So I think that its players like this that are the reason that MUME has been on a
 downward spiral for years.  So playing at work is a risk that you take yada yada...
 but seriously.  At this point i had just left rivendell in search for a little action when...


!: CRW>
w
Path to the Misty Mountains
Exits: north, east, west.

!. CRW>
Path to the Misty Mountains
Exits: north, east, south, west.

!. CRW>
Bend in the Path to the Misty Mountains
Exits: north, east, south, west.

!. CRW>
In an Open Valley
A small brown snake is slithering around here.
Exits: north, east, south, west.

!. CRW>
w
w
Lightly-forested Incline
Exits: north, east, south, west.

!. CRW>
Sloping River Bank
Exits: north, east, south.

!. CRW>w
s
Alas, you cannot go that way...

w

!. CRW>
A Path along a Steep, Brown Bank
Exits: north, east, south, west.

!. CRW>
A Ford in the River Bruinen
Exits: north, east, south, west.

!% CRW>
tw
track hungry
You carefully examine the ground around you, looking for tracks...

You see some tracks of a hungry warg leading east, done less than 1 hour ago.

!% CRW>
e
A Path along a Steep, Brown Bank
Exits: north, east, south, west.

You see some tracks of a hungry warg leading south, done less than 1 hour ago.

!. CRW>
s
A Rock-bristled Riverside
Exits: north, east, south, west.

You see some tracks of a hungry warg leading south, done less than 1 hour ago.

!. CRW>
s
Trail Approaching the River
A partridge attempts to hide in the undergrowth.
Exits: north, east, south, west.
A partridge leaves  << WEST <<

You see some tracks of a hungry warg leading south, done less than 1 hour ago. ------------------------- I had seen an orc and bn together some 5-10 mins earlie
r

track

!. CRW>
You stop tracking your victim.

!. CRW>
track
You carefully examine the ground around you, looking for tracks...


You see:
   - a track of a pack horse leading south done less than 1 hour ago
   - a track of a partridge leading west done less than 1 hour ago
   - a track of a hungry warg leading south done less than 1 hour ago


You stop searching, you don't seem to find anything else.

!. CRW>
Ok.

!. CRW>

Shrouds of dark clouds roll in above you, blotting out the skies.

!. CRW>

*a grim Man* has arrived from the WEST riding a pack horse.

!. CRW>

*an Orc* leaves riding a hungry warg.  ^^ NORTH ^^
*a grim Man* leaves riding a pack horse.  ^^ NORTH ^^

!. CRW>

*an Orc* has arrived from the EAST riding a hungry warg.
*a grim Man* has arrived from the EAST riding a pack horse.

!. CRW>

g someone that you know is afk is LAME.

!. CRW>

A partridge has arrived from the WEST.

!. CRW>

*a grim Man* patiently says 'afk here'

!. CRW>

*an Orc* sends you sprawling with a powerful bash.
*an Orc* pounds your left arm and tickles it.

!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>
*an Orc* says 'i am'

!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>
You try to flee, but cannot!

!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>
*a grim Man* patiently says 'its crazy'

!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>
*a grim Man* joins *an Orc*'s fight.
*a grim Man* fails to stab you.

!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>
You try to flee, but cannot!

!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>

You try to flee, but cannot!

!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>

You try to flee, but cannot!

!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>

You try to flee, but cannot!


!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>

*a grim Man* lightly stabs your right leg and tickles it.
*an Orc* pounds your right hand and tickles it.


!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>
You try to flee, but cannot!


!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>
*an Orc* says 'idiot'


!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>

You try to flee, but cannot!

Your head stops stinging.

!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>
You barely pierce *an Orc*'s left arm and tickle it.

!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Fine>

*a grim Man* begins some strange incantations...
You flee head over heels.
You flee west.
A Ridge Overlooking the River
Exits: east, south.

!. CRW HP:Fine>

*an Orc* has arrived from the EAST riding a hungry warg.
*a grim Man* has arrived from the EAST riding a pack horse.

!. CRW HP:Fine>

*an Orc* pounds your body.
You feel a sharp pain there!

!. CRW HP:Fine *an Orc*:Healthy>

You flee head over heels.
You flee east.
Trail Approaching the River
Exits: north, east, south, west.

!. CRW HP:Fine>

*an Orc* has arrived from the WEST riding a hungry warg.
*a grim Man* has arrived from the WEST riding a pack horse.

!. CRW HP:Fine>

*a grim Man* begins some strange incantations...

!. CRW HP:Fine>

*a grim Man* utters the words 'lightning bolt'
*a grim Man* sends a powerful lightning bolt at you, you stagger from the
impact.
You swiftly dodge *a grim Man*'s attempt to stab you.

!. CRW HP:Fine *a grim Man*:Healthy>

*a grim Man* begins some strange incantations...

Eros narrates 'What's exit to herballist in lorien?'

You flee head over heels.
You flee north.
A Rock-bristled Riverside
Exits: north, east, south, west.

!. CRW HP:Fine>

*an Orc* has arrived from the SOUTH riding a hungry warg.
*a grim Man* has arrived from the SOUTH riding a pack horse.

!. CRW HP:Fine>

*a grim Man* begins some strange incantations...

!. CRW HP:Fine>

*an Orc* sends you sprawling with a powerful bash.
<--------- GET ARM UP -------->
*an Orc* pounds your right foot extremely hard.
You feel a sharp pain there!


!. CRW HP:Hurt *an Orc*:Healthy>

PANIC! You can't quit the fight!

!. CRW HP:Hurt *an Orc*:Healthy>
*a grim Man* utters the words 'lightning bolt'
*a grim Man* sends a powerful lightning bolt at you, you stagger from the
impact.

!. CRW HP:Hurt *an Orc*:Healthy>

You try to flee, but cannot!

!. CRW HP:Hurt *an Orc*:Healthy>

You try to flee, but cannot!

!. CRW HP:Hurt *an Orc*:Healthy>
*a grim Man* utters the words 'lightning bolt'
*a grim Man* sends a powerful lightning bolt at you, you stagger from the
impact.


!. CRW HP:Wounded *an Orc*:Healthy>

*an Orc* pounds your right arm extremely hard and SHATTERS it.
You are wracked with overwhelming PAIN!


!. CRW HP:Bad *an Orc*:Healthy>
You flee head over heels.
Your head stops stinging.
You flee east.
On a Faded Trail
A domesticated pony, beast of burden to many, stands here.
Exits: north, east, south, west.

!. CRW HP:Bad>

*an Orc* has arrived from the WEST riding a hungry warg.
*a grim Man* has arrived from the WEST riding a pack horse.

!. CRW HP:Bad>

Aranome narrates 'Chinahangingswithdragonrunes?'

!. CRW HP:Bad>

*a grim Man* begins some strange incantations...

!. CRW HP:Bad>

*a grim Man* utters the words 'lightning bolt'
*a grim Man* sends a powerful lightning bolt at you, you stagger from the
impact.
You are incapacitated and will slowly die, if not aided.

You are dead! Sorry...

o# CW HP:Awful>
sl
You go to sleep.

After two aaaaaagonizing minutes i am finally able to run back to my computer :/  
Fortunately i shadowed and was able to loot myself even with orcs trying to spam my
ass down.  But seriously... don't kill people that you know are afk.

}

Very nice, I would like to see this log in the 'notables' section!

2008/10/06 03:12, Gwydien: edited 1x    I had to go afk because i'm at work. I usually get like 1 customer every 2 hours at this time of night. As i was tracking, i noticed a large bald man staring at me impatiently so i had to afk.

2008/10/06 03:31, Drogtash:     So you go afk 3 rooms from ford and expect everyone to just walk by and leave you be? You could've: nneeeneeeen, seek rivendell, afk (takes what.. 5 seconds tops). Everyone does it now (or close to everyone).

2008/10/06 03:32, Uther:   Nope, wrong reason for why mume is dying. Too many 10x10 areas, movement penalties, mandos sleep, nowadays-shitty-bob are more to the tone. I'll tell you what though: this is NOT worth a log, especially since you'd been actively in PK (tracking the orc) moments before. I mean, for fuck's sake: A FREE KILL. Period.

2008/10/06 03:36, Gwydien:   Unfortunately parts of the log are left out (for some reason) including nearly all of the comments and the part where i acted AFK AT WORK . It also cut out the part where they stood there thinking about it wondering if they should kill or not. I noticed the dude waiting for me (irl) while i was tracking them and he looked pissed. He saw that i noticed him so it would be sorta shitty customer service to keep on typing hurriedly and pretty much ingnoring him. And yes, people should fucking walk past :/ Its the mature thing to do... but i guess thats way too much to ask

2008/10/06 04:17, Gilindor:   quit your job IMO!

2008/10/06 04:38, Antti:   Killed by a *large bald man* :) I think one cannot avoid this kind of things if simultaneously doing customer service and pk.

2008/10/06 04:45, Gwydien: edited 1x    Sunday nights i can sometimes go from 10pm - 1 am without a single customer. I had 2 lanes of bowlers tonight total :/ and 1 large bald man who wanted two jumbo bags of popcorn. I typically have all kiiiiinds of time to play mume/pk but sometimes...... well you know

2008/10/06 05:54, Faine:   You leave out from log afk parts and make log look like you werent afk and you whine about afk kill. I dont get it :/

2008/10/06 06:14, Galadon:   Don't blame the darkies for doing what they must legally do. If MUME is dying, this isn't why - sorry.

2008/10/06 07:31, Shadrach:   HA! Ive got 3 kids and a wife (which used to force me to go afk alot when I was playing) Ive been killed afk more times than i Got hair on my head. Killing people afk is (somewhat strangely) accepted on MUME. Learn to live with it and do it yourself :)

2008/10/06 08:14, Fieldy:   Uther, you are a tad behind. Mandos sleeps? :P

2008/10/06 08:31, Fieldy:   Oh, and about the log and the point of it. I think MUME is dying because some people can't handle the pressure of dying in a situation they had nothing to do x ) Deal with it. It isn't much of a problem.

2008/10/06 09:16, Adverse:     Completely agree with Shadrach. >50% of my deaths are kid-AFK realated. And moreower, are you complainging bout having to afk at work? Eh? Instead you should be happy that you CAN play at work.

2008/10/06 11:50, Atticus:     I killed holden a few weeks back some e e n from ford while afk, and some people still hold it against me. *boggle* Rules pkilling states you aren't allowed to help cross race actively or passivley... It seems to me that allowing something to live when you have the chance to kill it is passively :P (bring on the flames!) Just an opinion, but afk kills really have almost nothing to do with a dwindling playerbase.. there are lots of factors (new playerbase retention, general/pk learning curves), but I know I've been frustrated in similar situations as well. :(

2008/10/06 13:16, Eolo:   MUME isn't dying because of this. I thought you'd show a log where you found noone from the other side of war to fight.

2008/10/06 13:38, Unz:     you killed Holden afk because you can't get kills any other way, not because it was your civic duty as a puke, idiot.

2008/10/06 13:44, Atticus:     Woot... theres #1.

2008/10/06 13:52, Ingenue:   mume is dying cos many times i did circle from noc to bree fnost bree thbad bree thbad stepings brolg rdell neni noc rent. (and no puke seen...)

2008/10/06 14:35, Belor:   ![ cW Mana:Hot>rules interrace INTERRACE MUME characters belong either to the good races; Dwarves, Elves, Half-Elves, Men, and Hobbits, the evil races; Black Númenóreans, (Tarkhnarb) Orcs, and Trolls, or the 'third' side; the Zaugurz Orcs. 1. Behaviour towards enemies: Members of different sides cannot collaborate, communicate, or otherwise interact in any matter but as supreme, utter enemies. Fight or flee. 2. Communication between enemies: You can taunt your foes, but you cannot facilitate their life in any way or kindly chat while you sip tea together. ANY kind of information exchange between enemies is strictly forbidden, unless it's misinformation (e.g. lying to the enemy to get them trapped is of course not illegal). 3. Duels: Duels are an honourable fight among foes who respect each other. The term 'honourable' does not suit Orcs and Trolls, therefore the only form of combat allowed between different sides is 'fight your best or run like hell'. 4. Linkless, idle, afk, and other OOC conditions: It does not matter to the rules of MUME if the player of an enemy character has left the keyboard, lost connection et cetera. If you in any way help or protect an enemy (linkless or not), you are breaking one of the most important rules of MUME - this one. Nothing in there stating that you HAVE to kill someone, quite the opposite. It states several times that you ALWAYS have the option of 'fleeing' from an enemy. So not killing an enemy because you think it is linkless or afk is perfectly fine, it is however also perfectly fine to kill them (according to the rules). What you CAN NOT do is stand around an enemy which you think might be afk or linkless and discuss if you should kill it or not, the weather or anything else.

2008/10/06 14:53, Andróg:     Killing an AFK opponent would be 'among the reasons why MUME is dying', IF you had been killed by a whitie... but getting killed afk in the pk-hotspot of Arda? This has existed ever since Rivendell was added, I'm sure.

2008/10/06 15:05, Zita:   edited 2x    Ingenue: there have been like 30 puke legends online at best recently and like 50 pukes total. if there is more than 30 legends online on one side of the war, what is going to happend if a little BN takes a little trip to old fornost or stonedoor to get a fight? Lets say, there is like 100 pukes online. Then there would be 20 pukes standing neni another 20 swept, 20 greenway and like 10 slowtracking him around. would that be more fun you think? If people meet more than 4 pukes when they run around, they start crying on randomrunes about overkilling... ofcourse they will track you. ofcourse they will enter on you in brolg etc. that life! Thats the reason they, you and me play MUME, to Kill stuff:P

2008/10/06 15:34, Ortansia:   Overkill is one of the reason why mume is dying :p Well overkilling time to time is ok but do it all the time is kinda lame !

2008/10/06 16:19, Taithleach:   I have said for ages that most of MUME's ex-players ended up leaving for another game because of how some players play the game. Say what you like about it being a war and how mume management encourages afk/linkless killing etc.... the plain fact is that the most fun part of this game is a good fight with roughly even numbers. When you cannot find these fights, or end up turning them down due to constant trapping and overkilling then the game ceases to be fun. Unfortunately this will never change as some players see advancing their character as the be all and end all of the game, and will therefore trap/overkill/play wimpy etc... all day long, leaving very little room for the players who want to have a good scrap and enjoy their play time. I think Reikor (an excellent player and reliable fight giver) commented on another thread that he trapped/overkilled his way quickly to level 50+ or so, changed to enjoy a bit of fighting and suddenly finds himself mid-30's. Oh, and if you do bump into a player who enjoys a good fight some immortal accuses you of fixed fights and threatens to demote you. If this changed I think a whole load of ex-players would come back to the game on occasion for a quick thrash. As it is, enjoy your grind to level 100 guys.

2008/10/06 16:45, Nockurzh:   Bleh those oldies... go with the flow I say! Look at me, I learned from the wise and now my traping skills are superb! No trapping in trapmud is like not using emails or msn for better commuinaction just becaue you like sending letters more. Results in falling behind in the fast devoloping world! Kidding actually, there is no one left to trap :( Or to trap someone with... or then again I get trapped way too often so there must be poeple to trap... bleh trap trap trap:P Also I just realised my whole bullshit story is offtopic:/ AFK death sucks, but well its part of the game and as someone earlier said, you should try it our yourself also, I havent found anyone afk yet tho :/

2008/10/06 16:49, Dracol:   i really dont think people leave because they get killed afk. we all have been, and sure you get pissed for like 10 min, then you go afkkill someone else=)

2008/10/06 17:16, Edvard:   I've played for 10 years or something like that, and I've never killed anyone linkless or AFK on purpose!

2008/10/06 17:26, Nockurzh:   Same here :/ I'd love to kill an afk-killer afk tho :P Must be double fun:D

2008/10/06 18:59, Belor:   As far as having a mature playerbase MUME (and many if not most MUDs) are way above the average online game, less so nowadays than in the dawn of the Internet era. So I highly doubt that the bulk of the people who left MUME did so due to disliking the players here. More likely they grew tired of the game, found some other game they liked better or left for some other equally 'natural' reason. What really caused the decrease in the playerbase is most likely a lack of new players, which most likely is due to the graphical games available and the kind of 'ancient' nature of MUDs. Also as far as I know in the long forgotten dawn of MUME it was way more common with things people nowadays whine a lot about (overkills, link-dependant kills and so on) but not at all as much whining. Should give the whiners-about-immature-players people something to ponder.

2008/10/06 19:27, Nockurzh:   Also as I see it, msot whines go for pk. MUME tho is supposed to be roleplay mume tho, am i right? Or at least that what higher gods want it to be? So there is a conflict between players and immos as what type of mud mume is, pk or rp oriented?

2008/10/06 20:40, Björn:   Who were they?

2008/10/06 20:43, Andróg:     Nockurzh, I think it's fair to say that MUME is supposed to be a place which represents the environment of the Middle Earth where characters can freely wander through all the (notable) places mentioned in the books. A mud of the adventurer. Whether you pk, rp, fart of yawn in the process of doing that is up to you.

2008/10/06 21:05, Nockurzh:   Was trying to make a point that while managment wants it to be rp oriented game and encourages it but does not encourage pk, it might drive people off who play it only for pk:P? Dunno if Im right tho...

2008/10/06 21:31, Edvard:   You're 100% right. Many nice ideas of change has been thrown in the trash by high up management, who's idea of how the game should be in no way reflects the majority of the player base.

2008/10/06 23:21, Gwydien:   I guess the old-school playstyle is mostly dead and gone:/ I was 'raised' in this mud with the following values/rules to live by: -Don't kill people who are afk/linkless because its not honourable. -If you have an item that is spare/extra then give it to a legend who needs it. -If someone asks you for help, help them. -Try to help newbies as often as you can. tbh being killed afk really isn't a big deal. I often play rather loosely and tend to pass around alot of free wps anyway. EQ means nothing. I put great value in a fair fight. What i was really trying to say is Mume is dying because people have strayed so far from the role-playing aspects of the game and put far too much focus on 'getting the kills regardless of how lame it is.' And pukes even kill pukes over eq... seriously how stupid. Why would you purposely do something that is only going to ruin someone else's gameplay experience? Anyway apparently afk killing is quite widely accepted these days, but i still won't do it.

2008/10/06 23:53, Andróg:     I understood the point you were trying to make, Nockurzh, I just don't see that as the case. Management has never done anything notable in support of roleplay. What I explained in my previous post is a more accurate description of what is being done.

2008/10/07 07:55, Fieldy:   Now Gwydien, riddle me this - 10 years of playing and you haven't mastered your way to afk ?!

2008/10/07 11:53, Guido:   It's not like there were less lame players back in the 'old days'. The only reason why there seems to be more laming and unhonourable playing is because people have channels through which they can vent their rage. If in 1992 you got linklesskilled you had no place to go whine about it. Now you have mume.net, mume.org forums and Elvenrunes. It's just like that in the real world. People think Joseph Fritzl is some unique fucked up sign of the times because they have channels to access that information. Maybe people thought life isn't as fucked up in the Middle Ages. Then again, they had no opportunity to read about the life of Elizabeth Bathory. So my point is - just because you read about something constantly doesn't mean it's becoming more prevalent. Someone who linkless-killed 10 years ago will do it now too. Someone who is more noble won't do it, no matter how much is written about it. So shut up and stop whining!

2008/10/07 11:55, Guido:   My bad, Bathory lived in the 17th century which is not Middle Ages, but my point remains the same.

2008/10/07 13:43, Sardotjen: edited 3x    Why didnt you just raise your head, make eye contact with your customer and say 'I'm sorry sir, I'll be with you in just one moment' Quickly end your session and attend to your customer. Im sure he wouldnt mind, its not like he'd understand you were playing a game. And the reason mume is dying has nothing to do with any current 'vibe' or 'mood' of the game. Its simply because the out-flow of players is bigger then the in-flow (the in-flow has decreased at greater extent then the out-flow has). For apparent reasons.

2008/10/07 16:04, Kostja:     I hate this log because you ruined the lovely heart-track on Other logs !

2008/10/07 19:21, Razoor:   Guido ftw :)

2008/10/07 19:45, Britney:   In the old days mailboxes were full of whines :P

2008/10/08 00:50, Björn:   Haha, yeah. Once I got the following mail from Mammoth: Balls of steel. Polish them. Been berserk ever since =)

2008/10/08 11:33, Valr:     As long as we're musing. There's two obvious reasons mume population is dwinling. 1. Oooh shiny. Other games featuring pretty graphics overshadow the depth and gameplay of text based stuff. Killing recruitment. 2. Consequences. Everyone gets pissed when they lose stuff, levels, etc, etc. Some then go, ooh this game you only lose 1% xp, that game you loose 0%, next game you instaspawn with all your equipment, full health and a sincere apology from the developers of the game. The irony is that 2 weeks later they wonder why they're bored with the new game. Where's that good old adrenaline... ohh it was lost along with consequences.

2008/10/09 15:53, Devastator:   Yay another crybaby log. I'll go to GH with Secret some day then act AFK AT WORK at Greenholm. I'll post the log when I mobdied, got pked or sundied and cry big tears on my computer too.

2008/10/09 20:54, Andróg:     Oh, don't be so pessimistic! I'm sure that Nagrorh's roomie can bail you out of mobrip and sunrip at least! ;)

2008/10/11 11:00, Gamli:   If that's why mume is dying it must have been dying for years! . .. ... Oh wait.

2008/10/12 00:39, Gwydien:   Deva, Please do that. In fact, why don't you log on all of your crappy trolls and sunrip them? Then will you stop being so full of yourself?

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