2015-11-07 13:58:11

hi

@matador

welcome to the forum. it was me who suggested the forum to you and i am glad you have joined us as well.

It was indeed lord Cornelius on avalon who suggested me your name when i first had a conversation on the game. i didn't remember his name and now i do.

Again welcome and may your stay here be enjoyable.

btw to the others ... my name on avalon is elvrones.

greetz mike

Visit the following website to see what games we have:
http://www.nonvisiongames.com
Or the following English marketplace to see what retrogames and game merchandise I am selling:
https://www.retro-kingdom.com

2015-11-07 18:35:11

Mirage wrote:

I have never been interested in roleplay.  I usually just want to explore, build, create, etc.  But this player base is (1) so incredibly welcoming and understanding of screen readers, and (2) so amazing in their roleplay and writing abilities, that I've really gotten into the game more than I would have otherwise.

Yeah. I can't seem to get into the groove of roleplay in other places. It feels wooden, like I'm trying to play a role at arm's length. I think my favorite of the Avalon help files that covers this is HELP CONCEPT.

2015-11-08 08:09:49

Eh. I guess I just can't get into the groove of how Avalon is executed. For example, I'm used to muds that save your eq. Avalon saves some, but discards others, just tossing stuff on the ground when you quit out. This essentially means that if you have stuff you were planning to sell, you have to do it before you quit out of the game, which is not always feasible for me as I often have to leave in the middle of gaming sessions.

Furthermore, I thought the game was free to play, with payment only items and perks. This is not so -- you need to either subscribe or obtain sponsorship. On the surface, sponsorship may sound simple and straightforward, but I'm a very lone wolf type of player when I hop on to a new mud. I don't particularly seek out much interaction with other players, and I like to solve problems on my own. This means I don't really want to go running to other players begging for sponsorship -- I like remaining under the radar until I've had time to see whether or not I like a game, nor am I willing to subscribe to the game without knowing if I'll like it to begin with. I wish the pay-to-play nature of the game would've been mentioned in the novice intro text.

I think the timer counts down while you're offline, too, since I'm not even all the way through my first school enrollment and are already prompted to either seek sponsorship or subscribe, having exited the game and returned a few times as opportunity permitted.

It looks like a great game for those who aren't antisocial about their muding habits, and it seems superbly complex and detailed, what with all the skills and abilities. What's more, it automatically wins points for the accomodations to blind players -- I just don't think it's the right setting for me. Off to find a similar mud that doesn't require so much interaction and reliance upon others for progression.

Kai

Spill chuck you spots!

2015-11-08 10:36:22

That's strange, that you were prompted to seek sponsorship.  I never was, and I spent a lot of time on the game before I made a choice.

For those curious or interested, the sponsorship or subscription shouldn't put you off.  This player base really does go out of its way to be kind to novices.  Although if it puts some people off the game, I might mention as an idea for development some kind of automated request for sponsorship.

2015-11-08 11:22:30

For what it's worth, I don't actually think there's anything wrong with the system. I fully support paying for a game, and I totally understand the sponsorship system as a way to interact with other players and get novices mentors and what not. I'm just a fairly exotic player who, rather than having mentors showing him the ropes, wants to be left to his own devices to learn the game at his own pace. About the only thing I don't like with the system is the lack of a straight-up forewarning that the game is a pay-to-play game -- if it's mentioned in any of the beginning tutorial sessions or on the site, I'll stand corrected, as I must have missed it.

Kai

Spill chuck you spots!

2015-11-11 20:28:22

The items you drop on logout are items that are in circulation for quests. You don't get individual copies of the golden phoenix or certain gemstones etc - they are singular and the point is for them to be scarce. It makes completing lucrative quests like that a competitive endeavor.

And while you do have to talk to someone in order to be sponsored, most players are happy to do it if asked. The community aspect is definitely a feature, not a bug. Also being a self-starter and a keen explorer is definitely a plus for any city.

2015-11-11 23:22:58

So the only real question that I have on the game is do they have a sort of blind player map? Like a directory or something of that nature. I am Kale on the game, a new commoner of Parrius and an apprentice to the enchanters.

2015-11-12 10:46:28

The closest thing I've found are the zoom and nearby commands.  But as far as I know, there's no map specifically for blind players.  I wish there was, because I'm terrible with directions.  Even if they did something like Materia Magica does, where you get a sextant so you can see the coordinates you're at, that would make navigation a lot simpler.  Or even some kind of a textual description of the continent layout like, "From the center of Avalon, Mercinae is here, and Greenwood Forest is here," would help.
I imagine that given a lot of time, things will begin to look familiar to me.

2015-11-12 20:27:22

type textmap

:D happy to help out with games and the like... maybe :D

2015-11-14 01:54:26

Avalon just gains more awesomeness the longer you stay there.  I'm gaining new abilities and finishing up my badgs, really getting into things.  It's so much fun!
Even getting stuck in places causes you to learn.  People will tell you how to get unstuck, and it makes you realize you have even more skills than you thought.

2015-11-14 06:15:48

Ahoy all
Avalon is  a good mud when it comes to descriptions and such as I said in my previous post, but from what I've played of it so far it could certainly use some improvements

xoren wrote:

I thought the game was free to play, with payment only items and perks. This is not so -- you need to either subscribe or obtain sponsorship. On the surface, sponsorship may sound simple and straightforward, but I'm a very lone wolf type of player when I hop on to a new mud. I don't particularly seek out much interaction with other players, and I like to solve problems on my own. This means I don't really want to go running to other players begging for sponsorship -- I like remaining under the radar until I've had time to see whether or not I like a game, nor am I willing to subscribe to the game without knowing if I'll like it to begin with. I wish the pay-to-play nature of the game would've been mentioned in the novice intro text.

I couldn't agree with this enough. Either let the players know that the game requires subscription (periodical payments) or a player to sponcer them to continue to play this mud after a certain amount of time has passed.
And as for the mud requiring subscription/ sponcership I also have a suggestion.
Let the players at least finish getting started and then set a timer after which they'd need to either pay or get sponcered to continue playing. I haven't even chosen a city, nor a class/guild yet, and my time is up. Shrug where should I go asking for sponcership even before I've had a chance to choose where or what type of character I want to play,if I even want to continue doing it.
grryf

Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.
Follow me on twitter

2015-11-15 08:44:03

So I'm real lost on certain aspects of the game personally. Firstly some of the quests are super vague and I'm not sure what or how I should be doing anything. Secondly the skills are also quite vague. I've been trying to figure out the laboring and farming skills, but I've been sucking. Lastly combat. I just suck at it  or something lol. I'm not sure what I should be doing.

2015-11-16 00:21:21

I hope there is room on this particular band wagon, sinse Well methinks it's time for me to give the game a go, so I'll punch up Vipmud and do that big_smile.

On the sponsorship thinng, actually it's mentioned in the manual as I recall. I can't say it's something that bothered me particularly.

I'll admit I'm a bit of a solo exploration sort of fellow myself, indeed the rangers might just suit me though I want to try things out first but from what I gathered sponsorship doesn't take being a social butterfly, and I'm not against paying subscriptions myself for a game so long as the game is worth it.

My ony miner concern is speed of text processing for combat, sinse while I enjoy a little bit of mob murder while I'm off wandering I'm not keen on games where i need to be having my voice set so stupidly fast to keep up I miss all the atmosphere and descriptions. Clok and Wayfare 1444 were fine, Aardwolf a little too quick in places, and Epitaff (at least at one point), too much though mostly due to it's habbit of chucking so many numbers at you at once, but this is a question I can't answer without experience and there is one way to do that.

Actually from reading the manual one thing I really! liked the sound of in avalon was the ability to try out different skills, classes (or whatever they're called),  and abilities before you make a final choice, sinse while I know broadly speaking the sort of stuff that I tend to be interested in doing in muds, it will depend upon how the game works.

As I said, I tend to be a lone explorer and questing type, perhaps with a little prospecting, light combat or occasional crafting. I don't mind saying hi to other players, but I'm not exactly sociable either and would always rather be off in the wilds.

I'll let people know my character name when I've got going.

Edit: My character is  Esmund, I've done the first accalade however while doing the second I have run into a miner problem, sinse I can't find my way back to the blasted orphanage! one of the few problems with the guide system is it makes it rather hard to find your way back.
I thought I had found it, but it seems to be the school instead which is somewhere else as I gather.

I don't mind this, but a where command like alter's could be useful.

I've tried textmap and it hasn't worked for some reason, so I'm rather wandering around at the moment. it doesn't particularly matter, however I am a little concerned if my newbie time runs out before I've solved where I'm going, sinse while as I said above I'm entirely happy with subscribing to a game, I'd ratherknow what the game itself is about before I begin.

Edit the second: okay, as it turned out I was looking for the orphanage in the right place, just some crazy bug wasn't letting me back in to finish my  accolade, but a very kind player (I think she was an admin), helped me out.

I'll head back tomorrow and continue on the noob hood.

Oddly enough, when i type credits I'm told I have 8.8  hours of credits left, so I presume that it's more than five hours, which is good sinse I'd like time before I make my mind up about the game or start requesting sponsorship or whatever.

one thing I really like, is the way your   just given lessons as time goes on, which means you can be doing one thing and improve at another. I've not started levelling any skills yet sinse it seems a bit silly until i decide what I want to be doing or unless I need any for any quests etc, particularly sinse I  this sort of running around and questing and exploring that the novice quests are made of is just my cup of tea so I want to get as complete a look and do as much of it as I can.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2015-11-16 04:29:59

@Cody

To learn about a skill type:
ab farming potatoes
for example.  It will tell you about the skill, and also how to perform the commands you need to interact with the skill.

The quests are hard, but players are really helpful if you ask on the novice channel.  Also, you can ask there for a mentor, and they should be able to help you learn a lot about the game.

2015-11-16 13:37:52

hi

@dark,

to find your school for the accolades just type academy or zoom academy, not sure wich of the two it was. and after the academy accolades you will have to complete at least two easy tasks for the school. you can get there by typing zoom school.

i at first also had difficulties with it, but the most is easier than people expect.

i personally joined the loremasters guild and i really ahve to complete more badges, i still have three.

hth

greetz mike

Visit the following website to see what games we have:
http://www.nonvisiongames.com
Or the following English marketplace to see what retrogames and game merchandise I am selling:
https://www.retro-kingdom.com

2015-11-16 17:30:21

@pelantas, It was the orphanage I was having trouble with, not the school, sinse it seems you can only enter with someone, which is a pain when you'e lost the mob guiding you.
Still, that is done now and I have completed my four accolades and am about to move on to the school.

I don't know what guild or class thus far, so I want to spend a lot of time at the school doing courses, experimenting and and working things out, indeed I'm tempted to try a subscription to get more time and lessons, though I'm not really sure what the difference between the silver and gold subscription is sinse both mention the same amount of lesson ganes and such.

I also am a little irritated at the meet place avalon forum sinse it has one of those stupid, inaccessible, irritating graphic captures. I attempted to contact the admins and request a profile setup but guess what? The contact form has another one!
Really whoever designed those deserves a punch up the hooter.

This is actually one area where there could definitely! be some access improvements, either with an audio  alternative, or ust with a way to request profile creation.

Btw, I agree with brad, a text map would be very nice, ie, something similar to Empire mud that showed the room titles around you the way the ascii does, sinse right now I keep getting to places and wondering where the exits go and while the rooms are wonderfully distinctive and the description is truly awesome, it'd be nice nnot to have to duck into several exits to find where I am.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2015-11-17 01:37:39

Dark,
Contact [email protected] and they'll help you set up for the meetplace forum.  They were really nice about it, and they said they'll look into adding audio captchas. I think the more blind players they have, the more likely they are to do it.

You can also type "moving exits" and that will give you a list of visible exits every time you move.

I have the bronze subscription for $8 a month, and it seems fine to me.  You get plenty of lessons, so if you just want to try things out, you might try that one.

2015-11-17 03:01:44

thanks Mirage.
It actually seems you can't subscribe with more than the bronze at the start anyway so I'll tsee where things go.

i confess the forestry course I'm finding both fun and a little frustrating.
Fun because I love the exploring, frustrating because unlike in Clok it seems there is a real! scarcety. I've only found a few herbs, and never found any poisons, let alone a bore, rabbit or fox to try skinning.
Just to make things even more annoying, I quit and then logged back in to find all my herbs missing. I didn't think i could put them in the pouch because it said the pouch was just for prepared herbs and I needed unprepared ones for the coursee, so there goes all my work. Well I never planned to get a speed award for the course, I'll just have to try to gather a lot instead.

Methinks the distribution in this game needs a little tweaking especially of animals, sinse right now I admit the searching and not! finding is boardering more towards the frustrating end of exploring than the fun end, which is not good, again, this was something I always liked in Clok, you had to look for herbs or trees or whatever, but you could always find them after not too much time.

I'll try again tomorrow and hopefully have more luck.

On the plus side, my abortive and unsuccessful attempt at squirrel murder did let me know combat is not too fast or too spanny, and the balance system seems rather nice, though I'll get more into that I expect wen I try the milicia course.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2015-11-17 07:15:50

There don't seem to be as many animals in the forests as you'd think there would be.  But I read somewhere that they're working on a massive development of Avalon, bigger than anything they've done in the 25 years it's been up.  So hopefully things will smooth out soon.

2015-11-17 10:32:42

Well if there is this sort of scarcity of animals, maybe ranger won't be as fun as I thought it would, indeed that is why I went for the forestry course first though I do plan to do all the courses to see different activities and get a better idea of the game before I make a  decision about guilds or classes.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2015-11-17 10:59:32

I have been enjoying myself thoroughly, but I ran out of time as a novice, have no idea of whether or not I want to stay in the city, and have no clue of what guild I would like to join. I'm sitting here trying to figure out who I should tag to ask for sponsorship.  I feel so lost because I have so many decisions to make and I can be annoyingly shy about asking a random person for something like this.

2015-11-17 14:57:17

I looked into sponsorship myself before deciding to just pay the intro rate and see how I found things.
As far as I can determine you can get sponsorship from an organization, and don't need to buttonhole anyone specifically, indeed there seem to be specific people, places and channels for that in the ministry of public relations. I'm not sure how you go about it if your novice time has run out, but from what I gather it shouldn't be an issue just so long as your an active player.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2015-11-17 21:27:47

@Mektastic
Just do something like this.
NN I'm looking for sponsorship, and I'm not sure where I want to be in terms of city or guild. Can someone help?

The "NN" is for talking on the novice channel, and you will find so many helpful players.  Don't worry about asking for sponsors.  Cities and guilds are fairly wealthy, and it benefits them more to sponsor you than it does you to be sponsored by them.

2015-11-17 21:29:57

@Dark
Ranger will be an awesome choice.  I'm getting the impression you may see more animals as you travel further in Avalon.  Some of my druids were looking for starving animals, and they could see moose, bulls, etc., when I couldn't see them.
Also, you have a ton of cool skills and abilities as a ranger.

To me, the magic of Avalon is that you don't see everything immediately.  So the world just keeps expanding, new things keep happening, you keep getting new abilities, and it never gets old.

2015-11-18 00:40:12

Hey all,
I also play avalon
I am Kalvin on their and on the sponsorship thing, once you get sponsored once, it will auto renew itself, once it runs out so you won't need to ask a player all the time to renew your sponsorship I am part of silverfalls, and am part of the cintonals guild which is part of the loremaster profession, and I love this game as well I am using agarwain's, sound pack for mush client, and am loveing it I agree the player base is very nice and very frendly. If you all have any questions, Please ask.
Thanks
Kevin Roberts