Yupa's Newbie Guide
Version 1.0, September 16, 2002

Contents
 A. Introduction
 B. Obligatory Plug for Northern Crossroads
 C. Starting Out - Customization
 D. Equipment
 E. Attributes
 F. Wandering the Mud - Don't.
 G. Gold
 H. Levelling
 I. Breaking out of Newbiedom

A. Introduction

 - Weclome, to yet another Boring-Guide-that-Yupa-Made-When-He-Should-Have-Been-Doing-Something-More-
 Constructive.  This time, I thought I'd slap a few things together that you, the New Guy, might
 find interesting.  In actuality, this will probably bore you to death, but hey, it's your fault
 for reading it!

B. Obligatory Plug for Northern Crossroads

 - I started at NC back in 1994.  Blame my college roommate for that one.  Northern Crossroads was
 my first, and (continues to be) best experience with MUDs.  While real life has torn me from here
 a few times, I've always been pleased and surprised by the changes upon my long absenses.  There's
 always new zones, or code implementations, or race and class additions that have blown me away.  
 Well, I think I'm here to stay this run, but I'd expect even more cool things if ever I had to take
 a break for something silly like, life.

 - NC doesn't really have one central theme, like other muds I've seen.  It's an eclectic mix of 
 playing styles and zone themes, and quite frankly, that's one of my favorite draws here.  Sure, it
 might be fun to be on an All-Star Wars All-The-Time MUD, or delve deep into medeival fantasy on
 some Tolkien-derived game, but I personally like the mix of zones we have here.  Where else can
 you fight King Arthur with a Jedi Lightsaber, or beat down that annoying Pizza Hut Manager with
 a Tridactyl Claw, then go smash through Smurf Village with a Boom Gun?

 - So yeah, we've got some conceptually cool zones to try out.  Some of em will be familiar from
 books and movies, like Narnia, Star Wars, Benden Weyr.... others will be originals based on
 pop culture references, like Pizza Hut, Playboy Mansion, or Silicon Nightmare.... and some are
 just downright fresh from the minds of crazy creators.  Either way, it's alot more fun than the
 boring ol' stock zones that you see everywhere.
	   
 - Have I caught your interest yet?  No?  Then get back to playing computer solitaire, it's probably
 more your speed.  Heh.  Seriously though, I think Northern Crossroads is one of the cooler muds
 around; maybe I haven't played on alot, but I know what I like.

C. Starting Out - Customization

 - First things first.  After creating your new character at the start up screen, possibly after 
 reading Yupa's Character Creation Tips *wink wink*, you'll want to do a few things, to make
 life a little easier.

 - Type auto all.  This will allow you to loot corpses for gold and equipment automatically, as
 well as split gold when you're grouped with another player.  Make sure you see a message that
 says something along the lines of "You will now loot corpses automatically".  If not, keep fiddling
 with auto til you do.

 - Channels.  There are several channels you can toggle here; the main gossip channel, advice, chat,
 etc.  I recommend having at least gossip and auction on at all times; that's the main channel to
 speak to the "world", and one that'll let you bid on items that other players are selling.  Use
 the Advice channel when you want to ask/listen to hints from others; other stuff isn't super
 important, and you can fiddle with it at your leisure.

 - Prompt.  Type prompt list for a collection of premade prompts.  Find one that you like, that shows
 you all the information you desire on the prompt line.  You can also custom make your own, but again, 
 fiddle with that at your leisure.  I'd avoid making or using a prompt that's too cluttered, but
 that's up to you too.  My personal favorite is prompt 36, which will show the basic hp/mana/move,
 exp to next level, and will show the names of the mob you're fighting and its condition, as well as
 the "Tanker", the person who's being hit by that mob (typically you, but it may vary when you fight
 in a group).

 - Aliases.  Learn to use em, it helps.  Set aliases for things you'll be doing commonly, like 
 quaffing teals, using insignia, etc.  

D. Equipment
 
 - You start out with a few things when you're new.  Type wear all.  Now you'll probably think that 
 you got crap, which is basically true....but don't knock it.  You really don't need much eq at all
 in the very beginning, and besides...
 
 - Check out the newbie school first.  There are some mobs in here with equipment; admittedly, it also
 isn't that hot.  It is better than nothing though.  Make sure you get as much as you can from here
 first (and remember to wear it); the eq may not be super impressive, but it was made with 
 consideration to new players, and will be good for a bit.

 - Check the donation room.  It's pretty stocked sometimes.  Just be careful, alot of it is crap.
 Most people don't donate good eq.  Check first before replacing what you got on.

 - How are you going to check?  Well, NC doesn't have a compare feature, like I've seen on other 
 muds.  Sorry.  Just as well anyway.  What you'll want to do is find the magic shop in town; buy
 some scrolls of improved identify.  Use the scrolls on whatever item you want to learn more about;
 the information that the improved identify scroll/spell gives is pretty good.  Compare the stats
 from one item to another before choosing which one to wear.

 - Consider making a record of the stats you get.  If you plan on playing for a while, it wouldn't 
 hurt.  It can just be something simple, but at least you won't have to waste scrolls identifying
 the same thing over and over again cause you forgot.

 - Asking for EQ.  OK, I don't mean to sound like a dick about this, but it can get annoying.  It
 really can.  It's like having an army of encyclopedia salesmen swarming your front door.  I say,
 ask once, if someone's got something you can use, they'll probably give it to you.  If you get no
 reply, that often means that nobody really has anything handy at the time.  Ask every once in a 
 while, but saying it every 2 minutes isn't going to help you any.

 - If you do wish to live off the generosity of strangers though, use some tact.  You'll find that
 you can net a better bounty if you're nice and patient about it, rather than being insistent.  I
 usually find myself more inclined to help someone who's pleasant, that is willing to make do with
 what they have, and is just enjoying the game with what little they may have.  It's much more
 difficult to be accomodating to someone who asks for EQ, then when you offer to help, they demand
 something really good or difficult to obtain.  You can't be picky when you're asking for help. :P

 - But I digress.  I still remember what it's like to be new, to feel like ya got nothing.  Just make
 do with what you've got, and the rest will fall into place.  Just enjoy the game as best you can;
 making an impression on someone that way will prove more to your benefit in the long run.  

E. Attributes

 - Don't be so eager to pump out the levels right away.  Check your attributes first.  Two in 
 particular are critical in levelling, and will catch up to you in the long run.  Attributes 
 can be improved at the cost of 4-6 practices, depending on your class and the attribute.

	a. Strength - How much you can carry.  It might seem important right now, but don't worry
	   	      about it so much.  You can get the strength spell cast on you; don't waste
		      practices on this right away.

	b. Intelligence - You want maximum intelligence when you practice a skill or spell.  If your
			  Int is low, it may take 4 practices to learn a spell; on the other hand, 
			  if you max your Int, it may only take 2 practices!  It's worth it to 
			  learn new stuff with the highest possible intelligence you can get.
	c. Wisdom - The higher it is, the more practices you gain per level.   Definitely something
 		    you want maxed out before levelling.

	d. Dexterity - It'll come into play later, particularly with future assassins and monks. 
		       I really wouldn't worry about it too much in the beginning.

	e. Constitution - OK, constitution is the most important thing to worry about.  The higher
			  the constitution, the more HP you can get per level!  Missing out on
			  1-2 hp when you level may not sound like much, but think about it in the
			  long run; 1-2 hp, and you lose out on 100-200 hp by the time you make 
			  it to high advanced.  Ouch.  
			- Another reason to worry about con: You typically lose a point of con 
			  everytime you die!  And when your con drops to 0, you reroll!  This means
			  you start again at level 0, regardless of where you were before; level 15,
 			  level 40, even 50 advanced!  Never let your con slip low!

 - OK, now you're probably sitting there scratching your head going, "Yupa, you dummy, how am I 
   supposed to increase my attributes without levelling first?!"  The answer, my friend, is simple:

	Levelling Gear.
	Some EQ will raise things like wisdom and constitution just be wearing it.  It drops back
	to your original levels once you remove the item, but the affect is the same temporarily
	wearing it to level.  Slapping on something to max out your wis and con _will_ net you
	more practices and HP.  Similarly, wearing something with Intelligence before practicing
	a skill will let you learn that skill with the fewest number of practices used.

 - Where do you get levelling gear, you may ask?  The easiest thing to do is to ask if you can borrow
   some.  If someone's got something, meet them at the Training Room; equip the item they give you,
   level up as much as you wanted to, then remove the item and give it back.  That simple!

 - Now here's a quick list of a few items to either keep an eye out for, or to ask if someone has that
   you can borrow:
	Book on Fish - Increases Int and Wis
	Cat in the Hat - Also increases Int and Wis
	Piece of Statue - Increases Con and Wis
	Yoda Action Figure - Con and Wis
 	Dictionary - Con and Wis
	Training Potty - Con and Wis
	A small piece of glass - Con and Wis

F. Wandering the Mud - Don't.

 - I know you want to do it;  I certainly do.  But I have to strongly recommend to use caution in
   your adventures.  There's alot of dangerous places on Northern Crossroads;  mobs that will kill
   you in a hit, Death Traps that will strip you of your equipment, and other such nasties.  

 - If you really want to know what's safe, type dir.  It's a list of (most) zones on this mud; 
   typically, there's a suggested level next to the zone name.  That's a good general guide; stay
   away from anything higher than your level, and especially stay away from anything Advanced.

 - It's not a fail safe method though.  The list is old; there's more zones out now, and some of the
   recommended levels are skewed to the wrong.  So what do you do when you're in doubt?

 - Ask.  You may sound like an idiot to others, but it's always best to see if anyone has any 
   information about a zone before you go in.  It'll save you alot of time, effort, equipment,
   etc.

G. Gold

 - The bulk of your gold should always be put in an ATM.  There are several around town, and every
   club should have one in their respective clubhouses.  That way, in the event that you should 
   die and somehow not be able to recover your gold, you'll at least have some in the bank to 
   fall back on.

 - Save.  Be frugal.  You might think a million coins is a ton when you first start, but you can
   burn through that like nothing.  Buy only the things you need or will use.  Trust me on this,
   you're gonna need all the money you can get in the future.

 - Be careful with auction.  Sure, it's tempting to blow your wad on some good piece of EQ, but be
   reasonable about it.  It's really easy to spend a whole ton on auction, so try not to get carried
   away.  *Note:  It's OK to spend lots of money on an item that I'm auctioning. Heh.*

 - While we're on the topic of auction, and cause I'm too lazy to give it it's own section, don't
   auction crap.  Nobody wants to buy that long sword you got from a cityguard, trust me.

H. Levelling

 - Let's face it, this is basically what a newbie does.  Bulk yourself up, get more familiar and
   experienced, and level level level.  It sucks, it can be boring and tedious, but it's a 
   necessary step.

 - Find new places to level; the experience you net from the Tree won't do you much good when
   you get to a higher level; move on to other places as you get higher levels.  Asking usually
   helps; someone typically will know a better place to go that's (relatively) safe.

 - Don't waste your time waiting for experience mode or for a person to group with.  When either
   is available, that's great; but sitting around waiting for them accomplishes nothing.  Make
   the most of your time and you'll be surprised by how fast and far you can go.

I. Breaking out of Newbiedom

 - Congratulations.  Now go read Yupa's General Mudding Tips, Yupa's Levelling Tips, Yupa's CR Tips,
   Yupa's Zoning Tips, and Yupa's Leading Tips.  Not that I'm blatantly plugging em or anything.

 - Remember, have fun.  Enjoy.  Visit far away lands, meet interesting mobs, kill them.  Interact
   with your fellow mudders.  And as I tend to say (most often to myself), "Have fun, but not at 
   the expense of others."

 				If ya see me on, drop me a tell: lemme know if I've done any
				good, anything I should include/exclude in future updates, etc.
				
							Yupa