Note from the Pool

[subzero]

Who cares, everyone scripts right? Isn't there a whole engine designed to script that everyone uses now? A whole instance (Shattered) designed to perfect your scripts before you start playing in the other instance?

You gotta play my game the way I want you to, damnit!

While losing players is unfortunate, zombies are worse than lack of players. I'm not a complete luddite in that I use lich for travel and convenience stuff, but I've 2x capped a half-krolvin and taken another 2 characters to the late 80's without ever using bigshot.

Sure, hunting can be boring. But if you don't enjoy that, that maybe it means you don't really enjoy playing and should be doing something else. That may not be a bad thing as Malvadere pointed out.

Crazy thought... some people might actually enjoy the aspect of writing and perfecting scripts to do these activities. The same activities that some people have been doing for decades, no less.

[Donquix]

The problem with scripting discussions is that literally everything gets lumped together. No distinction is made between 24/7 silver farmers, picking bots, personal heal bots, spell up bots, bigshotters who hunt till fried, people working on mind-numbing forging or guild reps, etc. Anyone can find some aspect of scripting that they personally dislike and therefore it somehow follows that all scripting is bad and must be punished. So you get arguments like "silver farmers ruin the economy, therefore you should be banned for running a personal spell bot or hunting till fried".

Sure. I wasn't really commenting on that just pointing out that, simply because you play the game solo doesn't mean you play it alone.

And for people who go to that extreme, there's just as many people who MA script 8 hours a day at work, go home, ma script all night. paying just enough attention / robust enough alerts they'll catch a script check and pretend like they're somehow meaningfully different than "real afk scripters" lol. The game is what it is now, but most systems just weren't designed or intended for the amount of hours, mostly aided by scripts, people put in.

[beldannon5]

While losing players is unfortunate, zombies are worse than lack of players. I'm not a complete luddite in that I use lich for travel and convenience stuff, but I've 2x capped a half-krolvin and taken another 2 characters to the late 80's without ever using bigshot.

Sure, hunting can be boring. But if you don't enjoy that, that maybe it means you don't really enjoy playing and should be doing something else. That may not be a bad thing as Malvadere pointed out.

I don't use bigshot either. Mainly because I have issues getting it going lol. I do however script events. I don't mind script checks as long as they truly are real, not these cute attempts to trick people. We pay a good amount of money for these games and I get not wanting zombies, but don't be fking cute make it known.

[HebrewToYou]

Wait a second!! Are you trying to tell me that you disagree with what Hand of Arkati thinks is best for Gemstone! Why don't you spend another $20,000 on the game and THEN you can come back and tell me you deserve that right?!

lol wut

[Rjex]

Sure. I wasn't really commenting on that just pointing out that, simply because you play the game solo doesn't mean you play it alone.

And for people who go to that extreme, there's just as many people who MA script 8 hours a day at work, go home, ma script all night. paying just enough attention / robust enough alerts they'll catch a script check and pretend like they're somehow meaningfully different than "real afk scripters" lol. The game is what it is now, but most systems just weren't designed or intended for the amount of hours, mostly aided by scripts, people put in.

I would argue that most people who play now actually fall into the category of "paying just enough attention". That's the thing, they'd have to eventually ban nearly everyone, and what will we have left then? A couple of people RPing in TSC and the few others who are finally reaching level 94 after playing for the past 25 years. I doubt either of those crowds spend enough at the events to keep the lights on.

[audioserf]

Wait a second!! Are you trying to tell me that you disagree with what Hand of Arkati thinks is best for Gemstone! Why don't you spend another $20,000 on the game and THEN you can come back and tell me you deserve that right?!

I am not a HoA guy but I think that group generally has been salty with a bunch of dev stuff the last few years. Whales are important to the game but Simu do not especially seem to give a shit about what they think so long as they keep paying up at events.

[beldannon5]

I am not a HoA guy but I think that group generally has been salty with a bunch of dev stuff the last few years. Whales are important to the game but Simu do not especially seem to give a shit about what they think so long as they keep paying up at events.

Like with silvers, as long as people keep throwing all the money at duskruin, there is not reason for any change by gm's or simu or whoever makes those decisions these days.

[Tgo01]

I would argue that most people who play now actually fall into the category of "paying just enough attention".

That's for sure. BACK IN MY DAY scripters were the exception to the rule, now non-scripters are the exception to the rule.

And everyone has to be honest now, after 5+ minutes, 30+ minutes, 60+ minutes, of your script (hunting, guild tasks, lockpicking pool, etc) running and scrolling text across your screen, you've never found yourself maybe alt tabbing over to check out the PC or Discord for a few minutes? Or perhaps you have a TV or second monitor where you're watching a movie and you're only half paying attention to your script?

The GMs must realize this which is why they seem to have largely backed off on script checks unless someone is tripping one of their alarms, like gaining experience 20+ hours a day, or earning X number of silvers a day, or something.

[Tgo01]

lol wut

Don't mind Hebrew, he's still bitter he tried to create a brand new GS rule where if you're in a room first then you can dictate that no one else is allowed in that room while you're hunting, and when I told him to go pound sand he harassed me via the in game ESP channel until I blocked him where he in turn cried on Discord about it and still to this day accuses me of not caring about anyone else in the game, ie: him.

Here is Hebrew crying about me last night in fact on Discord:

apparently Geijon is taking Dreaven to task now, and I'm actually onboard!
Dreaven doesn't run reim
he runs bandit bounties (and doesn't care about his impact on others)

He was actually against Geijon "taking to task" people who run multiple accounts when Geijon was going after one of his friends, but going after Dreaven? Woo doggie! He's suddenly on board with going after people who run multiple accounts!

[Tsk Tsk]

I can't speak for others, but Gemstone seems so important when we're consumed by it. I've been there, 6+ accounts, playing and seemingly having a great time, not AFK scripting. You're mad now, but the best thing that's happened to me in the last 5 years is quitting, whether from script check rage or whatever. Since I've quit in early 2021 I've focused on my businesses, relationships, and health. Who would have thought that not putting in 6+ hours a day in a game that is fucked up in so many stupid ways, would improve my life (dripping sarcasm)? Not saying everyone should quit, but in the last year, just by reappropriating GS time to productive time, I've surpassed my financial retirement goal almost tenfold, reconnected with my wife and son in a lasting, meaningful way, am almost down to my college weight, and have helped dozens of people in all sorts of rewarding ways. Gemstone doesn't give a fuck about you, and when I, and again I can speak for others but I'm guessing I'm not alone, makes you not give a fuck about what matters or is important in life. Why give hours of your life to a game that just constantly says "FU", but not only that, not spend those hours in a more meaningful, lasting way.

Definitely not saying everyone should stop gaming, not at all. I still game quite a bit. But F Gemstone, everyone is better without it.

Amen.