This page generally only reports changes to the client, and not additions to the world. You'll have to explore to find the additions to the world.

Latest What's New

12/26/00 v161

• We crashed on 12/17 about 4pm. An experimental creature tried to attack a game master. It missed and hit a world gerbil. They've been instructed not to do that anymore.
• The player list now keeps track of the names of things that people fall to. Clicking in the bottom pane of the player list will toggle the display between the location of the fall (if known) and the cause of the fall (if known).
• Progress was made on the Carbon version for OS X. It will be made available as soon as is convenient.

12/13/00 v159

• No crashes or deadlocks to report since the last update.
• Some \pose's now affect combat. For example: taking a nap in front of an Orga Fury is not recommended. Expect further tweaks to this small experiment.
• Incorrect dialogs are no longer displayed when doing multiple updates at once.
• A small problem with the server leaking memory was fixed.
• Puck got a new doorkeeper.
• Liberal amounts of holiday cheer may be sprinkled about.
• Progress was made on the Carbon version for OS X. It will be made available as soon as is convenient.

11/29/00 v157

• We crashed on 11/16 about 7pm and 11/18 about 5:30pm. Both times someone tried to change the password for a demo character. The problem has been fixed.
• Fighter and Bard belts now work with /equip and /unequip.
• Fixed problems with /equip, /unequip, and /useitem with partial item names.
• /Share /unlock /all unlocks all of your shares.
• We are previewing a Carbon version for OS X. Email bug reports to joe.

11/15/00 v155

• No crashes or deadlocks to report since the last update.
• If you have a macro named @login, it will run automatically when you join the game. As a side effect, it will also run automatically whenever you Reload Macros, so plan accordingly.
• A number of people were caught cheating, duplicating items. They have been dealt with appropriately. We sincerely apologize to any innocent people who were hurt. Remember, cheating and abusing bugs doesn't pay, hurts everyone who plays by the rules, and wastes GM time that could have been spent making something cool.
• If you used /use /practice with a weapon between v141 (August 9) and the v155 update (November 15), that weapon training was not credited to you properly. The experience you spent on it has been returned to you so you can retrain, and all other effects of the training (Lord status, etc.) have also been undone.
• The post office has adopted a new, lower fee structure, and can now close outdated mailboxes.
• The bank is now accepting clan accounts. Be sure you trust your treasurer(s) before depositing money into a clan account.

11/1/00 v153

• We crashed on 10/31/00. User error. Sorry.
• Fixed bug that handled full inventories badly.
• Fixed bug writing to nil.
• All other changes are secret. Enjoy.

10/18/00 v151

• No crashes or deadlocks to report since the last update.
• Fixed bug where players would be incorrectly drawn on top of or underneath scenery.
• All other changes are secret. Enjoy. Happy Halloween.

10/4/00 v149

• We deadlocked at 7pm on 9/23. The problem has been fixed. The scripts to detect and recover from this condition worked perfectly.
• You may now enter partial commands and they will be automatically completed. You need to specify enough of the command so that it uniquely determined. For example: \ac is equivalent to \action.
• All other changes are secret. Enjoy.

9/20/00 v147

• We crashed at 3am on 9/12. We were down for about 6 hours. Whoops. We think we might have fixed the problem. \action crosses his fingers.
• Fixed a bug stomping data. This bug should not have any effect on players, only game masters.
• Many changes have been made to inventory. These changes are for future enhancements. You shouldn't even notice any of them.
• Macros can now concatenate strings. set <string> + <string>
• Macros can now access all slots using the syntax @my.xxx_item where xxx is a slot name that appears in the inventory list in brackets [].
• Several small fixes have been made to the client.

9/6/00 v145

• We crashed at 1am on 8/24. We were down for about 7 hours. Our first major Whoops in 100 days. Ah well. It was bound to happen.
• Fixed problem loading half the data from the wrong player. Whoops!
• Fixed problem destroying information in the player database. Whoops!
• Basically the v143 update was a nightmare. All accounts have been credited with three extra days. In addition, most players received credit for those two lost days as if they were in the library. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you enjoyed experimenting with your characters.
• Fixed mixup where unknown speech in Dwarven was shown as Thoom. And vice versa.
• Added /narrate. Try it.
• /Share /lock <player> locks them into your shares until you /share /unlock or /unshare them.
• The 7 day grace period after an account expires should now work at the end of a month.

8/23/00 v143

• No crashes to report again this update. 100 days.
• In the input field, option delete and option foward delete erase words.
• The commands /useitem, /equip, and /unequip are all more forgiving in how you use item names. /equip org will equip your orga eye, if you own one. /useitem kudzus will use a kudzu seedling.
• The command /unequip forehead now works.
• The command /speak accepts different names for some languages (dwarf, dwarven, zo, ghorak, ...)
• You should no longer be able to connect to a demo character if you are already connected to another character.

8/9/00 v141

• No crashes to report again this update. 86 days.
• It is possible but unlikely that things may go horribly horribly wrong at the start of this update. We hope not. Be advised that we may need to restart the server unexpectedly and revert everyone to the end of v139. Several times. As always, play at your own risk.
• You now get an warning message when you have been idle for too long. Simply move or speak to avoid being disconnected.
• Healing sparkles have been fixed.
• We had a word with Hank Puckson. We'll probably talk more with him soon.
• Elections report their results much faster. Check your text log.
• Please keep reporting places you think you should be able to fish and can't.
• Permanent pale and deep brown skin available in the fairgrounds for one more update. If you have a skin dye, you'll need to clear it first.
• Here are some tips for the input field:
  • Shift arrow expands.
  • Option left and option right move the selection by words.
  • Command up and command down recall recent commands.
  • Command right inserts a carriage return to enter multiple commands at once.
  • Command right will fast forward a movie. Command left will rewind a movie.
• Here are some tips for the inventory window:
  • Single click to select an item.
  • Double click to equip or unequip an item.
  • Shift double click to use an item.
  • Command click on the selected item to deselect it.
• Here are some tips for the main window
  • Control click marks someone as a friend.
  • Double click does \info on the person.
  • Control shift click ignores them.
  • Control shift click again ignores them completely.
  • Control shift click one more time un-ignores them.
  • Option click will insert the player's name in the text field. Spaces and punctuation will be removed. Ideal for some commands.
  • Any other single click selects them, for use in commands and macros.
• There is an advanced pref that treats people you are sharing with as if they are friends.
• Try \unequip left and \unequip right to empty your hands. Make them macros.

7/26/00 v139

• No crashes to report again this update. Yay! 72 days without a crash. The old record was 62 days.
• You may help us test. Many commands were completely rewritten. The new commands end with -S in the \help list. They should be more or less the same as the old versions. If implemented of course. Please \bug any differences. Thanks.
• In the process of defeating an enemy, you knock it clean into the next snell, you should get full credit. This condition is nigh impossible to duplicate on demand. Please let us know if works or not. Thanks.
• There was a naughty gerbil running around changing the records of who hit what. This gerbil has been retaught its tricks so you should no longer get double (or more!) credit for defeating foes that you never touched. And you should no longer get no credit for foes you helped defeat.
• Another naughty gerbil would tell you you had equipped an item when in fact you had not.
• Enjoy!

7/12/00 v137

• No crashes to report this update. Yay! 58 days without a crash. The record is 62 days.
• Everything new this version is secret.
• Enjoy!

6/21/00 v134

• No crashes to report this update. Yay! 37 days without a crash. The record is 62 days.
• It should be easier to control the direction you are facing without actually taking a step in that direction.
• A small bug not equipping newly acquired items properly has been fixed.
• Enjoy!

6/7/00 v132

• Something bad happened to our internet connection on June 3rd. Rumor is that some rats were doing experiments with prisms and fiber optic cable. 23 days without a crash. (Crashes beyond our control don't count. (!))
• The balance tax has been injuncted pending appeal. When you switch items, would you rather have your balance decreased? Or held? Send votes to joe.
• The user interface for the inventory window has changed. Click to select an item. Command click to deselect. Double click to \equip. Shift double click to \use. Command E to \equip or \unequip.
• This update is unofficially be nice to players.

5/24/00 v130

• There were many chaos storms these past weeks. We needed to shine flashlights into the darkest corners of the world. We were looking for some lost and very badly behaved gerbils. Well, Orga Furies in this case. We finally caught one in the act of pushing an exile that was more than a snell away. They don't do that any more. Hopefully, there won't be any new storms this fortnight.
• We crashed on May 15th. Every chaos storm the Dal'Noth were doubling their numbers. Normally this is not a problem but last fortnight was an unusually active period for chaos storms. Eventually the world was filled with a horde of Dal'Noth and came to an end. The Dal'Noth breeding grounds have been brought under control. You hope! 9 days without a crash.
• Rummaging around in your backpack and juggling items during combat is now a much more dangerous activity.
• Your clanmates have become your study partners. You now spend some of your surplus time enlightening others in your clan. And they you. Which is what clanning is all about.

5/10/00 v128

• We crashed on May 6th. Someone tripped on a rock whan they were between snells. The offending rock was removed. 21 days without a crash.
• Authentification is a wee bit more secure from prying eyes this week.

4/26/00 v126

• We crashed twice on April 15th. Timmer's still looking for that one. 11 days without a crash.
• Everything new this update is secret. We could tell you but then we would have to chain you in the depths of Sokan Dei.
• Added new \pose's. Enjoy.

4/12/00 v124

• We crashed inexplicably on March 30th. Chum's Office blew up. 13 days without a crash.
• In some cases, your password might not be accepted. Just enter it again and try again.
• Just a reminder, beware of viruses and trojan horses. If you run one that lifts your password most likely we won't be able to help you. Only run software from someone you trust no matter how good it sounds. In fact the more tempting the claims are the more likely it's a bad thing. ClanChat and LagBeGone are known trojan horses. Do not run them.

3/30/00 v122

• We crashed inexplicably on March 17th. Timmer blames cosmic rays. 13 days without a crash.
• Inventory has been completely redone. We're sure some problems will show up. Version 121 was pulled because we needed more time to test the new stuff. Enjoy.
• Equip macros will need to be changed to /equip. Equip is now a command recognized by the server.
• With some merchants, if they see a purse in your hand, they'll assume you want to make the purchase, and not wait for your verbal answer.
• Now that you can hold things on other parts of your body, some commands (/sell) and NPCs look at what you have selected in your Inventory window, rather than only what's in your hands.
• We added a new command \useitem. It is similar to \use except it will \use an item you have equipped that is not necesarily in your right hand. Double-clicking an item in the inventory list window sends this command.
• Exiles are now able to strike the \pose bow and the \pose seated. Certain people you might encounter will expect to be shown proper courtesy. Enjoy.
• Command-. no longer quits. Duh.
• Fixed pref stomping bug if update files for the images and sounds could not be found.
• Fixed crashing bug when trying to play a sound that doesn't exist.

3/8/00 v119.1

• Fixed crashing bug with OS 8.1.
• Dragging files onto the application no longer deletes them.
• Fixed broken apple menu with OS 9 and later.

3/8/00 v119

• We crashed on February 23rd. Some vermine blood was leaking onto one of the gerbil wheels that makes the world go round. The leak was fixed. 14 days without a crash. The record is 62 days.
• More massive changes behind the curtains. \action again crosses his fingers vainly hoping that absolutely everything works correctly. It didn't work last time but what the heck. It didn't hurt either.
• Added spam-be-gone™ for speech. It won't catch all spam. Not by a long shot. But it will catch the most juvenile flavor. Hopefully it won't keep good citizens from communicating.
• Gaia taught Hobbs a trick. Stop by the garden to say hello.
• Who says you can't teach old monsters new tricks. Keep your eyes open. And guard your friend's back.
• The Sliding Rocks of Mystery aka The Haunted Boulders problem has finally been fixed. Large piles of rocks should no longer move around by themselves at the edge of your peripheral vision.

2/23/00

• No crashes to report. \action dances a happy jig. 32 days without a crash. The record is 62 days.
• Massive changes behind the curtains. \action crosses his fingers hoping in vain that absolutely everything works correctly.
• Fixed many mask and grammar errors.
• Clan Lord will be down for about 2 hours sometime during the weekend of March 4. We're significantly upgrading (we hope) the network at that time.

2/9/00

• No crashes to report. \action dances a happy jig. 18 days without a crash. The record is 62 days.
• The client has a slightly new look.
• Unexpected \info's and \share's should no longer happen.
• Added nice auto hide names feature. Settable in the Preferences dialog.
• Added /unequip left and /unequip right commands.
• Fixed many illusionary and invisible trees and rocks.

1/26/00

• We crashed twice on January 16th and once on January 22nd. 4 whole days without a crash. Two crashes were caused by a rational looking gerbil that was secretly a psychopath and had chewed a hole in its cage. The other crash was caused by someone whose name starts with 'A' drifting into the aether while in the same room as a different somone whose name starts with 'W'. The resulting disruption caused by the disclosure of the secret portal to the aether was more than the world gerbils could bear. We found them in their little cages on their little backs with their little feets twitching in the air. It about broke our hearts. Fortunately, the effects were temporary and all made complete recoveries.
• Many changes under the hood that we're not going to tell you about. Yet. Though the valiant and observant might notice one. ;->

1/12/00

• We crashed on December 29th and January 2nd. 10 whole days without a crash. The record is 62 days.
• Added support for proxies. Let us know if it actually gets you through firewalls.
• Ska, the giant one-eyed war gerbil, moved its training camp to a new even more secret location.

What Was New Last Year (1999)