We have released a new item loss system that will work in conjunction with currently existing item loss systems (Disarm Weapon maneuvers, Itchy Curse, hard-skinned creatures, hurling, etc). Previously, items that were involved in these systems would wind up laying on the ground, where they were at risk for being swept up by the "janitor" and lost or being taken by other players. We have instead transitioned to a new system where items will no longer wind up on the ground and will instead be disarmed/cursed/etc "into the shadows" (or equivalent).

Items so disarmed/cursed/etc will no longer be at immediate risk for permanent loss. You will then have up to 90 days to use a new verb (RECOVER) to collect your item from the appropriate room (which will likely be the room it was lost in, but may not always be the case -- see below). You can see a list of your RECOVERable items and their approximate LOCATIONs via RECOVER LIST. If you do not recover your items within 90 days, they will be permanently lost. You can have up to 20 items awaiting recovery. If you exceed this cap, the item awaiting recovery the longest will be permanently lost to make room for the new item. Thus, it is in your best interest to still recover items in a somewhat timely fashion (though you can certainly return to town and heal/spell up and/or come back the next day, and your item will be safe).

RECOVER ITEM should be used for all non-hurling recoveries. This results in a recovery attempt where you will need to empty your hands and kneel down to carefully search for your item. This is a Perception based search, though you will always be able to recover any item given enough time (subsequent RECOVERY attempts in the same room will result in a growing bonus to the recovery roll). The difficulty of the search depends on the nature of the specific item loss system in question (Disarm Weapon recovery difficulty is based on the end result, whereas a weapon bouncing off a tough creature hide is typically very easy to recover). Hurled items are much easier to recover via the RECOVER HURL command -- you merely need to wait for the already existing standard hurling recovery time to expire. Once the time has expired, recovering your item requires no search roll, kneeling, or roundtime.

You can only RECOVER your own items. If, for whatever reason, you cannot recover your own item (perhaps you forgot the exact room it was lost in, or the area is too high level or too dangerous for you, or the area was a temporary quest area, or a now burned warcamp, or you just don't feel like going back), you will be able to purchase a recovery from the local Adventurer Guild headmaster. This service will cost you a silver fee based on: 1) Your level 2) The length of time that has occurred between the loss and your request [you will have a day before the price starts increasing] 3) The number of prior recovery services you have purchased within the last 90 days. The cost of an individual item's recovery can vary between 100 silvers (for completely new characters) to 500,000 silvers (for capped players that make liberal use of the recovery service).

If you lose an item that you don't care to recover at all (perhaps you dropped a clear topaz somewhere due to an itchy curse), you can use RECOVER FORGET to remove the item from your recoverables list. Please note that using RECOVER FORGET will result in your item becoming permanently deleted.

The net goal of these changes is both to remove the chance of permanent item loss while also making the various item loss systems a bit more relevant to combat. In addition to the above changes, we have also adjusted the various item loss abilities to reduce/eliminate the long RTs that typically occurred upon the initial disarm attempt. The design goal there is to move the RT from the initial disarm to the recovery attempt, as it is no longer as simple as typing GET to reverse the combat effect of the item loss. These changes also make disarming creatures more relevant, as most will no longer be able to simply pick their weapon back up and immediately attack. The intention is to try to nudge combat to be a little bit more dynamic upon a disarm, such that carrying a backup weapon or runestaff, or having an alternate mode of attack, or retreating temporarily, will be less stressful and more viable than immediately attempting a recovery.

Most existing disarm return abilities (bonding and special weapons, including returners) will continue to work as they have done so in the past. Spirit Servants' (218) interaction with lost items has been modified to work within the new system. Instead of immediately swooping down to pick up lost items, spirit servants will now simply note the location of a lost item by pulsing upon seeing a drop. That specific servant will then remember the location that an item was dropped in for up to an hour. You can then TELL the spirit to RECOVER your item and it will immediately do so, from anywhere in the game. If you dismiss your servant or its duration runs out before you tell it to recover, any subsequent servants will not have any knowledge of your items and you will have to recover the item via one of the normal methods. Spirit Servants will also now linger longer after your resurrection, in order to give you time to issue a recovery command in the event that you get disarmed and die.

Miscellaneous Notes:

Disarm Weapon - Roundtimes upon being disarmed have been significantly lowered across the board. The maximum RT that you can now suffer upon your weapon being disarmed is 8 seconds (previously 20). Note that creatures have a setting where they may inflict RT on you in lieu of disarming your weapon -- that RT is unchanged. If you are training for the Warrior Guild with a rattan weapon, the rattan weapon will continue be knocked directly to the ground (instead of the shadows) in order to facilitate reps.

Hard Skin Creatures - Creatures with hard skin or bony protrusions that can knock your items to the ground will no longer inflict RT upon you when this happens. This includes creatures and players with the Brace (1214) spell active.

Creatures that can loot you - Certain creatures (Ithzir, gremlins, etc) or areas (Cavernhold) can loot items from you via various means. Coin and gem theft is unaffected by these changes. For creatures that can loot weapons, armor, and other non-gem items, they will now stash the items locally (possibly the room you died in, but not always). These items will be RECOVERable, though you may need to unlock/open a chest/door/etc first to be able to RECOVER your item successfully.

Coase



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