Release notes for 2008 - Sept

[Thalia]

Misc Items

+ Kingdom Titles:  Updated Armengar & small change for Klevnone

+ MPROG:  Modified so "Decaying Zombie Flesh" doesn't get accepted as "Decaying Pass"

+ Follower logic: "Leaders" no longer lose their leader status when one of their
  followers leaves (Was allowing a player to have multiple charmies if a
  player-follower stop following.)

+ JAIL changes
  - Jail Indefinite now treated the same as "Jail for x Mins" in a variety of
    commands (like WHO/OWHO)
  - Jailed vamp shouldn't lose blood anymore
  - Re-jailing someone in jail (to change the duration of their sentence) won't
    keep messaging that the person has been jailed.

+ Resist corrections:
  - Fixed tiering of skeletons/vampires/et al so that resist alterations are

  - Added commands for IMMs to check & correct player resists.  If your resists
    are wrong, contact me to get them fixed. (Yes, this means skeletons & older
    athachs)

+ Typos/general
  - In Scar descriptions, "left check" corrected to "left cheek"
  - Another change to hiding someone's name in messaging when the message
    recipient can't see the person

Commands

+ THROW <potion>: You can throw beneficial potions at other players. 
  How well you throw determines how effective the potion is.  Chance of success
  is based on your dexterity, drunkeness, and your target's position.

+ ADDSOCKETS & Gem sizes: Corrected logic so "Null" sizes should no
  longer be generated; If you have something with a NULL size or NULL size
  socket, let me know and I'll fix it.

+ BANISH:  Corrected logic that was supposed to clear the kingdom/religion
  time/exp/et al information when someone is banished.

+ RESTRING: Now allowed to recolor your last name;
  You can RESTRING LASTNAME CLEAR to remove the existing color and then
  RESTRING LASTNAME <color> to set the new color.

+ QUEST REQUEST: Target selection - changed to bypass non-attackable mobs (flagged as "dummy")

+ PROMPT:  Added option to see wait time and daze status
  - Wait Time (%CW): the time until your next command is processed
    Wait Time is normally increased by using certain commands that have a delay,
    but there are also attacks & effects that increase your wait time.  For
    example, getting hit with a shock effect -- "Your muscles stop responding." --
    will increase your wait time and keep you from doing anything for an extended
    time.  If you think you are experiencing lag while hunting only in certain
    areas, it's likely that you are getting hit with something that is increasing
    your waiting time.

  - Daze Status (%CD): are you dazed or clear-headed?
    Daze state can be changed by certain attacks -- like getting hit with a
    forceshield -- that will increase your daze state.  If your state is high
    enough, your effective skill level for ALL SKILLS will be decreased (for
    example, you won't cast GMed spells at GM levels).

+ NOTE/NEWS/et al: {| will create a permenent end of line that will survive format.

Combat related

+ Charmie's & pets will only join a fight when it's master is involved (which
  will hopefully keep it's master from getting blame/credit for being involved
  in a fight)

+ When **your** charmie kills your quest mob, you should get credit for the kill

+ SWING: Added message for successful hit

+ Combat/Equipment Flag ECHOSLASH:  Updated to original intent which is to have
  a chance of additional hits after the first echo.  Second echo has a 50/50
  chance of occurring.  If Second Echo occurs, there's a smaller chance for a
  third echo and so on for up to 10 additional hits.  NOTE:  The damage amount
  in the echo is smaller than the original attack.

+ DRAGONSBANE skills: Corrected Messaging, Increased damage a bit & changed
  dragon check to include dragonkin NPCs.                                                                                                                           

+ Combat CAPABILITY skill:  Removed requirement to be fighting outdoors to
  trigger skill

+ Combat: If you kill your opponent AND there are multiple attackers attacking
  you, you will immediately engage a new attacker.  This should fix situations
  where you try to do an attack or cast a spell and get a "you aren't fighting
  anyone" message even though you are clearly in combat and fix situations
  where someone can switch forms  but still be in combat.

+ Combat Spoils
  -Mod MIRAELLE: Make sure there's a message when Miraelle tries to cast a
    spell you already have
  -Mod ADAMSKA: blocked legendary skills from getting improvements

Magic related

+ CHARM:  Changed how "followers" is evaluated;  Should keep people from having
  multiple charmies from Spells like charm.

+ CONTROL WEATHER: entering something other than WORSE or BETTER will request a
  random change to weather

+ REFLECTION: Fixed Messaging

+ ABLATIVE SHIELDING: Updated messaging to distinguish between success & failure

+ SWAMPLAND:  Modified to increase damage range if the spell is GMed.

+ MARK: Changed to add affect to NPCs

+ MINOR WARD: added ability to cast harm resist

+ SOULRELEASE: Max damage greatly increased, but also increased HP Loss


***** Arena ******
 
This is based on work started by Farnite.
 
The Arena is a small area with multiple environments.  It is sealed area that
you can only enter or leave by participating in an arena game.
 
There are currently two arena games:
- Challenges (basically one-on-one spars within the Arena)
- Freezetag (group vs. group tag within the Arena)
 
After we work out the kinks, we do plan on adding additional options like group
vs. group combat.
 
You can bet on contests.  Your winnings will be prorated based on other bets made.
 
Challenges
----------
One player may challenge another to a spar within the arena.  The opponent may
choose to accept or decline.  After a challenge is accepted, other players may
place bets for about a minute.  At that point, the two contestants will be moved
to random rooms within the arena and betting will be halted.  The combat within
the arena is based on spar mechanics with the exception that players (if not
bloodsworn) may flee without automatically ending the challenge.  When the
contest ends, players will be moved to the Arena Gathering Hall and bets will
be paid off.  Messaging for Challenges uses the Arena channel.  Arena victories
& losses are tracked and may be seen in SCORE.
 
  Commands
  - ACHALLENGE <player> - Challenges a player to spar you in the arena
  - AACCEPT             - Accepts the challenge
  - ADECLINE            - Declines the challenge
  - ATALK               - Toggles the Arena channel off & on
  - ATALK <message>     - Puts the message on the arena channel
 
Freezetag
---------
There are two team rooms accessible from the Arena's Gathering Hall.   When at
least one player has joined each team, the count down to the start of the game
will begin -- approximately 5 ticks.  Other players can join each team during
that time.  When the game begins, the teams will be moved to their headquarters
within the arena.  Team members may talk to each other over a private channel.
Victory occurs when all members of one team have been frozen OR when time limit
expires (10 tics) with one team having less members frozen.  Messaging for
Freezetag uses the Game channel.
 
  Commands
  - FTJOIN <team>  - When in the Team's starting room, joins that team
  - FTAG <player>  - Freeze an opposing team's player or unfreeze a player on your team
  - FTAG           - Summary of players and their status
  - FTTALK         - Allows team members to communicate to each other;
                     IMMs can communicate to both teams
  - FTSCORE        - Summary of players and frozen players on each team
 
  IMM only (for games outside of the arena)
  - FTADD <player> <team> - Adds a player to a Freezetag team
  - FTSTART               - Starts Freezetag games
  - FTEND                 - Ends any freezetag game (in or out of the arena)