lol how about narrowing that down to "please try to development something to do with companions?"

if you're seeking EXP from a broken system, i'd say your hearts in the wrong place. i mean, it didn't take that warrior mage 180 real life hours to carve that gerbil did it?

heh.

-yea my wolf has a name, i call it 'young wolf'-

You turn a deep ebony lockpick case set with smooth onyx plates labeled "Graverobber" in the light, admiring it.

Yes please, add Asterid's and other's suggestions to the mix. And please do this by next weekend (I give you a whole week). ::ducks several BIG items thrown at her, and a fire ball which burns Zinaca to a crisp::

Zinaca and her wolf, Lucky

Did you ever think that by teaching a wolf to "dance" (not that I would having 2 left feet but) we could be teaching the wolf to move well in the wilds?

And playing fetch would strengthen his jaw muscles as well as developing stamina?

Ideally we would teach the wolf to stalk and hunt well, like a wolf. But we aren't wolves and so much teach them using any methods we can think of.

Mature wolves might not play but baby ones do and since we are their pack, we have to take over the responsiblity.

Zinaca and her wolf, Lucky

<<<I can't imagine teaching a wolf to dance, I'm sure it would just leave.>>>

Who wants a wolf to dance? The wolves that we get are are at least semi-tame. I mean a wild wolf would rip your throat at first chance. A wild raccoon would scratch your eyes out the first time you asked it jump in your arms. Its parents have trusted you to teach the animal. The first step in teach the animal is making it comfortable around us. By doing the above, you would be semi-domesticating the wild animal. Same as breaking wild horses so that we can ride them.

Asterid

Also, please remember to watch the conflicts ~Sidatura

>>Did you ever think that by teaching a wolf to "dance" (not that I would having 2 left feet but) we could be teaching the wolf to move well in the wilds?

>>And playing fetch would strengthen his jaw muscles as well as developing stamina?

Wolves lack the temperament for being taught to perform tricks. They don't even do well with "no" and "bad" as general concepts. The closest you might get to "playing" with a wolf is if it decided it wanted to play top dog, and then you would just be tackled with a wolf at your throat.

>>Ideally we would teach the wolf to stalk and hunt well, like a wolf. But we aren't wolves and so much teach them using any methods we can think of.

>>Mature wolves might not play but baby ones do and since we are their pack, we have to take over the responsiblity.

You almost certainly wouldn't get a mature wolf to do anything it didn't want to. It can be difficult with otherwise well-tempered dogs at a certain age, let alone with an animal starting out with poor temperament.

The whole idea of companions as like-as-a-pets is one of the big long-term ideological differences. I don't see any reason Audacia, or any of the other GMs, should budge on keeping companions low-key.

Go Pete. I like you! And yes, I know about wolves in the real world. But in DR, I don't see wolves and raccoons as pets. I do get that they can and do things on their own. And I find that's great. But a few aids to help train the wolf, (by train I don't mean tricks) so he/she can stay alive when I'm not around.

I used to think wild critters just knew how to survive until I saw a show on Animal Planet about cats. An English team of scientists set up discret camaras all around a known wild cat area in a certain region of England known for it's barn cats. These cats are wild, they catch mice and other things to live on and rarely let folks pet them. They found, to their surprise that mama cats had to teach their kittens how to hunt. First bringing dead stuff to them and letting them get used to it. Then after several times of this, the mama cat would catch something but not kill it and bring it to the kittens and let them play with it (usually a bird or mouse). After many times of this, she would take her kittens out to watch her stalk and hunt. And finally after a long time she would watch as her kittens hunted small critters (mostly unsuccessfully for a time).

So that is why I see a need for things to help me train Lucky. (By the way, I got scolded for naming my wolf. And I have to admit, I agree. I had not named any companion until Lucky 1 (so named because I felt lucky and honored another pack would let me have a pup after I was careless during an invasion and forgot to send her to sleep while helping in the cleric guild).

End of missive.

Zinaca and her wolf, Lucky

I am not against them taking time, and effort, but some of the challenges that are part of the (hopefully soon) to be replaced system were more because of mechanical limitations.

Most things in DragonRealms are labors of love, or at least of time. I like it that way, just logging on, and typing something doesn't have much meaning, and I like the adage about hard work, makes the end reward worthwhile.

_____________________________________
Victory Over Lyras, on the 397th year and 156 days since the Victory of Lanival the Redeemer.

>>As I said, Audacia is free to do whatever she wants with the guild, but I would strongly disagree with any change to the companion system. I worked my tail off to have a mature wolf, and it felt like a sense of accomplishment because I really did have to baby it every step of the way. If it had just been automated, log in, whistle him up, pet him a couple of times, then send him off while I go hunt, it's not an accomplishment. It's a an almost-but-not-really familiar. That detracts from companions both as a system and a role-playing tool.

Forgive me if I am responding to your post out of context, but:

It is difficult to advance (in game, in life, et cetera) if you have the mentality that things should remain difficult simply because it was difficult when you did it. Do not be so quick to write off the potential of a new companion system. Also do not underestimate the creative and technical abilities of the current staff. I am sure that a rewritten, more robust companion system would satisfy you, if you allowed it.

>>Rangers use magic. Any further affinity with nature beyond that is assumed and not strictly established within the setting outside of companions.

This is simply not the case. Pete gave examples.

>>...companions. Which, when released, were clearly represented as more of a chore than some people will be capable of dealing with. You're essentially taking responsibility for an animal that is naturally disinclined to trust your kind, and it is supposed to be a lot of work.

If it helps to look at it this way: when companions were released, the Guild was all very low circle compared to now. With greater power comes greater attunement to Nature and greater ability to manipulate/interact with it.

Wonky, you are being way to kind. I will say I have had nothing but irritation with the current companion system. I find no joy in spamming signal my wolf to get a stick then sending him away. Feeding is not so bad. That said they are so easy to loose, a single burb of the internet can cause the compaion to flee and you are left with a lot of hard work down the drain.

Not to mention the fact that my raccon was broken for years, refused to grow it did. No gm could ever tell me why though they had thier suspiscions. I role played it out for quite a few years before giving up. I also find that having to have a wolf logged in for in excess of 200 hours a bit steep. I know this for a fact as it was confirmed as well I logged each hour of its growth. Anyway end of companion rant.

I would welcome a more robust system that allowed more critters to be tamed, honestly everyones wolf looks the same as mine. So i humbly await what ever the current GMs have up thier sleeve. Anxiously I might add.

Miv



I will paper cut you to death with my awesome ranger TM!

Do you know hardly EVER spam signal my wolf to get sticks. I just love his company. And the cute way he pounces on bugs and yaps. And the cute way he nips at my legs..except when hunting, I do find that annoying.

So I guess you could say that the reason I have a wolf, is not for the experience it gives in AL but the companionship it gives. Not everythig in the realms has to be experience-gaining.

Zinaca and her wolf, Lucky who loves to snuggle too

I really want variation in temperment and appearance, more options than just raccoon and wolf, and for them to be much more independent and helpful and less prone to getting lost. I'd also like a sixth sense that would tell me when my companion found someone

"If you insist that roleplaying involves Shakespearean dialogue over tea, it reveals a flaw in your current conception of roleplaying that I encourage you to play with." -Armifer