I hear many people saying that they get easily lost in Norrath. The 'common sense' solution is to use waypoint numbers and maps. However, I propose an alternative; a safer one (that doesn't involve lemming-like leaps into abysses by those with their noses buried in their mapsies); an alternative that, in my opinion at least, increases the fun.

If you do any hill-walking you may hear advice, now and then, from the old hands to look behind you on occasion. There's a very good reason for this: any landscape can look very different from the other side of the hill.

Yet, in Norrath, I see very little of this. Noses firmly pointed towards the objective: and, once there, mission complete: Call of [insert home city name here] to teleport back. No matter how many times a player visits the same location, this one-way movement does not allow the opportunity to really get to learn the lie of the land.

My solution is simple: do it the way Bilbo Baggins did it. Instead of moving from here to there and 'Calling' home: move from here to there - and move back again. As with so many things in life, virtual or real, you only get the full picture when you look at it from all sides.

I also, these days, think of 'Call' as an emergency measure. One benefit of this is that it's more likely to be available if I do need to get somewhere fast (even though an hour refresh on the ability is fairly trivial. I think it's an hour, these days? Everything changes). In the early days, I used to 'Call' home at the end of every play session. These days, I find a safe place to /camp where I am. This means that I start the next playtime where I left off, and I find that this helps with continuity - which also helps to learn my way around.

Doing it 'Bilbo's way' has another advantage to those not in a rush: you never quite know who, or what, you might run into on the way back...

Suggested policy:

• Avoid maps and waypoints (except for emergencies);
• Think of 'Call' as an emergency measure;
• Find a safe place to /camp where you are.

Submitted By: Seefar   Jun 2, 2009

The guild points system added in GU #49 (October 2008) seems to be intended as a way of keeping track of 'dragon kill points' (DKP) - a means of allowing people to 'bid' for special loot.

Sounds like a good plan, but it also sounds like a lot of work :)

So, I'd welcome ideas for what we in Lonewolf might be able to make use of these points for (visit the forums with your thoughts!).

In the meantime, this is what I propose:

Every time I log on, I'll award one (1) 'online credit' to any member who is online or who has been online in the past day. Regular members will be 'rewarded' in a small way for attendance, and the most regular will accrue the most of these points.

Then, when we're in a guild group, we can look at the member with the highest number of these 'online credits,' and then we make that member's 'main quest' (MQ) our own, and pursue it. If we are successful in this (hurrah!) then that member 'cashes in' his or her stock of 'credits' in 'payment' (remembering that they are only points, anyway) - and thus 'rejoins the back of the queue' for MQ assistance.

Does that sound like a plan?

Submitted By: Seefar   Oct 25, 2008

The articles below are Works-In-Progress that are intended eventually to form part of the Guidlines once the wrinkles are ironed out.

As with other aspects of the Guild, participation in these is entirely voluntary.

Feedback from any interested parties is requested to clarify areas of confusion, or suggest amendments. Lonewolf Guild Members are invited to use the Guild's Public Forum to comment. Thanks!

Submitted By: Seefar   Jan 10, 2007

Being dead in the game can be a relaxing change of pace :)

We need reasons to take short breaks from the game. It's not healthy to sit for hours hunched over a keyboard, staring at a monitor.

If you die and your reflex is to hit 'revive' and run back into the fray... in many cases this will not be the best course of action. It is entirely possible that the remainder of the group will be able to cope without you, which means that they will have to wait around for you to arrive, or backtrack to escort you back to where the group was.

If the group has a healer and he or she dies: if someone else has a 'feather' or other appropriate 'rez item' (which if the healer is on the ball everyone should have) - the group can stay alive and move on. I've seen many healers who die and then immediately revive and rush back to the action, as though that's their job. And sometimes they die again on the way...

It's entirely possible that someone other than the healer - unknown to you! - may be able to resurrect you. I know that Dirges, Paladins and Necromancers all acquire this ability, and it's retained even when mentoring at low level.

When dead... in theory you cannot speak. But if you're dead long enough, you might have time to say 'hi' to some friends, or pop into the Guild Hall as a ghost ;)

Suggested Policy

• If you die: RESIST the urge to auto-revive
• WAIT for intructions from the Group Leader to revive
• If you have more than one possible revival point: offer this information (in some cases the nearest point may not be the best point)
• If the whole group wipes: still WAIT. Perhaps the group's recruiter has found a healer that is already en-route!
• While dead: talk to group, talk to friends - or go /afk, stretch...

Submitted By: Seefar   Jan 10, 2007

Norrathian Express (in-game mail) is a useful facility, allowing you to communicate with other players who may not be on-line at the same time as you.

However, the mailboxes aren't that big: you can only store a maximum of 50 messages at one time. If someone tries to send you a message and your mailbox is full, then it can't be sent. So it's important to make sure that your mailbox always has some spare capacity for new incoming mail, by deleting messages.

If you have messages that you really want to hang onto: view them and then save them for posterity by taking a screenshot using the 'Prt Scr' (Print Screen) button on your keyboard. The mail message window can be resized so that longer messages can be accommodated in one go.

Another tip: if someone sends you something in the mail that you don't currently need - leave it in the mailbox until you DO need it! When my Provisioner friends send me food and drink, I leave it in the mail until I need it - if I'm short on supplies, I can sometimes restock at a mailbox as well as at the Bank :)

Submitted By: Seefar   Nov 29, 2006

There are lots of languages in EverquestII. It's never impolite to try to speak someone else's language - even the attempt will be recognised as a friendly act.

The Common tongue is obviously best if you want your message to be understood by more than one person. If on the other hand you only wish to talk to a single person, choosing another language can sometimes - depending who's in earshot! - even give you a little privacy :)

If you can identify another character's race (right-click on character, inspect) and you know which is that race's native tongue and you you can speak that language yourself... right-click the chat box and select that language from the list.

Be aware that the names of the languages aren't the same as the race names: Dwarves speak Dwarven, not Dwarf! I like to think that I can speak the Barbarian tongue 'very well', because I've finally got it into my head that Barbarians speak Halasian :)

Although this can sometimes result in miscommunication it definitely adds flavour to see people chatting in a language you can't understand. Even if they're just talking about the weather, if you can't understand the lingo, for all you know they might be plotting to overthrow Lucan D'Lere... :D

Submitted By: Seefar   Jul 12, 2006

Do people go LFG because they need more to help with their own aims, or are they saying "I'm free to help you with your aims'? Or both? Equally importantly: what do people think that 'LFG' means? If I mean "I'm free" and you think I mean "I want you to help me", we're starting off on the wrong foot already!

How about this for an idea?

1. Take two Spirit of the Wolf totems from the Guild Bank
2. Use one
3. Go to one of the low-level zones, sit in a prominent position facing the zone entrance
4. Put your LFG tag on
5. Wait... until the totem effect expires, if you have time.

If you get a group invite (from anywhere) - cool :) If you get a group invite from an unguilded player - extra cool :D (consider offering the unguilded player your spare totem, along with an invitation to join Lonewolf!).

Submitted By: Seefar   May 1, 2006

Pursuing Collection Quests is another way to generate XP that doesn't involve the XP grind.

There's an easy way to help others to complete their own Collection Quests: when you pick up a duplicate, a "shiny" that you already have - don't throw it away, hang on to it. When you meet another player, offer the duplicates in trade.

Or... when you get back to the City, offer them up on the broker for sale. Some can fetch surprising prices!

:D

Submitted By: Seefar   Apr 24, 2006

"Need Before Greed" (NBG) is commonly used to distribute loot acquired through questing. The interpretation of NBG, and the concept of 'need' itself, varies considerably, causing many disputes.

• Some say that they "need" all items so that they can be sold for cash to buy better equipment and Master Spells, or to recoup the outlay they have incurred in buying these.
• Some consider that NBG applies as much to their alts as to the character present in the group - "I need", as opposed to "this character needs".
• Need can be subjective: I may believe that I 'need' a particular item, another player may disagree with me.
• A player who has many alts is more likely to be able to claim 'need' on an item than someone who has concentrated on developing a single character.
• Under 'NBG', someone cannot claim 'need' on an item that they cannot currently equip; items that will be an upgrade are disallowed (a serious disadvantage to those who choose to play a single character).
• Proving 'need' for spell and artisan books is problematic, since there is no way to tell if someone is able to immediately scribe these.

One alternative to 'NBG' is 'FFA' - "Free For All". Some say that this technique, whereby everyone 'rolls' for every single drop using the lotto system is 'more fair'. However, in my experience 'FFA' often means in practice "Free For All For Those Who Have Not Already Declined"...

What is the most precious commodity of all? In my opinion, it is not Rares, it is not 'Plat' (game money), it is not eXPerience, it is not Fabled items. The one thing valued most by all players is surely:

playtime.

If an item that drops is, or will be, of use to your character, and through either FFA or NBG you lose out on it to someone else who is only going to sell it for cash - this is a waste of everyone's time. We all have to spend time selling items we win, and still more time finding those items we truly want and need.

Another 'time-sink' raises its head in the form of time taken evaluating items that drop. In the heat of battle it can be difficult to determine whether an item is truly needed by one's own character, let alone by others. It would be nice if the game's mechanics could provide a means of highlighting items that are potentially upgrades for existing equipment: but, at least currently, the game doesn't do this. Personally, I prefer to keep my eyes peeled for wandering monsters, and don't spend a lot of time examining items while adventuring in hostile zones.

Yet another waste of everyone's time appears in the form of all the lengthy - and often heated - discussions over the various nuances of 'NBG' versus 'FFA'. Bad vibes need to be banished from playtime!

Newcomers to the game are at a disadvantage here in several ways: it is MUCH more difficult for the new player to evaluate items. New players may lose out simply because they may be unfamilar with the acronyms 'FFA' and 'NBG' and are unlikely to comprehend the nuances. There are also players whose native tongue isn't English - another section of the community possibly disadvantaged.

Both NBG and FFA require prior agreement for them to work as intended.

Useful Loot Distribution - 'ULD' for short since we all love our acronyms so much! - is proposed as an alternative. It is not without its own disadvantages, some of which I am sure I have missed (and, as always, I invite feedback to let me know where I have gone wrong). But it has several advantages, including:

• No need to discuss it in advance
• Encourages cooperation
• Enhances teamwork
• Distributes items to those who are most likely to need them

... and it helps everyone to save precious time.

ULD is entirely voluntary. If everyone were to adopt it (unlikely, I know!) then although there would still be inequalities, it would give characters in a group a better chance of acquiring items that they do truly need.

1. Set group loot on 'lotto'
2. Try to take the time to familiarise yourself with the classes (adventure AND artisan) of your groupmates
3. Roll on all 'vendor trash' - including non-magic items (i.e. those without stat-enhancing bonuses: no one is likely to need these)
4. Decline all Spell Books, Recipe Books, and magic items that are specific to a groupmate's class UNLESS also usable by your own class
5. Take extra time to appraise NO-TRADE items
6. If an artisan volume for your class drops, just mention that you are that class (unless others know you well, they may not be aware of your artisan class). If, for instance, you're a sage and a sage book drops, just say "I'm a sage". If as a result you end up with the book and it turns out that you already have that one - well, you can sell it to recoup your outlay, or give it to a friend - your choice :)
7. If you do happen to see an item that you KNOW you need - say so in group chat to give others the chance to decline the item, or to trade it to you should they win it - IF THEY SO CHOOSE
8. Don't worry if you appear to not be getting your fair share of loot. Your time will come :)

An aside: when the drop is multiple, as often happens in Master Chests, there are three options: "All", "Selected" and "Decline". If you want to bid for more than one of the items (but not all of them), it's not at all clear how you go about this. The standard Windows controls appear to work to allow selection of the items you want to include in your claim (i.e. Control+left click), but the visual feedback one gets from doing this isn't as clear as it could be. I suspect that many, if not most, people will tend to select "All" rather than try to figure out how to selectively decline one, which is of course less than fair... hopefully The Makers will address this sometime!

Submitted By: Seefar   Mar 10, 2006

Even the toughest character class may have trouble trying to harvest solo on the frontier. For some (such as little scouts like me) you have to keep your wits about you all the time or you're dead - and sometimes you're dead anyway! :D

A purely solo activity?

It's my impression (as with all things, possibly wrong) that harvesting is viewed as something that's done alone. It need not be. A group of friends, two or perhaps even three or more, can turn what is sometimes a chore into a relaxed social outing. So what if some of the mobs you inevitably aggro are technically classed as 'solo'? If you want to get those raws in quickly, having a friend to assist you will make life easier :). One harvesting, the other on guard duty works well: often all that's necessary is just to watch each others' backs.

There is a Norrathian custom that has developed with which I've never been fully comfortable - the idea that a harvest node "belongs" to the first person to reach it. I believe that I grok why this has arisen, and I blame in part the game mechanics. For instance, when more than one person is harvesting the same node, once it has been exhausted by one person, any others are left futilely chopping at empty air - not a rewarding activity! I consider this a flaw, and live in hope that The Makers will one day address this.

"Harvest Everything"?

To those who give the easy answer "harvest everything" when asked about the best way to find a particular resource, I would say: "what do you mean by everything?". Does 'everything' include fish? Seefar has spent a lot of time fishing in Norrath, and hasn't once hooked a cluster of ore, nor a Murdunk Orange. Just lots and lots of smelly fish :)

To my mind, if you are harvesting everything and throwing away what you do not yourself need (at that time!), you are making it more difficult for others to find what they need. And offering newcomers the advice to 'harvest everything' merely encourages them to get into the habit of razing the land barren of all resources.

Suggested Policy

1. If the mobs in the zone are not aggro, pick ONE node type and harvest that - shrubs, OR ore, OR timber, i.e. NOT everything!
2. If the mobs ARE aggro - grab what you can (Guild Rule #6 applies :))
3. If in a group, make a game of seeing how quickly you can exhaust a node by harvesting it all together
4. Trade raws to amalgamate stacks and thus free up space in every character's inventory.

Submitted By: Seefar   Mar 8, 2006