KnightoftheRose

I couldn't find a music thread, so if there is one please merge this Anyway, my listening habits are all multimedia now. It is a fusion of games, music, anime, AMV, and creative software. Bad Apple! is a case in point. A fan based game (Touhou Series by team Shanghai Alice), some kicking Jpop (Masayoshi Minoshima and Nomico) and stylized fan shadow play (Nico Nico Douga) combine for something far greater than the sum of the parts. So this is what I am listening to right now. (English subbed version linked below) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sib2L6A6xgw (English subs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TevQS4qgE_Q Totally agree. The first time that I saw this I was 17, and I slept with the lights on for a week My second scariest movie was "Signs" with Mel Gibson. M. Night Shyamalan found the perfect way to squeeze every bit of tension in the situation of being scared by what you DON'T see. It is that barely glimpsed bump in the night, when you're already on edge and keyed to overdrive, that gets me every time

Well the ironic thing was that that when I met Jen 5 years ago she was playing as a Dark Elf and I was playing as a Seraphim. We weren't exactly sure who was what at first Edit note: Dang! You ninja'd my reply

I think that's like internet rule 30 -- there are no girls on the internet Well if that is the case, then I must be a figment of your imagination. Is that what you are trying to say Dave Hey I don't make the rules

I think that's like internet rule 30 -- there are no girls on the internet

Myself and a few friends are getting a beta clan going in Uni1 to test out the new interface. It is basically a mix of the redesign interface but with all the standard rules. Apparently all of the universes will be getting the redesign interface eventually, even the ones w/o the redesign rule set, so we are testing it now. Most of us are veterans in Uni 27 (I have an 800K account there) so we will be able to hold are own in Uni1, even with new accounts. If this proves to be popular, maybe we can get official status with FDM? Uni1 has seen a flood of new members doing the same thing we are, so the uni is certainly alive, with lots of targets, and many potential recruits. If anyone else is interested please let me know. I know it is exciting again to try to build up from scratch and to re-experience all the joys of the "first" achievements

I prefer it cold, tho sometimes hot is ok if it is really cold outside (like hot cider). Sake is like beer in that it is an acquired taste, and in that there are thousands of brands and types to chose from. A safe choice is Hakusan, which is smooth, crisp, and dry, and best served cold. Oni-koroshi is another popular brand that can be served at room temp or slightly chilled. It has a slight sweet fruitie; taste and a silky texture. edit note -- the auto editor doesn't seem to like kana or hiragana text or

Hehe thanks. I guess I am new to most people

Hmmmm -- other forums. This thread is ironic because Gogo and I were just talking about this the other night. Well for games there are two types -- the "official" forums, and fan based forums. The Official forums I have been a part of; SiF, Sierra/Impressions (Lords of Magic), Gravity (Rush on Seven Episodes) have been pretty good. The company usually has official reps that post, and they do a good job (usually) of getting good community moderators. That is a pretty good mix. I know at the original SiF it was a lot of fun, and they gave us a lot of leeway. Mirko would only come down hard if someone was being really abusive, and he would join in the banter a lot (especially the infamous underwear thread ) The down side of the official forums is the poster to lurker ratio, high turnover rate in the community, and sometimes some evil mods. I have been involved in a few fan forums as well. LOM research was a website for modding Lords of Magic, HeavenGames is where I play Age of Wonders, and ofc Warrior Nation (WN) which is a multigame clanning community. The communities there tend to be a little tighter, but also a little more inbred and surprisingly a little less casual. I think it is because there are more dedicated hard core gamers, and the casual gamer gets ignored. I see DarkMatters as the perfect fusion between SiF and WN. FDM has managed to capture the family and casual approach and successfully merge it with the hard core players. It is not an "official" forum in the sense that it is not patrolled by company moderators, so there is the ability to give solid constructive feed back (criticism) to the game, and to be more relaxed about other issues. However FDM does have a ton of gravitas due to the superior player base and ofc the sacredwiki. And with that gravitas there is a certain amount of order that maintains a level of professionalism and prevents the casualness from becoming anarchy and chaos. I guess that's why I keep coming back. I saw this place in it's infancy (member 26 -- who would have thunk it!) and I have seen it mature into something that no other forum I have been apart of can match. It is definitely Zen Master Rommel's child -- the blend of balance and harmony is the first thing that hits you. And it is nimble and quick -- ready to adapt to new situations in the fast paced online world. Most forums are either too large to qucickly adapt, or are too small to be very relevant. Again, I think FDM has solved the goldilocks dilemma and has found that perfect in-between "just right" spot that eludes so many of the other forums

Ah! An Anime thread I hope this isn't grave digging, but I have been watching a lot of anime to help with my Japanese language studies. There is a group called Clamp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clamp_%28manga_artists%29) that does manga, but most of their work gets adapted to anime. What is unique about them is: 1) They are very solid and established -- almost 25 years now. This is nearly unheard of for an intact team. 2) They are a group of 4 women, but they do mostly drama/tragedy instead of Josei. Some of their stuff will really break your heart. 3) They have created an expanded universe that is self consistent and leads to a lot of cameo and cross over. I can't list them all, but my favorites from them are: 1996 2000 Cardcaptor Sakura 1999 2001 Angelic Layer 2001 2002 Chobits 2003 ongoing xxxHolic 2003 2009 Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle Themes include the value of life in tragedy, the worth of "artificial" life, magic and dark fantasy, and the meaning of love. What hooked me was Tsubasa Chronicles (the anime). The first episode totally rocked me, and the sound track left me completely spellbound. After that I became a fan of all tings Clamp for life A Youtube clip can't do justice, but I included one anyway. I think it really captures the spirit of the Clamp genre as a whole

hehe -- nowadays my drink of choice is V8 juice mixed with a shot duet In real life I am a vodka man (mixed with anything), tho I am learning to appreciate sake now.

lol! Indeed, some things never change Great to see you Suzie

Hey, you made it over here Jen! I am getting flashbacks of the Exchequer of the Sacred Bank

oooooo -- a bar and a place to spam! I may have to get some fine Cuban Havana's from the humidor and smoking jacket and join you! I can blame Rommel cause they are legal in Canada

Oh no -- the supermodel build! I knew that would comeback someday to haunt me Yeh those were the days when I had far too much free time, when we had cracked all the gaming mechanics and algorithms, and we had burned out every "normal" build that we could think off. It got so bad that Gogo, Schot, Robyn and I would go to the open servers and do Hard Core PvP to test out our crazier builds. Somehow deep down it seemed a little wrong tho to be shamelessly killing each other in the name of science Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! it feels really good to be back

Not sure if anyone remembers me, but I wanted to swing by and say hello

It's been forever but I wanted to swing by and say hi Ogame is my latest addiction -- I am curious if anyone still plays, and if so which uni? Dave (KOTR, Knight)

I'm not sure if anyone here watched Jericho, or has even heard of it. The big story was that CBS canceled it last week. The bigger story is that the fans reacted in an unprecedented fashion Like to the toon of a 75k Petition, a full page ad in Variety Weekly, and 13,000 pounds (over 6 TONS) of peanuts sent to CBS corporate office in NYC. If you want to participate, OR if you just want to see a major corporation overrun by 8 million furious fans, swing by some of these links http://www.JerichoLives.com http://copywriteink.blogspot.com/search/label/jericho http://find-the-boots.blogspot.com/ http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=save+jericho http://blog.myspace.com/dwcarless Thanks and have fun

Hey all, I am taking a bit of a break from actual gaming, but I am still looking for a place to chat and have fun. You'll prolly be seeing a bit more of me lately since I still have an active account here -KOTR

Edited by gogoblender: The folllowing link to Bonsai Kitten while simply parody can seem rather cruel in it's depiction of considered humor. Spoiler warning for anyone from this community so that BEFORE you click on that link and make the choice to read and access the information...be aware... you have been warned. This reminds me of the "Bonsai Kitten" website http://www.shorty.com/bonsaikitten/ BUt yes, those this stuf is parody now, it will be reality someday.

The new 3D graphics remind me a lot of ROSE online! Sacred 2 could really turn out to be somethime special -- especially if the keep the seraphim Class realitivily intact

Thanks Claire! I am very glad to see that the seraphim's survived into Sacred 2. That alone will be enough to pull me back in for a go at it

The Seraphim Super Model Build! Attrubutes: Everything into Charisma - (duh) Skills: Level 3: Heavenly Magic: you are an angel -- 'nough said Level 6: Parry: to deflect the losers that are always hitting on you Level 12: Constituton: A girl has to have some energy, you know Level 20: Meditation: It's that Ti Chi and Zen stuff that keeps your mind and body toned. Plus everyone is doing it, so give it a shot. Level 30: Riding: It's like "My Little Pony" come to life. And the horsies love you when you rub their nose and give them a sugar cube. Level 50: Shopping: (they call it "trading" but you know what you are really doing! ) Comabat Arts: Melee: Oh please -- like you want to risk breaking a nail? Spells: Conversion -- They love you. They will die for you. And they will like it. Light -- A little hightlighting and attention never hurt a girl, right? Celestial Light -- sometimes you are so beautiful, it hurts. Them. Light Shield -- ewwww, keep those sharp pointy things away from you! RBoL -- Babydoll, these are the ultimate in anti-papparazzi protection OK - this should get you going on your way to rule the world. This is what the seraphim was made for!

The Uriel's build: There are two approaches to this -- one basic, and one VERY advanced. What the builds have in commom: They are poison melee based, and heavy on a good mix of melee and magic (Hybrid). The main CAs to manage are Attack, and RBOL. Secondary CAs are Light, CL, HH, and (maybe) SoF. Common Strategies: Keeping Weapon lore and magic lore high. Collecting LOTS of gold Targeting monsters that are weak against poison. Running RBoL 24/7. Maintaining a decent AR, good defense, and between 10%-15% leech. Common tactics: Magic will be accounting for about 20%-50% of your total damage output. The higher range is when you are dealing with mobs; the RBoL will be chewing up (and leeching HPs from) the other monsters surrounding you while you melee the monster in front of you. You also get additonal protection from the "Gold for Health" (Damage Received Reduces Gold) mod -- one reason that you want to snag gold along the way. Basic Build: take in this order: Concentration, Parry, Constitution, Meditation, Agility (or Sword Lore), Armour. Keep Concentration maxed, keep magic lore and weapon lore as high as possible. Split any remainder between Parry and Constitution until level 30, then split them between Agility (or sword lore) and Constitution. Meditation will take care of itself for the most part with the set item bonuses. Armour is for late game adds when you hit the ROI on your other skills. Attributes will be mostly Phys Regen to help with your attack CA. If you want to push the magic side though, then you can put points into Mental Regen (and Meditation on the skills side). This is a solid all around build for a seraphim, becuase it boosts many of the critical stats. This helps mitigate the lack of sockets available, which is the main downside of this build. Advanced Build: take in this order: Concentration, Parry, Constitution, Meditation, Armour, Trade. Keep Concentration maxed, keep magic lore and weapon lore as high as possible. Split any remainder between Parry and Constitution. Meditation will take care of itself for the most part with the set item bonuses. Armour is for mid game to boost your overland speed as needed. Trade is ulta-late game (Niobium). Attributes are 100% Charisma. This for for 2 main purposes: 1) Charisma boosts yout poison damage (direct and indirect) and 2) the Charisma boost will help long term with trading. What this build does is sacrifice attack (AR) for a great poison damage output (it also sacrifices AS or Defense, depending upon what you would have gone with instead). It also sets up a long term benefit of utilizing trade once most of the skills have hit the wall on ROI. Trade can be a good Skill dump for all of those excess points: and in Niobium, the bonuses come more from gear, and less from skills/attributes. My Current seraphim is at level 108 using the advanced build. She is just about to the point where she is maxed out skill-wise, and will begin dumping everything into trade. Her posion melee damage is adequate (Attack CA level 12 at about 10K per hit) and her magic damage via RBoL is about 3K. A side benefit is her 30 million in gold that she will begin spending soon when her Trade increases. Basically she can hold her own in platinum and be a good Trader for herself and for all of the other toons on my account. This is not my strongest build per se, but it very well could turn out to be if Trading kicks in strong once she hits 140. But it has been a very interesting build so far, close to my 2 Abdiel builds

The Hybrid Seraphim (level 54 HC) Skills: Level 1: Magic lore -- 1 point on odd levels until 100 points Level 1: Weapon Lore -- 1 point on even levels until 100 points Level 3: Heavenly Magic -- 1 point on odd levels until 40 points Level 6: Constitution -- Add points when Heavenly Magic reaches 40 Level 12: Concentration -- 1 point every level until Attack regen < 3.0 Level 20: Parry -- Add points when not adding to comcentration Level 30: Armour -- any leftovers Level 50: This is your freebie Go with Trading or Riding. Or if you are enjoying melee, take Sword or LHW Lore. Once you hit level 50, you will pretty much spread your skill points or pump them as the situation changes. The only thing to note is that you never need to go above 9 points in riding should you choose to take that skill. Attributes: Mental Regeneration on odd levels. Physical Regeneration on even levels. Magic: There is so much fun here I do not know what to tell you But I will try One word of warning -- be very careful before you click on a spell rune that you already have learned. Because once you do, you can never undo it. Clicking on too many runes can mess up your regen time, so there are safer ways of doing it. But eventually (at upper levels) you will be clicking on them 1) Rotating Blades of Light (RBoL) -- Do your best to keep the duration time close to equal with the regeneration time. 2) Celestial Light (CL) -- Keep duration and regen as close as possible to each other at low levels. At higher levels, you may want to use this as a rapid fire weapon, and keep the regen under 5.0 seconds. 3) Lightning Strike (LS) -- Keep the regen time under 1.0 seconds. 4) Light (L) -- This is your weapon of choice against undead, or a great tool at night and underground to see better. Keep the regen time close to the duration time. 5) Strength of Faith (SoF) -- Use this if you need to melee bosses, or creatures that have been flame-skinned or stone-skinned. Comabat: Be very careful before you click on a comabt rune that you already have learned. Because once you do, you can never undo it. Clicking on too many runes can mess up your regen time, so there are safer ways of doing it. But eventually (at upper levels) you will be clicking on them 1) Attack -- This will be your major weapon. Try to keep the regen time below 3.0. Try to keep it under 2.0 when your Attack Speed is greater than 200. 2) Combat Jump (CJ) -- This is also a nice secondary weapon and exploring toll. Use it to jump rivers and get free of entaglements. Try to keep this regen under 1.0. Sockets: You have a lot of options here, and you may be swapping out sockets a lot. So experimet, and see how you do and what you like best 1) Leech Life (LL) -- You are going to want to get to 25% LL ASAP. Initially, this can be done with the *vamp runes*, socketed into equipment. Eventually the equipment will provide it's own leech modifiers, and you can phase out using these runes. 2) Increase Magic Damage (MD) -- magic Seras are very lucky because the *seraphim runes* that they use for their own spells also provide a boost to magic damage when socketed. What that means is that if you want to boost your CL or RBoL up one or 2 levels, you can socket those runes instead of clicking them. Socketing them means that you get a lower regen time, and extra magic damage, and a way to bring your Spell level (and regen time) back down if you need too, by unsocketing those runes. 3) Increase Attack/Defense (AD) -- some *WE runes*, *DE runes*, and *vamp runes* can increase your Attack and Defense rating. Also, look for rings and ammulets that can boost your Attack and Defense seperately. 4) Reduce Regen Special Move (RSM) -- probably not used too often, but *Glad runes* can lower your RSM when socketed. However, if you find a ring or amulet that does +10 RSM or more, then SAVE IT for sure -- you will use it later! 5) Increase Weapon Damage (WD) -- These are rings, and sometimes amulets that deal damage. Look at the numbers below the "main" number; specifically Fire and Poison damage. These will be socleted into your two main weapons. 6) Increase Resistances (RES) -- these are for down the road when you have everything else under control. If you find that fire or poison monstrs (attacks) are giving you grief, then socket a few rings or ammies that boost that particular resistance type. Physical resistance is a good standard one to have as well. 7) Trap Flyers (Eng) -- make sure that you have a slotted weapon that has a least one of these runes socketed (if it already doesn't have this as a natural modifier). Some *we runes*, *DE runes*, and *seraphim runes* have this. Combos: You can have up to 4 combos at a time. I suggest; 1) 1x RBoL -- This comes in handy if your regen time for the normal blue button ever goes to far above the duration. basically this combo is a backup (or a double up) for your primary Attck. 2) 1x CL -- Same as for RBoL; this is a handy backup/double up. 3) 1x Light -- If you are tangling with undead, it is nice to cast a normal RBoL, and then a 1x light combo (lets you cast both without having to wait for the blue timere to regen). Combining these two spels at the same time gives you a big edge when dealing with them -- especiall yht magic resistant ones. 4) 4x CL -- The is the mob/boss slayer. 4 CLs will wipe out most monsters, and return plenty of leech back to you! But be warned; the combo takes a LONG time to regenerate. So keep 1 or 2 yellow pots around for emergencies -- yellow pots will instantly regen a combo timer. SLots: You start with slots (buttons) 1 (left hand) and 6 (right hand). You gain additional slots on boths sides at levels 2, 8, 16, and 30. The left hand slots (1-5) should be used as follows: 1) This is for the shield and/or weapon that has the highest POISON damage. 2) This is for the shield and/or weapon that has the highest FIRE damage. 3) This is for the shield and/or weapon that will entagle flyers. 4) This is for the shield and/or weapon that boosts your experience points. You make these items by socketing them with 5% experience *BM runes*. Use this slot when dealing the final "death" blow to creatures like spiders and dragons. 5) This is for the shield and/or weapon that can increase your chances to find special items (chests, barrels, magic spots). The right hand slots (6-0) are your bread and butter. You can organizer 8, 9, and 0 in any order that you wish. 6) Attack 7) Combat Jump 8) Blue CL 9) Blue Lightning 0) Depends (probably 1x combo RBoL, but you can put BFG, 1x Combo CL, etc) Spell Regeneration Time: This is a tough topic and complicated -- I really wish we could discuss this via voice (phone or SKYPE). I will do my best in writing, but this is critical to understand. If your regen is too long, then you will be left standing silly while your spell runs out and you are waiting for regen to complete. If your regen is too short, then you spells will be under powered and you will be recasting more often than you should. Regen time goes up every time that a spell level goes up. This happens if you click on a rune, socket a rune, or put on a piece of gear that says "+x to *some spell*". For example, the lighting spear boosts the level of the lightning spell while equipted. But as soon as it is no longer you selected weapon, then you lose the bonus. If is is on a piece of armour (natural or socketed), than it remains as long as you wear it. If you click on a rune, then the level is boosted forever; there is no way to undo a learned. Regen times goes down every time that a spell level goes down (see above for the opposite correlarry). Regen times also go down when: 1) Heavenly Magic, Meditation, and/or Mental Regeneration goes UP. 2) Whenever you equip or socket an item that says "increases spell regeneration +x". A trick to get around a high regen time is to alternate a spell with a 1x combo, since that work on different timers (blue and orange respectively). So if you cast a spell like RBoL, and the spell runs out but it is still regenerating (meaning that you cannot recast), then you can cast a RBoL with a 1x combo. That way you have a spell going from a second soruce while your first source is still recharging. This is a good emergency trick that you can use until you get your spell regen times back down again; using one of the methods above. Combat Special Move Regeneration Time: This is a tough topic and complicated -- I really wish we could discuss this via voice (phone or SKYPE). I will do my best in writing, but this is critical to understand. If your regen is too long, then you will be left standing silly when your comabt move is done and you are waiting for regen to complete. If your regen is too short, then you combat moves will be under powered and you will be doing less damage than you should, and missing more often. Regen time goes up every time that a Combat level goes up. This happens if you click on a rune, socket a rune, or put on a piece of gear that says "+x to *some combat*". For example, Astrala's Cutter sword boosts the level of the Attack Art while equipted. But as soon as it is no longer your selected weapon, then you lose the bonus. If is is on a piece of armour (natural or socketed), than it remains as long as you wear it. If you click on a rune, then the level is boosted forever; there is no way to undo a learned. Regen times goes down every time that a combat level goes down (see above for the opposite correlarry). Regen times also go down when: 1) Concentration, and/or Physical Regeneration goes UP. 2) Whenever you equip or socket an item that says "increases regeneration of special move +x". A trick to get around a high regen time is to alternate a Combat Art (CA) with a 1x combo, since they work on different timers (green and orange respectively). So if you use the Attack CA, and the finishes but it is still regenerating (meaning that you cannot use it yet), then you can use the Attack CA again with a 1x combo. That way you can Attack again from a second soruce while your first source is still recharging. This is a good emergency trick that you can use until you get your special move regen times back down again; using one of the methods above. Good Luck!