Oracle

Server Update 07/09/14

Bombs

Can no longer be dropped or thrown at people in arenas.

Can no longer be thrown at people in nopk but monster-killable areas.

Bombs can no longer be used to damage pacifists.

Entering a square with a maximum number of players allowed on it
Now each player that gets left behind gets the message saying there are too many people on the square, instead of the party leader getting the message multiple times.

Character Stats requirement to enter square

Previously this allowed entry using base stats (ie wisdom when rolled). It has now been changed to look at display stats. So for example if you require 26 strength to enter a square, you can now get through using spells and stat modifying items.

Achievement list
Brown Trouser Time achievement has been hidden from the list as it is not achievable. Trouser slot was never added to Nightmist despite Pandilex’s intensions at the time achievements were created.
 

/Staff

The /staff list has been updated to show current staff characters on both servers today.

/achievement bosses

List updated and customised to each server.

Hunger in Mountainous Terrain

You now get hungry twice as fast in mountainous terrain.

Custom Locals

Staff now have the ability to set a square to overwride your local tavern if you log off/die/recall there. This could be used as staging for carefully designed areas, so if you lose connection or die, you are sent back to an earlier ‘stage’ of the area, rather than your local. This does not necessarily trap you there, as the square you local to, could then allow you to log to your character’s local. This may allow more complex area development using recall too.

Legendary items

A new concept of ‘Legendary’ items has been added to the game. When the ‘Max equip’ stat (previously called ‘Single equip’) on /library is set to Legendary, only 1 item may be equipped that is ‘Legendary’, regardless of what part of the body you try to equip another item set to ‘Legendary’.

The single equip stat has been renamed max equip because it has always been possible to set it to 2 or 3, meaning you could equip 2 rings or 3 rings of that type.

Password Recovery Bug

Fixed.

Skins Bug

Fixed. 

Pictures In Game

25 new pictures added to the game. 

Inactive Characters

Cleared out.

Alternate DNS Bug

The alternate DNS will continue to not work and is not currently fixable. Please note that you will not be able to connect to the server using the alternate DNS in the foreseeable future. Updating the client log in window will present further issues for users of WinVista, Win7, Win8 so removing the option from the client has not been attempted at this time.

EXP loss
Nothing has been changed regarding exp loss, however I thought we’d give you an update as it has been a hot topic lately.

JLH does not want to reduce exp loss globally (or implement a cap) as this makes the game easier. With the cycle of ever increasing weapon damage/armor, this would only add to the inflation of exp in the game. Eventually it goes full circle and people will say that more HP is needed (which absolutely cannot happen without a server reset). If you are high enough level that you would lose a lot of exp when you die, you should be of a level of skill to avoid dying. There is already a square setting available for staff to reduce exp loss on individual squares. This may have a use for traps/quest areas/bosses that staff feel are likely to kill people regardless of their skill levels.

In Game Updates to follow from Stig

After a rather sleepless night of checking logs, another cross server permanent ban has been put in place. I thought I would take this opportunity to inform you all that cheating is not tolerated and give you the 3 examples of cheating that was found out and proven so far in 2014, to encourage you all to resist the urge and end up banned yourself.

1 - A player was banned for a month for multipcing (ie: for getting round the barriers 1a has in place to ensure you only play one character at once on the 1a server).

2 - A player was banned for a month and 100 million experience removed from the character in question for auto-training (ie: for using an automated program to attack monsters and move around the game without a human being at the computer).

3 - A player has been permanently banned from both servers for life, for illegally getting access to a staff character. He went on to create and drop items, use them to his own benefit, power trained his own characters with staff only items and sold various items to increase his wealth.

I do not enjoy stopping people from playing this game, but this does not mean we hesitate to remove people that abuse the system, whether they are friends or not. If we do not enforce the rules the game becomes pointless and everybody who sticks to the rules will get left behind and quit.