Help Files/Documentation

Ieptix

Post here about any game features that seem to be missing or are short on documentation. We'll see about getting that straightened out!

This can also include things that have existing documentation, but the documentation is hard to find or otherwise not easily accessible (e.g. missing/sparse help file keywords).

Shaddus

HELP DROCILLA and HELP CARAKHAN seem to be missing.

/hide

Tav

Sharpness oil was one thing I ran into some troubles with, wasn't sure what it was/couldn't find it mentioned anywhere.

While not technically a helpfile, seeing how many more lessons to the next skill/how many lessons invested in a skillset would be nice.

It's hard to remember all the questions I had after I got them answered, but I'll be sure to add to this list as I come up against more stuff I don't understand!

Tav

Scrolls was another thing I had issues with - healing scrolls/protection scrolls apparently help with hunting, but I had no idea until someone else take me bashing, I was just sipping health.

Adding to here so I don't post-farm: Warmth. I had no idea I could be frozen by weather here, until I actually was. Had I not gotten a fire thing by sheer luck a bit before, it would have possibly ended badly!

Tridemon

Can we have the helpfiles for various Runes actually explain which affliction they give?

Turnus

The list of enchantments and what they do would be nice as a helpfile.

Portius

A help file explaining what all the various afflictions do (maybe add it to the file that lists what cures each of them) would be useful, too.

Arimisia

in the help 9.4.7 THE HERBS SKILL (Trade)

please add in there why strip harvesting is bad for the newbie herbalist as well as the command needed when harvesting to NOT auto combine your herbs.. really makes replanting annoying when you have to harvest one, plant one harvest one, plant one and so on... (I do not remember the command but I recall an announce or a changelog that said there was something)

Ardmore

split

Usage:

   SPLIT <item> <# of groups> [WAYS]

   SPLIT <item> <num>/<num>  (eg. 2/3 or 50/50)

   SPLIT <item> INTO GROUPS OF <num>

When I replant I pick 10 - split then into groups of 1 and replant. Depending on how fast I am I can replant all - sometimes I have one or two that have been out too long.

(I post this because I didn't even know there was a command to stop auto-grouping)

Vivet

Or just HARVEST GALINGALE SINGLE.

Appending single to the end of the harvest line will block the grouping. You just need to remember to do it.

Elanorwen

I took a peek at MKO recently, and I have to say I'm practically -in love- with their ABs.

Here's an example:

RIGHTEOUSNESS - SPIRIT WRACK

Syntax: SMITE <player/mob> WITH SPIRIT WRACK
Faith Used: +10

Communing with the spirit realm and assaulting the very soul of your enemy, you can inflict a variety of disturbing
mental ailments to confuse and disorient.

Attack Category: Stab
Type AB RIGHTEOUSNESS SPIRIT WRACK DETAILS to see details on the afflictions.

And the details bit:

AFFLICTION DETAILS FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS - SPIRIT WRACK

AMNESIA:
Amnesia has a chance of occurring on any action, causing the person to forget what they were doing. The action fails,
and the person suffers a short loss of balance, though the temporary amnesia is cured. It is a mental affliction.

DEPRESSION:
Depression prevents one from Overdriving, which consumes Adrenaline to restore Health or Magic. It is essential in
preventing others from healing raw damage. It is a mental affliction.

DEAFNESS:
Deafness prevents one from hearing. It is a physical affliction.

HEADACHE:
A headache causes health damage whenever the person utilizes Inner Focus to cure afflictions. It is a mental affliction.

I have to say, I'd definitely like to see the same thing for all ABs in Lusternia.

Lerad

Not neccesarily all abs, but having certain combat mechanics and/or formulae made public, and kept public, will be very useful.

Another re-haul of the artifacts documentation would be great - some of the artifacts are (still) near impossible to find despite the entire list already being split into so many helpfiles (or maybe they are difficult to find because they are split into so many confusing files) and some of the descriptions leave much to be desired in terms of what the artifact does. A system where searching for a specific artifact via keywords, much like shop directories, would be so so helpful. The current help-search function doesn't seem to work very well.

Similarly for tradeskills. I can never remember how to look up what patterns need what number of comms. Was it designcomms? Or tradecomms? Or something else?

Ssaliss

Not sure if it's in the scope of this, but an update/rewrite of the documentations for the IRE API and GMCP would be nice for us coder folks.

Arimisia

Vivet said:

Or just HARVEST GALINGALE SINGLE.

Appending single to the end of the harvest line will block the grouping. You just need to remember to do it.

That is a little annoying.. =\ config please! there is a config for everything else!

Elanorwen

Lerad said:

Not neccesarily all abs, but having certain combat mechanics and/or formulae made public, and kept public, will be very useful.

Another re-haul of the artifacts documentation would be great - some of the artifacts are (still) near impossible to find despite the entire list already being split into so many helpfiles (or maybe they are difficult to find because they are split into so many confusing files) and some of the descriptions leave much to be desired in terms of what the artifact does. A system where searching for a specific artifact via keywords, much like shop directories, would be so so helpful. The current help-search function doesn't seem to work very well.

Similarly for tradeskills. I can never remember how to look up what patterns need what number of comms. Was it designcomms? Or tradecomms? Or something else?

My main issue with current ABs is as follows... "This strike gives a cracked kneecap" - So unless you go out of your way and ask exactly what a cracked kneecap implies, you are pretty much left guessing as to what your abilities accomplish. So yes, all ABs that give afflictions should probably have this explanation. I'm going to even expand on that a bit by adding another detail from MKO:

IMPATIENCE:
Impatience prevents using Inner Focus to cure physical afflictions. Along with Concussion and Epilepsy, it forms a "focus lock" that prevents curing afflictions. It is a spiritual affliction.

Ssaliss

Adding what the aff does to all ABs might be a bit overkill (unless there's a way to automate appending that information to select ABs). What I'd love to see, however, is a WHATDOES <affliction>, much like there is a WHATCURES and WHATISCUREDBY.

Elanorwen

Ssaliss said:

Adding what the aff does to all ABs might be a bit overkill (unless there's a way to automate appending that information to select ABs). What I'd love to see, however, is a WHATDOES <affliction>, much like there is a WHATCURES and WHATISCUREDBY.

To me, it should be a part of the AB. You're a newbie. You just learned a skill. You check the skill's AB, it's as clear as mud. Where do you go to get more information? There's plenty of cases where skills don't even say what afflictions they give, let alone what the afflictions they give do.

Zyphora

HELP MARRIAGE seems to be missing the new syntax for authorizing an officiator:

AUTHORIZE <person> TO OFFICIATE

I think it'd be nice to have a help file for the list of complete curios and what each one does. Maybe similar to how AETHERGOOP LIST and AETHERGOOP INFO # works. Right now the only website I know that has information on it isn't updated with the new curios.

Karlach

Elanorwen said:

Ssaliss said:

Adding what the aff does to all ABs might be a bit overkill (unless there's a way to automate appending that information to select ABs). What I'd love to see, however, is a WHATDOES <affliction>, much like there is a WHATCURES and WHATISCUREDBY.

To me, it should be a part of the AB. You're a newbie. You just learned a skill. You check the skill's AB, it's as clear as mud. Where do you go to get more information? There's plenty of cases where skills don't even say what afflictions they give, let alone what the afflictions they give do.

I think Ssaliss means for people who are getting hit by those afflictions, and because they don't give them, they don't know them.

Ssaliss

There's that, definitely, but there's also having the admins add (and update) affliction information to several ABs manually. If there's a way to link the WHATDOES to the ABs, then yeah, I can see that being nice too, since then they'd only have to change the text in one place and it'd update everywhere at once.

Elanorwen

Ssaliss said:

There's that, definitely, but there's also having the admins add (and update) affliction information to several ABs manually. If there's a way to link the WHATDOES to the ABs, then yeah, I can see that being nice too, since then they'd only have to change the text in one place and it'd update everywhere at once.

They'd also need to link afflictions to skills in the database. I feel that that's probably a good way to go about it, sure. Quite likely that's how it was done there in the first place.

Xenthos

They have clickable links elsewhere; it seems like it would be "easiest" (still a large task) to write up what each affliction does into help files, and then just link to them in ABs.  To my understanding, ABs are pretty old / legacy and are a lot of work (they said ages ago that they were going to be slowly going through them and updating to give them more information like some of the newer ABs, but I don't know that it has ever actually happened).

It would definitely be neat if it did.  More information > less information!

Ssaliss

Yeah, an MXP-link in the ABs would definitely be an excellent compromise if it's hard to simply append information dynamically into them (which I have a feeling it is).

Turnus

I kind of doubt they'll do much to rework the current AB files on account of the overhaul essentially meaning they will throw them out eventually anyways.

Tav

Maybe the affliction stuff could be put on the wiki by a player or players, as a compromise? Because I'd love to be able to get more information about stuff - like, what's a focus lock? The terms vary from IRE game to IRE game, so some kind of overview'd be amazing.

Iasmos

Not everyone uses MXP (or wants to), so there has to be more than just a hyperlink.

Elanorwen

Turnus said:

I kind of doubt they'll do much to rework the current AB files on account of the overhaul essentially meaning they will throw them out eventually anyways.

Except if they make it work for current ABs, it's quite likely that it will then easily be linked to new ABs... just have to have the additional database entries for the new skills.

Enyalida

I can go through and transfer affliction data to the wiki, tonight. It's just a major pain, our wiki doesn't have a lot of really useful/vital plugins, like the Aetolian wiki.

Enyalida

Does the 'blues' affliction still exist?

Shaddus

Yeah, but playing the harmonica cures it.

Kaimanahi

Some of the guild help files are missing newer skill choices. For the warrior guilds, Cavalier needs to be added as a specialization. Also the Geomancers, Pyromancers, and Aeromancers are missing references to the -chemantics skills.