Uadjet: Hello, and welcome to the Developer's Q&A!
Uadjet: Sorry it's a week late, and the scheduling is wonky this month, but things will be back to normal soon enough.
Gonger: Also the calender is slow in showing updates.
>Anysu waves at Stalfoss
Uadjet: For those who haven't attended a Q&A before, it's an OOC meeting where I let you all know what's going on behind the scenes, and you get the chance to ask questions.
>Anysu greets everyone.
Uadjet: Now, as you may have noticed we've had a new release two days ago.
>Anysu cheers happily!
Uadjet: Actually, if you hadn't noticed it you wouldn't have been able to log in, so you all HAVE noticed.
Uadjet: There have been some upgrades to combat. At the event yesterday, I'll wager at least some of you noticed the new weapon trails we sometimes have.
Leeza: I certainly have.
Uadjet: If you're using a magical weapon, you will get a weapon trail when you swing it. The more powerful the weapon enchantment, the fancier the trail.
>Anysu claps.
Uadjet: Talad has also added the ability to do a shield block.
Uadjet: Equip a shield and hold down the right mouse button, and you should raise your shield to block attacks. You can't attack while doing that, but you can practice the timing to block incoming attacks when still (I hope) getting in some counter-punches.
Gonger: I think I need to do more fighting.
Anysu: Me to
Uadjet: Talad has also added in the ability for GM's to edit items once they're out in the world.
Uadjet: That includes a lot that we normally do via command, just easier. Well, easier if it's one or two items. If I'm locking down 50 items that I've spent a few hours positioning, a single command line is much faster.
Uadjet: There are also some new option on that screen that I'm really excited about.
Leeza: Nice
Uadjet: You noticed at the event yesterday that I can now make items attackable. I can also set the hit points for the item.
Leeza: It was so odd to be able to attack the tent and carpets yesterday. xD
Uadjet: Some of it I'll save as a surprise for later events, but this is a fun one...
>Uadjet picked up a Training Dummy
Gonger: But no experience points for hitting / destroying items!
Uadjet: Well, they can't fight back!
>Uadjet picked up an Archery Target
>Uadjet dropped a Trophy of Intelligence.
Uadjet: So one thing makes them larger, and one thing makes them small.
>Uadjet dropped a Two Doors Closet.
Leeza: Just wondered if I could walk through the giant trophy
Anysu: Did like smacking those tent items
Gova: I had to make a hasty exit before people destroyed the bit I was standing on!
>Leeza nods in agreement with Gova.
Anysu: Makes me think of the Lego video games where you can smash everything.
Uadjet: Talad has added some functionality for merchants and containers to either allow access or not based on other factors, like faction.
Uadjet: Wow. The selection circle scales too. Makes sense, but it is huge now.
Uadjet: Question?
Leeza: Any idea when all cooking grills will no longer be considered "out of range?" Noticed today the ones in Oja are out of range.
Uadjet: Ah, I'll go take a look at those.
Leeza: Thanks!
Uadjet: Bascially, when the crafting station is a part of the map and not an item placed on the map, it wiorks by linking an action location to a container placed in a place players can't see it. Below the map, typically.
Uadjet: The game should be checking the distance between the player and the Action Location, but is instead checking the distance between the player and the hidden container.
Uadjet: Hidden Container, Useless Action Location.
Uadjet: A terrible sequel.
Leeza: yeah
Anysu: Are you sitting on a shield edge Uadjet?
Gonger: Oh my, how can I unsee this???
Uadjet: I tried to equp it, but derghir just aren't built for that.
Uadjet: So I'll try to slide those hidden containers up a bit. Maybe that will help.
Uadjet: The Arena and Gug have the same issue.
Uadjet: Thosor?
Thosor: a couple things, 1. some players, new and old missing descriptions, example, Stalfoss here, and...
Thosor: 2. oh wait, please TP ico here, 2.0 coming up
Thosor: Are craft books broken? looked in my stock book for ingots, it stops at molten step, no quenching, and friend Ico doesn't seem to be able to get a boojk.
Ico: hi all
Ico: what's happening?
Thosor: Hi Ico, welcome
Anysu: I to was curious if any craft books were fixed recently.
>Anysu waves at Ico
Thosor: Ico, we are discussing craaft book problem.
Ico: for craft book what you mean?
Ico: i don't know nothing sorry
Uadjet: Click on the "Silver Ingot" part, not the little +.
Thosor: When I tried to make an ingot, consulted book, and it was incomplete.
Uadjet: This is a Dev Q&A, where we talk about what's going on behind the scenes and give players a chance to ask questions.
Ico: i cannot reach to make an ingot and i havent book
Thosor: how about iron, checking,.
Ico: ah ok i listen
Thosor: ah, I see it now
Anysu: In PS here when you go to make or craft something Ico you need a craft book.
Uadjet: So far we've covered combat changes (weapon trails, shield blocking), the new ability to make objects attackable, and now we're discussing crafting books.
Gonger: Hello Ico. Feel free to ask questions. Outside this meeting, also use the Help channel. What is said there also shows on our Discord!
Ico: i will do gonger thanks^^
Uadjet: Question, Leeza?
Leeza: A while ago I dragged and dropped my glyph sack by mistake. To be able to cast spells after, I needed to research each one again. Is this normal? Maybe I should ask for a feature to lock a container to the inventory window.
Gonger: Good question.
Leeza: I was cooking at the time and moving foot to and from the preparation table.
Leeza: *moving food
Uadjet: Yes, when glyphs are dropped, stored, traded, or in any way leave your inventory they need to be purified again.
Leeza: Alright.
Gonger: Also about glyphs, it is a bit annoying that the purified status is not shown while using Storage.
Thosor: I think I lost a whole sack long ago.
Uadjet: Locking a container seems like a good idea.
Gonger: So it is easy to store the Purified glyph instead of the un-Purified one.
Uadjet: Losing a whole sack, especially a glyph sack...
Uadjet: That would hurt.
Leeza: Good point, Gonger.
>Anysu nods at Uadjet.
>Leeza waves at Ico
Ico: question: is normal to have 2 azure glyph?
Uadjet: Let's see... the idle animations should stop playing at random times while sitting or running.
Ico: it seems that are uniques
Gonger: Absolutely, Ico.
Anysu: Wow. Was the sitting animation fixed? I am not auto standing up. I just was typing that!
Gonger: There are common and uncommon glyphs.
Gonger: It is easy to get a dozen or more common glyphs.
Ico: but are not cumulable right?
Gova: There are 8-13 glyphs for each Way, and I think nearly all glyphs are given out by two different quests.
Gonger: Cumulable to increase power? no.
Gonger: They are stackable, like other items.
Ico: ok
>Anysu cheers happily at Uadjet!
Leeza: Hmm... would be a nice thing though, Ico!
Uadjet: Helms should not longer look like they've been driven down into people's skulls...
Uadjet: More music...
Ico: for more music i have many sources availables^^
Anysu: lol. How about more Dance emote actions?
>Thosor begins to dance.
Uadjet: More music is always good.
Uadjet: Talad added some to the Dryken Plane.
Uadjet: As for more dances, I did propose using some dance animations from Mixamo for the Enkis in Oja's plague zone.
Uadjet: Specifically, the dance animations from Michael Jackson's Thriller.
Uadjet: They did not take that suggestion seriously.
Ico: before adding dance animation fixing existing animation?
Uadjet: Likely a wise choice.
Anysu: awe..
Ico: i saw only mining and 1 on 1 is to be fixed
Uadjet: So, any questions?
Thosor: player descriptions missing?
Ico: that i have to ask, where is to put in ?
Uadjet: Ah, yes.
Ico: i dont find the text editor
Thosor: Stalfos, even is missing his
Uadjet: Right-click on yourself and choose Look.
Ico: ahhh thanks
Gonger: My description is not missing, I think Stalfos(s) never had one...
Uadjet: On the window that pops up, there is a little pen icon on the right hand side.
Ico: and an eventual image to upload ?
Thosor: there was a new dwarf I saw earlier without description too.
Anysu: I think Gonger is right about Stalfos description
Uadjet: MyPlane hasn't been ported yet, but there was the ability to put a picture there.
Anysu: Isn't description picked by player? Maybe they do not want one?
Gonger: It will come again, Ico. Patience is the key to success in PlaneShift!
Ico: ahahaha
Uadjet: There is no rule requiring a character description.
Thosor: what about the auto thing, strengths they have, etc. are they stronger, weaker than you for example.
Uadjet: If you want to RP, one is highly suggested. They really, really help.
Gonger: Yes, Description and Out of Character Notes are set by the player.
Gonger: Character Background evolves with the character playing the game.
Anysu: Check Stalfoss again, Thosor, there is a change and something there now.
Uadjet: The character background tab is filled automatically, but the rest is largely blank.
>Anysu nods at Gonger.
Thosor: ok, I see. but wondering about the starting atributes, that no longer happens? "you survived a flood"
Uadjet: I suppose the descripion is like tree rings: New layers keep getting added as time passes.
Ico: made
Uadjet: Ah. It may not, for characters created in Unreal.
Leeza: Seems like the faction isn't identified in the "Character Background" window.
Ico: i havent infact
Gonger: Thosor, they show for my character under Character Background: You guarded the vault.
Uadjet: It's different, at least.
Leeza: For example: "Thanks to your actions, the members of this faction see you as a friend, and are eager to spend time with you."
Thosor looks at Ico's description: wow that was fast, I thought it would say 'I wish Thosor would quit bothering me'
Uadjet: Which makes sense, as character creation is different.
Ico: ahahah
Anysu: Yeah what Leeza said.. doesn't tell the faction name.
Ico: what you mean for faction?
Ico: as a guild?
Uadjet: The various groups and guilds.
Uadjet: Professional, like smiths or weavers, plus religious factions, combat style factions, magic orders, and so forth.
Ico: i made in unreal and i have this
Ico: Thanks to your actions, the members of this faction recognize you and are happy to speak with you. Thanks to your actions, the members of this faction see you as a friend and are eager to spend time with you.
Leeza: Ok...but which faction is telling you this? ;--)
Uadjet: Yeah, that info should be in there.
Ico: ah ok you are asking too much
Uadjet: Factions are still being worked on.
Anysu: Mine looks same as Ico and I made in Legacy. Still not faction names.
Anysu: as Leeza said.
Ico: ah another thing
Uadjet: Factions aren't quite done yet. A couple of the devs are working on sorting it out, but as it's more complicated than it was in Legacy it can't just be copied over.
Ico: only for me map is not usable?
Uadjet: The map in the compendium?
Ico: yes
Uadjet grins.
Ico: a lot of unuseful squares
Uadjet: You need to buy sections of that map from vendors or other players.
Ico: ah ok
Ico: nice ^^
Uadjet: Pterosaur handlers are a good place to start.
Ico: and once that i have how can i apply?
Ico: i have 2 scrolls of map now
Gonger: Never forget that PlaneShift is now and always will be Work In Progress.
Leeza: Need to be rich to buy a map here. They cost 5,000 tria each
Ico: gonger i know^^
Uadjet: That just makes it fun!
Ico: i have hydlaa
Ico: and there is the job cartographer?
Thosor: undercutting me Leeza?
Leeza: Good
Anysu: You can drag map onto your figure from inventory as if eating it or equiping it Ico
Leeza looks over at Thosor, "Is that even possible? I think not!"
Thosor: put it in middle of your inventory screen
Ico: tem cannot be equipped
Ico: he told me
Uadjet: Yeah, 24 factions, and all NPCs and quests need to be assigned, if appropriate.
Uadjet: Is it a blank map bought from teh library, or a such-and-such overview map?
Ico: map from quest
Ico: never bought them
Ico: maps and sketches are not supported yet for viewving
Ico: if i right click
Anysu: That is different then.
Uadjet: That's not a compendium map piece. Those always have Such-And-Such Overview Map as a name.
Anysu: Compeddium ones are purchased
Leeza: I don't have any of those yet either, Ico.
Ico: Hydlaa mainmap
Ico: and hydlaa eastmap
Thosor: I got some comp maps at events
Uadjet: I can lead people to maps, but GM-spawned maps break characters.
Ico: better not^^
Ico: but question before: cartographer exists as job?
Ico: so player can make map themselves?
Ico: just for curiosity^^
Uadjet: Talad just fixed my Uadjet and Event characters, who were both bugged in different ways. The event char used a spawned map piece, and the game kept trying to load race info that Derghir have never had.
Ico: not for me, for a friend
Uadjet: They would be explorers, and therefore part of Essential Trail.
Uadjet: We'd need to get drawings up and running first, and I don't know how much work is involved there.
Leeza: Maybe even add more details than the current maps available?
Gova: Hmm. Only 14 factions for me.
Thosor: mi think 15 here'
Uadjet: That would be nice. The compendium map was made with an external program. I was thinking the ohter day about being able to open a single section of the map and get more detail. Like explored mines. You find a mine, and a generic pick shows up on the focused map. Mine something there, and an ore icon of the appropriate color pops up in front of the pick and the mouseover gives the ore type.
Uadjet: Some herb types could work there too. I think trees are a bit too widespread for that to be viable. It would be nothing but log icons covering the map.
Thosor: yeah, that reminds me, I had to harvest a plant before seeing what it was.
Leeza: Maybe NPC's like Grok and Nyshun too?
Ico: is not normal this? thosor?
Anysu: That be cool Uadjet
Uadjet: Well, we're well past the hour, but today felt really productive.
Thosor: Ico, I used to jut either see names over plants or at mouse pointer in legacy. here you have to get your tool out.
Thosor: i had to switch pick for scyth today
Ico: just for to know the token of the player will be changeble in the future? as the panel you told before is ported
Uadjet: The token?
Ico: when you group in the list of players
Ico: there is an iage
Ico: image
Uadjet: Oh, in the group box?
Uadjet: I wasn't even looking at that.
Uadjet: In Legacy it would show an image. There was one for each race and gender.
Arireare: so how do i identify items
Ico: quite confusing if group is large?
Leeza: We couldn't choose that avatar/image.. the game just adds them automatically.
Ico: as yesterday
Daevaorn: You cast a Blue Way spell on them.
Daevaorn: Or have someone else do it.
Anysu: Generic, just like in Legacy the image. But The group does list character names.
Arireare: hmm, i really need to find the rest of the glyphs im missing like half i think
Uadjet: I'm not aware of any plans to change that. We'd need a lot of new images.
Ico: mmmh i will think on how to do and then ripropose
Leeza: I must be on my way. Thanks for the meeting and updates.
Ico: hi leeza^^
>Thosor waves at Leeza
Gova: I've got 63 glyphs, last I checked. There are quite a few out there.
Uadjet: Yeah, I have to be going too. The Europeans need some sleep, I'll wager.
Uadjet: Thank you all for coming, and I'll see you at the next Q&A in two weeks! until then, have fun playing and maybe try and event or two!

As for us "ancient players," we mostly still exist. But the only reason I left was that my version stopped working. I'll try to download and trouble shoot a successful launch, but I will admit Planeshift is no easy game to get to work. Regardless of the games lack of versatility, I look forward to the return of many. I actively encourage it actually. Planeshift was the main game I played growing up and will always hold a special place in my heart. I wish the devs luck as I always will.

I don't really understand why I wasn't put in the starting town like the people in the YouTube videos.  If there is a way to skip this, please let me know and I'll start a new character.

I think the videos are of the legacy, now discontinued game. I think the current, UE Version has this "Dryken Plane" that you described instead. IMO that would have better been used as replacement for the Death Realm. I got thrown off by that, too, when I tried to return to PS last year or so, and since I don't recall the second maze you describe, I likely never got as far as you did!

P.S. Making me read through the lore to find the color of the sun just to post on the forum?

Yeah, there used to be a time when SPAM bots/slaves heavily targeted forums and the Mods could barely keep up with them, so that system has been implemented on several sites. Given the disuse forums see nowadays, these measures may or may not be necessary. XigmaNAS also still uses it, but they're a very reclusive bunch, anyway.