(12:19:05) Sora: sup?
(12:19:17) Ammon: not much, just grabbed lunch and switched offices
(12:19:25) Sora: did you see my PW tower batch of questions?
(12:19:34) Ammon: no, email or forums?
(12:19:42) Sora: forums
(12:19:45) Ammon: k, will check
(12:19:54) Sora: under PlayerChat I believe
(12:19:57) Ammon: nod, k
(12:20:09) Sora: I made an "idea" suggestion for a new forum that would fit it better.
(12:20:30) Ammon: heh, nod, i've been kicking around the idea of needing a few more categories myself
(12:20:44) Sora: the one I suggested is for the building of the world.
(12:20:48) Sora: (like the PW tower.
(12:20:54) Sora: would it fit in any other category.
(12:20:55) Sora: ?
(12:21:01) Ammon: hmm
(12:21:18) Ammon: kind of a 'theme' or 'storyline' sort of forum
(12:21:57) Ammon: heh, toasters ;)
(12:22:03) Sora: heh ;)
(12:22:46) Ammon: ok, i'm not thinking of doing it ffxi/eq2 style
(12:22:49) Ammon: as far as dorms go
(12:23:11) Ammon: i want a set amount of space for people to occupy
(12:23:19) Ammon: this puts an inherent cap on admissions
(12:23:29) Sora: so how big? how many floors will this be?
(12:23:51) Ammon: my original design had about 20 dorm rooms for students - multiple students sharing a room
(12:23:51) Sora: I'll need to put it somewhere.
(12:24:06) Ammon: then about 30 offices for ranking guild members
(12:24:21) Ammon: i had room for expansion to add housing for visiting members
(12:24:33) Sora: what about the non ranking.
(12:24:51) Ammon: well, the school only has so many faculty positions, ne?
(12:24:57) Ammon: thus, not everyone stays on after graduation
(12:25:08) Sora: and how big should I allow then
(12:25:16) Sora: 1 5x3 isn't enough is it?
(12:25:21) Ammon: ick, no
(12:25:30) Ammon: i was making the dorm rooms 2x2
(12:25:40) Ammon: and offices were getting about 15 squares
(12:25:56) Ammon: with the top members getting larger offices than that
(12:26:07) Ammon: i had figured on about 5-7 floors above ground and 2-5 below
(12:26:11) Sora: I was saying 5x3 meaning 1x1
(12:26:15) Ammon: yes, i know
(12:26:19) Sora: k
(12:26:49) Ammon: the thought that 5x3 (15 tiles) wouldn't be enough for a lowbie member is silly ;)
(12:27:15) Sora: hehe
(12:27:24) Sora: so 2x2
(12:27:26) Ammon: nod
(12:27:31) Ammon: i had also put in a common room for them
(12:27:36) Ammon: now here's a thought - different houses?
(12:27:37) Sora: how many of them?
(12:27:45) Ammon: ala harry potter and discworld assassins?
(12:28:14) Sora: k
(12:28:14) Ammon: or discworld wizards for that matter...
(12:28:52) Sora: so seperate floors, or (a la potter), make them go through the library maze and execute some weird command to get in?
(12:29:04) Ammon: oh, definately library maze i think
(12:29:17) Sora: but there is the teleport, so is it all that valuable?
(12:29:25) Ammon: sure it is
(12:29:29) Ammon: she won't port you to other people's rooms
(12:29:50) Ammon: and your room might be close to certain books, but far from others
(12:30:12) Ammon: i want to make wandering the library a fundamental feature of the guild experience
(12:31:04) Ammon: so what we thinking about dividing students up into houses?
(12:31:14) Ammon: it adds a lot of options for titles
(12:31:19) Sora: I like that.
(12:31:25) Ammon: how many?
(12:31:27) Sora: so how amny
(12:31:28) Sora: yeah
(12:31:30) Ammon: ;)
(12:31:33) Sora: HP is 4
(12:31:36) Ammon: 3 would be a minimum
(12:32:18) Ammon: more than 6 is too many
(12:32:24) Sora: yeah
(12:33:46) Ammon: ok, let's look at it this way
(12:33:50) Ammon: what naming scheme?
(12:34:16) Ammon: hp is founding fathers
(12:34:26) Ammon: ssassawots is poisonous critters
(12:34:38) Sora: we could do the different dimensions of the planes.
(12:34:40) Sora: or...
(12:34:55) Sora: I kinda like the "admins" list.
(12:34:57) Ammon: discworld wizards are just silly brotherhood names
(12:35:06) Sora: The Venger house, the Allaryin house, Acius house.
(12:35:10) Ammon: chuckle
(12:35:31) Ammon: do we want to tailor things slightly differently per house?
(12:35:52) Ammon: ie, give them access to different classes in a different order?
(12:37:00) Ammon: like which element and technique they specialize in
(12:37:07) Sora: yeah, maybe
(12:37:10) Ammon: say some house is binding and fire
(12:37:20) Ammon: or wind and dancing
(12:37:22) Sora: but there are more than 6 elements.
(12:37:25) Ammon: nod
(12:37:46) Ammon: no reason a fire binder can't do some wind dancer magic every once in a while ;)
(12:37:50) Ammon: it's just not required for his graduation
(12:38:01) Sora: which is why I thought about the different dimensions.
(12:38:09) Ammon: ooo
(12:38:14) Ammon: they're degree programs ;)
(12:38:28) Ammon: Order of Bob the Neuromancer, etc...
(12:38:43) Sora: Fire - Ice
Water - Lightning
Chaos - Order

(12:38:48) Sora: 
Earth - Spirit - Dark

(12:38:51) Sora: The Four Winds
(12:38:57) Ammon: no water/lit spec
(12:39:10) Ammon: guild can't officially condone that
(12:39:46) Ammon: i think access to any water or lit magic is strictly graduate work for upper circle faculty
(12:39:57) Sora: is water advanced too?
(12:39:58) Ammon: well water is grad and lit is faculty
(12:40:06) Ammon: no, but water is difficult because of the imbalance
(12:40:21) Ammon: pw's have enough trouble with druids and priests running around mucking that up
(12:40:58) Sora: but there will be graduate lit guys who balance stuff.
(12:41:04) Ammon: yes
(12:41:06) Ammon: but it's secret
(12:41:07) Sora: you could put water in with the winds or something.
(12:41:19) Ammon: nod, but water magic is harder
(12:41:31) Ammon: so it's not fair to an undergrad
(12:41:43) Sora: so the water-lit house will be a grad house?
(12:41:52) Ammon: hmm
(12:41:55) Sora: and call it the Simonz house or something.
(12:41:59) Ammon: heh
(12:42:06) Ammon: Order of Acius, etc...?
(12:42:10) Sora: yeah
(12:42:55) Sora: Allaryin=chaos/order
Acius=fire/ice
Malap=earth/spirit/dark
Venger=winds
(12:43:04) Sora: simonz=water/lit
(12:43:10) Ammon: nod, sounds good
(12:43:44) Sora: are there any other admins I don't know about?
(12:44:42) Sora: maybe there could be two graduate houses, one focusing on balance with the lit stuff, and another focusing on the water stuff.
(12:45:06) Ammon: heh
(12:45:14) Ammon: no, no other admins
(12:45:25) Sora: cuz I just found out about simonz last week.
(12:45:44) Ammon: heh
(12:45:49) Ammon: he's been around for ages
(12:45:58) Sora: but I never saw him on until last week ;)
(12:46:03) Ammon: he's the one who came up with pw's in the first place
(12:46:15) Sora: IC, makes him perfect for the graduate stuff.
(12:46:24) Ammon: nod, i'm talking to him right now via icq
(12:46:30) Sora: IC
(12:48:25) Ammon: he kind of left the project after it was decided we weren't going to be pure hack & slash focus, he had figured out programs for guild experience and stuff
(12:48:37) Sora: IC
(12:48:38) Ammon: had even drawn a map of the tower a long time ago
(12:49:17) Sora: cool
(12:50:42) Ammon: hmm...
(12:50:48) Ammon: sign of graduation is a staff?
(12:51:10) Sora: well, would people carry it with them? do you want that?
(12:51:23) Ammon: yes, it'd be a mean weapon with spells on it
(12:51:29) Sora: Would it differ drastically from a wand?
(12:51:46) Sora: would you change it out with crystals or something?
(12:51:52) Sora: too keep the mana replenished?
(12:51:58) Ammon: staff = 4-6 feet long
(12:52:26) Ammon: suitable for hitting people with as well as focus for spells
(12:52:26) Sora: and wands are much shorter.
(12:59:00) Ammon: i am thinking you could charge the staff with a special spell that drains crystals
(12:59:25) Ammon: in fact, we just need a basic 'recharge magical item' spell that uses crystals as a focus
(13:01:45) Ammon: yes, people would carry the staff, it would be a formidable toy, i think it gets a few spells built into it based on the program they graduated in
(13:01:55) Ammon: graduation project would be collecting ingredients for the staff i think
(13:02:00) Sora: k
(13:02:19) Ammon: and i think halfway through the course of studies, we give guild members an upgraded version of the stock spellcaster form
(13:02:24) Sora: would we want them "soulbound"
(13:02:25) Ammon: one that uses a staff
(13:02:29) Ammon: something like, yeah
(13:02:54) Ammon: you could drop the thing, but only the right member could pick it up
(13:03:07) Sora: so that way there can't be a "staff item distributor" right outside the tower
(13:04:47) Ammon: yeah
(13:05:04) Ammon: it would be awarded during some sort of graduation ceremony
(13:05:27) Ammon: and the object would be tied to access privs throughout the building, prolly
(13:05:28) Sora: alrightyu
(13:05:45) Sora: so what's next for me?
(13:05:49) Ammon: so even if your char is flagged as a grad, you need the staff on you to get into forbidden room of guild or something
(13:06:00) Ammon: let's say that there are 6 dorm rooms per house
(13:06:08) Ammon: not including simonz
(13:06:24) Ammon: and each house has their own common room
(13:06:24) Sora: 6*4*2x2?
(13:06:30) Ammon: prolyl
(13:06:33) Sora: so this would be the next four floors?
(13:07:02) Ammon: you can shape them however you want
(13:07:03) Sora: or would some be "down" and others "up"
(13:07:08) Ammon: prolly all over
(13:07:23) Ammon: i would like them to be chaotically distributed through building-engulfing maze that is the library
(13:07:24) Sora: yeah, I think I will want to spread them a bit.
(13:07:31) Ammon: esp for reasons of pranks
(13:07:47) Sora: so do we want to have a password?
(13:07:58) Sora: just difficult because of maze?
(13:08:16) Sora: require an item?
(13:08:17) Ammon: no password per se
(13:08:23) Ammon: but special knob sort of thing to get in
(13:08:27) Ammon: like, twist gargoyle's nose
(13:08:32) Sora: k
(13:08:37) Ammon: definately hidden entrances
(13:08:53) Ammon: and make a work area for the simonz initiates
(13:08:58) Ammon: including a few temp rooms for them to crash in
(13:09:13) Sora: something from the library, like pulling a special book?
(13:09:25) Ammon: but we need classrooms for just about every magical skill
(13:09:40) Ammon: need to come up with which skills the guild teaches, and which the mages are left to learn on their own - since not all are useful for planar magic
(13:09:46) Ammon: or are not useful enough
(13:09:49) Sora: can I get a "pull" command to pull a special labeled book in the library or something?
(13:09:56) Ammon: oh, definately
(13:10:07) Ammon: local commands can be written onto individual objects
(13:10:14) Ammon: doesn't have to be game-wide
(13:10:26) Sora: can you give me an example of such commands already in the game?
(13:13:05) Ammon: hmm? vending machines
(13:13:07) Ammon: chess board
(13:13:27) Sora: k
(13:13:39) Ammon: basically, you can come up with a command 'pull third red book from shelf'
(13:13:59) Sora: k
(13:14:00) Ammon: and i will make it work only in that exact room to do whatever we need - ie, open the exit to the house common room
(13:14:22) Ammon: this is how muds used to be written
(13:14:32) Ammon: our central system of commands is very strange for an lp mud
(13:14:47) Ammon: most write a very few central commands and put everything else onto objects they give people
(13:15:14) Ammon: for instance, a guild object would have all guild-specific powers
(13:15:24) Ammon: it would override the normal hp command to give you a specialized hpbar, etc...
(13:15:32) Ammon: but we don't need any of that
(13:15:47) Ammon: the pw staff would be the closest thing
(13:15:56) Sora: k
(13:27:36) Ammon: do we want to let people go back and get multiple degrees from the school? :)
(13:27:44) Sora: hmm, dunno
(13:29:56) Ammon: hmm. no, we only let them do it once
(13:30:26) Ammon: simonz and i are designing staves - they'll have special abilities only available to graduates from the specific house
(13:30:28) Sora: why do you say that?
(13:30:40) Ammon: was the question of could you make a collection of staves ;)
(13:31:30) Sora: so how does someone like a guild master get all the abiliities?
(13:31:55) Ammon: hmm? they get the abilities of their staff that they graduated with
(13:32:00) Ammon: and they'll have access to the spellbooks
(13:32:09) Sora: k
(13:32:11) Ammon: but no, they won't have a rival house's staff
(13:37:09) Ammon: ok, each house's common room gets a spellbook
(13:37:19) Ammon: that book will have a few spells that they specialize in
(13:37:29) Ammon: will also have a few skill descriptions and recipes
(13:37:31) Sora: would it be non-removable?
(13:37:37) Ammon: yes
(13:37:45) Ammon: and would have some advice and instructions for members
(13:40:12) Sora: k