Good news, everyone!

Barrens chat is now connected to IRC! It can be accessed via the link in the Menu to the left!

INFO:
When opening up the web IRC page, you'll want to type in your nickname (hopefully your account or character name) and then click on Connect. It will then go through the connection process and open up the #CotH channel window.
Initially, you will not be able to chat in the channel because it is moderated. To fix this, you can click on the Kretol-Server user in the list to the right and then click Query (this essentially equates to a whisper/tell). In the new window, you can type in .help to see available commands. You'll want to login, so you use .login accountname password. Once logged in successfully, the bot will automatically +v you so you can chat in the channel.
At the top, you'll click on #CotH so you can switch your view to the chat channel itself and start chattin'! Note that you will have to login to Kretol-Server every time you join the channel in order to chat.
It should go without saying, but encourage folks to join Barrens in-game (or join IRC)!

For folks that may wish to use a normal IRC client to connect, the details are as follows:
Server: irc.rizon.net
Port(s): 6660-6669,7000
Channel: #CotH

Hello folks.

With the re-introduction of the TRP2 addon on the server (that most of us are very excited about), I'll have to prod the community about certain functions in this addon that are easy to abuse. Emotes and NPC interactions, mainly.

The TRP2 addon lets you make emotes similar to NPC emotes with the use of |, meaning it cuts out your name in the beginning unlike emotes made using the /e command. An emote typed as "/e | The rock rolls down the hill." will appear to everyone with TRP2 as "The rock rolls down the hill.", but for everyone without it will appear as "Loxmardin | The rock rolls down the hill.". This is very effective for DMing and general flavour in RP, but can be abused to direct emotes at other people and cause confusion.

An example... "/e | Krilari farts.", which shows as "Krilari farts." to everyone with TRP2, making it look like he made the emote. Fun, maybe, but it might not be appreciated in the long run or by everyone. Most people don't like to be spoken for by someone else, joke or no, and the potential for abuse using this is pretty great. Therefore, I ask everyone with TRP2 to be courteous when you use it and avoid making emotes like these at other players' expense. It might be fine if you're joking with a friend, but it'll still be confusing for everyone else and even unpleasant for others. It's disrespectful and inconsiderate.

Granted, all of these emotes can be seen through using the Elephant AddOn. (Never doubt my love for this addon!) In the logs, the emotes (and all NPC says) will appear in the manner they would've if you didn't have TRP2 enabled. So, when in doubt, just pop open the Elephant logs to find the culprit quickly.

That's all for now!

Love,
Loxmardin

Server coming down momentarily to install some OS updates and push a rev update. Considering the server computer needs to restart, it'll be down for probably about 5 minutes or so!

Good Runes Wrote:Rune Of Striking: A rune on (character)'s hands and feet, which increases the force of her blows.

Rune of Stoneskin: A rune on (character)'s chest, allowing her to take heavier blows with only a minimal risk of bones breaking. Does not make the character invulnerable.

Rune of [X] Protection: A rune on (character)'s legs that protects her from [X] attacks and the [X] regions of the world. Only one resistance rune can be up at a time and is used to explain dodges or the ability to survive in harsher regions.

Rune of Regeneration: Helps your body regenerate faster than the natural rate. [Self regeneration ONLY]

Bad runes Wrote:Rune of Surgery: A rune on (character)'s hands that, when used, heals any wounds the target has on their body, fixes the bones, and removes scars. (Regeneration is okay. A healing spell is not.)

Rune of Lightning: A blue rune on the chest that, when used, summons a lightning bolt to strike down on the enemy. Could also be used to summon a lightning bolt in the Runemaster's hands for him to throw like a javelin or to surround himself with lightning. (Think Zeus in Hercules).

Rune of Shadows: A rune on the legs that allows the Runemaster to blend in with his surrounding.

Hello everyone. I find it midly ironic that I recently made a blog post about apologizing and doing so effectively, since I'll be the one doing so publicly for the Overseers.

The recent promotion of Forum Helpers was a very rushed decision on our part. I plead a lot of guilt in pushing it forward so fast since we were doing the Trial GM promotions at the same time and felt rushed (and overly excited, perhaps). Our bad, entirely, and we went forward with the promotions without consulting the rest of the staff to the extent that we should've. It was our mistake, and we sincerely apologize for it. We will learn from this experience and not repeat the same mistake again.

We have heard many complaints either directly or by proxy following the recent promotions and it has supposedly damaged the overall faith that people have in the staff as a whole. First of all, I would like to remove the blame from the GMs, since the hasty decision was our fault (and mostly mine). I do ask that people keep their opinions to themselves and give the candidates a fair chance. You're not always going to like the people who are promoted to staff, and if any real problems should arise between you and them... You tell us. Or the big red guys, if you can't approach the Overseers or the GMs about it. The choices of the staff aren't always going to be the most popular, but we ask that people keep an open mind and give the benefit of the doubt.

And that you, if you have problems with people, report it when it happens and don't count on others to deliver your reports for you. We don't see or hear everything, as much as we'd sometimes like to. When something happens, report it, and don't wait until, say, a promotion happens to come forward and tell us about how bad they are and all the things they did that we've never heard of before. Report when the incidents occur, or don't be surprised when people aren't reprimanded earlier.

All that aside... In light of this, we will be reviewing the way that we recruit our Forum Helpers to rework the system and prevent something like this from happening again. We know that we made a mistake and we are going to take the steps we need to ensure that it won't be repeated. We apologize for the troubles that this has caused, any hurt feelings or damaged bridges. Know that we know and strive to improve and fix it, and give our new staffers the fair chance they definitely deserve.

Love,
Loxmardin & Reigen