July 31, 2001 - Explorer Quest Unfair To Xbow

Thanks, Maggie. Love the site!! 

Katharina 
Thistledown

Hi Katharina -
Glad you like the site. I see your point about the short shrift Xbow has gotten from the Exploration Society. I believe I have an explanation! While at the Asheron's Call Player Luncheon (ACPL) in Boston, we heard a talk by Ken Troop titled "Designing Asheron's Call." He gave a great explanation about why there were no Exploration Society Gauntlets: he had, um, forgotten them!! Ta da! I have a feeling the story for the Xbow ammunition is the same. Ah well. Crossbow got some nice Quiddity love this month, so all is not lost. :)

- Maggie the Jackcat

July 31, 2001 - Singularity Weapon Quest Correction

Hiya Maggie! 

Love your site - use it frequently and have said "hi" to you a couple of times in-game on TD. Just wanted to let you know of a minor correction in your Singularity Quest description. 

You list that the Tattered Virindi Coat is collected from Mosswart Mire-Witches - true. 

You also list that Mire-Witches can be found at the Versayen Islands - also true. 

However, the Jungle Island variety of Mire-Witches do NOT drop the Cloak. Only the South Dires (mainly at Ayan and Weijhou) do. More specifically, there are two types of Mire-Witches - a Level 60 and a Level 68 version (the only critter I've seen that has the same name yet two different levels). And it's the Level 68 version in the South Dires that actually drops the cloak.

Thnx again for the BEST AC web-site and safe travels! 

WATASHI
Retired to a leisurely life of key carving

AGUSTUS
Thistledown
Axe Dude, Level 42

Hi Agustus -
Nice to hear from you. :) Thanks very much for the detailed clarification on the quest. I appreciate it. And thanks, also, for the compliments on the site! See you on TD!

- Maggie the Jackcat 

July 31, 2001 - A Note About Tibri

One additional note on Tibri’s Fire Spear: Returning Tibri’s Fire Spear to Tibri gains you… nothing. I had done the quest well over a year ago, and I always wondered if Tibri gave you a reward for returning her prized fire spear. I finally got a chance to try it a month or two ago. She took the spear and didn’t even say “thank you.” Oh well, it was cool to try.   

I tried another non-quest maneuver. The mnemosyne lore talks about Hamud the assassin: 

“And should I be wrong, should all my hedges and guesses and instincts come to naught, as one day they must, then will my letter go out. It goes to a man who is not quite a man anymore.

Hamud is not the only Isparian who has given over to the Shadows, he is merely the most famous.

And I am sure that this contact of mine will be quite happy to pass along to the Shadows the news that I have to give. The Horror and his assistants have talked much of what their battle plans will be during this upcoming war over the Shadow Lord. They have talked much and in detail. Details which I am sure will be interesting to the Shadow leaders.”   

Based on this lore, I took an unlocked small mnemosyne to Hamud in the Mountain Fortress near Qalabar. He accepted it and didn’t blink, either. Oh well, I’ve got to keep trying different things. It keeps the game interesting.   

Ben-Li Sung
Blade Master Xero Prime Monarchy 
Morningthaw 
Providing the creatures of Dereth With nutrients since 12/16/99 

Hi Ben-Li Sung -
Interesting ideas and I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. I had a similar experience recently when I gave an Obsidian Golem Heart to a Stone Collector. Greedy fellow just kept it. Ah well. That's how we grow in wisdom, I suppose -- one painful misstep at a time. ;-)

- Maggie the Jackcat

July 31, 2001 - AC Heaven's Town Maps

I absolutely LOVED AC Heaven's town maps. I notice they are gone, as are other links on your map site. Do you know what happened to their content? Did someone else get the maps for their site? I am kicking myself for not printing all they had! I have taken to trying to make my own of the places I did not get, but so far it is slow going. Please let me know what happened to AC Heaven, and if they can be reached by e-mail or anything. :)

Thanks,

Takeda Kira
Solclaim
4 class mage - 18th level

Hi Takeda Kira -
Sadly, I have no idea how to get the maps. AC Heaven went away some time ago. I really liked them also, and wish I had saved copies to my hard drive. :( 

My maps page is in desperate need of updating, I know. Lots of broken links. It's (surprise, surprise) "on the list." If you're looking for a good map, the best map of Dereth, in my opinion, is Soulitaire's survey map of Dereth. It's a beauty. You can also find it available for download from CoD.

- Maggie the Jackcat

July 31, 2001 - Summon Portal Spells

First things first. Your site is absolutely wonderful! I go here for ALL the latest news and tips that I need. Thanks a lot for your time and effort in maintaining this site.

My question is about the Summon portal spells. What is the advantage of a level 3 Summon Portal over a level 1? The description indicates that they do the same thing & I was just wondering if I should even try to learn more than the level 1.

Thanks for your time

Karoline of Frostfell
Level 26 Sword / Melee D.

Hi Karoline -
First of all, thank you for the generous comments about the site. To answer your question, the higher level Summon Portal spells will keep the portal open longer than a Summon Portal I spell. This can be important if you're opening a portal for a large group to go questing; it takes them a little more time for everyone to scoot on through. The description isn't complete on my Item Magic page because I couldn't remember the duration for the different levels of the spell. And I've actually never bothered to learn Summon Portal II or III myself! ;-)

- Maggie the Jackcat

July 31, 2001 - Quality site=More Fans

Maggie,

Much Love to the Jackcat. Your portal data and accuracy are what I rely on to know what to expect in this dark dark server. I have reeled in some friends of mine who now turn first to you for info on quests and when planning road trips for lines of attack. I have always liked the trade skills and quite simply love the vast data you have on it all. I know you're on Xroads too, but I like your personal flair. That's why your site is at the top of my go-to list for info.

Pagan Dan
Darktide

Hi Pagan Dan -
What a super-nice letter! Thank you very much. Next time I hear *anyone* bad-mouthing Darktide as a land of d00Dz with 'tudes, I am going to tell them about Pagan Dan and what a sweet fellow he is. In that mean, tough, hardened-killer Darktide way, of course. ;-)

- Maggie the Jackcat

July 31, 2001 - Thanks!

Just wanted to let you know that I love your site.  Thank you for all of
your hard work and attention to detail.  Your site makes the game fun.

Thanks!

Guin Ji
Thistledown
Level 42 Warrior

Hi Guin Ji -
Thank you for your letter and for taking the time to write. I think it's actually the other way around: a fun game makes for a good site! :-)

- Maggie the Jackcat

July 31, 2001 - Breaking Loose From The Shackles of Obedience

Love your page Maggie.  Learned something interesting from a friend the other day. I'm not sure how many people have figured this out yet, but there is a way to get rid of these things.

I'll give you a hint; the Shackles are magical =).  That's right, you can use a mana stone on them to destroy them.  

Just thought everybody would like to know.

Bronzerider
Harvestgain
Level 40 Duelist

Hi Bronzerider -
Thanks for the tip! I received quite a few letters about this, including letters from aaragorn of Morningthaw and Preston T. who confirmed the data by making the sacrifice. I picked yours to publish, though, because it was so fun seeing "Duelist" after your name! :)

- Maggie the Jackcat

 July 31, 2001 - Little Green Seeds

Hi Maggie!
I can verify that you don't always get plants for your seeds. I was just there and turned in my first and only collected seed and I got a message: "These are not seeds, but pebbles! You wouldn't know what a seed is if it were growing out of your ear!"

I was kind of hurt by his/her (had a woman's face & hair, but a man's body) harsh words. Anyway, a player that was there told me that you don't always get plants...sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't, and sometimes she tries to kill you!!! I'll let ya know if that turns out to be true.

Heh, that's all I've gotten out of this patch 8^( Keep up the good work! Love the site as always!

Rhydel
Thistledown
Level 44

Hi Rhydel -
I know this is a little dated, but, well, I liked your letter so I wanted to publish it! Thanks for sending in patch info. It was a big help!

- Maggie the Jackcat

 July 31, 2001 - Green Seeds

When I read the screenshot posted on the greens seeds, Terese said that she could feel the power in them and then 6 plants sprang up. Is there a way to enchant the seeds I get from Shreths? I have given over seeds singly and received single plants back, when she was in the mood to give them, that is. So far she has complained to me that I was interrupting her lunch that was free of meats, diary ,eggs and cheese and any product from a animal or something like that, and she also said I didn't know the difference between seeds ands pebbles. If anyone has a clue about seeds with power in them, please let me know. And once again Thank You for all the information, and help, and laughs I have gotten from your web page.

Shadowdancer
Leafcull
Level 51 Warrior

Hi Shadowdancer -
You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoy the site! As far as I know, Terese's rewards are somewhat random. I don't believe there's any way to enchant the seeds so that you get a better return; it's a matter of luck.

It does appear, however, that seeds from the different level Shreths will give you different colors of plants. There's a great post by Eyli over on CoD's Artificer's Shop (trade skills board) with detailed information. Hope that helps!

- Maggie the Jackcat

July 31, 2001 - Uh oh, Male Tusker!

You've got a great page here. I've consulted it I don't know how many times. I was just reading the SoCS quest page to find out about Sylsfear Dungeon and got a kick out of one sentence: "Sylsfear has all kinds of baddies, including Granite Golems, Lich Lords, Panubris Shadows, Revenants, Astyrrians, Infernos, and a Male Tusker." 

Uh oh, Male Tusker! Must be the funky mood I'm in right now. hehe Anyway, keep up the good work. 

Robert Bruce, 
Level 39 Swordsman
Thistledown

Hi Robert Bruce -
Your letter made me laugh. As a very buff and strong Level 46 sword fighter, a Male Tusker is about as much of a threat as a Drudge Slinker. But at the time I wrote the quest, I assure you, it was probably as formidable as an Inferno to me. :)

- Maggie the Jackcat 

July 31, 2001 - Mad Props to Ned Cleversun's Hunting Etiquette Article

Hi Mags,

I would like to extend some "mad props" to Ned Cleversun for his last posting about "Hunting Etiquette". Right on the mark, Ned! Attaboy! Folks, when you play, play hard. But don't whine about who's not getting what, and how often. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and we're all wearing Milk-Bone underwear.

Thanks Maggie,

Love the site!

Gaelen of Solclaim
Level 24 Swordfighter


Hi Gaelen -
I have passed on your enthusiastic approval to my vassal, Ned Cleversun. He loves fan mail too! As with any controversial opinion, some loved it, some hated it. 

- Maggie the Jackcat

P.S. Glad you like the site. :)

July 31, 2001 - Ned's Controversial View On Hunting Etiquette

Hiya Maggie:

Read your vassal Ned's recent essay, I take issue with several things that he had to say about hunting etiquette (we we warned that they were controversial), but the one that really poked me in the side was his thoughts about the loot timer on a kill.

According to Ned, when we get the kill, we have two choices: loot the kill or keep fighting. If we choose to keep fighting and someone else loots the kills, that is the way the cookie crumbles. I don't agree with this.

I've got a mid-level sword fighter and had her at the Cit slashing away at lugians. Recently I had 4 gigas on me. Now if I play it smart, heal as needed, and suck down the stamina potions, I can survive such a situation. If the gigas get behind me, or I drop my shield, there is going to be one flat Anataki (my sword fighter). I managed to kill of the gigas and was working on the other two. Someone else comes up and stands next to me. At first I thought he was going to be one of the gentlemen that slaps a couple of heals on me. But nope, he starts looting the gigas and then runs off. In this situation, I don't think looting was even an option for me if I wanted to live.

I will say that once the monster corpses dissolves, it is fair game on the loot.

Take care and cya next week.

Maddy

Hi Maddy -
It was great to see you in Boston again! I hope you had as much fun as I did. Ned Hunting Sermon generated quite a bit of mail, with all sorts of views -- disagreeing, agreeing, partially agreeing, emphatically agreeing, decidedly disagreeing, and so on and so forth. This next writer, I think, disagrees with your take. She says: you snooze, you lose.

Hey, she said it. Not me!! ;-)

Thanks for another great letter.

- Maggie

July 31, 2001 - A Place For Politeness

Hi Maggie....

Let me start off by saying I love your page :)

I just wanted to mention that I just read Ned's last tip, and I don't necessarily agree. When I first went to BSD (level 35 or so), I couldn't hit a darn thing. Quite depressing (and pretty scary). Finally I had a Tusker slave cornered, and slapped away at it for about 5 real time minutes, and it had about 10 hps left. I was at full health, and was obviously going to be able to finish the mob off in short order. Then a mage wandered by (albeit safely behind a wall), and drained it for the last few hp. 

Yes, I got just about all of the xp. Yes, I did get looting rights. But I also think it was very rude. I got my xp, but was my sense of satisfaction of a job well done was lessened. I obviously didn't need any help: the other char might have gotten at most about 1k xp from his joining the fight at the very last second. Yup, this is only a game. But I still think being polite should still hold true in the make believe world of AC. 

I mudd'd for many years, and we never seemed to have this kind of problem. Probably because instead of thousands of players on at once, you'd only have 100. It was a closer knit community, and there were more serious social consequences for similar behavior. This behavior is rampant in BSD, and I've grown to accept it. Mages, melee, archers, it's a killing frenzy on the poor gorillas. Heck, I've pretty much given up and joined in. But I am glad, though, that this behavior is mostly absent in Linvak Tukal, another high spawn, high xp area (though less than BSD). 90% of the people will run by the monster I'm fighting to find one of their very own. 

I agree with Ned in terms of looting kills and such: you snooze, you lose. But I think there's still a place for politeness in AC :) 

Lyra the Fair :)

Hi Lyra the Fair -
Your letter highlighted one of my very favorite aspects of Dereth: there's lots of places to hunt, and lots of different types of dungeons and hunting areas. A little something for everyone. One thing I've always found to be true is that when people are bugging me in-game and acting in ways I don't like, I've always been able to find a new location to hunt undisturbed.

I don't want to speak for Ned Cleversun, but I don't think he'd disagree with you about the value of politeness. He's actually a very well-mannered chap. You'll often see him curtseying hello to strangers he meets.

Thanks for your letter. Ned likes the attention. ;-)

- Maggie the Jackcat

July 31, 2001 - Ned's Hunting Etiquitte

First thing - once again great site!! :)

I would like to say that Ned is the first I have seen that agrees with what I have been saying all along. Way to go Ned. I wish I had the access of the greatest AC site to print my views. I'm just glad ours coincide!!

Thanks to you Maggie for the great site and go Ned go! My deaths are up to 490 :)   goooo vitae :)

Menthol III
Frostfell
Level 36 / 4 School Mage


Hi Menthol III -
Thanks for the lavish praise. It's a sure-fire way to get your views, also, published on my site! ;-)

- Maggie the Jackcat 

July 10, 2001 - Sleeves of Inexhaustibility

Maggie, just a note...
The Sleeves require an Axe skill of 250 to use... you don't have that on your page, so when Doogens Mage helped me get them, imagine my surprise when I couldn't use them!  Luckily, the good man buffed me so I could use them, and now I never plan on taking them off!

Henry Kissinger
Thistledown
Level 30/Axe Warrior

Hi Henry Kissinger -
Thanks for pointing out the omission! While I was tweaking the Arm, Mind, Heart page, I updated the stats for the Spear of Purity (7-14 now instead of 6-14, plus with Attack and Melee Defense bonuses) and added the missing Spear of the Heart, courtesy of Korgan al-Penju of Darktide. Congrats on your new sleeves!

July 10, 2001 - Change in Ivory Crafter?

Xcellent site, need to update... Wanted to warn all. Don't give Niffis Shell  (I gave the helm shell) to ivory crafter in Cragstone. He likes it so much... he just keeps it.  Would you please list where you can turn that in?

Fon Win
Solclaim
Level 41/UA


Hi Fon Win -
The Niffis Shells, like the Ursuin Fang, must be given to a Leather Crafter. Weird, but true. It actually was listed correctly on the Crafters & Collectors page, but it was confusing. Since certain items can be given to more than one type of Crafter/Collector, I used the left most column to list which types take which items. Unfortunately, people weren't noticing that there could be more than one. 

I posted a warning at the top of the page, after receiving a letter or two like yours, asking people to please note which type Crafter the item should go to. But since I'm receiving your letter after the posting of the warning, I was forced to conclude that it was still confusing. Therefore, I have revamped the page and moved the shells and fang up into the Hides section, where the rest of the leather crafted items are. I'm sorry you lost your shell because of my poor design decision! I hope you can forgive me. :)

- Maggie the Jackcat

July 10, 2001 - Something that Scared Me

Well I was in AB tanking some drudge ravs... Well, I was hittin em' pretty good and workin on the second one. Then I lagged out fighting them... I relogged and found myself at the LS. NO VITAE!! Obsidian dagger gone. Item IV orb with extremely low diff gone. I looked in the inventory. The hot keys for the dagger and orb were still toggled but greyed out with no item in them. 

So, I relogged thinking they will reappear. That didn't happen! So, I went to AB where I was tanking the drudges. No body. I talked with my patron and he said forget about it. But, I didn't give up just yet. I invested a lil over an hour looking for a body that might not exist. FINALLY, I found it so far away that it was impossible for the lag to last that long and for me to log back in... What was that all about? Well, one thing I am very thankful of is still having my Obsidian Dagger. . . . . Just  a lil experience I wanted to share with everyone so don't panic if it happens to you.

render
solclaim

July 10, 2001 - Mage Chatter

Hi, Maggie!

I absolutely =love= your website, and thank you (profusely) for your comprehensive tables of dungeons, landmarks, portals, towns, etc.  What a tremendous asset to AC gamers!

One thing I'd like to ask you to change on your website: on the Map section, you offer the tip to use the "@squelch" command to eliminate the annoying spellcasting chatter of mages around you. Please, consider instead using the command "@filter spellcasting". This will allow mages to talk to you but keep you from hearing them casting spells. It makes mages much less annoying to be around! Save the "@squelch" command for shutting out people who offend you outright.

Thanks for all of your effort in making and keeping your website. I intend to tell all my AC friends about it!

Warm regards,
Ha-Ri

Mongsta Ha-Ri
Solclaim
Level 34 Sho War Mage

Hi Ha-Ri -
Thank you so much for the compliments on the site! I'm glad you like the Tourism pages. I must admit that even with all the cool resources around the web, like AC-Spedia and CoD's fabulous Locations database, I still use my tattered printed copy of my Towns & Portals list, one of the oldest pages on the site, more than anything. 

Although I've updated both the Towns & Portals page, and the Coordinates page recently, the Maps section needs a good overhaul. I went to print a nice copy of my favorite portal map the other day and found that the link was broken! Then I started clicking here and clicking there and realized that the whole section needed some major attention. I am sure the @squelch suggestion was a remnant from way back when too, before the filtering options were even available! When I update that area of the site (it's on the short list), I'll definitely take your suggestion. Thanks again.

- Maggie the Jackcat

July 3, 2001 - Lyceum Training Grounds (*spoilers*)