Escorting NPC Madness (questions)
Janus
have finally acquired the ability to escort NPCs (via gate) at an average of
250 a pop. Woo hoo.
Not that I am complaining...it is kinda fun.
Anyway, a few questions.
1. Two times I took an NPC to Buc Den and Deceit respectively. They never
paid me (and this is where they wanted to go). I understand Buc Den has some
sort of glitch, but I wasnt aware that Deceit had one. Are all dungeons
problematic like this?
2. Is there any reason why sometimes I get a menu pop up ("Do you want to
enter moongate?") and other times not?
Yeah, so...this is a pretty good part-time job. You make decent profit (even
if you fail 7 out of 10 on gate like I do and waste regs) and it is fun
saying "I will take thee" for hours on end.
J
--
"They (Republicans) are pro-life. They believe life begins at conception and
ends at birth." - Barney Frank
Per Kjetil Grotnes
> if you fail 7 out of 10 on gate like I do and waste regs) and it is fun
> saying "I will take thee" for hours on end.
Shhh - dont tell everyone!! We dont want evry Jack and Joe and erhmm Ann(?)
to get alot of money now do we?
Buc-den has never given any money. It has been up on countless threads. :o)
I have never seen any specific dungeon asking NPCs. Just that they want
to go to a dungeon. I might be wrong in this though.
Livid - Master in gate-escort-service.
Driakos
Janus wrote in message <35c07...@news.rlc.net>...
>Well, after acquiring and spending tens of thousands of gold on magic, I
>have finally acquired the ability to escort NPCs (via gate) at an average
of
>250 a pop. Woo hoo.
Congrats. The highest magery any of my characters have (5 of em) is 57.
And he started at 50, so I suck but thats not the point here.
>1. Two times I took an NPC to Buc Den and Deceit respectively. They never
>paid me (and this is where they wanted to go). I understand Buc Den has
some
>sort of glitch, but I wasnt aware that Deceit had one. Are all dungeons
>problematic like this?
Buc's Den works 1 outta 10 times. I still cannot figure out what the
variable is for that one tenth. Seekers of Adventure don't pay when they
get to a dungeon. They are seeking adventure I guess because they are
really poor. Poor enough to lie to a helpful fellow Sosarian. The other
escortees should pay up after you run a few laps of the top level of a
dungeon.
>2. Is there any reason why sometimes I get a menu pop up ("Do you want to
>enter moongate?") and other times not?
Those are gay moongates.
>Yeah, so...this is a pretty good part-time job. You make decent profit
(even
>if you fail 7 out of 10 on gate like I do and waste regs) and it is fun
>saying "I will take thee" for hours on end.
You can alter that phrase and make it funny by adding...
to hell.
to a quaint little cottage in the hills.
to a Black Panther party.
to a Hanson swap meet.
to a gay steel mill.
you get the idea. I have found this makes the others on the screen happy.
Of course I never take em anywhere for real. Just out to the woods and kill
them with a pick axe. Then hide the body parts in a dead animal. It uh...
helps with the... uh... lag? yeah it helps with the sever lag.
Driakos. Atlantic.
GoodGulf
> Anyway, a few questions.
>
> 1. Two times I took an NPC to Buc Den and Deceit respectively. They never
> paid me (and this is where they wanted to go). I understand Buc Den has some
> sort of glitch, but I wasnt aware that Deceit had one. Are all dungeons
> problematic like this?
The "glitch" of Buc's Den is that there is no guard zone, hence,
the NPC does not "know" that he is there. It could be the same
for Deceit. While it may not apply to all escorts, I can say
that some escorts take these "no-payers" out into the deep
forest where they arrange a fire-field "accident" for them,
then loot their charred escort bodies, wait for the grey flag
to elapse, then return to their routes...
> 2. Is there any reason why sometimes I get a menu pop up ("Do you want to
> enter moongate?") and other times not?
I have never figured that one out, either. It occurs maybe one
in ten times, but while we're on the subject of escort and gate
madness, may I add a few things:
1) Sometimes you open a gate, step into it, see your escortees
disappear into it, wait for the change of scenerey, then get
bumped _back_ outside the original gate. The escortees stay
on the other side, and you can't step back into the gate. You
can't even recall to the other side, as they generally are
standing on your rune spot.
2) While this next one has not happened since my magery increased,
sometimes I would cast a gate, consume the mana, make the sound,
and nothing would appear!
> Yeah, so...this is a pretty good part-time job. You make decent profit (even
> if you fail 7 out of 10 on gate like I do and waste regs) and it is fun
> saying "I will take thee" for hours on end.
While I do not discourage anyone from entering the escorting
profession, I would like to suggest that they show some
courtesy towards their fellow escorts. Nothing is more
irritating than waiting at a spawn spot for escorts to appear,
only to have some bonehead run through screaming "I will take
thee", as though you were not there. If you see someone there,
wait for them to catch an escort, or move on to your next spot.
Believe me, it will pay off in the long run when you need a
favor sometime.
Well, maybe there _is_ one thing more irritating: that would
be someone parked at an escort spot with a whole trainload of
escortees, waiting for yet another. Escorts do not "respawn"
until they reach their destination! Stop being so greedy and
take smaller groups! On the upside, there _is_ a timer of sorts,
so that if you have not taken the escort to their desired
location within a given amount of time, they simply disappear
on you.
GoodGulf of Yew,
Chesapeake
Spatch
>Janus wrote:
>
>> Anyway, a few questions.
>>
>
>> 2. Is there any reason why sometimes I get a menu pop up ("Do you want to
>> enter moongate?") and other times not?
>
>I have never figured that one out, either. It occurs maybe one
>in ten times, but while we're on the subject of escort and gate
>madness, may I add a few things:
Check this out and see if it is happening in your case. I only get the
message when I am gating to an unguarded region. If I am gating back to a
guarded area I don't get the message. This might be something OSI slipped
in to protect from people saying they are gating you to Britain when it is
actually Level 3 Hythloth.
Spatch
Sanctus
<Pete_...@email.msn.com> wrote:
>
> You can alter that phrase and make it funny by adding...
> to hell.
> to a quaint little cottage in the hills.
Etc.
Man, I thought I was the only one to think of that!
At some point in the murky past, I accidentally triggered an escort NPC by
saying something like "I will take thee if you'll shut the hell up!"
Inspired, I waited eagerly to get 7th-circle spells so I could say:
"I will take thee , but only if thou givest me funky lovin'"
"I will take thee to Buc's Den and abandon thy ass there"
... and of course:
"I will take thee into the woods, kill thee and loot thy corpse."
Driakos
Sanctus wrote in message ...
Hahaha!
Variety is the spice of... yada yada.
"I will take thee to an abandoned warehouse and tie thee to a chair, play
'stuck in the middle with you' and sever thine right ear, all whilst dousing
thee in petrol."
That would be a good one. I bet the NPC's all know resevoir dogs... They
watch alot of TV when the servers shut down for 3 hours. Jerry Springer
1220AD is their favorite.
"Thou art my babies daddy?"
"Nay I havest no problem with stout women"
"Mine partner doth beist a swine"
Um... Lost track of the original post sorry.
Driakos. Atlantic.
Janus
last night in Yew. I saw a guy with 8 NPCs. Eight! Ridiculous. I dont even
think I could find eight. It takes me forever to find just one.
J
Janus
I meant...
*good natured chuckle*
Driakos
Janus wrote in message
>Goodgulf: You are on Chesapeake and in Yew, so let me tell you what I saw
>last night in Yew. I saw a guy with 8 NPCs. Eight! Ridiculous. I dont even
>think I could find eight. It takes me forever to find just one.
>
Janus, go out to Orc Valley. The NPC/Prisoners spawn like mad there.
Everytime a monster group pops up it comes with a built in Help me Spammer.
The players out there leave them be, nobody wants a nobleman following them
getting them boxed in when they must run from a large spawn. This leaves
the NPC's free for the escorters.
The west bridge by the west bank in Britain also is a good source, at least
on Atlantic.
Driakos. Atlantic.
Don Sheppard
"dating" service, but it'll cost you a hell of a lot more than 250 GPs
;-)~ ) I'll share what I know.
Janus wrote in message <35c07...@news.rlc.net>...
>Well, after acquiring and spending tens of thousands of gold on magic, I
>have finally acquired the ability to escort NPCs (via gate) at an average
of
>250 a pop. Woo hoo.
>
>Not that I am complaining...it is kinda fun.
It's certainly more fun than hunting hinds and goats in Wind and turning
them into studded bustiers, which is what I did to support my reg addiction
before I started escorting. The money's not as good, but the time goes
faster.
>
>Anyway, a few questions.
>
>1. Two times I took an NPC to Buc Den and Deceit respectively. They never
>paid me (and this is where they wanted to go). I understand Buc Den has
some
>sort of glitch, but I wasnt aware that Deceit had one. Are all dungeons
>problematic like this?
You'll never get paid by someone wishing to go to Buc's Den. I remember
reading somewhere that DD said something along the lines of "Would you
expect anyone wishing to go to Buc's Den to be hinest?" Whether he was
hinting that this was intended, or was covering up a bug was never
clarified. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one and assume
it was the former.
As for dungeons, I've never had a problem receiving payment from the hearty
Seekers of Adventure wishing to travel there. I always take them to level 2
Shame so perhaps there is some problem with Deceit. I have on other rare
occasions had escortees just refuse to pay up. It was never any certain
type of NPC, or any certain location. It just happens sometimes. Maybe you
just got unlucky with the two you took to Deceit, but if it happens again
you might want to try another dungeon.
>2. Is there any reason why sometimes I get a menu pop up ("Do you want to
>enter moongate?") and other times not?
Gating to spots outside of guard zones will prompt that message.
>
>Yeah, so...this is a pretty good part-time job. You make decent profit
(even
>if you fail 7 out of 10 on gate like I do and waste regs) and it is fun
>saying "I will take thee" for hours on end.
With a few exceptions, I've found most escorters to be a friendly and
considerate group. Most will stop long enough to say hi once you become
recognized around the hot spots. A few suggestions:
1) Try not to take more than 2 or 3 NPCs with you at a time. Not only is it
a pain in the ass trying to keep track of them and making sure they're still
following you, it pisses other escorters off to see someone with a dozen
NPCs trailing behind them.
2) If you happen upon several NPCs in one spot and you know there are other
escorters in the area, don't snatch them all up. You might not get
recognised for this kindness, but then again, you just might, and it will be
appreciated.
3) If you're chatting with another escorter near a spawn point and an NPC
pops up, don't make it a race to see who gets it first. Let them have it.
They'll return the favor and remember you as a nice guy.
You seem like you're probably a pretty courteous guy, and this might seem
like common sense to you. But competition can be stiff and frustrating at
times, and you'll probably find yourself tempted to just say "fuck it" and
adopt an every-escorter-for-themself policy. Just remember that there's
plenty of escorts for everyone if you know where to look and you'll do fine
for yourself, and for your fellow escorters. Good luck.
K. Laisathit
>Goodgulf: You are on Chesapeake and in Yew, so let me tell you what I saw
>last night in Yew. I saw a guy with 8 NPCs. Eight! Ridiculous. I dont even
>think I could find eight. It takes me forever to find just one.
Hmmm, I operate out of Jhelom and let me tell you that 5 or 6
escortees are very common. Needless to say, when these fellows
show up, you're lagged to hell and back because of the NPC spam.
Later...
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
K I R A T I L A I S A T H I T kir...@u.washington.edu
GoodGulf
>
> Hmmm, I operate out of Jhelom and let me tell you that 5 or 6
> escortees are very common. Needless to say, when these fellows
> show up, you're lagged to hell and back because of the NPC spam.
>
There is a way for the escorts to alleviate that spam: speak in emotes.
But this will not work for all their failed Vas Rel Por spells and
endless
"I will take thee's"...
GoodGulf of Yew,
Chesapeake
K. Laisathit
GoodGulf <ja...@hotwire.com> wrote:
Actually, the problem isn't so much with "I will take thee's"
crap. The NPCs keep spamming "I am already led.... yadda yadda".
I don't understand why the NPCs couldn't just shut up after
somebody has alrady agreed to lead them to their destinations.
Drake
hopefully I don't get flamed and even the tightest lipped UO gamer can
appreciate the blink of humor I offer here. The first happened back under
the notoriety system. I had picked up 2 escorts in Nu'J - one requested a
city, the other a dungeon. At our large smithy, we've assembled rune
libraries for all cities, dungeons, and shrines. Now you really must
picture the east facing wall of the patio of a large smithy with 3 thrones.
I gated the 3 of us to the smithy as I prepared to grab the runes for the
destination. As we cross the patio I sit for a moment in the north most
throne against the wall, the npc's dropping into the other 2. Here we sit
like an atypical disfunctional UO family. As I do all-names I notice -
reds!!!!. I at this point have decided that the gate quest is over and
equip my trusty halberd. *WHACK* "Guards Quick Tis a murder!!" WHACK -
first NPC goes down - funniest part it the next npc shifted next to me in
the now available seat that the first poor npc had vacated. *WHACK* - same
deal ..and let me tell you, these npc's had some magic items and gold, well
one did, the other would have surely stiffed your humble narrarator. =P
Lately I've found in the interest of lag and useless gate quest NPC's
standing around once delivered to take a new approach. I now only gather
maybe 2 a night and deliver them to my house. Imagine the shock on those
poor NPC's faces when Drake logs out only to have Wicked Ed log in. "My
escort seems to have abandoned me!" - Oh that isn't all of it
baby....THWACK "Guards make haste, tis murder!"
hmm...last night, set of magic ring or chain leggings, 700 gold all told,
and some very interesting company.
Your Humble Cruise Director From Hell
The Famed Drake - Sonoma
Janus
(not counting Buc Den or Adventurers), a beggar went through the gate the
same time the NPC did.
Maybe the beggar throws it off.
J
Grendel
<Pete_...@email.msn.com> wrote:
>
>Sanctus wrote in message ...
>
>Hahaha!
>
>Variety is the spice of... yada yada.
>
>"I will take thee to an abandoned warehouse and tie thee to a chair, play
>'stuck in the middle with you' and sever thine right ear, all whilst dousing
>thee in petrol."
>
>That would be a good one. I bet the NPC's all know resevoir dogs... They
>watch alot of TV when the servers shut down for 3 hours. Jerry Springer
>1220AD is their favorite.
>"Thou art my babies daddy?"
>"Nay I havest no problem with stout women"
>"Mine partner doth beist a swine"
"Thou thinkest that thou art 'All That', but nay, thou art not."
"A noblewoman of thy generous proportions shouldst not wear such wee
garments."
rkm
wrote:
hmmm....sorry didn't get the original msg, but, i have had no problems
with 'Seekers of Adventure'.....take em to a dungeon ( 1st level
covetous, beyond the harpy room is great.... always deserted ) , walk
a couple of steps and they always pay...... err..my experince
anyways.... :)
On the same note, NPC's going to Yew was a bit of trial and error
( ok, alot of error )....i had marked a rune for the bank way up
north, but found i had to walk south quite a ways , then suddenly they
decided to pay...but...they did follow u, whereas the NPC's that do
occasionally stiff ya, they don't follow at all..they just sit in the
gate, and basically, ur sol at that point.......
Per Kjetil Grotnes
>
> i noticed to tonight that in both cases these people did not give me money
> (not counting Buc Den or Adventurers), a beggar went through the gate the
> same time the NPC did.
If the NPC you escort enters the gate _before_ you do you will
no get any pay. And when spoken to they will say that they do
not want to go anywhere -- as if they have been correctly escorted.
So, remember to always enter first. Posision the NPCs behind you
or to the side as you cast gate. Take one step forward and one fast
step backwards (the escort-gate-dance). That should do it.
Per Kjetil
--
Avd. ingeniør v/IT-seksjonen - Plan- og bygningsetaten
Tlf jobb: 22 66 26 61, hjem: 22 19 33 12
charles e jr luna
bit, and here are some observations of mine. Do keep in mind, however,
that this is just from my observations...
First of all, the easiest way to go through a gate (if you don't already
know) is by double left-clicking on the gate. If you try to right click
on it it will often mess up and you end up not going through the gate.
That said, if you click on the gate, the escorted npc's will almost always
disappear before you do. I don't know if this is just the animation, but
it seems to be the way it happens. They will not step into it until you
have clicked on it though, so there isn't any way they can go in before
you do. Here's the clincher--if you mess up on your step-through and end
up back at the starting point, you might as well forget about getting
paid. Apparently, you have only a few seconds to step through with them,
then they forget who you are. This also happens if you get the bug that
won't let you step through the gate. You might as well just bag the
escort at that point and save the regs because the npc's will not pay you.
Regarding dungeon escorts: I have never had a problem with them not
paying. I usually take them to the front door of Hythloth (since it's
often so deserted) then just walk them into the dungeon. Walk slowly so
they step onto the stairs right behind you. If you flub up and
accidentally walk back out the dungeon door, then when you return, they
won't pay you, so watch the right clicks. Also, some times you have to
sit there with them for a couple of seconds until they pay you. If you
walk off before you get the message saying they have paid you, you often
won't get the money.
CW-Rhennaeleus
Vesper, Pacific Shard
Per Kjetil Grotnes (kgro...@online.no) wrote:
: Janus wrote:
: If the NPC you escort enters the gate _before_ you do you will
Per Kjetil Grotnes
> know) is by double left-clicking on the gate. If you try to right click
> on it it will often mess up and you end up not going through the gate.
I did not know that dbl-left click on gate will get you through. I will
try that.
> it seems to be the way it happens. They will not step into it until you
> have clicked on it though, so there isn't any way they can go in before
> you do. Here's the clincher--if you mess up on your step-through and end
I guess that if you dbl-left click on gate they wont be able to get in
before you do. But if you try to walk into the gate and miss the NPC
will follow you and accidentally walk into the gate -- much the same
way some gets monsters to enter gates. If this happens and you walk
into the gate after it you will not get paid.
In addition - my back and forth walking into gate has a 100% success
rate.
> then they forget who you are. This also happens if you get the bug that
> won't let you step through the gate. You might as well just bag the
Hmm, I have experienced that in a non-flat tarrain you will have
problems with entering a gate. I always try to find a flat spot to
put my gate. Might this be the 'bug' that occurs sometimes?
Per Kjetil
Magnus
>
> i noticed to tonight that in both cases these people did not give me money
> (not counting Buc Den or Adventurers), a beggar went through the gate the
> same time the NPC did.
>
>
I've noticed, from escorting at the same time as friends, 90% of
the time when you escort someone and they don't pay, everyone on the
screen but you can see the words, "We have arrived, I thank thee. I am
afraid I lied about a reward. I lack funds." I think this may be the
bug. They need to fix it so the escorter can see these words.
-Magnus (Ocllo,Catskills)
Semi-roleplayin' Master Tank Mage who hasn't "I will take thee"ed in
quite some time
Dundee
wrote:
>Actually, the problem isn't so much with "I will take thee's"
>crap. The NPCs keep spamming "I am already led.... yadda yadda".
>I don't understand why the NPCs couldn't just shut up after
>somebody has alrady agreed to lead them to their destinations.
Used to be, they did. But then you'd forget where they wanted to go
and there was no way to find out.
So they "fixed" it, by making them repeat their destination every time
their escort says anything at all...
And yah, it was a bad way to "fix" it.
--
Dundee of Lake Superior - Skep...@SPAMISantisocial.com
Townstone proposal and Other Stuff:
http://dundee.uong.com
Richard Cortese
destination.
i.e.
where X is escort to Moonglow, Y is escort to Ocllo, you are Z, gate is
to Ocllo, 0 is where not to step after casting the gate, 1s are the safe
direction to take a single step.
1
YZ0
X1
Safest position is the lower 1. Step into position 0, the escort arrives
at the destination before you & may or may not pay. Try to never take
more then a single step after casting gate, & never take more then a
single step when you get to the other side. This lives the entire group
of escorts in a tight bundle, leaves positions 1s open for the single
step manuver.
i.e. let's say you have 5-6 escorts, on the other side you only take one
step out of the gate & where # is all 5-6 you will have
1
#Z
1
ready for your next gate. <Yes, I have been doing it a while>.
Bone Shaft
BIG, BLUE moongate is a signal flare to any PK's standing around. You'll be
dead before you make the server transition. You can get the NPCs to enter the
moongate without you, and you will still get paid. This requires a little
footwork.
Janus wrote: .
> 1. Two times I took an NPC to Buc Den and Deceit respectively. They never
> paid me (and this is where they wanted to go). I understand Buc Den has some
> sort of glitch, but I wasnt aware that Deceit had one. Are all dungeons
> problematic like this?
Buc Den Escorts won't pay, so just Recall away from them when you've escorted
everyone else in your group. Or you can kill or steal from them when you get to
Buc's Den.
> 2. Is there any reason why sometimes I get a menu pop up ("Do you want to
> enter moongate?") and other times not?
That is the message you get when entering an area that does not have town
guards. Buc's Den and dungeons are good examples.
confused
>On Thu, 30 Jul 1998 21:58:02 -0300, "Janus" <Janpott...@rlc.net>
>wrote:
>>i noticed to tonight that in both cases these people did not give me money
>>(not counting Buc Den or Adventurers), a beggar went through the gate the
>>same time the NPC did.
>>
I don't know how much of this has been covered so I'll just hit some
highlights. I started doing escort quests the first day the patch
went in that introduced them. I've seen lots of problems come and go
with the business.
As far as I know, all problems having to do with not getting paid stem
from lag, and almost all of these have to do with crossing server
boundaries. There are two basic solutions if you want to make sure
you always get paid. One is fool proof, the other is nearly so.
1. Nearly foolproof- If you know that you are going to be crossing
server boundaries, first gate to a place on the same server and then
gate to the real destination. If lag is really bad, even being on the
same server you may not get paid.
2. Totally foolproof- Make a set of runes where you are just outside
the pay boundary for every city. Then, simply gate to that point,
make sure your escortees are present and accounted for and then walk
the few steps into the city boundary. You will always get paid as
there is no lag problem this way. Long ago, when server boundaries
were really horrendous and before the bank box weight limits, this was
about the only way to reliably get paid for escorting.
Side note: Empath Abbey is NOT part of Yew as far as escortees are
concerned- you need the town of Yew.
Side note: The only place you can do the same server thing for
dungeons is from Wind. This gets to be a pain and probably isn't
worth it.
confused
The Master
> That's pretty odd. I wonder how different the programs are between
> the servers. When Nimble reformed from his life of thievery, he began
> escorting NPCs. He must have made 20-25K in gp but not once did he
> ever not get paid (except for Buccaneer's Den). But these NPCs were
> all on Atlantic so maybe if that "lack funds" response was a bug it
> has already been fixed here?
I saw it again just yesterday. And how would it be a bug when there is text
for it? "I lied about a reward. I lack funds." That doesn't look like
something left over at the end of a graphic buffer. Not an accident. This is
a "feature." I think it is designed to provoke people into getting
guardwhacked. I'd certainly want to strangle the bastard for telling me a line
of crap, taking my time, putting me at risk. $#%@!