This is the FAQ of Harshlands and harshlands.net. We hope this will answer all the various and sundry questions you might have after reading through the site, and that it might also be used as a quick guide. If your questions isn't answered here or if you have something to add send it to the Webmaster.
Q: Why are the #@!% Staff not answering my emails?
Q: How do I get a cool in character job like all those other merchants?
Q: Is Dueling allowed within civilized society on the isle of Harn?
Q: I'm bored with my character and want a new one. How do I retire?
Q: My stats keep moving up and down, what's up with that?
Q: What are the admins thoughts on stealing or practicing other rogue skills in a safe environment?
Q: Would a "noble" from kingdom X (lets say a Valhakar/ wyrdsman/ Thane from Orbaal or a Legar/Senator etc. from Tharda) retain noble priviliges in kingdom Y (ie Kaldor)?
Q: Would a foreign noble also be entitled to grant the right to wear (chivalric) armours/weapons to a non-noble (commoner) in another country?
Q: My character knows several languages, what is appropriate where?
Q: What does IC, OOC and Twink mean?
Q: Can I cheat and twink and use OOC info to better my own standing in the game?
Q: What are message boards used for in the game?
Q: Can my character have a tattoo?
Q: I'm bored this week, I can make a different character and play around with it for a while, then go back to my other boring character, right?
Q: Who do I send email to if I have a game question?
Q: How do I contribute to this great site?
Q: This guy asked me to go out in the woods with him to hunt and then he killed me. Is Player killing allowed?
Q: I just died and I want revenge. How should I go about killing this person with my next character?
Q: What weapons belong to what weapon skill?
Q: What animals can I kill in the Kaldor forests without the foresters getting upset?
Q: I really need a job, who is hiring?
Q: I'm confused, where is all the help?
Q: I really screwed up and player character guards are all over me, it's alright to go to an inn and log off there so they can't get me, right?
Q: I don't want to die against wolves to improve my fighting skills. How do I get better without dieing or killing?
Q: If I want my value meal with onion rings instead of fries, will that be a problem?
Q: If something happened in the game that just about everyone knows about, I can go to the OOC board and Web-board and discuss it, right?
Q: I have been arrested and thrown in jail. Will I ever be released?
Q: How do I get those cool ansi-colors in my posts?
The Harshlands Job Situation
Everyday we try to think of new ways for you guys to make money without raiding an alley somewhere. To that end, we've been concentrating a lot of our efforts on non-combat skills and crafts.
So, if you are creating a new character and looking for a niche, check out the list. Some jobs are more profitable than others, some are more time consuming, and some are needed in one city but not another. Just drop us a letter and tell us what you are interested in and we will work with you to help you get settled.
One thing, we hate spending time and effort setting up a character as a crafts person, and then having them die in the woods or alleys hunting stuff. If you want to be a shopkeeper or artisan, we simply ask that you act like one.
Visit the Crafts area for detailed information on Jobs.
HL Admins
Q: Why are the #@!% Staff not answering my emails?
A: The Harshlands staff are under no obligation to respond to emails where we are being cursed at. Each Staff member offers their free time for the betterment of the players of the game and the game as a whole. We have better things to do with our time than sift through someones cursing. If you cannot be civil you will be ignored. Fair warning.
Q: Is Dueling allowed within civilized society on the isle of Harn?
A: Yes, under the following conditions.
- Both parties agree to duel
- Takes place on designated "field of honor" such as Lyst Field or the Fighting Arena in the School of Arms (or similar places if in other towns)
-Is witnessed by someone empowered to enforce the King's law. And by "someone" I mean a PC, if no one so empowered can be found (examples would be tashal guardsmen, any of the king's knights, crimson leopard officers) then at least 3 witnesses of other occupations must be present and willing to provide their accounts of the event to legal officials afterwards.
Under those circumstances, it is perfectly legal provided no one uses poisons or magicks to skew the results.
Q: I'm bored with my character and want a new one. How do I retire?
A: We dissuade players from retiring characters, but the option is available in the login area. We don't believe that in an RP situation there's ever a good reason to give up on a character. If you make mistakes, end up somewhere you don't want to be, end up doing something you don't want to do, that's all part of the life of your character and there are thousands of ways to get out of the situation that don't involve killing yourself. Just like real life. So if you want to do something different ponder doing that with your current character rather than a new one. Retirements are permanent.
Q: My stats keep moving up and down, what's up with that?
A: Some items affect stats. Be aware of when the stat changes, and consider items you've added or removed.
Q: What are the admins thoughts on stealing or practicing other rogue skills in a safe environment?
A: "Harshlands prohibits the routine abuse of skill-related code, such as excessively repeated stealing, picking, sneaking or other activity that has no immediate in character need or that manipulates the circumstances to engage in an otherwise risky activity in a no-risk controlled environment"
Q: Would a "noble" from kingdom X (lets say a Valhakar/ wyrdsman/ Thane from Orbaal or a Legar/Senator etc. from Tharda) retain noble priviliges in kingdom Y (ie Kaldor)?
A: Yes. With conditions. The right of land holding or grant of arms as a knight must be proved by a Heraldry representative.
Q: Would a foreign noble also be entitled to grant the right to wear (chivalric) armours/weapons to a non-noble (commoner) in another country?
A: No.
Q: My character knows several languages, what is appropriate where?
A: Hârnic is the language common to the entire island of Harn. It's the first language of the majority of human peoples.
Sindarin and Khuzan are spoken primarily only around other Sindarin and Khuzdul.
Khuzdal is a closed language and is only used by the Khuzan.
Ivinian is the language of Ivinia and Orbaalese the language of Orbaal in northern Harn. While it's spoken fluently by most immigrants, the longer a clan has been in Harn, the more likely it is the children are reared speaking Hârnic first with Orbaalese and Ivinian as a second language.
Jarinese is a dying language. Dialects are still spoken as a second language by about 50% of all Jarin, and as the only language by about 10%.
The Kath and other tribal groups would probably speak their own languages exclusively. For the purpose of game play, however, we treat Harnic as a secondary language for all tribal peoples.
Q: What does IC, OOC and Twink mean?
A: IC means In Character, OOC means Out of Character and Twink is a label to designate a person who is aware of how a game is played by a majority of players but goes out of their way to play the game in a different manner, sometimes abusing rules, which is only advantageous to themselves.
Q: Can I cheat and twink and use OOC info to better my own standing in the game?
A: No. The game of Harshlands is played on harshmud.role-play.net port 5555. No where else. It's not played on ICQ, it's not played through email, it's not played on any other mud. Cheaters, when caught, will be dealt with in whatever manner the admins feel fit the crime.
Q: What are message boards used for in the game?
A: There are two types of messaging boards in the game, In Character (IC) and Out of Character (OOC).
IC Boards are found in inns and taverns, usually disguised as a gossiping group of commoners. They are found in temples, clan houses and areas, and many other places in the game. IC boards are used for IC information. You can use them to leave messages for other players, to post rumors and hearsay, to look for employment, or any other IC use you can think of.
Basic rules of the IC boards are:
- Do not use them to project actions onto other players.
- Do not use them as a soap box.
- If a message is left for another player, make an attempt to NOT read it.
- Don't expect personal messages, however, to stay personal if left in a public place.
- Do not use them to broadcast OOC information.
OOC Boards are mainly found in town squares. They are an anachronism that must be dealt with. They are clearly labeled as being OOC. OOC boards should be used for OOC information. You can use them to request things from admins, to set up meetings with other players, to ask questions about game mechanics. Do not use the OOC boards to broadcast IC information.
Q: Can my character have a tattoo?
A: Like so many things from Harn that we have every intention of one day bringing to HL, the seaman's guild does not yet exist. But until it does, we have to prevent ourselves from setting precedents. So, no starting character tattoos will be accepted until then. And even then, said tattoos will be given within the hierarchy of their system.
Q: I'm bored this week, I can make a different character and play around with it for a while, then go back to my other boring character, right?
A: No. This is called multiplaying and it is frowned upon in Harshlands. Before you start playing another character your current one must be dead.
Q: Who do I send email to if I have a game question?
A: staff @ harshlands.net or you can ask on the discussion group.
Q: How do I contribute to this great site?
A: Email webmasterATharshlands.net
Q: This guy asked me to go out in the woods with him to hunt and then he killed me. Is Player killing allowed?
A: Yes, any kill that is done in character is looked upon favorably. Going about killing everything in sight however is hard to define as playing in character. There are few persons that actually would do this in a real world so it is asked that any player killers have motives behind deaths.
Q: I just died and I want revenge. How should I go about killing this person with my next character?
A: The answer is, you don't. Your new character is a completely different person from your previous one and must act as such, regardless of your personal feelings on the matter. To do otherwise is to act out of character.
Q: What weapons belong to what weapon skill?
A:
* denotes chivalric weapon
Dagger :
Dagger
Knife
Taburi (throwing knife)
Keltan (main gauche)
|
Axe :
Sickle
Shorkana (franciska)
Hatchet
Handaxe
*Battleaxe
*Warhammer
|
Sword :
Longknife
Mankar
Mang
Shortsword
Falchion
*Bastardsword
*Battlesword
*Broadsword
*Estoc
|
Flail :
Nachakas
Grainflail
Warflail
*Ball & Chain
|
Polearm :
Glaive
Falcastra
Pike
*Poleaxe
|
Club :
Club
Morningstar
Staff
Stick
|
Q: What animals can I kill in the Kaldor forests without the foresters getting upset?
A: You can hunt anything but deer in the forests.
Q: I really need a job, who is hiring?
A: You can check the Leaders tab of this webpage, or post a message IC on any of the boards in the game stating what you're qualified to do.
Q: I'm confused, where is all the help?
A: Visit our Starting area. It has a lot of beginning help ideas. You can also access our in game help files from the website here. Help Files
Q: I really screwed up and player character guards are all over me, it's alright to go to an inn and log off there so they can't get me, right?
A: No. In the same manner that cops would not stop arresting you if you got a room at a motel, neither will PC guards stop if you log off at an inn. It is cheating those players and very twinkish to do so. The guards will petition the imm's constantly until the imm's reset your log on location to jail.
Q: I don't want to die against wolves to improve my fighting skills. How do I get better without dieing or killing?
A: There are various places in the game where you can go with other players and simply spar. You use practice wooden weapons. The Lyst field is just outside the city of Tashal to the southeast and Algareds fighting school is on Torastra way. There are many places to spar. Get into the role-playing and ask around.
Q: If I want my value meal with onion rings instead of fries, will that be a problem?
A: Value meals with rings or fries, it still costs the same great price. You just have to ask us once to have it your way!
Q: If something happened in the game that just about everyone knows about, I can go to the OOC board and Web-board and discuss it, right?
A: No. If it happened in the game, it cannot be discussed. Anything that ever happens in the game, no matter how trivial or how widely broadcasted should not even be mentioned. Never. Ever. If it happened IC, don't say a word about it. If you have a complaint about something that happened IC, petition/email the admins ONLY. Do not bring it to the board. It ruins the IC play for the rest of us. No matter how famous an event, there will ALWAYS be people who don't know about it. ANYTHING that occurs in the game should NEVER be posted about on ANY ooc board. Period.
Q: I have been arrested and thrown in jail. Will I ever be released?
A: Yes, of course you will. The emails of all the law leaders are on this webpage. If one of them put you there, then I suggest emailing one of them. If you were put in there by NPC's then you will automatically be released after you have served your time online.
Q: How do I get those cool ansi-colors in my posts?
A: Here's the jist of using ANSI colors. Note that the ansi is for board posts only...
Key:
Number Zero = blue (default)
Number One = maroon (like bleeding damage)
Number Two = green (like objects)
Number Three = yellow ochre (like notifies)
Number Four = dark blue
Number Five = purplish (like mobs)
Number Six = light blue (like water sources)
Number Seven = blue (default)
Number Eight = blue (default)
Number Nine = bright red
My default setting for text in my MUD client is blue. If you have yours set to white or any other color, "default" will be whatever you have it set to.
Usage:
It's a lot like HTML code, really. You need to bracket what you want to be a different color with two tags; one to activate the color and another to de-activate it. For example:
You see #2a small iron filing#0 come out of a keyhole.
This will make "a small iron filing" look green, which is an object's default coded color.
Also note that when you change the colors of text, in some MUD clients this also effects the spacing. So be careful in using it in board posts, writings etc.