Game Help | Aetolia, the Midnight Age

19.2 Bugs, Ideas, and Typos

There will be times when you'll want to speak to the administration in order to:

- report a bug (an error in the game), (command: BUG)
- report a bug about a quest, (command: QUESTBUG)
- report a typo in the game, (command: TYPO)
- report an outdated or erroneous help files (command: HELPEDIT)
- or to give them an idea for the game. (command: IDEA)

Bugs
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Please try to give as much relevant information as possible such as when and how the particular bug happened. Such useful information includes what you did to cause it, any recently announced changes that might have influenced it, location and/or item ID numbers, or anything else you feel necessary. If possible, please try to replicate what happened to cause a bug before bugging it.

Please, only ONE bug report is necessary for each problem.

If nothing else, PLEASE try to include a message given by the game that is relevant to the bug you are submitting, and submitting your bug as soon as it happens, preferably in the room the issue occurred. Tracking down bugs becomes much easier if the coders have some game output to work backwards from.

Problems involving artifacts and/or credits should be submitted into the issue system so we can help you out ASAP. Read HELP ISSUE for more information on that.

Bug related syntaxes:

BUG [ABILITY] <your report here> To report a bug.*
BUGS A list of your reported bugs.
SHOWBUG <number> To see a bug that you bugged.
CBUG <number> <comment> To comment an unresolved bug.
DELBUG <number> <reason> To delete a bug you submitted.
BUG <number> PRIORITY Marks a bug as a personal priority.
BUG <number> LOG <log link> Adds a log to your reported bug.

For quests, use the following:

QUESTBUG <mob/item#> <your report> To include a mob/item ID#.
QUESTBUG ROOM <vnum> <your report> To include a room vNum.

Use the command VNUM to see the room number for the room you're in.

Making use of this command over the BUG command for quests gives us more information to help us track down your problem and fix it sooner, as we have a lot of quests!

* The ABILITY field in a bug submission is optional

NOTE: If a bug has been resolved, please do not comment on it further - make a new bug.

Bug Abuse
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If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! If you have found a way to generate huge amounts of gold or experience by entering a single command over and over, or if you are able to instantly kill people twice your level with one punch, then you have probably encountered a bug. Please err on the side of caution and report possible bugs, and refrain from exploiting the ones that have not yet been fixed. Punishment can occur if severe abuse is found, including permanent bans from the game.

Typos
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Typos are where there is a misspelling or misused word. We really do want to hear about this sort of thing, so don't be shy! The following should be taken in account when using this command:

- If it is a mobile or item, include the item ID number.
- If the typo is in a skill when used, then tell us the skill name.
- If the typo is in a skill file, let us know the relevant AB file.
- Include the full line in question, along with the typo. Point out the typo if it isn't
immediately obvious. This is the easiest way for us to track down the problem.

Typo related commands:

TYPO <your report here> Report a typo.
HELPEDIT Review HELPEDIT commands for correcting and updating help
files in Aetolia.

For further commands, refer to the section on bugs. A typo is submitted into the bug database but
flagged as a typo in our internal system.

Ideas
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Sometimes you might have a great idea you might like to see within the game. In that case, you can submit your idea, in as great a detail as you wish, and then wait. Who knows? You may see your idea affect the game. Many have!

Because of the presence of the classlead system, ideas should not specifically be about new skills or changes to existing skills, unless the idea has nothing at all to do with the actual functionality of the skill, such as in reference to one of its messages. Please read HELP CLASSLEAD for more information on this system.

Idea related syntaxes:

IDEA <idea> Submit a new idea for review
IDEAS View a list of ideas that you have submitted
LISTIDEAS [section] View the section list, or summary of ideas in a section
LISTIDEAS UNVOTED View ideas that you have not already voted on
LISTIDEAS HELP View a variety of options for listing ideas
NEXTIDEA View (SHOWIDEA) the next idea on your LISTIDEAS search
AIDEA <idea #> <section> Assign an idea to an appropriate section*
IDEASEARCH <term> Search for existing ideas by term
SHOWIDEA <idea> View a submitted idea
DELIDEA <idea> Delete one of your own ideas
CIDEA <idea> Comment upon an idea
IDEASUPPORT <idea> Express your support for an idea
IDEAOPPOSE <idea> Express your opposition to an idea
IDEANEUTRAL <idea> Express neutrality toward an idea
CONFIG IDEA_ALERTS <on/off> Toggle notifications for idea submission and deletion