getting Started

[HammerSong]

ok, ive been playing for a couple hours, have read the guides and tutorials as well as quite a few posts, but still have a few questions...

   Ive played many games, and have found that crafting/mining/marketing is of primary importance to me, while killing monsters and other npc's is a good distratction to keep from getting burnt out..  I see that mining is possible, as is crafting, though perhaps not complete as of yet...   is crafting a viable option in PlaneShift?

  I have managed to kill a few rats and looted misc.. parts, i was told there was an npc near the Arena? that may buy some of them...  is there an in game map, or a map on any of the guides i may have overlooked? I do dislike bugging people as most are there to relax and enjoy the game, not spend hours helping a noob..

 I also got the quest from the npc Smith...  need to buy a pickaxe, and then find a place to mine... but back to the last question, i need to get the money to buy it first...   
   Do the pickaxe's wear out? Can i manufacture my own? Are there pack animals, or carts to haul ore or do we do it all manually? Is mining safe or are there npc monsters, and or pvpers trying to kill the miners?
  Once i manage to get a pickaxe, is there a safe location to mine low grade ores to gain more income? is there even a market for that type of ore? will the npc's buy the ores or will i need to sell it to other players only?
   Can we learn more than one trade skill? Meaning, can i eventually craft armor, and weapons and still have enough skills to be effective in pvm?  LOL, I could go on like this for a while...
   last questions... is there a industrial type guild that would be willing to take on a dwarf thats always happy, somewhat mouthy, likes to fight, llikes to drink, and thats intent on making himself famous for his mining and crafting abilities, if not his combat skills as well?
   I understand some questions i will have to ask in game but dont like bugging people when they are playing...
   So far PS looks quite interesting, and after reading some of the horror stories am quite thrilled that i have played for a couple hours, killed a few rats and have not yet had to negotiate the death realm...   Thanks in advance for your time!!!

   P.S. Crystal Blue, any relation to Crystal Blue Persuasion of the UO freeshard fame?

[Nurahk]

Check the Imeprial Trades out if you want to be a crafter.

There is no ingame map, and it's nice of you to consider the feelings of other players, a good thing to do is to restrict yourself to only asking one question per person.  Make more friends and you don't annoy them as much

The Trades will give you money, I imagine, besides that there are other quests which don't require money and you can just kill rats and sell body parts to make money.

They don't wear out, can't manufacture as far as I know, all done manualy.

Mining is safe, PvP is limitied.

NPCs do buy ores, who and where to mine are ingame questions.

You can learn as many skills as you want.

Again, the Imperial Trades sounds perfect for you.

See you around, I hope.

[HammerSong]

wow, fast reply, and with pretty much JUST what i wanted to hear....   Ive played so many games that required four or five characters to accomplish my goals that it was getting tiring, the fact that there are no skill restrictions is inspiring...  the fact that pvp is limited also suits me, im getting old, heart has had too much adrenalin through the years.
  I will attempt to find some one in game within this guild, 
   TYVM for the reply!! 

[Raleigh]

@Nurahk: What a shameless advertising Counter-answer:

So here's the second option: take a look on the Economic Directorate of the Black Sun Union if you want to be a free crafter, it will offer you many opportunities, but you won't have to follow orders, as it is a mostly hierarchy-less "guild".

It all depends on the nature of your character. Basically it is two choices:

Obedience, Ambition, Loyalty or...

Freedom, Equality, Cooperation

If your character would prefer the first, Imperial Trades fits pretty well, if the latter, then you should go at the Union.

[Nurahk]

Obedience is a bit over the top, Raleigh.

Loyalty, Ambition and teamwork are all very important to the Trades.  If you want to know more, talk to Natrina.

The Imperial Trades is part of the Dark Empire, if you want to know more about the Dark Empire (dial 3 ) feel free to PM me.

[HammerSong]

well, ive been playing all afternoon, and managed to find a place to mine Iron, now have a quest to mine gold. have been asking, in character, for close to two hours now, and have not had one reply, have even broken my own rules to do the /tell to people selling gold and have not had a reply. with no knowledge of the game, safe areas to travel, or even if i can be killed by another player i have come to a grinding halt...

  Me Pick is crying for gold!!! whichever of ye, or eny uther guilds is needin a loyal miner and maker send me a tell if yer willin to help me pick find its path in the dark, and guide me towards the right paths on other skills..., buyin me a mug o beer would help as well. Yarrr!

    My character name in the game is Hammersong, wouldnt let me capitalize the S in song, send me tell, i have a lot to learn to be usefull!

[bilbous]

You do not need to join a guild just to get information, if you need to know where a gold mine is, you could try following someone who has just sold some in the marketplace odds are he will be returning to the mine. Another option is to wander around outside of town and look to see where people are mining and then try /dig gold, /dig silver, et cetera. You can even make a shortcut which has dig commands for any mineral you can think of one each on a line to use while prospecting.

You might find some miners by going out the upper gate of Hydlaa and looking down either side of the T-junction. You might find some miners near to Ojaveda, although I doubt you will find any gold there, I could be wrong. There may be one or two other places to find mines as well and new mines can pop up at the whim of the developers.

[HammerSong]

well, it looks as if a GM has decided that the name i have used for years is invalid, HammerSong was the name of my Smith/Miner in Ultima Online since the very beginning of that game right up through renaisance, and then again in the Free server I hosted for three years after that....  I do not understand why I am being singled out, they would not answer me or my petition, I have asked that my name be restored, if they refuse, and i have NO clue why they would, or even why they would change it in the first place, then i really have no interest in an RP game that you must RP to what the GM's want, not you..  I will log back in this afternoon, if My name is not returned, then I wish all of you the VERY best of luck and fun!

[Raleigh]

I don't see what is wrong with indigenous-like names. I'm pretty sure GMs would change someone named something like "Dance With Wolves" as well. But, as the senile positivist old dude says: rules are rules...

P.S.: Hammersong could go as a last name though I believe, or do we need to always invent surnames based on non-existing words? In this case, just make it *first name* Hammersong.

[Karyuu]

HammerSong: you are not being singled out Word combinations aren't really allowed as first names - but as Raleigh stated, last names using them are fine. GMs answer petitions whenever they can; if you aren't online, they have no means of leaving a message for you, so they must catch a time when both parties are available in the game.

Tell us what first name you would like to use, and we'll change it for you, with Hammersong as your surname.

[HammerSong]

well... you see, thats the whole problem, his first name is Marrion, which Is embarrasing, for a dwarf,...   HammerSong is not his last name either, but what his mother took to calling him, because the only thing that would get him calm enough to sleep as a child, was the sound of old Grundy next door in the smithy plying his Blacksmithing trade. His mother began singing to him to the rythem of the hammer, and HammerSong became his nickname, and what he was known by from a very young age.. Fortunately, most forgot his first name as time passed, so it was not as necessary to break as many noses...   RPing this character, is not new, in fact it originally started with Dungeons and Dragons in the early 1970's and slowly adapted from there through games like Diablo and Ultima Online...  its pure RP...
   The Mage i have always played, is called The RageMage, not because its his name, but because its what he came to be called and known by.. because of the circumstances that arose with the destruction of his home and family..   my warrior is KnitePrince, again, not his name, his name is Thalendrion Da'Barador Dragorian, last of the Dragonlords and prince of the shattered throne. His enemys began the name because of the way.... bleh..
   anyhow... I find it hard to believe that no one has come across this problem before... is it possible to RP these characters in continuation as I always have? Or am i and anyone else who desires to RP in this fashion going to be limited?
   I guess its not that bad to try to figure out new names, its just that I have SO many years invested in the storylines of each character that it has hit me personnaly, now that ive calmed down, it seems somewhat silly to have gotten so angry about it, and actually surprises me that I did get that angry...  i have quite Literally a book written on the life and times of each of these characters that I have been encouraged to publish in the past...  would just like to know if it will ever be possible to continue them here...

[Karyuu]

Names are names, not nicknames. If your character wants to be called HammerSong by others, he has to but mention it to those he meets. But we don't allow nicknames to be in the name labels. "RageMage" is definitely not going to do it, since that's as far from an actual name as you can get; same goes for "KnitePrince." You may want to take a look at our Naming Policy whenever you have time.

You can roleplay your characters as you have done in other games - a name is but a name, especially when you are not bound to be called by others what your name label shows.

[HammerSong]

well, I am truly sorry to hear that, I will look elsewhere...  I wish you the best of luck on this game, it truly looks to have a lot of promise...

[Karyuu]

I am disappointed that this small of an issue is going to turn you away from this game entirely, and I wish that you'd reconsider. It's really not that big of a deal.

However, feel free to return at any time and give us another chance. Best of luck to you in your endeavors.

[HammerSong]

no, it isnt that big of a deal, I agree. its just that with over thirty years invested in these characters... D&D came out??? in the early 70's I believe, I have the wood grain box still that i bought in the mid to late 70's, wish i had saved the first one I bought with nothing more than dice and instructions in it...  Ultima online.. i have no clue when it started, but i joined within days of startup, when there was only Felluca, no Trammel, I played until the powerscrolls came out...  then no one wanted a grand master smith any more, they wanted a legendary smith.. i struggled with my non combat characters attempting to get a legendary powerscroll for about four months, and finally quit the game...  I then started my own freeshard, and hosted it until only about a month ago, am looking for a new home, so  I will consider it, perhaps its time to start writing again and create a new character.. it will have to wait until the winter though, as I do not have the time to start something of that magnitude right now..

   Since its really no big deal.. perhaps by then, the policy can be modified to allow such RPing?   

  The Clanging of the blacksmiths hammer in the next building over, swung by the Dwarf Grundy as he hammered out a breastplate filled the air with a clanging ring that was accented by the soft voice of his mother. Her words sung softly so as not to dround out the sound filtering through the open window. The feeling to Marrion was indescribable, his muscles lost their tension, his mind slowed from a reeling cascade of thoughts and ideas and slowly settled on the words of the song and the somehow, calming of the ringing steel. He woke suddenly, the dream of his youth fading quickly as he knew something had awoken him. the fire was a bed of coals testifying to the fact it had been at least two hours since he had drifted into sleep. He lay unmoving as he listened again for what had brought him from sleep. The fingers of each hand curling around the handle of axe and hammer respectively.......
 yall take care now!  I'll check back occasionally, if nothing changes maybe i can figure something else out this winter...