Hello everyone,

I haven't posted for years on this site and haven't been active in-game as well, but maybe some people still remember my nick (and hopefully not in a too bad manner). Maybe a few might even know my real name, Stephan Huebner, living in Germany. But far more might remember the name "Qia", a players' character I RPed with heavily for some time. "Qia" was also reporting lots of bugs for some time, if I remember correctly.

The player behind Qia (his name is Raven Morris, he's from Canada) has become a good friend of mine and now he's in need of more help than I can provide. He has been ill for many years and it only got more and more severe over time. One big part of his problems are truly severe environmental sensibilities, but there is far more to it, partly caused *by* the ES, but not only.
As it stands at the moment, he is only barely surviving, he used up almost all of his energy to keep up. I'm in real fear that he might die soon if nothing changes substantially. In fact, I am surprised that he still carries on, given the state he had been for so long.

Raven has created a crowdfunding-campaign on IndieGogo to get money for a necessary surgery and many other things he needs to survive. Which he needs *quickly* or it might *really* be the end for him, sadly to say.

Raven also is a father meanwhile, but currently he's unable to care for his baby daughter named Malaika (who seems to have parts of the same environmental sensitivities).

So I'm asking everybody who remembers Qia to help out in any way they can, may it be donating money or goods he needs or by spreading the word or anything else one can think of. I wish nothing more for him than to finally beat his illnesses and can go on with his life and care for his daughter.

Here's the link to his IndieGogo-campaign, which will explain most everything.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/keep-malaika-smiling/x/824120

If there are any questions, please don't hesitate to ask and I will try to answer them as best as I can or will forward your questions to Raven. Thank you all.

[this is part of a far longer story (possibly 10 to 20 times as long as this introduction only. It is written for about 99 percent but has only been published partly on a guildsite before, due to some open questions on how to end it and/or if it fitted Planeshifts settings. But these are cleared now, or so I think. And so I will post the full story if nobody objects posting a *really* long story. I just need to do some refinements here and there but, no matter what Mrokii's fate will be in the future, will try to end this story.

if anybody wants to hear about why Mrokii will act as she will in this story (which will only be of relevance at a far later point in this story, here is an earlier description of her, together with the circumstances surrounding her birth:

http://hydlaaplaza.com/smf/index.php?topic=32043.0

And now enjoy (though at this point I can only post the intro until I have tweaked the chapters a bit.]

***

An eerie tale of friendship, loyalty and a place one should avoid

Foreword

As you probably have noticed, Mrokii is an extremely curious Enki, even compared to others of our kind. And she was so from the first days of her life. Her mother, though proud of her daughters courage, often feared for her safety, when Mrokii was out in the woods all alone. And she would have feared even more, had she known the places, Mrokii used as her playgrounds.

The tale I have to tell is one, that even Mrokii herself doesn't know about, though she played a big role in it. This may sound impossible, but it is the truth. You see, when I found her the other day, just after the incidents I am about to reveal, she was devastated. In fact, had I come just a little later, I am sure Mrokii would have killed herself. She wasn't even able to tell me what happened, and so I had to mesmerize her to find out. And while I did, I also made her forget all about it. Or so I think, at least. Afterwards, when I asked her about it, she only frowned and looked at me, seemingly confusing, not knowing what I was talking about. I sighed internally as I thought it would have been a good lesson for her to know about the things that happened. But I believe that making her forget was the only way to save her from insanity or even death.

To my shame however, I have to confess that I wasn't able to "heal" her completely. Her subconscious still seems to remember what happened back then. At one point, a long time time later, she confided to me (indirectly, as she doesn't like to speak about her feelings at all times), that she fears to betray others under the right circumstances. Yes, just as high, as I found out during long hours of talks to her, is Mrokiis fear of hurting others in a way that could make them suffer from a fate far worse than simple death. You might think that this sounds foolish. But if what she told me is true (and I have every reason to believe that it is, as I personally experienced the end of this story), then she did exactly that to one of her closest friends as a child.
And this may be the cause why she still shies back at first from people who try to cross certain borders, such that doesn't even seem to exist for most of us.

But what exactly happened back in the days long gone, you might ask. Hold on a second my friend, soon enough you will know everything...

As I already said, Mrokii was an extremely curious little Fenki from her first day of life. But that was only one part of her character. She also was a very funny child, full of jokes and crazy ideas (which she never feared to put into practice, how adventurous they may have been. That, combined with her intriguing charm should have been enough to drive every young Menki around her insane and to make him fall in love with her.
But it wasn't.
In fact, most of the young Enkis in her village did not like her at all. And this was, at least in part, due to the most unusual circumstances surrounding her birth, of which I talked somewhere else. Anyway, the result was that she often was a little bit too self-confindent, making her act quite snotty, often up to a point, where she didn't listen to any others opinion. Or when she did, thought of them as idiocy that are not worth to consider.
The last thing that sealed her fate as a loner, was her greed for stories. The more creepy and bloody, the more she loved them. And you can bet that this alone would make most of the grownups around you suspicious if you are a child of seven years. There was one young Fenki however, who shared Mrokiis interest for creepy stories. But in contrary to her, most of them scared her a lot and so Mrokii was always alone, when she went out in the fields to explore the spooky places they heard about.

Looking back, I think Mrokiis seek for my friendship was inevitable. As the elder of her village I had heard a lot of stories from other visitors. And, I have to admit it, I have a desire for strange happenings too and so I used every opportunity to travel around the land, writing down everything I heard about weird or unexplainable incidents and spooky places.
Every time I came back to our village, my backpack was filled up with the things Mrokii lusted for so much. And each time she awaited me eagerly, usually sitting high up in a tree somewhere along the road. Come to think of it, I can nothing but wonder, how she always knew the time for me to return and which path I would choose. I only can imagine that she had a visionary talent, that might have been another "side-effect" of the incidents around her birth.

Forgive an old Fenki, dear stranger, for I have strained your patience far too much already. But I believe that all of it was necessary to explain why the things happened as they did so many years ago. Now, without any further hesitation, I will awake the ghosts from the past...

Hi all,

yes, this will be a message purely with *whining* as certain people related to ps describe it so nicely. And the thing I am "whining" about is that with the new release of ps you can't climb on buildings, trees and other things anymore. Man, you guys *really* know how to spoil the fun for players. And it is not only me, let me assure you. I know a lot of people who *loved* climbing, some even used it for their roleplay and some I talked to thought about quitting the game because you took away these possibilities for exploring.

I heard the argument that we are not supposed to do these things, that it is even regarded as exploiting. I don't know if this is really an official statement, but if it is, I think it is silly and totally arbitrary from my point of view as nobody gets any advantage out of it, it is only for fun, nothing else. And hearing this argument makes me wonder why we have a climbing-skill at all (which doesn't work yet anyway).

So, what I would like to know, honestly, is: Was it *really* necessary to kill the fun for so many players? And will we get something of the ability back soon, for example by activating the climbing-skill and let those that want to specialize in climbing?

I do hope that there is a good reason for this change, though from what I heard on the irc, I am not really sure. Seriously, I am more and more beginning to feel like being put into a kindergarden. Do not climb, do not experiment, do *nothing* that is against the rules. That is the impression I got. And many others too, I am pretty sure.

Hi all,

as there are people from all around the world playing and becoming friends, how about showing the local time for each entry in your buddy-list? It could be incorporated like this for example:

buddyname1 (nn:nn pm)

It is not *that* important but it would still be nice. Let's say, you have a buddy you want to meet next time again. If you are in Europe and he is in America it would not help you much if he said "I am online again at 2 pm". But if you would see his local time in your buddy-list it would.)

[Hi all. First and foremost I should say that English is not my native language so I guess the following story bears some weird constructs and probably plenty of errors... And it is looooooon!!!!!  . I hop not too long for this forum. I decided to write the full description as found in-game here, though it holds more than just a role-play-event, so to say...]

-------

The Fenki before you is all dressed up in leather that has darkened so much over time, that it is almost black now. The different parts of the armour are stitched together with a red cord that makes the joints look like flames that grow over her body. The only adornment she wears is a wooden amulet carved with the shape of a Velnishi head.

A warhammer is clinging on her right and the words "No! marriage! proposals!" are glowing in a sickening green shimmer on its metal surface. And though it looks threatening, there are no curves or blood stains on it, as if had never been used at all.

When Mrokii notices you, looking at the hammer, she begins to grin and denotes a bow into your direction. While that *could* be a respectful gesture, there is a certain glow in her eyes that clearly shows that she's amused by people that over-emphasize good manners like these. Words pop up in your head as if she had spoken them: "If you want my respect, you will have to earn it."

Right beside of where the hammer is tied to the belt, there is a small rectangular bag, made of leather, also. It bears the lower half of a worn-out book. The top stands out and there is a flimsy calligraphy on it that reads: "A tale about my daughters birth and how she became what she is now"

As you stare on the book, Mrokii takes it out and hands it over. "As you seem to be so curious, why don't you just ask? Go on, read it, if you have some time to waste". She chuckles and turns away while you begin to flip the pages...

And what you read is this:
Mrokii is my only daughter and I had a hard time giving her birth and growing her up as well. But there are reasons for it, and while I could tell about them myself, I rather let one of our elders speak for me, whose speech is far better than mine. All I can say for now is that, while my beloved daughter can be harsh and over-reactive sometimes, she is a helpful person (if she is in the right mood, that is). But if you catch her in a bad mood, you better stay away from her. And should you be silly enough to betray her, the least you can expect is to be ignored for a long time. Some even told me, that once or twice, somebody disappeared soon after such an event... But my heart doesn't want to believe that...

Turning another page, you read,

Greetings, dear reader. I will do my best to fulfill the wishes of Mrokiis mother and tell you about some of the reasons that made young Mrokii a loner if there is one and why she likes it that way.
For one, she is *very* confident of herself (maybe a bit too much sometimes). But I think this is due to her unusual birth that both Mrokii and her mother survived, despite of the life-threatening circumstances under which it happened.

Another factor that scares many off is that she prefers to speak out the truth (as seh sees it) even if it might hurt you. That is why many think she's a cold hearted Fenki (which is true to some degree). But on the other hand, she *can* be romantic too... Well, romantic in a way, that she sheds a tear for the friend she just sent to hell because he betrayed her... But if you gain her trust, she will try everything to help and will listen carefully if you have something important to talk about.

The third and last factor for her status as a loner is that she respects nobody (at least not from the beginning). You will have a hard time to gain her respect and the fact alone, that you are a king or a priest means nothing to her (trust me, I know what I am talking about. And it is because of this lack of respect, that she makes fun of each and everything if she is in the right mood and even more if you insist on being something special just because of your title.

So, although she may look repellent and may scare you off at first, she likes to help friendly people most of the time. And if she doesn't she will tell you, rest assured.

But I guess I should now try to get to the main part of my telling, Mrokiis birth. I will start it with a remark about a certain ability of hers that attracts (or at other times irritates) many people. It is the change of the color of her eyes, sometimes when she blinks. She says, it happens randomly, but I somehow think that she can control it and uses for her own amusement... Anyway, the important point is that this is an outer sign that Mrokiis's body doesn't only bare one Fenki, but also parts of another. And the story behind that goes like this:

mrokii's birth has been discussed in her parents village for many, many years before she was even born. An old Enkidukai priest had told her mother that she would be blessed by some long forgotten God, but that the birth would be a great risk for both of them, the mother and the child.
But the young mother-to-be, a healer, didn't give too much on his words, as she had learned to rely solely on herself, taught so by the healer she received her knowledge about herbals from. And so she didn't listen when the time of birth was near and everyone told her to stay at home. Instead, she insisted on going out in a stormy winter night to collect a mysterious plant from a dark forest. And when she was on her way, almost there, almost wheere the line of trees began, it started to snow and wind began to blow. And it grew to a storm, so that it howled in the young mothers ears and she didn't even see her own hand before her yes and couldn't find the way back to her village.
So, with her last breath, leaning against the wind, Mrokiis's mother mde it to the line of trees, hid into the wood and tried to cover herself under some brittle branches.
Right at this moment she felt Mrokii was on her way...
The mother sighed in grief, as she knew that the chances for her new born baby to survive the storm would be...
But then she heard the voice of the old Priest in her head. And he said, that, if she would do her best to bring the baby into this world, someone would watch over her and the child. And so she did what had to be done. And when it was over, she hid the new born child under her clothes and on her chest to keep her warm.
But the storm didnt stop and so it seemed, as if Mrokii and her mother would die in this cold winter night. But they didn't. Instead her mother felt a worm stream of light, that found its way out of nowhere into her body and it heated up, until she didn't feel cold anymore. And so di her daughter, covered at her mothers brest.
Once again the mother heard the voide of the old Priest inside her head and he said "Something must die for something else to live". And as a vision came down to both the mother and her child, they saw a picture of another Fenki, one named Mroki. Do you think that it is pure coincidence that the young mother had previously planned to name your daughter Mrokii...?
Anyway, the vision started to change... This Fenki named Mroki lived in Ojaveda for a while and travelled around a lot, finding friends here and there. But at one time, she heard the same words, the mother had heard only moments ago: "Something must die for something else to live". And Mroki knew that she was given a choice, a blessing or a curse. And she decided to give her life for another one. And so she did, just in the night when your Mrokii was born.
A few hours before that incident, Mroki had left her own village to go out into the wilderness. And at the very moment the baby was born, Mroki began to disappear, as if she was fading away. And the moment, the young mother and her child felt the warm stream of light was when Mroki was gone.

But not completely.
A certain part of Mroki, partly energy, partly will and belief survived. And through some magical way, it was carried over into Mrokii and her mother, who from then on shared some knowledge that formerly was part of Mroki. But in this night, all that was important was the life energy Mroki had given. And though the night was still deadly cold, the mother and her young daughter survived.
The next morning, the villagers, who were out to look for some dead bodies found the couple, and many fell down on their knees in desbelief and thank whomsoever was responsible for keeping both alive. And this his how Mrokii was born and survived her first night on Yliakum.

Hi all,

I have been playing this game for quite some time and while I appreciate the effort of all the people behind it, I think limiting the weapons stock on all shops is the worst thing ever invented in this game. Even more than the annoying introduction system. I hate both.

Someone told me that the reason behind the weapon-limitation was to improve relationship between players. Ha! I can nothing but laugh about that! If that really was your plan behind it, I think you screwed up big time (imho). And no, I won't apologize for it, because I rellay think you did. And I will tell you why:

1. For newbies the game was hard enough at start upto now. They had to kill rats for quite some time to have enough Tria to buy better weapons. And now they even have to do that for a longer time because they can't buy cheap daggers anymore! Great work, really. And even worse, when they have enough money they can't choose anything but one weapon! Wow! That is a *very* realistic way of doing business in a shop.

2. About "improving relationship" or communication between players: The only thing this limitation leads to is that, instead of just buying a weapon one likes to use, he or she has to find someone who crafts weapons and sells them. That *might* lead to roleplay, yes. But upto now most of the people I met who sell crafted weapons wanted me to buy weapons with ridiculous quality for an equally ridiculous amount of Tria. And even if there were others. Why should I go around looking for a crafter? The shops are there to sell things like that, imho! I go to a crafter if I want to buy a special weapon, but not if I just want to buy a usual one. And what about the newbies. Do you expect them to go around for hours until they may or may not find a crafter? I am sure they will love that...

3. It defeats roleplay, because now, instead of just buying the weapon that I want to have for a realistic price in a shop (which is fast), I have to invest countless hours to dig Platinum or Gold just to have enough money to buy a weapon (If I don't want the standard one, that is). Wouldn't it be better if I could invest that time into roleplay? And the next thing is that I will have to try and find someone who crafts them. Or I have to do it myself. And this leads me to my next point.

4. On one hand you talk about "individuality" in Planeshift and how every player should develop a unique personality. But on the other hand you do nothing at all to reward those that do. Even worse, for the reasons I stated above, I think you force players to be generalists that are good at everything at the same time! One should be good at digging to get Tria, have to be a good fighter too (to get some experience points now and then) and now one should also invest precious time into crafting! Ha! So much for individuality!

I mean, why should one concentrate on becoming a great wizard for example, if there is no benefit at all? Or what if one wants to become a barbarian but instead of fighting he is also forced to become a miner or a crafter just because there is no other way to get enough Tria or good weapons? I am sorry, but I think Planeshift has never rewarded or at least supported ones wish to specialize in one area.

I have heard complaints now and then about players that do nothing but dig for Gold or Platinum. Well, I would say for the most part this is the fault of the game itself, because there are not many other ways to get enough money for good armor and weapons. And you guys made it even worse now, thank you very much. A few more of this "improvements" and I will be gone because it gets more and more frustrating and boring to play.