April 27, 2002 - Maggie,
I'm bored!!
Your site is like my favorite in the WHOLE world (for AC that is...heh).
But lately, I've been bored with it! I've seen everything, the Hobbies
section, the Pets page! Even the pharmacy! But nothing is making me as
hooked as I used to be! I think what you need to do is maybe make a "Where
are they now" of yourself!! On the Runway your're
a level 20 something
(cute) sword girl. Drooling over matty coats and motes! Who knows what you're
up to now!! I'd love to see some stuff like your stats, pics, armor, you
fighting on a normal day, all that stuff! *plead* I'm bored! :)
Kristopher of LC
Level 63 g00ber
Well Kristopher, are you ever in
luck! Look for exciting changes to Maggie the Jackcat's Kick-Ass Fabulous AC
Web Site soon! No, it's not going to be a Where Are They Now update for
Maggie, but I think everyone will agree it's even better! Thanks for
writing, and I'm glad you like the site! :)
- Maggie the Jackcat
April 19, 2002 - Changes
to Item Magic
Hi ho again. With the new update, Item Magic's transport functionality
has been completely changed. This article will detail what was changed, what
the new forms are, why the changes were made and needed, and will have some
speculation on what the future holds.
Item Magic used to be the only way to get to a lifestone or portal without
the obvious messiness of "/lifestone", which caused you to be killed and
appear at the lifestone normally. This patch has changed the /lifestone
command so that it no longer kills and lifestone tosses, it now simply
functions as the old lifestone recall used to, which is to say that it
tosses the character >alive< to his or her lifestone. This function is
available to ANY character, whether they have any magic or not. Thus basic
transportation is enhanced greatly for almost any character.
Item Magic was also used to do portal recalls, portal summonings, and to
generate hard portal ties. There was always a high level of confusion about
portal ties, and there was a lot of "cheese" associated with them as well.
Here is how it USED to work, and why it was used in that fashion.
There were <and still are, they're merely less important now> two kinds of
portal ties, which are usually simply called "hard ties" and "soft ties". A
Hard tie is a tie generated through the use of a portal tie spell. Once
established, a Hard Tie could only be overridden by another Hard Tie. As a
practical example, a person could Hard Tie to the top of Arwic Mines, run
though a portal at the bottom, and still be tied at the top. This is what
most people think of when they think of a "tie" in general.
Soft Ties merely refer to the tie which people who have NEVER learned portal
tie have. In the case of people who never learned tie, the last portal
traveled through counted as their tie. This had a great deal of
non-intuitive effects which were used and abused to lesser and greater
extents.
With a soft tie, it was possible to recall to "no tie" dungeons. As an
example, a character could "soft tie" to the Acid Vault, and successfully
use it to recall into the Acid Vault, provided he or she NEVER went through
another portal, with a very few exceptions. Most of the old "no tie"
dungeons were therefore better thought of as "no hard tie" dungeons. This
was a great boon to people who wished to level quickly, as they could soft
tie to a dungeon which others could not reach, and slay the monsters within
without having to share quite so much with other characters.
This aspect was well known to both the player community and to Turbine, and
neither seemed to have had much of a problem with it. What was less thought
about was the fact that someone could soft tie to more inaccessible areas,
say the lower part of the Chakron dungeon, and then recall in freely,
bypassing the dangerous upper part.
What was more of a problem, was that this same person could soft tie to the
lower Chakron dungeon, then recall to their lifestone, and level up via
passed up xp, or open adventuring to say level 60, then recall into lower
Chakron, bypassing the level restriction, and run the quest, all assuming of
course that they never went though another portal, which would have
transferred the soft tie to THAT portal. This was made possible because the
portal only checked for the proper levels when it was originally transited,
not when recalls took place.
This affair of placing higher leveled people into dungeons using soft ties,
dungeons where they could not ordinarily be in, and dungeons which were
designed for others presented quite a problem to Turbine, and was one of the
reasons for this major functionality change.
What was done.
The new Item Functionality has several parts. The first part is the fairly
simple expansion in the number of places to which a character might recall.
A character may now attune to a lifestone, where they will appear after
death, and to which they may recall using /lifestone, AND the same character
may hard tie to a lifestone for purposes of recall only. Thus the spells "Lifestone
Tie", and "Lifestone Recall" come into play. Note that this means the old
spell of Lifestone Recall has been changed in function;
it no longer takes a character to their attuned or death lifestone, but to
their tied lifestone.
As part of this expansion, there is now a complete second set of portal
affecting spells. Secondary Portal Tie, Secondary Portal Recall, Summon
Secondary Portal, Summon Secondary Portal II, and Summon Secondary Portal
III. These provide for characters to have two portal ties, for them to
summon to two different places, etc., and are really quite straightforward
in concept and operation. The key is that the Primary stuff all affects one
portal, say Arwic Mines, and the Secondary stuff all affects another portal,
which for this example will be the Obsidian Plains BSD. It would be possible
for a character to change this around so that the Secondary Tie was to Arwic,
and Primary to OPBSD, and so on, the names are really not important.
It is now possible to establish hard ties to portals which previously could
only be reached through soft ties. As an example, characters may now TIE to
the Major Stone Vaults. They may not summon portals to there, but they would
be allowed to recall to them should they wish. This is done normally, by
selecting the portal in question, and tying to it.
A character could, should they wish, continue to use their ability to soft
tie to a dungeon. It is possible that in some rare cases, this will continue
to provide a comparative advantage to learning portal tie. However, in most
cases this advantage has been erased, and in the opinion of this author,
while there may continue to be grand-fathered
characters whose old ties exist, Turbine is making an effort to eliminate
this advantage, and will likely continue to do so.
Note that the ability to hard tie to a number of dungeons which previously
only accepted soft ties is very handy, and means that for MOST characters,
tying to their hunting dungeon is now possible.
Portal Restrictions
Portals used to be thought of as being one of the following:
Open - Portals like Arwic Mines counted as open, they could accept any form
of tie, and could be summoned and recalled.
No Tie - Actually a misnomer, these portals would accept soft ties only, and
could be recalled to, but could not be summoned. The Acid Vault is an
example.
No Tie, No Soft Tie, No Summon, No Recall - An example of these are the town
and special archmage portal gems. These did not blur a soft tie, and could
not be recalled through, summoned, etc. Note that there are still grand-fathered
characters who can recall to the Mayoi mage shoppe.
No Tie, No Soft Tie, No Summon, No Recall, Must have DM - These are portals
which a character could go through, but not affect, soft tie, hard tie,
recall, or summon. Virtually all ML portals were
and are of this type.
These portal descriptions have changed a great deal.
What we have now is:
Open - unchanged
No Summon - Many of the old "no tie" dungeons are now of this type. These
dungeons may be tied to for purposes of recall only, they may not be
summoned. They are still a great deal more accessible to most characters due
to the tie ability though. The Acid Vault is now No Summon, not No Tie.
No Tie - These are now truly no tie, no soft tie, etc. In other words, if
the character doesn't go through the swirly purple thing, they're not
getting to the other side.
No Summon, Must have DM - Mansion portals and Villa portals are of this
type. These may be tied to and recalled assuming the account so doing has
DM, but they may not be summoned.
Note that the changes mean a character may recall to almost any hunting
portal EXCEPT for those on ML.
Overall these changes close a large number of loopholes, and improve the
speed with which characters can hunt, by greatly hastening transits to and
from the various dungeons. Which the changeover will be a bit confusing and
messy, the changes look quite solid.
Have fun guys, hope this helps explain somewhat.
Danier,
Thistledown
Hi Danier -
Thanks for letting me post your article. I know it's a bit long for the
Letters section, but I thought it was good. Very helpful. And yes, I know I
told your allegiance members I'd update
your page when you
got to be 100. I am, er, a little behind. More coming soon?? ;-)
- Maggie
April 19, 2002 - Mage
Gems
Hi Maggie,
Have enjoyed your site since the beginning. I have not seen this mentioned
anywhere, but the April patch nerfed the mage portal gems. Mage gems no
longer summon to the mage shops, but now, will only summon to the last
summonable portal.
Nhi Vanye
Thistledown
Hi Nhi Vanye -
I can only assume this was an effect of the changes to the Item Magic and
Portal spells where the spells no longer do what they used to. I would guess
they're on the list to be updated by Turbine as well.
- Maggie the Jackcat
April 19, 2002 - Northern
Black Claw Raiders
Quiddity Orb Update:
I have been searching for weeks for the Northern Black claw to complete the
quest for the orb. I decided to give up for a bit and go on the Gelidite
Library quest instead and to my surprise...on the way to the library I ran
into no less than 7 Northern Black Claws. If anyone needs help finding them,
try this simple route to the library:
Start in Holtberg and travel NW tagging each lifestone as you go....when you
reach the life stone at 65.9N 2.6W (It's in the castle located there...the
one with the portal to Hilltop. Head North West
again towards the life stone at 70.4N 17.3W (near the Gelidite Library).
Along that route I spotted 7 different occurrances.
The first was less than 1 click north from the castle. Good luck to all who
search for the orb! and I hope this helps.
Finan der SeeleHeilen
Leafcul
Level 31 Life Adept.
Hi Finana der SeeleHeilen -
Thanks for the tip! I've heard that many people have had difficulty finding
the Northern ones. I've never had any trouble finding the Southern ones:
they spawn in my back yard!
- Maggie the Jackcat
April 19, 2002 - Medium
Ore
I'm not sure if this is new except I went to get some ore refined today and
was told:
Feruza ibn Salaq tells you, "I'm sorry, I really don't
have the supplies to purify metals for you right now. Please come back
later, as I hope to be getting more in soon."
The Ice Mage
Darktide
Level 58 Mage
Hi The Ice Mage -
I haven't heard anything about this. Maybe there's a timer? I'll publish
your letter and if anyone has any more info, I'm sure they'll drop me an
email. Thanks for the head's up!
- Maggie the Jackcat
Edit: My vassal, Ned Cleversun,
reminded me about the 16 hour timer on refining ore. I'm sure you just went
back too soon.
April 19, 2002 - Hey
Maggie!
Hello maggie!
First of all, I would
like to say that I completely LOVE your site! When
I'm not on Asheron's
Sall, this is were I am!
It's so much fun, just
reading the stuff on our page. It's
me, Janik Ironlord.
I'm the one with the zombie mask on the mask
section =) Also, I found
your cottage today while running around my allegiance mansion.
I must say I like your
choice of furniture... wait, nevermind that. I
didn't sit there looking into your window,
I swear! *giggles* Anyway, just wanted to
say how much I love your
site, and love your house, even though I didn't
look in it!
Stark the Quick
Thistledown
Dagger
Hi Stark the Quick (and Jakik
Ironlord) -
Thank you for the compliments on the site. I'm glad you like it! And I was
really glad to read your letter. I was sitting on my couch relaxing in my
bunny slipper in front the fire, admiring the new suit of
Thorsten
Cragstone's armor I placed in the far corner of the room (it's actually
a reproduction of the original) when I saw a shadow run past my window. I
totally freaked out and thought it was a Zefir or something!! (I hate
Zefirs!) I was surprised, because I had never seen any creatures that close
to the house. But I think it must have been you! What a relief. Although you
didn't have to resort to peeking in the windows! Goodness gracious, that can
get you arrested. If you had knocked, I certainly would have invited you in!
- Maggie the Jackcat
April 19, 2002 - Does
Maggie Play AC?
Hello, Maggie --
I'd like to publicly address a question I am asked in-game over and over and
over and over and over again: "Does Maggie play
anymore?"
The answer is, YES. She does play. Not as much as she'd like, or, perhaps,
as much as she once did, but she plays regularly.
Thanks!
Ned Cleversun
Thistledown
Level 79 archer/mage
Hello, my wonderful vassal -
Thank you for your letter. I actually get asked that question myself
in-game! Over and over, I'll get these tells from people I've never met,
"So-and-so tells you, 'Do you still play?' " Cracks me up. Of course this
next letter may explain why I may have been seen a little less frequently on
Thistledown lately. I am busy being a bad-ass Playah Killah!!
- Maggie the Jackcat
April 19, 2002 - What
Server Are You On?
I would like to know which sever you are on. If
you aren't on Darktide,
do you have a character
there? My main is there so I
hope you have a char there. Then I have this char
in Wintersbb. I would really like
to talk to you.
Ranguvar Foeseeker
Wintersebb
Level 26 Sword
Hi Ranquvar Foeseeker -
Maggie the Jackcat plays on Thistledown. I have another character on
Harvestgain I play occasionally. And yes, I have a character I play on
Darktide.
No, I will NEVER reveal its
name! ;-)
I appreciate all the letters I
get from people wanting to hunt with me or go on quests together. I really
enjoy meeting other people in-game. But I only have a limited time to play
when I get the chance, so it's just not possible for me to do that. It's the
same with all the mail I receive. I know I've mentioned this before, but it
never hurts to mention it again. I just can't answer all the mail I get. I
*love* the letters and the information for the site, and I read them all,
but if I responded to them personally, not only would I never have to time
to update the site, or to play AC, but I might have to quit my job as well!
;-) Instead, I use the Letters section to answer a sampling of the letters I
receive and to convey my appreciation to all of you. Remember, if you don't
get on the Runway, if I never answer your letters, if I can't come meet you
in-game, it doesn't mean that I don't love you! :)
- Maggie the Jackcat
April 19, 2002 - Salutations
and Gratitudes
Dear Ms. The Jackcat,
Thank you for your wonderful site. Your quest section has enabled me to
acquire such nifty things like a ravenous sword, Elysa's ring, and snowmen.
Your shopping guide has helped me craft goodies for the hard-working
summoners of the Most Holy Hub. In short your site is swell, swell as in
great and wide of scope as opposed to swollen and wide of berth. I hope one
day I will find something neat that I can e-mail to you in order to help
others in their journeys on Dereth.
Gratefully yours,
Li Kwan Sho of Thisledown
Vassal of Mira Bella the Red
Swordsman in exile of the Obsidian Knights
May They bring Honor to Us All!
Hi Li Kwan Sho -
Thank *you* for your wonderful letter! I've always liked the word swell. I
think it's, well, swell! :-)
- Maggie the Jackcat
April 19, 2002 - Bronze
Statue Attacks
Maggie
Tonight Zircona level 41,
my mule level 15,
and another char level 6
were inside the armor shop in Lylethorpe when the
statues spawned. They are level
12 when not active, but not sure when active. They did attack inside the
building and killed the level
41 and 6 in front of my eyes! I saw the sword come through the wall! No
where is safe inside any town. Please warn the others!
shila
Wintersebb
Level 45
Hi shila -
I updated the
Bronze Weapons quest
page to correct the tip I was given that people would be safe inside a
building during the attack. I found out the hard way as well that this was
not correct! Ouch!
- Maggie the Jackcat
April 19, 2002 - Updates
to the Newbie Quests
From this month's patch note:
The Society Explorer quests have undergone a minor face lift: The agents
give you more information about the quests in the outpost towns, all
dungeons associated with quests are now restricted up to level 20 (in some
cases they had been restricted to level 6), some of the spawn timers on the
quest items have been reduced to the proper level (roughly 30 seconds), and
the rewards are overall greater for the quests.
I've not seen much information about this, so I
went looking myself:
All town now give 5k exp for doing all their quests. The material rewards
are all the same (the 2 healing potions, and ~200p
cash they give. But the Experience has been raised
in many spots.
You might also want to mention these are good quests for gimp trade mules,
because nearly all the monsters don't react until attacked. Except for some
L4 drudges. A lot easier than when my extreme axer
had to be seriously afraid of getting stamina drained and killed cause he no
longer could evade.
Update to Questing:
Holtburg: 1500 exp for each outpost, and 2000exp
+200p+2healing for turning brogard axe. Note: Axe's value is now 0.
Rithwic: Giving ring of Mindorla nets you 2500 exp, and giving her letter
gives you 2500 exp again.
Lytlethorpe: East: 1000 exp for book. West: Didn't
do yet. Distillery: Didn't do yet Skipped.
I noticed Al-Aquas quest drink was labebeled
lost distillery. So I don't think you can finish both quests in one day. Not
tested.
Shoushi: West Shoushi: 1000 exp for returning Lou-Ka's
sword. 1500+2 heal +200 p for Shreth
Hive. Shoushi East:
For Bai Den's gem, 1000exp. Did Stone
cathedral:1500 exp. Note: This is the same cider
as the one at end of the Yaraq Quest. if you do
this, you can't do the last part of Yaraq's quest until
tomorrow.
Nanto: Poet in town -
Mysterious tunnels Portal (L1-5) Now L1..20,
reward: 1000 exp, armour 4 gem. North: Water
Temple is L1..20, rewards raised to 2000exp 100p 2
healing. East: Lytaway dungeon now L1..20, reward
is 2000exp, 200p, 2 healing. Broken tapers are
still 45p
Samsur: NW: reward
raised to 2500 exp. E: Dry well Level Limit raised
to L1..20, reward raised to 2500 exp.
Yanshi: Turning in the writing from each outpost
to Dai Ya gives 1250 exp,
200p, and 2 healing potions. I think the quest write-up
is incomplete. According to AC Explorer,
there is another letter in Yanshi Tunnels. I don't know about A Ruin
(Searched, but didn't find), nor the Reedshark lair. (didn't look).
Yaraq: Letter quests:
N->E->town->N Reward: 1000 exp 200p 2 heal.
E->N->Town->E Reward: 1000 exp 200p 2 heal.
Farmer: L20 cove apple -> 1000 exp and encrusted key.
1000 exp for returning apple pie.+ strongbox key.
1000 exp for cider? Didn't finish because
conflicts with Shoushi cider quest.
Abmim's Jambiya , and Drudge Translation are both unchanged.
Al-Arqas: West: L6
unfinished temple Changed to L20, reward now. 1500 exp.
North: drudge charm reward 1500 exp. Abandoned
Shops : 2000exp + 2 heal, 250p.
Note, the Distillery Ambrosia says Lost Distillery,
so I think this quest conflicts
with Lythethorpe's quest.
Steven W.
Hi Steven -
Thanks for the updates! I've been running through the newbie quest myself
and have updated a few. I've also been working with Greeneyes of
AC Maps to make sure
we have all the updates to the dungeon levels. This will certainly cut down
on some work for us! Thanks very much.
I was interested to hear that
you seemed to approve of the non-attacking monsters. I was kind of
disappointed when I realized they would not attack any more. I remember the
very first time I did all these quests, when I was figuring them out from
scratch. It was terribly exciting and great fun, and I felt such a sense of
accomplishment when I was successful. I was extremely proud when I got my
little char through the Shreth Hive, learning to dodge the falling drudges
at the beginning and making it to the end. Ah well, I can understand the
change even if I didn't personally like it. At least those pesky Shallow
Sharks guarding Abmim's Corpse are as nasty as ever. Even using my newly
upgraded Miyako's Moonstone didn't stop me from getting killed 2x! Can you
believe returning that dagger, probably the hardest task of the bunch, is
only a measly 300py? ;-)
- Maggie the Jackcat
P.S. Thanks to the many others
who sent in updated information on the newbie quests!
April 19, 2002 - Wedding
Story
Maggie,
My wife and I did the Wedding Bells Quest and decided to really have some
fun with it. We did screen shots of the whole process (after the Wedding
Trials Dungeon which you already have on your site). We decided to ham it up
a bit after the wedding too. The honeymoon was short-lived (see the shots).
You can post this link on your site or just have a good laugh.
http://home.attbi.com/~shurtse/
Mfalcon & Megghan of Solclaim
Hi Mfalcon & Megghan -
Congratulations on your marriage! I loved your story! Thanks for passing it
along.
- Maggie the Jackcat
April 19, 2002 - Bagged
Kithless Feathers
I Just looked at the info on the
Siraluun
Dress and Headdress quest and, if you don't mind,
I would like to add something. This happened to me
and it upset me a little heh. If you want the hat, don't put it in the bag
then give it to the collector.
He won't accept it when it's in the bag, and you'll have to get 4
other feathers to make the dress if you even want to make use of the first
one. So if you want the hat, just give him the feather.
Don't put it in the bag...
Great site btw, thank you very much :)
C.S.
Hi C.S. -
I read a response on the boards that the Devs are planning to fix this in
May (?) so that you may still get a hat even if the feather is in the bag.
Yay!
- Maggie the Jackcat
P.S. Glad you like the site! :)
April 19, 2002 - Wedding
Trials Can Be Done Solo
Hi Maggie! I really enjoy your site, it's my foremost
information tool.
I just read the updated
Wedding
Trials and I would like to add something. I went through with my archer
(just to check it out) and it is possible complete alone. You just have to
be really fast. I had to buff my Quickness around 200 to do it by myself.
Arthur the Archer
Morningthaw
Level 28 Archer, 3 School Mage
Hi Arthur the Archer -
Hmmm. They should have another knath at the end for folks like you: They can
name it "fear of commitment" ;-)
- Maggie the Jackcat
April 5, 2002 - Buff
Statues
I'm sure you've already heard, but the buff statues seem to have been replaced shortly before April Fools began and are now casting debuffs. Some servers are reporting certain statues missing, and a couple have TWO statues!
There's a lot of speculation that Candeth Martine is behind all of this, and that through the Zharalim, he may have manipulated and ultimately corrupted Nuhmirdra. This may be the next step in Martine's plans to destroy the Isparians and lash out against Asheron.
Some people also believe that open war between the Isparians and Martine may come soon... very soon.
Blood Harrower of MT
Level 50 Og
Hi Blood Harrower -
I thought the debuffing
statues were just a simple April Fool's Joke. But now... I am planning to
keep my eyes peeled for more of that Martine's shenanigans. He can't be
trusted, IMO. ;-) I did read somewhere (on the boards or dev chat or
somewhere) that a Dev stated the missing and double statues were just a bug.
- Maggie the Jackcat
April 5, 2002 -
Important Quest Turn-In Warning
Maggie,
I'm sure you've got this a zillion times, but I thought it important enough to be worth sharing. People have been bitching and moaning about not receiving their skill point credit from handing in the clay figurine. It turns out that the problem is most likely that they moved after handing it in, before receiving the reward.
The recommendation from the developers is that on all quests when you hand something over, you should remain inactive, idle, motionless, static, immobile, inert and basically not touch keyboard and mouse until you receive the reward. Particularly for once-in-a-character's-lifetime quests like the Skill Credit Quest.
Incidentally, I really enjoyed reading your posts on the VNBoards on the topic of 'world vs. game' and the effect your site has had. I'm a regular user of your site, so that I can plan and lead quests. When I do, I also like to go and actually get the relevant lore, and lead my group through the appropriate discoveries. For me, and most of the people I play with, it's only partly about getting the Big Dungeon Treasure (or Worthless Quest Trinket), and more about having fun with a group of friends, and your site is indispensable for selecting the right quest for our levels, and finding stuff to do that's appropriate for our group. You're not the only site I use, I use other quest-throughs and map sites, but your info is the best!
Thank you.
Cheers,
Merriman of Wintersebb
Hi Merriman -
I see you caught me star-farming on the Vault! ;-) Thanks
very much for sending the warning in. I know I've read it several places by
now, but it bears repeating. I got another letter just this evening from a
player whose friend had the misfortune to miss out on the skill point. They
had to learn from an +Admin that he was out of luck. I'm very glad my own
quest was a success (thanks again to Julian's Touch and his brother!). Along
with the skill refund from last month's event, I can now get Life Magic at
55! (I'm level 53 now.) With the way my vassal has been tearing up BSD, and
with his newly learned spell Olif's Blessing (Loyalty VII -- which he got
just for me. Best vassal ever!!!), it may happen any day now!
- Maggie the Jackcat
April 5, 2002 - In
Case You Were Serious About Visiting Norrath...
I was just looking through the archived stuff on your site Maggie, and am just amazed at how far back it goes. It was waves and waves of nostalgia as I read from the first months of the great start to this game. I read that you played in AC beta. Did you start in the early beta or the public beta? So while I was reading about the first months of AC, I thought about how nice it'd be if you'd happen to have some archived stuff as early back as beta >_<
The lag was absolutely horrible back then, but at least it seemed the average player age was over 20 :p *goes to reverie about more civil times*
