ooosh - sorry for the downtime. an attempt to install a user-made area (daos' nikitak clocktower) caused the MUD to crash...which means the area needs some serious examination before it can be put in. anyway, she should be back to life ASAP. phone is ringing like crazy over here, so it may take me a bit.

and what were you doing online on xmas day anyway? it's still even hannuka! shame on you.

anyway. doing my best, etc, not sure what made it crash yet so trying to untangle it is turning out to be a pain in the butt. i thought it was repeated vnums (most common problem) but for some reason, she will not come back to life yet.

if i can get her up by tonight, there's going to be a small holiday thing going on. if not...maybe new years.

//EDIT

okay, we're back! not sure quite what caused that, but it was deffinitly something in daos' new area. i'll check it in more detail when i have the time (hopefully later today, but ...don't get your hopes up)
there appears to be a *small* amount of lag. BUT!
holiday thingie
everyone (alts included, within reason. please don't apply like...5 alts) may ask for a single custom item for their holiday gift. this item may not contain bonuses, and bonuses may not (at this time- maybe later) be used to buff the item. it can be custom armor, a custom weapon, a random item, etc.

the only rule is keep it simple. for example...
-a flaming sword (a long bladed weapon simply called 'a flaming sword') is okay
-a sword that is programmed to randomly speak or to shower sparks at the entrance of a guard to the room? is not.

you can either leave your holiday wish-items in a comment here (on this entry) OR
post them as a note to the north tek noteboard.

hope your holidays are happy!

check it out! Mantid's first area, the Honeybee Fields has gone in.

it's a relatively low level area (from the time you leave the city -> your early teens) and is located through the low fields. Remember those gates that mentioned a farm, but never lead anywhere? farm's there now!

being a first area, there's a few glitches...mostly related to monster location. these will be ironed out later on, but for the time being if you want to siiiiiidle on in there and slaughter every living thing, it'd be very helpful :D

make sure you thank mantid and check it out for her sake!

the underwater city of bishirii is done!

highlights include...
- sleeve armor that kicks butt
- new pets
- bracers that could compete with rigg's
- a queen who *sometimes* drops glory
- a ruby bastard sword ;o
- a mage's dagger

and a slew more stuff. it's in the 20s, but some of the items can be got at different levels. just make sure you're vis, because not all the mobs can see invis.

and because the work-map cracks even me up, i did a scan of it. it also contains a rough sketch of a buis, so there's that too.
( building map ahoy! )

okay folks, FG should be fully cleaned up and tweaked and in! so go get lost in hedgemazes and attacked by swarms of gnats!

in addition, the Explorer's Order is almost ready to go - so if you were planning on entering be sure to talk to minita about the details, as she's the leader!

on another build-related note, here's the updated area-list. if you signed up to build an area on this list but have found you haven't got the time or it's too tough, PLEASE TELL ME so i can keep the list accurate! and yes, i have added some new areas to it.

( areas wanted )

i'm also taking down a list of edits/ideas, including a bunch of mobs that will drop glory coupons (but only if you are below a certain level!) to encourage exploration of other areas. if you've got some good ideas for tweaks or edits (ie, nazir had a great idea for doors that are revealable on detect hidden) leave it here and i'll give it consideration and whatnot. yop.

finally! ronin's new area forbidden grounds has been fully installed!

well, except for the chance of minor bug fixings needed. but basicly, you can walk in! it's off toadstool in valburg, so gear up for some spooking.

additionally, there was some light tweaking done to the valburg library to make it a bit prettier. also, progi now has a glory coupon - as does the nihilith.

well
at least
sometimes...

firstly: there are apparently some connection issues today.  people are timing out (me included) and can't access the dune.net website to get any word on what's going down. i'm still able to get into the system files etc though. go figure! anyway, if you're lagging badly or timing out, know it's not just you.

secondly:new area! ronin's new area, the BLACK LAKE is now up and accessable. it's found north of the northern wastelands and leads up to ew ork. ho ho! do you know what this means? DO YOU? it means we're officially ONE area away from someone being able to walk around the world!

check it out for icey cold water and funky fish. :V

horray! tweaks and fixes!

all you gaki thank the nice codelizard lady now!
gaki can now train their blood. not only that, items can now be made that raise gaki max blood. i warn you, training your blood can get pretty costly. but it's POSSIBLE now.

everyone also thank the newly forming explorer's group who have created several new maps for your use. namely:
-the valburg theatre
-the pine barrens
-the nikitak mines
-the dark pooka forest

annnnd they are working on cleaning up maps of the oceans. speaking of the oceans, thanks to this group, the coral sea and cloud sea are now connected again so you can go play with harrietfish and donfish and fishrapers again if you so please.

yyyyyyup :B
------------------
EDIT

old gaki loading in will be hit with an odd bug! fortunately it's an easy fix. your bp will appear as 11, regardless of what it was before. go to an immortal and ask them to mset (you) maxblood (whatever your bp used to be). this is the only time you should be hit with this bug, theoretically, so just ...:D yeah. come ask us to fix you and it takes a half second to do.

minor tweaking...

khtall has been doing some work on the way gaki get blood, so if all goes well in the near future gaki will be able to get items that buff their max blood...or even train it!

all the keys in the pyramid will no longer disappear when you quit the game (they'll stay in your inv)

hightower no longer drops ten zillion collars when you kill him

banana ghosts can no longer crash the entire game with their RECKLESS RHUMBAING

aaaaaaaaaand i updated the wanted area list for interested parties.
-------------
EDIT
yeep! something with the blood-tweak has SERIOUSLY messed with spells. at risk of people losing their adepted/practiced spells, the game is wizlocked until it can be fixed...

fixed! it's safe to come back in.

it's a productive day! two new areas!

first, ronin's fabled pyramid has been completed. if you've already beat mourning mountain, you know the room that leads to the pyramid steps. it's an 'avatar killer' in ronin's own words, so be sure not to go alone...and be SURE to have a LOT of map paper with you. however, the reward for 'beating' it is...superb, to say the least :D so give it a shot.

the other is my hightower hotel, a level 20/30ish area in ew ork which replaces the training park. haunted hotel - CHECK! IS THERE SOMEONE HERE WHO WOULD LIKE TO COMMUNICATE? while not so big, this area has a ton of details (so many that i forgot all the ones i put in and it spooks ME out from time to time) so be sure to examine, prod, poke and mess with everything...CAUTIOUSLY. if you hear the elevator about to fall? i highly reccomend HAULING BUTT OUT OF THE SHAFT.

some highlight items at hightower include:
a TAPS hat
plushes of the star wars RP crew
a new Stone Man
an item that allows you to use the 'wolf' polymorph
an edible dead rat
the long awaited MANA RESTORING BANANA

also i noticed that the stone men were no longer telling their stories. well, they do now. so now if you take their items you get to hear a little about the pre-history of sabrous. only one more stone man is left in the realms to be added...dun dun dunnnnnnnn...

is nazir a workaholic?

yes, yes he is. he's created a second area already, the Pine Barrens, which is pretty mellow and about level 20-30ish. you can reach it by going straight out the east gate of Valburg...or up through the north-east corner of the dark pooka forest. ever seen the pine barrens in new jersey? oh, that's right, sabrousians are from all over the world. okay, envision a forest of nothing but sandy soil and stunted pine trees. sounds like nothing fantastic, but it's eerie and has hosted its own score of funky creepy hicks for years and years...not to mention the jersey devil!

also, since a bunch of people showed interest in making areas, here is a list of 'needed' areas!
( areas wanted )

any questions, feel free to ask. also, pryth, feel free to design a layout for your order/guild's HQ or even build the rooms themselves and i'll program them for you when i get a chance.

badabing badaboom ladies and germs. two, count 'em two new areas went in.

first, the Dark Pooka Forest. Nothing really special about it, a level 30ish forest south of Valburg's fields. a good leveling alternative to the catacombs, i'm hoping. the real announcement is in the next area.

the BIG new area is Mourning Mountain, by thegreyronin. You may know Ronin as the GM, Nazir, Chessi, Jakyl...well, let's just say he's been around a while. Yep, it's our first user-created area and DAMN is it a big one. there's tons to explore, but i'll leave it up to ronin to do the crowing about it. i just plugged it in. he built the monster! You get to it by going south straight through the dark pooka forest. And he's begging for feedback, so please have a ball.

( Now I know you're all asking 'can I build an area too?' )