Multiplayer Updates/November 2012

30th

• Web battles now work a little better in Opera.
  • It's still recommended you use something else, though.
• In an effort to make things not suck in IE/Opera, or at least reduce the load those browsers cause on the server, the rounds move a little slower (4 seconds instead of 2 per round).
• Passive powers that damage you will no longer give spam outside of combat.
• The primary and secondary colors on the Latex Skunk can now be set individually via local stats.
  • @set me=latex skunk secondary:hot pink would make the white in your desc be replaced with 'hot pink'.
  • The other stat (defaults to black) is @set me=latex skunk primary:whatever.

29th

• 'Regenerator' monster template added, which grants ferals the Surge of Vengeance power. Can't keep a good feral down!
• Diseased will no longer show up on mobs if you are at -1 danger settings.
  • Diseased mobs will also give way more XP than normal.
• Monsters can now have multiple templates, based upon your danger/pheromone levels.
  • Specifically, off of the average of your danger and pheromone levels.

28th

• Craftables with a scaling cost (usually consumables, denoted by the ` after their price in +rpinfo) now charge half as much as before.
• In two days, you will be unable to attach new distills to items. You have been warned.
• More back-end optimizations! Yay!

27th

• Whispers should be smarter about handling spaces at the start or end of a line.
• Level 0-10 instances should now get the proper, weaker version of the Latex Fox.

26th

• String parsing and loot drops are now much faster, server-wise.

25th

• When showing the failed patrol puzzle, it will remember that the exploded trap was a trap.
• Rolling a match for the trap test will now count as a victory.

24th

• Happy birthday, Balina!
• A few exploits regarding viewing props have been tightened up. MPI can no longer tell lots of crafty things about those around you.
• Instanced monsters should stop having so many templates.
• The research topic for Small Building completed; you can now buy it from the skunks at the library.
• When powers are auto-fired by the AI at the start of a fight, you get a 25% discount for that use.
• A network switch has been replaced; hopefully the connection won't be hiccuping so much now.
• As one might expect, the patrol puzzles have been getting a lot of attention lately:
  • Patrol puzzles now have a minimum grid size of 4x4.
  • All In merit coded. Reduces traps by 25% (to a standard density of 24%, down from 32%), but causes the first trap hit to lose the game (skips Security role roll).
  • search web will no longer bring up puzzles; it'll let you know when it just bypassed one, though.
  • The roll to survive a trap now gives you a much better idea of how close you were to not failing it.
  • There was a minor bug that caused the traps to start far too hard; this has been corrected.
  • Puzzles now track the general win/loss ratio, and increase the value of prizes as people continue to lose.
    • At time of implementation, that meant a +59% bonus to victory.

23rd

• The pool of players used to determine assistance on web mission battles has been culled to only include people, at most, three levels below you.
• You know those patrol events where you find stuff? Well, apparently people are trapping the caches of stuff. Hope you're good at Minesweeper!
  • Luck of Fools, Master Locksmith, and Risk Taker perks added.
  • On bigger puzzles, there's a chance at mako for solving them!
  • Your security skill assists in surviving in case you set off a mine.

22nd

• Pinky Pink color purchased!
• When starting a web battle, if a power has more than 15,000 cooldown, it will instead start with a random cooldown still left; this will be somewhere between 0 and one half of its full cooldown value.
  • Summon abilities are exempt from this rule.

21st

• Change to DoTs. Resists on the target are calculated at time of application instead of every single time they tick.
  • This means that the mag of the dot on the target, excluding DamageBuff and Attack statuses, is what you get.

20th

• Ultra Violet purchased as an avatar color choice.

19th

• The overworld map now only tries to bring up options for the 9 closest locations, rather than try and do everything.
• Perknukes now cap out at 5 mako, instead of being 1 per point.

18th

• Equipement Enforcemer (that was a typo, right?) coded. Using it will prompt you for an item to enhance. From then on, that item will use 1 token and 1000 freecred per day but will be considered High Quality. If you don't have enough, it will auto-disable. To enable or disable it manually, unequip it and use it while it is in your inventory.
  • Enhanced items will show 'Enhanced' in their gear listing.

17th

• A few critters have select parts of an infection, while leaving other parts human. If you can think of any creatures that might need this kind of treatment, please open a request for them.
• Pets will now properly report what items are giving buffs that are reflected to them via the Mastermind combat skill.

16th

• Oh hey, there are maps available now!
• tf will now act as shorthand for transform.
• The holiday forms (Ghastly Wraith, Candy Dragon, and Werezompire) have been removed from the elite store.
  • Similarly, they have all lost the Trick or Treat power until next year.
• repair all will attempt to repair all equipped items. You will be warned about costs and chances of distill losses.
• The Nanite Adaptation Cleanser can now be used as many times as you like.
  • It's also now for sale in the mall for ~500,000 freecred.

15th

• You cannot target yourself with Commandable Nanites.
• You can now click on a face in combat and see that player's profile page.
• If you have a high octane +reward waiting, and score a dye result, you will get 4 dyes(one for each slot). These dyes are just as tradable as the one result, so trade, sell, or use, at your leisure.
• Dapper canes are now for sale in the mall for ~25,000 cred. They're for your avatar!
• New 'bowtie' accessory unlocked for judges at level 4+.
• Coyote and Devourer shifting of others now uses the 'transform' command, instead of self-shifting. The syntax remains the same otherwise.

14th

• Hunter green and Flour colors added to the avatar palette.
• Full sets of dyes are now 10 mako, and will kick in if you purchase a second dye for a color.
• When someone you are tutoring wins the RP lotto, you have a 50% chance of receiving a mako for bringing such a rad dude to the game.

13th

• This web avatar business is getting out of hand.
  • The web battle interface now shows names under the various bust shots.
  • Panther Taurs, Small Felinoids, and Black Panthers remembered to start using the feline avatars.
  • Tiger-Orange, Infernal, and Lust (deep red) colors added.

12th

• Necromantic Acolyte can now be purchased from the web interface.
• Clicking on a monster's face in web combat now makes you target them *and* their stupid face!
• +register now tells you when your subscription will expire.
• +fish now reports your fishing skill.
• The plushie machine in the toy factory now respects your underwear. You can stop wearing your belt so tight now.
• The avatar shenanigans continue!
  • Web avatars removed from combat, then re-added. They work now! In all browsers!
  • Chocolate and Royal Blue colors available for purchase in the avatar system.
  • Gloom color given out for free. Probably because nobody can find anyone with it.
  • Silver color given out for free. Not as valuable as gold dye.
  • You can now buy a full set (fur, hair, eyes, skin) of a colored dye for 12 mako.
  • There's a big white background available in the accessories, for those who want to stop being invisible while they're gloomy.

11th

• Random number generator added to String Parsing. Syntax is: [random (lowest) to (highest)].
• Items can now have dynamic code. The main benefit here is that it'll be really easy for devs to add more consumables without so much hassle.
• More avatar shenanigans!
  • Disguise Kit added to the mall for ~25,000 credits. Allows you to use a couple of different mustaches as accessories when you edit your avatar.
  • Dyes can now be purchased for 5 mako apiece. Each dye covers one of four areas: hair, fur, eyes, and skin.
    • If you try to use a dye you don't have in the avatar system, you will be prompted to buy it after previewing.
    • Buying a dye unlocks it for everything on your account, forever.
    • If a dye was created because you purchased it, you will get 1 mako every time someone nabs it.
  • Avatars show up on web battles again!

10th

• Oh crap, someone's gone nuts on the avatar system again.
  • The expression/eye options have been removed, as they haven't worked since the move to the current system.
  • Judges of level 3+ now have access to a 'thought bubble' accessory.
  • Those with the [Cake Tester] badge now have two different cake slice accessories.
  • There is now a second row of controls under each accessory, giving you the option to move it by much more than previously.
  • You can now change the colors of your avatar! There are only a few palettes now, but more will open up as the 'Avatars Step 2 - Colors' mako pool fills up. Default offerings:
    • Horrid!
    • Grayscale!
    • Burnt Gold!
    • Earth!
  • Color dyes are now in the rotation for +rewards. They unlock new palettes for you to use in your avatar!
  • New Color Registration added to the elite store for 20 mako.
  • Staff now have access to all accessories and colors. For testing purposes, obviously.
  • You can now turn on and off your naughtiest bits in the avatar edit screen!
  • Having the Masculine perk will now make your breasts quit showing up on the avatar list.
  • Avatars are now cached much more aggressively. This should help speed up the editing process.
• Necromantic Acolyte dedication coded and placed in Woodfield's graveyard!

9th

• No, for reals this time, the boys down in the Promethean studies lab should quit asking for things that aren't real.
• The syntax for using commandable nanites has been changed around to be less intrustive. You now 'shift other' instead of just 'shift' to use it on someone in the same room.
• 'list perks' and 'list flaws' will now use an asterisk to show what perks and flaws you have when you are using the color-blind mode in editplayer.
• Lots of changes to the Who's Online display.
  • Bunny avatar updated.
  • Horse avatar added.
  • Human avatar updated; the color palette is now considerably more 'human' and less 'anime'. Shot glass nipples are still in effect.
  • The ninth best thing ever has happened: Cow avatars now have cloven hooves!
  • Accessories have been moved to the new system: you will need to re-position all your stuff, but it should play nicer with future changes.
  • Accessories may now be rotated.

8th

• Feesh got a little smarter. Somehow.
• No, seriously, the boys down in the Promethean studies lab should quit asking for things that aren't real.
• Children will no longer be born without a description.
• Kitsunes are now foxes as far as Who's Online is concerned.
• Humble Balls coded.
• The extra view distance from Binoculars now functions.
• You can now mouse over items in web shops to see their description.
• Commandable Nanites added to the elite store for 30 mako.

7th

• Distill and item level information removed from 'eq' readout.
  • This made more room for names. Hooray, names!

6th

• Everyone who had at least 1,000 distillery points saved up got the unique [Distillery Expert] badge.
  • Dropping items no longer gives distillery points. Sorry, no badge for you.
• The Sexual Urge Control Kit can now be used from within your inventory to toggle its effects on and off.
• Profession nuking via +mako/jobnuke is free for the next little while.
• Tactical Discriminator added to the elite store for 30 mako.
  • Having the item makes the solo effects of Front Row and Back Row apply even when you're in a group!
  • The area-blocking ability of Front Row no longer applies, but you keep the aggro.
• Group temp buffs now charge correctly and will not allow you to go over the cap level for a buff.
• A little head shot of yourself now appears on the web interface. Adorable!
• Head shots of people helping you in combat now appear! Never mind, it destroys the server. This may come back if it quits being so murderous, though.
• Added extra dragons into $lib/power.

5th

• +haz now properly string-parses environmental effects.
• Player judges can now set +jnotes on things they make. If they're level 6+, admitted.

4th

• Using 'shift native' now tells the room that you reverted to a native form.
• The option to set your species in editplayer has been removed. Not surprising, as you haven't been able to set that for longer than this MUD has existed.
• Distillations are no longer available! Existing distills will continue to do their thing, but you will not be able to obtain or use new ones.
  • Missy, in the mall, will now refund mako for things like the Distillation Creator.
• Supporter points will no longer round down after you donate by purchasing something from the Buy Mako page.
• Posthumous powers will now work. Really. Honest.
• Tail Fury now has a small chance to pull a victim into the tailvoid for a brief time! Oh dear.

3rd

• Rabbit avatar added to the Who's Online page.
• 'eq' will now show all your items, instead of just the first 31. Yes, it was somehow possible to equip 32 items at once.
• Expired items will now be unequipped if the game realizes that they're expired.

2nd

• If a crafting item is dropped, and no salvage can be reclaimed from it, you're given the option to drop it for cred, instead.
• 'target party=<target>' will now set the target for everyone in your group at once.
• Using the 'recurse' command while in Recursion will now tell the room you just recursed.
• Cooldowns will now properly end upon respawn in cases where they didn't.

1st

• Laser Rifle schematic has been added to the Skunk's library public shops.
• The 'cooldown' command gives proper output for gear instead of things like "Accessory9".
• Powers can now be set so that they will trigger other powers on the target after a set number of rounds.
  • They can also have a chance to fire more than once.
• There was an overflow exploit on the markets. It's gone now.
• Allied powers should not spontaneously hit an entire room at once.