I am Howlando, AMA

[Spiffy Has]

Sternhund or BigOrcMan?

Perhaps now it can finally be settled.

I to, wish to know.

[Providence]

A) What would it take to end EfU? Dying player count? Story/plot ending? Donations running out?

B) Is there an 'intended' ending?

C) EfU: R has been around for a bit now. Are there any plans to move on to the next iteration? If so, have you been working on that behind the scenes for last few months and years?

D) Are there any cool things you always hoped someone would find, but never did?

E) Has Entstehung been solved?

F) Has someone found something they weren't meant to because of a bug/accident?

G) Why are kobolds so awesome?

H) Do you have any plans to play a PC again in secret? It'll be hard not to figure out who it is, despite you changing emote styles. We all know each other really well now, unfortunately.

I) Do you know what happened to Bonescreech? He was my favorite person to play with.

J) The animatrons that used to wander around sometimes had a number puzzle where you could speak numbers to them; the dialogue options were something like: 1. 5, 2. 346, 3. 1235 and so on. I've spent many hours within that dialogue tree but I think no combination ever yielded a result. Is it just ambience or is there something to it?

K) What do you like better: someone who risks certain death because it is in character to do so, or someone who refuses a really cool DM quest that you prepared for a long time because of an IC reason?

L) What used to be your favorite quest back in the day? How about now?

M) Do you have difficulty pulling the trigger? What I mean is this: there's this looming threat of Dread but much of the time, EfU-conflict is inner-faction or between factions, or political or criminal. Do you sometimes fear that having the threat erupt in a very tangible way (for example, armies besieging the city and winning) would ruin the political things? Sort of how in Game of Thrones, we always wanted the Others to finally attack, but now that they do, at least speaking for myself, I'd rather have the politics and the scheming back.

N) You keep your life so private that in my imagination it is very fanciful. When you have spoken in the politics chat you always gave the impression of having lived the life of a well-meaning, but sheltered liberal of some social elite. Do you keep things private because you're famous, you're embarrassed or because you simply don't want to mix your online and offline lives because of the danger this poses these days?

O) Do you ignore tells when playing incognito? How do you avoid 'becoming friends'? Some players are chatty and will talk a lot in tells. Do you just not reply to them?

P) Who is your favorite villain and why is it Intryzz?

Q) Do you have a favorite book?

R) Do you have a favorite fantasy book?

S) Are you feeling better about the election result? You were a bit distraught in the politics chat back when the results came in.

T) Of all the places you have been in the world, was there one you liked the best? Visually or culturally?

U) Walk us through your creative process. How did you come up with the setting? Was it something you and other ex-CoA people worked on together? Whose idea was it originally?

V) Are there some master files detailing the "TRUTH" of the setting or are you making things up as you go along? A bit of both?

W) Have you ever pretended to be a new player to see how players react, to see whether the climate is still friendly and welcoming?

X) But no, seriously, that Puzzler's Key doesn't go anywhere, right? We've been looking for years!

Y) There was a weird combination lock in Old Stones. Did anyone ever open it just by fiddling with it long enough? What about other, similar combination locks?

Z) If you had just one small bit of advice for others, what'd it be? EfU-related or in general.

a) I had a few characters solo their way up Slaver's Way, but there wasn't much reward or point for doing so - but it would still be fun if there was something neat.

b) That crystal in the Caustic Caverns. Is there anything more to it that you can do without a DM? Or is it just ambience at this point? One of the major strengths of EfU is that, often, you can't tell.

c) Did anything ever come of the things you can do at the bottom of the Honeycomb? Did anyone ever manage to do the thing needed to learn more there?

d) There was a short-lived plot regarding the Third Eye and psionics. In the faction area, there was a sewer drain with an OOC warning that jumping it will likely be lethal. The area is no longer there, so I never had a chance to find out what would have been there.

e) Are there any "1 in 100" things that ever happened? For example, a player rolling the best result on Bloodmage transformations or anything like that?

f) You said earlier that you could become a God. How about a lich? How about a vampire?


0) Do you think our world is beautiful?

[Howlando]

Do you see yourself adapting any EFU content into other mediums? Video games (not NWN), books, campaign guides, board games, etc.

I'm unsure, I've thought about it. Of course a lot of EFU's content doesn't belong to us - the entire FR, for example.

EFU often takes a life of its own. What are the most surprising or unexpected changes you've seen in EFU in the last decade+?

Well, it does surprise me somewhat that we are still here and people are still enthusiastic about it. Some of the EFU:M ending plot stuff was surprising in various ways.

What other games or hobbies do you enjoy?

I don't really have the time to play other video games. And I am a bit afraid of the modern games being too engaging and sucking me in. I did play the Witcher 3 intensely for like a week and was very impressed. At least with EFU the time I spend on it doesn't feel like a total waste as it quite creative & and I value the community.

Other leisure activities - reading, meditation, wasting time on the internet, mountain trekking, various forms of fitness,  traveling, socializing with people from different countries.

Sternhund or BigOrcMan?

I have no dog in this fight. ;-)

[Howlando]

What's the most bizarre character application you have ever approved and declined?

We have received some pretty strange applications. I remember one vaguely cyborish app that had some seedy backstory involving a love for illithid tentacles or something.

We approved a Bonescreech application that basically had him as a very powerful half-fiend that lived in his own personal pocket plane but was subject to the commands of whichever PC controlled the pocket plane relic (so he was a kind of genie in a bottle).

[Howlando]

A) What would it take to end EfU? Dying player count? Story/plot ending? Donations running out?

Some kind of RL issue perhaps. Or the community/DM team totally losing interest.

B) Is there an 'intended' ending?

Kind of.

C) EfU: R has been around for a bit now. Are there any plans to move on to the next iteration? If so, have you been working on that behind the scenes for last few months and years?

We'll see. Certainly there are very interesting things we have planned for the future that we want to have happen and that I can promise will eventually happen.

D) Are there any cool things you always hoped someone would find, but never did?

Yes, for example there was an extremely elaborate quest in EFU:A involving an intensely complicated Fedex quest-chain that eventually had you going to Goblin Leper Island in the Underdark and then returning to the surface with some medicine for that goblin leper on the surface, and he would reward you with a Heal potion. As far as I know no one ever did it.

E) Has Entstehung been solved?

Yes. Is it bad to say so? Maybe. But yes.

F) Has someone found something they weren't meant to because of a bug/accident?

Yes. Like there was the time I had moved the module starting location right in the middle of the secret new area I had built...

G) Why are kobolds so awesome?

Because they're physically weak but clever/co-operative dog-lizards with style.

H) Do you have any plans to play a PC again in secret? It'll be hard not to figure out who it is, despite you changing emote styles. We all know each other really well now, unfortunately.

Not anytime soon. I don't think you sleuthed out the last PC I had that played with you, by the way. But maybe you did.

I) Do you know what happened to Bonescreech? He was my favorite person to play with.

I don't know, but I don't think he liked EFU:R very much. Last I saw of him he was having trouble climbing in the "Exploring in the 'dark..." quest and then AFAIK he never logged in again. I would be happy if he returned.

J) The animatrons that used to wander around sometimes had a number puzzle where you could speak numbers to them; the dialogue options were something like: 1. 5, 2. 346, 3. 1235 and so on. I've spent many hours within that dialogue tree but I think no combination ever yielded a result. Is it just ambience or is there something to it?

They were/are working precisely as intended.

K) What do you like better: someone who risks certain death because it is in character to do so, or someone who refuses a really cool DM quest that you prepared for a long time because of an IC reason?

The first. In general people should stay IC but usually I want people to go on my DM quests if I take the time to set them up.

L) What used to be your favorite quest back in the day? How about now?

I honestly haven't quested much in EFU:R but some day I would like to have a PC able to go on the Distant Shore quest. Also the complicated Machine quest the name of which I've forgotten.

I used to enjoy Sinister Enclave quite a bit. And Sand Crypt in chapter 1.

M) Do you have difficulty pulling the trigger? What I mean is this: there's this looming threat of Dread but much of the time, EfU-conflict is inner-faction or between factions, or political or criminal. Do you sometimes fear that having the threat erupt in a very tangible way (for example, armies besieging the city and winning) would ruin the political things? Sort of how in Game of Thrones, we always wanted the Others to finally attack, but now that they do, at least speaking for myself, I'd rather have the politics and the scheming back.

​This is a complex subject, but it is true that to some extent ramping up the stakes in a very big with a major existential evil is a hard thing to do and best avoided until such a time as the story is prepared to go in a new direction. Some things require a lot of follow-through/DM energy to appropriately handle.

N) You keep your life so private that in my imagination it is very fanciful. When you have spoken in the politics chat you always gave the impression of having lived the life of a well-meaning, but sheltered liberal of some social elite. Do you keep things private because you're famous, you're embarrassed or because you simply don't want to mix your online and offline lives because of the danger this poses these days?

I'm neither famous nor elite nor do I think I am particularly sheltered. I really just prefer to keep EFU and my real life separate, there are many good reasons for this - not specific to danger, but rather social embarrassment or awkwardness.

I don't think you are accurately representing my political views. I wouldn't consider myself a liberal in the contemporary sense of the word; I am probably something closer to a skeptical moderate about most things. It is true that I do value - thoughtfulness, expertise, balance, prudence, humility, and character - when evaluating someone for the role of a major chief executive. To some extent that really ought to be considered... conservative principles though.

O) Do you ignore tells when playing incognito? How do you avoid 'becoming friends'? Some players are chatty and will talk a lot in tells. Do you just not reply to them?

I don't really remember anyone trying to become friends with me.

P) Who is your favorite villain and why is it Intryzz?

I like Intryzz, but he's hardly much of a villain. A little bit, I suppose, but mostly Intryzz lives to amuse himself.

There are other contenders.

Q) Do you have a favorite book?

Not one in specific, but many favorites... I am reading mostly non-fiction these days. I can recommend Yuval Harari for a thoughtful take on human history.

R) Do you have a favorite fantasy book?

Many I like, not one specific favorite I don't think. I often recommend Jack Vance ("The Dying Earth" saga in particular).

S) Are you feeling better about the election result? You were a bit distraught in the politics chat back when the results came in.

Yes, I am feeling better certainly. I don't stay melancholic for long, actually these days I am mostly a quite happy person regardless of what is going on in the world. But I am still totally appalled by our current President.


I will answer the other questions later.

[Howlando]

T) Of all the places you have been in the world, was there one you liked the best? Visually or culturally?

I quite like Iceland (nature), Bolivia (nature & adventure), Peru (nature), Colombia (adventure), London (city-life), Portugal (culture, lifestyle), Budapest (city-life), Russia (people), Poland (people & culture), and the USA (everything).

U) Walk us through your creative process. How did you come up with the setting? Was it something you and other ex-CoA people worked on together? Whose idea was it originally?

I think I used to be more creative when I was younger. Nowadays most things related to EFU are generated co-operatively by the whole team. I often find snippets of inspiration from things I read or encounter elsewhere.

The origin of the EFU setting is fairly simple. Myself and Wolf_Pack were discussing an ideal new setting for a new server. We brainstormed a few ideas. He suggested a slave settlement outside of Menzobaranzan (the drow canonical city). I didn't like the idea of doing much in canon but liked the idea of surfacer ex-slaves in the Underdark and felt that the Underdark would be an interesting and somewhat fresh place to have a setting. I then put together a brief document that sketched out a possible setting - a few basic setting secrets, the concept of three slaver cities (Chabzash, Ysinode, Traensyr), and a rough history of Sanctuary along with its major factions (Seekers, Spellguard, Tigereye, and Watch) and Council. The rather mundane names "Charles & Frederick Bresley" are a sad consequence of this rushed early document. Originally the Council was intended to be more like a Roman Senate with some ludicrously large number of members; thankfully this was changed. Later DMs helped flesh out a lot of different aspects. Arkov was largely responsible for generating a lot of Sanctuary's history. Crosswind developed the Watch and proposed having an early-plot built into it in which players would rapidly learn that the Sheriff was part of a corrupt ring of child-slavers (in the end this plot took more than a year to come to fruition, but never mind). Most early DMs really hated the inclusion of the Tigereyes, but I was stubborn, and then it turned out that a lot of Tigereye players became DMs so nowadays most people remember the Tigereyes fondly.

V) Are there some master files detailing the "TRUTH" of the setting or are you making things up as you go along? A bit of both?

The story absolutely has a life of its own and naturally there is plenty of improvisation relating to all kinds of things. However, there is indeed a set of master files relating to certain core setting secrets and themes. There are the Core B files which are made available to trusted & experienced DMs, and then there are the final, ultimate Core A files which are kept only in the event of my own death or disappearance - during such a circumstances, the encrypted file requires a passcode from three separate DMs - Shadowcharlatan, as the True Master of Lore - Nukecat, as the only other surviving Wave 1 DM, and Snoteye - Lord of the End of Everything, our Jergalite Bureaucrat. The Core A files are otherwise unavailable to all DMs and its contents known only by myself and Arkov, who has taken a vow of total silence (it is rumored that his knowledge of the dreadful truths therein is responsible for his many year absence).

W) Have you ever pretended to be a new player to see how players react, to see whether the climate is still friendly and welcoming?

I think I did a few times in chapter 1. I believe there was one incident in which a player was particularly helpful, later that player received a mini-event and a piece of custom phat loot.

Nowadays though I would probably think a fresh cd key is just a banned player who's sneaked back into the server. =(

X) But no, seriously, that Puzzler's Key doesn't go anywhere, right? We've been looking for years!

Apparently not in the right place.

Y) There was a weird combination lock in Old Stones. Did anyone ever open it just by fiddling with it long enough? What about other, similar combination locks?

I think there was one yes, but I can't remember the details...

Z) If you had just one small bit of advice for others, what'd it be? EfU-related or in general.

​Spend a few minutes a day doing something genuinely constructive with your life beyond either EFU or normal studies/work.

a) I had a few characters solo their way up Slaver's Way, but there wasn't much reward or point for doing so - but it would still be fun if there was something neat.

I'm sorry your statement must be phrased as a question.

b) That crystal in the Caustic Caverns. Is there anything more to it that you can do without a DM? Or is it just ambience at this point? One of the major strengths of EfU is that, often, you can't tell.

Well, it is something.

c) Did anything ever come of the things you can do at the bottom of the Honeycomb? Did anyone ever manage to do the thing needed to learn more there?

As far as I know there are aspects related to this that have not been fully discovered by anyone - but I'm not 100% on that.

d) There was a short-lived plot regarding the Third Eye and psionics. In the faction area, there was a sewer drain with an OOC warning that jumping it will likely be lethal. The area is no longer there, so I never had a chance to find out what would have been there.

I don't know about this.

e) Are there any "1 in 100" things that ever happened? For example, a player rolling the best result on Bloodmage transformations or anything like that?

Not that I can remember.

f) You said earlier that you could become a God. How about a lich? How about a vampire?

​Definitely a lich, it's a worthy goal that could be pursued IG.

Vampire - not sure - perhaps as part of a plot. I mean Nightriser PCs basically were vampires.

0) Do you think our world is beautiful?

Yes.

[Providence]

Thank you for the many answers. I could easily ask another thirty because I always had a passion for this setting... I wish you well!

[Silvermoon Dervish]

Did the Netherese do anything right?

Wouldn't it be easier for the Netherese to execute dangerous criminals than build the megalabyrinth-prison of Alackazabbraddathrax floating o'er the ley crossroads closest to the negative plane, only open whence the dragon Brezzedoszaffar the Epicurist became roused from his supiternal slumber by the Cosmic Conjunction of the Spheres which herald the Death of the Undying Divinity, unlocked by the woeful squeals of a thousand would-be mothers of stillborns clutching their ravaged wombs as Shub-Niggurath supped upon their helpless misery to defecate the Eternal Missing Piece of the Demiurgic Death Engine of Blastoronzzymph contaminating the land with Unlife yet safekeeping the Realm from the Sleepless Slumber of Gradiozzaneph the Original Prisoner of Alackazabbraddathrax who will be defeated by Brezzedoszaffar the Epicurist once the Sun rises from the West for the thousandth year?

[Certified Retrievals]

god silvermoon dervish, if they just killed the criminals then we wouldnt have efu

If you had thought you could get away with giving clerics spell failure in EFU:A/M due to The Mist that Shrouds even the Eyes of the Gods, would you have done so?

[Howlando]

Did the Netherese do anything right?

Yes.

Wouldn't it be easier for the Netherese to execute dangerous criminals than build the megalabyrinth-prison of Alackazabbraddathrax floating o'er the ley crossroads closest to the negative plane, only open whence the dragon Brezzedoszaffar the Epicurist became roused from his supiternal slumber by the Cosmic Conjunction of the Spheres which herald the Death of the Undying Divinity, unlocked by the woeful squeals of a thousand would-be mothers of stillborns clutching their ravaged wombs as Shub-Niggurath supped upon their helpless misery to defecate the Eternal Missing Piece of the Demiurgic Death Engine of Blastoronzzymph contaminating the land with Unlife yet safekeeping the Realm from the Sleepless Slumber of Gradiozzaneph the Original Prisoner of Alackazabbraddathrax who will be defeated by Brezzedoszaffar the Epicurist once the Sun rises from the West for the thousandth year?

No.

If you had thought you could get away with giving clerics spell failure in EFU:A/M due to The Mist that Shrouds even the Eyes of the Gods, would you have done so?

No, because the problem with removing deities is to ensure that whatever replaces them is still cool - I'm not sure Relic Guardians are that great, but there's some potential maybe. It just takes some time and thought to develop.

[Silvermoon Dervish]

What would you consider the lowest common denominator of conflict?

[Howlando]

What would you consider the lowest common denominator of conflict?

Hm. Could you expand upon this question? Do you mean what is the least substantial reason for conflict between characters?

[Certified Retrievals]

Who would win in a fight, Tau vs. Cathbadh?

[Deston E]

Are there instances of PVP that have resulted in FD that you just really didn't agree with? Any you wanted to retcon just because the character was so good or other reasons?

[Howlando]

Who would win in a fight, Tau vs. Cathbadh?

​It would be a long and bloody fight. I think probably Cathbadh, as he would fight dirty.

Are there instances of PVP that have resulted in FD that you just really didn't agree with? Any you wanted to retcon just because the character was so good or other reasons?

​Of course... many times! But we have to try to be fair.