Seytra: When someone gets lost and needs to orientate again, searches for something that differs from the surroundings, something particular to act as a reference point. Of course if that point remains as static as possible, all the better. Tropic birds, then, are discarded.

This all applies to geolocation, but the same rules might apply to people ideologies.
In that sense, Seytra did act like an extremely valid orientation point regarding concepts and ideologies towards the roleplay.
If there was meant to be a Seytra scale, as there is Richter's, it would be somewhat special; a circular form where the extremes "too far" or "too near" from Seytra's mean (no pun intended) pov would mean the same: danger.
Probably more dangerous the one "too far", though ^^

Having a talk with Seytra regarding any aspect of the "roleplay world" was always enriching. It certainly might not reach an agreement but it has to be admitted that Seytra's positions were always set in their own reasons. Weather or not one could agree with them, denying that there was a logic mechanism behind them would be unfair.
Of course, it can be argued, that it was Seytra's logic. True, so far. But Seytra kept being consistent and consequent towards that logic, most of the time. Being then coherent.

It is also rare that people who has set, so firmly, those ideas wishes to share them in an open talk. Somehow we managed to achieve that point. Maybe it had something to do our first encounter, not precisely ideal, but that got fixed thanks to the mutual position of talking about it.
Besides that, Seytra knew to transmit those believings to other people. That is, not only knew the own opinion regarding a given topic, but also knew how to put it into words, so that others saw the point. And then blame and disagree, sometimes. ^^

I've been about to remark, too, about the game character you had. For it was different, and, as such, somehow particular and special from the common. However, I think I've said enough regarding about the person, that in the end is what matters, and for I think the person was already special and important on its own, the character reference becomes accessory.

So both Karyuu and Proglin have left, apparently.
Thanks a lot, Farren Kutter, for providing the link where Proglin states about his departure.
I was aware he had some disappointments, but had no confirmation of his full departure, nor his specific reasons to do so.
Does anyone know if there's something similar for Karyuu?

First I'll talk about the name I came to put, and after I'll include Proglin, since his departure has been confirmed.

Bereror: A character that, if I'm not mistaken, I've not roleplayed with. Which makes this entry special. Ok... at the most there were some tent-related jokes the last days ^^
I include Bereror here due to his gentle attitude. Found him accidentally, same as AryHann, inside the IRC PS channel. The few times I logged in, he was gentle enough as to reply, if only to state an "I don't know". When looking for an answer, getting some is better than getting any. But his aid was usually quite profitable, lots probably remember him if using Linux, with his aid on the builds and guides to compile.
Later on he became a developer, and after a period of retirement, maybe he'll be active again. If he decides to be, and has the time to, is, I think, one great addition to the coding team, not only due to having proved to be a great guy and programmer, but also due to the thought he put when coding, not only about the code itself, but the way to do it so it was best for everyone. I personally recall the rebuilding of the /report system, for so long broken, that he dealt with. How he wanted to think about a way that was robust, and tried to preserve as much possible each player's privacy is something to be praised. While our opinions might differ at certain points, one cannot deny that his beliefs where there for a reason he had thought of, and that is always something valuable. 

Proglin: Confirmed the departure, joins the list. Same as I did one with Saba Acidheart, Proglin also deserves the praise for having tried to create something for the players. Where Saba built the story tell events, Proglin put his tournaments. Not that they did not exist before his arrival, but he certainly tried boosting them, giving them an aura of "professionalism". I assisted as an spectator to the firsts of them. No doubt the fun was on the sand, but I had no char to be there, and somewhat wanted to express my support as a player. The tournaments ended up creating an organization group, and I'm sure they were immensely fun times for those who had their chars fighting in them. The cons, however, were that the organization team obeyed more to an "OOC fame" rather than an IC char that indeed organized (which is a quite comprehensible "flaw" IMO) and that the competitions weren't always that Rped (which is always tricky to handle, with the big affluence they ended having)
I recall Proglin as a player that tried to make things happen, with energy, "good day mate!" greetings and the like. No doubt that was a must to build up the shows.
Most likely he's been already talked about widely, so I wanted to try to remark something that meant an addition.
As an end, it always struck me his surname "Unsir". As if "no-sir" which was kind of funny, and not fitting-meaning to his carrier.

Two more additions here.

It happens now again, blame the odds, that both share the same starting letter. Further, they share the first three.

Thyme: Thyme Zaatar. A masseuse, and I hope I wrote that right. Characters that went a bit out of the usual path always used to call my attention, moreover if said characters aided to create an idea of a more complete world. That someone wanted his/her character to be a masseuse was something utterly new for me, and I dare say for the rest of the active player base, at the moment Thyme tried to play her character.
In that sense, I tried giving Thyme the player as much support as possible, as well as tried to transmit confidence that the character was feasible, and that it could have a place.
The character did, eventually, succeed. Even if it took a bit of time, I had the chance to play with her for a bit, and was able to see that the character was well thought about, not being a player who chose a distinctive profession just for the sake of it, but that had, at the same time, put some effort into making it believable. In that sense, the player (more than the character itself) is missed.
There are, still, some (sporadic unfortunately) player to player conversations. If I had to describe with few words the cheery mood of the player behind Thyme I would use the way she used to type smileys. The usual "" was changed by the =) form, that, somehow, made it more close and warm.
That and the cook recipe exchanging, amongst other things, made the talks pleasant.
I'll then end this brief player/character reference with a "=)"

Thyrion: Maybe not fully gone, but we briefly talked about this, Thyrion (if you're reading this ^^).
Thyrion Alzhaman was, that I recall, the second and last herbalist character I ever found while playing. Curiously enough, both of them were characters worth being known. Maybe it is, then again, because it is not a so frequent character to find. There are playing styles that tend to be descriptive, or that you feel the other party is actually reading your character reactions, in order to react at its time, rather than just performing the premade role they had before jumping on the scene. I'd say Thyrion played the former way, a way that empowered those around to try to play better and create more atmosphere. Probably Jjairr would agree on this.
Thyrion itself was a mysterious character, with those... what were they? runes? stones? cannot recall exactly, on his palms. I think also he was on the few who smoked, and on pipe, if memory serves me well. Some odd Sherlock Holmes' klyros mutation, so to say. And as he was a studier of crimes, so Thyrion was of herbs.
An example of his creation, is the Herbalist Handbook, a compilation of the different plants, trees and herbs that the player created in order to give tools for his character to play with. Those creations, are, in my opinion, really useful.
First of all, because they come not imposed. You can take, or not, the herbs and plants that are there, it is an "unaggressive" contribution from player to player. In that sense, it helps to enrich the world. I took one of those herbs into my play. I guess so did others.
What makes them useful too, is that they're creations that few stop to think about, unless they're playing a character tied to it (herbalist, in this case) so, those inventions, if well done and rational, aid opening a new field for other players to explore.

If any player wishes to know what was the initial outline of that Herbalist Handbook I referred to before, I took myself the permission to seek for the thread that contains it, and link it here. Credit goes to Thyrion Alzhaman :
http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=21424.msg235104#msg235104

I just noticed my last post referred to two characters starting by the same letter.

This is not Sue "Nilrem" Crafton's - Alphabet of Missed; fear not.

And, to prove myself, what best than to add some other names:

Seeln: Who turns out to be the creator of this very thread. I noticed that after our first meet (or at least the one I recall to be the first). It happened one day, when there was a CrystalSpace demonstration regarding Planeshift. If I'm not mistaken, that day, a great amount of the players where in Hydlaa Plaza, where the "live demo" was taking place. Far away from there, out of the paparazzi flashes, we met. Inside the Broken's Door tavern. Shared a nice roleplayed breakfast there. I guess I always liked those everyday-like scenes. And it was pleasant to find someone else who seemed to, too.
Somehow, I always wanted to believe that recreating life was more challenging and deep than a more action-focused approach.  Spending time to write about "daily" scenes, character expressions or ambiance descriptions (some wind rushing in from the balcony at Brado's top floor) can seem something ridiculous or a time loss, and it times it can be; but I think it aids immensely towards that feeling of realism and being involved that games like this require.

I said this wasn't to be the Alphabet of Crime  and I had to add an "S" starting name.
Let's break it:

Nilaya: Widely known. So much, that I doubt I can say anything that can't be considered known. At first, some can be thinking that Nilaya is still here, coding for the game, and that this entry is then, a mistake. I add here Nilaya, because I miss her (the character) and him (the player) and this is a thread for "characters and people" that is missed. I do not doubt the game has gained a nice coder. In fact, and from the little I've seen, Nilaya has to be someone nice to work with. To say it simply, and not spend much time in this subtopic, it seems that Nilaya is, at the time of coding, someone who looks about his punctuation and ortography.
In this thread I've mentioned about my first encounters with given characters/players. If you're reading this, Nilaya, you know I've not forgotten, so here's your turn ^^
It happened about two weeks or so after my first log in the game. I lost my first logs due to a format, so I cannot actually check about it anymore. But the encounter persisted on my memory. This is becoming a length exposition. It will indeed become. The encounter happened at the top of Kada Els floor. Now there's something I cannot set into time correctly... but, I recall Nilaya half-hiding below the stairs that lead to the tavern's roof, while she teared a piece of paper and let the tiny peaces go away with the wind. The image was quite unusual for me. First, because it was a purely roleplayed scene (and one had seen few before that one. No, I had no idea about roleplay at that time, have I now at all? But it stroke as something rare to be seen; I guess that's why Nilaya's action remained on memory) And secondly, because it had feeling in it, as well as an outern element to the char. The wind.
After that brief encounter (or maybe before, I said I cannot settle that action very well in time) the tavern roof. I seem to recall there were like 3 enkidukais there, plus a klyros. I think one of the enkidukais was Karyuu and maybe the klyros was Neck Romaniak. But I'm not sure if Neck was there by that time or not. Fact is that I was surprised by another Nilaya's action. The character description contained an explanation regarding the player that controlled her, to be a male. Such an open statement was hard to see.

What happened after is a bit ashaming to tell, but, since I've not forgotten my starts with the game, here it goes. I made my Nth mistake about using the name of a character mine wasn't presented to, in a dialogue. How hard it was to avoid to use it, when it was flashing with green neon lights right before your eyes.
As it was the fashion, the subsequent question regarding how my char knew the name aroused.
Panic did, too. 
In my starts I did not see, precisely, new players being treated with much consideration, so I tried my best to avoid the hit that surely (I thought) would come shall I present myself (even more clearly) as a new player.
What came to mind was that, since I had read about the setting and different descriptions the game had, I tried a "nice escape way" stating Nilrem knew about azure way. Which was false, and I now am in doubt if azure way is actually able to do that, but, the point was that, if one knew about the expression "azure way" might appear as, somehow, a less newlooking player.
Poor me.
"Oh, so let's prove it." That was the reply.
That meant I had failed. For I did not want Nilrem to act as if he knew about that magic way (for he did not) and, on the other hand, that which looked could be a nice meeting, was becoming complicated.
But, if I'm telling this here, is because Nilaya had something to do there. In this case, in terms of player. I got a /tell from Nilaya, stating that I could do the test on her, for he would reveal me what the char was thinking in /tells, shall I want to keep that play. I replied that he, in fact, wasn't a magician of the azure way.

That gesture, is the most extraordinary one. I've seen that happen very seldomly, with the time I've played. And for that, it was greatly appreciated then, and it is more appreciated as time proves how rare it is to see something like this happen again.
That aid, that care about what the _other_ is doing while playing is to praise.

The too prone to tears Nilaya char, was one to love. It comes to mind, now, that scene at Hydlaa Plaza stairs, she mimeting Nilrem's pebble throwing, as if by doing so there was some sort of understanding statement. The white dress of hers, the smile...
The fact that Nilaya had lived with dermorians (so very interesting would have been to have had your view on that, for my enrichment; since Nilrem was, precisely, the other way around) the fact that Nilaya played a character who dealt with magic (would have been interesting again to know about the concept you had, to see another point of view, and maybe to enrich my own concept for it)...

Maybe one day I get to know about some of this (or something else) in one of the seldom talks we have when both turn to be in game at the same time.
But, what seems more unlikely to me is to see again that white dressed Nilaya, mother caring like with her guilded ones and warm to the strangers, wandering cheerfully the Hydlaa streets.

The origin of this post has to be found in thread:
http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=28267.0
while I would have liked to reply there, it has not been possible to have it reopened, and that's why this thread exists.

What I'll ask for, is something quite simple and understandable (from my point of view) and that could be classified somewhere between the "posting guidelines" and "behavior and etiquette" in the thread named "Forum Rules of Conduct". The link is:
http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=22698.0

The idea is quite simple:
I think it's desireable that if in a post one person is named, or as it's also the case, prompted to do a certain action, said person has to be notified about the existance of the post. It's a matter of posting (n)etiquette.

Failing to do so, might result in the addressed person not ever knowing about that post/thread existance.

Needless to say, this wouldn't apply to cases where the named person was the one that started the thread (for he/she would likely expect a reply) or when the named person has replied to that thread (in that case chances are he/she will check the thread again) or any other situation where chances are said person won't miss the message.

Even if my suggestion could be taken as a common sense way of acting, it has to be recalled that, after all, the purpose of the Forum Rules of Conduct thread is no other than to explicitly write down those common sense guidelines, for the benefit of the forum itself.

Good that you've now a graphics card that will surely give you more performance than one built in on the board. 

Now you can safely forget about the texture downsampling. Although, the last recommendation regarding fps cap might still be of interest for you (and anyone playing the game) since it's not a fully polished game, and its cpu & memory consumptions tend to be unnecessarily high under certain conditions. Just, if you see your cpu is majority of the time at 100% load while you're playing, give that fps cap value change a try.

I even suggested changing the default value that comes out-of-the-box to a lower value, since there's no perceptual loss, and there's a gain in terms of cpu stress, but it is yet to be seen if that default option will be changed on future releases.
Anyway, you've always the chance of changing it manually.

As of now it seems the server is down, Caden.

You should keep on with your testing, when you're fully sure the server is up and running.

One way to know this is visiting:
http://laanx.fragnetics.com/

checking the "total online number" (should be a relatively big number) and the "Time" and "Report time". Both should be really close to each other (a difference of few seconds).
If all that is accomplished, then chances are that the server is up.

It is then, that you've to keep searching for connectivity issues on your end.
It can be that, now, you've all set it up correctly, but since the server is down, you obviously cannot connect to it.