AB and #jov topic
Tuesday February 27, 2001
Zeke has posted a new Forum for reporting AB issues. You can post screenshots of people spamming, people who only level in BSD without helping defend it/town, people who recall when there's a raid, etc. Here's what Zeke said in the first post :

What is going with all the Anti's and BSD levelers in AB? I want names.. And I want them often. If people are sitting around the lifestone doing nothing but jacking off spamming ANY trade requests, begging for buffs or ANYTHING, take a screenshot, and get it to me. People that do nothing for us but level in BSD, I want thier names, I want them the fuck out of Blood. If there's a raid in town and you jack off.. I want your name to. You either help or you get the fuck out. I am not putting up with anyone's shit "I didn't see the raid, I wasn't buffed, Don't add me to the KOS page Im the new owner." Tough shit, we dont KOS people, we KOS characters. Gonna start adding alot more of these jackasses to the KOS page. You will be given a verbal warning ONE TIME and that's it, I will make a list of people that have been warned.. Enough Said...

Goddamn right. So, make sure that you guys aren't the ones fucking off in town, asking for buffs, gates, trades, etc. That's what IRC and the tradeboards are for. Added a permanent link for this.

Also, I want the spam in the #jov topic to stop. I don't care if you're looking for this trade or want whomever to message you when they get on. That area is for information the entire guild needs. Quests, raids, important links, members who've left or are KOS... things like that. If I see your name next to non-guild affecting information in there, I'll remove your op privledges. If you see irrelevant info in there, make sure you remove it if you plan on changing the topic since YOUR name will be the "changed by" name.

Thanks.

- Nighthawk


JoV Services
Monday February 19, 2001
Setup a new link in the menu for Services. This is a general list of services available by me. I provide these services for free for guildmates and for a fee for people outside JoV. Prices for services vary depending on the service. Check out the link to see what's available and how to get ahold of me depending on the service.

- Nighthawk


Dual Logging and Windowed Mode
Friday February 16, 2000
Yet again, I've made a walkthrough on how to setup something that isn't so easy to figure out. I posted a walkthrough on how to modify your client to do the windowed mode and dual logging. The guide is both linked here and in the menu under Hosted Walkthroughs.

- Nighthawk


Automatic Component Buying
Tuesday February 13, 2001
Well, I didn't make the program, but I did make the walkthrough. There is a very powerful program out there called Decal that works as a 3rd party enhancement for running plugins for Asheron's Call. It is a very powerful program that does complex macros with the Asheron's Call client. The primary reason I got it is for exactly what I made the walkthrough for - automatic component purchasing.

Everyone hates buying comps, figuring out how much of each they need - this minimizes the amount of time it takes. Curious? Want it? Go read it.

- Nighthawk


Guild Items
Sunday February 11, 2001
I split up the updates since they are so unrelated to each other. Please note the update right below this one as it is new also.

We're doing the Frore Quest today. If you want to participate, you need a lich seal and to do a bit of running beforehand. Go get your 3 transcripts (the lich seal gets you one of them) as soon as possible. Rory is going with us sometime today, but we don't have a specific time of when we'll all be available. So, plan on it today/tonight sometime. Get your 3 transcripts since that's the part you can do solo VERY easily... it just takes some time. Thus why you do it before we go.

Also, Shui Noxic is recruiting low levels. Yesterday I had someone send me a /m tell who said he was recently recruited by Shui and that he was lvl 2. Obviously, this sort of recruiting is not allowed. Shui's patron is no longer Brendan, so we have to find out where in the tree he is. If he's under you, drop him immediately. If you see him, id him and get his patron.

And FYI, from the State of the Network page :

February's event scheduled for late next week The February event, “Lonely in the World,” is currently scheduled to go live late next week. We are aware that we do not state this early on what date our events will occur, and that they are usually expected on the second Tuesday of the month. This month, however, the event will not open on Tuesday but instead later in the week.

- Nighthawk


JoV Portal Logging
Sunday February 11, 2001
I've seen a couple of posts on CoD in the past week about JoV guys portal logging. Here is an open invitation to anyone on Darktide to prove that a JoV member portal logged. Here's how.

  1. Attack a JoV member

  2. If he goes through a portal and doesn't come out, put him in your friends list

  3. Type /friends (your most recent addition will be at the top of the list)

  4. Scroll up so you can see you attacking him, adding him, and him being offline at the same time

  5. Take a screenshot and send it to me (preferably converted to .jpg) at qzar@mindspring.com

Next thing you know, he's not a JoV member anymore. I encourage people to try to catch my guild portal logging. It's simple, if it happens once, it won't happen twice. It's a bootable offense and we're very serious about it. Hell, Yeti (IRC yeti, not the current owner of Yeti) reported someone to me and he was kicked from the guild so fast he wasn't JoV by the time he logged in 5 minutes later.

We're serious about portal logging. There is no second chance. We're above that.

- Nighthawk


Few Quick Links
Thursday February 8, 2001
I was reading the Unofficial, Pre-Patch Build Notes for the patch next week and I found a couple of things worth mentioning. The pre-patch build notes themselves are pretty cool. Be warned they're not official and are only like 70% accurate, but they are referrenced from Dev Chats and posts on boards you may not have seen, so the deducations are more right than wrong.

Anyhow, this Monster Resist Research is very interesting. I put this link permanently in the menu for your future reference. This answers the questions of "why the fuck is this monster resisting me so much?" I was asking that just yesterday when my og mage couldn't land one spell on a Firestorm on the island. The top 12 resisters?

MonsterResist
Behemoth of Tenkarrdun391
Bane Grievver380
Virindi Observer368
Destroyer Grievver359
Dark Magus353
Putrid Moarsman345
Firestorm335
Plasma Golem326
Dark Leech316
Hellfire312
Augmented Drudge310
Harrower Grievver300

I know most of you have seen it, but in case you haven't you should check out the AC PK Rap. I'm no fan of rap, but that amuses me endlessly. And plus, finding that link when you want to isn't easy. So, now it's here.

- Nighthawk


AB and Guild Guidelines
Saturday February 3, 2001
Ayan Baqur

Ok, I want everyone in JoV that lives in AB to take a close look at this link on the Blood [KoC] page. It basically gives a brief rundown of the rules of town. The ones specifically to note are no one under lvl 40 in AB/BSD/Metos and no trade/portal/buff spamming. If you're not level 40, get level 40 before going there - we will kill you and loot you with very minimal warning. If you're looking for trades, go to the Darktide Trade Board. If you need buffs/portal, ask in channel and don't spam it - if we have it, we'll speak up.

JoV Rules and Recruiting

We've been having to kick a lot of people from JoV here recently for portal logging, recruiting tactics and not knowing the Guild Guidelines. Frankly, I'm all for it. Me and everyone else in JoV who've dedicated themselves to the guild don't want it to be marred by fuckups. I will give people second chances rarely and normally not without good reason. So, just follow the VERY simple rules we have and you're welcome aboard. If you don't want to use IRC, want to p-log, scam or attack allies or guildmates - we don't need you and will drop you without thinking twice.

Basically, that translates to this : YOU are responsible for reading, knowing and agreeing to the Guild Guidelines. You are also responsible to make sure that anyone you recruit reads, knows and agrees to them BEFORE PLEDGING. If I get a @m tell from a new recruit, I instantly know that they didn't read them and I'm already trying to find out who their patron is.

We're strict because we've worked hard to keep ourselves clean of hackers, p-loggers and people who are generally scumbags. We didn't build our reputation because we just take anyone. We all hold ourselves to a higher standard, so expect the same of people you consider recruiting.

Did I link the Guild Guidelines enough? Hint taken? Good. ;)

Final Notes

Again, I need everyone to email Trai (sinzh@mediaone.net) your heirarchy information to me within the week. She will be posting who she has already in the Guild Forum here soon. If you don't see your name on that list or if you know you haven't sent it to her, please do so ASAP.

Gnomish Mage account has a new owner and is staying in JoV.

- Nighthawk


Thank God for Jesse
Friday January 26, 2001
Per the conversation yesterday in #jov (edited):

[10:54] <devilmouse> notice any dramatic improvements in DT lag as of last night?
[10:54] <devilmouse> things got "fixed"
[10:55] <NH|Work> actually, lag wsn't horrible last night
[10:55] <Aztek> well i will be back on darktide if they did get fixed
[10:55] <Andy> they fixed the DT Lag?
[10:55] <NH|Work> was there an improvement made that should have affected lag?
[10:55] <devilmouse> yeah
[10:55] <devilmouse> a decent one
So, check your lag and see if it's improved. I'm still getting spikes occassionally, but it appears better overall (pinging down around 260-300 a lot, which is a first in a long time).

- Nighthawk


Thank God for Maggie
Wednesday January 24, 2001
Maggie the Jackcat posted a walkthrough to the Caulnalain Quest. Finding a walkthrough for that quest is impossible and navigating that annoying as hell dungeon on my peon can't-buff-himself-well newbie was more than I could bear. Added this and the walkthrough for the Atlan : Major Frost Stone
to the Quest Links in the menu.

Thank Maggie. =)

- Nighthawk


Darktide Lag Splits JoV
Monday January 22, 2001
Several people from JoV are branching off while the lag on Darktide is so bad. It's been getting steadily worse since summer 2000 and apparently it's gotten bad enough that several JoV members are going to be joining the new npk server when it comes up. I'll probably toss a character into their guild chain with hopes that a pk guild may work on an npk server. I doubt I'll be offered the monarch spot there since I'll plan to stay on Darktide aside from going there to hang out with the guild folx, so whenever that monarch name is known I'll announce it here. Trai is requesting that everyone going to WE give her info for WE chain (#chars/templates) so they can plan it out right.

In light of this, I would also suggest that everyone email complaints@asheronscall.com about DT lag in hopes that they will recognize how impacting of an issue it is. We all know that Jesse/Nei/Devilmouse knows, but apparently his one voice isn't enough to get the problem fixed. If you haven't already, email them.

Although Trai is suffering from lag on DT, she's also trying to help map out the JoV guild tree. Please email sinzh@mediaone.net with this info : your name:** patron name:** vassal names:**.

I'd like to stress how serious I am about IRC use. If any JoV sees a Patryn tagged member they don't know, ask what their IRC name is (to make sure it's not a second character of someone in chat). If they say "what's IRC" or something along those lines - feel free to attack, kill and loot them so long as you screenshot the question/answer. Our guild is getting away from the "everyone knows everyone" thing, and I am dead set on strictly enforcing the "be in IRC or you're not in JoV" policy. If you don't use IRC and aren't keeping up with the rules of the guild, you don't exist to me. Period.

On a final quick note, I updated the Guild Guidelines with some information I posted back on Dec 22nd. Since that is no long on the main page, I figured I'd post it somewhere that's "required reading".

- Nighthawk


AB and Zaikhal
Tuesday January 16, 2001
The war in AB is going as well as could be expected. We're holding the lifestone for about 20+ hours a day and the only times we lose it is while all but a few of us are sleeping. When we wake up, the status of the ls goes right back to Ours in the IRC channel. The AB BSD seems to be the only place the antis rally to try to hit the people leveling, so we're keeping a closer eye on that area. So far, the new and improved GEN (TF/Sabre/Moon/BR/HoC) hasn't really done anything aside from moving some people to Kara to pick up the Blood scraps.

A few quick guidelines about the AB War :

  • We will not be recruiting fencer hoppers from the AB War. Anyone we recruit in this time period will not be allowed to have been our opposition. We don't want people to change sides just to be on the "winning team"

  • Only lvl 40s are allowed to defend AB and to use the AB BSD. If you're under level 40, you're welcome to either level up to fight or to help keep Baishi clear

  • If you're leveling in the AB BSD, anyone that has vitae has rights to the dungeon before you. Defenders come before levelers EVERY TIME. I don't want to hear stories of people "taking my tusker" or any of that. Be considerate or level somewhere else.

Alberon Mindeater's guild in Teth has grown to a nice 1600+ people, and they haven't shown their face in the war. With so many pk/neutral guilds rallying to stop the Blood/JoV allegiance, I'm surprised they haven't done anything yet. I guess they think they're safe in Teth. Funny how people are starting to tie to Teth while lifestoned in AB... yeah, they're safe. ;)

Some Sagacious and Alberon vassals have started to move into Zaikhal. As Apoc said to me, "Sag can take this town." After I got up off the floor from laughing, he was gone, so I couldn't ask him why in the world they would want such a shitty town as Zaikhal. I only lived there out of nostalgia from when Ron and Azile brought me there to level as a newbie in November 1999. The 35p tapers, 50% sell rate, no leveling spots for anyone over lvl 10, and being in a portal circuit were certainly not the main reasons I stuck around. However, since I still go there occassionally, it's nice to find people to kill waiting for me. BTW, they're lifestoned at the ls just east of town in case one ls-recalls from you. I got several "you think I don't know where the lifestone is?" kills yesterday.

- Nighthawk


JoV and the AB War
Thursday January 13, 2001
This is a copy of what I posted on CoD, but i figured it was an explaination I wanted to be seen by more than just late night bored people, so, here's a repost :

JoV was offered a place in GEN. JoV was offered being allies with Blood again. Both were extraordinarily surprising since I consider both groups to be powerful enough to be able to overlook the small guild of JoV. I don't know if it was out of respect for me/us or thinking that we could bring something tangible to the table greater than our numbers represent. In either case, receiving the offer from both guilds with similar goals to myself was very flattering.

We decided to go with Blood for a couple of reasons, but mainly because of the assureances on Blood's AB Guidelines page. With the secondary goal of reducing numbers, locking down on ally-attack incidents, etc as well as the link that we have with many of the core members of Blood... it just made sense. Also, the fact that my discussion with GEN really seemed to be going downhill when I mentioned that I expressed concern over TF joining.

Blood and GEN both knew that we were being approahced by both sides and Blood made the better arguement.

Anyhow, I'd like to thank Naudica publically for the extrememly nice things he said about myself and JoV as a whole. Of all the people I expected to gain respect for, Jesse was a ways down the list, but I'll be damned if he doesn't seem to have come around. Thanks for the pleasant surprise.

In conclusion, if anyone has any questions, concerns, accolades... feel free to forward them to my email or catch me in #wtfman or #dnn (public) irc channels. I'm far more available through those than I am in game. Obviously, the guild folx know where to get ahold of me anytime. =)

- Nighthawk


Talk About a Strange 24 Hours
Friday January 12, 2001
Well lookie lookie. What a very strange turn of events. Allies with Blood again, being offered a spot to co-lead from both GEN and Blood, taking on the AB War again.... who'd have thought? (not I at least) I'd like to take a second to thank GEN for the offer... sorry things didn't work out in the meeting.

So, the AB War is on for Blood/JoV again. Strangely enough, our main opponents aren't even the anti/neutrals this time, but GEN. To participate in the AB War, you're required to be 40+ level and to lifestone in AB. I expect the JoV guys to put forth as much effort as humanly possible into the war. I will be spending 90% of my time in AB fighting and I hope that most of you will likewise put forth that effort. Also, be aware of the KoC Blood & JoV Alliance for AB guidelines.

We have a separate IRC channel setup for the AB War, so be sure to get in there if you're 40+ and fighting in AB. No lurking in there, it's for serious fighters in our group. If you're new to the guild and are looking to make your mark, here's your chance.

- Nighthawk


Another Quick Update
Thursday January 11, 2001
Updated the IRC section so that it is much easier to follow. If you can't follow those directions, you have serious problems. =P

Posted a link to our Private Guild Forum since so many of us wanted a place to speak of issues not in realtime (IRC). Ask me for the password in IRC. I'll also be making a public forum, but I'll probably make it so that only registered users can post so if people get out of hand, it's easier to oust them.

Here are the steps to dagger quest posted by Bad Influence:

  1. Take idol gem to McNiall in Freehold. He then gives you a note to take to MacDugal at Bandit Castle.
  2. Give note to MacDugal. He then gives you an unfinished bandit hilt.
  3. Get hold of an iron golem heart. Add the golem heart to the hilt and it gains the pommel.
  4. Affix a dagger, simi, shortsword or Yaoji to the hilt

"NOTE : the weapon added to the hilt MUST BE LOOT GENERATED and NOT MODIFIED. Once complete the weapon has a value of 0 and is non-drop/non-give. Creating this weapon and using full-power you should be able to occasionally make double or triple strikes in combat."

- Nighthawk


New Year - New Patch - Quick Update
Tuesday January 9, 2001
Today is patch day as I'm sure all of you know. Thankfully, Thug from Show No Mercy has come to my rescue by cracking the dual logging and windowed mode already for this client. What can I say, windowed mode owns me since I can't stand to not watch the IRC room. Anyhow, if you want it, there it is.

As a side note, GEN gobbled up HoC and XL, so we are officially the last of the non-uber-pk monarchies. We've grown to just over 100 characters (probably 60 mains, or so) including SUN and OGD, but we're still pretty small (thank God). Just wanted to take a sec and welcome to the new guys. Great raiding so far... lets keep it up.

- Nighthawk