The Dunedain guide to the world of Regens, Crashes and Lags ------------------------------------------------------------- __^__ __^__ ( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ ) | / | A Guide to when the worst happens...Regens, Crashes and Lags | \ | | / |--------------------------------------------------------------| \ | | / |``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````| \ | | / | Introduction | \ | | / | ~~~~~~~~~~~~ | \ | | / | | \ | | / | This is an addendum to Pablos very good guide to mob-deaths. | \ | | / | The only problem with his guide is his insistence that you | \ | | / | should avoid questionable situations such as areas which lock| \ | | / | you in, or no-flee areas. Unfortunately, there really are | \ | | / | cases where this cannot be avoided if you are going to face | \ | | / | terrible opponents or grasp great treasures. The following is| \ | | / | a hazy guide to assuming the worst case scenario and planning| \ | | / | from there. I will liberally sprinkle the notes with anec- | \ | | / | dotes and personal case histories. | \ | |___| |___| (_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____) ^ ^ __^__ __^__ ( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ ) | / | | \ | | / | Regenerations | \ | | / |-----------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~--------------------------| \ | | / | | \ | | / | Well most of the time these are welcomed as an additional | \ | | / | source of experience. Even when this is not the case you can | \ | | / | generally flee. Hence I will deal with when fleeing from a | \ | | / | badly-timed regen is not possible. | \ | | / | | \ | | / | The simple way to avoid this is to know when the regen will | \ | | / | occur. As a perfect example of this consider the Angmarian | \ | | / | Burial Chamber near the path to Angmar. This consists of a | \ | | / | series of hidden locked doors with dangerous mobs placed | \ | | / | between each section. If a regen happens at the wrong time | \ | | / | you will find yourself trapped in part of this tomb with | \ | | / | these powerful creatures. Here Pablos adage about always know| \ | | / | the exit name won't work...its locked (and maybe unpickable).| \ | |___| |___| (_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____) ^ ^ __^__ __^__ ( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ ) | / | | \ | | / | Since I know this is the case when I last visited the chamber| \ | | / | alone, I picked the first lock and opened it. Then I waited..| \ | | / | .and waited...and waited. Finally after about 10-15 minutes | \ | | / | it shut and relocked itself. Since regens are a minimum of 30| \ | | / | minutes apart in zones(well thats my mortal experience) I | \ | | / | know that I have around 25 mins to complete my quest there. | \ | | / | | \ | | / | Grimlock bemoaned the fact that he met an untimely regen at | \ | | / | BBT. The simple (although boring) way to avoid this is simply| \ | | / | to open the 'curtain' and/or kill the nearby cavebear. These | \ | | / | should be sufficient clocks to guide your assault on BBT. | \ | | / | Simply make sure that the group has spells/mana up when this | \ | | / | time comes about. You might waste 10 minutes standing around | \ | | / | doing nothing but compared to even a 10% chance of a regen | \ | | / | while in there and suffering mob-death I would say its worth | \ | | / | it. | \ | |___| |___| (_____)-----------------------------------------------------------(_____) ^ ^ __^__ __^__ ( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ ) | / | | \ | | / | Global Crashers (the loss of all of Arda) | \ | | / |------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~---------| \ | | / | | \ | | / | This is of relevance both if you are alone in a zone or are | \ | | / | exploring with a group. Because of the nature of staggering | \ | | / | the times at which people save, where you save is often not | \ | | / | where you want to return to Arda. My piece of advice is prin-| \ | | / | cipally for those who have a log facility on their client. | \ | | / | | \ | | / | Firstly use it the log facility! Although you will generate | \ | | / | something up to the order of Mbyte due to one session, you | \ | | / | can quickly delete these files after each days play since | \ | | / | they are mainly irrelevant text. However things such as lists| \ | | / | of locate keywords, nice orc battles etc. are there for you | \ | | / | if necessary. However by far the most important information | \ | | / | contained is where you have been saving. | \ | |___| |___| (_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____) ^ ^ __^__ __^__ ( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ ) | / | | \ | | / | In the event of a global crash, take the time before reboot | \ | | / | to look at the tail of your last log file. Search backwards | \ | | / | for the keyword Saving and note which location that was. | \ | | / | Therefore at the very least, when you finally reconnect to | \ | | / | the game, you will not suffer any disorientation due to lack | \ | | / | of awareness of your current location. At the other end of | \ | | / | the scale, if you know that the saved position is one of dire| \ | | / | jeopardy for you...do not return to the game with that char- | \ | | / | acter. Instead log on as a test-newbie (eg. Radnewbie) and | \ | | / | survey the lists of people who logged back on. Then ask one | \ | | / | of them to help make safe the area where you saved, such that| \ | | / | you may return with a larger measure of safety. | \ | | / | | \ | | / | In the case of being in a large group who are(for instance) | \ | | / | killing the ghostly captain (a notorious killer due to crash)| \ | | / | you should discuss before-hand that in the event of a crash | \ | |___| you will all log on as test-newbies to discuss things first. |___| (_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____) ^ ^ __^__ __^__ ( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ ) | / | | \ | | / | A personal note about test-newbies and role-playing: | \ | | / | | \ | | / | `While the above suggestion about logging on test-newbies | \ | | / | after a crash is very anti role-playing and tantamount | \ | | / | to using knowledge gained as one character to benefit | \ | | / | another of your characters, I think the circumstances | \ | | / | warrant it when the risk of mod-death is very likely. | \ | | / | My own personal justification is that a game crash is | \ | | / | completely unworldlike, so that simple measures to avoid | \ | | / | a costly death are warranted. In my opinion this saves | \ | | / | more than it costs, since how often have we heard people | \ | | / | narrating "I came back in a wrong place after the crash | \ | | / | and died instantly...i think reimbursements should apply!" | \ | | / | Immortals don't like to say no to these kinds of | \ | | / | situations but have their hands tied. Try saving them | \ | | / | the bother of telling you as much. However don't forget | \ | |___| to obey the 5-minute rule.' |___| (_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____) ^ ^ __^__ __^__ ( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ ) | / | | \ | | / | Lagging and Personal Crashers | \ | | / |----------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-----------------| \ | | / | | \ | | / | Well common sense tells you that if you are lagging badly, | \ | | / | you are taking a large risk just playing. If you are on a | \ | | / | modem I can only offer my condolences. However, it can be | \ | | / | the case that you suffer from intermittent lag. This is just | \ | | / | as dangerous as I will demonstrate: | \ | | / | | \ | | / | A few years ago, when Isaldren was still alive and killing, | \ | | / | he tried to kill me near weathertop. Due to the nature of | \ | | / | recall I died due to exhaustion on weathertop faced with | \ | | / | unsurmountable odds of Isaldren and a large orc patrol. | \ | | / | A few months later, Isaldren was still annoyed that it was | \ | | / | an orc which finally finished me off, and so was still | \ | | / | looking to get me on his trophy...... | \ | |___| |___| (_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____) ^ ^ __^__ __^__ ( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ ) | / | | \ | | / | One day I was suffering from quite bad lag and decided to | \ | | / | head for my home in Fornost. However while resting in the | \ | | / | Crown of Arnor Inn, the lag miraculously disappeared. Well I | \ | | / | waited about 5 minutes and still the resp | / | this time I decided to have a go at Isaldren.Knowing his love| \ | | / | for teleporting in on a victim and instantly following him, | \ | | / | I started narrating taunts to Isaldren, hoping he would come.| \ | | / | If he arrived I would instantly move east into the Bar, where| \ | | / | his mighty magics would be of no assistance. With my mood | \ | | / | very aggressive, and my fellow dunadan soldiers waiting at | \ | | / | bar I waited. However, after 5 minutes of verbal insults | \ | | / | my link froze on me. what followed I only briefly saw as it | \ | | / | later scrolled past me-Isaldren had indeed teleported in, | \ | | / | and promptly set about fireballing me to death. Once my wimpy| \ | | / | cut in, I fled the wrong way and was easily picked off. | \ | | / | So there you have it, just when you think the lag is gone it | \ | |___| comes back to haunt you! |___| (_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____) ^ ^ __^__ __^__ ( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ ) | / | | \ | | / | When you are on your own, as the above tale recalls, there | \ | | / | really is very little you can do if the lag comes. However, | \ | | / | if you are in a group, there is more that can be done. When | \ | | / | you start suffering from lag in a group, make sure you let | \ | | / | the other party members aware of this fact (commonly done). | \ | | / | | \ | | / | However, what seems to be less commonly done is for plans to | \ | | / | be drawn up in the event of you lagging and failing to | \ | | / | respond. Although even more unpredictable, personal machine | \ | | / | crashes give pretty much the same response as far as the | \ | | / | members of the part are concerned. One of the best places to | \ | | / | put a lagged person is actually as the buffer (if they are | \ | | / | a warrior). However, I personally only allow this when I | \ | | / | trust my fellows will not abandon me, and will rescue me if | \ | | / | there is a need to flee. | \ | | / | | \ | |___| |___| (_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____) ^ ^ __^__ __^__ ( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ ) | / | | \ | | / | Although it is very difficult to plan for all contingencies, | \ | | / | if you are in doubt of your link, the last think you should | \ | | / | be trusted with is a position of responsibility. If the needs| \ | | / | must, your group leader should make sure you are still | \ | | / | responding before an important tactic is put into place, even| \ | | / | as far as getting a quick nod from everyone JUST before | \ | | / | events take place. | \ | | / | | \ | | / | This reminds me of a very sad tale involving myself and the | \ | | / | Sleep-Master himself Taran. Taran and I were outside the | \ | | / | door to the Necromancers Research laboratory, me holding the | \ | | / | key to unlock the portal. Although we had discussed the | \ | | / | tactics beforehand, and I had set up aliases, Taran had been | \ | | / | checking my responses as I had previously had terminal | \ | | / | problems. Nearing the end of our talks, my system crashed | \ | | / | and I tried to log on to an independent system as quickly as | \ | |___| I could. |___| (_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____) ^ ^ __^__ __^__ ( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ ) | / | | \ | | / | Needless to say, Taran, assuming I was still connected | \ | | / | entered the research chamber, which the Necromancer promptly | \ | | / | locked. By the time I returned, and started trying to open | \ | | / | the door from the other side, Taran lay mortally wounded. | \ | | / | | \ | | / | | \ | | / | | \ | | / | | \ | | / | | \ | | / | | \ | | / | | \ | | / | | \ | | / | | \ | | / | | \ | | / | | \ | | / | | \ | |___| |___| (_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____) ^ ^ __^__ __^__ ( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ ) | / | | \ | | / | In Conclusion | \ | | / |----------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~---------------------------| \ | | / | | \ | | / | Well I hope some of the above proves to be of value to you. | \ | | / | You can now appreciate that quiet often there are measures | \ | | / | that can be taken. However, unless you make use of the above | \ | | / | advice, the worse will still invariably happen (I'm sure | \ | | / | someone wrote a law about that). Personally, I think lack of | \ | | / | ability to respond is the most frustrating case, since by its| \ | | / | very nature you can do very little about it. However I hope | \ | | / | the above anecdotes on lagging are at least some comfort, | \ | | / | even if the best advice "Don't play" is somewhat banal. | \ | | / | | \ | | / | Just remember, when it comes to lags, crashes and lagging, | \ | | / | it will happen to you at some stage, as it has happened to | \ | | / | many before you. Take a few tips and you might just come out | \ | |___| smiling. |___| (_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____) ^ ^