says something mean about you, take it like you would any constructive criticism. With a grain of salt, and an open mind. Don't snap back at them. The very best response, if you've got to give one is probably "lol, w/e", or something similar.

Now, I said all that about IRC, and having been IRC's biggest retard for four years, and probably also its most talkative user, or very nearly so. I stand by what I've said here, in the light of recent times. Once upon a time, the dick jokes, trolling, and rampant pseudo-bigotry were hilarious and all in good fun. Whether I've gotten tired of them, or if they've just become more mean-spirited since then, or if people have just brought the art of trolling to a science, I can't really say for sure. Whatever the case, it's only half of the issue.

The other half is when In-character things cause out of character bitterness. There's no excuse for this. It should never happen. Nothing that happens in-game should ever make you mad enough that you feel compelled to despise the other player. Hate the character. Seek revenge in-character. I bet if you try it, you'll end up having more fun than you would, having an argument in IRC, where nobody ever wins.

I'd like to quote the man himself, his response when I pointed out how diseased EfU's been with OOC bitterness. It sums it all up pretty well.
Have to chill
need to chill

Can Inn-room doors be changed to automatically open, rather than automatically close?

It seems like it would fix every stupid issue that comes from people
1) having meetings in public inn-rooms
2) having omgcyb0r in public inn-rooms
3) idling in public inn-rooms
4) otherwise using public inn-rooms without paying, or for unusually long times

Yes, I agree this is an extremely trivial issue, but for goodness sake, it would make so much more sense than having to open two doors to find a room that's unoccupied.

An entirely trivial, but easy to implement suggestion; the only question is its desirability:

Instead of requiring people who desire vault-wipes to contact DMs on IRC (which is not always the most efficient or desirable method of going about it), I suggest a sub-forum in which requests for vault-wipes may be made, following the same format as the Forum Requests sub-forum.

Alternatively, just alter the Forum Requests sub-forum, to give it the purpose of requesting any menial housekeeping from DMs, from vault-wipes, to forum requests, to etc.

If you'd like more justification for the desirability of this system, I'll gladly solicit Meldread to help me flesh out my thoughts on the matter a little more thoroughly.