Windows 7, 64 Bit and Installation

[TheGolden Dragon]

Heyas.. been a darn while since I trailed to these boards, let alone Istaria (allthough I let sub run for 1 year with new owners to show some support ).

Question 1: Windows 7.. I hear Vista is now supported and 7 has similar kernel core..so does it work?

Question 2: 64 bit - Istaria is 32 bit app.. but considering that Win7 has no problem running 32 bit apps thats not a real issue, I presume?

Question 3: Installation.. is it worth installing game from CD's and updating via Web or better just get it all from web, considering that there has been so many changes to textures and core code that it would update it all anyway?

Question 4: Free account.. 1 character human only, no plot, couple of consigs... that sounds all-right to me.. so I guess it is forever free?

Question 5: Quad/Octo Core architecture - does Istaria support this? Would rather use full potential of 7.2-11.2 GHz computer instead of just 1.6-2.6 GHz single core.. all details on max with top notch resolution.. sure makes istaria get a little "prettyness" breeze !

Question 6: Labyrinth.. how does it work - I presume its non-instanced, non phased, solid-in-rock area which is shared within the whole server community.. is it busy a lot?

Question 7: Since I have always played Dragon (saris as well.. but rarely), what is Klava? (perhaps.. caramel-dipped gnome? A delicate change from those choccie ones!)

Question 8: How is the Blight advancing/retreating? Last I remember, the blight anchors were still invading our land..

Question 9: ARoP - is it all polished, smoothened and released? Last I remember, there was only 1-2 parts of the chain released with the construction of the gate in Dralk's mountain..

Question 10: Is there an expiry date on Account? I really hope not..

Question 11: Price of monthly/Quarterly sub for Account with 1 plot?

Question 12: Can 2 Istaria game instances run on single Win 7 64 Bit Laptop? (any Istaria SW restrictions?)

Question 13: Will you find my cargo disc..?


Yeah.. that should do the job just about..

Thanks for taking your time!

-TGD

[hallucin8]

lets see how I go...
Q1,2 I'm on Vista so I don't have any experience, but some people will tell you its all good, and others will report problems.
Q3 go the website dl
Q4 free forever, aslong as you don't breach the conditions of a free account. The second you create a second toon or non-human char, it will revert to a 14 day trial. And then you have to get support to flick you back on a free account, if that's possible.
Q5 As far as I know Istaria won't use more than one core, but in regards to Q12 you can have many instances running aslong as you have multiple subs, and then can dedicate each core to each instance
Q6 its very much like a normal area of the world, but with lots of mobs. More than enough to go around and it's not very busy when I see it. Sometimes no one is down there. The labryinth part comes in as it doesn't have a map, but once you've been shown around it's not that tricky.
Q7 no idea
Q8 the only blight anchor I know of is quest related. As far as I know there are no other blight anchors anywhere any more.
Q9 Should have specificed I'm not a draggy, but as far as I know AROP is all fixed
Q10 no expiry date. Any toons you have had once should be backed up somewhere should you wish them back
Q11 ~$15US/month and gets cheaper from there
Q12 see above
Q13 ha! but if you do happen to loose it, it will show up on your map as "disc" :P

Hope that helps and hope to see you in Istaria

[Kerech]

I am using Win7 64-bit Ultimate edition - works fine on both my laptop and desktop.

[TheGolden Dragon]

Excellent and not so excellent news..

Glad it works fine on your laptop..

Was hoping to use the quad/theoretical octo core to push Istaria to maximum limits of settings but I guess will have to keep some reins on my desire there..

Might get to downloading tonight then, but first things first, Doctor Who S5 ep 13 is on schedule


The most important question thou - What is Klava - remains unanswered!

Thanks Kerech, hallucin, for taking your time to answer my questions! Cheers!

-TGD

[LOVWYRM]

hey Golden-it`s been a while since the days of Unity -
good to read you here-wb

I leave it up to others to answer the technical things
(but I can confirm that vista and windows 7 runs fine)
And yes- free to play has no temporary limits.

But lets talk about dragons : We became real powerful in the last year(s).
New crystals to socket your scales- new scales as quest reward,
new techs (I love and use èm all), new abilities, a dragon epic spell, and an epic spell that drags can use too (as reward for a questline) new landscapes new mobs, about 100 new quests that came with t5/6 revamp, new spells and breaths (ahh: acid breath: dot^^) and I`m sure I forgot other things.
The Labyrinth is very nice! When I was not able to succeed down there alone at the beginning-meanwhile, with all the goodies that came along with
Dralknok`s Doom- its just great to hunt down there.

So- just come in and see- it will take some time to pimp THE GOLDEN-
but its fun

*wingwave*

[awdz]

The most important question thou - What is Klava - remains unanswered!

*grins* it's your favorite wake up drink! :-)

Short answer:
In Istaria, I use the gnomish term "klava" to mean a person's preferred drink, typically what they have to wake up with in the morning.

Longer answer:
"Klava" in real life came from the South Pacific islands, a coffee drink brewed with an egg in it. Steven Brust used it in his Vlad Taltos series as the morning brew for his Dragaerans. I had read some of his books and thoroughly enjoyed them (I highly recommend his writing) but then forgotten where I'd heard the term when starting to serve (morning) drinks to folks in game. I confirmed it was not from McCaffrey's writing (she used "klah"); I googled the term, but at the time (five + years ago now, wowsers!) it did not come up with any hits on Steven Brust, just the south pacific definition. It was about a year after I started serving klava in Istaria that I realized I was behind in reading the Vlad series, picked up the books I'd missed, and found where the term had been used in literature before.

Please note that the gnomish term is different than the coffee/egg drink. Someone drinking klava in Istaria may never have tasted either coffee or eggs. The term in Istaria simply denotes a person's favorite beverage, and is associated with feelings of renewal/awakening while it is consumed.

[LOVWYRM]

.. but its the love, the charm and the magic of the Lady who serves it-
that makes klava so incredible tasty

[awdz]

*blushes* thank you

I tried looking up the original definition of klava again, and cannot find the South Pacific drink description that I know I read years ago. Found an 1898 reference about natives (Rotuma) putting food and klava on a grave, though, so I know it's been around a while. Also, apparently Steven Brust's drink was based on Hungarian coffee, at least according to one source. It's interesting the way available information changed over time. Kind of threw me for a loop when I looked this time, though.

[Vortura]

......I tried looking up the original definition of klava again, and cannot find the South Pacific drink description that I know I read years ago.....

Try looking for "kava".

[awdz]

Try looking for "kava".

Possibly... when I searched years ago though, for "klava" it came up with a ton of brand name stuff, so I searched for "klava definition" and it came up readily as "klava" not "kava". It could be the definitions have been revised since; certainly "kava" came up as a suggested alternate spelling for "klava". I am sure that I have seen "klava" as an alternate spelling for "kava" as well, though it seems to have vanished from references now. Thanks for the suggestion!

[TheGolden Dragon]

Interesting as kava = coffee in my language!

Also.. downloading Istaria is taking fair while.. couple of gig's at least .. forgot how big this game is!

Also looking onto ARoP info.. I think I will do whole of the Ancient rite of passage.. but will never want to grow into ancient himself.. the model is far too big.. Will rather enjoy the crisis of middle age (eg. Adult ) heh..

And Awdz.. you sure must make some heck of a Klava.. since its rare to be a gnome and friend of dragons! *slily winks*

Hope to see ya lot in Istaria real soon.. *nudges download bar..*

[TheGolden Dragon]

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

Intel i7Q720 (4x real, 4x theoretical cores)
6 GB DDR 3 1066 MHz RAM (3x 2GB stick Tripple channel)
500 GB 7200 RPM HDD WD Scorpio
Ati Radeon Mobility HD5870 1 GB DDR5
Windowed mode, dual monitor

Horizons going all smooth, max settings 1920x1080p x2 resolution. No hiccups so far (just once the game downloaded got stuck..).

So for anybody out there wondering.. its all good!

[Shian]

Also looking onto ARoP info.. I think I will do whole of the Ancient rite of passage.. but will never want to grow into ancient himself.. the model is far too big.. Will rather enjoy the crisis of middle age (eg. Adult ) heh..

Just make sure when you are finished that you put your Ascention rune well away from the Teleport Rune. They still use the same art, and I've known a few dragons to accidentally ascend by using the wrong rune.

So long as you do not download the original Ancient Model, I believe the size is not all that different. Plus you get a boost to armor, ceiling height, fly speed and access to a number of epic spells

[Dracaena]

There are actually 2 epic spells available to dragons. One is contingent on being ancient to get the quest for it. I don't run any mods on my game and ancient is larger then adult. It took me a little while to learn how not to trip over my feet when my dragon ascended last summer. Now I have no more problems doing things then I did at adult. I have no regrets in ascending to ancient and am quite happy with my dragon.


Dracaena