I got banned for commenting on someone commenting on the fact they are bad about giving out technical support but are happy to take your cash. BlankBrained or something is the name of the guy who banned several of us in chat.
Luisaso — Today at 1:42 PM
No, how to do it?
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 1:42 PM
Find Conan Exiles in your steam library.
Right-click “Conan Exiles” in your library and select “Properties”.
Then select “Set Launch Options…”
In the window that pops up you’ll want to enter the following: “+connect xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:27015”
Replace the IP given here with the IP from the server you’re trying to connect to.
Launch your game and then wait it can take a few minutes for it to connect you via this method to the server.
Luisaso — Today at 1:43 PM
Okay
luca — Today at 1:46 PM
Hey does anyone have an idea why my ark server cant be found by steam or in ark? Some context: I changed nothing to the server, yesterday and the past few days i played on it and everything was fine. The ip is the same. I connect by query port. I can ping the server from my desktop and also from workstation servers. No changes were made, web interface says its online. Problem is there only since today
BlankBrained — Today at 1:47 PM
hmm thats strange, is anyone able to connect to it at all?
luca — Today at 1:47 PM
nah, friend of mine has the same issue
BlankBrained — Today at 1:47 PM
is it crossplay?
luca — Today at 1:47 PM
no
BlankBrained — Today at 1:48 PM
whats the server called and is it PW protected?
luca — Today at 1:48 PM
server name is joennerjy and yea theres a password
BlankBrained — Today at 1:48 PM
no worries, give me a moment
hmm yea I just tried searching it as well, it doesnt pop up for me either, on your web interface its showing as online and running?
Luisaso — Today at 1:50 PM
Nothing
luca — Today at 1:50 PM
https://prnt.sc/7VlTQsVaJHzY
Squish — Today at 1:53 PM
well, now its in a restart loop and just ends up at stopped. i just turned off item download and then hit start server
luca — Today at 1:54 PM
if i traceroute i get on timeout at the 4th step tho
Carrasqueira — Today at 1:54 PM
how to add an admin in scum
I own the server, but I can't log in as an administrator
BlankBrained — Today at 1:55 PM
have you tried stopping the server and checking the settings to make sure nothing was changed?
BlankBrained — Today at 1:55 PM
you may need to do a small rollback, you can choose the option "start from save" in your general settings and pick the second most recent one
luca — Today at 1:56 PM
stopped and restarted multiple times since the issue is known. cant find anything in the logs and i didnt change anything manually
🖤🦝Sarah🦝🖤 — Today at 1:57 PM
Hi how do you do this? I'm having issues after attempting a roll back my server is stuck 'restarting'
BlankBrained — Today at 1:58 PM
thats very strange, Have you made a support ticket regarding this? you may need to have nitrado take a look at your account
BlankBrained — Today at 1:58 PM
ill grab you a screenshot give me one moment
🖤🦝Sarah🦝🖤 — Today at 1:58 PM
Thanks 😊 x
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 1:58 PM
Huh im out of options for this one let me see if i can find anything else
luca — Today at 1:58 PM
yea i did, was just hoping someone might be abled to help here
Squish — Today at 1:58 PM
okay doing that now
BlankBrained — Today at 1:59 PM
yea im not sure why it would show online but not appear via the game
luca — Today at 1:59 PM
Al said that if the game version is not showing up underneath the query port the server isnt running and that the interface might be wrong sometimes, idk
BlankBrained — Today at 2:00 PM
this is under "general" tab in the servers web interface, youll want to pick the most recent time, this example is from a test server, which hasnt been on since January3, yours should have a much more recent date at the top.
Image
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 2:01 PM
Click on the "View" menu at the top of Steam. Then click on "Servers". Now make sure you're on the "INTERNET" tab on the window that opens up and click on "Change Filters" in the bottom left of the Servers window. In the "Game" drop down box select Conan Exiles.
BlankBrained — Today at 2:01 PM
That could be the case - I would suggest stopping the server and waiting like 15 minutes, starting it back up and see what happens
other than that, it might just need to be adjusted by staff
luca — Today at 2:01 PM
aight brb, ty
Squish — Today at 2:08 PM
its not working ;-;
Luisaso — Today at 2:09 PM
Nothing
Image
Squish — Today at 2:10 PM
Ill give it a bit ik sometimes backup restarts take a while
BlankBrained — Today at 2:11 PM
ughhh thats frustrating!
So its still crashing when they try to pull items out of the obleisk?
luca — Today at 2:11 PM
i stopped the server some minutes ago and i can still ping it hm
Squish — Today at 2:11 PM
no it wont even reboot download
BlankBrained — Today at 2:12 PM
At this point I can only suggest to make a ticket as I do not have the ability to look at it myself
BlankBrained — Today at 2:13 PM
what do you mean by that?
🖤🦝Sarah🦝🖤 — Today at 2:13 PM
Okay thanks have tried this still seems to be stuck 'restarting'
luca — Today at 2:13 PM
aight ty regardless
you cant ssh to servers i guess?
Squish — Today at 2:14 PM
Sorry I mean it won’t start up when I select that game save to load from.
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 2:15 PM
Your server time out can you force stop it an try again after 10 minutes
Comet — Today at 2:15 PM
I wish nitrado would stop closing tickets without confirming thinks work 🤦‍♂️
Luisaso — Today at 2:16 PM
I ve already done it and nothing
BlankBrained — Today at 2:16 PM
Hmm, are you comfortable with trying a different save?
Squish — Today at 2:16 PM
Yessir I’ll poke around with it and let you know
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 2:16 PM
Iv exhuasted everything i have can you submit a ticket in ⁠official-support
Luisaso — Today at 2:17 PM
Ok, thx
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 2:17 PM
Im sorry for the inconvinence
luca — Today at 2:17 PM
sam, can i ssh to nitrado game servers?
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 2:18 PM
What do you mean like become admin of your server? Yeah if you are owner
luca — Today at 2:19 PM
my webclient is buggy and i thought i could maybe reboot it by connecting via ssh
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 2:20 PM
I dont know the answer to that question but i dont think you can do that
luca — Today at 2:21 PM
aight ty
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 2:21 PM
Yea np
Carrasqueira — Today at 2:21 PM
I own the server, but I can't log in as an administrator
slva7 — Today at 2:24 PM
they trolling us bro idont understand why i cant play
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 2:25 PM
Please be civil please ♡
slva7 — Today at 2:26 PM
so u admin right ? we open utubers sever and they cant play is over than week server crashing and restarting so ex to us why that happen and fix it
BlankBrained — Today at 2:27 PM
if you have a question regarding your server you can ask here or reach out to ⁠official-support
slva7 — Today at 2:27 PM
here genral questions
Nitrado
BOT
— Today at 2:29 PM
https://support.nitrado.net/
Today at 2:29 PM
BlankBrained — Today at 2:29 PM
Do you have a question regarding your server?
Squish — Today at 2:31 PM
I was able to do the settings change and multi restart the server. Went to pull stuff out and it crashed right away. I have two artifacts in my Obelisk Inventory, i know those shouldnt be there. Any idea what to do next?
BlankBrained — Today at 2:33 PM
are you able to attempt to toss them out? instead of transferring to your inventory, have you tried tossing it if possible?
Arzaseth — Today at 2:33 PM
Hello, i have a question, i have 2 different Ark SE for Xbox one servers, we are moving on to Ark SA, but we don't want to loose everything we have on the other two servers. I want to download the save file for each map of the servers to have a local backup, but for the Xbox one servers i dont see anywhere the FTP credentials to manually search the files, what can i do in this case?
Squish — Today at 2:36 PM
The only option is to transfer, doesnt let me drop or anything
and the second i try to put anything in my own inventory, wether its armor or materials or the artifact it just crashes.
BlankBrained — Today at 2:38 PM
you may need to have support take a look at the cache, it might be something stuck in the transfer upload thats broken
Id try disabling item transfer, this will probably delete whatever is in the ark, then enable it again that might help
Squish — Today at 2:40 PM
Okay thank you for your help ill submit a ticket!!
BlankBrained — Today at 2:40 PM
happy to atleast try to help, sorry we couldnt come to a solution
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 2:40 PM
What a humble convo good job squish and blank
zk — Today at 2:41 PM
how do i backup my server
Dikke akka, veel grip — Today at 2:43 PM
yes but the reason people are just being toxic is because their not happy with their service and aren't also so happy that they have no other choise then to buy nitrado i mean i get it toxicty isn't an option ofc
SBR ICEMAN — Today at 2:44 PM
Why can't I find my server while my friends can
🖤🦝Sarah🦝🖤 — Today at 2:45 PM
Does anyone know a fix for the 'server restarting ' loop. Tried booting the previous backup but still stuck
Squish — Today at 2:46 PM
Okay, i was able to find some more info online, this file contains the obelisk save data. And i opened it and i can see the artifacts in there, but idk how to edit this file
Image
SBR ICEMAN — Today at 2:46 PM
@🖤🦝Sarah🦝🖤 I put a ticket in for that and they fixed it
Dj Casper (Djci Owner) — Today at 2:52 PM
where can i get a refund
Arzaseth — Today at 2:54 PM
Anyone?
Dikke akka, veel grip — Today at 2:55 PM
you can also chargeback with you're bank just report nitrado for fraud/scam
🖤🦝Sarah🦝🖤 — Today at 2:56 PM
How do I put a ticket in?
Dj Casper (Djci Owner) — Today at 2:56 PM
ok
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 2:57 PM
⁠official-support
SBR ICEMAN — Today at 3:00 PM
Go to the Help section on nitrado and there's a box there that says Write a support ticket
Carrasqueira — Today at 3:02 PM
Good evening, I have a Scum server and I can't log in as admin! Can anyone or does anyone know how to help me?
🖤🦝Sarah🦝🖤 — Today at 3:02 PM
Thanks its just taken me to a blank page with Nitrado logo jumping up and down I don't think I will ever get it to work 😅😭
uftea — Today at 3:03 PM
Does someone know when i have a prepaid server, can i extend it?
Hellojohnno — Today at 3:13 PM
Anyone server on ark get their settings changed as well as username and password?
ShaydedReD — Today at 3:13 PM
When I connect to FTP my server file structure shows only logs
am i missing something?
Overͥłoͣrͫd — Today at 3:29 PM
Can someone help me with why my server been crashing for over 12 hrs
It’s stuck in restart loop
Can’t even restore back up
Willyp — Today at 3:43 PM
^^same here
Overͥłoͣrͫd — Today at 3:45 PM
How do we fix it
Willyp — Today at 3:45 PM
i have no idea
Overͥłoͣrͫd — Today at 3:46 PM
I been asking here since morning but I think they deleted my question
JamieBlack — Today at 3:54 PM
They did tell us its a known issue and they are working on it. Our server is down since sunday...
Overͥłoͣrͫd — Today at 4:03 PM
I’ve made so many tickets all they do is email me back the exact same thing I wrote them
skittzthefritz — Today at 4:07 PM
anyone else think that the contract with nitrado should be canceled. brand new sever cant even start with out looping a waste been down for 12 hours haven't even been on it yet no mod or anything
KALI_MA22 — Today at 4:07 PM
Which data center did you choose?
Overͥłoͣrͫd — Today at 4:08 PM
Same man. I have some many people waiting to play and it’s been stuck in restart loop for half a whole day
King0623 — Today at 4:12 PM
Why is my Ark server unplayable for 12 days now? Does this every update. i filed a ticket and got a bot response "we know it can be frustrating"
Gunslinger8199 — Today at 4:12 PM
Around this time every day, the FTP always seems to have connection isses on my end. Im guessing people being on mid day effects performance. That might be causing issues for some.
King0623 — Today at 4:13 PM
Class action lawsuit?
Overͥłoͣrͫd — Today at 4:13 PM
Is there anything u guys do during restart loop to help?
Gunslinger8199 — Today at 4:14 PM
Thats like suing the government because they dont build enough roads because there is traffic during rush hour. Wouldnt work.
skittzthefritz — Today at 4:14 PM
our sever is saying it up but it not and wont show up now
King0623 — Today at 4:14 PM
not true
Overͥłoͣrͫd — Today at 4:14 PM
Ark devs needs a class action lawsuit also with all the stress we had with hackers
Overͥłoͣrͫd — Today at 4:15 PM
Go to where it says show server on list
Gunslinger8199 — Today at 4:15 PM
ahh you meant the game devs, thought you meant nitrado
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 4:15 PM
Hey guys things getting a little wild in here are yall ok?
Overͥłoͣrͫd — Today at 4:15 PM
Mines hasn’t been up, freakin stuck on restart loop, Nitrado support is not even supporting
King0623 — Today at 4:15 PM
yes this isnt new... Its happening constantly. No one needs the run around its completely on Nitrado.
skittzthefritz — Today at 4:16 PM
no we are not ok
Gunslinger8199 — Today at 4:16 PM
🫡
King0623 — Today at 4:16 PM
just the usual wasting of hours of our life bc we re getting scammed
BlankBrained — Today at 4:17 PM
chill please
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 4:17 PM
Now now need need be worked up
skittzthefritz — Today at 4:17 PM
they delete tickes asying it fixed or it mod when some severs are brand new with not mods and restart looping
xXMorepheusXx — Today at 4:17 PM
Those of you who are having the loop issue, did you look in the help channel for the loop help process?
BlankBrained — Today at 4:17 PM
⁠Restart Loop Issues ⁠Boot Loop Guide
Gunslinger8199 — Today at 4:17 PM
🤣 🤦🏻‍♂️
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 4:18 PM
Also i wanna bring awareness to the lovely FAQ nitrado has on the official site
https://server.nitrado.net/en-US/guides
Nitrado Gameserver
Nitrado Gameserver
Spieleserver, Gameserver mieten, Hosting günstig und sofort NITRADO
skittzthefritz — Today at 4:19 PM
dosnt help
BlankBrained — Today at 4:19 PM
This is a community discord, so youre only going to get help from fellow server owners here, you guys are welcome to make a ticket with ⁠official-support.
if you are toxic you will be timed out.
ღ𝒜𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓪 — Today at 4:21 PM
Has anyone found a solution for Nitrado showing the server online, but when you search to get on it. You get no sessions found?
xXMorepheusXx — Today at 4:21 PM
@ღ𝒜𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓪 did you tell it to show in server list?
skittzthefritz — Today at 4:22 PM
king got banned lol
BlankBrained — Today at 4:22 PM
hmm youre not the first person to state this today, When you look at your interface does it show users online or is that part missing?
BlankBrained — Today at 4:22 PM
no they did not
SamIsHereToAmuse — Today at 4:22 PM
Nah hes not banned
skittzthefritz — Today at 4:23 PM
mh
ღ𝒜𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓪 — Today at 4:24 PM
That part is missing. I had been restart looping for 12 hours after doing what all the guides said finally got out of that.
Kitty Shackleford — Today at 4:25 PM
Thank you purple names for your service 🫡
BlankBrained — Today at 4:25 PM
I would suggest reaching out to support regarding that, last person who had this issue had to get their server moved to a new drive. I wish I could move it for you and solve your problems but hopefully ⁠official-support will get back to you
ღ𝒜𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓪 — Today at 4:25 PM
Thanks will do that
Carter — Today at 4:25 PM
Blank's the best
BlankBrained — Today at 4:25 PM
:UnoReverse:
Carter — Today at 4:26 PM
ahah in my dreams
Overͥłoͣrͫd — Today at 4:30 PM
How do we reach out cus everytime I reach out n make a ticket they just email me nothing but what I wrote them
BlankBrained — Today at 4:31 PM
I believe the email is a form of transcript that your ticket was sent, theyll reply within 24 hours usually
keegantai — Today at 4:31 PM
I love how i pay for a server just to use it for 2 hours... (ASA no mods). Have it crash and do the restart loop. Tried all the forums and even reset the server completely. Still having restart loop. Put in a helpdesk ticket and almost 30 hours later get a reply saying it is fixed only to find that it is in fact not fixed. W T F Nitrado. How is this a legal service?
BlankBrained — Today at 4:32 PM
Hey there! I had a similar issue, however I do have some mods, but both my modded and not modded maps were looping, after spending a few hours back and forth with a ticket, they ended up moving me to a new harddrive, If youve already tried restoring a backup and it didnt work, Id suggest making a ticket asking them to move your servers as thats what helped me (not 100% it will solve your issue but Im hoping it will help you too)
keegantai — Today at 4:33 PM
NAh, for the last 3 months all my replys are over 24hrs of waiting with no help. Took them 4 days to fix the palworld server and have yet to get a ASA server to work for more than 8 hours straight.
BlankBrained — Today at 4:33 PM
how old is your ASA server?
keegantai — Today at 4:34 PM
Just bought it 4 days ago for scortched earth map.
BlankBrained — Today at 4:35 PM
if youre not afraid of losing any data, Id suggest just reinstalling the entire thing
Eldwitch — Today at 4:38 PM
Why on earth is ping still AWFUL for scorched??
https://gyazo.com/02006e93ab4d9faee8938605aa7fef1c

You may or may not remember us from our showcase series, the Story of Emmaline. Well, it's January 2024, and now we're opening!

PLAY TESTING NOTICE

Be aware this is still an alpha launch, so bugs and glitches are to be expected. Because of that, during alpha phase, any player will get XP or Presence rewarded for reporting bugs and typos, or even submitting ideas. (BUG/TYPO/IDEA) Don't abuse this by spamming repeated reports, but use it very freely! There will be playtesting rankings, and the top ten bug-finding playtesters will be memorialized for all time on the website in thanks.
Current Game Features...

• Bugs
• As-Yet-Unanswered Lore Questions
• Pauses in the Story While Glitches are Fixed
• More Bugs
• Short-Term Retcons of Unintended Accidents
• Tweaks to Metrics Such as Fixing Damage on an Overpowered Weapon
• Lag Issues
• Avalanches of Bugs

Story

Song of Avaria is a story-focused game! So, let's hear about the story.
​
How does it start?
You are on a ship (with a cast of NPCs that can be seen here). The ship has left Omrazir and set sail for the restless port city of Al-Sabiyyah, just across the desert from the great emporium of Noura where the Augur of Endings, with his special brand of ominous charisma, claims that he is a new prophet of The One God, and the last days are near...
Disclaimer Note: Most people don't really care about the Augur of Endings! It's just one guy, in one city, in a vast world. He is not the focus of the game. It's just a lore tidbit to orient you. However dramatic it may sound, YOU are the focus of the game!
But why are you on the ship?
Are you a poor lost stowaway, unsure of where you're going?
Are you a partying merchant heiress, accidentally on the wrong ship?
Are you a skilled diplomat, sent by the Caliph to negotiate an end to the Augur's movement?
Are you a trader and crafter, seeking to capitalize on the conflict or help people caught up in it?
Are you a curious spy? An assassin? A rebel joining up with the Augur's forces?
Are you just a sailor, and it's your job to work on the ship between ports?
Are you someone else entirely?!
WHAT ARE YOU!? That will be your choice.
How do I sign up?
First, check the rules and make sure you'll be able to follow them.
Click the Register button on the main menu of the game's website. From there, you can make a new character. If you have trouble with this, read the QuickStart guide on the wiki.
Go wild with your ideas! Don't worry, we'll help you refine anything that needs thematic tweaks after character creation. If you have a cool idea for a special plot hook or item you want to bring to the table, we can help with that too.
As soon as you've completed character generation, you can enter the game with your new character, either through the webclient on the site, or with telnet at songofavaria.com, port 4000.
When you enter the game, you'll be in the Faded Zone. It'll be as if your character is just having a strange dream, soon to be forgotten. It's all right to be a little weird and OOC here. We'll make sure your character is all set to join the story, and then approve your character application, and after that you'll be able to enter the world through the vortex.
On the other side of the vortex, your character will be on the ship -- waking up from a dream, and itwill be time to be as perfectly in-character as you are able. So if you wanted to OOCly test random commands and abilities without any in-character consequences, it's best to do that in the Faded Zone before passing through into the "real" world!
Do you want to hunt a jackal and make a jacket from its fur? Feel free, but you will not be able to wake up with the jackal-jacket -- it will disappear when you move through the vortex.
Perhaps you'd like to spar with the ghostly gladiator! Go ahead. If he ends up "killing" you, one of the roving healer spirits -- NPCs that wander and heal PCs -- will no doubt happen by eventually. It's not possible to die in the Faded Zone.
Jump off a cliff? Go fishing? Practice commands and explore features through some small gamelike quests? Just mess around roleplaying with each other to familiarize yourself with syntaxes? It's all fine to do in the Faded Zone.
And whenever you're ready, you can move on through the vortex to wake...
How will the story proceed?
Once you're on the ship, your character is in the world. It's time to stick to your role! Think of what your character's goals might be, large or small, and set up an initial Story Arc for them. You can do this through the website, or via text commands in-game. Go ahead and ask on the GAMEHELP channel if you need any help with commands.
You can socialize with the others on the ship... but be aware that things may not go according to plan.
In fact, we have an alpha-phase plot planned for you! This will be organized into possibly four chapters, but the story will be guided by the actions of the players, so it could be subject to change.
For the first chapter, here is the official schedule of upcoming RPTs (recommended playing times) run by GMs (game masters):
​

• CHAPTER 1: THE SHIP

​

RPT NAME	TIME
A Party	Saturday, January 27th, 3:00PM EST
Danger!	Saturday, February 3rd, 1:00PM EST
Worse Danger	Sunday, February 11th, 10:00AM EST
Safety	To Be Determined...

​
You can also find events on the game's calendar.
The roleplay timing is in the early/middle of the day on a weekend in order to accommodate players from as many timezones as possible. Of course, it might be possible that you will miss some of these times, or even all of them! And that's perfectly okay. You can imagine that your character was just in the background, and you will hear about these events through plot notes as well as out-of-character log posts, because nothing involved in the main event plot will really be kept private during the time of being on the ship.
We recommend playing outside these times as well, in order to roleplay downtime from potentially traumatic events, form bonds with fellow voyagers, investigate plot matters through NPCs and environmental clues, and pursue your own character stories. Each story should get individual attention from GMs roughly once a month at least, though it depends on how many players join.
Future events may change and the course of the story will shift due to player-character actions. For that reason, we don't want to plan things too firmly in advance. You're welcome to guess at what may happen, but be aware that it is kept purposefully vague, and it may change at any time due to organic roleplay.
There are also many secrets in-game, and underlying intrigue, which you will need to be engaged with in order to nose out!

Questions & Answers!

Can I be late to the party?
If you don't manage to make a character and get on the ship straight away, that's perfectly all right! It's a big ship, and there could be a large number of people on it, but most of them are VNPCs: virtual non-player-characters, just in the background as various crewmembers and passengers. When you end up making a character, it'll just be as if that character was actually there all along, and is only now coming out of the background cast.
Every time that there's a big shift in the alpha-phase plot, we'll announce it, so you can keep abreast of the story, and conceptualize how to fit your character into it as it's progressed so far. We're also available to help with any adaptations to your character concept, once you're in the Faded Zone.
What if I don't want to play on the ship?
The ship is our contained environment for the beginnings of our alpha launch, so during this phase of the game, it is the only world location where we will be accepting new players.
Will I lose my character after alpha phase is complete?
While you may end up consensually losing your character due to the stories within the game, in no phase of development do we plan to wipe any characters or otherwise nullify player efforts that have gone into writing cherished roleplay stories.
Do we have a Discord server?
No, we don't have a game Discord. We prefer it if you would use the forums for discussing Song of Avaria. Forums provide what we believe is a healthier asynchronous mode of communication, where a player is not "always on" and tempted to engage continually with the Discord server -- rather than immersing themselves in a roleplay world with other roleplayed characters, during purposefully chosen and limited periods of time where they're fully focused on living out their story in Avaria.
We're just currently not convinced that having a Discord server will contribute positively to the sort of relaxed and peaceful community that we aspire to cultivate. Please lean into the spirit of an immersive game, without the pressure and OOC distraction of Discord!
Now that's it! Have fun, and feel free to ask any questions either in the comments below, or when you log in!

I tend to gush over Alter Aeon and Dark Legacy in this subreddit a lot (deservedly) but I want to highlight a MUD that I tried recently and was really blown away by.

The Great

• The turn based combat system is just... awesome. Outside of a long-gone Final Fantasy MUD from the early 2000s that I think really nailed turn based combat this is the best implementation I've ever seen
  • For people that want autocombat there is a very powerful tactics/autobattle system that lets you setup triggers, conditions, and priorities for you and/or your companions
• Solid crafting system that's not too deep, not too shallow and mechanically a just a joy to use. There is an additional building aspect where you can manage your own pocket dimension but I haven't used that much but it's there for people that like that. Also for people that don't like crafting in games loot is plentiful and you can totally get by without making your own armoweapons
• The psuedo-classless system where skills/spells only require attributes but you can freely change your class to get certain archetypal bonuses (or have no bonus and get an exp boost) is well done
• There is an interesting mercenary system that effectively turns the game into team tactics where you can equip, level, and manage an npc follower that will battle alongside you
• The web client is really slick and I heard it's getting even slicker in the near future. There is a mudlet pack that has MSP/music but I personally prefer the web client and can't wait until it gets sound support
• It is very friendly to experimentation. As mentioned you can freely change your class, you can also freely respec both your combat and crafting abilities
• There are some quality of life features that are small but let you know the dev has actually played their game. Things like inventory sorting, filtering of containers, looking at an item shows its crafting recipe, fast travel/waypointing is free, the stat sheet shows you exactly what each stat is doing "what does 1 extra point of agility do? I'll tell you exactly how it impacts stat A, B, and C. Also here's exactly how much more damage you do per round"

Could use some love

I don't think there's anything in PR that I really dislike but there are a few things I would describe as slightly clunky.

• While the mercenary system along with autobattling is incredibly powerful but as far as I could see there was no rule against multiplaying so I don't see the point of using a mercenary at the cost of a 50% (adjustable) exp penalty and having to order them to do stuff versus just running two (or more) clients
• The divine protection spell seems almost mandatory. You can choose not to take it in which case you have to buy or make healing potions which cost a turn to use and have a cooldown and cook food to regen out of combat because you'll still be a bit hurt after battle or you can just put 1 point in strength and 1 point in spirit and learn a spell that constantly heals you almost as much as a potion, lasts a really long time, can be applied to your party members, and is practically free. Of course if you're using a merc you personally don't need to learn this spell but not having someone in your party with your spell seems just objectively wrong. I consider this fairly minor because out-of-combat regen is very fast even without it and the death penalty is quite forgiving so it's not the end of the world
• I'm sure this is just me being new to the game but the randomness of the world can make some quests frustrating to complete. You may get a quest that says kill 5 hyenas and there are some nice features like monitor quest that will notify you when a hyena is near on the map but as far as I could tell they are basically randomly distributed so you just have to walk around until you find one. Having kill quests give some general area would be nice instead of just "Tall Grass" which can be found all over the map.
• The website could use some docs/details. I was always able to find an appropriate helpfile in game but I think just having the basics like info about the classes/combat/crafting/building/etc. would entice people to check it out
• The webclient is getting a big update so I don't want to be too specific but some things I think would be nice would be the chat windows separated from the main output, the current stats being biggemore visible in particular combo points get a like 20 pixel progress bar which isn't terribly useful when skills require a specific amount (of course you can use the combo command in game to see but that's why this is in the nice-to-have list) Allowing the sidebar to be resizable would also be a nice-to-have

tl;dr if you've been around MUDs a long time and want to see something really fresh give them a try https://proceduralrealms.com/

The holiday season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than by immersing yourself in the enchanting world of Runewild RSPS? This Christmas vacation, give yourself the gift of an extraordinary gaming experience that will transport you to a realm of adventure and excitement.
1. Escape to a Winter Wonderland
Forget about the mundane and step into a virtual winter wonderland with Runewild RSPS. The game's stunning graphics and immersive landscapes will have you feeling like you've been transported to a snowy paradise, complete with festive decorations and holiday-themed surprises.
2. Unique Gameplay Experience
Runewild RSPS offers a unique twist on the classic RuneScape experience. With custom features and updates, this private server brings fresh challenges and quests for both new and seasoned players. Explore a world where every corner holds a new mystery to unravel and conquer.
3. Gather 'Round with Friends
The holidays are all about spending time with loved ones, and in Runewild RSPS, you can do just that. Join forces with your friends, old and new, to embark on epic quests, conquer formidable bosses, and celebrate the season together in a virtual realm filled with camaraderie.
4. Seasonal Events and Rewards
'Tis the season for giving, and Runewild RSPS embraces the festive spirit with special seasonal events and exclusive rewards. Participate in holiday-themed quests, earn unique items, and revel in the joy of the season as you share the experience with fellow players.
5. Unleash Your Creative Spirit
Whether you're a seasoned adventurer or a casual gamer, Runewild RSPS provides a canvas for you to unleash your creativity. Customize your character, design your own home, and stand out in the crowd with unique outfits and accessories. This Christmas, let your imagination run wild!
6. Time-Limited Holiday Content
Don't miss out on the limited-time holiday content that Runewild RSPS has in store for you. From exclusive items to special challenges, the game transforms into a festive playground where every moment is filled with holiday cheer. Seize the opportunity to make this Christmas in the virtual world truly memorable.
This Christmas vacation, let Runewild RSPS be your escape into a world of magic, adventure, and friendship. Immerse yourself in the joy of the season and create lasting memories with a gaming experience like no other. Unwrap the magic, and let the holiday festivities begin!
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RSPS Gold Shop or A6D9 (A6D9#0001) on discord to buy RuneWild RSPS Gold.

Dear Personal Finance Canada,
I recently inherited some money from my late father's RSPs and am considering making a cash offer on a rural property in British Columbia. I have already viewed the exterior of the home, and spoken to neighbors about the pros and cons of the area.
As this would be a cash offer, I believe it could potentially be more appealing if we can restructure realtor fees - mainly removing the closing buyer's commission because I wanted to do this on my own as I feel a realtor wouldn't add much value. My main question is whether it is possible to contact the seller's agent directly and say I don't want a buyer's real estate agent, with the intention of removing the closing commission fees. Is such an arrangement allowed in BC? If anyone has experience doing this, your insights would be greatly appreciated.
I also plan to make my offer conditional upon a satisfactory home inspection. Any advice or guidance you can provide regarding these topics will be immensely helpful.

Welcome to the thread of Eldoria RSPS.
Discord
We are aiming to make a mix or both a semi-custom and full custom server, we feel like some of the aspects of a full custom are fun to a lot of people but they want the OSRS bossing / Raiding vibes.
So we bring you Eldoria, we will be working hard to bring that feeling right to our players. Having both OSRS items but also custom variants of them with special animations and attacks.
We will be adding a lot into this source and will be leaking sneak peaks of what's going on in our discord. So far we are pretty close on everything just sorting out how we want this economy to go either the OSRS route aka items costing upwards to a max of like 2-3b or Full custom route and have it being able to reach upwards of Trillions.
If you want to give your input or just come and lurk about the discord until release then I say come on and get in here!
Current specs of the source as below:
Bosses : 35 and counting Raids : 2 ( trying to add ToA) Minigames : 15 ( including Treasure island, Nomads Requiem, Zalcano) Afk zones Donator zones Random events + Random Spawn Bosses Player Owned Shops Achievements + More
Oh .... also.... working Runelite + HD plugin + more plugins working.
Come check it out!
https://preview.redd.it/j1x1vv3fsudb1.png?width=250&format=png&auto=webp&s=43cff65e5d02c6967bb7c5550d1aa5dcfbf2c8c2
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Me: You are hustleGPT, you are my business partner in developing AI applications to launch profitable bootstrapped 1M ARR+ businesses. One idea we are working on is an AI-powered document auto-generator (name TBD). The vision is to build an agent that is embedded into your life and can completely replace document generation for me. In the long run, it can identify high-priority information from internal documents, summarize FAQs from customer support questions, and summarize those documents for internal and external stakeholders. For an MVP, we are building a tool that can ingest context from Slack and Intercom and generate documentation for me. Here is the plan:

1. Install Intercom or Slack bot
2. Ingest documents and text from data sources
   1. Intercom
      1. Auto ingest all Intercom messages
   2. Slack
      1. Tag the bot and it can create FAQs or documentation with command "@ bot faq 10"
3. Create docs from each set of Intercom message

Walk me through what I need to build to implement this.
ChatGPT: To build this MVP, you will need to focus on the following key elements:

1. Integration with Intercom and Slack: This is the most fundamental requirement. You will need to set up bots or use API access to connect with these platforms. Both Slack and Intercom offer APIs that can be used for integration. You'll need to handle authentication (typically OAuth2) and implement logic to listen for new messages or events.
2. Data Ingestion and Storage: Once the integration is in place, you will need a system to ingest the data from these sources and store them securely. This could be a relational database like PostgreSQL or a NoSQL solution like MongoDB. Depending on your preferences and the specific needs of the project, you could also consider cloud storage options like AWS S3 or Google Cloud Storage.
3. Natural Language Processing (NLP): To interpret the text data from the ingested messages, you will need an NLP engine. This could be a pre-trained model like GPT-3 or BERT, or it could be something more specific to your use case that you develop yourself. You will need to design a system for extracting the key information, summarizing it, and generating new text based on it.
4. Document Generation: Once the NLP has interpreted the text data, you'll need to generate the documents. You could use a library like Pandoc or Asciidoctor to generate documents in various formats, or you could develop a custom solution based on your specific needs.
5. UI/UX: To allow users to interact with the bot and access the generated documents, you'll need to build a user interface. This could be a web-based application, a desktop application, or even a plugin for Slack or Intercom. You'll need to consider user experience here to make the process as seamless as possible.
6. Security: Given you're dealing with potentially sensitive data, it's important to take the necessary precautions to ensure data security. This could include encrypting data in transit and at rest, implementing strict access controls, and regularly auditing your security practices.
7. Testing and Validation: It's important to thoroughly test your system before rolling it out. This could involve unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests. Also, consider setting up a CI/CD pipeline for automatic testing and deployment.
8. Deployment and Monitoring: Once everything is ready, you'll need to deploy your solution. This could involve using a cloud provider like AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure, or it could involve setting up your own servers. You'll also need to set up monitoring and alerting to ensure everything runs smoothly.

In summary, this will involve a combination of backend development (API integration, data ingestion, and storage, NLP, document generation), frontend development (UI/UX), and DevOps (security, testing, deployment, monitoring). It's a complex project, but with a well-planned approach, it's definitely achievable.
Me: let's start with step #1, give me the full code to do this
ChatGPT: Code Snippet for Slack integration:

import os from slack_sdk import WebClient from slack_sdk.errors import SlackApiError # Setup the slack client slack_token = os.environ["SLACK_API_TOKEN"] # Get Slack token from environment variables client = WebClient(token=slack_token) try: # Send a message to a channel response = client.chat_postMessage( channel="channel_id", text="Hello World!") assert response["message"]["text"] == "Hello World!" except SlackApiError as e: assert e.response["ok"] is False assert e.response["error"] # str like 'invalid_auth', 'channel_not_found' print(f"Got an error: {e.response['error']}") 

Tips and Tricks for coding with ChatGPT:

1. Direct Questions: Ask direct, specific questions to elicit precise information. You don't beat around the bush; you ask exactly what you need to know. Imagine you're a detective who asks direct questions to get to the truth, you should ask specific questions to get precise information. For example, instead of asking "Can you help me with my code?", ask "How can I remove HTML tags from a string in Python?" or "How can I debug this issue?".
2. Problem Description: Provide clear, detailed descriptions of your problem, including the context, desired outcome, and examples of the goals/issues you're facing. Imagine you're telling a story to a 5-year-old. Set the scene, introduce the characters, and describe the plot in detail, you should do the same with your problem. Provide all the relevant details, the context, and the desired outcome. The clearer the picture you paint, the better the chance of getting a helpful solution. It's like saying, "Here's the world I'm in, here's the dragon I'm trying to slay, can you help me find the right sword?"
3. Feedback and Iteration: Work with ChatGPT. Oftentimes, it won't get the answer right on the first try. Remember, if the answer is not satisfactory (which it often isn't), you need to explain to it what's wrong and asked it for a revised answer. For example, "A is not my problem. My problem is actually B. Help me figure out how to solve this problem."
4. Keep one ongoing Conversation per Project: Don't start a new conversation with ChatGPT every time you have a new question. The more context you can keep in the same conversation, the better ChatGPT will be at answering your specific problems. It might not use all the context for every answer, but it is surprisingly good at responding to the previous context in the conversation. For example, "Remember the code we wrote 50 messages ago? let's revisit that."

In case you're curious, here's thehttps://www.spryngtime.com/auto-doc.

I’ll start with a summary and go into more detail below. One thing I need to make clear is that I am not a licensed public adjuster. I am a contractor who has been working on these types of claims for 8 years, and as a byproduct I have learned a lot about insurance companies and policies. I will be going into some common policy terms and definitions, policy endorsements that have become more common over the last several years, a common insurance process, and some general advice. However, this is in no way, shape, or form should be considered personal advice about your individual policy and coverage. I will also touch on contractors, what to expect, and how to make this process as painless as possible.
I made a similar post 4 years ago, but many things have changed. Some of this will be copy and pasted, but there will be quite a bit of new information as well.
Please, please do not go up on your roof because of this post if you are not experienced doing so.

Summary

You will have many, many contractors and solicitors knocking on your door. There’s no way around it. You can have a no soliciting sign, a no trespassing sign, or another contractor's sign in your yard, and this still will not matter to some. With this type of claim, I highly recommend hiring a reputable contractor on your side acting for your interests. There are no silver bullets to finding a good contractor. Your interest in this claim is to maximize your claim by making sure all affected items are paid for by your insurance company. Whether your claim is $10,000, $20,000, or $100,000 your maximum out of pocket expense should be your deductible (assuming you have an RCV policy with no other endorsements or exclusions). If that is the case, it would make sense to get every applicable dent, ding, and scratch paid for. I’ve had a few homeowners say they don’t want to take advantage of their insurance company, but I’ve also never seen an insurance company volunteer to pay for things that couldn’t be fairly justified.
Insurance companies are very good at taking your money, and are generally hesitant to pay it out. I highly recommend at the very least picking the sections you don’t feel comfortable with and reading those.
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What to look for in a contractor

There is no official roofing license in Texas. Period. The state has no license akin to a plumbing license, irrigators license, or electricians license. Sure, a company could pay some third party who touts themselves as a “watchdog” of the industry, but the reality is that no such group really exists. There is an extremely low barrier of entry for getting into this industry, and as such many scammers and con-artists enter this space. A ladder and a truck is really all you need.
Here is a list of several questions to have prepared for anyone you meet with:
​

1. How long has the company been in business?
   1. Try to choose a company who has been in business for more than 5+ years. The average roofing contractor in this industry lasts 2-4 years. These companies will often sell you on 5-10 year warranties, which don't mean anything when the company is no longer in business 6 months down the road.
2. How long has the company been in the DFW area?
   1. This is just as important as how long the company has been in business. Storm chasers are real, and they bounce from state to state, city to city. There are only so many good roofing laborers in the DFW market. There are tons of laborers, but I would say 25% of all calls I go on are due to poor installation. Established companies have spent the time to develop good crews and weeded out the crews who were not up to par.
3. Where do you buy your products?
   1. While Home Depot or any big box store is OK, I would still prefer to have my contractor buy from specialized distributors such as ABC, SRS, or Beacon. Quality control is often better, and deliveries are guaranteed. While most contractors wouldn’t admit it, shingle discount stores are a hard red flag.
4. What products do you use?
   1. GAF, Owens Corning, and Certainteed are your three most common manufacturers that produce good quality shingles. This does not mean that any one shingle is inherently better than the other as long as they are the same type and class of shingle. A lower quality shingle installed by a good quality contractor will last longer than the best shingle installed by a poor quality contractor.
5. Will the roof be stripped down to the deck?
   1. Manufacturer specifications and installation procedures require a clean, verified deck before installation. If a company does not strip the roof down to the wooden deck, they are not verifying the integrity of the wood deck before installing the roof.
6. What does your insurance look like?
   1. I generally recommend a company have a $1,000,000 general liability along with workers comp.
7. How will I get the permit for the work?
   1. Plano, Allen, and Frisco all require permits for roof replacement. I prefer the wording of the questions this way vs. “Will you pull a permit?” A contractor can lie about pulling a permit, but if they know you want a copy it can help to weed out contractors who may be doing work under the table. The city will generally come to inspect the work to make sure it is up to code after the work is completed as long as a permit is pulled.
8. What happens if the damages don’t get paid?
   1. A contractor should be knowledgeable on all your options should your damages get denied on the initial inspection. There will be a more in depth section below on this very topic.
9. Do I have to pay my deductible?
   1. This is a weeding out question. You should immediately walk from a contractor who says he will do all the work and you won’t have to pay a deductible. More on this below.
10. Do you have any references in the area?
    1. Don't always expect to be immediately given names, phone numbers, or email addresses. A contractor should also respect the privacy of their prior customers. Sometimes contractors will have a list of prior customers who have given permission, but as this is more location based I wouldn't fault anyone for not having an immediate list. They should be getting you in contact with someone in a timely manner.

​

Can I do this claim process without a contractor?

Being in the industry, I know I hold a biased viewpoint, but I cannot tell you how many claims I have happened upon that were grossly underpaid between missing items and items paid for incorrectly. These items can be fixed later down the line, but it will still require a knowledgeable contractor.
The answer is yes, you can do this without a contractor. If you do, you'll want to read the “A common claims process” section. It is rare, but I have also seen perfectly paid claims where no contractor was present when the insurance company sent out an adjuster. At the very minimum you will want to have your home inspected to find all the damages to the property. Most companies will offer this inspection for free, but be prepared to sit through a sales pitch after the inspection.
There really shouldn’t be a reason to do this alone granted you have found your experienced, reputable contractor. Hail claims are one of the most expensive large area claims for insurance companies in North Texas. They are coming up with all kinds of crazy ways to save themselves money when it comes to these claims, and you are going to want an experienced company on your side to make sure EVERYTHING that needs to be replaced is paid for.
​

How do I know if the damage is enough to file a claim?

If you see marks on your fence, dents to your gutters and downspouts, and torn window screens, it's probably time for an inspection. This is a question only an experienced contractor can answer for you. If you live on the fringe areas of this hail storm this is more relevant to you. Typically I only recommend filing a claim if the roof is part of the damaged items. When a claim occurs, damages are added up by the insurance company using industry standard estimating software. Once they calculate a figure, your deductible is subtracted from the payout first. If you have a $4,000 deductible and $4,500 in damages to the gutters, window screens, and fence, you will only receive $500 and are expected to pay the $4,000. If you have $3,500 in damages, the insurance pays nothing, and you are still expected to pay and fix the items that were noted as damaged.
​

What will happen with my premiums if I file a claim?

When hailstorms occur they are considered Act of Nature/God claims. These types of claims are considered different from negligent or accidental claims. Insurance companies cannot single you out to raise your rates before I file a claim for a storm. What they CAN do is increase everyone's rates in a given zip code or area because they live in an affected area. If you did receive damage it’s in your best interest to file a claim and have those damages repaired. If you don’t file a claim you can still expect your rates to increase and effectively subsidize your neighbor’s homes being repaired.
​

A common insurance process

Once damage is identified (including personal property), call your insurance company's 24 hour claims department (if they have it). If you don’t know it, simply Google “(insurance company) claims department phone number.” Follow the options to file a new homeowners claim. This ideally is done with your contractor. The second you get on the phone with the insurance company is the second they are notating and can use anything you say against you. They will generally ask a series of questions.
What type of claim? Hail/Wind
Date of loss? 5/19/23 around 6-7 pm (or whenever your home was affected)
What is damaged?
Any personal property damaged? Yes/No
House still livable?
House 2 or more stories? Yes/No
Whole roof damaged?
Type of shingle? Asphalt (most likely)
Is it steep? In this area they generally are
Write down the claim number they give you, as you will need this as a reference later on.
After the claim is filed an adjuster should be in touch within 1-3 business days to schedule an adjustment. I highly, highly recommend having a contractor be at this adjustment. While you may understand what is damaged at this point there are nuances on how your home is put together that may affect how things need to be constructed and paid for by your carrier. This allows your contractor and insurance company to be on the same page.
If the adjustment goes well and your insurance company agrees to pay for damages they will either print out an estimate on the spot (see less and less of this these days) or they will take an average of 7-10 business days to turn over the estimate. This estimate is the pricing your contractor should work off of. Any disagreement on pricing from your contractor should be a conversation between him and your insurance company. If an insurance company underpays the claim the contractor should not come to you for a remedy.
After you have your estimate and partial payment from the insurance company you should schedule a time with your contractor to go over the estimate together and pick out your products and colors.
If your contractor came across any additional work that needed to be completed they will need to supplement your insurance company for payment. Once that is complete your contractor should request any depreciation holdback from your insurance company be released.
You make final payment to your contractor and they should turn over your lien release and warranty.

Should I sign a contract?

A scary word, and should be taken seriously. However, you should expect to sign a contract with any reputable contractor. A good contractor is not going to charge for the inspection, any consultation given, being at the adjustment, help with getting the mortgage check endorsed, supplements, etc. That's a lot of pro bono work that necessitates a contract in order to ensure the job will be given to the contractor.
What's important is the contents of the contract. The contract should not only protect the contractor, but also the homeowner. It should be contingent on your insurance companies approval of repairs to the property. If repairs to the property are not approved by the insurance company, make sure the contract mentions what happens (the contract should be null and void). Make sure pricing is explained. Are they going to use the insurance estimate? Are they going to supply their own? Either way, make sure it mentions your only out of pocket expense is your deductible and any upgrades.
Keep in mind that even after signing any contract, you have 3 business days to cancel any contract on your home in the State of Texas.

My damages were denied

Don't worry, this is not as uncommon as people think. Here's the truth of the matter; hail damage, to a point, is subjective. If 3 different adjusters went to the same property, they are all going to have different reports on what actually needs to be paid for, and how it should be paid for. 2 may approve the roof, and one may deny. Adjusters are people too, and sometimes when they have 8 properties to see in a day, they make mistakes. When large hail storms affect an area, insurance companies will bring in adjusters from all over the US to help with the mass amount of claims to be filed. These adjusters may not even be experienced in hail and only know what they saw in pictures from a training class. Claim denials happen.
So what can you do? Most homeowners and contractors can request a re-inspection. A re-inspection is when the insurance company sends a representative back out to the property to take another look at the damages. THIS IS NOT A NEW CLAIM. It is a re-opening of an existing claim. If you got this far without having a contractor, you are absolutely going to want to have one now. Each insurance company is different, but generally a contractor can submit a re-inspection request on your behalf if you request them to do so. Some may require the homeowner to call. Consult your contractor on whether a re-inspection is in your best interest.

Common insurance terms and policy provisions

Replacement Cost Value
An RCV policy means the insurance company owes the full value to replace all items in today’s costs minus your deductible. Even if your roof cost $10,000 in 2010, it probably costs $20,000 now, and that’s what they owe minus your deductible.
Depreciation
Depreciation is the amount subtracted from the replacement cost based on the age and condition of each item. If you have a 30 year shingle that is 15 years old your depreciation value will be 50% on the shingles. This is money that the insurance company will hold back until the work is completed.
Actual Cash Value
ACV is the worth of an item in its present condition. We get this figure by subtracting the depreciation from the Replacement Cost. If the replacement cost of the roof is $20,000 with $7,000 in depreciation, your ACV on the roof will be $13,000. ACV policies also exist. This means that not only will you be responsible for paying your deductible but also any depreciation on the claim as it will not be recoverable once the work is completed.

Uncommon insurance policy provisions

ACV Policy
A policy in which all depreciation will not be recoverable. This is bad.
Roof Surface Payment Schedule Endorsement
Instead of the standard RCV/ACV model, a table will be provided to you in your policy. It will break down percentages of the roof to be paid depending on its age. In an ACV claim you are still responsible for paying depreciation, but at the very least labor can’t be depreciated, only materials. In an RSPS, a flat percentage value is paid, effectively also adding depreciation to the labor. This is double bad.
Cosmetic Exclusion
A provision in which anything cosmetically damaged remains unpaid by the insurance company. This isn’t always applied to the whole policy. Sometimes it can just be to soft metals (think gutters, roof vents, window screen frames, etc.)
Non-Structural Hail Damage endorsement
This is related to a cosmetic exclusion as the opposite of cosmetic is structural. In this provision (which is starting to pop-up in smaller insurance companies) a maximum of 2% of the dwelling coverage will be paid for any non-structural damage. If you are covered for $400,000 on your dwelling (home structure), a maximum payout for anything non structural will be $8,000.

Deductibles

If the insurance company says the total job costs $15,000, and your deductible is $2,000, the insurance company will pay a total of $13,000 (13+2=15). Here is where a lot of shadiness comes in. Do not be fooled if a contractor says he will do the total job for $12,000 instead of $15,000 to "waive your deductible". In this case, once the contractor finishes all work and turns in final invoices to the insurance company for $12,000, the insurance company will only release a total of 10,000 instead of 13,000, and your deductible remains the same. The only person who saved money here was your insurance company to the tune of 3,000, and you are left with a sub-par roof. Low bids do not save you money if all laws are being followed. Insurance companies are cracking down on deductible waiving, and several large roofers were hit with fines last year for doing so.
With that being said, there are legal ways to “offset” your deductible. You can use the Actual Cash Value (ACV) of items cosmetically damaged around your home (gutters, fence, etc.) towards your deductible so you can have your roof replaced without having to pay anything out of pocket. However, your fence will not be powerwashed/restained, and your gutters, etc, will not be replaced. Please keep in mind that until the damage is repaired (even cosmetic), it will no longer be insured or be paid for on another claim. All in all, the money has to come from somewhere. If the ACV value of other cosmetically damaged items does not cover your deductible, and a company offers to still cover an unreasonable amount of money, rest assured they are not taking it all out of their profits. Some items will be reused on your roof, corners will be cut, and they will use sub-par supplies.
tl:dr DO NOT GET ON YOUR ROOF IF IT IS STEEP AND YOU ARE NOT EXPERIENCED IN DOING SO. Find a reputable contractor that is local and has been in business 5+ years. Find someone you trust and have them at your adjustment. Do not trust companies promising the world (all work done, no deductible). Not only is this insurance fraud, but you will have a sub-par job at the end of the day. Contracts are common, read them thoroughly. Expect to have non-stop solicitors. No soliciting signs and yard signs from your contractor will help deter, not prevent.
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Sorry for formatting, tried to rush and splice this together. If I missed anything or if there are additional questions I'd be happy to answer in the comments.

We're replacing citrix -- everyone in the organization is aware of the internal 'VDI.customdomain.com' URL that forwards to the citrix storefront
The Web client for Azure VDI works fine as a replacement in this regard, but the long URL is problematic as we cannot just point a CNAME record to this location.
I can't seem to find any private endpoint or service endpoint documentation that works for Azure VDI.
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Apparently, you can do this with 'Azure Front Door' but we're not spending 280$ per month just for a redirect. (basic AZ Firewall)
There's old guides online regarding Azure functions, proxies, and making your own redirect -- but proxies appear to be depreciated in Azure functions -- even manually making the proxies.json file, i cannot get the redirect to function.
Is there a simple method out there we can stand up to accomplish the following?
User browses to 'https://vdi.customdomain.com' -> redirect to 'https://client.wvd.microsoft.com/arm/webclient/'
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​
I've already gone the distance to place the modern remote desktop client on all machines, but the client really wants this feature specifically.
Here's the old example with the depreciated proxies option.. this seems like an exact solution, except proxies are depreciated. Apparently the modern way to do a proxy is 'Azure API Mangement' with the function, but this is way over my head. I can barely powershell/python - let alone write a custom API
Create a corporate URL for the Windows Virtual Desktop Website - Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom

An address to the other steel-hearted modeler,
I know there is someone out there who loves video games and loves strategy games.
You love mods so much its stupid; cause you get excited about ridiculous universe crossing in games with characters that don't belong there, then you are sad when devs destroy mods on "accipurpose"...
I know that there is someone out there who wants to make a game, but maybe doesn't want to do it all alone, or just wants to do that one thing they love.
Now Steelpinion has all its assets created from scratch, from concept to modeling, to shading, and animating.
We're gonna make all the 3d assets. Mostly because there isn't a way to "buy the vision". I can't pay a modeler to build to spec, especially when there isn't always concept art for them to reference. Instead, I need someone to share the vision with me and imagine machinations that we can then create.
I want to model it all, and so do you; because we love building up our skills and enjoying the works of our hands.
This is a project of love for steampunkery, love for good gaming, love for craftsmanship, love of personal growth.
If you jive with what I'm saying, I can teach you procedural modeling, show you the asset pipelines that drive the project, and how you can make a massive impact on the SteelPinion project.
I planned to do all this stuff alone, because I haven't found anyone committed to the vision. Then recently I started to think how I wasn't even really looking earnestly.
There is someone else who feels passionately of the aforementioned mods, non scummy gaming, tactics genre, creation with your own hands...
​
So if you are out there, check out [https://raregentlemen.com](https://raregentlemen.com); and if my philosophy doesn't spook ya, shoot me a message and lets get going.
​
**Common QnA** ***(regarding mostly graphics + general project intel)*****:**
Q - So what is this game about?
A - SteelPinion is meant to be a lighthearted steampunk themed airship combat sim with some twists. Think of combat like xcom or divinity original sin. For more inspiration sources, see article 6 [https://steelpinion.com/steel-saturday/article-6](https://steelpinion.com/steel-saturday/article-6)
​
Q - What do you do?
A - I am a professional software engineer whom has been training teams and releasing software for a long time (12+ years)
​
Q - What are you using to make assets/models
A - We have one modeler whom will create models in shapr (on ipad), but I have begun using Houdini to produce custom game ready assets.
​
Q - Why don't you use blender?
A - Blender is great, but it lacks some features I want in order to take an asset through our graphics creation pipeline into game-ready assets.
​
Q - What game client/framework are you using?
A - There are two answers, we will have a lightweight webclient built first. We do have a very pretty heavy client built in unity, but I want to focus on item balancing for a couple of years before getting back to graphical polish.
​
Q - Is this a big project?
A - Yes, this is not a small project for the faint of heart. I will solo dev everything myself, but am lonely and really enjoy teaching people, so come on!
​
Q - When do you plan to release?
A - Planned 2026, but there will be incremental changes and releases of actual gameplay here [https://steelpinion.com](https://steelpinion.com), then eventually to a less hardcore audience on steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/1770000/SteelPinion/
​
Q - Why So long?
A - I measure my time when I perform a task in order to measure speed. At time of writing it takes me about 20 hours to take some concept art and put it through the entire pipeline for game readiness. At the current rate of contribution as a solo dev, I can produce around 30-40 quality models a year. We also requires some significant time to balance the stats and effects of all the items in the game. I want to grant plenty of time for that balance to develop with a small group of hardcore volunteer tactics nerds for about two years. Add it all up and you get about four additional years before going for a proper release, and three years before making plans with legit marketing specialist. More info about project length here [https://steelpinion.com/steel-saturday/article-7](https://steelpinion.com/steel-saturday/article-7)*(My first model of the swan took me four months to make, then my first "steam engine model" took me 40 hours, so things are getting better every week!)*
​
Q - Is this project funded?
A - Yes, budget goes to artists because they need to eat. Engineers can get equity (revshare), really anyone can get equity, but for the most part budget goes into tools and artists. I can handle all infrastructure and programming on me own.
​
Q - You should build something smaller.
A - This project is not for you.
​
Q - Why steampunk?
A - Whenever I see cosplays and machinations, I get all inspired. It's high time I act on that inspiration. Also Dieselpunk is dope too, its not mentioned very well, but we also have that influence in there too.
​
Q - Do you have a monetization strategy?
A - There is a descript strategy for this that we can go over in detail later and with marketing.
​
Q - How big is your team?
A - We've had three programmers and four artists over the lifespan of the project. One of the programmers whom started with me back in Feb 2021 started a family and got a great career start as a programmer. I mentored him and gave him a sick reference when it came to interview time. Currently I am the only programmer and lead the project direction. All but one artist is still here, you can read about em all here [https://steelpinion.com/steel-saturday/article-4](https://steelpinion.com/steel-saturday/article-4)
​
Q - How long has the project been going?
A - Conceptualized somewhere in 2013, reconceptualized in 2019, then scoped in 2020. Earnest development began Feb 2021, with an MVP produced in 6 months.
​
Q - So is this hobby, revshare, hire?
A - I am flexible here but am selective about hired work. I will not be able to pay a modeler for $30 an hour for a 10-20 hour model. I'd rather put that money into marketing or original concept/comic art. Modelers here will be working primarily for experience and a good time. If you stick around, then revshare can come into the cards. We can do hire, but the rates for modeling will not be industry competitive. Remember I can do the modeling myself, and wish to primarily take a dedicated apprentice on, but am still open to offers from more experienced people. I don't know everything and also can learn from others!
Note: I may be slow to respond, but will come check this at least once a day and post elsewhere if it dies.

Intro
We're working on a new MUD called Song of Avaria, using Evennia as a base code. Hopefully, the game will be opening for a public alpha come January 2024. This is the second in a series of showcases to display the features of our game. In order to properly exhibit the purpose of Song of Avaria, which doesn't quite fit into the existing molds, we're going to demonstrate gameplay by focusing on the story of a character: Emmaline.
Chapter 1: CHARACTER GENERATION
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Chapter 2: ARRIVAL
In the last chapter, we went through character generation on the website. Now we're going to log into the game, set up the character how we like, and begin Emmaline's story. We'll start by logging in from the webclient, which can be accessed by clicking 'Play Online' on the website. I enter 'play Emmaline' to connect to Emmaline, and now she is in-game.
The starting room in the Faded Zone.
The view of a room is organized with the name at the top, often showing an address of sorts with the larger area first, and the local names following after commas. Player-set temporary room arrangements show up after the room description. Outdoor rooms show the weather next. Certain objects and NPCs present are listed after that, and some rooms will then show special sensory lines that can change with the seasons or time of day. Player-characters are displayed after all this, on a distinct row of text. The room descriptions themselves can contain a lot of interesting information that otherwise may not be obvious, such as extra room objects, hidden exits, and more.
You can change some things about how the game world appears in the configuration settings. This includes the colors of important types of objects and different communications, as well as things like whether the game map will show up every time you move between rooms, whether you'll see the next room every time you look at an exit, whether the room description text will show in different gradations of grayscale depending on the amount of light in the area, and so on.
Using the CONFIG command, I'll change the interface to fit what I want -- I'll turn on the UI map, change the colors, and so on.
Configurable options.
I haven't bothered with configuring the prompt for now, because I don't mind how it is, but that's configurable as well. There are different prompts for combat and for peacetime, both of which can both be customized, but you can also make both your prompts identical or just remove them entirely.
Now, I'm switching over to Mudlet, because it shows my command inputs and that's helpful for tutorial-style screenshots.
I've finished configuring, but what if my character hasn't been approved yet? There are still a number of ways in which I can occupy myself while I'm waiting. I can wander around in this starting area (called the Faded Zone), and try to get a feel for how the game works. The newbie area has a few quests that teach some of the features of the game, roaming healer NPCs that will fix you if you get injured, a special library of lore, an arena with a gladiator where you can try out combat, a couple zones with different environments to hunt for animals, a little brook to catch fish, a caravanserai where you can rent a room, an opium and gaming den, and a cottage full of crafting supplies to experiment with. Regardless of how you choose to spend your time, nothing that a character does here will transfer to the "real world" of Avaria -- the Faded Zone is part of the realm of dreaming and death, and anything that happenes here is considered to be just a dream.
While I'm hanging out here, let's take a look first at my SCORE (or SHEET). This shows all the base values of my stats and their modifiers and current values, as well as various other details about my character. All of this should look familiar -- it's what I set in character generation before! As staff reviews a new character's sheet they may have some suggestions for changes to make, but there's no need to worry: any such changes to your sheet are part of a process that involves submitting edits to you for approval, and they only go through once approved.
The output of checking SCORE.
There are other metrics not shown in SCORE, most notably those pertaining to your character's state of health. These metrics will be particularly important to you if you happen to be in combat, but whether you're presently in a fight or not, you can view them by checking HEALTH. Most of these measures can also be configured to show up in your prompt. You'll definitely want to keep an eye on them in combat, because any one of them could factor into whether you end up winning or losing a fight. Although you'll check these metrics most often in battle, some of them are also important outside of a skirmish: for example, fatigue might become a problem if you're running everywhere, and breath is vital while diving.
There is also the SKILLS command to check, which we'll explore further in the next chapter. Song of Avaria's classless learning system preserves a character's capacity to learn anything in accordance with their own story, while also maintaining the idea that each character has their own unique niche and specializations.
Another day we'll learn more about skills. But for now, let's practice moving around! We're in the Faded Zone, a place for not-yet-approved characters to wander and explore without any story consequences. As mentioned above, this strange realm is a genuine part of the game lore, but as the tutorial zone that means anything done here is considered to be just a dream, which you may never remember upon waking into the ordinary world.
Movement in the game usually takes the form of cardinal directions, and for non-cardinal directions, you input GO DIRECTION or ENTER DIRECTION. Let's go through the mist like so.
Using GO MIST to traverse the 'through the mist' exit in the room...
Now there's a cardinal direction in the next room, and we can use typical cardinal direction aliases to move around if we like.
Using N to move north.
There are a variety of ways to customize the expression of your character's movement between rooms. You can append a one-time emote in parentheses to your movement command, like this:
Using a command with parenthesis: CREEP EAST (warily glancing around), which outputs: You creep east, warily glancing around.
...or you can set a travel string, which will remain until you set it back to "normal". Both these customization styles can be useful for various situations.
Setting a travel string using the command: 'TRAVEL with a light and suspicious tread' which, when GO COPSE is used, outputs: You walk deep into the copse of trees, with a light and suspicious tread.
And look -- I received an OOCmail! It says Emmaline is approved as a character. Hooray! I can access the OOCmail either while connected to the game or while logged out. If I'm logged out, I can find it on the SoA website under my account dropdown menu. But for now, we're in-game so I'll take a look at it there.
You can check OOCMail with the OOCMAIL command either from the login screen or while connected to a character (or from the website, when you're not connected to the client at all).
If staff has made a comment in your approved application, it's usually in response any that you made yourself at the end of the character generation process. My comment in Emmaline's application was that I'd like her to develop bardic magic someday... and the message from the staff is to go ahead and pursue bardic magic whenever Emmaline is ready!
Now, let's wake up from the dream! Entry into the game world happens by leaving the Faded Zone through the vortex at the end of the street. Here is the place in Omrazir where newbies enter the world: a shaded courtyard just off the main throughfare of the city.
A screenshot of Emmaline taking a break at the shaded courtyard.
I'm going to imagine that Emmaline is taking a break here, soon after getting off her ship. I've looked at the map of the city that is available on the website, and I know this location is just south of the wharfside area, and would be on Emmaline's way as she walked further into the city. Now she wants to find a local bank to deposit her extra traveling money.
We've decided not to have a speedwalking feature for PCs (player characters), because we prefer that players immerse themselves in the world and see things on their way that their characters would tend to see (including each other!). But what we do have is a quick and handy way to ask directions from VNPCs! (Unlike NPCS, virtual non-player-characters are not actual "objects" in the game world; they're just part of the background bustle of people you'd find in any populated area. But that doesn't make them any less real in terms of the world and its imagined stories.)
A screenshot of asking directions, showing how everytime you move, you remember the next step in your directions, but you have to enter that step manually whenever you're ready to move on.
You are encouraged to roleplay when you pass another PC in the street -- even if it's just a passing glance, these encounters can be an interesting and immersive vignette that truly situates your character in the setting. And while following the directions, now we've encountered another PC.
A brief interaction with an unfriendly inspector...
Emmaline has run into a customs inspector outside that imposing umberstone structure! The inspector didn't seem to like Emmaline at all, but that's all right. The inspector and Emmaline recorded impressions of one another to start documenting their character relationship. Relationships and their associated impressions are one of the story-focused features of the game that govern earning experience for the sake of character progression. The impression is considered to be out-of-character knowledge, so even though the inspector designated Emmaline a "tourist," we definitely should not take it in-character and loudly proclaim, "I'm not a tourist, I'm here to stay!"
The relationship documentation is made up of two things: the written impression we just saw, and a categorization of type. First, I thought I'd make this inspector an "acquaintance"... but then I figured even that was too close for someone so rude, especially considering that the designated type of a relationship is tied into automatic trust levels. These trust levels are IC but have certain mechanical functions regarding how other characters are allowed to interact with you, such as creating a roundtime delay when another character tries to closely approach yours, or allowing or denying automatic consent for things like whether or not you'd accept a hug. Maybe someday Emmaline will get to know this inspector better.
For now we'll continue to the bank. While playing with other PCs is great, developing your character when you're on your own is an equally valid story experience. And getting a bank account set up is surely some sort of development! A bank account is helpful because money in the bank cannot be stolen by pickpockets (either PCs or NPCs) and you can use banknotes to transfer funds to other PCs if you need to. Once your character has a job, they will receive money regularly deposited to their local bank account.
Establishing a bank account by simply checking BANK at the bank lobby, and depositing money with the DEPOSIT command. The bank teller says something with a smile, but Emmaline can't understand any word except Bank and Omrazir!
I've decided to keep some money on me, but deposit most of it. Here we also observe the trouble Emmaline is having while trying to communicate with the locals in Omrazir, who mostly speak Sirdabi. She can't even understand the bank teller who takes her deposit!
Clearly, Emmaline doesn't know much Sirdabi at all! However, we can still practice. Languages are learned by hearing and practicing them, which is a process speeded by skill in Linguistics, but anyone can learn a language. It'll just take exposure and use. Luckily, Emmaline will be completely immersed in her new culture here. And if I do want to have a serious conversation with another character, most people speak at least some Ruvic, so that will be a good starting point to try to communicate more complex things.
Trying to SPEAK the local tongue, and feeling a little embarassed despite thinking hopeful thoughts.
While depositing coins at the bank, we also noticed some floating objects in our inventory. Usually you can only carry items in one hand or the other, or hold small items in your teeth. But newbie supplies get deposited freely into a 'somewhere on your person' location in a character's inventory, a slot that is not normally usable.
Using WEAR and PUT IN commands to arrange Emmaline's inventory.
One of those is the memento I wrote for Emmaline in character generation. Another is a mysterious knapsack! When we look inside, we see that it's a sack full of first aid supplies. These were automatically generated for Emmaline because of her skill in First Aid, taught by the hedge witch in her background. Some professional sorts of skills come with supplies in character generation.
When you're placing objects, you don't need to use prepositions in the command, and there are many shortcuts you can use. It will work either way, so you can use whatever syntax makes you most comfortable. You can GET SCALPEL KNAPSACK, PUT SCALPEL KNAPSACK, and also DRAW SCALPEL to wield it and then PUT AWAY SCALPEL to put it back away in the knapsack.
There are two main functional ways of carrying objects -- "holding" and "wielding" (there's also "dragging", but that's more for objects too heavy to actually carry). Emmaline would automatically wield objects in her left hand. That is because I set her handedness as left in character generation, and attacks tend to be more effective from one's dominant hand. If a character is the deceptive type they can even choose to pretend that their offhand is dominant. Emmaline doesn't bother with that, though.
Anyway, what's the next thing to do in a new, unfamiliar city? Emmaline is exhilarated but tired as she leaves the umberstone structure. She looks at the sky. The sun has already set... Omrazir can get a bit chilly at night in the wintertime.
LOOK SKY will show you the sky, including weather and the positions of any currently visible celestial bodies. Using the THINK command got us a Presence point this time.
That's the second time in this session that I've been awarded Presence for roleplaying as Emmaline. Presence is a metric that rewards engagement with the world, and those points can be invested in different things. We'll get into it more later, but you can earn Presence just by playing the game in an immersive way, even if you're all by yourself.
For now, we'll ask directions to "lodging," and follow the path until we get to the Night Winds Caravanserai, the premiere lodging solution for all travelers to Omrazir! (Or maybe that's just an advertisement.)
As a side note, renting a room establishes that room as yours until you check out. If you're lax in paying rent, you will not lose the room, you will simply not be able to access it until you pay rent again. This is to make sure players do not feel stressed about logging in just to pay rent. We want to respect the time of our players and be understanding about the necessary prioritization of real life.
Entering the caravanserai courtyard, using the SURVEY command, and renting a room by inputting RENT PLACE.
You can use the SURVEY command, in addition to reading room descriptions, to find out if your current location is one in which you can rent a room. Once you know that, it's as simple as inputting RENT ROOM/PLACE/LODGING or whatever, and you'll be given the key to a room. That room is not always immediately adjacent -- you'll need to read and look around to find out which way to go to get to your room.
In this case (and most cases), the caravanserai has private rooms on the upper story. We'll go up there and just put in GO TO MY ROOM in order to be linked to Emmaline's room. If someone else wanted to visit Emmaline, they'd come up to the same place and put in GO TO EMMALINE'S ROOM. (The command also works without the 'to' part.)
Emmaline goes up to her room and goes inside, closing and locking the door.
There's furniture mentioned in the room description, but how much of it is really there as a room object, for us to interact with? Many objects that you see in room descriptions can be interacted with, and a number of different interactions are possible, such as sit, crouch, lean, stand, and so on. Further, some objects can be manipulated by trying to push or pull or turn them, and the spatial relationship of objects can become important during a fight.
We can check VICINITY ROOM or PLACES to get an overview of all the obvious objects in the space.
A screenshot of checking the furniture in the room and looking more closely at the bed.
It's nice; the room comes with some furniture. Emmaline can put things on her desk and look out her window. This window appears to face the street out front, while other rooms in the caravanserai have views that face the interior courtyard. That's lucky for Emmaline! She could watch the street outside the caravanserai, and observe people passing by in the morning. Windows can be closed or open, you can shout through them, throw things and shoot through them, and even jump out of them (if they're big enough, and you're willing to risk yourself that harm).
Emmaline looks out the window to see the street outside the caravanserai courtyard.
For now, Emmaline doesn't want to jump through any windows. She's exhausted! All she wants to do is sleep on that nice bed she looked at earlier. Here are some examples of interacting with a room object. We can do it without any extra emote at all, or we can do it with a clause written in parentheses, or we can replace the emote entirely.
Emmaline goes to stand next to the bed, lies on it, and then goes to sleep.
Good night, Emmaline. Until next time! We'll be showcasing the story system next, which will cover more ways to earn experience and learn new skills.
Next chapter: Chapter 3: STORY

I figured I'd make this its own post for those who are still interested but forgot to check. A few days ago someone posted a link to the Arte Documentary on Mariupol by Lithuanian regisseur Mantas Kvedaravicius who was killed by Russian forces when he tried to leave Ukraine again. Now his last work can be watched on Arte, but sadly only with German or French subtitles.
The great thing about Arte is that they let you download the movies, including the subtitles, at least if you're in Germany or France. So I spent the time translating them.
Instructions:
You may (I'm not sure) need a VPN out of Germany or France.
The documentary can be found here: Mariupolis 2
The file with the subtitles can be downloaded here: English subs
The program MediathekView allows you to watch and download movies from publicly funded broadcasting channels like Arte, ARD, ZDF etc.
Edit: Actually I just noticed they have a webclient as well, so you can find the movie here
So for best viewing pleasure I recommend you turn on a VPN in France or Germany, download the documentary using MediathekView and the subtitles file I provided and then watch the movie with something like VLC player which allows you to load in subtitles. If you place the subtitles file right next to the movie file and make sure it has the same name it should even load them in automatically.

Hey guys, this will likely be a long ass rant post but as someone who's been in the RSPS scene on and off for over a decade now I have a lot I'd like to say and discuss regarding this community. I'm well aware this is very unlikely to change anything but I'd still like to get it off my chest.
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Please keep in mind I play 90% of private servers as an ironman.
​
Private servers as a concept are incredibly cool. People can take their favorite game/MMO and modify it into their own creation that hundreds/thousands of people can enjoy, but it seems like everyone involved in the scene doesn't actually understand this nor care to understand this, they only seem to care about your money. I'm one to pick one server I really like and stick with it until it shuts down. I've seen and played dozens of servers that are more than happy to take tens of thousands of dollars in donations just to shut down in a year and relaunch in the exact same state effectively wiping everyone's donations and basically telling them to get fucked.
I get why they do this, their "donation" shops are so fucked that their economies can't reasonably survive much longer than a year and it's so insanely profitable to force your whales to donate again while attracting new whales with the whole "NEW RSPS LAUNCH AMAZING CONTENT ETC..." gimmick but I think it's hurting the entire scene as a whole and makes the loyal players of these servers incredibly jaded and toxic.
For example, I used to play a server called divine reality and I absolutely loved it. Over the course of about 3-4 years I saw it change ownership and relaunched a total of SIX FUCKING TIMES. During the last 2 almost identical relaunches of this server I grew to be very jaded and toxic, often blatantly and publicly shit talking staff and actively discouraging new players from joining and playing. And this was a server that I loved and knew completely inside and out. I was often the first to getting certain boss kills and drops in the eco during relaunch cycles and had multiple maxed ironmen accounts with bank values in the billions. Obviously not every private server can last forever but 6 wipes is definitely excessive.
Hell, I'm currently playing an osrs RSPS (with a couple very minor customs) that apparently had a relaunch about a year ago and the "og's" in that community are so incredibly toxic that the owner complains that it's actively preventing new players from joining. He genuinely doesn't understand why his community is jaded and toxic after wiping all their donations and however many months/years of progress they spent on their accounts. It's a profitable cycle in the short term but obviously isn't feasible in the long term and only serves to make your loyal community bitter and hate you.
That's not my only issue though, let's talk about custom servers. Dreamscape is obviously the most egregious example with completely insane drop rates and pay to win that would make EA jealous. It really seems like with custom servers creativity has truly died, every server wants to be dreamscape. There is not a single custom RSPS that doesn't eventually end up having such a ridiculous grind that it's practically impossible to reach end game without spending money.
Borderline essential items requiring 1/10000+ droprates, being forced to kill x amount of npc's just to unlock the next tier even if you already have all the gear that your current tier of npc's drop, essential items locked behind group bosses that get spawned once every 2-3 hours, fucking mystery boxes or just a simple and cheap $200-$1000 donation for a custom weapon or gear that completely ruins progression because it literally 1 hits everything and sucks your cock for you. It's insane and somehow a lot of these servers will average 100-500 players who are more than happy to dump $100 a week for the numbers to get higher.
I legitimately made a revenant bot on dreamscape that ran 24/7 for weeks and ended up with over `700,000 rev kills and I still couldn't afford BIS gear, it's insanity.
Don't get me wrong, I've played a couple custom servers that I genuinely enjoyed and had some unique concepts, but they still have one or more of the blatant donation farming issues previously mentioned.
Now onto the topic that pisses me off and likely many other people the most. RSPS YOUTUBERS. These people are some of the most unfunny, uncreative, dumbest, shadiest, and laziest people I know of. Some idiot with 500 subscribers and like 1k average views a video will somehow get rsps owners to pay them up to $500 a fucking video to make the exact same copy-paste formulaic videos with absolutely no substance. If you seen one rsps youtuber's video, you've seen literally every rsps youtuber video in existence. "NEW AMAZING SERVER X JUST LAUNCHED/LAUNCHING SOON", they'll walk around home for a bit with a maxed admin account with every item in the game, slap a few bosses and maybe, just maybe if they even want to pretend to give a shit, they'll send a raid or two.
I don't get how these youtubers generate any profit or revenue for rsps owners and if they do, how it would be any more effective than just launching a fucking facebook ad campaign or advertising on literally any of the rsps top lists. They don't give 2 shits about you or your server and even if they do they're just going to abandon it the second another server gives them an offer to make a video. If I were to ever run an RSPS I'd personally hardware ban any rsps youtuber that tried to join. They are scum and don't deserve to be making that much money with how little effort they put in.
I have a whole lot more I can say on the topic of private servers but I already know many people won't bother to read this as it is. But for those who do, what are your thoughts on the state of private servers in 2022?

Here's the changelogs for first half of April. You can see the complete changelogs since 2021-11-24 on Cryptpad.
Lots of changes recently, notably the new layout, the list of all recommendation on one page, and new 2FA section. Also PrivacyGuides has a new Releases page so this is probably the last Changelogs I make here.
​

2022-04-13

#Removed "Social Networks" and "Social News Aggregators"

• Why : See PR 949
  
• App removed from Social Networks :
  
  • Mastodon
  • diaspora
  • Friendica
  • PixelFed
  • Plemora
  • Movim
• App removed from Social News Aggregators :
  
  • Tildes
  • Lemmy
  • Postmill
  • Freepost

2022-04-10

#Splitted "Multi-Factor Authentication" page into 2 pages

• This splits "Multi-Factor Authentication" page into two pages, an informational page and a recommendations page.
  
• See PR 862
  

2022-04-09

#Added new "Metadata Removal" guide

• Guide addded to integrate metadata removal tools for macOS, iOS, iPadOS and Windows.
  
• Affected page : Integrating Metadata Removal
  

2022-04-08

#Removed pass

• Why : Should use gopass instead. While there is nothing wrong with pass in particular, there is little reasons to recommend it, as gopass is both compatible with pass APIs and is cross platform. gopass also has experimental pass backend as well for those who do not want to use PGP.
  
• Affected page : Password Managers
  
• See PR 952
  

2022-04-06

#Splitted DNS page into 2 pages

• This splits DNS into two pages, an informational page and a server recommendations page.
  
• See PR 916
  

#Removed croc

• Why : The default encryption curve SIEC is fairly unknown and has not been tested thoroughly.
  
• Affected page : File Sharing/Sync
  
• See PR 927
  

2022-04-05

#New "About us" page

• New About us page with 4 sub-sections :
  
  • Privacy Guides
  • Write for us!
  • Notices
  • Privacy Policy

#Removed old blog posts

• Why : Inacurrate info.
  
  • Firefox Privacy (2019-11-09)
  • Choosing a VPN (2019-10-30)
  • Understanding VPNs (2019-10-05)
  • Self Hosting a Shadowsocks VPN with Outline (2019-08-22)
• You can read them here.
  

2022-04-04

#Added Apple Mail

• Apple Mail is included in macOS and can be extended to have OpenPGP support with GPG Suite, which adds the ability to send encrypted email.
  
• Affected page : Email Clients
  
• See PR 839
  

#Added a blog post

• Title : "Move Fast and Break Things"
  
• Affected page : Blog
  
• See PR 896
  

#Added Single-page recommendations

• Lists all recommended tools on one page.
  
• Affected page : https://www.privacyguides.org/tools/
  
• See PR 894
  

#Moved PGP to own section

• Added OpenPGP section and 4 sub-sections :
  
  • GNU Privacy Guard
  • GPG4Win
  • GPG Suite
  • OpenKeyChain
• Affected page : Encryption Tools
  
• See PR 873
  

2022-04-02

#Added Cryptee

• Cryptee is an encrypted, secure photo storage service, and an encrypted documents editor to write personal docs, notes, journals, store files & more.
  
• Affected page : Cloud Storage (moved from Productivity Tools)
  

#Added Postmill

• Postmill is a free, web-based, social link aggregator with voting and nested comments.
  
• Affected page : Social News Aggregators
  

#Removed Raddle

• Why : Replaced by Postmill. Raddle is a public Postmill instance focused on privacy and anti-censorship.
  
• Affected page : Social News Aggregators
  

#Removed notabug.io

• A free and open-source P2P link aggregator with a strong resemblance to old.reddit.com
  
• Official Website
  
• Affected page : Social News Aggregators
  

#Added Tutanota and Proton Calendar

• Replaced the general "Email Providers" suggestion.
  
• Affected page : CalendaContact Sync
  

#Added GNOME Evolution

• Evolution is a personal information management application that provides integrated mail, calendaring and address book functionality. Evolution has extensive documentation to help you get started.
  
• Affected page : Email Clients
  

#Added Kontact

• Kontact is a personal information manager (PIM) application from the KDE project. It provides a mail client, address book, organizer and RSS client.
  
• Affected page : Email Clients
  

#Added Picocrypt

• Picocrypt is a small and simple encryption tool that provides modern encryption. Picocrypt uses the secure XChaCha20 cipher and the Argon2id key derivation function to provide a high level of security. It uses Go's standard x/crypto modules for its encryption features.
  
• Affected page : Encryption Tools
  

#Added BitLocker

• BitLocker is the default full volume encryption that comes with Microsoft Windows. The main reason we recommend it is because of its use of TPM. ElcomSoft, a forensics company, has written about it in Understanding BitLocker TPM Protection.
  
• Affected page : Encryption Tools
  

#Added FileVault

• FileVault is the on-the-fly disk encryption that comes with macOS. We recommend it because tightly intergrates with the Apple T2 Security Chip.
  
• Affected page : Encryption Tools
  

#Added Scrambled Exif

• Scrambled Exif is a metadata removal tool for Android. It can remove EXIF data for many file formats and has been translated into many languages.
  
• Affected page : Metadata Removal Tools
  

#Added Imagepipe

• Imagepipe is a a paint app for Android that can be used to redact photos and also delete EXIF metadata. It has been translated into many languages.
  
• Affected page : Metadata Removal Tools
  

#Added Metapho

• Metapho is a simple and clean viewer for photo metadata such as date, file name, size, camera model, shutter speed, and location.
  
• Affected page : Metadata Removal Tools
  

#Added Exiftool

• Exiftool is the original perl library and command-line application for reading, writing, and editing meta information (EXIF, IPTC, XMP, and more) in a wide variety of file formats (JPEG, TIFF, PNG, PDF, RAW, and more).
  
• Affected page : Metadata Removal Tools
  

#Added KeypassDX

• KeepassDX is a modern password manager which by default stores its database locally and not in the cloud. The Contributor Pro package adds some extra features to the app.
  
• Affected page : Password Managers
  

#Added Vaultwarden

• Vaultwarden is an alternative implementation of the Bitwarden server API written in Rust and compatible with upstream Bitwarden clients, perfect for self-hosted deployment where running the official resource-heavy service might not be ideal.
  
• Affected page : Password Managers
  

#Added Psono Server

• Psono provides extensive documentation for their product. The web-client for Psono can be self hosted; alternatively, you can choose the the full Community Edition or the Enterprise Edition with additional features.
  
• Affected page : Password Managers
  

#Added gopass

• gopass is a password manager for the command line written in Go. It works on all major desktop and server operating systems (Linux, MacOS, BSD, Windows).
  
• Affected page : Password Managers
  

#Removed Password Safe

• Whether the answer is one or hundreds, Password Safe allows you to safely and easily create a secured and encrypted username/password list. With Password Safe all you have to do is create and remember a single "Master Password" of your choice in order to unlock and access your entire username/password list.
  
• Official Website
  
• Affected page : Password Managers
  

#Added OnlyOffice

• OnlyOffice is alternative, it is free and open-source office suite with extensive functionality.
  
• Affected page : Productivity Tools
  

#Removed dudle

• An online scheduling application, free and open-source. Schedule meetings or make small online polls. No email collection or the need of registration.
  
• Official Website
  
• Affected page : Productivity Tools
  

2022-04-01

#Added "Multi-Factor Authentication" section

• MFA Method Comparison
  
• Hardware Security Keys
  
• Authenticator Apps
  
  • Added Aegis Authenticator
  • Added Raivo OTP
• Affected page : Multi-Factor Authentication
  
• See PR 829
  

A few days ago

...I received messages from colleagues in the stamp collectors community, telling me our Comparison Tool was NOT working.
I tested and confirmed it. And I posted a detailed topic here explaining it.

What broke it ?

It is a problem with CORS, regarding cross site access permissions. It used to work fine until very recently, but a change on Slowly's servers configuration broke it.
We need a line added to a user's collection HTML source, and I have corresponded with my Slowly team contact about it. The information was passed on to their development team for consideration.

Error Detection Enabled on the Comparison Tool now

I have just finished testing, and the new added Error checking will give any users facing the CORS errors an explanation. And a link to visit this topic to find a solution.
CORS error was detected, a message is shown
See the EasyCORS plugin section below, as I think it's the best, simplest tool solution for this.
Once installed and configured, you should have the Stamp Collection Tool working again, and this Error message will not appear anymore.
** To make it easier for you, I wrote a New Topic, with just the essentials to get this FIXED. See it HERE .
(Or read this topic in full, as EasyCORS is explained below, along with other possible browser add-ons which also work)

Fixing the problem ?

If the Slowly requested pages had an Access Control header this could be resolved ?

...this would allow anyone from any location to access the requested documents.

I had an idea and tested it.

It worked, making the comparison tool work as usual. The idea was:
- download a copy of the collection file for two pen pal friends.
- edit them manually, adding the Access-Control header statement shown above.
- saving it, and using these file's URLs in the comparison tool.
Resulting, in the tool working perfectly. Screenshot :
Comparison Tool, working with manually edited collection files
While this works, it's not ideal :
- it requires manually downloading and editing each collection file.
- and then loading it's URL for use.
- plus, any newer stamps added later will not be included on our saved copy.
Not ideal, but it's a valid Proof of Concept - pointing we are on the right track.

A Practical Solution exists

Researching this morning, I found an excellent article here. And from it, a mention of a simple solution, using a browser add-on.

The quickest fix you can make is to install the moesif CORS extension . Once installed, click it in your browser to activate the extension. Make sure the icon’s label goes from “off”:

Enabling Moesif, slider to ON. Turn OFF when done!

to "on".
Then refresh your application, and your API requests should now work! 🎉

The Moesif Browser Extension - it works !

The Moesif browser extension for Chrome

...works in any of the Chromium based browsers. I tested with MS Edge and Brave.
And a screenshot showing the Comparison Tool working normally after it is installed and enabled for that Tab:
Voilá !! 😀👍
I reported this to a close friend and pen pal, plus collector extraordinaire.
He tested it, with the plugin in MS Edge, used the Onumi comparison tool -- and it worked there as well.
Onumi's comparison tool is also enabled with Moesif ! 😀

EasyCORS is another possible solution :

The page for Moesif at the Chrome web store also shows a number of other similar tools. I returned there this morning, to read more about them, and liked various of them.
An interesting feature some of those extensions offer is the possibility of 'White Listing' (or having a specific list of allowed domains) configured in the plug in.
So instead of turning ON the extension allowing CORS to work in ALL current tabs, these extensions could allow you to list only some places you want it enabled. And that reduces any possible risks if you leave the extension turned ON longer or permanently.
EasyCORS is one of those, and I have tested it - works with Comparison Tool and Paradox2 webclient as well.

Add cors headers to response header.
This plugin aims to patch http headers to succeed cross domain request for developers (mainly front end developers ^_^).
The main features is as follows:

1. Very simplified UI.
2. Set Access-Control-Allow-Origin to the request domain's origin instead of *.

Needed domains enabled for Comparison Tool and Paradox2 Client
In the screenshot above, of my own testing, you see two external domains listed :
- app.getslowly.com is needed to allow Stamp Collection tool to work.
- while api.getslowly.com is needed if you want to use the Paradox2 unofficial Web Client.

Another possible option :

DynaCORS is one of those, and it seems promissing.

Disable CORS in a better way
Disable CORS for specific Web Pages and for specific Requests. Define which requests your want to disable the CORS allowing sensitive requests (security most of them) intact.

DynaCORS configuration panel - enter desired sites on the list
For our objective of enabling the Collection comparison tool to work, that allowed domain would be : https://app.getslowly.com/
In case you also want to access and use the unofficial Paradox2 client, you could add its domain as well : https://withparadox2.github.io/Slowly/

Testing if CORS is enabled

That is easy if we use either the Collection compare tool or the Paradox2 client. But an independent Test Site exists and confirms things in depth.
Using the Test buttons for GET or PUT requests, you should see they work or not :
Testing CORS - Moesif passes the tests !
Word of warning - I have not been able to get either EasyCORS or DynaCORS to show a pass report here, although they work in the collection compare and Paradox2 sites.

The Most Desirable solution

Would be for the Slowly Team to consider allowing CORS in the stamp collection pages, as we requested.
I will write to them again and link to this page, which will add to my previous submissions to them on this issue and request for the CORS access as we had previously.
EDIT : added DynaCORS extension paragraphs.
EDIT 2 : Added Error Detection implemented on Comparison Tool section. Recommend EasyCORS as the best solution, based on my own experiments.
EDIT 3 : Selected EasyCORS as the easiest, BEST solution and added a paragraph at the beginning of the page highlighting the Fix.

If you have anything you like to share and collaborate with other ALTs, please post here and make sure you can get the credit for your hard work. Let's be respectful to each other.
This time around, we are leveling it up. That means having current ALTs not depend on worksheet printouts that are outdated. Instead, I encourage you to develop your own that is modern. Because it is essential to communicate with your JTEs to plan out effective team-teaching ideas and/or a shift to some form of classroom technology.
There are resources that you can use for your reference, and they are:
Eigo Ganbare, ALT Training Online, & A Fox in Japan
\ I have done quite a lot of backend work recently for my team-teaching resource website, so I'd appreciate it if you read the "About" or "Contribute" page. It has been featured on* JETwit too!
To get started with your Cloud Workspace, especially if you are assigned at multiple schools, there is this:
FREE Cloud Workspace (open-source Office, open-source Photoshop, access to your Google Drive/other drive, etc)
If you still like to go old-school and insist on that, here is this:
Archive:
2021 - 2022 School Year: Worksheet printouts made and shared by ALTs : ALTinginJapan (reddit.com)
Grants to purchase work-related teaching materials:
U.S. Embassy Microgrant Initiative for Current JETs - USJETAAUSJETAA
TEFL & JLPT Grants:
Grants for JETs JET Programme
Grants from JALT:
2021 JALT Research Grants JALT

​
From autoscape.org

"AutoScape is a Runescape Private Server aimed at entertainment. Made by players, for players. Autoscape aims to capture a flawless gameplay experience for it's players with features that the community wants, rather than the development team. We are an Oldschool-Runescape PvP/Economy based server. This revision is both Oldschool along with some custom Evolution of Combat weapons such as drygores weapons, curses, and skills. Our community is made up of the finest and friendliest, and our staff is ready to help you right away. Welcome to Autoscape!"- AutoScape Team

​

Hi, my name is Logan.

You see, I've always been a Runescape player since the age of 9 years old (currently 22). I LOVE Private servers mainly because you get to experience Runescape without having to pay. I have bounced around MANY private servers in my lifetime, but I have recently found a private server that feels like home...and I'm just here to share that experience with you.
I get bored sooo easily. I go through phases where I'm into RSPS, then phases when I'm out of RSPS. Lately though, I discovered AutoScape and it has maintained my attention since I joined. The best part about this place is there is always something to work towards. Customs are designed to maintain your immersion rather than separate yourself further from Runescape:
AutoScape Custom (Very OP)
​
Highly sought-after custom weapons require more than just att level to wield!
On top of a great customs concept, xp gaining is closer to authentic Runescape, rather than a one-and-done feeling. I have been playing autoscape for about a week now (~3-4 hours per day) and in the image below you will see my current stats. They aren't the best, but I am very proud to show them off, because AutoScape keeps you as close to Runescape as the next RSPS, but with attention to detail and the community's own twist on it.
​
https://preview.redd.it/2qra6o79pym71.png?width=384&format=png&auto=webp&s=c7e7c6ba99c52c0fadbbb7161edb2aece15e1eb5
Now, I'm not here to tell you that AutoScape is better than the RSPS you are currently playing. I'm not going to tell you to stop what you are doing and join now for a limited time discount on blah blah blah.I'm just spreading awareness on my testimonial. I'm just letting the world know that there is hope in RSPS. There is a community that exists that will not make you want to go through in-out phases of playing the game. There is a community that will directly influence the server to give players exactly what they want. RSPS has been around almost as long as Runescape itself. It's time you experience something refreshing. It's time you experience something new.

Play Now: https://autoscape.org/

(If you made it this far and decide to give AutoScape a try, hop online and shout me a quick "hello". I'd love to hear from you! My username is Beachz!)

Before starting, I would like to say that this bot is heavily inspired by kyleshepherd13's teamkill tracking bot, that you can find here: https://github.com/kyleshepherd/discord-tk-bot. Or his Reddit post here: https://www.reddit.com/EscapefromTarkov/comments/oav3gl/tarkov_tk_discord_bot_update/.
TL;DR: I made a Discord bot to track teamkills. Check out GitHub here: https://github.com/g1veEFT-Teamkill-Tracker. More features are planned and feedback is appreciated. Bot invite link: https://discord.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=864333416191229973&scope=bot&permissions=248896.
What does the bot do?
The general idea of this project is to make it easier for groups of players to track and view their teamkills using a simple Discord Bot, and eventually also through a web client.
Why not contribute to kyleshepherd13's bot?
I want to give credit where credit is due and thank kyleshepherd13 for the inspiration for the bot.
Now, after saying that, the reason I created a whole new bot was because I had some feature ideas and stylistic changes that I wanted to make to the bot.
For example, I disagreed with his project's use of a cloud database service for this type of project, especially because of the potential costs down the road. (He said he was paying $35 for Amazon's database service! Although, looking at the updated code he seemed to have switched to Firebase...).
Also, I already had a lot of experience creating bots with the Discord.py python library, while he seemed to be using the Discord.js library. Contributing to his bot would require me to learn a whole new library and get more familiar with JS and NodeJS.
The bot is hosted on a dedicated server that I already have, so there are no costs involved for me or the users.
So, what are those features?
My original plan was to be able to manage your teamkills through the Discord Bot interface or through a simple webclient. I ended up creating a web API for the bot for that reason, but I'm waiting on a friend to create the frontend web interface.
For the time being, I wanted to release the bot in its pure Discord form to gather feedback from the community and fix bugs or add potential features before the release of the web app.
I tried to make the Discord interface a little nicer using embeds with pages and such. I also added a feature to change the timezone localization for your server when displaying team kill data.
The web client is planned to have statistics and graph data, maybe support different wipes, but that may be way later down the road.
There are also plans on releasing a public API for gathering your own server's data so that users can do their own statistical analysis, etc.
Where can I get it?
You can find the bot and the source code (soon) on GitHub here: https://github.com/g1veEFT-Teamkill-Tracker
To developers: I am open to future contribution once the source code is put out. The web API is written using DjangoRestFramework and the Discord bot utilizes the Discord.py library. I bot calls the web API to change stuff in the database. The web interface is planned to be made in React.js but that may be subject to change.
To users: Please report issues or feature ideas on GitHub. The bot may also have slight downtime if issues are being fixed. Feature ideas don't even have to be related to tracking teams kills, maybe something to help with quests or identifying keys, whatever you think, I'm open to hear it!
I also would like to add support for languages other than English, so if anyone could help with that, I would appreciate it.

http://invictus-rsps.online
https://discord.gg/HTkpvxzg9N
Invictus RSPS (Runescape Private Server) Is the #1 Unique Custom RSPS in the scene that takes community suggestions to all depths and considerations to make the server a better place. Here on Invictus we have phenomenal content and most of them have been suggested by the players themselves. What makes Invictus stand out from the rest of the other 'leech' custom ruse server is that its unique. IT is completely driven by a progressive system that makes it easier for the players to understand and it makes grinding a lot better. You may never find a server like Invictus RSPS out there because we strive for uniqueness and the amount of care we put into our game is something thats truly astonishing. Our community is one of the most friendliest communities in the scene right now and we are always looking to expand our player base and staff list. Come join us today to have a blast with us
drop rate bonuses system and drop rate pets
Upgradable drop rate pets (you can upgrade your pets for better drop rate bonuses.)
The Most Unique Item Upgrading system (requires invention level and orbs and has a success rate)
Daily reward system (login everyday and vote to get a reward)
Away from keyboard (AFK) fishing and mining. Get rewarded for afking
Vote boss that requires 20 global votes with player votes whom is then unleased and slain
Grand lottery system - buy tickets and enter the lottery with top entries leaderboard
Custom slayer tasks - kill custom slayer npcs for custom slayer reward shop
ingame Donation deal system implemented
Progressive custom npc teleports (pyramid system)
player owned shops - exceeds 2b coins
5 Demi bosses that spawn globally (Wildywyrm, General, Skeletal Horror, Vote boss)
Master void sets (optimized pest control)
Only server with Invention skill with dis-solvable items (so much item sinks)
godly donator persk unseen before
custom starter interface
Custom star wars minigame
phenomenal custom weapons and armours + moving textures and upgrades
stafflist interface to view online staff
Prestiges npcs and Slayer npcs + bosses
and a lot more there is too much