User talk:Rpeh/Arc 200904

This is an archive of previous comments on my talk page. Please do not post a message here - use this link to go to the active page instead. Thanks.

Deformed Swamp Tentacle

I'm sorry for my 10x "less useful" contribution to the page describing the locations on where to find the Deformed Swamp Tentacle. Actually, the description that was there before confused the heck out of me. West of the 'Door to Cyrodiil? Am I supposed to automatically know where that is?? I actually traveled to the "Door to Cydrodiil" and found nothing. That's what many players may think with a description like that. "Oh, it says to go to the west of the 'Door to Cyrodiil'". Technically it's located on the other side of the Fringe's wall that (I believe) you can only get to by going through the gates of Madness anyway. It took me awhile to eventually figure out, once entering the gate of Mania, I go down the hill to the left and go halfway around the other side of the wall to get the tentacle. I don't know how that description could have been less useful. I gave a step-by-step description on how to find it, rather than just a vague description. I'm sorry, but you can't just assume every player reading the wiki just automatically knows where everything is. That's the whole point of these walkthroughs I thought ... if it's just going to be a bunch of vague descriptions, then what's the point?

I added that the other tentacle was located on the Dementia side, because without specifying that in the description that was already there, how could the player know? There is also some swamp tentacles located right as you enter the gates of Dementia, that, the player might mistake for the Deformed ones.

You know, I rely a lot on these kinds of walkthroughs for help, and one can't assume that every person reading the walkthrough is going to be a game pro. Even if you, Rpeh, are one - a total game master - understand not everyone is. Some people may need a more detailed description than others. This previous one told me nothing, and I ended up wasting a lot of time trying to figure out what to do.

I'd like to ask to re-add my description. It may be more to read, but I'm sure it'd help the player out a lot more. — Unsigned comment by S (talk • contribs) at 23:37 on 31 March 2009

I agree with S that the description given was confusing, but at the same time, I think his/her description was a bit verbose. I've re-worded the original ever so slightly, but I think it's much clearer now. --Robin Hood (Talk • E-mail • Contribs) 22:23, 31 March 2009 (EDT)

Thanks RobinHood70 - but might I suggest something? I still think it would be a good idea to indicate, that to get to the tentacle that's "west to the "door to Cyrodiil" - that the player needs to go through the gates of Madness. When I attempted this the first couple of times, I kept going to the actual Door to Cyrodiil itself, faced west and was thinking "I see nothing but the top of the wall". No, I'm not slow. I was rather stumped though, because the description made it sound like the tentacle be "right there west of the door" when actually, it's clear over the other side of the wall, and its impossible to get to from there. I'm just afraid that will continue to cause confusion for others who are reading that particular section. Sorry for making it so verbose.

This is only a suggestion though. I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do here, but I really really think a revision for that particular location may be necessary (just my opinion). --S 00:33, 1 April 2009 (EDT)

These aren't walkthroughs, they are just brief descriptions of where to find things. It's exactly the same sort of description we use everywhere on the site. Having had no memory of where the particular swamp tentacle is, I just tried to find it using the original description and did so almost instantly. The original description said "outside the Fringe's wall" and if people decide to look for it inside the wall then there's not much hope for them. The description should not include anything about going through the gates because it assumes that you're coming from inside the Fringe, which may not be the case. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 00:45, 1 April 2009 (EDT)

I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand what you mean here: "Having had no memory of where the particular swamp tentacle is, I just tried to find it using the original description and did so almost instantly. The original description said "outside the Fringe's wall" and if people decide to look for it inside the wall then there's not much hope for them. The description should not include anything about going through the gates because it assumes that you're coming from inside the Fringe, which may not be the case."

What did you mean in your last sentence? So the description assumes the player is coming from inside the Fringe. Okay. But ----- wait. This quest is a Crucible quest. Meaning - the player probably wouldn't even start doing it until well after they've entered the Gates of Madness anyway. So, coming from inside the Fringe seems irrelevant here. There is absolutely no way of accessing it that way and the description makes it sound as though you can actually access it through the inside of the Fringe. Seriously, at first I went all over the place trying to find it. I even tried seeing if I could jump over the wall because that's the only way I thought I'd be able to access it.

I wouldn't consider these descriptions brief. Usually, they're very descriptive and useful, and have helped me out a lot. But this one quest, for some reason had the most vague description on how to locate these darn Swamp Tentacles (I still haven't found any that are 'Deformed' yet) - it was very frustrating and ended up wasting a lot of time. I was just trying to put things in a more plain, simple, (and yes possibly more descriptive) way. And as for saying "this is on the Dementia side"? How come that ended up being deleted? There are Swamp tentacles hanging by the Gate of Dementia, and if the player didn't know any better, they might think "those are the ones" when in fact, they're not. I ended up finding the other one while running around Dementia for a bit. This is why I was so frustrated. I read these wikis so that I WON'T get confused/lost/not know how to get to places.

I'm glad you found the tentacle quickly. But as I mentioned in my first response, you cannot assume others will find it as quickly as you did with such a vague description. Considering where the tentacle is actually located, the description to me seemed incredibly vague. The new addition though, specifying that the tentacle can be found in the water should help somewhat.--S 01:23, 1 April 2009 (EDT)

Sorry but now you're really confusing me... you originally wanted to state "that the player needs to go through the gates of Madness" and now you say you don't? As far as I'm concerned, the phrase "outside the Fringe's wall" has meaning no matter where you come from, and the description is quite clear. –Rpeh ^{•T•C•E•} 04:06, 1 April 2009 (EDT)

I'm not sure where I stated the player didn't have to go through the gates of Madness ... I guess what I meant was ... if the player is already past the Gates of Madness (meaning they're in Mania or Dementia) they're going to think "Why do I have to go back to the Fringe for this item"? Because of the whole 'Door to Cyrodiil' thing. See - I was already in Mania, and was thinking, "Why do I need to go back to the Fringe for this"? If the player is in the Fringe and hasn't gotten to the Gates of Madness yet, my guess is that they don't even know about the Swamp Tenticle. That is why I stated I don't understand why the description conveys it as though the player is coming FROM the Fringe - as you mention. They wouldn't even know about it at that point.

Is that a little more clear? Sorry for the confusion. --S 12:38, 1 April 2009 (EDT)

It doesn't imply that at all. We have plenty of descriptions on the site that say things like "West of Skingrad" and none of those imply that you're always coming from the city when you head to the place they describe. The description was fine; as amended, it's slightly better. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 13:53, 1 April 2009 (EDT)

Raargh.

Sorry about Oblivion:Spell_List_Notes. Just read it and thought that it was redundant since all that info is on the Spell Making page. Didn't realise it was actually a template. xD Ong elvin 11:00, 1 April 2009 (EDT)

Reasons for Absence/Lethargy

I don't want to put this on my userpage, since I hope it'll be irrelevant soon.

The reason I've been very much less active recently is simply because I've been unwell for the past two weeks or so. I've already replied to the people who have emailed me directly - thank you for your concern: it was appreciated! - but for you and everybody else, I thought I'd put up a brief note.

It seems to have been some kind of dose of the 'flu, exacerbated by my now-extinct nicotine habit. It has lasted at least two weeks and is quite capable of draining every last bit of energy from me. I took a couple of days off work to get over the worst of it, but since then I've just been exhausted when returning in the evening and utterly unable and unwilling to wiki.

So I'm sorry if I haven't been much help recently. I probably won't be much help in the next few days either, since I still can't shake this.

See you all soon. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 19:26, 3 April 2009 (EDT)

It must be awful. I totally understand why you cannot dedicate too much time to the wiki. Get well soon! --Matthewest ^{•T•C•E•} 00:59, 16 April 2009 (EDT)

Hey Rpeh

Please can i ask why you removed all of the roleplays??

thx — Unsigned comment by Target (talk • contribs) on 4 April 2009

Much as I would like to remove all of the roleplays, since the low-quality writing and pointless ramblings they contain are an affront to literate people everywhere, I didn't. The individual ideas were collected into groups so that people didn't keep adding pointless suggestions without bothering to read what was already there. The new links are here - exactly where the previous ideas were, so I'm surprised they were so hard to find. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 09:34, 4 April 2009 (EDT)

Vesna as a Mentor

Hey, I saw your recent post on Lurlock's page regarding the Mentorship program. I don't want to look like I'm picking at it but I noticed Vesna's last contribution dates back to Christmas Day 2008. Since this is more than 3 months, shouldn't she be removed as well? The reason for this is that I've seen one or two posts on her page recently which have obviously been left un-answered because of her absence. Thanks. --SerCenKing ^Talk 13:35, 4 April 2009 (EDT)

Specific questions :O

Is there a more direct way to bounce questions around to you?

My other questions generally have to do with scripting and modding, as I would like to do some of that. I've fiddled around with .nif scope, but failed miserably, as I did not find it to be an incredibly intuitive program to learn. Scripting I imagine could be easier... just learning the lingo, but I don't know where to start, and was hoping you could point me in a good direction, or help me yourself, with them ^_^. Thanks either way, Scxe 21:52, 4 April 2009 (EDT)

The best place to learn about modding is the TESCS site. It's not something we cover on here. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 02:03, 5 April 2009 (EDT)

Image Confusion

The only reason my image uploads were incorrect was because I followed everything mentioned in the Images Guide. Maybe you should add that important image criteria you told me (legs showing, no cropping etc.). --Matthewest ^{•T•C•E•} 08:33, 11 April 2009 (EDT)

Crime Gold

In regards to the recent changes to Oblivion:Crime#Getting arrested, I think the person who changed the gold amount to 500 is correct, which you said yourself was correct here. Unless, of course, I missed something somewhere along the way. Since changing the amount in-game to 500 makes the guards come after me immediately, I'm assuming that amount is correct and reverting both Crime and Infamy pages to 500. If there's something I'm unaware of, please let me know. --Robin Hood (Talk • E-mail • Contribs) 18:47, 14 April 2009 (EDT)

My bad. Serves me right for trying to edit when I'm as tired as I was. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 00:47, 15 April 2009 (EDT)

Date Template

On your User Page, you have a neat little Date template. Would you mind if I added this to my User Page? I am always curious on what the day in Tamriel happens to be... --Matthewest ^{•T•C•E•} 06:25, 15 April 2009 (EDT)

Feel free. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 06:52, 15 April 2009 (EDT)

Thankyou. Your User Page is excellent! How long did it take you to put it all together like that? Also, I've always wondered what nationality you are (it isn't on your User Page)... --Matthewest ^{•T•C•E•} 07:13, 15 April 2009 (EDT)

A) Not too long. B) British, which is why I have a userbox saying "This user is from Great Britain." –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 07:57, 15 April 2009 (EDT)

Oh my mistake. I hadn't noticed it before. --Matthewest ^{•T•C•E•} 21:37, 15 April 2009 (EDT)

Your Pwn

I like you. Well, I like you more than Nephele. Congrats for being cool. Miska man 19:06, 15 April 2009 (EDT)

Change for Schlera Sestius

Hey I understood why you took off my NOTE on Schlera Sestius about her bow skill not being over 75. You see, normally you can only stagger an opponent if your marksman is over 75. So I assumed her marksman skill was, for she staggered me quite a few times when I tried fighting her for fun, even when my agility was 100. Now if you claim that NPCs work differently, how so? And how do you know? I am not trying to say I'm right, I realised YOU were right but I just want to know why. And how did you know her marksman was 32? You wrote that in the history page. I've written two complete guides for Oblivion, and played it over 5 times completely- I am pretty close to an expert on this game, so I want to know how you knew and how can I know if an NPC has perks like the player or not, and what their skills are. Maybe it's because I only have the Xbox 360 version though. Please reply, thanks a lot pal. KrantiGlove 04:11, 17 April 2009 (EDT)

Oh and by the way, I've just joined and want to know if you have any tips on being a better editor and learning any skills. I've seen a lot of your edits and they're really good, keep up the good work: ). KrantiGlove 04:11, 17 April 2009 (EDT)

Schlera Sestius is a leveled NPC, therefore all of her skill levels are dependent upon her level, which in turn is dependent upon the player level. The formulas used to determine skill levels are provided on the NPCs article. Based on those formulas, her marksman skill is 32 at the start of the game, i.e., when then player is level 1. Her marksman skill only reaches 75 when the player reaches level 30 (and reaches 100 at level 47). That's based on formulas, but the formulas were derived by using the console to determine the exact skill levels of countless NPCs at many different levels, so I'm pretty confident that using the console to check Schlera's stats in game would yield the same results as the formulas.

Therefore, for the majority of players her skill is not 75 and therefore it is not correct to simply state that her marksman skill is always greater than 75. Furthermore, her marksman skill is not inherently remarkable: there are a dozen other leveled NPCs with the same class; there are many other NPC classes for which marksman is a major skill and a class specialization. All of those NPCs will also have 75+ marksman skill when the player is at high levels, Just as countless other NPCs will have 75+ in blade skill or blunt skill at that point in the game, and therefore will also be able to knock you down when attacking using their preferred weapons -- even goblins can knock you down. Adding a note on the page of every single Leveled NPC in the game would basically just be a waste of time, in my opinion. --Nephele^Talk 16:34, 16 April 2009 (EDT)

Nephele's already given a much better reply to your first question that I could so I'll skip that part. For the second question, the only way to improve is to see what other respected editors do and to learn from them. I learned from people like Nephele, DrPhoton and Aristeo when I joined, and although some editors have moved on, there are still a lot of good people out there to learn from. The basic rules are surprisingly simple: use good English, spell correctly, read the article you're editing thoroughly, and don't assume that what just happened to you happens to everybody. If there's anything you feel you need more help with, please feel free to ask me or another mentor.

I'm sorry for the delay in replying, incidentally. I've not been well recently - I'm still not 100% - and I haven't been playing my usual close attention to the site. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 07:58, 17 April 2009 (EDT)

Ok thank you guys, I understand now. No wonder, my character was level 43 when I fought her so obviously she would have had marksman over 75 with the formula. Thanks for the advice as well, and please get better soon! You're doing a great job here on this wiki man. --KrantiGlove 14:49, 18 April 2009 (EDT)

Kneel Spell

You said it is just a combination of powerful spells, but I think it is different than that. It is the combination of a lot of very low level spells that makes such a powerful total effect possible. What I don't see in the spells listed on the wiki is the idea of taking the minimal effects of many spells to create something different.

I found that the game drastically changed when I stopped trying to just create a high damage spell and started combining very small damage, weakness, a very short paralyze, a few seconds of invisibility, and magic drain... all cast in the most minimal way so that it wasn't super expensive. All of the enemies just lay down and try to get up. When they get up, they just stand there because they cannot see you, and then you drain them a little bit more. Offense and defense all in one button.

So it is cool if you don't think it is unique enough, but in all my playing with spell combinations, this concoction of different tiny spells was the most effective. Much more effective than simple spells that just do a lot of damage.

(... love the wiki, by the way... thanks for all your work on it) — Unsigned comment by Owensbt (talk • contribs) on 20 April 2009

Well first, thanks for the compliment! A lot of people have worked hard on the site and it's always good to get positive feedback.

As for the spell... you're right that it's not the obvious UBER spell so beloved of most posters, but it's still a combination of the same sort of effects. For the most part, the Useful Spells page aims to provide spells that most people won't have considered, or that do something unexpected. Even though your spell has different magnitudes, and is therefore rather more useful than the average uber spell, it still uses the obvious effects and thus falls on the "delete" side of the divide.

Of course, this is just my opinion. If other people find it sufficiently unusual then feel free to add it back. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 16:24, 20 April 2009 (EDT)

Cool... thanks Rpeh

Gray Cowl of Nocturnal

Argh. That just bothers me that we don't use the commas inside the quotation marks. But, I guess it makes sense. Still, it bugs me. Oh well. Thanks for clearing it up, anyway. -- Interrupt feed 07:08, 21 April 2009 (EDT)

Yeah it's a bit annoying but as you can see from the discussion, we decided it was necessary to eliminate ambiguity. In most cases it doesn't really matter one way or the other, but that one seems necessary to me. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 07:52, 21 April 2009 (EDT)

Happy Birthday~!

Hey, Robius, hope you're having a pleasant celebration of the anniversary of your nativity. May you never be older than you feel! --Somercy 01:31, 26 April 2009 (EDT)

Happy birthday, rpeh! Hope you have a great day.  :) --GuildKnight^Talk2me 02:11, 26 April 2009 (EDT)

Thank you, ladies :) –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 02:56, 26 April 2009 (EDT)

Happy Birthday, RPEH! Oh and I call it 25 with 11 years experience! I'll be 25 with 14 years experience in a few days. ;) --Robin Hood (Talk • E-mail • Contribs) 03:24, 26 April 2009 (EDT)

Have a great day rpeh! Happy Birthday :) - Game Lord^{Talk|Contribs} 07:23, 26 April 2009 (EDT)

And thank you, gentlemen! –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 08:23, 26 April 2009 (EDT)

I'll tag along as well.. Happy birthday! --SerCenKing ^Talk 08:39, 26 April 2009 (EDT)

Happy bday!!! Ur awesome!!! A random reader of this wiki.

Happy birthday! (although I may be too late) Thanks for your awesome work with the Tamriel Rebuilt images. Theviking 19:04, 26 April 2009 (EDT)

Happy birthday. Sorry for being late. --Michaeldsuarez ^{(Talk) (Deeds)} 10:12, 27 April 2009 (EDT)

Dude, did you actually read my comment on the Talk page properly?

I knew someone would just skim-read what I wrote without understanding it. Go back and read it again.84.92.169.252 18:01, 27 April 2009 (EDT)

I read it perfectly the first time. Since all the things you mention have their origins in Lovecraft's books, it doesn't need another mention. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 00:22, 28 April 2009 (EDT)

Some things I found out.

Dear RPEH and other administrators/editors.

While playing Morrowind, I came across some some things I did not find on the site, so I thought "maybe the people here would want to know about this".

The first thing I came across was a "Gauntlets of (the) Horny Fist". According to the site there's only one to be found, but recently I came across a second one. I think it was in Galom Daeus, in one of the closets in "Galom Daeus, Entry".

The second thing I just found out (about an hour ago) is that by using the "pcraiserank" command on PC, you can join all three great houses. I am counilor at redoran on one of my accounts, and using the command Pcraiserank "telvanni" I became a Telvanni hireling. I haven't tried this way to become Hlaalu, since there is the Orvas-Dren-way, but I think it should work there too.

The third thing I came up with was a place to find the Hlaalu Vault keys. By just bashing in and killing everyone, I found a key to open the outer-vault door on Baren Alen (not pickpockable) and one on the ordinator between the two doors (also not pickpockable). I am searching for the equivalents of the keys in several Hlaalu-manors and houses, but haven't found them yet. I suppose you already know that there is a key to the redoran vaults in saren manor, Redoran plaza, called "Saren treasury key" (It might also be the other manor at the plaza, I sometimes mix things up).

I hope this was useful information and not a waste of your time, With Friendly Greetings

T.R.C.B.

PS: If I made a lot of spellingmistakes: I'm Dutch, so, you know...