Ned Lud

Bango Blackfoot stands beside his kinfolk, slurping down a bowl of mushroom stew and paying no mind to the settling smoke and ash in front of them.

"What was tha' pots 'n' pans covered feller ramblin' on about? Was he sayin' scourge or sausages. Thought I 'eard sausages. Smelled like thar was some cookin', so figured I ought ter come have a looksee."

He smiles sagely at the wall-mongers gathered and continues, looking them in the eye.

"What it compares ter is burnin' down an ole rotten log full of fire ants on account o' they's makin' our feets itch. Only ants is more useful ter us, as they sometimes et th' caterpillars."

[[This is great. You're going to do good things.]]

Bango Blackfoot is busily chasing toads away with a broom when he notices a letter tucked into a hole at the base of the old oak tree. "Ne'er even noticed tha' me 'ad a mail slot thar afore." As he plucks it out, several spiders scamper out of hiding and disappear among the roots. He sets the broom down and looks over the envelope. "It 'as ole Pete's stamp, for true, so's must be some official business afoot." He tears the letter open and reads over it with a smile. "Oh aye, always down fer a good ole burrow warmin' party. And this'un 'as twins!" He tucks the letter away, whistling through his teeth as he begins sweeping his stoop.

(Not sure if I'll be online then, but welcome, nonetheless.)

Higher tier locks shouldn't be a VIP perk but unpickable locks should? Absolutely no to unpickable locks. I feel like you're being a little biased because you don't want to lose a perk.

The lock-picking skill should have a lengthy cool-down after so many tries and failed attempts, in order to prevent players from sitting in one spot grinding away at a lock or running all over the map stealing everything. I believe we're allowed roughly three lock-picking attempts a day as it stands right now, or at least that's what it was last I heard. We could get away with a few more and setting a limit based on cool-downs would prevent abuse and there would be no need for unpickable locks.

After so many failed attempts, maybe your thieves' tools break and you have to get another set. If you don't have a backup set prepared, you would have to put them in the crafting queue and wait or find a tinker. Lock-picking could thus be regulated by a combination of cool-downs and item-requirements.

I prefer to see keys remain notional, as they are already. If you have permissions to the chest, you have an imaginary key to it. It's just a lot simpler for players to manage, especially large groups. I don't imagine there would be enough entertaining key role-play to warrant complicating what should be a fairly simple plug-in. We can do without tangible keys. Leave it to permissions and lock-picking.

I like this idea, although it could get overcomplicated real quick.

First of all, we ought to keep it as a perk. I'm one of those guys that donates for tangible benefits, not at all out of the goodness of my heart, and locksmithing was a pretty big incentive for me. We need something to stimulate donation money to keep this server running and there are very few incentives as it is, so let's keep what we have.

I would also like to suggest multiple tiers of locksmithing, to encourage donations as well as add a little more depth to locksmithing and lockpicking. Each donator rank after Iron VIP could increase the quality of the locks that you are able to craft and use. Higher quality locks would require higher quality crafting materials. Lock-picking would have an increasingly higher chance of failure when attempted on higher quality locks, so thieves would have something to work towards. This would provide multiple donation incentives instead of just one, it would make lock-picking a little more challenging and it's really not that big of an arse to seek out a lock-smith if you don't feel like donating. Most groups or settlements have at least one or two players that are willing to lock your things for free or next to nothing.

Examples of the locks with names pulled out of my arse would be as follows:

Iron VIP: a basic iron padlock

Gold VIP: a complex steel combination lock

Diamond VIP: an enchanted mithril lock

etc.

etc.

It could be like Lago suggested, where you can have a limited number of each. This way when thieves see a high-quality lock, they know it must be something worth nicking. Groups would have to consider donating and working together to heighten their vault security. You wouldn't just have one wealthy donator locking every single thing for his nation. This would increase the donation incentive and keep things reasonable.

Just my thoughts.

Bango Blackfoot makes his mark with the stub of a grease pen.

Livestock (And Cookpot) Protector

Just put a sign in front of the motherlode stating that two burly-looking halflings and 30 Oren seamen are standing guard there. Problem solved.

Also, that's pretty fancy, smelting iron blocks on site with no smelting facilities, in the corner of a dank grotto heavily trafficked by thugs.

I miss the pig more.

Bango Blackfoot reads the notice, grumbling to himself.

"We'll see about tha'. Nary a one e'er considers our needs fer th' soup effort here in Lenfarthin'. Looks like it be borrowin' time, gents."

He mops his brow with a soiled handkerchief and spits, heading back to the farm.

Edit:

Bango Blackfoot returns the next morning, exhausted and rolling a dented and muddy pot over the wheatfield and through the woods. He struggles but manages to get it to the Sheriff's Office where he wobbles it upright, leaning back with a sigh of relief.

He mutters to the local bystanders, "Phew, that were a heavy bugger. Borrowed thissun from inside a brewery in Kralta with th' help o' ole Wilbur Took. Figure we might have th' old soup-sniffin' sheepdogs loose on it ter see if we can git a good scent on where these cookpot thieves be holed up at. Had two of th' locals ganderin' at me might' closely. Soddin' tavern didnae even have nary a drink in sight, nor a bite to et. Suspicious lot they has o'er thar. Ole Bango Blackfoot be keepin' his eye on 'em folk.

He sneers and gently kicks at the pot with a muddy foot.

"Anyone recognize this here pot as one o' ours? Come get 'er if'n' ye' need 'er."

(It's on.)

Bango Blackfoot stands in his front yard, looking up at the sky as it begins to storm chocolate rain and vanilla hail. A single tear falls from his eye in recognition of what has occured. In his gut, he just knows it must be true...the cakeman found the magic man. A brave little man that once saved his life. Ole Dobby, the toilet inspector.

He sets a bucket outside to collect some of the remains. As the rain soaks into the earth, he knows that the cakeman's spirit is still out there somewhere, perhaps in liquid form, inspecting the toilets of Anthos.

He stands in the rain alone, without a friend.

I really hope this goes through and that I can make it. I'm willing to help with the building and rebuilding of the mountain if needed.

[size="5"]Character Name[/size] Bango Blackfoot
Nicknames:
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Race: Halfling
Status: Alive

Description
Height: 3' 11"
Weight:
Body Type:
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Reddish Brown
Skin: Fair
Markings/Tattoos:
Health: Healthy
Personality:
Inventory:
Further Details:

[size="3"]Life Style[/size]
Alignment*: Chaotic Good
Deity*: His Benevolence, Lord of Pumpkins, Sunshine Golly Fellow.
Religion:
Alliance/Nation/Home: Lenfarthing
Job/Class:
Title(s):
Profession(s): Animal Husband, Farmer, Locksmith
Special Skill(s):
Flaw(s):

[size="3"]Magic*[/size]
Current Status: In-Progress
Arch-type: Special
Sub-Type: Domestic Magic
Rank: 0
Weakness(es): Tough Stains
Strength(s): Bane of Cobwebs
Current Spell(s): N/A


[size="3"]Weaponry[/size]
Fighting Style: Run, hide or curl into the fetal position.
Trained Weapon: Shovel, Hoe, Mattock Pick.
Favored Weapon: Shovel
Archery: N/A

Biography
Parents: Mongo Blackfoot, Father.
Siblings:
Children: N/A
Extended Family: N/A
Pet(s): Pickle the Pig.

History

Artwork

http://[/img][/spoiler]

(2 Wildpipe Way was a recent eviction or move and whoever did it converted it to dirt. I figured the address should stay until it can be restored. I can rebuild a simple burrow there sometime this week if needed.)

Bango Blackfoot jots down his information on the sheepskin.

Bango Blackfoot, One Wilderness Way.

(If I have the time in the near future, I might make a list of all of the burrow addresses so we can start keeping better track of who lives where and what burrows are available.)

For farming hops, I think there ought to be at least a small chance of getting an extra seed when harvesting fully-grown hops. This would allow brewers to have a small reserve of seeds, in case their field is griefed or the seeds are otherwise lost. This would also help them to slowly expand their production and/or encourage the trading of rare seed combinations among brewers. It should be a very small percent chance to drop, so as to allow regional brewers to continue to specialize in and trade in what they find most commonly in their regions, without every brewer becoming entirely self-sufficient and mass-producing every combination of seed within a week's time. I'm talking like even a 1/100 chance of a double seed drop.

Also, hops can currently be used as green dye. I think this may have been overlooked and should be changed to allow only cactus green to be used as green dye, to make it harder to obtain in bulk.

A note has been scrawled upon an old sheet of lambskin, written in a mixture of squid ink, egg yolk and rabbit's blood and nailed to the noticeboard in Lenfarthing.

"Nasty Beavers afoot in th' rivers. Nar sure wha' sorta buildin' materials they be workin' with, but it be somethin' a most foul. Nar like any felled tree I e'er seen afore with me own two eyes. Be watchful and a wary. Water been 'avin' a stink to 'er e'er since they showed up. Might want ter drink upriver if'n I was ye'. That is all."

- Bango Blackfoot *a crude drawing of a black pig accompanies the signature.*

Nailed beside the note is a doodle that looks as if it were drawn by a two-year-old:

The only real thing to absolutely sort out is the fact that mounts will be killed constantly for no reason and will be hard to replenish. Everything else we can sorta take it or leave it.

Peasants definitely had work horses and horses for riding, although warhorses are an entirely different thing altogether. Stronger breeds trained for strength, endurance and specialized towards combat roles are something that you'd primarily see among the wealthy. So horses should be widely available, its just that players will need to role-play them responsibly. A farmer riding his horse into battle would get destroyed. His horse would probably buck him off and haul ass.

I don't want anyone handing me their items, I want an item confetti explosion. Some villains hunt items. If you die and are unwilling to /damage 20 and give up everything you have on you to your killer, you are a non-villain hunting items, which is worse in my eyes.

I think DecoLamb's suggestion is something else to consider as well. If there is some sort of pedigree system, either supported by mechanics or simply player-driven, it would discourage rogue breeders. Now you know I'm all about, "Rip the System" when it comes to applications and paperwork, but for the sake of keeping horses fair and balanced, I would be on board with breeders and riders adhering to a pedigree system. Controlling the golden apples and golden carrots would also be a great way to manage horse flow and minimize rogue breeders. I just don't want to see anyone left waiting for a /modreq that never comes, there should be a more fluid way to breed without relying on GM involvement. Maybe make golden apples and golden carrots a craft restricted to the Animal Breeder profession.

There I go, supporting paperwork and plug-ins again. Damn it.

Also, any orc caught riding a horse ought to be punched off of it Mongo-style.

I can bluff it.

Halflings would be more into donkeys. They're smaller and easier for us to work with and if you put them in a pen with sheep or goats, they bond with them and will ward off and trample the hell out of predators. Horses and mules are just too big for us to care for and work with. If the Halflings breed any mounts, it ought to be donkeys, and even that would remain on a small-scale.

For handling the armor, when the mount was unsummoned, perhaps it could be coded to treat the unsummoning as a death, thus dropping the armor and saddle. When the horse was resummoned, it would be without armor or saddle and you would just re-equip it with the armor and saddle that was dropped. This could work the same for chests on donkeys and mules. This would also discourage players from abusively unsummoning their mounts to avoid losing them in battle or roadside encounters, as they'd still risk losing the armor and saddle and would now have to wait for a cool down before resummoning the horse.

If a mount was summoned without armor, saddle or chests, this would also make it pretty inexcusable for a player to just throw on a saddle and armor and ride off into the sunset. It would be very obvious that they just summoned the horse and pulled a stable out of their pocket and there would be plenty of time for witnesses and screenshots to support a strike or ban report, or to just call them out on it and make them come back and finish the role-play.

Summoning a mount using a deed would pretty much be role-played as if your mount is off grazing somewhere and you whistle for it to come over to you. Then you saddle it up, arm it for battle if necessary, strap up your goods and mount up. Some imagination is necessary, but it would cut down on a lot of problems caused by griefing or loss.

There's a lot to iron out and there would be instances of abuse or awkwardness, but I'm just trying to make suggestions that focus on making horses fun to use rather than an out-of-character hassle that no one really wants to deal with because they're so fragile and a high-value target for griefers that leave no fingerprint.

I'd like to suggest an Animal Breeder profession, unless this is something that would fall under Farming.

With the addition of horses and livestock being a useful commodity for leather, wool, eggs and meat, I think animal breeding should be restricted to a certain profession. Otherwise, we're losing a lot of business due to the fact that anyone can and will do it themselves. Horse breeders stand the most to lose, as anyone with two horses would be able to breed a full stock of horses, which isn't something the average person does as a hobby on the side.

Hopefully this would limit farms and ranches to players that actively farm and ranch on a daily basis.

- Allow a few pre-existing horse-breeding players a small stock of horses upon release.

- Make horses an otherwise rare spawn found throughout Anthos.

- Tweak the breeding time to fit the needs of our economy and playerbase.

- GMs should not be involved with breeding. If you want to breed in your spare time as a player, work your way up with the rest of the breeders. Don't just roll a breeder and spawn yourself horses on day one because you can. I'm tired of GMs always having an advantage when it comes to economic things, such as potion shops and shops that sell spawnable-only items. If you're going to take on a GM position, you forfeit certain short-cuts and you must earn these things just as the rest of us do. I know most of you mean well, but you're killing business for the average player and creating an unfair advantage when you do this.

- Mounts that are killed or lost by griefers, illegitimate kills, glitches or otherwise will need to be replaced in a timely manner.

- Saddles need to be craftable, if they aren't already.

- I would suggest considering an Animal Breeder profession for all breeders, to limit breeding to the professionals. If we are able to choose a couple professions, this shouldn't be a big humbug. I'm a pig-breeder and farmer and would gladly welcome this restriction. Otherwise, most people will buy two horses and begin immediately abusing the system.

I had a suggestion involving a deed system on another horse topic, but can't seem to find it now.