Running- There is a lot of athletic training going on in FT. What? You mean they aren’t running for exercise? Oh that’s a skill they have, or boots, or potions ingested they use? Yes! But some players run all the time it seems….zoom and there they go! True! You couldn’t type “hi” fast enough even if you could read their name! Also true. So why do they run? Because they can. Oh….fair enough. But there are times when running is not a time saving luxury from map to map but a lifesaving (you and/or your pets) reality. Sometimes the wisest offence is a swift retreat. Knowing when to run is a learned trait. It isn’t cowardly to use it properly. You might want to run if looking at the mini map you see a swarm of red dots coming your way that you did not spawn. You might consider running if another player around your level or +3 is eyeing you suspiciously waiting for the next spawn to surround you and weaken you. Of course you could just whack him first but that is a different subject! If you are in a clan you might kick up your heels and skedaddle if you see a group of clan members from a clan not allied with yours. When going through an area with monsters above your ability to kill easily stepping up the pace might be a wise move. Yes running certainly has its place in FT unless of course you are an archer, a huntress, a mage or fairy, but that is a different subject altogether.
Soul Stones- A hip group out of the 60’s from Motown! Well not exactly. Why they are called soul stones is a mystery. You can get them from mining as a bonus with whatever ore you are after. They are green and like their companion the meteor stone can be used for crafting primarily. Soul stones make fine 500 armor and weapons. I have a theory why they are called soul stones but it is not the official story just my conjecture. The FT land is enchanted by magic and has a voice, a presence, a soul. These stones are part of that mythos of the FT gods that transmit the essence of the gods to the crafting process making awesome green toned armor and weapons. The soul stones are of the earth, and the meteor stones though gathered in and around the earth are of the sky and carry other godlike attributes. Tish tosh you say, what a bucket of rot you are spouting! Well maybe so….the Motown group sounds more plausible. But they are a nice hue of green!
Spiders- Ok I must admit these are not my favorite of creatures as they can tend to swarm and creep you out bringing back memories of walking through the woods and your face running right into a spider web and slapping your head silly trying to extract all the spiders real or imagined crawling in your hair! (whew talk about a memory and a run on sentence!) Something about the animation of FT spiders pawing at you with their front legs stirs primordial dread and the run/gag reflex! Ah but if you would be successful in FT play all such considerations must be put aside. From early on the game seems to reinforce this innate dislike of spiders. A level 2 quest has the friendly lady crying “Eek!” imploring her hero to kill 15 red spiders! The next spider found is level 14 and it is not only creepy but fast nearly twice the speed of the red spiders. They are useful in quests for their venom and also drop a hammer and sometimes a level 15 pair of boots. Interesting! Under Silverwood city are glowing spiders and they drop a helmet equally shiny. There are also green spiders which live near Fairy Island and shock of shocks the spider dungeon. Also found there is the pharaoh spider which drops exoskeletons for crafting and also for quests. One feature about most of the spiders is they are fast and have a higher dexterity so you may find yourself able to kill other monsters in the areas they are found but can’t kill them without a dexterity reset. Last but not least is the level 750 giant spider found in the tower on Viking Island, same creepiness only bigger! Under Kings Garden there is a spider you might actually pity and gulp…find yourself helping, but that is for you to discover. EEEK!!!
Stan - Seemingly the most aggressive and unfriendly person I have come across while traveling these lands. He has been known to attack adventurers with clubs, swords, axes, bows, and even staffs. Sometimes he is well prepared and his experience shows through, other times he is well armored and apparently just hoping for the best, and still other times he throws reason out the window and lights himself on fire before attacking in a frenzy.
I don't even know what happened to make him so upset in the first place. Maybe I can talk to the GMs and see if we can stage an intervention?
Talk-It is amazing how such a gift to humanity can get so messed up at times! Communication is vital to this game but like real life sometimes it doesn’t go like we planned. With the variety of language groups available also the opportunities for misunderstanding is great. And of course sometimes the talk produces conflicts that make talking difficult or testy. Talk or chat or texting whatever you call it here it has a surprising power. One avenue of talk is the message from someone on your friend list. A response being sent back is anticipated and the game keeps the chat window open with the recipient’s name already inserted. A nice idea but I usually don’t use it. Sometimes an addition though thoughtful proves impracticable at times in actual use. I like to make sure my acct and pets are safe before I answer or sometimes I just like to think about my reply a bit. Others may love it as it saves some poking around of buttons, important thing is keeping communicating with your friends! The other avenues of talk are when in the same proximity using white chat which can be read by all, or green chat where you have selected one person to talk to privately. Let me meddle a bit here and comment about 0.0 map talk which I am sure is reproduced in other areas as well. Please give a break to those trying to sell at 0.0 and if you are discussing something with one player use green chat so the screen is clear! This way only “your” talk window is cluttered! If you are selling at 0.0 please wait for your offer to leave the screen before you offer again. I’ve seen the same offer up to 4 times on the same screen! Yelling out your offer will not help it sell. Oh and bad language and suggestive language why not direct it by green chat to who you are addressing it to? Who wants to hear your wrangling, I don’t and I bet most others there would agree. (Sometimes it is so ridiculous though it is hard not to laugh…) White chat is great if several people are interacting and having fun or sharing information or greetings but again keep in mind others may need the chat screen too. I’m done meddling, well almost. Every language has thousands of words try using a few of them instead of swearing. Swearing has its place as it is a kind of shorthand that often carries strong emotion with it. But too often it is a knee jerk reaction. Anyone can curse try being creative instead. Shakespeare was a master of insult way before our modern comedians and did it without vulgarity. Here are a few “methink’st thou art a general offence and every man should beat thee” or “more of your conversation would infect my brain.” One of my favorites from a TV show was someone calling those opposing him “vapid lackeys!” Talk we must so let’s be civil about it and respect others right to talk and if we need to be angry direct it to the person who needs to hear it only.
Tasks and Tolls- Much of the quests in this game give you a task to perform which often entails getting some item or to provide gold as a kind of toll to be able to proceed. It is akin to the troll guarding a bridge unyielding until his fee is paid or sometimes feels like being held hostage until a ransom is given! The earlier quests are training grounds for getting in the habit of acquiring items to complete tasks. But there comes a big difference. In early quests often you are given gold as the reward or part of the reward. Later quests though take a decidedly different turn as both items and gold must be paid by you! In a lot of these cases your reward is delayed or it is not a material reward at all but access to something. It cannot be stressed enough that as time goes tolls will require you to have a lot of gold. Get in the habit of crafting items to make gold. For some access to a clan crafting station will be the only way. Others may buy houses and some may buy pets or skins to sell for game gold. Whatever way you can be thankful for the easier early quests but start to prepare for the expensive to come. Do this task now so the demands later don’t take their toll!
Tools- Something every FT player has in common regardless of class chosen is the need for tools, namely a pick, an axe, and for some a hammer, and for relaxing a fishing rod. Mithril +3 are the tools of choice but a +2 or regular tool will still do the job needed to be done. What tools you will use often may be determined depending on your affinity that specific level of your class from .5 to 1.5 in performing mining, cutting, building, or fishing. If you plan to do a lot in one category the best tool is a good choice. Now for some a +4 meteor tool is possible but these are rare. Along with these tool items there are other aids that are “tools” to help you have a more successful FT experience. The saying “knowledge is power” applies here being familiar with all aspects of the game is a tool of great value. The game rules are a tool so you know what is allowable and what shouldn’t be done. There is a quest manual, and enemy manual, and an items manual to help you see what is possible and what you may need to do. This forum is a tool as well. If you have a question chances are it has already been asked before and counsel given. Probably the greatest tool of all is your fellow players. Don’t be afraid to ask advice and save yourself some trial and error.
Underground Village- When I first heard about this I said really? Then I was told about trees you can chop that never turn into a stump and about cavemen and elder trappers and levels below the village too. I was hooked and had to get there. Well at level 250 you can find it too! In the frost cave (home of the blue or ice monsters and a diamond outcrop) is a passage to a snowy dungeon inhabited by ice gremlins. To the northwest and northeast there are passageways frozen over and impassible but promise adventure if…..you provide a level 200 fire plate to melt the ice and grant you access. The western entrance provides a short walk to the underground village itself, the eastern a series of small rooms with entrances to other small rooms as you travel down to the village. One of these side trips has a shop. On the village level there are quests to do, portals to test or repair, and trappers and cavemen. In the northwest path above the village layout is an entrance to the second level. This level contains elder trappers which are pretty tough characters, a quest, a shop, and access to another realm the home of the dwarf warlords as well as a mining opportunity there. In the northeast corner of this second level is an entrance to the third level. You may enjoy quests there but beware of the cave giants! There also is a portal further down to the home of devils where the brave can mine platinum and a portal to a volcanic realm of tougher devils and at the end of the land a way to travel to of all places devil island! This is indeed an area full of adventure which you will need to return to several times as the portal to the third level has a level requirement. There are tales of thieves, renegades blocking monster invasions, boat rides, diplomacy, hidden areas, switches and more. The hidden seclusion of this underground village doesn’t seem to have isolated them from either the chaos or monsters amuck in FT. Have fun but beware!
Vanquish and Victory- One of the draws of this game is the thrill of winning. To fight hard and perhaps be hanging on the verge of death only to exclaim “I did it!” To bask in the sense of being victorious is pretty awesome and even better when you share it with friends. I feel pity for new players who don’t know the game well and while fighting an early level stan turn and run or die because at that point in the game they don’t have enough dexterity to make any damage. But this is not limited to new players. The game provides ample opportunity to be over classed and have to wait or attempt a different approach to attain victory. One of the most rewarding battles I found was through the portals in or near the underground village where at certain levels you and two friends can battle a boss monster for both the glory and the drop of nice items. I recall well battling an orange clad 1500+ level Pharaoh ( dubbed the Cheetos Pharaoh)and the first time he fell to our attack. Maybe you felt this wining at pvp, or prevailing killing tough monsters till you got a drop you wanted, or a successful siege, or doing all that was needed to be called a Hero of the realm or once and for all break Bal Muen’s power. These are the glory times of game play making us worthy of Valhalla or bardic tales speaking our praise as one of the mighty. In a tough world sometimes it is nice to have a game like FT where if you try you really can succeed and feel really good about it. That is the value of vanquishing and victory.
Oh….fair enough. But there are times when running is not a time saving luxury from map to map but a lifesaving (you and/or your pets) reality. Sometimes the wisest offence is a swift retreat. Knowing when to run is a learned trait. It isn’t cowardly to use it properly. You might want to run if looking at the mini map you see a swarm of red dots coming your way that you did not spawn. You might consider running if another player around your level or +3 is eyeing you suspiciously waiting for the next spawn to surround you and weaken you. Of course you could just whack him first but that is a different subject! If you are in a clan you might kick up your heels and skedaddle if you see a group of clan members from a clan not allied with yours. When going through an area with monsters above your ability to kill easily stepping up the pace might be a wise move. Yes running certainly has its place in FT unless of course you are an archer, a huntress, a mage or fairy, but that is a different subject altogether. 
