Help Files

Svorai

I am going to put this here since I have already sort of started working on this. 

If you know of help files that are in need of a revamp, or ideas to for help files to better serve the game please place them in this thread. This goes for -major- problems, as in the whole file needs to be changed. If you find minor typos within help files please file a TYPO report in game.

Thank you.

Lionas

Does this include ABHELP, or just HELP?


EDIT to avoid double post.

This has always annoyed me: A few things reference HELP COOKING, which you can't access directly by name. (You can HELP COOKING 1 or HELP 9.50, but not HELP COOKING)

<670/670h(100) 430/430m(100) 26.33x <e-> <db> 82E 0b <0> help cooking
There are multiple matches, please choose one to view:
  1) [9.50    ] > cooking
   Title: Cooking

  2) [20.3    ] > scripting
   Title: Scripting in Tradeskills

Specify which row you want to see. E.g. To see the second item do:
   HELP cooking 2.



EDIT 2: I see no reason HELP READNEXT (3.5.1) needs to exist separately from NEWS (3.5) -- it seems to me it would fit better appended to NEWS


EDIT 3: in HELP 3's index, POSTOFFICE_CUSTOMIZATION is just titled CUSTOMIZING, which isn't the title of anything. HELP CUSTOMIZATION, the next obvious name, is (and should be) arti customizing. Not sure the best solution, since the space for a title in the index is small.


EDIT 4: I'm not sure these are the sorts of things you're looking for!

Roven

From a new player perspective, I'd suggest revising HELP NOVICES to explain about auto-promotion and the ability to multi-class with the various penalties for changing.

Also, why have both HELP GUILDNOVICES <guild> and GHELP <whatever>? What about just making GHELP by itself (or a standardized GHELP NOVICE/NEWBIE) display what is currently in HELP GUILDNOVICES <guild> - the two different syntax commands for what seems to me to be the same thing was always a bit confusing.

I'd also suggest maybe updating HELP SLEEP now that it's no longer required, and perhaps also to explain how to sleep without auto-waking.

Edit: And this probably isn't what you're looking for, but I seem to have a mental block in remembering what the autocurer is called. Could HELP AUTOCURE, HELP AUTOCURER and HELP REFLEXES (or whatever the semi-IC name is) all point to the HELP AUTOCURING page?

Lionas

HELP 12.17 doesn't exist, only 12.17.1 (Llus) does. There should be a general help file for islands (maybe mentioning powercall), then additional help files written for sets of Islands (Ki'lathu/Kaulathu, other island sets).

EDIT: Maybe 12.17 doesn't need to exist after all - the headers for different geography types mostly don't have their own help files.

EDIT 2:
12.12 OCEANS

Information on the Oceans of Imperian is awaiting transcription by the scribes.
EDIT 3:
12.10 THE HIGHWAYS is also a stub.

EDIT 4:
14.1 QUESTS needs to include the (seminew) QUESTS syntax, and possibly the new way to communicate with mobs.

EDIT 5:
18.5 THE SIX SUNS OF BAAR needs something. It is still God-centric, and mentions Argum as the vessel of Nemesis (which it isn't anymore - we should get some Demonic folks to pitch a new something for that sun to do in an event later)

EDIT 6:
19.24 RSS Feed - the feed no longer exists (or has moved). This needs a rewrite or to be scrapped.
Probably also 19.18 Digg.

Ahkan

Lionas has shown up to help Svorai.

Svorai

@Lionas Yes these are the things I am looking for, keep it coming! I saw some of your typos come in as well. I'll try to keep up. - Throw the ABs into a typo on the game. Unless you see something that needs a complete change.

@Roven I'll get to those listed, but the HELP GUILDNOVICES <guild> is more for those -not- in the guild, and do not have access to GHELP files. This is to try and get others interested in their guild by seeing what would be required of them. 

Lalitana

22.1 HOUSING SUMMARY

Not Available at this time.

22.2 HOUSING

- Endurance and Willpower are gone, so removing these two add-ons from the list would be good
- HOUSE HIRE notes that your patron can customize the butler, maid or cook. Can an alternate contact be identified for this, such as an entity, a message to (admin member), etc?

10.4.7 THE MINISTRY OF THE CHANCELLORY

- There is some wonky line break stuff going on in the first paragraph.
- Ditto in the Tax section

Cults/Sects should really be wrapped into the HELP 11 section. I know the help files exist but they are not organized or filed in a way that makes sense unless you already have an understanding of the system. 11.2 - 11.28 really don't say anything valuable at this point (since you made 11.1 much better!) and could be significantly condensed and/or eliminated entirely, particularly in the case of files that still explain how to join an order or congregation, and how to use miracles.

Caelya

Something that I've never ever seen in a help file is the fact that plate helms have a special ability to mitigate asphyxiation damage (and muffle the wearer's speech) via CLOSE BEVOR. At first, I thought it might be something to add into HELP ARMOUR, but I think the entirety of AB SMITHING could do with some additions. 

Aside from adding in that useful information to AB SMITHING PLATEHELM, it would be nice if each piece of armour (probably excluding limb armour) and each weapon had some sort of gauge as to what's average and above average stats for that item within its AB file. Obviously you can just compare to HELP ARTIFACT WEAPONS/ARMOUR, but I feel like it might at least help smithing seem a little more transparent. Or maybe it would be too transparent and it's more of a wiki type thing, though the fact that not many people seem willing to contribute their knowledge about these things is why I brought it up here. 

Edit: As an alternative to updating the AB files, there could just be a public help file regarding weapon stats and armour stats (preferably more accessible than HELP ARTIFACT ARMOUR and HELP ARTIFACT WEAPONS).

I can't think of anything else help file-related at the moment outside of typos, but I'm sure I will later. Thanks for your time!

Lionas

It's been discussed before, but I'd like to see ABHELPs include the balance/eq cost at neutral balance/equilibrium.

EDIT: This would be tough with weapon attacks, without flatout giving us the formula.

Jeremy Saunders

That is not a bad idea, but that would be extremely time consuming as only a coder could really do it, so they would have to come off the other huge list of things they are doing.

Lionas

Jeremy said:

That is not a bad idea, but that would be extremely time consuming as only a coder could really do it, so they would have to come off the other huge list of things they are doing.

You could playersource the times to people you trust from each profession (or just drop one person into a beta so they can switch to tritrans in any profession quickly). The only issue would be things that use the weapon speed formula, which isn't transparent to players.

Jeremy Saunders

It almost may be better to put all of that on the wiki. Which we are slowly bringing back to life. Players could then post their race, weapon speed, statpack, etc.

Lionas

It could go on the wiki, but it would be more widely accessible in abhelps. Having information for separate statpacks isn't necessary and would just add bloat, since racial balance bonuses are easy to calculate.

A lot of anecdotal datapoints is less useful than just having the accurate information - it would be better to just give us the weapon speed formula. You could put that on the wiki if you don't want it in the game itself.

Jeremy Saunders

I will have to think about that. I am not sure the amount or work it would take it worth it.

Lionas

Added balancetime and balancetype fields to the AbilityBox template on the wiki. I'm not familiar with wiki syntax, so if it's not quite right someone will need to fix it.
EDIT The intent is something like balancetype=Balance and balancetime=3.04

Jeremy Saunders

Sounds good for now. If all the information is placed on the wiki, it would be much easier to transfer it into help files.

Svorai

Alright, these are the changes so far. HELP 11 is next on my list. So it might take a while.

Help Cooking - Help Scripting no longer will come up for HELP COOKING, but is still referenced within HELP COOKING.

HELP POSTOFFICE_CUSTOMIZATION will now come up if you do HELP CUSTOMISING (Which is what it is listed as in the index).

HELP SLEEP has been fixed up to reflect what the new sleep is, as well as suggesting HELP AUTOCURING to read.

HELP AUTOCURING now can be found by doing HELP AUTOCURER, HELP AUTOCURE, and HELP REFLEXES.

HELP SUNS has been redone, as well as referencing the events post that detail Ki's destruction.

HELP HOUSING - Endurance/willpower has been removed. And changed the bit about Patrons, adding in Entities - where you can look at HELP ENTITIES and see the evolved Entities that are around.

HELP CHANCELLOR - fixed the spacing.

Dicene

Along the same line of thought, it would be great if, along with balance type and times, balance requirements and whether or not the skills were comboable was listed in ab files and on the wiki. There are some skills that specifically state they can be used off-bal, but it's not universal. I know in most cases it's pretty obvious, but some skills don't work in the most obvious way.

Two examples. Unlike Basilisk Invoke, the movement triggered skills (snare, boomerang, etc) in Supremacy can all be used while off-balance, I had assumed that they couldn't be comboed until I stumbled across that by accident. Puncture in Sabotage can be used while off equilibrium as long as the eq loss came from a comboable Spatium skill like Shadowplant. It would seem rather useful to me to have this information in ab files.

Caelya

HELP WILLPOWER and HELP ENDURANCE still exist, and probably shouldn't anymore.

Svorai

I would like to keep this more towards the "Help files" that need fixing. Things like adding balances and stuff to AB files is a nice thing to plan for the future, but that is not currently what this thread is about. Please keep on point of help files.

Dicene

Sorry. =/ Are you specifically looking for large lists of help files that need looked at, or are single suggestions welcome? Help Eor'gahl is also stuck in search limbo.

Svorai

HELP 11 got an overhaul. The HELP <god name> is still in the game, and also each one has their events post listed within them. But they have been removed from the number system - this will let us focus more on entities rather than the old Gods. All files pertaining to Orders, congregations, etc have been updated to reflect that this system is dead and a new one is about, and also removed from the number system.

As far as help files pertaining to areas, we are working through those and we know a lot are missing. It will take some time for them all to be updated. I am more looking at files that have been neglected over the years. Things have been updated in the game, but not in help files. Help files that will make life in Imperian easier. Etc

Caelya

HELP 8.31 (Guild Charters) doesn't seem relevant any longer, since Guild Mergers tend to happen more often than entirely new guilds are created. I also remember being told that new guild charters aren't even being accepted outside of mergers, so the help file could be potentially confusing to people who stumble upon it.

I recall there being an announce post somewhere that mentioned that guilds can change their guild name for the same price as gaining a new profession as per HELP MODIFICATIONS, 10 million gold. It might be worth adding that bit of information into that help file, if it's true.

Lionas

The Guild Charter system is technically still alive, but you are correct that new charters aren't being accepted. CHARTER MODIFICATIONS are still accepted, and exists as HELP 8.31.1

EDIT: I didn't finish reading before I posted. Durr. Name changes had to go through Jeremy, rather than the modification system. Mentioning that wouldn't hurt, but he'd have to confirm it can still happen.

Aleutia

Tome of the Crafter is still listed in HELP MISC ARTIFACTS.

Svorai

@Aleutia Fixed.

Aleutia

Dicene said:

Sorry. =/ Are you specifically looking for large lists of help files that need looked at, or are single suggestions welcome? Help Eor'gahl is also stuck in search limbo.

@Dicene Just so you know, you can view it with HELP EORGAHL (drop the apostrophe), but it would be nice to have eor'gahl bring up the file as well.

Svorai

Aleutia said:

Dicene said:

Sorry. =/ Are you specifically looking for large lists of help files that need looked at, or are single suggestions welcome? Help Eor'gahl is also stuck in search limbo.

@Dicene Just so you know, you can view it with HELP EORGAHL (drop the apostrophe), but it would be nice to have eor'gahl bring up the file as well.

Help Eor'gahl works now

Next on my list is HELP QUESTS then I'll look at the Guild Charter help files. I have my notes some where around here, and I'll try to get through the rest of the ones I have this week. 

Lixan

HELP LEARNING could use an upgrade. Thanks!

Lixan

Sorry for double post but same with HELP QUESTS, it would be nice if it included quest log thing.

Svorai

As noted in the announcement post 2366, a lot more changes went through. I am almost positive I got everything on this thread. If I missed something let me know.

@Lionas - The notes you made about "Oceans, Highways" etc I'm still looking into them, but that goes in more with the "Area help files" which are already being looked into.

@Caelya - I made the change to HELP ARMOUR about the helm rather than putting it into the AB File. The idea about base stats is a good one, but requires more knowledge on smithing than I hold.

Let me know if I missed anything, and keep posting here with major changes.

As a note, I did not forget about all those lovely bugs/typos being filed. I got a little busy but will be hopefully looking into them within the next few days.