OCTOBER 2004 Update

There are quite a lot of updates between June and October of 2004. Here's the rundown:

RULES
The clients file was updated regarding auto-login triggers. They're still not allowed, but punishment has been redefined.

COMBAT AND GUILDS
Several new changes have to do with new electronic devices and ion skills:

einv command now exists to show electronic devices in your inventory that may be affected by ionic energy.

Ion capabilities from ion grenades, bombs, cannons, and pulses have been upgraded to affect all non-ion-shielded items. Ion-shielded items will not be affected.

Assassin skill changes:

Non-scientist/non-merchant assassins of level 10 can now repair melee weapons using a full toolbox.

slink was modified so that it does not require a directional argument. It will turn on for a period of time and allow you to slink any direction. It now has a delay of 3 minutes before it can be used again.

Bounty Hunter skill changes:

BH devices now have a command called shistory that shows the last time a monster was subdued.

Diplomat skill changes:

Halt has a chance that the monster will become angry and attack the player outright.

Jedi skill changes:

Jedi Teachers should now be able to improve +1 or +2 on sabers now, instead of automatically improving by +3.

Jedi lift and throw abilities are now affected by ultraviolet (UV) envirionments as well as lighting levels.

Jedi throw will now do damage to you if you throw an item at me (yourself).

Learning Jedi skills from Jedi Masters now requires you have learned certain other dependent skills first before you can train the later skills. It does not affect training the skills once they are learned, only what new skills you can learn.

Holstered sabers now autowield for non-Smuggler Jedi now. They continue to autowield for Jedi who are also Smugglers.

The last anger message is now colorized to let you know when all angers have worn off.

Merchant skill changes:

Swindle now works on droid and ship parts in their respective shops.

Also, if the merchant critically fails the swindle, the shopkeeper will now only refuse service to the merchant instead of leaving (and thus preventing everyone from selling items while gone).

A -review flag has been added to the merchads command so that merchants are able to see their current ad.

Scour was changed so that it does not cause a skill delay if you scour in a room which cannot be scoured.

Scientist skill changes:

diagnose now shows the delay until the next allowable viral infection on a monster even when the mob is no longer currently affected by a viral infection.

manufacture will now look for only empty syringes in your invetory to use for the skill. Filled or partially filled syringes should no longer be used when a syringe is required.

Slicer skill changes:

Slicers now use the same number of parts for droid repair as scientists.

droidscan can now be used without an argument when you're in combat with a droid. It will automatically assume your droid opponent.

Smuggler skill changes:

Primary smugglers can now also compare containers. It will not display information on special purpose containers though.

The hold/unhold commands and the get/put commands were updated to show concealed item names to the player in ( ) instead of as a 0. You and the room still see you put items into 'a hidden container'. You still cannot place concealed items into containers.

Under certain conditions, Wookiee players could spam intimidate several times before getting a skill delay. This has been corrected. Please note that attempting to intimidate a monster that has not had the opportunity to hit you will cause the attempt to fail and you will now be under skill delay. Plan accordingly.

The last Gand regenerate message is now colorized to let you know when regenerate has completed its cycle.

WIZARD PROMOTIONS
Congratulation to Talanis for becoming a Secretary!

AREAS
Areas of Shantipole Station (aka Roche) have been subjected to ionic energy leaks. The Station Commander has suggested that precautions be taken with any sensitive electronic equipment and droids in those areas. Scientists of sufficient level and slicers of sufficient level should be able to detect these energy leaks.

QUESTS
The Slicertool Quest (for High Mortal slicers) is now open!

PLAYER-KILLING
The following is taken from Clyde's project information: (as of September - finger clyde)

Clyde is currently working on the purchase plan for clan additions. Each clan will accumulate 1 million credits of purchase power per month toward things that are on the available list in the clans file. You may or may not get a purchase each and every month, but you will still be able to accumulate that month's purchase power. So if you haven't been able to add something for three months and the wizards get a chance to add things to the clan, Clyde will let you buy three million credits worth of additions.

This will not apply toward special purchases requested that are not listed in the panic clans file. Such requests and purchases will be assessed at the time of the request and may or may not be included in a timed plan.

When you decide you want to make a purchase, the amount will be added to your clan debt payable at the clan-o-mat. You will not accumulate the 1 million credit-per-month purchase power the month that you decide to make a purchase, nor while you have a balance in your clan debt. There will also be a two month minimum wait time before you can make another clan purchase.

For any and all clan purchase questions or inquiries, Clyde will respond to clan leader mails only.

Note: Shop updates are more likely to happen quickly when requested. All other purchases will be dependent on coding availability.

GENERAL INFORMATION
First-aid surgery now gives experience to anyone who uses the skill, not just scientists.

Players with any form of improve should now be able to improve if they have any full toolboxes in their inventory. It used to just check the first toolbox in inventory to see if it was full.

Some players are now able to see whether or not a Smuggler has been extorted, if they have enough skill in that regard.

Whether or not a Trandoshan player is furied will now show up in the hps command, similar to being angered.

Players should now see their own emotes in color instead of seeing the ansi color tags. The room message continues to be colored, as it has been.

The 2004 yearly player poll and 2004 yearly PK poll are finished.

High Mortals with homes and docks can now invite players not currently connected to the mud to be able to land on the HM's private dock. Once invited, the invite lasts for the whole boot. HMs are warned NOT to do this with the purpose of allowing others access to secret areas.

Restraining bolts on droids will now fall off the droid if the bolt becomes detuned from the slave module for any reason, thus making the droid restrainable again.

The short description of the targetting helmet now says (linked) if it is linked to a blaster. Your opponent can also see this when looking at your inventory.

A new file called Guild Changes now exists to keep players apprised of changes that are being considered or will be eventually implemented for the various guilds.

A room message was added for the Jedi calm skill, so that other players can see when you attempt and fail. The person being calmed now also sees a message.

Smuggler cabbies have been updated so that they: a) don't extort players if the HM merchant is not online, b) charge for droids and vehicles if you have a cab card on you, and c) charge more to go to certain locations with a droid.