The FAQ

[Nightwind]

Tis not entirlly my place, but this is as good a time as any to put a topic for it. If others sticky it, then so be it.

What do you think should be in the FAQ?

What needs to be removed?

[antares]

I suppose this is the topic that comes from the newbie forum, and where the problem of wether the "clever" language was difficult to non-native english speakers was arisen.

I put here what I would have ansewered in the newbie forum had I not looked for this new topic :wink: . It all depends on your language level. I read quite well now nearly any kind of idiomatic writting (thees, thous, wannas, gottas, y'e luv, etc) except texting :oops: , but I still remember the first time I encountered "ye wan' g'ome, my gaol?" in a book... :? It can be very, very hard to pick up some of the funny sides if your english level is basic to normal.

Staff and players are extremely helpful, I'll never thank them enough for that, but unfortunaltely, people are too often answered with "find out by yourself". But precisely, if they don't understand what's written, how can they ever find out?

[White Knight]

I think that part of the problem (for me, at any rate) is that it has never been firmly established what, exactly, is a game secret. Thus, people are afraid to tel a newbie something for fear of being banned. I think that we need to specify (in general terms, of course) what are game secrets. For example:

GAME SECRETS
These may not be discussed in open forums, village sguares, or the gardens at any time.

* The results of a successful dragon slaying (beyond the obvious advance in title)
* Adding colors to your messages

Etc.

[JCP]

What is so hard about "game secrets"?

If you can find out something by exploring or actually doing it, then that's what you need to do.

And it's already addressed in this forum post (http://lotgd.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=86).

Also: yes, the FAQ is irreverent. It was written in simpler times when the answers were much more obvious and we were trying to use humor to deal with the situation of being constantly asked obvious questions.

Catscradler has done an excellent job of preserving the original tone of the FAQ as he has modified it to meet the new questions that come about as the game increases in complexity.

Also also: The FAQ is part central specific and part universal-to-lotgd at the moment.

We do try to focus on actual code based questions about how the game works, instead of ones about Central's unique policies. The FAQ is distributed along with the source, so one that is specific to Central's style is not appropriate at the moment.

We will eventually need a better FAQ system, but until we get one, please bear in mind that we really won't be able to address how Central handles things differently in the FAQ. (Again, I'm sure there are exceptions to this.)

Also the 3rd: Good players should never live in fear of being banned. If you don't know the proper answer to a question, ask a moderator or petition. Accidentally revealing a game secret should not be an instant-ban offense. (Though arguing with a mod over the secret or its deletion could be.)

[White Knight]

Okay, see, that's good. That tells me exactly what I need to know. Thank you.

[Catscradler]

Finally, something that I can comment with knowledge on! Not that I'm guessing on any of the other stuff. No way. Well, usually not. Where was I again? Oh yes, the FAQ.

First of all, thanks for the compliment JCP!

Secondly, I have to go against JCP on one point. The FAQ that is distributed with the game is as universal-to-lotgd as I've been able to make it. As a matter of fact, the FAQ only talks about "core code" (stuff that will be there no matter what) and makes no mention of any "modules" (add ins such as forest events, travels, most of the shops on Central) or game settings that can be changed (except for a few lines of code that Kendaer/Moonchilde has added that change with those settings).

Did you know that there is only one hard-coded place in the core code where you can spend gems?

The exceptions are the Travel section which automatically (and only) activates when multiple cities are turned on, and the Site Rules which is a module only installed on Central.

That's the explanation of why so much of it seems so very general.

[Elessa]

perhaps, then, there should be two FAQs. one that addresses the core game as it does now, and one that is configurable/adaptable to be made specific to a server by its admin.

there are times when i see questions being asked that are indeed specific to central and i believe that life might possibly (provided the players actually read) be made a little easier on staff if there was an FAQ that would address them.

yea, i know, i hath seen staff point to the forums. there is sooooo much information to be waded through to reach answers. and yea, i know there is the thread with all the commonly asked questions, but i think a faq with a synopsis could be useful.

[antares]

If it is not too difficult to implement, it might be a good solution

(Elessa, you're a treasure) :D

[JCP]

It's on the "to do" list.

Which means, of course, relatively little since the list is quite long, there are more priority items, and the time "to do" the "to do" list is very limited.

[antares]

It's still better than have it in the "to dump" list. :lol:
Thanks.

[Pwyll]

Regarding Game Secrets - there are things that are not game secrets (or at least were not) that have gradually come to be treated as such. One example is something that can happen in the mines. JCP himself clearly stated somewhere in these forums that if you die in a mine cave-in, your mount can be killed as well. That's right, you can lose your mount and JCP said so. But in a recent thread about the mines, everyone tiptoed around that subject as though it were a game secret. There are probably other examples. Having the questions that should not be answered explicitly set forth somewhere would be good to avoid confusion.

[White Knight]

Thank you, Pwyll. That's what I was striving for.

[Fionnabhair]

Regarding Game Secrets - there are things that are not game secrets (or at least were not) that have gradually come to be treated as such. One example is something that can happen in the mines. JCP himself clearly stated somewhere in these forums that if you die in a mine cave-in, your mount can be killed as well. That's right, you can lose your mount and JCP said so. But in a recent thread about the mines, everyone tiptoed around that subject as though it were a game secret. There are probably other examples. Having the questions that should not be answered explicitly set forth somewhere would be good to avoid confusion.

If you're referring to the mine thread I started, I wasn't referring to the death of my mount as the extraordinarily rare event that occurred in the mines. Something else happened.

You bring up a good point. I think the moral is that if we're going to use the rule of thumb that anything not mentioned in the FAQ is a game secret, we're going to run the risk of treating lots of things as game secrets when they are not. I don't think that's really that big of a problem - it just means that players who haven't had the time to sift through backlogs of MoTDs and forum threads are going to have to figure a few more things out by themselves, and that's not so bad. Hey, it's even the point of the game.

[Syrius]

Well, I kinda thought that if it wasn't in the FAQ (which is a lot) it was a game secret. If you pretty much had to work it out youself, it's a game secret.
Sure, the line can be blurred (the forums are a little more relaxed about secrets) but hey, thats the fun of it.
Also, players are allowed to ask staff (using the lovely Petition for Help link) about things that may be secretive, for example if you *did* do/look/check something and *still* didn't know the answer, we can help you.

Clear as mud? Good. :wink: