Topics

[Naming Your Character.]

I would like to ask you all, when you have a bit of spare time, to look back over the Shard Basic section of the forums.   We have a lot of basic information located there, including player rules.

One section you will find there has to do with Naming Your Character. http://www.sylvanheart.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=897.msg6933#msg6933
To quote a paragraph from this:

Please do NOT name your characters after TV shows, Movie characters, Comic Book characters, no L33t names, d00d type names, or names that would be insulting to other players.   CheVyMaN will quickly have his name changed to Bob.  Superman will rapidly become Bob.   IownzJu, will get a free ticket to being Bob. 

We are getting names falling outside the acceptable limits.  Players will be told to rename them, till then, we may have a lot of Bobs running around.

Another section found within the Shard Basics is...Rules
http://www.sylvanheart.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=96.0     
You can never refresh these matters in your mind often enough.  They aren't horrible rules, I don't think they are unreasonable ones, either.

In the past few days we are having issues with this section of the rules.

*Macroing is allowed 24/7 as long as you are in a private area.

*Macros must be quiet - no saying pointless things, or making NPCs constantly chatter.

*AFK Macroing is defined as any macroing where you are not paying attention to the game screen - this includes reading or posting in the forum.
All AFK Macros must have an 8-10second gap between actions.  Players will on occasion be asked to respond by GMs if they appear to be macroing.  Non-responsive players will be jailed and disconnected.

*Resources must not be macro harvested when AFK. This includes ore, wood, wool, yarn, cloth, fishing and crops. If you are detected in this activity you will be jailed the 1st and 2nd time for increasing amounts of jail rock. If you are caught again, you most likely will be banned.

*There is no need to macro skills on a ship. We've had people running noisy macros where they are constantly changing directions, working an 8x8 (which doesn't work here anyway) or whatever.

*Do not use the [afk command and stand in a public place, such as our Meadow. That is annoying. Go out on the beach and snooze.

*Respect the Staff and Players. No harassing, no name calling, no cursing, luring MOBs, impersonating staff or players, no griefing of any kind. Period. This applies to the forums as well. If you enjoy flaming others for fun or profit, go somewhere else.

Rememberwe do have auto jail running for curse words, this is a family shard.   If you want to tell someone to STFU, be prepared to mine some jail rock for it.

This is a shard full of great players and great staff.  Sometimes we all need a bit of a refresher course.

Remember this is a Role Playing shard.  In light of that, we request that you name your characters with names that would fit in with our Role Playing roots. There is a great big, huge world of names out there, so I'm sure you can find something nice that works.

Please do NOT name your characters after TV shows, Movie characters, Comic Book characters, Cartoon show characters, or breakfast food.  No L33t names, d00d type names, names referencing drug activities,  or names that would be insulting to other players.   CheVyMaN will quickly have his name changed to Bob.  Superman will rapidly become Bob. IownzJu, will get a free ticket to being Bob.

If we find a name that does not fit with our naming requirements, we will give you the chance to come up with a new name, and will change it for you. We usually contact you when you are in game, if we don't see you on and you log in and find one of your characters named Bob, you will know you need a new name.

If you need a little help finding a good name, try looking at these links:

http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/vortexshadow/names.html     
http://www.chriswetherell.com/elf/
http://rinkworks.com/namegen/
http://www.pgtc.com/~slmiller/fantasynames.htm

There is a carpentry quest out in the world now.  There is no NPC associated with it only a book for you to find and fill.   It's a nice quest, we hope you enjoy it.

When you participate in events such as paintball or hide and seek, you have special items or equipment.  At the end of the events, you are relieved of those items as you exit the event area.

Be advised if you are found with items from an event venue that are not to be removed from that area, jail time will insue.  Repeat offenses could lead to banning of the offending account.

[Respect the Staff and Players. No harassing, no name calling, no cursing, luring MOBs, impersonating staff or players, no griefing of any kind. Period. This applies to the forums as well. If you enjoy flaming others for fun or profit, go somewhere else.]

I am sure that most of you would agree that Sylvan Heart is a wonderful "family" shard.  As that goes, we do get to acting like family, and as such we have our disagreements.  For the most part, we deal with it and move on.

I do want to have a bit of a refresher for those of you who may not have read them or those of us who need to read them again.  This would be the Rules of the shard. I encourage you all to read back through them. You can find the entire list of them on the main Website or here in the forums:  http://www.sylvanheart.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=96.0

This is an area that I am revisiting in this post...

Respect the Staff and Players. No harassing, no name calling, no cursing, luring MOBs, impersonating staff or players, no griefing of any kind. Period. This applies to the forums as well. If you enjoy flaming others for fun or profit, go somewhere else.

Of late, there has been some breeches in this common courtesy - Respecting Staff and Players.  In game, and in the forums.  This is not going to be tolerated.  We all have opinions, and we aren't always going to agree with each other, but we aren't going to allow flaming in game or on forums.

Also, of late, there seems to be an increasing lack of respect for Staff, in game and on the forums.  I have stated many times that Sylvan Heart has the best, most dedicated staff you would hope to find on any player shard.  These fine staffers give up their free play time, even dipping into their much needed sleep time, to aid the players, work on events, find scenarios for role play, craft new creatures, or answer pages and sell deco.  I could make a huge post just scratching the surface of just what  Staff has to deal with in game, and all the while doing it as courteously as is humanly possible, even when a player they are dealing with is anything but courteous in return.

The Staffers here on Sylvan Heart are truly an important part of what the shard is all about. They are all, from Counselor level up to Admin, involved in the running of the shard and it's evolution into an ever improving living thing. With out Staff, there would be no Sylvan Heart.  They deserve your respect in game and in the forums, and they will get it.  I will have a zero tolerance to mistreatment of my staff.

Respect the Staff and Players.

Notice that line says... and Players.    This world is like a mini-real world.  You will NOT get along with everyone in game. You won't like everyone in game.  You won't think everyone in game is smart enough to find their way out of a paper bag. You won't think everyone is playing the game as it should be played... but you will respect the players and their right to have a different outlook on things. 

They are all, from the player logging in to Sylvan Heart for the first time, to the player who has been here going on two years, involved with and important to the running of this shard. With out these players, there would be no Sylvan Heart.  They deserve your respect in game and in the forums, and they will get it.

Again, please reread the player rules in the forums and realize that each day is a bright new day for Sylvan Heart.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

[Remember, races do not have any benefit one over the other, they are to help promote role play.]

Sylvan Heart has a basic Race system to encourage role playing.  You may choose to become an orc, an elf, a daemon, a faerie, a drow, or a wolven. The Sylvan Heart race stone is located in the pavilion just east of the Magincia Meadow. Remember, races do not have any benefit one over the other, they are to help promote role play.

* Orcs have been in the world almost since time began. They are mainly thought of as brutish creatures that live a hand to mouth existence but some groups have cooperated and built villages and even cities. Orcs have a complicated language that is difficult for humans to understand but the very existence of this developed language belies the common belief that orcs are merely animalistic. Orcs are natural warriors although some few of them have shown an inclination to dabble in the mysteries of magic.  Orcs have a lovely Orc city in a northern part of Tokuno. They have orcish shopkeepers, and room for housing.

*The Drow are a beautiful race, lithe and graceful, slightly shorter than humans, and light, by human standards, for their weight. But it is a cold beauty, for the drow do not think the way humans do and what humans may regard as compassion, the drow consider weakness. Dark elves are artisans, warriors and excel in the use of magery, especially necromancy.  Drow have a beautiful, hidden city called Zau'Urden.  There is housing available there for the drow, if they wish.

*The Elves are one of the oldest races in the lands. Tall and majestic, possessed of great physical beauty and remarkable intelligence, elves sometimes appear haughty to humans but it is more a lack of reference since elvenkind live much longer than humans. Elves look down upon Drow as 'fallen elves' but in fact, the Drow just followed another path in life. Elves are utterly trustworthy when they give their word but it takes a lot to win their confidence and trust. Elves make cunning warriors, superb artisans and awe inspiring mages.  Elves tend to live around the Yew area, an area that is verdant and quiet.

*Faerie are mystical beings that are purely magical in nature. Think of the Tuatha de Danaan when you think of faery folk. These are not the glittery little Disney fairies but powerful magical beings. They sprang from the formless wellspring of mana that pervades the world. They generally are a kind, benevolent race but do not anger them or be cruel to animals or their fury will be aroused. Faeries have a distinct antipathy towards creatures of the darkness such as undead and daemons. Faeries naturally excel in magery and are close the magical source of nature, thus making excellent tamers and druids.  Faeries inhait the magical city of Wind, where they first coalesced from the primal magic energies, they also have a lovely above ground area with imediate access to Wind.

*Daemons are similar to the Faerie race in that they are creations of the very essence of magic, but they are the dark side of magery. Daemons predate the Faerie race and some sages think that Faeries came into existence to balance the inherent darkness of the powerful Daemon race. Daemons are cruel and uncaring, living mainly to cause death and suffering. There are exceptions to this rule but there are very few. Daemons love the necromantic powers of magery and the physical punishment and gore of hand to hand combat. Daemons have a large underground city.

*The Wolven are a race of nature lovers, once wolven wanderers of deep forests and frigid taigas and magically merged with a tribe of elemental druid humans that lived in the wilderness. Wolven are natural druids and rangers, loving the forests, meadows and all places of nature but staying away from so called 'civilized' areas if at all possible. They tolerate humans but only barely since they blame humankind for the devastation and pollution of large areas of the world. Wolven are quiet and stealthy when they need to be but possess savage fighting abilities as well.  The wolven race frequent Delucia in the Lost Lands.

*The Dwarven folk are hardy folk who have been around as long as Elves, the other elder race. Dwarves love mining, blacksmithing, adventuring and are distrustful of outsiders but tend to make allowances. Dwarves are strong and fearless and often impulsive in battle unlike Elves who tend to hold back and think things out. The Dwarven are is near the mountains north of Minoc. They have an underground temple within the mountain there.

*The origin of the race of Felinus is lost in time, but, legends tell of an advanced people who lived in a desert region and built monolithic structures. These people also worshipped a number of deities including one called Bast, a goddess that was represented in the form of a cat. At one point, this deity gathered together all Her priests and priestesses and took them away to a hidden jungle, imparting feline characteristics to them in reward of their faith. This new breed of people were part human and part cat and called themselves Felinus. They are dextrous, intelligent, somewhat supercilious but often playful.  Felinus enjoy the heavily wooded areas around Papua in the Lost Lands.

After thought and consideration, select a race and you are transformed! If you change your mind about which race you wish to be, you will need to page a GM and pay out a 50K fee so think before you choose!

All races have the ability to shapeshift into an alternate form. You can doubleclick the red race stone in your pack to transform or untransform your shape. If you are Wolven or Felinus, you can single click the stone and select a specific hue to apply to your human and animals forms.


There are some food stuffs that are unique to some of the races:

*Lembas now able to be made by Elves. You need to find Elvellon shrubs and gather the leaves. Then use a sack of flour on the leaves. Must have a silver bowl in your pack to mix it in. Gives moderate strength bonus.

* Dwarf Rations now able to be made by Dwarves. You will need to find BizurBund shrubs and gather the leaves. Then use a sack of flour on the leaves. Must have a gold bowl in your pack to mix it in. Gives a moderate dexterity bonus.

* Orc Draught now able to be made by Orcs.  You will need to find Ogre Blood, from the obvious source, and combine it with clay. Must have bottles to put the stuff in. Gives an excellent strength bonus but of less duration than the Elven or Dwarf consumables.

Remember... the races are to add to the flavor of role playing.  No one race has benifits in game over another.

We have a wedding package available for any of you love birds out there.  The package includes; 2 engraved wedding bands, a wedding certificate for both bride and groom, 2 wedding goblets, a bottle of pink champagne, a wedding cake dated with the bride and groom names, a candle for the groom to hold and a bouquet for the bride.  We will also post your nuptuals on the towncriers.  You may ask a staff member to do the officiating, or you may choose another shaman of your choice.  All this for the low low price of 50K for the wedding.  You may PM me in the forums if you wish to book a wedding.


Be advised that divorces are 200K. :-)

Does your guild have an event you would like to broadcast in game?  Have a shop opening you would like to advertise?  Are you getting married and wish to invite your friends and enemies?  For a fee, you can hire the town crier system and let the world know about it.

For the mere cost of 30K gold, you can rent the town criers for 30 minutes to make your announcements.  Page Staff to purchase.  Staff also reserves the right to refuse or edit any message posted.

You need Magery and Tailoring to use this item.

Often imitated, never duplicated... the one that real Dreams are made of... Sylvan Heart.

Don't be fooled by imitations. 

We do allow guilds to make their own guild towns, with a few requirements.  There must be at least 4 different account players on the guild stone, this gets you on your way to having your guild town.  You must petition an Admin to look at your guild town area and see if you meet the requirements.  Admin's retain the right to deny a guild town.

When choosing the location for your guild town, make sure you have enough spaces for housing so there is no crowding of player houses. Try to keep it within the housing placement regulations stated elsewhere here.

The guild town will be given a classic UO house, or up to an 18x18 plot to build the guild hall on.  Usually the guild master would own the house, but another player can, so you will need to have a spare house slot. The guild is responsible for the cost of building the house. You will be given a certificate good for 100K worth of decoration items from our Home Deco mall.

The guild town is allowed to have one NPC vendor of their choice for their guild hall.  Other town special items may be considered on a guild by guild basis.

Sylvan Heart is not an auto-account creation shard.  You will need to send a request for an account.

* Please send me, Admin Acacia, a pm. 
* Tell me a bit about your gaming experience, UO, role play, and the like.
* Be sure to include an Account name  and Password that you would like to use to log in with.  I can't make your account without these.

Please remember that this is a family shard.  We have players as young as 5 and 6 playing here.  Most all of you know by now, or eventually will find out, that we do have a "swear" word list with auto jailing.  This is an attempt to help with the family shard part of things, and also help you expand your vocabulary. *chuckle*  The auto jail for these words sends you to jail, you mine a bit of rock, then head out on your merry way.

This being said, the game knows what word is in its no-no list.  It does not know your intent, or the fact that you made a typo, it doesn't comprehend that you are role playing. ... you go to jail.

Now, to the "adult" role play. If you to get yourself in a situation like that... remember, this IS a family shard.  We have players as young as 5 and 6 and many others under the age of 18.

[Ready Built Houses]

When allowing housing on the shard, we think along the line of our role play focus.  We play different characters for different reasons.  Most of the characters have their own unique personalities, or upbringing, why then should they all be made to live in the same location and house?

We allow 5 houses per account to help promote more variety for the role player.  This is not done to allow for more item hoarding, but I'm sure that will happen.  Players can not place their own houses, but need to page staff to do so.  You are not allow to have 5 18x18 houses all hooked together, but are allowed a variety of sizes.

Each account may have 2 houses sizes 14x14 to 18x18 or anything within that size range.  The maximum size house you may have connected is 2 18x18.  You may have any size house connected, but only 2 houses may be connected no matter what size they are.

1 house 11x11 up to 13x13 or odd size with in this.

2 houses 10x10 or smaller with the freehouse given out to be 10x10 or smaller.


Ready Built Houses

Everything below the two story Villa would be in the small house catagory, the 10x10 or smaller realm.  The largest freehouse you can have is a small tower.

The two story Villa, Log cabin, and Sandstone patio would fit in the medium area, the 11x11 to 13x13

The Brick house and everything from there would fit in the large catagory, the 14x14 on up.

Remember, there are no castles or keeps on the shard.




Now that you have chosen the perfect place to settle down and build your house, you may wonder if there is anyway to beautify it with a lovely yard.  Why, yes!

Yards may be the width of your house and 10 tiles (steps) to the front.  The cost is 1K per tile.  If you have a 10x10 house, your yard property would cost 100K gold.   If you have an 18x18 house, the cost of the yard would be 180k.  The yard is to be bordered by something, a fence or hedge.  This is to go on the last tile around the yard.  The cost of the fence is free.

In some cases, depending on space, you may also buy a side yard on the East side of your house.  The same cost and rules apply, 1k per tile, a border of some sort around it.  **Yards are not allowed on the West side or the Backside of the houses.  Front yards and side yards are 2 seperate yards, they will not be connected.   We also do not connect any houses with bridges.

Once you have purchased your yards, you may then buy additional items to put in them to decorate and make your place truly special.  There are many items for sale at Home Deco that you can buy.  Do remember that staff will have to place and lock down any item you want in your yard.

One exception to buying a yard before you can have items in it, would be the drinkable well, or drinkable fountain. Those can be placed without buying the yard first.