Breakage Town Meeting: 1-7-02, 9 PM eastern

11:43 PMIt went faster than expected... here's the log.

--------

>Brauden calls the assembly to order. After a moment the crowd quiets down.

>Brauden says, "Thanks for joining us on such short notice."

>Brauden says, "I'm sure that you all have a question or two about some of the changes that we've been seeing."

>Brauden says, "and will be seeing."

>Brauden says, "The goal of this forum is to clear up any misconceptions about the armor conversion process."

>Brauden says, "We'll be talking about armor and shield only."

>Brauden says, "We're going to blatantly avoid discussion about weapon conversion and fundamentel system design until we're absolutely certain that everyone has a good grasp on the armor conversion process."

>Brauden says, "While that may be a disappointment for some of you, we're most concerned with armor at this point."

>Brauden says, "Hopefully you've all had the time to read through the rash of news items that have been posted in the past few days."

>Brauden tilts his leeezard poison side to side, making the light play off it.

>Brauden says, "They explain, to a degree, the conversion process that we've been going through and some of the problems that we've encountered along the way."

>Brauden says, "The most recent, and possibly most important change that we posted...."

>Brauden says, "Was that we'll be changing the conversion system to modify all armor items that fell below baseline, so that they'd be of baseline quality."

>You see GameMaster Brauden Finawynn the Halfling.
He appears to be in his 230's, has long, straight golden blond hair, green eyes, and lily white skin.
He is in good shape.
He is holding some leeezard poison in his right hand.
He is wearing a lustrous silver-wrought quill, a howling mentor doll, some supple leather bowman's pants, a mysterious bag of tricks, a vaalorn thigh quiver embossed with a crown of silver-tipped thorns, a delicately braided vaalorn bracelet bearing a small veniom emblem with the sigil of the Order of the Not-Quite-Learned GameMasters, a starched yellow silk shirt with tiny vine-shaped ties, some leaf-thin eahnor bracers engraved with the royal crest of Ta'Ardenai, and an antique silver armband.

>Brauden asks, "But, just what does heck is all this baseline stuff anyway?"

>Brauden says, "Lets start with a few basics"

>Brauden says, "You'll hear the term 'base name' from me several times this evening"

>Brauden says, "That refers to the name of an item as shown when you use APPRAISE."

>Brauden says, "It's made of up of 3 parts, the article, adjective and noun."

>Brauden says, "Those of you that have done an alteration or two also know that they are limited to 15 characters each."

>Brauden says, "The conversion process itself relied on the base name in order to establish the material properties of the item."

>Brauden says, "Specifically we looked for the material name in the second or first slots of the base name."

>Brauden says, "In this case the conversion process would find that my shield is made from rolaren."

>Brauden says, "However it's just not that easy to convert many of our items since they've been through alterations, sometimes many alterations."

>Brauden says, "also, items created with several key phrases excluded the item from receiving a bonus from some materials"

>Brauden says, "a golvern-edged shield was not intended to receive the bonus that golvern has."

>[Forum]
The room is so full you can see nothing around you! The only thing that you can make out is the stage with a podium on it. A lone light shines down upon the podium.
Obvious exits: out.

>Brauden says, "So many items differ greatly from their perceived baseline."

>Brauden says, "The baseline itself is derived from 2 figures"

>Brauden says, "The ST/DU stats inherent to both the type of item and the material that it's made from."

Brauden says, "Those base numbers can be found in ARMOR and METAL."

>Brauden says, "If you hate math, like most of us"

>Brauden says, "You can use the breakage calculater on the website to determine an items baseline ST/DU."

>Brauden says, "If you haven't had the chance to fumble with it, you can find it at http://www.play.net/gs3/info/armory/breakagecalc.asp

>Brauden says, "With the introduction of the first conversion system we also updated the base stats of all armors and many metals."

>Brauden says, "For this reason alone, many of the items that were in circulation pre October 2001, will vary from what we now see as 'baseline'."

>Brauden says, "Our focus now is to correct items in circulation that were not converted correct by the conversion system."

>Brauden says, "As I mentioned, many of these items were the result of alterations."

>Brauden says, "Items that were once made from rolaren and altered into another obscure material type without having their ST/DU values changed appropriately."

>Brauden says, "Identifying and correcting these items is what we've been focusing on, but it's a loooong process."

>Brauden says, "Fortunately we've been able to make quick work out of the items that have been brought forward."

>Brauden says, "I still expect that we've several weeks of hand fixing items before we've managed to make a sizeable dent."

>Brauden takes the lid off the question box. Use ASK to submit a question.

>Brauden says, "Let's see if this box actuall works..."

>Brauden kicks the question box.

>Brauden takes the lid off the question box. Use ASK to submit a question.

>Llearyn says, "Sorry folks ... we lost the previous questions. Try again."

Brauden nods to Rikz, who stands up to address the assembly.

Rikz asks, "i just wanted to know what happens to armor that has been altered many times and have no record of tracking them but they showed really nice breakage before the new baseline numbers?"

>Rikz says, "and how about auction items that don't have certain metals on it"

>Brauden says, "If they don't have a valid material in their basename, then they're considered to be made from steel."

>Ophion says, "re: Ritz - the system has re-assessed it and assigned its proper breakage valuation."

>GameMaster Ophion Mycenae appears to be ageless.
He is wearing a golden ram fleece, over his back is slung a large colorful conch seashell, and a great Wyrm pouch is at his side.

>Brauden says, "In that case it's been modified on the basis of it being steel."

>Rikz says, "also would like to know how weight will factor into the numbers is it going to be actualy weight over the base weight of a certain number or how the item appears like if it says a set of heavy golvern plate"

>Brauden says, "Since it had such great stats to begin with, it's still going to be a good bit better then baseline steel."

>Brauden says, "The weight factor hasn't been set in stone, so I'm not going to guess how much of an influence it'll be in the final determination."

>Brauden says, "I suspect we'll know later this week."

>Ophion says, "re: Ritz: item encumbrance partially represents the item mass. that proportion is assessed in the breakage determination. You don't get to see that determination."

>Brauden says, "If you're really curious, make note of the stats your items have now, it's weight and compare it to the next converted numbers."

>Daelynn says, "Does padding have anything to do with the breakage of an item or its stats? I have some siren scale armor that I altered to say "leather" and while the leather stats seem to be correct from what you have on the website, I'm not sure if the breakage for it is."

>Brauden says, "Padding has nothing to do with the breakage stats of an item."

>Ophion says, "re aelynn - padding does not affect the breakage assessment. merchants may alter item breakage valuation as part of their padding services though."

>Brauden says, "Your leather would have been converted on the basis of it being base steel."

>Brauden says, "If your items don't have a specific metal in its base name, then it'll be treated as steel."

>Daelynn asks, "Even when it used to be siren scale?"

>Daelynn says, "And it's not now."

>Brauden nods to Daelynn.

>Brauden says, "If it's not the exact numbers that the breakage calculator, then it's original ST/DU values were different then the current baseline for that type of item."

>Brauden says, "if your curious if it's correct, post it on the breakage boards or assist and we'll take a look at it."

>Daelynn says, "It is the exact numbers for reinforced leather at this point. "

>Llearyn says, "A note of interest that isn't terribly clear."

>Llearyn says, "As odd as it sounds ..."

>Llearyn says, "all base armors are made of steel, not leather."

>Llearyn says, "So even if you're wearing leather armor, we consider that steel."

>Llearyn says, "It doesn't make any RP sense."

>Llearyn says, "But go with it."

Brauden nods to Iscikella, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Iscikella says, "My question has already been answered then. Was wondering why the calculator was figuring in a negative modifier for leather in leather armors"

>Iscikella says, "Didn't make any sense."

>Llearyn says, "Really using leather as a material would earn a penalty."

>Llearyn says, "If you don't have any special material on your armor, it's considered steel."

>Brauden says, "That's one of those features that we inherited from way back..."

>Llearyn says, "We'll have to do something about that some time."

>Tryelaina asks, "Will non premies be able to repair items over 5x ?"

>Ophion says, "regarding materials: material attributes are applied upon a baseline value. Do not regard the armor as made of 'steel'. It's made with its baseline valuation and then adjusted."

>Ophion says, "each armor type has its own baseline valuation."

>Llearyn says, "Tryelaina ... I'm not sure we can answer that."

>Llearyn says, "I don't think it's something that has braught to our attention to consider."

>Llearyn says, "Off the top of my head ..."

>Llearyn says, "I'd say that's a little bit too unbalancing to be part of the premium program."

>Llearyn says, "BUt that's without any consideration."

>Tryelaina says, "So at least off hand, its not your desire to effectively limit non premies to 5 or less x"

>Llearyn says, "I would say that regardless of being premium or basic ..."

>Llearyn says, "You'll be able to repair up to the same level."

>Ratolin says, "yeah...uh...hi...um...I like..um...wanna know...if um...repairing is...um...gunna be like...a...um...trainable skill...um...yeah" ( )

>Ophion says, "Repairs are based on character manager trained skills + luck (randomness) + artisan skill (forging). Repairs effectiveness are NOT associated with your billing status"

Brauden nods to Khandy, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Khandy says, "How do you determite the breakage on weapons like a dagger with a base of... oh, say for instance Carrot? Is it given a steel base?""

>Brauden says, "If you can't find the material name in METAL on in the breakage calculater, then it's treated as steel."

>Brauden says, "I'm going to skip over any weapon questions at this point so we can focus on armor."

Brauden nods to Suroth, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Suroth asks, "I noticed that you posted that you were going to be also altering the breakage of items based on their weight. How are you going to do this in an automated system without taking into account materials such as veniom which were told to us many many times to not affect the integrity of an item while lightening it. For instance, I have a set of plate twice lightened with Veniom. I have a set of Hauberk lightened once with veniom and once just had material ripped off?"

>Brauden says, "A big question on a system that isn't in place yet."

>Suroth asks, "and also do you have to be good at forging that weapon type in order to repair it. I.E. good at polearms in forging to repair them?"

>Brauden says, "We've not finalized exactly how we're going to handle these items."

>Brauden says, "In the worst case scenario we might end up addressing these lightened items by hand."

>Brauden says, "Which won't be so terrible judging by the number of lightening merchants over the past few years."

>Ophion says, "re:Suroth - forging is a factor in repair, it's not the sole factor"

>Suroth says, "ok...I just know alot of folks have gotten stuff lightened...because they were told it wouldn't break"

>Brauden says, "Hopefully we can have some concrete answers later in the week."

>Ophion says, "re:Suroth - whoever said they wouldn't break were mistaken. everything eventually breaks." (!!!!!)

>Brauden says, "I'll recite your questions for you this round"

Brauden nods to Myrene, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Brauden recites:

"It seems to me that there's no reason in large part to have the conversion at all, why are you doing it? Second it seems like it's basically hurting those of us who have been here the longest, because many of our items where specially made to be strong, without having a referance to a metal, or maybe a lesser metal such as steel, ie ice age steel shields from old tks"

>Myrene says, "Or those which have been strengthed by a merchant as well, there are tons of items which aren't being covered basing it on the description"

Llearyn says, "That's why we're manually adjusting them."

>Llearyn says, "As for the reason for the conversion ..."

>Llearyn says, "I think Ophion is coming up with a detailed answer."

>Llearyn smiles.

>Myrene says, "Yes, but in order for you to adjust them, they have to have been registered, and for a lot of us we would have had to spend weeks at the registar to cover all our shields and armor"

>Llearyn says, "You should register after an item comes into your position."

>Llearyn says, "possession rather."

>Myrene says, "I had hundreds of items before regsistation ever existed"

>Llearyn says, "Should only take a few seconds, and only costs a couple silver."

>Myrene says, "even thousands"

>Ophion says, "re: Myrene - conversion was necessary to normalize the discrepancies of weapons that were made during the period of no breakage since GM's were not fully cognizant of the fact that breakage was a factor and did not properly assess items with their proper breakage valuations. In addition, the conversion resolved to the benefit and deteriment of item durability and strength of all items, weak items were made stronger and strong items were moved nearer to the baseline valuations."

>Brauden says, "As strange as it may sound, the conversion process was a win win situation for players."

>Brauden says, "Those with sub-baseline items will have them reset to baseline. Those with above baseline items saw only neglibible adjustments."

>Brauden says, "While registering items isn't the most entertaining of processes, it's also the best way to ensure that your items properties are logged for future reference."

Brauden nods to Clewan, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Brauden recites:

"How does a shield being a wall and/or tower affect the breakage ?"

>Brauden says, "Currently there's no benefit to wall or tower shields in the eyes of breakage."

>Llearyn says, "I don't think it does."

>Brauden says, "All of the different types of shields all provided the same benefit."

Brauden nods to Herachio, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Brauden recites:

"Was it always your intent to only have one baseline for shields. Meaning a baseline buckler would have the same ST/DU as a baseline tower shield? And if so why? I can understand the strengh being the same, but why the durability? Is it possible that the new weight factor your going to use to adjust items will offset this some. Assuming that most Wall shields are heavier than most say, bucklers. Or again, is it not your intent to to distinguish between the different types of shields."

>Herachio says, "That was my question"

>Herachio says, "Clewan beat me by a sec"

>Brauden asks, "Wow, what was the intent of the designers some 12 years ago?"

>Brauden says, "It's something that I never gave much thought to in the past."

Llearyn says, "Well ..."

>Llearyn says, "The reason really is ..."

>Llearyn says, "that we only have one basic type of shield."

>Ophion says, "re: shield - shields have 2 baselines, standard and reinforced. wt is used in breakage assessment; as are durability and strength"

>Llearyn asks, "I thought we didn't use reinforced?"

Herachio says, "I think we already know there is only one basic type of shield. I think what everyone wants to know, is are you going to change that."

>Llearyn says, "We have two kinds of shields ... the designers of the game didn't create a wide variety of them."

>Llearyn says, "Well, there would be no way to modify your existing shield to be of another type."

>Brauden says, "Perhaps the introduction of other 'types' of shields could happen in the future."

(At this point I was disconnected for a few minutes.)

Brauden nods to Pallidas, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Brauden recites:

"Will there be new stats impletemented into armor like fortification? And will existing ones like lightened or strengthed affect the breakage vallues?"

>Ophion says, "as I had answered previously, lightening and padding do not alter the breakage valuation unless specified by the merchant."

Ophion says, "strengthening is a different merchant service and can directly affect breakage attributes"

>Pallidas asks, "I take it a no then on new abilities on armor then?"

>Ophion says, "there are new abilities, not the ones you are asking for."

>Brauden says, "As for merchant strengthening and lightening...."

>Brauden says, "We'll likely establish some reasonable standards in terms of how lightening and strengthening affect an items ST/DU values."

>Pallidas says, "nod"

>Brauden says, "So that 10 years from now they'll be a history of standard alterations."

>Brauden says, "That's the end of this round."

>Brauden says, "I'm going to open up for 5 minutes so we can take a quick break, then we'll resume the fun."

l>[Global Assembly]
In this large assembly room, meetings are convened to deal with the affairs of the world. There is ample room for benches, long tables and other furnishings befitting special occasions. You also see the Gulp disk, the Xayd disk, the Pickax disk, the Qook disk, the Bomquor disk and the Kayelon disk.
Also in the room: Journeyman Mahasra, Lord Narf, Densho, Lady Lissanne, Allamril, Strathe, Najisi who is seated, Lady Twighlght, Lord Vorthais, Mahosukai who is seated, Hassa, Wonday who is seated, Suroth, Keffal, Journeyman Skoal who is seated, Lord Maelstromm, Jaret, Rhaeza, Ardwen, GameMaster Uska, Risius who is seated, Sornryn, Khathlynn, Great Lord Roelon, Visar, GameMaster Tolli, GameMaster Ophion, Arasleaf who is seated, Great Lady Secilly, Weedy, Zacciwie, Great Lady Teegan, Kerivian, Baleal who is lying down, Remanth who is seated, Crimsana, Druskil, Lord Tierus who is seated, Petyr who is seated, Khandy who is seated, Arali, Kid, Lord Blaktooth, Rikolas, Slovigg, Lord Worfle, Aranrhod who is seated, Lord Falronn who is seated, Gulp, Rikz who is seated, Lady Rendena who is seated, Lord Randsford who is seated, Lord Maadar who is seated, Great Lord Clewan who is seated, Jurgon who is seated, Alexys who is seated, Shallimar, GameMaster Khaladon, Myrene who is seated, Lady Cerridween who is seated, Xayd, Bass who is seated, Prestius who is seated, Winema who is seated, Giantphang who is seated, Lady Kasida who is seated, Corky who is seated, Pickax who is seated, Navlys who is seated, Righ who is seated, Lady Avrinet who is seated, High Lady Nephrenia who is seated, Great Lord Blizzerdd who is seated, Ravier who is seated, Gronty who is seated, Skelt who is seated, Lady Iscikella who is seated, Great Lady Carren who is seated, Lord Rimbaud, High Lady Tryelaina who is seated, Lord Ysbadthaden who is seated, Lord Glendarrow who is seated, Lady Heathyranne who is seated, Lord Marex who is seated, Lord Ranyhyn who is seated, Pallidas who is seated, Ruffelin who is seated, Journeyman Silvaristiar who is seated, Lady Faeryfire who is seated, Cryheart who is seated, Qook who is seated, Aemergin who is seated, Aurien who is seated, Bomquor who is seated, Kayelon who is seated, Radoria who is seated, Lady Cinabar who is seated, Seesfar who is seated, Eloral who is seated, Lord Mordsithpawns who is seated, Sayrena who is seated, Lady Heldalyn who is seated, Journeyman Kahlthnor who is seated, Nofret who is seated, Margrethe who is seated, Wadsworth who is seated, Great Lady Quintena who is seated, Lason who is seated, Lord Tilarium who is seated, Herachio who is seated, Koldeen who is seated, Miranne who is seated, Revalos who is seated, Annamari who is seated, Lord Leylark who is seated, GameMaster Llearyn, GameMaster Brauden
Obvious exits: out.

Brauden calls the assembly to order. After a moment the crowd quiets down.

>Brauden asks, "Alright, macros ready?"

>Brauden grabs for the lid of the question box.

>Brauden takes the lid off the question box. Use ASK to submit a question.

>Brauden closes the question box.

>Llearyn leans on Ophion.

>Brauden says, "as with last round, I'll recite your Q's."

Brauden nods to Ysbadthaden, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Brauden says, "no matter how long..."

>Brauden recites:

"Brauden about before, that is a couple of years ago, when breakage was 'about' to be introduced it seemed that everything, whether creature or player broke on every hunt... will that be the same now? For it seems concerning that we conservitavely spend 100k or more to re-outfit and make 20k on a hunt...::mutter may have to hunt in the nude as a ritual::"

>Ysbadthaden asks, "will we expect so much breakage?"

>Brauden says, "Breaking on every hunt isn't a situation that I want to be involved in."

>Llearyn says, "Me neither."

>Brauden says, "I think Ophion has done LOTS of adjusting since those days."

>Brauden says, "An important thing to remember..."

>Brauden says, "ready your tomatoes gang"

>Ophion says, "re: breakage occurences - part of the reason why durability was adjusted. Also during testing the occurences were being evaluated"

>Ysbadthaden asks, "so nude hunting is not something to reconsider?"

>Brauden says, "Is that we're not implementing breakage so that everything you have breaks and every last moment you spend here is miserable."

Brauden says, "The goal of breakage is not frustration for anyone."

>Brauden says, "The goal of breakage is moderate item attrition."

>Brauden says, "I hope that you never loose your prized shield or weapon."

>Ysbadthaden says, "Breakage per se makes some sense... the way it was then did not.. things were too fragile"

>Brauden says, "and with the current setup, if you maintain your item you'll stand a very small chance of loosing it in most cases."

>Brauden nods to Ysbadthaden.

>Ysbadthaden says, "good "

>Brauden says, "Correct, which is why it's gone through some serious change."

>Brauden says, "and still changing"

>Brauden says, "It has to be palatable to all before we go live."

>Ysbadthaden asks, "and if we do and wish to use it for showing off, as it were it will still 'exist'?"

>Brauden scratches his head.

>Brauden says, "not sure I follow that...."

>Ophion says, "re: broken items - it's a physical item that you can manipulate, it cannot be used for its original purpose (combat)"

>Ysbadthaden says, "some antique items are very special and were also rather strong"

>Ysbadthaden says, "that is they were well enchanted"

>Brauden nods to Ysbadthaden.

>Brauden says, "Yes, broken items will still exist in the game, but will not be able to be used in combat."

>Ysbadthaden says, "but if they 'break' we can still wear them from time to time and look as if we still have them on although they will not be any good in battle"

>Brauden says, "Yes, absolutely"

>Brauden says, "Good point, which I skipped over."

>Ysbadthaden says, "you can lace up the old brig, but gods help you if you tried to wear them into a fight"

>Brauden nods.

>Ysbadthaden asks, "Will it show that though used across the generations, and is no longer workable in battle it is there?"

>Mordsithpawns just left.

>Ysbadthaden asks, "like though broken it still is splendid?"

>Brauden says, "I suspect that it's appearance won't change."

Ophion says, "no"

>Ophion says, "when you look at a broken item, it will merely indicate it is broken."

>Ophion says, "the descriptions are not visible."

>Ysbadthaden says, "please explina and then I shall be done"

>Ysbadthaden asks, "so if I were to buy such an item from a merchant who is.. erm... not so trust worthy.. would I be able to tell that it is not worth too much?"

>Ophion says, "when you show the item to another individual, the item will be visibly broken."

>Ophion says, "you will not see any descriptive aspects of the weapon once it breaks"

Brauden nods to Tilarium, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Brauden recites:

"When you start the process of factoring in weight will you take into account the type of metal?"

>Ophion says, "metal attributes are assessed as part of the strength and durability"

>Brauden says, "I think that was a yes."

Brauden nods to Sayrena, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Brauden recites:

"Appraise, give example of what we should be seeing, dont' think it's working as you expect. ie venion-bound rolaren shield still shows that when appraised. When offered to someone it only shows it as rolaren shield. Is it the 'rolaren shield' that we should be seeing with appraise? If so, it isn't working for us as you expect."

>Brauden says, "Example good...."

Brauden picks up a veniom-bound rolaren tower shield.

>Brauden says, "The example item in question"

>Sayrena says, "all the shields I've appraised just duplicate the item name they don't give the 'base name'"

>Brauden says, "Most shields only have a 'base name'"

>Brauden says, "so what you see in appraise is the base name..."

>Brauden says, "In this case I see:"

>Brauden recites:

"Careful examination indicates that "a veniom-bound rolaren tower shield" has a strength of 71 and a durability of 225. You also determine the current state of the rolaren tower shield to be at 99.98% integrity."

>Brauden says, "where we run into trouble is with items that have been altered"

>Sayrena asks, "could you give an example of an item with an item name that is different from the base name when appraised? Would a dyed shield be a good example if it's item name is a rosy pink shield but it's really vultite?"

>Brauden says, "Alirght, I've added a long name to my shield"

>Brauden waves a black urglaes tower shield with the image of a raving Brauden attacking a hord of unsuspecting ale. around.

>Brauden says, "notice it's still a rolaren tower shield"

>Brauden says, "as the base name hasn't changed"

>Brauden says, "but if you look at me (can you look at me?) you'll see a long name."

>Sayrena says, "so when you appraise it you see the 'rolaren' tag"

>Brauden nods to Sayrena.

>Sayrena asks, "then it's working as expected. Should it also work that way for dyed items?"

>Brauden says, "That's the material name that the conversion system uses assess the items properties."

>Brauden says, "The dyer system rewrites the base name of the item in most cases."

>Brauden says, "So if you've had your item dyed, then it's likely missing the base material name."

>Brauden says, "or"

>Sayrena says, "someone is telling me they have a diamond encrusted shield never been altered and no base name in description"

>Brauden says, "The auto crester shop also rewrites the base name of the items it alters."

>Brauden says, "Then they are misunderstanding the term 'base name'"

>Sayrena says, "so it's those instances that you want folks to do assists I assume"

>Brauden says, "if it didn't have a base name, you'd never be ablt to manipulate it."

>Brauden says, "pardon the typos"

>Sayrena says, "I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about that, that's why I'm asking. Hope it will help"

>Brauden says, "We've speculated that that is where the majority of the misunderstanding is happening."

>Brauden looks as if he were concentrating for a second, then a devious grin spreads across his face.

>Llearyn nods.

>You hear a distant "OW!"

Brauden coughs.

>Brauden says, "Hopefully the change to appraise will help to clarify what the base name is."

>Sayrena says, "the way I've been able to determine the base name is to offer it to someone and it gives the 'short item name' not sure if that is a machine-stamped name or something the alterer writes on it"

>Brauden nods to Sayrena.

>Brauden says, "Most verbs will message a portion of the base name."

>Llearyn says, "Most verbs in the game will hack off the first part of the base name"

>Brauden says, "Getting use to the terms is a large portion of the trouble."

>Brauden taps a black urglaes tower shield with the image of a raving Brauden attacking a hord of unsuspecting ale..

>Llearyn says, "What we call the "article" but it may include more than just articles."

>Brauden slings a black urglaes tower shield with the image of a raving Brauden attacking a hord of unsuspecting ale. over his shoulder.

>Sayrena says, "offer your shield to Llearyn and see what it says you are offering"

>Brauden slings a black urglaes tower shield with the image of a raving Brauden attacking a hord of unsuspecting ale. off from over his shoulder.

>Brauden offers Llearyn a black urglaes tower shield with the image of a raving Brauden attacking a hord of unsuspecting ale..

>Llearyn accepts Brauden's rolaren tower shield.

>Sayrena says, "hmm"

>Brauden recites:

"You offer your rolaren tower shield to Llearyn, who has 30 seconds to accept the offer. Type CANCEL to prematurely cancel the offer."

>Llearyn offers Brauden a black urglaes tower shield with the image of a raving Brauden attacking a hord of unsuspecting ale..

>Sayrena says, "ah, she accepted the rolaren tower shield"

>Brauden accepts Llearyn's rolaren tower shield.

>Brauden says, "Therein lies the descrepancy."

>Sayrena says, "there's the base name"

Llearyn says, "It changed "a" to "the""

>Brauden nods to Sayrena.

>Brauden offers Sayrena a black urglaes tower shield with the image of a raving Brauden attacking a hord of unsuspecting ale..

>Ysbadthaden stands up.

>Llearyn says, "The name of the shield is "a veniom-bound rolaren tower shield", it cut off "a veniom-bound""

>Sayrena says, "can't accept during assembly"

>Brauden snaps his fingers.

>Brauden says, "blasted forums."

>Sayrena asks, "so is it the 'rolaren shield' part we saw what you want appraise to show?"

>Llearyn says, "From the receiving end, it shows the full name."

>Llearyn says, "Rather than the base name."

>Llearyn shakes her head.

>Llearyn says, "No ..."

>Llearyn says, "Appraise will show "a veniom-bound rolaren tower shield" which is it's name."

>Llearyn says, "Rolaren tower shield is just the second two thirds of it's base name."

>Sayrena says, "ok. Hope that helps clear it up for everyone and didn't confuse further "

>Brauden says, "to clarify that, it's base name is: 'a veniom-bound,rolaren tower,shield'""

>Brauden says, "Thank you Sayrena"

>Sayrena asks, "for the items that aren't working that way, you want assists done?"

>Llearyn says, "Sorry ... we know it's tough."

>Brauden says, "Yup, assist is the prefered method to get those items fixed up."

>Llearyn says, "It's hard to see it without all the GMs tools to help you."

Brauden nods to Faeryfire, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Brauden recites:

"Do we have any kind of date or timeframe on release of breakage?"

>Brauden exclaims, "Nope!"

>Brauden says, "I'm not falling for that one."

>Brauden shakes his head.

>Tolli grins.

>Ophion says, "it'll be done, when it's done."

>Faeryfire says, "hey, it was worth a try"

>Llearyn says, "As soon as we're comfortable that we've got the system in order, and as many items as possible ready."

>Brauden says, "When we've finished converting weapons you'll know we're a good bit closer."

Brauden nods to Revalos, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Brauden recites:

"You refer to items that are sub-baseline. Does that include those items which were annealed? Will they be increased to baseline standards? Also, will wood altered to rolaren have the rolaren or wood as the metal?"

>Revalos says, "I know annealing was only with weapons...sorry about that"

>Brauden asks, "Wood altered to rolaren?"

>Brauden shivers.

>Llearyn says, "Yeow. WHo did you convince to do that."

>Llearyn grins.

>Brauden says, "Yes, baseline is the bottom with an adjustment for weight."

>Revalos says, "not me. heh"

>Brauden grins at Revalos.

>Ophion says, "only limited weapon types are converted, namely bows and some polearms. All other weapons will retain their current valuations."

>Brauden says, "If the wood item that was altered to rolaren has 'rolaren' as part of it's base name, then it'll have the stats of rolaren."

>Revalos says, "so the alteration does have an effect on the breakage"

>Revalos says, "in that case"

>Brauden says, "if the basename includes 'rolaren' then yes it does."

Llearyn says, "Yes, that is a converter mistake."

>Llearyn nods.

>Llearyn says, "You're lucky."

>Revalos asks, "will that still be the case when breakage goes live?"

>Brauden says, "the conversion process keys off of the base name, which is why we keep babbling about it."

>Ophion says, "Annealed weapons were designed with breakage in mind. They will retain their attributes."

>Llearyn says, "rolaren is much preferred to wood."

>Brauden nods to Revalos.

>Brauden says, "Yes, that will still be the case."

Brauden nods to Visar, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Brauden recites:

"I am a late comer, so if this was addressed, I apologize... Do you expect bonuses to be given for items with more than one metal in it? For example, one of my brothers has a shield that is made from rolaren but is also "reinforced with bands of silvery veil iron." It presently has rolaren breakage valuations, but do you think at any point item like this might get some additional bonus as well? In my case, from the veil iron reinforcing?"

>Brauden says, "We touched on it to a degree, let me rehash it for you."

>Ophion says, "the bands are cosmetic"

>Brauden says, "ST/DU values are based on the core material"

>Brauden says, "in your example it would be based on rolaren"

>Brauden says, "I don't forsee any additional bonuses coming into play."

>Brauden says, "Complicating an already complicated process isn't something that I'd buy in to."

Brauden nods to Teegan, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Brauden recites:

"I imagine you all have been monitoring the number of catastrophic breaks . . .what is the average number of catastrophic breaks per day currently (without repair obviously) say on an average player base day? And if you can't answer that, how many items per day do you see "leaving" the game to make 'breakage' worthwhile?"

>Brauden says, "Not sure how well we're going to be able to answer that as this point."

>Ophion says, "the frequency of castastrophic breakage is not public information."

Brauden says, "While it might be nice on the player side to see some of the hard core details, it would likely spur a bazillion debates on design choices."

>Brauden says, "Which is wonderful, but we're going to focus on the basic necessities here...understanding armor and its conversion."

>
Brauden nods to Glendarrow, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Brauden recites:

"Did the GMs pick durabilities with the end result in mind, i.e. chance of failure, like 1 in 100,000? Some armors are absurdly prone, 1 in 300, and some absurdly resistant, 1 in 10,000,000"

>Ophion says, "durability is not the sole determinant of breakage frequencies."

>Brauden says, "the absurdly prone and absurdly resistant items should be few and far between."

>Glendarrow says, "the ones that are highest in durability would gain even more on the lessers"

Glendarrow says, "the ones with DUR of 170ish would be around 1 in 300 and the ones with 600ish would be 1 in 64000000, something like that"

>Glendarrow asks, "do i have the stats wrong?"

>Ophion says, "yes, they're wrong. As I stated, durability is not the sole determinant of catastrophic failures"

>Brauden says, "Translated that means that we're not going to give up all those determining factors, or the exact odds of catastrophic failure."

>Brauden says, "Thank you, Glendarrow."

Brauden nods to Ardwen, who stands up to address the assembly.

>Brauden recites:

"On items with exceptional stats in the past how will you or I suppose us prove the formerly had such stats? Such as the original few black alloy items which are now considered baseline when they were once exceptionally well forged"

>Brauden says, "We have log entries of all item conversions."

Llearyn says, "In other words, we do have a record of your items prior stats."

>Brauden says, "So it's quite easy to prove."

>Ardwen says, "good to hear though seeing how some items converted this time that scares me"

>Ophion says, "Black alloy have always been different names of steel. The current system treats them as such. Item's created outside of those material criteria are considered incorrect."

>Brauden says, "There were some interesting conversions, which is why we're taking our time with the research and hand fixes."

Ardwen asks, "Incorrect?"

>Ardwen says, "Also in the same respect what about items that have base names out side the current choices"

Brauden says, "those will be treated as steel."

>Llearyn asks, "the armor or the material?"

>Ophion says, "they are assesed at the baseline valuations if they are not listed in the SHIFT verb list of materials"

>Ardwen says, "My shield is a parrier"

>Brauden says, "if they don't match with the material listed in METAL, then they're considered steel."

>Llearyn says, "AH ..."

>Brauden says, "Item names aren't a factor, as they're judged by other criteria."

>Brauden says, "so"

>Brauden says, "what that means in english is"

>Brauden says, "Regardless of the name of a shield, we're always able to tell exactly what it is by it's other characteristics."

>Brauden says, "The same holds true with all armors and accessories."

>Ardwen asks, "So its current odd numbers are based on its past not its name now?"

>Llearyn says, "Right ... the converter used the name of an item to reference it's material, not what type of item the item was."

>Sabrost arrives in a puff of smoke!

>Brauden says, "odd numbers are the result of....."

Ardwen exclaims, "many alters in the past!"

>Brauden says, "it's original ST/DU value"

>Brauden says, "and the possible inability of determining its correct material"

>Brauden says, "and the current baseline for the type of item."

>Brauden nods to Ardwen.

>Ardwen says, "So oddball items have t be adjusted manually"

>Llearyn nods to Ardwen.

>Ardwen says, "My parrier, the shield rubes etc"

>Brauden says, "That's why you'll see many differences from the current baselines."

Ardwen says, "rubies"

>Llearyn says, "Depends."

>Brauden says, "Most dont need to be hand fixed."

>Llearyn asks, "What is your parrier's base name?"

>Brauden says, "only those in which the material name isn't part of the base name."

>Llearyn says, "shield ruby would be one of those, since it doesn't supply the base material."

>Ardwen says, "Oh yeah and dont let Brauden alter yer shields folks he has horrible taste :whistle:"

>Llearyn says, "Who knows what that is. :/"

>Brauden says, "I taste just fine, thank you."

Ardwen says, "good enuff for me I'll assist after the next conversions to check it"

>Brauden says, "That's the end of this round, and the end of our formal forum."

>Brauden says, "They'll probably be a few of us sticking around as long as we can bear the scroll to answer some miscellaneous questions."

>Brauden says, "Hopefully you've gained an understanding as to which items need to be hand fixed and how they've been converted."

>Brauden says, "Please assist or post your question on the message boards."

>Llearyn says, "Thanks for coming folks ... and for putting up with us locking you in here with no way to leave for the first half. "

>Brauden opens the floor back up for general discussion.

(*Editor's note: I've placed the answers to questions directly after the question in order to improve readability. Otherwise it was utter pandemonium. *)

>Blizzerdd asks, "If breakage factors in forging then why don't all towns have (and when will they have) forges so that people in all towns can increase their skill for when breakage does arrive?"

>Khaladon says, "Eventually Blizz"

>Llearyn says, "ALl major towns will eventually have forges."

>Avrinet asks, "If a shield were to have a description that suggests the metal is decorative, but matches all other properties of a shield made from that "decorative" metal (weight, enchant, etc), will that shield (or any other item) be considered for adjustment if it doesn't have near the expected breakage stats for the metal?"

>Llearyn says, "Avrinet ... I'd say yes."

>Margrethe asks, "brauden, how does something thats mithril linked work? is it mithril or steel?"

Brauden says, "steel"

>Brauden nods to Margrethe.

>Brauden says, "but it was probably converted as mithril"

>Margrethe says, "thats odd then"

You say, "I understand the stat modifications for urnon are '+80/+200'. Isn't that a bit high, even for a rare metal? In comparison, glaes is only +24/+65."

>Brauden says, "Urnon is correct"

>Brauden says, "It's obscenely high numbers are a problem that'll be dealt with separately."

>Prestius asks, "Will having a "P" on an item increase the ST/DU as it rightly should??"

>Brauden says, "Ten fold on the P"

>Llearyn says, "Only if you're a "P"remium or "P"latinum member." (*note: I have a feeling she was joking. At least, I hope she was.*)

>Pickax asks, "What of items that were of exceptional strength before the conversions that do not have a base metal to convert to examble halfling chain wich lost about 50 points in strenght, These items were itended to be strong but are now very weak? Also what happened to golvern and why? please whisper if you got a answer?"

>Brauden says, "Those halfling items will be handled appropriately."

>Ryndith says, "Do we need a referral to get things fixed if they're below the minimum steel breakage, or will it be done automatically"

>Tolli says, "I believe there's an auto system in the works, we'll announce once it's happened - if your item still needs adjustment after that you'll need to assist"

>Rikz asks, "what happens to items that don't have a base metal in its describtion but with good numbers still?"

>Khaladon says, "Hide them Rikz"

>Brauden says, "You get to keep the high numbers."

>Llearyn says, "The converter would have decided they were high for steel and would have reduced them by a modifier."

>Prestius says, "If we need to assist on an item and it happens to have a once legal, but now illegal alteration, or is an Ice Age item, will it those nonstandard aspects be modified along with the breakage stats? "

>Khaladon says, "ICE age needs to be fixed"

>Tolli says, "ICE age materials will be modified if a GM adjusts the item"

>Llearyn says, "Ice Age materials will be changed."

-------------------------------

That's all I could listen to without exploding. reg

The Players Corner Archive

Breakage Town Meeting: 1-7-02, 9 PM eastern