You say, "OK. It is 11 and we have a decent sized crowd so we will go ahead and get started. The admins present as well as a few that aren't will answer any questions you wish to ask. If anyone has a question, please page me and I will put you in the list."

You say, "If for some reason you don't get your question answered today, feel free to contact any individual admin at any time. We are happy to help."

You say, "OK. The first question is: Why can't +teach and +train be on seperate locks? So you both have time-limits, but speratly."

Lalmlas says, "I think it was so that players who are focused on non-combat stuff would gain something. if we put them on seperate locks then there would be no benefit to focusing on one or the the other and not both."

Ilmen says, "Another reason is that we felt that a person could only reasonably concentrate on one demanding activity at a time, be it learning a sword or learning a language."

Lalmlas says, "This discussion comes up regularly, and the way to think about it is not how often you train or how often you teach, but what the two commands imply, that being a commitment to a much greater effort than simply going to a trainer and saying "train me"..."

Ilmen says, "One thing to point out here is that stuff like this isn't set in stone all the time. Policies and the way things are implemented can be changed."

Bregil nods. "A single train or teach may represent many days or weeks of effort, but is often only comprised of a single RP. Keep in mind that the +train or +teach itself represents a larger committment of time and effort."

Lalmlas says, "Since in both cases you learn faster than would be possible in real life, there is no particularly reasonable pace of training or teaching, that needs to be simulated, so it becomes more a percentage issue. If you train 3 times to every 1 teach then that is the sort of commitement you are showing to training versus teaching."

You say, "By the way, if anyone wants to follow any question with clarification, please page me and let me know."

Marusia says, "But don't you think that the result of this policy (+train/teach) has been to sideline +teach, since the majority of players here do engage in combat and therefore have to focus on +train in order to have an advantage in the CS?"

Lalmlas says, "We do not consider this a negative."

You say, "When you create a character, you make the decision whether they are combat oriented or not. Those that are not have all the time they want to devote to non-combat skills."

Lalmlas says, "In discussions the admin have agreed, that having everyone knowing languages actually reduces the value of their knowledge. A player who wishes to commit to knowledge of languages is actually gaining a greater value by having it be rare."

Ilmen says, "It's more thematic, actually. More people in Tolkien DID spend a lot more time learning weapons than languages."

Radagast says, "Plus without people focusing on +healing to some degree those who focus on (+train) will soon bleed to death. Rulers and LAs tend to make sure there is a decent number of players focusing on +healing around."

Gundaar says, "With what you just said, wouldn't it be more realistic then to have Westron as a language in and of itself. As it stands now, everyone can understand everyone else perfectly ICly so long as a specific language is not used."

Lalmlas says, "Um... That is a new question. Are we really finished with the old one?"

Stilicon says, "One question... about the old one.."

Lalmlas says, "I told you. No bowling ball."

You say, "We will visit Gund's in a second. Go ahead Stilicon."

Stilicon says, "So +training hinders +teaching and vice versa, but does rising +healing through +heal use hinder +train or +teach ?"

Ilmen says, "Nope."

Lalmlas says, "I don't think so either..."

Ilmen says, "Separate systems, not linked."

Stilicon says, "In regard to what was said, it doesnt seem me fully logic since learning healing is also a full time activity."

Lalmlas nods.

Zurku says, "But, Stilicon, the ability to +heal goes up through use, not necessarily only through being taught (which somewhat leads to my question, but that'll be later). :)"

Lalmlas says, "Probably not. I don't have a rationale as to why they are seperated except that they were programmed at different times, as far as the improvement/experience issue is concerned."

Ilmen says, "There is an inconsistancy between the two systems. You "learn" healing by doing a successful +heal, but your training or language skill doesn't go up in a similar way (for a successful hit, say)."

Radagast says, "I have been involved in discussion about Westron before. I think the commonality (is that the right word?) of Westron reflects the books quite nicely."

You say, "Just to let you guys know, we are taking notes on items that you suggest, so just because we are going to another item, don't think we are letting it go by unaddressed."
Gweneth says, "Hmm... what's a good question for the admins?"

Lalmlas says, "None of it makes sense. If you want to, you can argue with nearly every decision made in terms of combat. It wasn't done to simulate reality particularly, nor was this MUSH really intended for that purpose, so it is true there are situations that may conflict. I think that is a good example of one where over the evolution of the MUSH's combat system we went two seperate ways. In the case of combat, it was decided NOT to go with an experience system because it was difficult to prevent twinkism."

Ilmen says, "There has been talk in the past of making training work the same way, but it hasn't ever gotten past the talking stage."

Lalmlas says, "In healing it was not considered as important. But we can consider consolidating those systems, as it does seem to make sense."

Ilmen says, "Are we moving on to the Westron question?"

Stilicon nods and wonders if any successful +heal rising your level couldnt lock for the +train/+teach duration any other attempt to progress through coded +train/+teach etc... for the sake of coherence.

Ilmen says, "Good suggestion, Stilicon."

Stilicon has finished :)

Balrog says, "It would be nice if +healers could teach their skills up to a certain level. Learning healing skills through practice and nothing else is pretty grisly."

Lorthoron asks, "Is there any set of circumstances where you could be convinced it would be thematic to be able to be +trained by members of another +culture?

You say, "OK. I think the above answered the multiple healing questions that were paged to me thus far. If you don't feel so, page me your question again. And yes, we can move to the Westron question now."

Radagast says, "Pardon that misscom before"

You say, "Let's address that cross culture train question till after the Westron one."

Lalmlas says, "The problem with that is that it seems that one does not get notified when healing has improved their skill level, and that would cause a problem for a player who was attempting to schedule training and such and suddenly couldn't gain any value. Also it is random whether +healing gives you any benefit from what I understand, and I also believe it has less impact on a healers skill. A healer needs to heal as their job, and to ICly not heal because they need to +train or be +taught is not reasonable. The only real way to make it consistent is to make it so one has to be +trained in healing probably."

Lalmlas says, "Um. Ok... The Westron one..."

Zurku says, "Could it be repeated, please? :)"

Ilmen says, "As far as Westron goes, I don't recall anyone in the books not being able to speak it when necessary. The only exceptions to this might be Dunland and possibly the Easterlings. And that can be dealt with in RP without making it a language and giving everyone fluent in it. :)"

You say, "Yes. One moment."

You say, "With what you just said, wouldn't it be more realistic then to have Westron as a language in and of itself. As it stands now, everyone can understand everyone else perfectly ICly so long as a specific language is not used."

Ilmen says, "The question was why is Westron a language?"

Ilmen says, "err isn't"

C'zakh says, "Some of the Galadhrim couldn't understand it..."

C'zakh says, "Haldir's brothers."

Lalmlas says, "ICly any number of players MAY be of limited experience with Westron, but they also can legitimately all be fluent. Even the orcs talk to each other in Westron. While Tolkien does show some signs of non-fluency, he also defaults to people understanding each other even in strange circumstances, so we lean towards that."

Radagast says, "Well, there are Easterlings and Haradrim who doesn't speak at all in the books but basically, Ilmen is right. I think (probably for narrative purposes) Tolkien wanted all to understand it."

Frodo says, "Actually, C'zakh's right. . .there's a mention that not many of the Galadhrim spoke Westron. . .when the Fellowship was there."

Ilmen says, "Again, there are a few exceptions, but those can be RPed."

Lalmlas says, "I would say the complexity involved in forcing all IC communication to go through the language system would be a burden on the player base, taking away the simplicity of say and pose. Alternately we could hardcode languages, but that is something of a project."

Ilmen says, "Players who play those types of characters should be smart enough to be able to feign not understanding what someone says if they say it Westron."

Gundaar says, "But would /everyone/ be fluent in it? Just look at any region anywhere. There are different dialects, words, slang for the same language. However, I do how that wouldn't really be practical with our language system, since skill level only affects the size of the word that can be understood. I guess it would require a reworking somewhere to make it practical."

Lalmlas nods... In terms of IC decisions, if a player chooses to not understand westron they can do so with the current system.

Radagast says, "There could be situations, especially when dealing with newbies where it could be problematic not to have a lingua franca."

Frodo nods. Most of the interaction I've had with those characters, they've nailed it and we've had a blast trying to communicate. :)

You say, "OK. Does anybody have any more additions on the Westron Question?"

Lalmlas says, "I think it IS a reasonable suggestion however. It just might require a major overhaul so we put it on the backburner."

Radagast nods

Bregil nods. "And it is noted, so most likely will be discussed soon."

Radagast says, "It is more practical the way it is."

Talicar says, "Can't you just softcode 'say'?"

You say, "Ok. This is an extension of the current +heal and +train question: Will +teach ever be expanded to incorporate other learnable things, such as, say, +teaching the ability to +heal to someone with a lesser (but still existent) ability to +heal, or if the ability to forge ever becomes skill dependent, +teaching someone to forge better?"

Lalmlas says, "Yes."

Lalmlas says, "You could."

Lalmlas says, "It just means you would have to remove say and pose and even @emit as appropriate RP tools."

Ilmen says, "At one time, there was a plan to add more Skills like healing, and I think forging was one of those skills. However, I haven't heard any discussion about that in 3 years."

Lalmlas says, "I think there is still discussion of such things. I always liked swimming myself.:)"

Frodo actually likes that idea. :)

Bregil grins and thinks spamming would be a common skill.

Radagast says, "I haven't seen any real demand for +forging skills or anything similar either."

Lalmlas says, "Something to consider is that with the upgrade of the system we ARE interested in good uses of the additional storage and processing power, so these suggestions ARE well timed. We can't guarantee that there will be results, but we no longer are as constrained in terms of processing power."

C'zakh says, "It would be nice for those in the smithing or hammerer professions..."

Dawechglir tries to swim, but fails. Dawechglir takes 20 HP of drowning damage.

Radagast says, "Would like to be better at +banjo."

Zurku says, "No demand, but it might make things more interesting, and it might make the RP for people learning to forge ... right, C. :)"

Frodo LOLs.

C'zakh chuckles.

Braldor says, "Well, I think forging as a skill would be much appreciated in dwarven cultures"

Lalmlas nods.

C'zakh nods.

You say, "I think the desire for forging skills is dependent largely on the degradation of weapons and armor, which we currently don't have, and a robust economy, which again, we don't currently have. That being said, we are looking at some ways to change the above things."

Ilmen adds Nancing as a skill.

Lalmlas nods...

Frodo thinks there should be +eating. ;)

Zurku says, "+chewing"

Braldor says, "That would be a hobbit skill +eat pie"

You say, "When you don't ever have a weapon or armor lose its value, the item only ever has to be forged once. It severely limits the role of forgers in a culture."

C'zakh says, "I agree with Braldor..."

Radagast nods: "What Bregil, said. It would be nice but I think we have some way to go before we should consider adding +forging skills."

Lalmlas says, "In the end alot of the stasis in making these kinds of changes involves the philosophy of what kind of MUSH we want. We do avoid getting too involved with code as the predominant focus. We aim towards role play as the focus, so where code is considered, we think about how much improvement it will have."

Zurku nods at Bregil. "How hard, then, (since most of us have no clue) would armor and weapon degradation be to code?"

Radagast adds smugly "Plus dwarves would start at a much higher level than others."

Braldor says, "Well, I'm RPing right now as an apprentice smith, so... I know I'd appreciate a +forging skill"

Balrog says, "Would it be possible to separate the discussion of intergrating already existing +healing with +teach/+train from all the stupid +skill suggestions?"
Lalmlas says, "Asking how hard something is is a non-answerable question."

Gundaar says, "It's coded, currently."

Zurku okays..

Lalmlas says, "The question is more to the extent of when."

Gundaar says, "It's a very slow degradation though."

You say, "As it stands right now, the CS encourages lots of combat RP however. It might be the case that some type of economy system would encourage more economy based RP including item creation and trade."

Lalmlas says, "We are working on upgrading aspects of the combat system, but it is alot of code that is optimized heavily, and it requires some sensitivity when doing upgrades. Mushcode isn't like well commented source code. it requires you to really understanding what is going on and why before you make a change."

Ilmen says, "More rapid Armor and Weapon degredation is high on the list of CS changes we'd like to see implemented."

Bregil nods. "I think there are going to be some changes in the future to the CS. But as Leaf said, we need to better understand what implications those changes will have."

Lalmlas says, "Pretty much every change we make gets us a hundred complaints so we are somewhat careful."

C'zakh says, "Is there a possibility of getting your degrading weapons +repaired, or something? Could that aspect be added?"

Bregil nods. "That is oen of the ideas under consideration."

Braldor says, "I guess a +repair thing would be a part of +forging"

C'zakh nods.

Gundaar says, "Forges are setup to repair, it's just not implimented."

Risengold says, "wv Free"

You say, "Even if it were implemented, it wouldn't matter because rarely does a weapon degrade. I have been here for about 3 years and have never seen a weapon degrade, and I played an orc for most of that time."

C'zakh says, "My last scimitar went down to 'Good' level, and that was about it."

You say, "Does anyone else have any more on that question?"

Ilmen says, "It is implemented, it's just what Bregil said: armor and weapons &condition attr is set so high, the weapons seldom degrade."

You say, "OK. Next question, we can move back to the cross cultural +training question: Is there any set of circumstances where you could be convinced it would be thematic to be able to be +trained by members of another +culture?"

Lalmlas says, "Yes."

Radagast says, "Quite a few I would say."

Ilmen says, "Yes. Goodie-Goodie cultures and baddie-baddie cultures should feel free to train each other. It's the goodie-baddie stuff that gets tricky."

Ilmen says, "There are always exceptions, however. No reason a Dunlending bandit can't train a Bree bandit."

Lalmlas says, "Not much more to say on that. If there is an IC repurcussion one should accept it, but as it stands any player in friendly culture might be in a situation where being +trained or +taught was appropriate. It is really an IC issue, and trainers should be qualified to decide if they are appropriate in +training or +teaching another player, whether cross cultural or not."

Radagast says, "Well a non-suspecting Bree goodie could of course train a Yfel human.."

Lalmlas says, "Just don't train the hobbits. They look cute but they can be vicious when they are hungry."

Frodo grins innocently.

Radagast says, "You train at them."

Ilmen says, "Always exceptions. Just use common sense. I remember a few years ago, we had an orc training dwarves."
Frodo really is quite amenable provided you provide enough scones. . . .

Lalmlas nods.

You say, "OK. Any other comments on that question?"

C'zakh says, "Orc training dwarves? Heh."

You say, "OK. Next question: Regarding the not so long ago discussion on Theme BB, are there any plans to reconsider the timeframe?"

Lalmlas says, "Not at the moment no."

Bregil chuckles. "Are there any other comments on that question?"

You say, "OK. Next question: It seems from time to time, that items sent to the admins get "lost in the shuffle". Is there anything that can be done and/or do the admins have any plans on finding ways to keep issues from getting lost in the cracks?"

You say, "I want to provide an answer to this myself. As Agenda Keeper, I usually try to keep track of everything that is going on regarding requests to the Admins. However, since each admin handles their own areas, sometimes there is miscommunication regarding what is being addressed and what isn't. I am currently working on an object that the admins will use to keep track of all items currently on our agenda. This includes everything from large game changes to specific requests from players. Hopefully this will enable us to better keep track of requests."

You say, "The other thing to keep in mind is that often the admins will get a request, and just not have time to get around to it. However, if an admin hasn't done something you requested in around a weeks time, none of the admins will be upset by a reminder +mail. If we haven't done something, it sometimes means we haven't had time, or sometime that we just forgot. If something hasn't been done about a week after you send something, send another +mail just asking if we had a chance to get to it."

Ilmen says, "And if it is a specific request of a specific Czar, bug them. Err, remind them. We get a lot of +mail and sometimes stuff just does get buried in the pile."

Talicar says, "You guys need secretaries."

Gundaar says, "Cute ones"

Radagast says, "OK, Talicar. You'll be my School secretary from now on."

Radagast says, "You're cute enuff."

Talicar hates to break it to ya, but I ain't cute.

Frodo sniffles. "I'M cute, though."

You say, "OK. Any more comments on that question?"

Lalmlas says, "In general we try to be responsive... as far as it goes that can vary. It is always possible that the issue is supposed to be handled by a particular admin and they are busy RL for that week. We offer a money back guarantee that we will respond to your issue in 30 minutes."

Radagast says, "It is reasonable to always expect a reply to a +mail or a post, I guess."

Bregil grins. "And we will even give you 10% of our salary if we don't respond with the week."

Lalmlas says, "And we will actually give you a royal if we don't get back to you in a month."

Lalmlas says, "Although you are probably better off without them. They eat alot."

Bregil nods in seriousness. "If you don't receive a response from a +mail you send, then send it again.

Lalmlas note my comments regarding Hobbits in the prior question.

Talicar says, "Plus, they smell"

Lalmlas says, "ok. That is it Talicar. YOu are getting a Royal if you don't pipe down."

You say, "OK. Next question: In our culture, all the combat related objects are so expensive you can save enough to buy them only in more than four RL years. On the other hand, non-coded or non-combat objects are pretty cheap. We cannot balance it, though, because the prices are almost the same in other cultures. Can and will the economy be more balanced?"

Talicar says, "But, but..."

Lalmlas says, "The question I guess involves your ruler more than the +admins. We leave it to them to balance their economies."

Ilmen says, "Wow, someone uses the IC money system??? ;)"

Khoro says, "Erm... was my question. We try to use money in EL, but we cannot set higher prices to non-combat stuff because no one from other cultures would ever buy it, and vice versa."

Lalmlas says, "As a suggestion, I consider the concept of value of service/labor more than of product. I am a marxist."

Bregil nods. "We actually implemented an economy in Moria that didn't use the same economy system as the global MUSH and reconciled the differences with taxes and tarrifs. You might want to talk to GG or myself about options."

Khoro says, "Ok, thanks."

You say, "OK. Any other comments on that question?"

Lalmlas says, "In most cases, people are paid for what they do, not what they make. If you are a trader, trading for others should earn you commission. Guarding should earn you pay. One thing we talk about in terms of that smithing issue is ways of differentiating the quality of product, for instance dwarf realms should rightfully produce better armor, so we talk about how that would work."

You say, "Ok. A follow up on this question: On the Econ, have the admins considered changing the costs for the materials between cultures to make it so each culture can sustain itself but allowing for more of a reason to increase intercultural trade?"

Lalmlas says, "I think that is a good suggestion."

Lalmlas says, "Generally the argument always gets made to close down a certain resource in certain culture, but it is probably better to change the 'difficulty' of producing that material. Slap on the back for that suggestion."

You say, ":nods. "I think this is good and something we have tried to do within cultures before. But between cultures is even better.""

Dawechglir says, "Some cultures only trade e.g. with one neighbouring culture. Balancing might get tricky."

Eliamur says, "as it is in life :-)"

Lalmlas says, "Well we could start off subtly, more additive than subtractive. Make it cheaper for Iron Hills to produce Iron... Rohan to produce horse meat."

Radagast says, "You can do that kind of trade anyway. Again, the dwarves of the Blue Mtns do not produce leather simply because it is unthematic. Dwarves do not keep animals. That way we are forced to buy it."

Bregil grins. "The challenge would be to do it so that a culture wouldn't suffer unnecessarily. We dont' want culutural activity declining because a resource isn't available at all."

Braldor says, "Well, Erebor is trying to extend trade to other cultures, and we have some ongoing and some upcoming TPs relating with trading with other cultures"

Radagast says, "El has locked away their herd."

Dawechglir says, "Too bad the Rohirrim bury their horses instead of sending them to the knacker ;)"

Radagast says, "I hear glue is cheap in Rohan."

Lalmlas says, "They make good fertilizer."

Lalmlas says, "I am not sure that AT for instance produces ANYthing."

Radagast says, "Wood?"

Eliamur says, "Ore..."

Braldor says, "I guess wood"

Marusia says, "silk from spider webs"

Ilmen says, "They export their women."

Lalmlas says, "They could produce it. They just don't care much around AT. We don't have active smiths either. We have communal armory."

Braldor says, "Not ore... ore is produced in mines"

Zurku says, "*nods* Isn't AT big on trading, though, Leaf?"

Chiayk chortles

Bregil grins. "OK. Does anyone have additional comments on that question?"

Gweneth says, "Producing goods is really slow. :/"

Lalmlas says, "They are, but ICly, not in the commodity level of the herd/forest/mine scenario. And very few players in AT seem to care much about it. I am working a bit to improve that but really it is not likely that you will see a freemarket elvish society."

Radagast says, "The problem with econ is that you really would need to throw +food itno the mix for it to work better."

Gweneth says, "Which could be added to the realm of how good a culture can produce something... (Time that is)"

You say, "I think the economy concepts could really benefit from a more robust economy system, including some of the +repair ideas mentioned before."

Rorgan nods, "I really miss weapons and armour failing in the middle of a combat."

Radagast says, "Fun sight: the end of a warhammer falling of in the middle of a battle."

C'zakh chuckles.

You say, "OK. Any more comments on that?"

C'zakh says, "Especially if your own WarHammer head falls onto your own toe....."

Braldor chortles

You say, "OK. Next question: A while back, adding culture help files into the mush matrix was discussed. It was suggested that cultures start putting their help files into the same sort of layout as on the mush. Will (Can) the admins put out code samples or guidelines on how to make that switch as I'm assuming that making it just look like the mush help files without having the same underlying code would be just as none helpful as having a completely different help system. Also, have the admins talked any more about this since recent conversations or have created any plans about it?"

Lalmlas says, "Sure."

Lalmlas says, "That is on the list."

Lalmlas says, "As far as whether we actually do it, well as Lukthil pointed out back then, it is a huge undertaking."

Lalmlas says, "So if you are holding your breath, make sure you have someone nearby to catch you. I would say eventually we can give you some structure, but I wouldn't answer when. We can bring it back into discussion."

Ilmen says, "I hate to say it, but I wouldn't wait for it."

Eliamur dislikes the MUSH help file structure.

You say, "As you can see by the questions thus far, there are a lot of things that we would like to do to make this place better. We just don't have time to do all of it right now though."

Lalmlas says, "In that case, we are requiring everyone to change by tommorow. Your nonstandard systems are being erased."

Eliamur chuckles.

Zurku eeps at Leaf.

Bregil always appreciates Leaf's dry humor.

Lalmlas says, "That is a lie!"

Lalmlas says, "I smell someone's pants burning!"

Bregil grins.

Calriel chuckles.

Ilmen says, "I always appreciate someone else being the target of Leaf's humor. ;)"

Radagast says, "Me to."

Calriel says, "I think everyone here agrees on that ;)"

Naurelin says, "Errr.. who is Leaf again?"

Bregil grins. "Any other comments on that question?"

Lalmlas says, "I think on a more honest level, big projects like that require a commitment of time and mindshare that doesn't necessarily happen without it being a pressing need. We are often in the banddaid business. I think if there was a clear problem that was being solved, it might be more likely to see a solution."

Gweneth says, "Sure"

Eliamur grins. You get used to it after awhile.

Gweneth says, "In the mean time, do you have any plans to adding something similar to +info to share non-newbie OOC/IC info between cultures?"

You say, "I think that is on the list Gwen. It is something that a few liked, and Leaf had some ideas for adding TP info as well."

You say, "And that is a much smaller undertaking than revising the entire cultural help system."

Rorgan says, "That sounds like something that would be /very/ useful."

Lalmlas says, "My idea is to create a TP tracker that would let folks find what TP's are going on when in the area they are ICly in, and I figured we could let folks post guidelines."

Bregil nods. "The ability to check which TPs are in teh area and join in if appropriate can be very powerful."

You say, "I really like the possibilities it presents for cross cultural TPs."

Lalmlas says, "In any case I guess we can toss up something like what Gwen suggests, I just haven't a clear idea of what sort of information that would be."

Ilmen says, "To be honest, I'm not sure why we need such a thing. If there are "rules" for someone to RP with you, and barriers to RP, there is something wrong. The procedure for intercultural RP should be the same everywhere: contact the LAs of the culture to set something up."

Eliamur nods and agrees...the more red tape the worse it gets.

Lalmlas nods. I mean can you give an example of the info Gwen?

Radagast says, "Is really annoying to see how many TPs that cross each others paths but without interaction because they don't know it. They should converge and build new stories and situations."

You say, "I don't know what Gwen had in mind, but the kinds of things I had in mind aren't really rules. They are just guidelines. Things like 'who in the culture should we contact for TP development', 'what is the cultural policy on travel'. Stuff like that."

Ilmen says, "If you need something to arrange TPs, there is the Tinyplot BB, which is open to all. There are also channels set up between neighboring cultures for coordination."

Rorgan says, "Well, the problem, as I see it, is that you can't read another culture's BB without an alt in that culture, so how are you going to know what's going on when you visit there ICly?"

Lalmlas says, "I suspect via RP."

Radagast says, "Many TPs do come together and create new situations but just as many don't."

Lalmlas says, "But I am novel that way."

Eliamur grins and was waiting for Lalmlas to say that.

Lalmlas says, "One thing we might consider is adding news bb's for each culture that are world readible but are culture only postable. Would that be a solution? I don't think that was what Gwen had in mind though."

Rorgan chuckles, "That's what I generally do, but sometimes there just isn't anyone to RP with to find out."

Gweneth says, "For instance, Rhuarc sent a +mail to ATLAS, GAD and a player regarding roleplay in Mirkwood where he set out his policy for intercultural contact, more or less. Each place I'm sure has different things they look for when dealing with other cultures and items you want the other cultures to know."

Ninvainiel says, "Leaf I don't think such a bb would see much use."

Rorgan says, "Yeah, that's differen than what I was thinking of, Gwen."

Lalmlas nods.

Balrog says, "Have the +admins given any thought to organizing certain things by general regions? If something is running in High Pass between Moria and Imladris there's no way the Eagles or Beornings necessarily get to know unless we tell them."

Lalmlas says, "What I would love to hear before I can even judge it is really what kind of information you want posted."
You say, "I think that a TP tracker that would provide available TPs, with some general info flags specific to cultures would provide the basic information necessary to both participate and plan TPs with other cultures."

Eliniel says, "I like that idea, Slo."

Lalmlas says, "I mean Mirkwood is kind of a wierd terrain and it isn't really a cultural area technically. AT doesn't really control it. So what Rhuarc proposes as a protocol between cultures who want to find RP in Mirkwood is certainly a valuable type of information, but it isn't necessarily part of AT's information."

Lalmlas says, "Ok Ok Ok. I will speed up work on the TP tracker, while I work on a mushmapper, AT's river, and do the purges. Damn you all.:)"

Lalmlas says, "Someone has got to start paying me."

Bregil chuckles.

Rorgan nods to Slo, "It would solve some problems where information wasn't immediately available when it was needed... Like which end of Mordor are all the Orcs RPing in this week..."

Gweneth says, "Any IC situations going on, i.e. a plague, to contact us to let us know for any intercultural roleplay, perhaps Gondor's guidelines for combat, perhaps cultural attitudes (as we've had to explain to people our views on elves and the like)"

Eliamur grins.

Eliamur grins.,....Dont get me started on yer view on elves :-)

Lalmlas says, "You might consider catalogging your entrances to your culture and putting some sort of code that notifies folks of stuff, but I think if you are telling other players who enter your culture what your IC interactions are going to be in response to them, then you might be better off letting them experience that rather than inform them of it. An elf in Gondor should be treated appropriately, rather than be told OOCly that they are going to be treated so."

Radagast says, "Balrog, while we wait for the TP tracker it wouldn't be to difficult to let set listening objects in the high pass to alarm the relevant cultures. It is used in many cultures and helps to some degree."

You say, "OK. Any other comments on that question?"

Ilmen says, "I think the most we can say right now is that we'll think about it. I am still not convinced such a thing is needed, beyond what can already be implmented: MOTDs for people when they connect in your zone, maybe a separate help section on your help files that is for visitors (I know the Beornings and Bree do that)."

Lalmlas says, "I just want to say that it is not that it is a bad idea, it is just hard exactly to understand what it will do."

Gweneth nods to Leaf, "We have such already. But sometimes people make plans rather than spontaneous roleplay (hence the need for a TP tracker I guess to some degree) so having such info OOCly before they hit the rammas may prove useful ;)

Balrog says, "There are listening devices. And we already tend to contact the relevant cultures, Radagast. I was just giving an example. There's other regions, like the Gap, Mirkwood, etc."

Lalmlas says, "I prefer people to accept the possibility of spontenaiety in a multiplayer rp environment. I had to explain to some players that if they are RPing in a public area they have no right to dictate who can RP with them or what the topic is."

Radagast nods

Ilmen says, "There are channels and BBs for all those areas, I think, of one sort or another. They just aren't used."

Lalmlas says, "But in any case we will continue to consider it, I just don't promise it anymore than the last time we discussed it."

You say, "OK. This question was asked in response to the little side conversation regarding there being so much stuff the admins want to implement: What can /we/ do to help the admins."

Lalmlas says, "I think that continuing to come with ideas is important. We don't have all the answers."

Bregil nods. "I don't think it is difficult to imagine that many of the admins have been here a very long time. A fresh perspective and idea often leads to a solution that the admins couldn't have easily reached on their own.

Lalmlas says, "I think also that it would be nice if there were more excellent coders on the MUSH who were good players, good theme knowledgeable people, who can handle admin tasks responsibily, so if possible, become wizards."

Radagast says, "To be a diligent LA and a resonsible +ruler, or strive to be one realy, really helps us to."

Lalmlas says, "And more so train other players."

Ilmen says, "We deserately need good Rulers, LAs, and Greeters. One of the greatest issues to the MUSH and Elendor's survival is retaining newbies, especially as we get a flood of them from the movies. We need to engage and retain them as much as possible."

Lalmlas says, "One thing I note is that almost ALL players think they aren't allowed to own mush objects."

Bregil nods. "In my mind, those players who have the inclination should all be helping within their own cultures. If they aren't LAs, then they should be developing TPs and most importantly, helping and developing newbies. I have said this before, newbies are the lifeblood of this MUSH and allow us to continue."

Ilmen says, "err desperately"

You say, "And to follow up Ilmen's comment, I am hoping to have a workshop on newbie recruiting and retention to make sure that our cultures are ready for any rush that may occur around the second movie. Last year we had a huge influx and many cultures just weren't ready."

Ilmen says, "And send us cash. That would be a big help. j/k :)"

Lalmlas says, "But that also means following rules, and not just telling people what to do. It is not enough to want to hlep newbies, or build or code. Doing it well and accepting criticism when given constructively is a part of the effort. So there is alot we could ask of players."

Frodo says, "That would be GREAT, Bregil."

Radagast says, "I don't need cash. I am too rich already (*winks at the girls*)"

Ilmen says, "There are other things too. Reporting possible illegal alts spring to mind."

Lalmlas says, "RPing in smaller less active cultures."

Lalmlas says, "Putting your alts in them."

Eliamur grins. Done and Done :-)

Bregil nods. "RPing in less active cultures is huge. And related to that, working with smaller cultures to develop TPs between cultures if appropriate.

Balrog says, "It is good to lead by example. When I had active rulers it inspired me to work as well. Inactive ones made lethargy contagious. That goes for everyone from wizard down to +greeters. Nothing kills your enthusiasm more than seeing people in charge ignoring things."

Lalmlas nods...

Eliamur has to totally agree with Balrog on that.

Rorgan nods, "Absolutely, GG. Nothing kills an LA's enthusiasm (speaking from experience) faster than people who hold the position and do nothing with it."

Lalmlas says, "One of the things I always try to point out is that a Ruler is momentum incarnate. If the Ruler doesn't press things they don't necessarily happen. It is nice when other people can also help push things along, but the ruler HAS to."

You say, "The same goes for LAs though. If your ruler isn't moving, then push them. Get ideas going and get things active."

Lalmlas says, "And by Rorgan's exact argument, nothing hurts more than being capable of being an LA and seeing people who are LA's not be active. It is good to promote promising players."

Ilmen promotes himself to MUSH God.

Rorgan nods, "Well, I was speaking more of having inactive peers as an LA. That was a killer for me, more times than one."

Lalmlas shrugs.

Lalmlas says, "It is the same issue."

Eliamur says, "that doesn't bother me as much as the one Lalmlas mentioned."

Lalmlas says, "In any case, there is lots that players can do to make the place better. I would say it only takes 5 good players to make a culture run. SO if 5 of you went into a culture that was struggling you could make the culture run."

You say, "OK. Any more comments, or should we move on to the next question?"

You say, "What can be done to remove inactive +rulers and LA's if they are not fulfilling their positions"

Radagast says, "+rulers remove Inactive LAs."

Eliamur says, "what if the +ruler himself is one of them..."

Ilmen says, "Admins can remove inactive (mortal) rulers, if they fail to meet the activity requirement."

You say, "Ultimately, +rulers remove inactve LAs. If you feel an LA isn't doing their job, talk to your +ruler. As for +ruler removal, the admins will remove inactive +rulers after two months of inactivity."

C'zakh says, "That was a big problem with Erebor..."

Darson says, "It was."

C'zakh says, "It's getting better now, thank god...."

You say, "OK. I want to move along since many of hte admins need to leave soon. Next question: When Treebeard took over as stats Czar it seemed that he was being far more strict in his giving out of stats and training per "rules" of features. Since then, it seems that FCs are generally falling into a more and more similar box creating a number of FCs with generally the same abilities. Was this done on purpose to fix some problem? And too, will it ever be possible to learn the limits/classes/rules in which go into setting up an FC?"

Lalmlas says, "He gives really good stats to people he likes."

Laeraelin laughs.

Zurku says, "Sad if true."

Bregil grins. "I don't think there has been any systematic changes lately. Most choices are based on the character concepts."

Lalmlas says, "I liked the system I described better. I think more likeable players should have better stats."

Laeraelin wants to be better liked. ;)

C'zakh says, "Can BFCs get knocked to 0 HP?"

Lalmlas says, "That would make me easily killed."

Ilmen says, "The Feature Czar and Stats/Training Czar determine, based on ruler input and theme and game balance, where a feature fits in, stats and training wise."

Rananar says, "It has been felt that in the past, the handing out of feature stats and training were done rather inconsistently. So to some degree, Treebeard (and now Saruman) did work to make it more consistent and systematic. But as noted, they do work to determine what is appropriate and there is some variation for FCs."

Rananar says, "C'zakh, there is no code in the CS that keeps BFCs from reaching 0. So, yeah, they can be knocked down to 0. However, standard policy is that a BFC cannot be killed regardless of the result of a fight."

Lalmlas says, "I call it a get out of death card."

Eliamur says, "yeah no more saving thranduil from the halls"

C'zakh says, "Yeah, I know. It just seems like they can never lose a fight."

C'zakh says, "I know they can't 'die' though."

Ilmen says, "There are various "power levels" of features to keep the distribution of features fair from culture to culture. X feature in Y culture should be similar to M feature in N culture, if they have similar IC roles in their societies."

Lalmlas says, "C'zakh, philosophically that makes an interesting situation if a feature fights a feature and neither can lose..."

Ilmen says, "But we aren't going to reveal the stats or training points of those levels, no, or the levels of each feature. Why, because then you would know that Eomer likely has X amount of training and a max 175 in one stat, and that's not very fair to Eomer."

C'zakh hehs. Nevermind me. ;)

You say, "OK. We aren't finishing up yet, but some of the admins will need to leave very soon. Before they do so, we want to ask you guys a quick question. Do you guys like these Admin Q&A Sessions. Is the format we are using here good for you, do you find it useful, and what suggestions do you have for better sessions. We would like to make this a regular event."

Calriel says, "Yeah, I think it's really a great idea, guys."

C'zakh nods in agreement.

Frodo would LOVE that.

Laelerach says, "It's excelent :)"

You say, "How often do you guys think would be appropriate?"

C'zakh says, "Kudos from meh!"

Aearwen Once a month

Laelerach says, "Biweekly? Monthly?"

C'zakh nods. Monthly.

Calriel says, "We all appreciate the hard work you do for the MUSH, but we also appreciate having these moments to contact you guys and share our thoughts - it's somehow nicer than just sending out a +mail and not knowing what will hapen to it."

Fraibert says, "Monthy would be good."

Rajoo suggests that each time the q&a should try to fit to different time zones

Gweneth says, "I think if people sent in suggestions, or had their rulers bring up the issues on the ruler bboard or to the admins directly, it would basically account for most of what was brought up in the meeting. :/"

Bregil nods and is planning that Rajoo.

Balrog says, "This is fantastic. It would be great if we could get to hear from all the differnt admins, too."

You say, "And do you guys like this format? The queue of questions that we answer, or is there another format that might work better?"

C'zakh says, "Bring in the Lord of the Rings!"

Frodo says, "Monthly sounds good."

Ilmen says, "Other admins who are on at other times will likely hold other Q&A sessions at different times."

C'zakh says, "The format was good, I thought."

Bregil nods. "S and I want to do one late one night at some point."

Rajoo says, "perhaps once in a while you should do a specific subject relating q&a, like concerning only the econ. ideas and comments..."

Calriel says, "Sounds good. I appreciate the fact that you let Europeans give their input in your first meeting."

Lalmlas says, "Yeah well that was a mistake."

Bregil grins.

Lalmlas nods to Rajoo... Good point.

Balrog nods, "It'd be cool if we could talk to Amdir about the CS, for instance."

Lalmlas says, "I would love to have a Q&A that didn't involve the combat system.:)"

Darson says, "I think Rajoo's suggestion is an excellent one. Specifc topics for q&as would be great."

Talicar says, "Hear, hear, Leaf"

Lalmlas laughs and didn't mean to time that at the same time.

Eliamur nods. We had one of those once I think. Tis when I mentioned that we should add more word levels.

Eliamur says, "and shockingly enough it happened =-)"

Frodo echoes Leaf on that!

Bregil grins. "I think planning specific topics would be great."

Balrog says, "A Building q&A with Leaf would probably be great on the heels of Khoro's introductory lecture, or in general, for instance."

Bregil nods and could use that himself.

You say, "OK. Any more comments on that question. I think we have alot of good input to use in planning future sessions."


Laeraelin says, "Is that class log posted anywhere, yet? The building one?"

Marusia wonders if this will all be logged somewhere for those who missed it?

Darson says, "One comment, I'd just love to see an admin q&a on the IC +Money system."

You say, "OK. Calriel wanted me to ask this since he is willing to coordinate it, and wanted me to get the input of you players, not just the admins.: Can we make Elendor merchandise and sell it to our MUSHes (without making profit of course). Like Elendor t-shirts with the addy on it, etc. I'm not unwilling to organize that."

Bregil nods and makes note of that Darson.

Ilmen says, "I believe there's building (and other class) logs on Galdor's Secret Funky Page: http://homepage.interaccess.com/~hayes/gfsp.htm"

Bregil nods. "And we are working on creating an Elendor hosted site that includes Class Logs and in the future, Admin Q&A logs.

Aearwen says, "Not to mention the class coming up on the 18th"

Ilmen says, "Including a primer on IC Money."

Zurku isn't going to be around on the 18th. :(

Balrog says, "There's a log there of Lukthil holding a primer on IC money, in 1996."

You say, "Is anyone interested in the merchandise idea right now?"

Darson says, "I'd love to buy Elendor t-shirts, mugs, hoodies, pins etc."

Ilmen says, "Except as a non=profit educational institute, we can't sell ANYTHING."

Lalmlas says, "We can't produce that sort of thing unfortunately as we feel it is a risky situation in terms of legal issues and such."

Calriel nods "Hence the question."

Lalmlas has to run.

Bregil ahhs and demonstrates his admin newbieness there.

Darson says, "Can an +Admin or player do so privately, though?"

Ilmen says, "Elendor's intellectual capital, so to speak, is wholly owned by the Tolkien Foundation. Any profits related to Tolkien's work are rightfully their property as well. ElendorMUSH exists because of the generosity of the Tolkien Foundation, which is conditional in part on the fact that we're not taking any money away from them. As a result, any commercial activity on this site is, and must be, forbidden."

Lalmlas says, "Not without jeopardizing the MUSH."

Lalmlas has to run...

Calriel says, "Note that this, too, would be non-profit."

You say, "Thanks Leaf."

Ilmen quotes NEWS ADVERTISING.

Balrog says, "Bye Leaf. Thanks."

Darson says, "Would you send a henchman after me if I made a Elendor.net hoodie for my own personal use?"

Talicar says, "Meaning, if we violate copywrites left and right here... Don't do anything that might cause some unnecessary lawsuits."

Lalmlas says, "Yes."

Ilmen says, "It would suck to have the MUSH closed down because someone was selling Elendor t-shirts, basically. We fly under the radar now, and that's how we like it."

Lalmlas says, "Our greatest argument is that we are a fan site that promotes the reading and purchasing of Tolkien merchandise and so on but that does not take any revenue out of their pockets. Anything that hints that we are a revenue source will cause us to be in a different standing legally, and our ethical status will change. We prefer to have a MUSh than a tee-shirt about the mush.:)"

You say, "Well, sounds like that is pretty clear. Looks like it would be a very bad idea. Noone wants this place closed down..."

Lalmlas hops out.

Calriel nods and understands. "Too bad, but well... can't risk the place to be shut down. Thanks everyone."

Darson says, "That makes perfect sense; no t-shirts then."

You say, "The next question has been asked repeatedly, so I will simply list the question and provide the answer so as to avoid alot of time. Will spears/maces be changed in any way? The answer is possibly. That is again one of the changes we are talking about examining in the CS changes. Does anyone else have any questions about that?"

You say, "Wow. No other questions on that. A bit surprising. OK. Next question: Will the autoheal rate be slowed at all to allow more +healer RP?"

Darson says, "Actually, I was just typing something else. I've always wondered what the controversy surrounding spears and maces was anyway?"

Ilmen says, "Too much to go into now. :)"

You say, "Ah. Sorry Darson. I can answer that. Essentially, spears is extremely underpowered and mace is extremely overpowered. There is alot mroe involved, but balance is the main issue."

Eliamur gods...it took two RL weeks for my autoheal to kick in..how much longer do you want?

You say, "Essentially, this is again something we are looking at remedying with changes to the CS. There are a number of ways this could be adjusted, and we don't know enough details yet."

Darson says, "Right, thank you Bregil."

Bregil grins. "Your example is a good one Eliamur. We need to balance it for hard core players that play constantly, and folks that can't RP alot."

Eliamur actually was on 8 hours a day....during that time.

Eliamur says, "or close to it"

Ilmen needs to head out. Any questions for me specifically before I go?

Ilmen will look into the auto-healing issue. See what the times are.

Laeraelin says, "Two weeks, Elia? Did your HP go really low?"

Giondan Auto heal worked perfect on me, every 8 hours ICly..

Rorgan says, "Ilmen, I have one for you specifically: Is there any kind of plan to implement anything similar to crosstraining for languages?"

Eliamur says, "28HP I thik"

Rorgan says, "That might have already been asked, but I'm at work and seem to have missed it."

You say, "No, it hasn't been asked."

Laeraelin nods, "Autoheal needs to be restarted after a certain drop by +heals. Though I thought it turned off at much lower drop than 28..."

Zurku says, "It may be a percentage of max hp, Laer."

Ilmen says, "Not yet, although we're considering it, especially for the orcs. An orc who knows Mordain Uruk should know a little of Morian and Isendrim Uruk as well."

Ilmen says, "The only other xtraining languages I can think of offhand are Kuduk and Rohirric, which share the same base, I vaguely recall."

Ilmen idly wonders if Atliduk does as well...

Darson says, "Not Varadja and Logathig?"

Rorgan nods, "I'm no expert on what should be cross-compatible. I'd just run into it elsewhere and was curious.

Eliamur says, "and to go along with an arguement from Bethteur is related to Sindarin...."

Ilmen says, "Haven't looked into specific xtraining languages too deeply, except for uruk, to be honest."

Ninvainiel says, "Well I mean if you're going to go that route, so is Quenya."

Rorgan nods, "That's cool. I'm sure you could get plenty of input if you wanted to consider it."

You say, "I think the short answer is, we have thought about it and are looking into it in more detail."

Eliamur says, "No but it says specifically that Bethteur is a form of sindarin in the silmarillian...or is related to it I forget"

You say, "It is on the list at least."

Ilmen says, "More input than I could stomach, I'm sure. :)"

Rorgan hehs.

Bregil grins. "Any other comments on that question?"

Frodo thankies. . .time to head back to Bag End, I think; I'm missing too many meals already. ;)

You say, "OK. Next question then as Ilmen heads out: Is the source of the recent lag known? Yes. We believe it had to do with the server after all. There was initial belief that it could have to do with a computationally expensive command executing that we couldn't track down. However, we recently rebooted the machine, and performance has been much better lately. It had been a very long time since the last reboot, so it appears it may have simply been related to that."

Ilmen waves out. Thanks for the questions, folks. Hope this was instructive!

Giondan says, "Very.. :)"

Ninvainiel highly doubts that the Silmarillion says ANYTHING abot Bethteur, seeing as how Bethteur is a language that only exists on this MUSH (taken I think from MERP way back in the day).

Eliamur says, "The name is ICE...the language is in the sil"

Eliamur says, "it says that a group of sindarin who did not cross had their own language that was related to sindarin but different"

You say, "OK. Not much on that. Next question: How goes the sea/ship code?"

You say, "I think it is safe to say that this has been pushed to the back of the burner. I will admit I am not fully aware of the status of this. But I am pretty confident that the admins feel there are alot of other changes that have a higher priority than the sea/ship stuff."

Eliamur says, "Canoe code would be nice hehe"

You say, "OK. I have two more questions, but am really only qualified to answer one of them. I will forward the following question on to the other admins and have it included in the log: Would it be possible for players to join another cultures +com while they were in that cultures ZMO?"

You say, "Sorry about not being able to answer that folks."

You say, "The last question I have is the following: Is it possible to encourage more large scale combat events that may go against the timeline as long as they can return to the standard theme eventually?"

Laeraelin says, "Sometimes you can? Isnt' that basically up to the LAs of the culture?"

You say, "Locally Rio yes. I think the question though was whether it could be made so globally."

Eliamur says, "isn't that what the region channels are for"

Bregil nods. "I will ask Leaf or Luk to answer that one."

Rorgan says, "Even in a non-combat form."

Rorgan draws out his oldbie stick, "Back in the olden days..."

You say, "Back to the large scale stuff. In my mind, this is a question about the status quo policy. As it stands, the status quo states that we can engage in TPs as long as they don't make the events in the book impossible. There are tons of opportunities that could make some very exciting RP. Large scale occupation of certain cultures by other cultures is possible as long as by the time of the book it returns to normal."

You say, "This is somethign I am not sure most players are aware of. You can develop TPs such as this as long as when the TP is over (and this could be anywhere from a few weeks to a year or so down the road) it returns to the events in the books."

Rorgan nods, "That's what I was talking about... it used to happen a lot more. The Mordain would occupy Osgiliath, for instance, for months at a time."

Bregil nods. "That is something I would very much encourage. There are a lot of possibilities. As long as political states returned to those in teh books eventually, and knowledge that wasn't spread is still contained, alot is possible.

You say, "It is a fine line to walk because of theme and status quo. But there are more possibilites than we really use."

You say, "Ok. That is it for this session. I need to head in about five minutes. Does anybody have any other questions they want to ask before we convene?"

Zurku says, "Uhh.. uhh.. I asked one :)"

Balrog says, "Why do you always have to leave me, Slo?"

Zurku says, "Status of herb/poison code?"

You say, "Ahh, that is right.."

You say, "That is another thing that is being implemented in the CS changes. We already have a vote on that one though so it is just a matter of coding it. It is coming, though I am not sure when."

Zurku says, "Awesome. :)"