Quest Digest 12/1/97

From: Joshua Gallagher <Joshua@dial.pipex.com>

Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 00:00:00 +0000

QUEST_DIGEST   12 February 1997  Quest Digest - two in a year!
UEST_DIGEST_
EST_DIGEST_Q   Hello and welcome to another Quest Digest!  Yes,
ST_DIGEST_QU   we're only just beating First Class (KJC magazine)
T_DIGEST_QUE   on frequency of releases.  But hell, we have fun.
_DIGEST_QUES   Thanks to all who continue to send messages in and
DIGEST_QUEST   put up with my tardiness!  So, here we go.......

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>From        : Ewan Jones E.F.D.JONES@cranfield.ac.uk
Date        : Tue, 14 Jan 1997 09:18:33 +0000 ()

EJ Just a quick note about Crasiworld quest, has anyone
actually ever come across any special features, I know in
my 130 turns in the game I have seen no special items (e.g
shade mace) , locations (e.g teleport gates) or npc`s and
know nobody else who has. Are these actually in the game or
just made up ??

EJ Oh yeah not that it matters Andy but I am still waiting
for the items I won at the hero gathering a year ago !

EJ For anyone who is interested I now have another quest
related web page located at :

http://snt1.silsoe.cranfield.ac.uk/index/index.htm

Also is the Pagan Death Cult alliance web page at :

http://snt1.silsoe.cranfield.ac.uk/pagan/pagan.htm

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>From        : "Hooper, Allan" Allan.Hooper@ratec.raufossas.no
Date       : Fri, 17 Jan 1997 08:35:45 +0100

(JPG> Some of this mail is from last year...  I think... )

>Ex> I have a fighter at turn 30 who has 81 axe skills, 58 crossbow
>skill, 38 fighter skill, A heavy crossbow and a Plus one axe. I haven't
>really
>concentrated that much on training him up. Is this good?
>
>AH> Sounds quite good to me - I always shudder to think about the time
>my eldest group spent poncing around in the wilderness instead of
>training when I was still new to Quest - but I had another group with
>15 ACE(100) around turn 50. Regarding fighters, the fighter skill stat
>is very important, you should only consider recruiting fighters with
>50+sk. My 140+ turn old group has some fighters with <50sk but I havent
>the heart to kick them out (I'm waiting for a Monk / Werewolf for some
>training or a Globe to swollow them).
>
>>AH> And 'C ' which is probably why it is not being implemented.
>
>AH> Hmm, eaten message methinks. What it should have said is 'C <all
>mages> <deathspell> <party>'. At least it almost looks like I know what
>I'm talking about now :)

The next TQ I got was 1140 g.p. for one Valkyrie, 8 sectors away from
town. The Valkyrie would have been 1440 g.p. (9x20x8), so the TQ rewards
were scaled down by then, but I don't know how they calculate the value
now.

AH> I just got a TQ for 1500gp's for a LifeBringer 20 sectors away from
town. Over a 50% reduction in bounty over what it used to be (but still
a lot of money  for something that will only take a Globe or two).
>
>AH> Does anyone think that the exp charge for strength skill solves
>anything?
>IMO its not the exp for the skills that is the problem it is the amount
>of money alliances get to keep from each purchase of skills - the
>charge per week just does not work. No money is getting removed from
>the game system, it is just acumulating in alliance accounts.
>
>Another possible improvement? The ability to buy Journeys by
>destination
>settelement ID#???
>
>AH> Having banks with the same numbers in different cities would be
>nice too. I had to leave most of my Quest turns in the UK when I moved
>and it is almost impossible to have succesfull turns without proper

>town shop lists.
>
>PS>I think the point raised by Dieterly, Arthur C in Quest Digest
>7/9/96 on
>race/class  limits is a very good one. It does seem a bit unrealistic
>to be
>able to have an Elf with the same tougness as a Dwarf. I would like to
>see
>race/class limits as the next major improvement to Quest.
>
>AH> I too agree very strongly. What is the point in having different
>races when they all end up the same anyway? It also takes away
>strategic decisions like, do I have a blood mage for extra toughness
>but less skill. Not forgeting that currently the feeble elf mage gets
>as strong as the dwarf fighters in under 5 game 'days', so much for
>'realism'.

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>From        : PSykes6420@aol.com
Date        : Wed, 22 Jan 1997 01:32:35 -0500 (EST)

PS> My brother (who runs Dawns Destruction in game 11) reckons that he
has
not been thrown out of town by the militia for a while, even though he
does a
lot of robberies. I was just wondering if anyone else has noticed this?

PS> Does anyone remember when KJC saying that when fighting another
group, as
well as seeing their group description and shield emblem and hearing
their
battle cry, we would also be told the name of who we were hitting/being
hit
by, instead of `first dwarf fighter' or `third elf mage'. I was just
wondering why haven't they implemented this? Personally I would rather
see
`Alf was hit by Bloodlust' than `Alf was hit by the third elf priest'
(although I do realise that it would be a little bit unrealistic in
terms of
how would they know the names of the people they were fighting in the
first
place, but the same applies to how do you know the names when you
investigate
a group?).

PS> Another thing that I think would improve battles a little bit is if
the
description of wounds was a bit more detailed, eg. instead of being
lightly
wounded, the character could take a minor slash to the arm, etc.

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>From        : Erwan Legrand p6mpr63@cicrp.jussieu.fr
Date        : Thu, 23 Jan 1997 16:52:27 +0100

I was reading the latest QD, on dejanews. I noticed a few things I'd
like to react to.
First, about 0% flee factor and casting spells without engaging. I think
that a party should not be able to cast combat spells, unless in combat
of course. I can't really see why you can cast combat spells at others
if they can't react before the next turn. As with flee factor, I think
that there should be a good chance that a party can't flee when they
want to. As it is now, player groups can always flee, as soon as they
have reached their flee factor. Also, parties should check whether they
should flee or not before spell casting and before missile fire. A party
with a 0% flee factor would attempt to flee before the spell casting
phase, and if it doesn't work, try again before the missile phase, then
first melee round...
There are a couple of things that should be added I think. Retreating
from a fight should be very risky, as your opponent could possibly shoot
missiles or cast spells at you while you are retiring. This would be
quite nasty if you can still engage a party 15 (or 30) times in a single
turn. So I think player groups should not be able to engage a same group
more than once per turn. This would also hinder people using % flee
factor, as they tend to attack many times every turn.
I'd like to say about the same thing about stealing. Someone stole from
my group seven times in a single turn. That's a bit weird, I'd say. If
someone steals from you and you notice it, you become very careful for a
while (at least), don't you?
Last thing: I read in QD that someone asked KJC whether they would set
more realistic damage values for weapons. This is something I've also
asked many times, although I never received any reply. Knowing that a
Great Sword deals exactly the same amout of damage as a simple axe,
there's really something to do there. Well, maybe someday...
Anyway, congratulations. QD is really great.

(JPG> When I get chance to do it!!)
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>From        : PSykes6420@aol.com
Date        : Sat, 25 Jan 1997 02:27:59 -0500 (EST)

PS> I have a suggestion from Mike Summers (Blade Of Silence, Game 11).

PS> Mike would like to see the ability to put gold INTO other people's
bank
accounts, so that if you owe them money, you don't have to go to the
trouble
of meeting up to pay them back. Also, it prevents them from being robbed
if
they are not expecting the payment.

PS> Do Magic rings work? I bought a Magic Ring and found it to be a Ring
of
Magic Protection when I investigated it. I told my character to wear it
by
using the `Use Character Ring 0' order, but just got the message
`(Character)
feels nothing'.

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>From        : Lee Carter lee@usalkela.demon.co.uk
Date        : Sat, 01 Feb 1997 22:18:16 GMT

LC> I've been reading the Quest Digest for some time and my curiosity
has been tweaked enough for me to bash out a quick message.

LC> WHAT ABOUT! I hear you all shout! Well, it's like this.  KJC have
added a some changes over the last few months, one of these being the
implementation of 'horses' of which there are three kinds (mules,
draft and arabian).

LC> I cannot remember reading anywhere about restriction in their use.

LC> Take for example a group of 15 characters, each with a draft horse
for carrying capacity and an arabian mount for speed (I don't like
mules in real life so we'll forget them for now).  OK this gives a
total of 45 creatures in the party (15 chars, 15 draft and 15
arabian).  Can this horde just tramp off down a dungeon?  It's bad
enough having 15 characters in a confined passageway, never mind this
lot!  And if they can go into a dungeon will the arabian horses still
provide a speed bonus?

LC> If anyone could please enlighten me about the workings of Quest
horses I would be most grateful.

LC> Also (PLUG TIME!), My web page (http://www.usalkela.demon.co.uk),
mainly KJC Games Quest 13 & general stuff is starting to grow now.
The White Wolves and Pagan Death Cult are making use of the Flails &
=46oul language page maybe some other groups/alliances (not restricted
to Game 13 in any way) would like to sling some mud using it too.

LC> My web page currently has some very basic looking, but detailed
maps (as opposed to overviews of the whole of Kharne).  I have a
program that will convert the maps as they are into BMP or GIF's but I
need come terrain tiles to represent the different terrain types.
These can be anything from 16x16 pixels upwards.  If anyone can help
me with these please contact me at lee@usalekela.demon.co.uk.  When
completed the program and details of how to use it will be made
available to everyone via my webpage.

LC> Finally, this has turned into more advertizing than question
but..., if anyone has any Quest-type related stories, artwork,
information, etc that they would like to see on the web, but maybe
they don't have the web space I will be glad to consider any
submissions.

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Date: Mon, 3 Feb 97 13:28:56 GMT
From: Phill Coleman <colemanp@cs.man.ac.uk>

pjc > which death spell is the best to use (Black Void, Engulfing Globe,
Total Death)?

pjc > These horsie things - are they any good (can't afford the at the
moment)?  And if you teleport, do they come with you?

JPG>  Not used them yet myself, but I believe if you teleport they come
with you at _no extra power point cost_. :)

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>From        : KVirgin@vines.etn.com
Date        : 5 FEB 97 03:11:54 EST

Does anyone know what's happening with the AG (alliance give gold)
order?
Myself as Alliance Head and my Treasurer have between us just wasted
eight
orders as suddenly we appear to only be able to transfer 15000 gold IN
TOTAL on each Turn. The only response I got from KJC was "Yes Kevin,
that
part of the program has been changed. The AG problem was a bug that has
now
been fixed". Is there a definitive statement in the rulebook anywhere
that
says what the AG order should be capable of doing? I do recall some
changes
last year sometime, but I thought that was upgrading the order from only
being able to transfer 1000 gold per order. Wouldn't it be nice if they
told you about these things when they changed them?

JPG>  I only just noticed this annoying 'bug fix' too.  Wasted two
orders
in finding it out though; just meant I transferred the gold over two
turns
instead.

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>From        : PSykes6420@aol.com
Date        : Sun, 9 Feb 1997 07:24:15 -0500 (EST)

PS> A player recently emailed me wanting to know if I had any tips/info
on
how to kill an Air Elemental. I haven't fought one, myself, so I
couldn't be
of much help. Does anyone else have any tips?

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Author:  INTERNET:shug@tattoo.ed.ac.uk at CSERVE
Date:    27/01/97 07:52

Some questions:
1. Does anyone know what and how the horses function
2. If you cast jaunt 2 and set an excessive level, do you go to the
bottom,
or not at all
3. What does a priest need to progress past skill level 85
4. What determines the level a priest gets stuck at
5. Where are the deep dungeons in game 14
6. What are the new money limits - can I save 100000 now
I look forward to reading some answers.

Stephen Hughes
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JPG>  Well, all done again for another X weeks.  If you want to talk
to me on a more regular basis, email:
Joshua_Gallagher@scada.ccmail.compuserve.com
That's my work address.

JPG> Great to see people at the Birmingham pub meet.  More people should
try and make pub meets in my opinion.  Maybe I'll even make a London
one!
Someone email me at work the next time a London meet is about to happen,
will you?  Cheers!

JPG> That's the lot for today...  See you whenever!  Happy Questing!

>>-Josh->