Bard Forum 6/7/99
Bardly talk with Lady Lyredaen

As Scribed by Lady Dremerie

>Lyredaen says, "Songowl says, 'One issue brought to my attention a lot is wondering what songs are being sung by the bard without having to go through the messy task of restarting them. Thus, I was wondering if we could have a 'songs' verb that shows us.'"
>Lyredaen says, "Well, traditionally it's been looked upon as any other spell list. We don't provide any profession with a verb that will show them what spells they happen to be wearing, other than what you can detect with Elemental Detection, for example."
>Lyredaen says, "I don't expect you'll see a utility that would do that for you to be honest."

>Lyredaen says, "Scarbarough says, 'Is there a limit to the number of ranks in an instrument you can learn based on your level?'"
>Lyredaen says, "Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. Age factors into the formula in two ways."
>Lyredaen says, "1) You get a bonus of sorts (learn a bit faster) if you are older, over 50 trainings."
Lyredaen says, "2) There is a limit to how many ranks you can learn, which rises as you get older in terms of levels. I'd have to ask Zamperon what he set those cutoff points at, I don't remember myself."
>Lyredaen says, "The goal when we designed instruments was not to give you something you could master in a weekend and then be forever bored with, but something that would grow with you and give you many months of enjoyment. And when you finish learning one class, you've got more to play with."
>Lyredaen grins.
>Lyredaen says, "And very soon you'll have another... but I'm not telling which one."
>Lyredaen whistles a complicated ditty, impressing you with her virtuosity.

>Lyredaen says, "Salisdiar says, 'Might we have an idea of the timetable for Lullabye? Or perhaps an idea of what is slowing it down? '"
>Lyredaen says, "We actually have some nice changes with a few things, as a result of the reorganization."
>Lyredaen grins.
>Lyredaen says, "Instead of just me plugging away at the song list, instruments and a myriad of other tasks, some having to do with bards and some not, there is now a group of 5 GMs dedicated to completing the lists to level 20 in short order."
>Lyredaen says, "That includes all bard songs to level 20."
>Lyredaen says, "So I expect you'll be seeing Lullabye within a relatively short amount of time. I can't, however, promise you a specific date and time"
>Banthis says, "We placed a cutoff of level 20 for the short term goal. Our mid term goals include spells up to level 50. Some of these however may stretch past 'mid term'."
>Lyredaen nods.
>Banthis says, "We basically have 11 spells to complete < 20th level."
>Lyredaen says, "In particular, our biggest concern is Song of Rage. To implement it will require modifications to every single creature in GemStone- no small feat, and more time consuming than I could begin to explain."
>Banthis says, "For all lists. With a fair margin on the bard list alone."

Lyredaen says, "Dremerie says, 'According to the published calendar, Cholen's Eve is the 14th of next month. With him being our patron god, is there any plans for events during that time? Anything that we Bards can help you with? And is there any other information about Cholen other than what's on the official scrolls? If not, how can we go about 'fleshing' him out?'"
>Lyredaen says, "Beyond the official Gods document, there are shrines and temples within the game. IceMule's in particular contains a good bit of information about each Arkati. You are free to roleplay around them as you wish, of course... but making things up on your own may not later match further official development on him."
>Lyredaen says, "As far as events go... the running of events falls largely to the Customer Experience team now, so that those of us on the Development side can keep our noses to the proverbial grindstone."
>Lyredaen grins.
>Lyredaen says, "But I feel sure that there will be celebrations on the holiday."
>A shaft of scintillating light suddenly pierces the ceiling and strikes the ground next to you. The beam of light then explodes in a shower of sparks and Altiron is standing in its place.
>Banthis says, "Since we just released this calendar, I am not sure how grand that might be."
>Lyredaen pokes Altiron in the ribs.
>Altiron says, "oops"
>Lyredaen nods.
>Lyredaen says, "I finished the CALENDAR and TIME verbs just this last weekend... so this is as new to us as it is to you. But the staff is extremely enthusiastic about finally having a real calendar."
>Lyredaen grins.

>Lyredaen says, "Quivalin says, 'Does getting an accomplishment in one type of instrument reset your progress toward your next rank in another instrument class?'"
>Banthis furrows his brow.
>Lyredaen says, "Nope. Learning ranks in one does nothing positive or negative to another class."
>Lyredaen says, "They are calculated completely independently of one another."
>Lyredaen smiles.
>Banthis frowns.
>Lyredaen says, "Morgatha and Lawless, please resubmit your questions. They poofed."
>Lyredaen grins.

>Lyredaen says, "Salisdiar says, 'Any way the instrument shop might be modified to allow for customization of color and material, as with say, the clothier or other shops in the Landing? I know from the boards that you plan on getting rid of this system as it is in the Landing, however, might there be another in the works to replace it? '"
Lyredaen says, "On that I can't say for sure. I can tell you that I plan on building shops for both Teras and Solhaven soon, so you'll have more variety in the everyday availability. But of course, I'll always run custom shops, too."
>Lyredaen grins.
>Banthis says, "It seems our question box is having similar problems as it was at the Simucon forum. I may have fixed the error, but if you notice your question is missing, please ask it again."
Lyredaen says, "Yes, we are going to be removing the "old" system, because it's based in c-code and very unmanageable. As far as future customization beyond what's available, I don't expect to see anything like that soon."

>Lyredaen says, "Morgatha says, 'is it possible to master an instrument class if you're under 50 levels.'"
>Lyredaen says, "I believe so, but I cannot equivocally state yes or no. As I said, Zamperon coded that piece and I don't remember the age, if he even told me what it was."
>Lyredaen says, "It would be pretty close to that, if not at least 50, however."

>Lyredaen says, "Lawless says, 'Given that bards are actively singing their songs, and -should- be able to tell which ones they're currently singing, wouldn't you think that makes the situation a bit different from the other spells where you have to detect them if you forget which have gone down or are up?'"
>Banthis says, "I believe the question has been answered, however if you all feel that the command is necessary, I'd suggest posting on your Bard forum so that your new liason can collate the requests."

>Lyredaen says, "Avantos says, 'regarding the sleeping folks who play intstruments just to gain ranks, the proverbial person sitting elsewhere, doing nothing, playing , just to gain ranks with no roleplay at all. Anything that will stop playing in the works if you dont say/do anything in a certain period of time?'"
>Lyredaen says, "Playing stops after several minutes by itself, unless you do something to renew it."
Lyredaen says, "As far as zombie scripting players, we built into the system a "diminishing return"- believe me, they aren't learning near as quickly as they think they are by playing nonstop."
>Lyredaen grins.
Lyredaen says, "Basically, once you play for a certain number of minutes, you stop learning til you quit and come back to it later."
Lyredaen says, "Been that way since the original implementation. It's one reason why I sort of grin at those who say "but I've played for 200 hours straight and I'm not getting anywhere!!!""
>Lyredaen grins.

Lyredaen says, "Salisdiar says, 'Wow, a third message, thanks for getting them! Well, if customization isn't on the plate, perhaps adding instrument cases to the list of items at the instrument shop(s)? '"
>Lyredaen says, "Cases and other instrumental accoutrement will probably always be the province of the custom merchanter."
>Lyredaen says, "If everything in the world was available every day, nothing would be very special."
>Lyredaen smiles.

Lyredaen says, "Lawless says, 'Also, some of the songs don't show up via detects - for instance, if you've used song of distraction on a monster you can't tell if it's up, and 1008 1015 and 1030 apparently don't show up via elemental detections...'"
Banthis says, "That's probably because those songs do not engage a spell effect on the singer. They are target only songs."
Lyredaen says, "In other words, you'd need to cast Edetect at the affected creature. I'll check on it later though, to see if it works properly."

Lyredaen says, "Bonehitter says, 'Great job yas lot! Where on the list of all things bardic are songs which are implemented but have bugs?'"
Lyredaen says, "Those we work on as we can find the solutions and roll them in. There are a number on the plate now... some of them have fixes, and some of them have no easy answers."

Lyredaen says, "Aldarak says, 'Lyredaen do bards gain playing instrument skills faster than other professions'"
Lyredaen says, "Yes. Bards learn significantly faster. In addition, non-bards can only gain Apprentice skill, about half of what a bard can eventually learn."

Lyredaen says, "Stormyrain says, 'On the 'liason' comment...who exactly is ours? I've not seen much on the boards as of late, but I havent read them in the past few days so apologies if someone has been visible there.'"
Lyredaen says, "The liasons were selected and finished their training this week. I know who the bard liason is, but cannot say tonight- the announcement is forthcoming."
>Lyredaen smiles.
>Lyredaen says, "You should be hearing from your new liason on the boards as soon as the announcement is made. I would expect if not tomorrow, certainly the first of next week."

Lyredaen says, "Songowl says, 'As you are probably aware, holding song is not very beneficial to younger bards, as the effect it has on the critters they tend to hunt are negligible if any. Thus, do you not think that there should be a 'minimum effect' of how much DS the song lowers, regardless of its natural DS?'"
Lyredaen says, "We've considered it, but no official decision has been made."
>Banthis says, "That's a good suggestion however."

Lyredaen says, "Quivalin says, 'What is on tap to replace Item History, or will it go in as described??'"
>Lyredaen says, "Item History's been chunked."
>Lyredaen grins.
>Lyredaen says, "Loresinging is not difficult enough to make Item History a valuable song... and I wasn't about to make it harder just to implement the spell with some value."
>Banthis says, "We will have to come up with a replacement to that spell fast. I have people waiting to implement."
>Banthis tickles Lyredaen, grinning wickedly.
Lyredaen says, "As far as a replacement, that's going to be chosen here right quick. I have not only our ideas, but the entire body of submissions for 1050. A song idea that might not be ideal for the 50th spot may fit nicely here."

Lyredaen says, "Casis says, 'lyre I was wondering if the instrument skills or loresing will eventually led to a non-combat form of experience gain for us bards.'"
Lyredaen says, "You can earn a bit of experience from loresinging, albeit not a great amount. That was set up so many years ago to prevent experience gain abuse."
Lyredaen says, "There will never be experience gain for playing an instrument."

Lyredaen says, "Marabet says, ''Given percussion instruments like cymbals/tambourines have only 3 play styles, will more be added in the future?'"
>Lyredaen says, "We may add a couple of more..."
Lyredaen says, "Our current goal is to complete the remaining instrument classes, then go back and add more breadth to the whole system."
>Lyredaen says, "Including adding a "bad" style, for those days when you just need to sound like a caterwauling wet cat."
>Lyredaen grins.
Lyredaen says, "I'm very excited about the next class, I think you guys are going to be delighted."

>Lyredaen says, "Alarica says, 'I'd like to request the ability to CLEAN our instruments. I can assure you.. acquired spit inside horns is just as nasty as acquired blood on weapons (ie the cloths that clean swords)'"
Lyredaen chuckles.
Banthis says, "That's another good suggestion."
Lyredaen says, "At some point in the near future, I know a merchant whose going to provide you with the means to do just that."
Banthis chuckles.

>Lyredaen says, "Tilarium says, 'I got here 30 min late, cause of no ingame annoncments till last min, I see you answering afew questions on instraments so I ask something. Are all the other merchants with instraments and cases and stuff that come around gonna be bard only like the one at the Cloud?'"
Banthis shows Tilarium the FORUM verb.
Lyredaen says, "There are shops currently in Wehnimer's and IceMule. There will shortly be shops on Teras and in Solhaven."
Lyredaen says, "Cases and other extras will only be sold by wandering merchants, however."

Lyredaen says, "Diceare says, 'i noticed at the last festival..all professions able to fog, gate an such could..cept us bards. Was that intentional? i for one think we should be able to travel at a festival if a mage can gate'"
Lyredaen says, "That would be my fault- I forgot to set up Traveller's Song. You would think that I, of all people, would remember, but organizing those festivals sucks the very life and most brain cells out of me by the time we open the gates, even."
>Lyredaen grins.
>Lyredaen says, "I will make a big note to remember next time."

Lyredaen says, "Scarbarough says, 'Are the spells to 20 going to be implemented as listed in the official docs (other than Item History)?'"
Banthis says, "There will be some other modifications. For instance, we're currently wondering about Spirit Servant. For the most part they will be nearly identical whenever possible."
>Lyredaen says, "Fairly closely. Unravelling is not going in exactly as in the original docs, but you guys knew that from your talks with Banthis about his plans for it."
Banthis says, "I'm going to have fun with Song of Noise tho."
>Banthis smirks.
>Lyredaen says, "We'll be following as closely as we can, in other words, but may need to make modifications to them to either get them to actually work, or to maintain game balance."
>Lyredaen's ears hurt already.
>Banthis snorts.
>Lyredaen glances at Banthis.
>A pained expression crosses Lyredaen's face.

Lyredaen says, "Lawless says, 'A different question about spell songs - is there a reason why 1002, Vibration Chant, has once again gone to not blowing up creatures weapons? On a related note - shouldn't the information about songs and spells be updated on the spider web, with perhaps bugs noted somewhere?'"
Lyredaen says, "1002 will only destroy non-magical weapons."
Lyredaen says, "I'll have to check on the web- the webmistress may not have put in past changes I submitted."
>Lyredaen says, "They generally do not note bugs there, but I will ensure she has the correct and current descriptions."

>Lyredaen says, "Zerbinetta says, 'Can you make any comments about the future Bard's Guild?'"
Lyredaen says, "Unfortunately, not at this time. The guild team is still putting the finishing touches and doing bug fixes on the Rogue's Guild, which seems to be settling in nicely. Where we go from there has not yet been determined."

>Lyredaen says, "Heartpierced says, 'of sonic weapon and sonic shield, will something be in the works so as to toss the shield over your shoulder and still maintain that mental link. As of the moment its one of the downsides in my opinion that keeps those two songs from being used.'"
>Lyredaen says, "Hm. I had not thought about it, but we'll talk it over to see if it's something we can do."

Lyredaen says, "Songowl says, 'Lowest on my list of peeves, but still enough to annoy me is the bonus to 1012. I believe the point at which the maximum bonus can be obtained, 50 at 79 songs, is fair, but it bothers me that it does not even begin to match a lesser spell in a minor circle until 7 ranks after learning the song. Wehn previously asked at the last forum, it was said the subject will be given thought. Has it?'"
Lyredaen says, "Yep, we've discussed it, and still feel that the song should not be changed. I've heard no arguments to convince me, only that you want the equivalent of vultite when you learn it, which isn't enough for me to make such a change."

Lyredaen says, "Zared says, 'This may be a bit off topic, but I never really thought about it and figure this is the best place to ask. Is there anyway to see who else is in a room during a forum of this sort'"
>Lyredaen chuckles.
>Lyredaen shakes her head.
>Lyredaen says, "We set this room up this way intentionally..."
>Banthis says, "Sorry, no."
Lyredaen says, "When forums become crowded, the Wizard cannot handle the sheer number of folks in the room, and you'd be knocked off by the monsters if you tried to look around you."

Lyredaen says, "Bonehitter says, 'will Banthis buy us bards all a drink at the great gatherin this year?'"
>Banthis chuckles.
>Lyredaen grins.
Banthis exclaims, "I don't have enough money to even buy myself some decent clothes!"
>Banthis just tried to pull a burlap sack.
>Lyredaen pokes Banthis in the ribs.
>Banthis says, "You can buy Lyredaen a drink tho."
>Banthis grins.

>Lyredaen says, "Kymberlee says, 'i am new to my profession, where do i go about buying an instrument? how do i know how to use it?'"
Lyredaen says, "There are instrument shops in the Landing and IceMule Trace... type PLAY for a hint about learning to use one. You may also wish to seek out an older bard, or visit with the Mentors."
>Lyredaen smiles.
>Lyredaen says, "Korent says, 'I was wondering, If it could be possible to add soem more dimension to the TUNE verb, somthing that allows the bard different messaging as he/she gets better at playing his/her instrument'"
>Lyredaen nods.
Lyredaen says, "That is something we've considered, and it's on the "depth and breadth" todo list, which we'll get to after we've completed all the classes."

>Lyredaen says, "Quivalin says, 'What is the maximum number of instrument ranks a bard can achieve, in other words, what number accomplishment is Masterhood?'"
Lyredaen says, "This one I will not answer, you know that..."
>Lyredaen just tickled Quivalin.
Lyredaen says, "It's part of the journey, and a puzzle answer I won't divulge."
Lyredaen grins.

>Lyredaen says, "Diceare says, 'speaking of the web....i loved your site when it first came out and even now i check it like once a month just to see if anything has been posted since oct 98 i think..'"
Lyredaen smiles.
Lyredaen says, "Thank you, I had fun making it."
Lyredaen says, "I want to spend a little time on it and update it, however my work ingame takes priority over it..."
Banthis says, "I wish we had double hours in the day. There's all sorts of things I'd like to do for Gamemasters.net but it's way down in the priority list."
>Lyredaen says, "And my responsibilities have grown muchly here over the last year. I'm hoping I can spend some time on it later this month, though. If I do, I'll drop a note on the bard tree saying so."

Lyredaen says, "Ylena says, 'Do you plan to implement the ability to select which message you get for instruments? It's disconcerting to be playing a quiet song and have a herd of thrak come thundering in.'"
Lyredaen says, "It's something on the "breadth" list that we are considering, yes. But again, we want all the classes in first, before we run off on other pieces and parts."
>Lyredaen grins.
>Lyredaen says, "Bullingbrook says, 'Hmm okay are you planning to make traveler's work in Solhaven? Are you still planning to make instruments played in battle break into thousands of bits?'"
Lyredaen says, "Yes, GM Mikos has submitted all but one of the required rooms for Solhaven, so as soon as he finishes I'll be implementing 1020 there."
Lyredaen says, "And yes on instrument breakage- but I will not break instruments until I can give you the skill to repair them."

Lyredaen says, "Songowl says, 'Has any progress been made to discovering a way to get the Slow spells (chiefly 1015) to work, and if not, NOW can we start looking at alternatives?'"
Lyredaen says, "The slow effect, which pertains to both the Wizard spell and 1015, was a c-code bug..."
Lyredaen asks, "Banthis, was it resolved or is it still outstanding?"
Lyredaen says, "Those are things that must be resolved by inhouse personnel, as we don't have the ability to fix 'em."
>Banthis says, "It is still an issue with the techgnomes. I think it might be best to say it'll be a "dead" issue forever and just look at alternatives."
Lyredaen says, "Ophion had an idea for a workaround to gain the same effect, so we may work with his alternative solution."
>Lyredaen says, "From what he described to me, it could be used to fix both the Wizard and the bard spells."

>Lyredaen says, "Zerbinetta says, 'So--is it still three more classes of instruments you are adding, before you move to the 'depth and breadth' list?'"
>Lyredaen says, "Uhm..."
>Lyredaen counts on her fingers.
>Lyredaen says, "Three more, yep. Bagpipes, strings, and drums."
>Lyredaen says, "Quiv, it's an actual slow effect, just arrived at via a different route."
>Lyredaen pokes Quivalin in the ribs.
>Lyredaen says, "Quivalin says, 'Will there be very bard-specific items aboard Foehn's Promise... like instruments that do wonderous things and umm... tuning forks?'"
>Lyredaen says, "Yes on instruments, I've already worked on some. I don't know about tuning forks."
Lyredaen grins.

Lyredaen says, "Diceare says, 'i know you have already said yas will look at this stuff laters but i would love to play some bawdy tunes on me lute once in while...like after bout 10 ales'"
>Lyredaen begins chuckling at Diceare.
>Lyredaen says, "Well, until we write the bad messages, you can always use ACT to achieve the desired... affect."
>Lyredaen grins.

Lyredaen says, "Bonehitter says, '1018..short and sweet yas sing, yas struggle, yas stop, you stop gaining the benifits, but canna restart it till the mana returns to normal.....A. Heck with it i'm to busy. B. Lordy i didn't know that. C. We are working on it.'"
>Lyredaen begins chuckling at Bonehitter.
Lyredaen says, "Working as designed, actually. That song was written by Quill shortly before I took over the list... controlling mana flows is a tough thing, and shouldn't be taken lightly."
>Lyredaen says, "So no, not a bug."

>Lyredaen says, "Ylena says, 'Bagpipes, strings and drums... Where do harps and lyres fit in there? Are they the strings you're talking about? No bowed instruments, i.e., gambas? '"
Lyredaen says, "The strings I'm referring to include instruments like harps and lyres, yes. We have no bowed instruments in the initial classes implemented. We are certainly considering adding more classes later, bowed instruments among them."
Lyredaen says, "Songowl says, 'are there still plans to allow instruments to aid songs other than 1020 and 1030?'"
Lyredaen says, "Yep, there are- those changes will be rolled in during the summer."

>Lyredaen says, "Tanri says, 'Please, please let us tune bagpipes without having to learn to play them.'"
Lyredaen grins.
>Lyredaen says, "You'll still have to learn them."
>Lyredaen just tickled Tanri.

Lyredaen says, "Hammibal says, 'is it possible to change the effects of the alcoholic drinks when not in a bar? Sure you can get all funny looking and babble in a bar, but once you walk out, it's just like drinkin water.. Is there any way for that to be fixed?'"
Lyredaen says, "Hammibal, that's a specific part of the bar, and doesn't work outside. Unless you can find yourself a buddy to grab you a few drams of Demon Rum for emergencies."
>Lyredaen grins.

Lyredaen says, "Quivalin says, 'Any way we can see the lingering effect of Song of Peace shortened? I mean it goes for minutes sometimes. I understand some linger prevents abuses, but it does seem overlong.'"
Lyredaen says, "I'll check on the length, but in testing it was working as we intended it to. And yes, the intention was to do everything we could to prevent abuse."

>Lyredaen says, "Ylena says, 'Don't you think bagpipes should never be in tune? And would you consider implementing a stun effect if three or more play in a room?'"
>Lyredaen giggles.
Lyredaen says, "It's a thought..."
>Lyredaen exclaims, "We have a piper down!"
>Lyredaen chuckles.
Banthis chuckles.
>Banthis says, "I repeat, a piper is doon"
>Lyredaen grins.
Lyredaen says, "Forgive us, it's one of those parts we know by heart."
>Lyredaen coughs.
>Lyredaen says, "Anyway... tuning for bagpipes really consists of maintenance, just like some of the others. Cleaning and caring for."

Lyredaen says, "Marabet says, ''I'd like to ask for a Hum verb. I'd love to be able to hum a song while playing my instrument, not necessarily singing as in a performance. Any chance on that?.'"
>Lyredaen says, "Always wanted one myself, but forgot about it completely. Yes, I can do that."
>Lyredaen smiles.
Lyredaen says, "Next week, maybe this weekend depending upon my schedule."

Lyredaen says, "Songowl says, 'Most profession spell lists appear to be headed in a direction of consolidation. Are we destined for them as well, for exapmle, a merger of Kaisong and Eonake's Song?'"
Lyredaen says, "We may do revisions to the list later, certainly. Right now we just want to get the list completed, then we'll take stock and see what, if anything, needs to be changed."

>Lyredaen says, "Quivalin says, 'Oh yes, on the subject of drinks. Umm, I nearly died of thrist one day after Travelling because my backup stash of brew was one of your Sournote Whiskey bottles! It doesn't quench at all. Is it intentional that drinks with special effects not cure Traveller's thirst?'"
Lyredaen says, "Probably not, Quiv. I don't think Demon Rum and other specialty drinks will do it."
>Lyredaen says, "So carry a nice glass of warm milk."
>Lyredaen grins.

Lyredaen says, "Tilarium says, 'is good ta see bagpipes are coming, member asking for them when you first asked what we what on the web. There a chance of getting pianos for say the homes and maybe a Inn or two can get them?'"
Banthis just left.
Lyredaen says, "Pianos and similar instruments aren't currently on the implementation list, but we may add a medieval flavored class like that later. If we do, they'll certainly be stationary items and not something you can carry in your backpack."
>Lyredaen grins.

Lyredaen says, "Zerbinetta says, 'A comment--at present, Hum tells you that you are now speaking human, I think.'"
>Lyredaen nods.
>Lyredaen says, "I'll get around that hopefully."

>Lyredaen says, "Diceare says, 'Why does it seem to me there is so much more chance of failure for 1020 than any other means of travel...i mean is there any reason to make it more dangerous for us?'"
>Lyredaen says, "We've actually downtweaked the failure several times over the last two years. The other transport spells are really too easy... there is ongoing discussion about that among the Development GMs. We really want to give the others a sense of risk as well."
>Lyredaen says, "Ylena says, 'What are the odds you could implement hum like smile, so we could hum in some style? Ylena hums a merry tune, Ylena hums in frustration, Ylena hums a high sweet melody, yada yada yada..'"
>Lyredaen says, "Of course. There will be flavors."
>Lyredaen grins.
>Lyredaen says, "Salisdiar says, 'Since drinks were mentioned, I will bring up my personally hope, that perhaps cups might be made usefull? Perhaps treat cups to drinks as white flasks are to potions? Any way something like this might be put into effect?'"
>Banthis just arrived.
>Banthis coughs.
>Lyredaen says, "That would be a unique scripted item, Salisdar. There may already be such things out there, I've no idea. You may find one in an auction someday."
>Lyredaen smiles.

>Lyredaen says, "Quivalin says, 'OK, I'm running short of things to pick your brain on.. but here's one. I love that we got the LORESING ability instead of just SING. And chance of maybe a SPELLSING or something? I mean, in the heat of battle, if I'm trying to re-spell up or weather gets me.. it's dern embarassing to be singing your name or the critter's name because your spell wasn't ready or was dispelled before you could sing or something.'"
>Lyredaen sniffs at Quivalin.
>Banthis mutters some archane phrase having to do with something called 'IP' and 'radio'.
>Lyredaen says, "I created LORESING for a really good reason.."
>Lyredaen says, "So that you could hold and play a silvery haon flute, and sing about a battle knight in shining silvery armor, without vibrating yourself to pieces."
>Lyredaen grins.
>Lyredaen says, "Drove me nuts to hold a prop as a player while singing a song, and set it off unintentionally."
Lyredaen says, "As far as spellsing... I'll check, not sure about that. I'd probably have to leave SING in place as well. Many people pay no attention to the News or Boards, so the hosts would be inundated with folks who didn't understand why they couldn't sing their spellsongs."

Lyredaen says, "Bonehitter says, 'Guild status? Heh nae kill me fer askin.'"
>Lyredaen says, "Asked and answered already... I don't have an answer right now. The Guild crew is still busy finishing and debugging the Rogue's guild."

Lyredaen says, "Dremerie says, 'Thanks for the bagpipes! Just make sure I'm there when Geoff finally gets his! Any chance of having an invasion of crystaline critters or others that have super sensitive hearing so that Bards can have a bit of fun? <wink>'"
Lyredaen chuckles.
Lyredaen says, "I don't know, but I'll drop a hint to the CE folks who organize the events."
>Lyredaen grins.

>Lyredaen says, "Hammibal says, 'Comment on tweakin the failure of other foggin spells.. People use mainly spirit guide to bring a person who's fallen in battle into town to be put back on their feet. Would putting a failure on that spell, that could do damage to the fogger, even possibly killing them really be wise? Why have 1 death when you could have 2 deaths!'"
Lyredaen says, "I don't know what kind of failure would go in, if we agreed to put any in. We want to, but we also recognize that it will be an unpopular decision among the 30th levels who go into places 40-50 levels above them. So I don't really have a good answer to your question right now."
>Lyredaen says, "People do not like giving up a free ride, even when it's best for game integrity. So whether or not it ever happens is a good question."

>Lyredaen says, "Salisdiar says, 'Oh, when I asked about cups, I meant the standard, fluff cups that one might find around anywhere, that currently have no use, that we could pour, say, ale, or a cocoa, or a Manny's Special into, and drink on the when it gets empty, we could refill it with the same thing or something else. That chipped cup in my locker might be really fun to use, but now whenever I pour anything into it the liquid evaporates. '"
>Lyredaen says, "As I said, it would have to be specially scripted in order to handle such actions. For that reason it would be fairly unique and hard to come by."

>Lyredaen says, "Songowl says, 'will we ever be able to transport a group using Traveller's if we're not leading?'"
>Lyredaen says, "I'd have to review the description to see if it should be allowed, then check the code on it (it was Quill's other contribution to the list). He may have set it up that way intentionally, or there may be a limitation that prevents it."
>Altiron suddenly fades into sight beside you.

>Lyredaen says, "Casis says, 'when tweaking old spells and deciding on new ones, do you take into account what spells are currently being used? For example, I never see bards use 1012 cause it doesn't compete with the weapons purchased 2 levels before. Just interested in the process...'"
Lyredaen says, "Yes, of course- we don't want to put in a spell that no one's going to use, nor one that duplicates the qualities of another on the list."
>Lyredaen closes the question box.
>Lyredaen says, "I'll finish the questions in the box, and then will have to call it a night... my fingers are getting weary."
>Lyredaen grins.

>Lyredaen says, "Avantos says, 'back to transport spells...there should be minimal risk for spiritual casters, especially if the havent located the person transporting..might fog into the wall. You see the body of Dimwit. You also see the leg of Avantos, sticking from the ground...However return shouldnt kill...maybe just random drop you on an earthnode'"
>Banthis perks up at the mention of risk.
>Lyredaen says, "I'm afraid I must decline more discussion of other transport spells- it has little to do with bards in particular, and is a conversation for another time and place."
>Lyredaen pokes Banthis in the ribs.
>Lyredaen says, "And that was the last question... thanks for coming everyone."
>Lyredaen says, "You should hear about your new liason shortly, I think you'll be quite happy."
>Lyredaen grins.
>Lyredaen opens the floor back up for general discussion.