Topics

At the moment, the portal that leads from serena tower to Sanctuary just leads back to Final Sanctuary if the character has access, making a guest pass to final sanctuary uncomfortably permanent. Its possible to find an exit through an illusion, but thats just about the only exit right now.


I'd love to use final sanctuary for more, but this puts a damper on passes a bit.

Well, I've done some graphics over time for EfU:R from time to time- however they're all pretty much only posted to discord. As people like to stamp stuff around the place from time to time and make cool stuff, I figured I should put them here so people could do stuff with it.


It's worth noting all these are specific to EfU:R, and entirely based upon arbitrary bits and bobs I've thrown together. Treat them as such.


Arc's super short Unofficial Style Guide:

Logo font:  Northwood High, Regular
Logo Font Usually in Grey.
Purple Highlights, White/Grey text, dark grey backgrounds.
Sans Serif fonts

Logo


Snipped Logo


Discord Server icon


Discord IRC Bot Icon


Discord Generic/Other Bots Icon


Old Banner Ad:


I'll make some posters/business cards at some point and throw them here as well.

With this new influx of players, I've been trying my best to guide new players around Sanctuary, and have noticed a few issues that they seem to most often trip over. I think a few small module changes might go a long way to making getting started easier for new players.


--


Suggestion 1) Add "Acid burn" placeables on the wall outside the newbie lab quest.


Reasoning: Right now, this quest somewhat expects foreknowledge of what will be met inside, to preempt a potential insta-death. These marks would give a sign "I should protect myself against acid" before they enter.


--


Suggestion 2) Move the Worm Pits Transition to the top of the curved stairs, not the bottom.


Reasoning: To access the worm pits right now, you kinda need a foreknowledge of how to use these type of stairs, which is not necessarily a skill each noob will have. While this is something they have to learn, the worm pits appear to me to be a starter area that they should be easily able to access.


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Suggestion 3) Create port Transitions on the enclosed stairway passage in the in-between that accesses the Puzzle Quest, Bowels, and Clown Quest.


Reasoning: Similar to the Worms, this is an odd movement mechanic that is blocking several beginner areas, and it would be nice if they could get up and access that beginner quest easily.


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Suggestion 4) Front-load ship and train prices. EG: Double the price of all ships and trains moving away from the hub and sanctuary, make return towards the hub free or very cheap.


Reasoning: New players may not always realize that spending their last coins to venture out into the islands of the dark lake or deep into dunwarren means they will become stuck. And therefore they will have to grab a DM, or more commonly, become discouraged and give up. By making each ticket round-trip price, this is avoided.


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Suggestion 5) Move the spot players enter sanctuary for the first time from the square to somewhere slightly more private, perhaps a building inside.


Reasoning: I've noticed many players become overwhelmed and log out at the population of the square and the sudden roleplay without warning. Its small, but I think choosing to walk into the square would make it more organic for them to be ready to talk and interact, and having a quiet entry would also prevent the constant dialog about sanctuaries history making roleplay with new players in the square quite difficult.


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Suggestion 6) Move the stairs to the Scarhide territory from Upper to the Housing Vault.


Reasoning: Many people, when first confronted with the freedom of a PW, will naturally create a villain because its impossible in most games. These minor villains arent really meant to be high-skill solo server villains, but instead a new player just playing with necromancy. Lower used to be the hub for such things, but it is gone. The Housing Vault is functionally the new one, but it is rather complex to access for new players. Creating a back door will make new villian play a little less deadly.

With so many of us mutant-faced freaks running around, it might be entertaining if the most exceptionally freakish of us were considered "Notable Monsters" for the sake of the Serpents Horde. Give a reason for adventurers to spring on any excuse to gut an exile, and all that!

[1)]

I know this is a new system, so just wanted to give my two cents on balance! I absolutely -love- the new surface system. Its exciting and adds some great stuff to do besides questing, with a group of friends. Having led a couple charges in, though, a couple thoughts: [INDENT]1) I love the quality, and amount, of loot. Its great, and makes the surface feel rewarding. However, many of the portals are simply decimated by larger groups. Our group of many new PCs suffered almost no damage across several portals, and got an absolute ton of loot from it. I would much rather a buff to difficulty then a nerf to the loot, personally, although that's a matter of debate, but a few suggestions:[/INDENT]  [INDENT]- Maybe 10 or so DR on the white, soapy pillars, and make them spawn some larger bubble types? Right now most die to a large group before they're any threat at all

- The nerfed mega-tentacle monster from last night now spawn mage eaters, which is cool! But... again, easily handled by even my relatively low-level group. Maybe it could spawn medium mage eaters instead of lesser?[/INDENT]  [INDENT]2) I love that most of the loot is locked behind keys, this is great for preventing dry-looting. However, many survivors can be rescued without facing any threat, as it is. It might be nice if you have to kill the threat before you can save the survivors![/INDENT]  [INDENT]3) This is the most self-centered thing, but- At the moment, most of the creatures on the surface aren't flagged to give New Path favor for killing abberants. It would be cool if the at least the super-difficult ones that it would be appropriate to grant favor on would offer a bit of favor, like many lowerdark creatures.[/INDENT]  [INDENT]4) A couple "murder your face" level difficult ones would be nice, to add a bit of dread to it- as it is, I feel players will become rapidly too comfortable to running to it to farm supplies, with no real fear of death. So I suppose, what I mean above all is that it still feels pretty easy, in a lot of spots![/INDENT] All that said, I absolutely love the system. Its a great idea, has great ambiance, and provides a great flavorful way for higher level PCs to spend some time with friends! I just would like to see it have a bit more teeth.


Anyone else who has specific suggestions, please feel free to use this thread to deposit them!

Hey, needed to know real quick what folks are running. So- what are folks running here?

So.

Erm.

I have a disorder where I do stupid things. I call it stupiditis.

Let me tell you a story, children, of the victims of stupiditis.

---- [INDENT]Once upon a time, there was a PC named Alex Miller.
He was a PC, just like you. With plots, a faction, plans, amazing caster DM loot. He had a player who loved him very much, who logged in every day to play with him.

Then one day a big bad DM came along. He laughed, and rubbed his hands. He set down a barrel.

Now, Alex had a problem. He glowed quite a shade of Green, you see. And people made fun of poor Alex for this.

So when Alex found this barrel, on a DM quest, he got quite excited.

"Perhaps I can be Orange instead of Green!" He thought. "People wont bully me then!" He thought.[/INDENT]  [INDENT]



You see, sometimes, a person will read one word as another. In this case, the word "Die" might appear to say "Dye".

And now Alex is cured of his Greenness. Forever.

RIP[/INDENT]
----

Alex was a PC I rolled to get back into EFU after a long break. Explore, get tied up in events, discover. And boy I did. I got tied up in RwG's amazing House Blackoak, joined the Exiles, and went on more DM quests then I could shake a stick at. I did long experiments, mostly on unwilling people, and nearly got executed several times. Thanks to everyone I played with, Especially RwG and Fitzwilliam, who both did a huge deal to make this PC awesome, and Caster, who ran a absolutely amazing DM quest for us, sending all of us under equipped into a death trap, and letting us gile our way out.

Here's my amazing loot, which I only got to use for 3 days before stupidity claimed me:
https://imgur.com/a/9ksrV

Right now, Distant Shores sits in the core of Loblobliiblop. Which is nice, thematically, but practically makes getting to the quest with a quest group capable of taking it a major headache. About half of the group might get through on the first try, then maybe one more person on the next try, 10 minutes later. Then 2 more, 10 minutes later. Then that last person sits stuck at the gate forever, unable to get past, and the group has to give up on the quest.

I suggest one of the following:

1) The entry to Loblobliiblop is made like the Red Lantern, A group entry. So if one person pases, their whole group enters
2) Create a horizontal climbing zone, from the edge into Loblobliiblop, so a well-equipped group can enter.
3) Move distant shores outside the gate.

Any of these would remove a major headache, trying to get to that particular quest with a group of any size.

[The Lodge]

The Lodge

Elves in EfU have some of the most interesting plot developments on the server on their side. Their gods are dead, their history broken, their entire race a hair away from extinct. The argument can be made that, lore wise, they're the single most interesting race on the server! However, often playing an elf feels like a bit of a rut. It can feel like every elf PC goes through the same motions, and that there is little room for development.

The goal of The Lodge is to change that.

Some elves are kind, wise, powerful, and patient, born of long lives. These Elves are not those Elves. The Vael are violent, scheming, subtle, political and racist, and all together very much like their Drow cousins, even going so far as gladly accepting actual Drow into their ranks. They feel that the world has changed, and that that, to survive in this new world long enough to find the Bridge, their salvation, the Tel'Quessir must change with it.

The Lodge is a new home for Elves.
The Lodge is a home to dedicated hunters, seeking ever larger prey.
The Lodge is a base for a Elven Paramilitary unit of Sanctuary.
And, the paranoid might even say
The Lodge is the dark core of a Elven-run secret government

Recommended Alignment: Non-Good.

Recommended Race: Sun Elf, Moon Elf, Half-Elf, Wild Elf, Wood Elf, Drow, Half-Drow.

Recommended Class: Non-Paladin. Non-Cleric, Non-Druid

Recommended Deity: Mourning

[hide="History"]Above, on the surface, Vael translates directly to "Blade" in the Elven Tongue. However, by connotation, Hunter/Guard/Soldier is a better translation. With so much of Evermeet's population scattered across small villages, maintaining individual forces to defend each one would be costly and complex. Instead, the least populated forests of Evermeet were divided into Vael Lodges, filled with patrolling units that served huge swaths of land. Vael were very highly regarded among their people... but perhaps also a group that, on a whole, they were happier to have far away. Prone to frequent duels over small slights and over-harsh disciplinary actions, many elves saw them as leaders of regions that would be better off ruling themselves.[/hide]

[hide="Some goals"]- Seek the Bridge of Sighs, actively, instead of having it as a background goal. This is their main purpose.

- Protect fellow Elves from anything, and give them preferential treatment in all things.

- Manipulate and scheme, gaining ever greater powers and permissions for the lodge.

- Lead Hunts for rare and dangerous prey, proudly displaying trophies of their greatest hunts.

- Conduct Guerrilla Warfare against the dread, preferring bombs to armies, and tricks to fair fights. However never shying away from a war.

- Conduct Frequent Duels and Tournaments, to demonstrate strength and strengthen themselves.

- "Harden" the elves, as a people.
[/hide]

[hide="Language Cheat Sheet"]While some Vael are, indeed, high mages, in general the Vael are of more common stock; drinking, cursing, and gambling, and very familiar with the common tongue. So they use on the whole far less elven vernacular then the average Elf. However, there are a few words they are prone to using:

- Vael: Title for their ranks.
- Cor'Vael: The Lodge's current leader.

- Nienor - The Mourning, which every Elf feels strongly.
- Nienori - The Mourners, often used as an insult, implying that it has "defined" an elf, and made them weak.

- Edan- Human, often with an undertone of implication of weakness and incompetence.
- Fara'laur - The hunt for the Bridge of sighs, and the Bridge of Sighs itself. One word encapsulates both.

- Tel'Quessir - All Elven Races, and all those who posses Elven Blood
- Er'Quessir - The single race that some Vael believe all elves will merge back into, when they find the Bridge of Sighs.

... And that's pretty much it! For the most part, Vael are pretty low on vernacular, compared to most elves.
[/hide]

The Vael are open to many concepts and ideas, and can change and grow to fit the players in them. They mostly operate in Nature and Upper, particularly being prone to sailing and swimming for their hunts.

Playing a Elf? Join us in #TheLodge - anyone playing any type of elf or half-elf, Vael or not, is welcome!

Note: This Faction does not actually posses the Blue Mushroom... yet.

Now that Mouldercrest's is basically a monopoly in upper, I think it'd be entertaining to make it very mildly addictive, with a +1 fort save bonus on eating, and a -1 fort save on withdrawal. This'd leave upper addicted to fast food, literally.

I, and I suspect quite a few other players, like to use faction and association territory for flavor. And we do, and it's awesome. Until someone crashes or loses internet during it.

Then it stops being awesome.

Right now, if someone crashes out in Faction territory, we wait around as long as we can, then have no real choice but to go on or log out eventually, even though that leaves them stranded inside. And then, when they come back from their crash hours later, if no DMs are around, they're locked inside faction territory, and unable to play for the rest of the day.

So I suggest, in each locked faction territory that isn't purposefully inescapable (EG, Cells), an escape hatch or tunnel or fire exit or something is added, a simple /one way/ transition out of faction territory.

For example, maybe a one-way escape hatch from the locked portion of the Cathedral to the dangerous back alleyways, or a secret one-way doorway in the Watchers inspector's office to the Public Housing Vault

This would mean if someone crashes while in locked faction territory, they can just walk out of it later, no problem. A quick fix that'd allow faction territory as spice without the current risks.

Right now anyone who can't access Sanctuary, from hated necromancers to druids to monsters, can't access dyes of any type- Leading to motley bands of multicolored men. Maybe a dye salesman somewhere on the dark lake, rather it be on Loliblipblop or Shaggaland or any other place, would simultaneously serve the nature inclined, the monsters, and the dread criminals.

Right now the EfU site and forums dont have a favicon, causing a lot of browsers to choose other ones from switched tabs- in my case, Youtube. This drives me sorta crazy- so I'd suggest an efu favicon be put in place?

I mocked up a quick one that should look fine at the tiny resolution if theres not one to use:

[hide="Favicon"]

[/hide]

Otherwise- really any favicon would make my bookmark bar 100x better- I keep clicking on youtube to try to get to efu!

[[SIZE="6"]In the 'Dark - Lite Edition[/SIZE]]

[SIZE="6"]In the 'Dark - Lite Edition[/SIZE]

Do you love the original Nwn GUI, but wish there was just a tiny little dash of EfU feel to it? Do you want to try In the 'Dark, but hate commitment? Do you love the skin you already use, but wish it was just a little more "EfU"?

Here is a lite edition of In the 'Dark, just for you! Leaving the original GUI largely entirely intact. This just gives Nwn that little bit of EfU feel, without sacrificing the classic UI.

CHANGES TO THE ORIGINAL UI:

• New splash screen
• EfU Logo on Menu
• All loading screens match the EfU override loading screens
• ... And nothing, at all, more!

The skin is fully compatible with all features of Neverwinter Nights, and should cause absolutely no bugs, issues, or lag at all. (Because its all images, and images can't really break those things.)
 
If you like the idea, download it here:

[/URL]

Put the included files in the override folder. Compatible with all skins, will simply add a bit of EfU to whatever skin you add it to. Unzip the file by right clicking and pressing "Extract All...". Best used with the EfU Launcher.

Optional Downloads:
- Better Main Menu Theme
- In the 'Dark Full Theme

[[COLOR="Green"]--Use--[/COLOR]]

When exercising your powers as a forum warrior, it is often necessary to use hosted images to make your post stand out in the endless sea of text. However, there are so many hosts it can be hellish to wade your way though, and you end up using what you're used to.

Here's a simi-complete list of the best image hosts and what to use them for:

[COLOR="Green"]--Use--[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Green"]Imgur - [/COLOR] http://imgur.com/
Use for images under 1000px, or anything you need to load fast. The best general image host at the time of this posting. Use this one if you dont know what to use.

[COLOR="Green"]Minus -[/COLOR] http://minus.com/
Use for images over 1000px. Does not damage images over 1000 pixels. Loads significantly slower then Imgur, but at significantly higher quality for large images.

[COLOR="Green"]Mediacrush -[/COLOR] https://mediacru.sh/
Can be used for SVG and other Vector images (!!), also useful for any other extended format you need to host. Excellent host for general versatility.

[COLOR="Green"]Gfycat -[/COLOR] http://www.gfycat.com/
Use for animated images, particularly gifs. Far, far better then any other host in this aspect.

[COLOR="Red"]

--Don't Use--

[/B][/COLOR]

[COLOR="Red"]Imageshack, Tripod, Tinypic, Photobucket, Postimage, Dropbox/Google Drive (in most cases), Imagebam, Flickr, FreeImageHosting, MojoImage, xtupload, Iimmgg, or Picasa.[/COLOR]

Why? Three primary reasons:

Quality: Many of these hosts downscale images, or don't support transparency.
Longevity: The VAST majority of these will take down an image after a period of time, effectively killing it.
Ease of use: Many of these are built badly or haven't been updated in years.

It is currently possible to walk right off the left side of the ship from the blue mushroom to the Micropolis.

[hide="The Amazing Flying Victor"][/hide]

I created Jennifer to see how long a Necromancer who never lied could survive.

The answer is not very long.

During her career, she was quickly forced to abandon her truthfulness, but it was too little too late. No screenshots, as she died long before anything screenshot worthy happened.

Sincerely hoping my next PC gets to last longer than a week. Well, it was a fun ride, thanks to everyone who interacted with Jennifer during her exceptionally short life.

[Forger]

Forger
[INDENT]"From falsified receipts to false orders a Forger's work in crime is unprecedentedly useful. A clerk in your youth or simply a dedicated criminal you have found that personal business brings far more wealth than public office."

Bonus: To be determined for EFU:R.[/INDENT]

I suggest the forger perk be tooled to forge a random Poison/Necromancy licence each reset. This would make forging a profitable career that causes massive issues for the watchers, without being unstoppably overpowered.  This would also create more opportunities for sly, under the radar crime in upper, something that is right now deeply challenging.

While mocking up a logo concept for EfU for a larger project, I got something I rather liked. So I threw together a Dread-themed wallpaper from a couple sources, stuck the logo onto it, and figured some people might have some degree of interest in having an EfU Wallpaper.

[hide="big image"][/hide]
http://minus.com/i/BxsSaMGs3wvT

If theres one thing I love, its theming things. And depending on the forum software we choose, theming can be quite easy and quick to learn on some of them. However, when we get to the new forum, we'll have a new forum software, and no themes.

So I suggest, once a forum software is chosen, an official theme contest.  The forum software would be given, and each person would send in their skin CSS and graphics (Banner, buttons, etc), and every single entry would get included in the skin selector. However, the winner would get default skin  position.

This would lead to a potentially very wide selection of themes. Some people might make faction themes- Like a stewards theme, a Spellguard theme, or a society theme- some people might make setting themes, some people will make light ones, some people will make dark ones.

Further, this will secure the rights of the theme used to be fair or free use, so there would be no potential theme rights issues, which I know has been a thing that has rocked the theming community once or twice.