1) I would download either the stormfront or the wizard front end and see how they work.

2) Goals - it is currently working for me.

3) Excellent

4) Probably an effect of the lower population, that is why they started the f2p thing

5) See 1). This may help

6) Are you using gems? I don't think I have seen the recruiter in the landing for a while either.


I first started playing Gemstone on GEnie about 40 years ago. Before I comment more keep in mind that I like the game and the idea of the game. Where else do you get a GM 24 hours a day (Whether human or machine) and so many creative people in one place (I'm really looking forward to a poetry jam like there used to be)

In response to

Now some some comments:

1) I use the web client and it is just as sporadic as it used to be. I understand about the limitations and all but right now I can't take advantage of a treasure boost I was granted because it's spinning it's wheels and not opening. It has some scrolling problems occasionally and other little glitches too.

2) The leveling page ( I forget what it's called) is offline so I have to use the INN interface which is frustrating.

3) I met a great mentor that was really understanding about my concerns and told me to post here.

4) I'm not sure where to find the comraderie and romance (not that kind of romance) that I used to see here. Heck sometimes I can't even get a picker to acknowledge my existence.

5 ) I died during the lag... which is always good too see there is consistency.

6 ) and this is not a bug just an OBSERVATION or 2. a) I still have a problem with how the deed system works. Priestess don't take the stuff if it's not WORTHY and I can't find the bludy Dwarven Recruiter.

Tried to download Storm and wizard front end and it didn't work as stated.

I use Google chrome browser is there a compatibility problem. And windows 7.

thanx for the timely response
I really can't complain too much since it is free. and I can always go back to playing Skyrim :)

<<<I first started playing Gemstone on GEnie about 40 years ago.>>>

>>Neither GEnie nor Gemstone existed 40 years ago.


it just seems like it ...


Clunk

(Buy your swords at CBD weapons in Zul Logoth.)

<<<It wasn't worth correcting. Gemstone II was opened in April 1988. That's 27 years. I think it's more of "that's a really long time" and it becomes Clunk's answer.>>>

I think a 13 year discrepancy warrants a correction.

~ GtG

Funny. We often hear people boast, "I've been playing since blah blah". Makes me roll my eyes every time.

It would be interesting to hear what their actual playing years are.

I think mine is only 6 years even though I initially started in 2000.

>>The same thing happens to me when people talk about how they remember that back in their day they'd log in and 3000 people were playing.

heh yeah that too.

while that would be great for you guys, personally I'm not sure I could handle that many people in game.

I'm one of those on-again, off-again players -- in my case, way off to the tune of 14 years or so. It's great to see people I knew back in the day come back. It's equally great to meet new players (or just players who are new to me even though they themselves have been around a while). One of those players' characters recently left the Hearthstone porch after making a comment about how boring it was to hear others talk about the old days, but I think it makes sense both IC and OOC to talk about shared memories when seeing someone you haven't seen in a decade or so.

I do remember when we had a couple thousand people playing, and that was one of the reasons places like Icemule Trace and River's Rest and Solhaven opened up -- giving a large population somewhere else to spread out. Is it bad to remember that the game used to have quite a lot of players at once in the days before MMORPGs or to talk about those times with people? I can see how it'd get annoying if people constantly referred to those years as "the good ol' days" when I think the game is better now in many, many ways than it was then, but I don't think acknowledging that shared experience is a bad thing.

I hope I've never offended anyone by being a "back in my day" player. Quite often, I'm saying that not to find fault with how things are done now, but to praise the way the game's evolved from where it was when I played it last.

As for how long someone's played, I can't see where it makes any difference whatsoever. Whether I haven't seen someone in a couple of weeks or a couple of decades, it's great to catch up with my friend again. The only difference is in how much catching up there is to do.

--- Lauren, Lylia's player

>>I've been playing GS since the 1700s. <<

n00b.

Back when AOL went unlimited for 20 bucks was when you would see 2500 or so on at once and it really sucked! There were way too many people for the number of hunting grounds and thats when the whole "Chasing" annoyance took place. Frequent complaints about people camping on known gen spots and etc... Also was tremendous lag because the hardware couldn't handle that many players all at once.

Theres a lot more area in he game, but still not large enough for 2500 to play IMHO. 1,000 would be nice though. As mentioned by many others there's such a steep learning curve to learning how to play the game, that the unwashed masses used to the MMO world where gameplay is pretty simple at least at first. I really feel that the front end should come with macros and scripts with a starter set for each profession. Theres so much depth to Gemstone even compared to the 10 ton gorilla.

I think we were seeing around 500 or so players at once in the mid-2000's and if we can reach that point again maybe Gemstone will be around another 27 years. Between the paid subscribers and the micro transactions, things will be ok. Heck look at some of the less popular titles Simu is still running, they must not be losing money or they would be shut down by now.

The "I was around in [year]" stuff is pretty meaningless at this point. It was significant when most people had only been playing for a couple of years, and the high level people tended to be the same as the older people. Most of us have now "been around" far longer than the "legends" of that time. I imagine the game still existing several decades from now, with people in retirement homes one-upping each other over per-hour versus flat rate AOL, and someone else from slightly before that calling them both "n00bz" from the virtual reality shuffleboard court.

I think the game is superior in many ways now, and we're all turnip farmers for anecdotes from our absences. The storylines of recent years were a confusing mess when I first saw them recapped, and part of me still does not acknowledge some of the "new" history as real. One thing that will never change, however, is the total #@$*! deaths while hunting due to lag or disconnection. ;)

- Xorus' player
Shuffleboard Beta Tester

---

A grizzled old warrior rubs his shoulder and glances up at the sky. "Feels like the weather is changing," he says.