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I just feel really sorry for the new players that are being let in at the moment, for being new is hard enough, but to also have to deal with the drought, that would be really tough.
Okay, now I really don't want to gripe....but Im going to put my two cents in here because everyone knows I just cant shut up sometimes...okay, here goes
1) Instead of just throwing one big quest, at one time at everyone, that afffects soo much ((because you obviosuly knew people were going to gripe and complain)) perhaps maybe many many many should be thought up..simple quests, and waiting to be discovered. Perhaps one day you chop a tree down and get a book that has directions on where to find buried treasure, along with medium sized quests i.e. a god vows one of the guilds to perform a certain task for them, and then of course the rare all mighty entire community quests, like big annoying droughts.
2) The statement of "You arent helping, you are just complaining, yadaa yadaa yadaa" Well, some of us have strange hours and can only ask the same people so many times before we get tired of the same answer, and from I can see ((and i very well could be wrong)) Information and such on the quests is all passed down through a grapevine, so if you are not in the loop you dont really hear about it. Why cant a random person get some info at a library....it just seems when info/important things are made in the game, everyone immediately has easy access to them.
3) This is my own personal mean gripe. In the off topic forum I had posted some rather untasteful and even lued comments, and was formally warrned that I would be banned if I did it again. I do feel bad for it to this day....But now I am wondering, are all these people who are using actual vulgar, nasty, not allowed in school, and would affend your mother words getting in any type of trouble? If not I feel very targerted and rather angry.
4) To all those complaining about this crappy drought...this is crap, and so on....If it bothers you, dont quit the game completely, nor keep playing, just simply take a break until the quest is over. Easier on you, frees up more of your time, and doesnt get the GM's mad at you.
Okay, to any of those who actually read this far, thank you.

Belegi you're totally right.
I joined this quest just about 4 days ago and I'm having a lot to do it's very exciting. Just ask someone who is involved in all this and I am sure he/ she will tell you what you can do.
Just don't ask Elaralith, she will tell you to burn it all and kill everyone Just kidding! You have a choices to make and that's a hard thing to do. It's getting harder every day. You have to be sure that you don't tell you're foe anything important and you can't be sure who is your friend and who's your foe.

I don't know why you're complaining, it's exciting. And I thank god..well no... I thank the gms that they are doing it. And I thank everyone who is involved in all this, a special thanks to Darlok because it can't be easy to be so mean all the time

Well anyways if you need something just ask, someone will have what you need and if not just do anything else, there is a lot stuff to do!

As Keikan said "It's all up to YOU"

Not meaning to go off topic but the answer to your question is simple Dahketh. There is an ocean. A drought nevertheless will dry up an ocean. The ocean or "sea" as you would or may call it is abundant with fish life. So the fish swim up the stream that is still deep enough thus you can catch fish.

I have to agree with the others. This quest is quite fun. The gm's have put alot of time into this and it seems they are fairly active too. Each day I at least see two a day logging on the change the map perhaps in the "primitive" way without a map editor. This takes some time clicking on the tile you want to change and then clicking on the one to change it back. I may be mistaken since they may be using a map editor. I've got to thank you gm's for taking the time to make such a great quest work. I think by signing up for this game you come to roleplay not just sit around and work to become a master smith or miner. So please, if you don't like the quest, leave for a while and check back to see if it's over or just quit completely. There will be more quests in the future. And the gm's don't need more complaining on them. I remember a few months back about people saying that in game it was so dull. So now something is being done. Had to get my say in this. Thanks to the whole illarion staff.

The thing about the intellegence and puzzle solving is that *most* people in RL middle ages, and medieval fantasy arent exactly rocket scientists

The thing about the intellegence and puzzle solving is that *most* people in RL middle ages, and medieval fantasy arent exactly rocket scientists

Yeah? So this would undo the possibility for a action quest, considering that most of the people in medieval times were not master swordsmen or wizards.

I we get this realistic, the only quest we'd be having would be 'Cultivating new types of Rye' and something similiar.

@arkadia- Yea that would be nice if they had quests that are started by some little random event, but if that will happen it will probably be done after the GMs are done doing some of the more important tasks right now (ex: map editor)

haha, and i like how you worked in your own personal arguement

@Arkadia 1)

I somehow agree and disagree with your statement. There should be more "simple", almost "tiny" quests, but is it up to the GM´s to develope them? We, as players, can create those quests as well, as long as the GM´s are busy with more important things. Sure, it would be great to have some technical "possibilities" to do such quests, but look, all a GM can do what we can´t do is to change the map, summon monsters, warp around and send messages to all players (ok, some other things as well, but nevermind). Do we really need those possibilities for small scale quests?

I have some ideas for tiny quests, including a hostage crisis, a treasure hunt (already played it once, was sort of fun to see some newbies digging for a treasure chest I had in my inventory...), a robbery of an important artefakt including the extinction of a gang of robbers etc. All you need to make those quests reality is a secondary character you can "waste", maybe some goods, ICQ for the coordination and of course some players! And fantasy & imagination!

Anyone who is interested in such "tiny" quests, maybe we can assemble a group of players who somehow feel responsible for such matters. I would offer my help, maybe we even get some support from the GM´s, but maybe this isn´t the right topic to discuss this.

Yours Belegi

Im not saying that the GM's should be making all the quests....I thoroughly agree that players should be RP'ing their own quests and that they should send ideas to the GM's....but if I wish to play a tiny or even medium based quest, I really would not like to have to create it myself ((takes some of the fun out of it)) or wait for other illarion players to create one and key me into it....they are far too lazy and would rather complain than rp and have fun. I have done my best to rp with people to make their time and my own time in Illarion as fun as possible ((ask drathe, my sworn enemy in game....we hate each other in game, but have a hoot and a great time when we end up going at each others throats)) There comes a point when I slowly get drained from rp'ing non stop ((or so it seems)) and when a quest comes along I seem to play little or no part in it. How long were the monsters gone before the ogre cave was actually created??? or when a hint was even dropped in the library? The drought was around a while before any decent information came available. These huge, overwhelming quests are getting rough to do for the players, and I honestly would rather sit in sand and stare at the sun than to ponder up a kooky rp quest of my own. Since I think I have lost myself in this rant, My point is, I believe if the little quests are left to the players to create, the situation will be the same. Now, I do appreciate the work the GM's do to create these quests, but not to sound rude, but the elements should be in place before it starts. Running around the island looking for where the monsters were hiding or being held captive was a pain, and angers me that I spent so much time searching the island when an answer could not even be found. ((or I could just be stupid, which happens alot))

It just seems to me that in this quest we are only acting out a predetermined storyline and not really deciding the story by roleplaying
I do not see the miriad of options that are suppose to be possible
First I hear some people went and destroyed the altar, but it is still there.
Then some people went to take the altar, but it does not go away
A lot of people go to ruin the construction everyday, but that does not work

Every logical option is just cast aside by the simple explanation that 'there are rotworms guarding it'. It all just sounds like such a weak explanation for a flawed plan to take over the island. The only option that makes progress is to build the castle, which brings instant results. It looks like that was the intended story and the only option that is supported by results in the actual game
I just dont see any other outcome affected by our actions
Players just see doing anything as useless and so they just wait for the castle to be built and see what happens next

I agree with you Albernon. This quest just doesn't seem to be affected by the majority of the players! I also think this is the cause of the griping here. This quest while it affects the whole island cannot be affected by most of the players. This quest seems to me to be controlled by only a few select players (cough Darlok) who get the GMs to change things and are really the ones that "do" this quest. That is the main problem the way I see it-> the quest runs from actions of a small group of players and isn't affected by the main group which it affects too though.

Good examples by Albernon: The altar is burned and hacked and nothing happens. The castle is burned and Rped as being smashed by hammers and nothing happens...

I have been away for a while, it got boring to simply shift click or to just talk to people all day but this desert quest is great. Not being able to mine means you have to conserve your resources and not waste them making tons of long axes. It also has made Role-playing much more interesting when you're just sitting around talking and you can talk about the heat and drink or you can talk about the lack of trees or Darlok's demands and such.

Problem is you can only talk about it and hear other people talking about it so many before it just becomes trivial and then find that there's not much to actually do about it and not any interesting change in the story
Hell most english players dont even know the story or know Darlok before this. It just seemed to pop out of the blue
And people pretty much realize that the resources will come back one day so their price wont get bid up much

@ roke
So, before this drought all you did was work and not interact and not rp with characters.......funny...before the drought i seemed to rp far more than I ever worked..so..hmm..maybe you shouldnt place everyone in that catagory that you seem to fall into so well hun

Albernon,

first of all, i dont see where Flames where able to burn or destroy stones.
(Than half of Trolls Bane has to be 'destroyed')
Than, no GM ever said that there are Rotworms arround and that you are not allowed to try to destroy the Castle.
This is your own Roleplay and you should deal with it (it isnt even unlogic).

Than, in case you did not notice it. The workings stopped each time someone (in my opionion horribly played) destroyed the tools.
We even removed things from the Castle.

Second, destroying the altar, who said it is not destroyed/intact.
Should we write "Remainings of a former Altar" when you click at its location?


Slowly i belive the better the game gets, the lazyier the Players become.


By the way, the Informations of the dought where there, shortly after it started, but it had to be "shouted at your face" (even with a Broadcast) to make you react.


If you want to watch a movie and later talk about a great storyline, go to the cinema.
In Illarion you have to be a active part in order to create a great storyline.

The quest is great, even thou I'm personally not involved in it, yet.
I might be later to some extent.

First of all I don't think it's a "must be" for everyone to solve the quest.
You are free to place your char anywhere in the quest/story.
I don't see it as a competition to solve the quest, but an event that
causes interaction between players.
You can side with Darlok or oppose him.
I don't think its 100% certain it will all be over so soon.

I would be pro-drought even if the drought would be a natural one and not caused by magic.It's simply fun with with variations and events.

You can complain to the gods about the weather all you want, but I doubt they'll listen.
To put it short, great work GM's, don't bother your time with pointless whinings, get back to that programming instead.

You dont need things on the landscape to actively change when you do something to them,there are many many great oppertunities for quests without doing this and you can pretend the altar is destroyed, yes sometimes a visual aid is a nice touch, but it dosent need to be there, use your imagination.

Arkadia Misella wrote:@ roke
So, before this drought all you did was work and not interact and not rp with characters.......funny...before the drought i seemed to rp far more than I ever worked..so..hmm..maybe you shouldnt place everyone in that catagory that you seem to fall into so well hun

I never said I only worked, in fact before that I "worked" probably half an hour for every 3 hours of interaction.

Keikan Hiru wrote:Albernon,

first of all, i dont see where Flames where able to burn or destroy stones.
(Than half of Trolls Bane has to be 'destroyed')

I dont remember saying anything about burning stones, but certainly stones is not the only thing needed to make a castle stand

Keikan Hiru wrote: Than, no GM ever said that there are Rotworms arround and that you are not allowed to try to destroy the Castle.

Yes, anybody can try anything in any situation. Success is a different matter

Keikan Hiru wrote: Than, in case you did not notice it. The workings stopped each time someone (in my opionion horribly played) destroyed the tools.
We even removed things from the Castle.

I only noticed it once yesterday. But somehow it seems construction will move faster than destruction, no matter the fact that destruction is much easier.

Keikan Hiru wrote: Second, destroying the altar, who said it is not destroyed/intact.
Should we write "Remainings of a former Altar" when you click at its location?

I can ask the same about the castle. But of course the castle gets a change everyday but other actions not intended dont get attention for results.
The point is that the intended way the story is to go is already fairly obvious to most players, so its only a matter of if you want to be an actor in a story thats already decided. Maybe I'm wrong, but if so then I dont think a very good job has been done on making the other options look feasable or available. It seems that one option is the intended one, and is the only one that is supported by results.

Sure I think this quests brings some good discussions between characters, but after you finish all that, people dont really see their actions making a difference to the intended storyline, despite the logic of their actions. I also find the success of the construction to be unlogical under the situation of being heavily outnumbered, so people would come and turn the castle to rubble again each time.

^_^ I think the idea of a mysterious drought like this is very interesting. I haven't played this game yet, but I can't wait to get started on it.

Of course I'll be trying to fix the drought since I want to be a druid (The character I have in mind is a lover, not a fighter... at least when there is not an urgent need) and lack of herbs would be a problem for someone with such an occupation.

I hope I can take part in this before it is over. I just gotta wait for my account request thingy. I already sent the answers to the questions (though question 2 confused me slightly) so now all i gotta do is wait. ^_^ I can't wait for my character to meet all of you guy's characters (did that make sense fully?) so that they can talk about the problem at hand.
I figure if "Epton" tries to learn as much about Trolls Bane as possible, then he can help.

To all of those who want to get a proper file what they can do while playing Illarion:

You can go out and search for herbs, for there are places, hidden places I regret, where you can find anything you need.

You can got out and search for quartz sand, for diamonds and topaz, sandberries and desert sky capsules, for there are places, hidden places I regret.

You can also make wine, if you saved some grapes instead of eating them.

You are right, some things don't work at the moment. But it was you that cut off the last apple tree and it was you who fished more than 1000 fishes out of the river to sell them here on the board. You are involved in this quest, of course and the quest is also used for some changes, yes.

And I promise, there are little changes every week, until the new "real deal" client will approach. Use the quest to make changes smooth ingame developments, for some changes might not fit to history in the first run.

But one thing you have to be sure: There will never be a change without anyone who would not wish that special change would not be done.

First something to Ark:

Arkadia Misella wrote:Im not saying that the GM's should be making all the quests....I thoroughly agree that players should be RP'ing their own quests and that they should send ideas to the GM's....but if I wish to play a tiny or even medium based quest, I really would not like to have to create it myself ((takes some of the fun out of it)) or wait for other illarion players to create one and key me into it....they are far too lazy and would rather complain than rp and have fun. I have done my best to rp with people to make their time and my own time in Illarion as fun as possible

As fun as possibel really sworn enemy yes it really looks like it. The illlarion players are not lazy maybe you should think not to play such rp so that you are involved in quest and not to put out because nobody likes it when you are involved because it made no fun when you are in, ever thinked this way? And only because you played a "war" or how you called it you are not a good rpgamer or such a person.

I don't unterstand why some people think this quest is shit befor the drought i saw people running around working, fighting, working... and every day only newbies .Do somebody know why are only newbies on the island because the rp died and maybe the older don't wan to come and look like everybody works.Everybody makes littel quest for 3 or 4 people nothing great we all should thank Darlok and the other People that was involved to make this rp possibel.
When somebody thinking "i don't want that a person makes me work so i shout that his things is shit maybe every return to normal and i can work and not rp" then maybe you should leave this game forever. Everyone should try to do involed him/herself in it and not to wait until someone is asking "hey the drought is shit but maybe we can solve it when we work together" never wait until you are asked only go in.yes some persons are not happy when somebody came in his or her quest but he/she must think about this and then the quest will end like it was planned when the person was really involved so key yourself in and not stand outside looking at the great things and when you can work in there so work there and not wait and complain.
This Game is for rpgamers (or such who want become one) and not for people that work the whole day when i want to work i can play an offline game but when i want to play rp and interact with people than (or then i don't know the really version) i go and play illa but before the drought nobody played rp because they worked (the most chars not all).
omething more yome found the quest like shit really ever thinked that now i have an esampel that you must solve something that you don't want.Look at an worldwar(i found that war is the wrong way but this is an esampel every unterstand) think it is a quest so do you think the nations want be involved?They not thinked "ohh war no i don't want to work against germany i don't want myself work so i stay here in my champanger bath" i'm sure nobody has thinked so .All i want to say is that in the worsest time everybody must work togethere in the quest if he wants to kill darlok or when he wants to build the castel but go from yourself in and not stand outside.
And Elatrilith (or what your name is) we all know that you are log when you are in danger so don't shout here something from rp that you cannot play look at the "sabotour" he can play rp and do it right and not like you going to a castel (that is surrounded from worms and fighter but not every as an unlimeted acces to the internet) and "rp" an burning of the castle.
I agree with Belegi, Keikan, Falk,Jose,..and others
(sorry i know that i'm not the best english writter but i think its understandable)

I think this quest has shown a dark side of human nature itself, there are no rescources left on the island, all the apples and cherries are gone all the tree's chopped down and all the vines stripped. We have shown the greed of ourselves and laid the land to waste, of course, this is what we are doing in RL aswell.

I personally think the changes are fantastic, so many more oppertunities and story's just waiting to be played, thank you very much.

I think this is all GREAT. I think this adds to the over all enjoyment of the game, altho some people do not like it, it's imposible to please everybody.

I mean, the land and town changes in game. It is not static and forever the same. It changes as the charcters change, as the people play the game. I mean yes, Drathe may hate the town walls and complain about their flaws, But I as the playerof Drathe love the fact, that thanks to the GMs our town does change and grow with sensible reasons, the land lives, dies and changes depending on how it is treated.
All in all and I am sure the older players will agree with me on this, there is no other game out there that makes you the player actualy feel part of it.

Even on the forums with the constant bickering and moaning, undernearth it all there is a strong and friendly comunity.
I hope the GM's keep up the good work just as I hope that they keep their heart in it.

Drathe is right about the last part. I may yell, be snotty, hateful, or stupid, but I still love ya'all bunches!

When I first noticed the drought coming I started gathering all the cherries, apples and grapes I could get my hands on. I wanted to be sure my depot was full of food because I did not know how long this drought would last.

But other than that I have really done nothing other than threaten Darlok with his life. (which I know my character could not do but it's fun to make the threats anyhow)

As far as actually solving the quest it is practically impossible to do anything about it until whoever made up the story line decides it is time for people to figure something out.

I agree with something someone said earlier. These huge quests are great but there could also be some smaller quests that individuals could solve on their own or maybe 2 or 3 people could team up to solve them.

Anyone can start a quest. The GMs don't need to be involved with it. If you want to have people look for treasure, leave hints here and there leading to the treasure. GMs don't need to approve of every quest, just find people that will play along, if you want a list of people that are good with ingame quests pm and I'll send you a fairly long list.
Secondly, I am fairly sure it is Darlok who started this quest. And the way I see it is, you can solve this quest many ways. Gather up an 'army' and attack Darlok's castle ruins and take it over, or siege it if you will (I think a siege would be funner, my character would be trapped inside yay!). You could try and assinate Darlok. You could try and talk with Darlok and buy him off. You could build his castle and it will stop (or will it?). You can do a ton of things, just use your imagination.

who says that the way to solving the over all quest is not a matter of solving a couple of smaller quests?

Grant Herion wrote:Anyone can start a quest. The GMs don't need to be involved with it. If you want to have people look for treasure, leave hints here and there leading to the treasure.

believe me, I've thought of many such quests. One I liked is kind of like a scavenger hunt. Hide items at various places all over the map and give 2 or 3 people a list and see who finds the most items. They will have to tell you the x and y coordinates of where they found it to proof they didn't just pull one out of their depot. The problem with this and a lot of "hidden treasure" type quests is you can't leave items lying around or they dissapear.

If someone is bored and comes up to me, i'll give them a quest to do, ususally its an item collecting one, where the items can be gathered from the monsters or bought.

One of the most complicated quests I figured out required 3 or 4 people and taking a skeleton to the zombie's. I then asked whoever wanted to go on the quest to retrieve my lamp from a hermit hiding in the ceremonial cave. In order to get the lamp he must defeat the skeleton in the zombie cave and bring its magic book. When he has the lamp and returns to me I do a little #me rubs the lamp and a genie appears. And then the genie tells me where the manastone is. I then turn to the individual and tell him if he gets this manastone for me I shall reward him. Thus he sets out to the shrine of zelphia where a lizard waits, he has to solve the lizards riddle and the manastone will appear, he then bring it to me gets rewarded and the quest is over.

Now, that is all possible without any GM's without leaving an item on the ground (the lizard drops the manastone) and can involve as many people as you want, you could have a single person on the quest or a party of people on the quest. Its all created with a little player imagination and co-operation.

So you see, greatly complex and involving quests are possible without GM's.

That isnt bad, the point im making is that after I may a couple up, I would somewhat get temporarly bored making them because I would know everything going on, and no one else in illarion really does things that like. Okay, I know a few do, but dang, there are a bunch that dont even bother to check the forum, and I think that reading the forum is almost as important as playing the game.