06-13-2016, 12:22 PM
Thanks, Jack, for a timely reply.
I am hesitant to argue with the demo and, of course, my personal recollections are nearly 20 years ago, now. However, I remember all the trouble I went through on OSI, trying to fill spellbooks before I levelled my own scribe, and now I am tempted to point-out that the demo was never intended for end-game-style play, merely for introductory play: certain functionalities may have been "truncated"; do you have any means of disassembling and analysing the related code (if I am on the right track, there might be code there that is "remarked out", or otherwise de-activated, or there might be a tattle-tale inactive remnant of excised script ...)?
Player-sold scrolls were rather obvious, as even multiple scrolls of exactly the same spell were listed in multiple quantities of one, rather than in a single listing of multiple quantity, as happens with any vendor's natural stock.
Now, I do not wish my remarks to be taken out of context, or in any exaggerated context: the mage shopkeepers did not have lots and lots of spells above 3rd Circle and, unless player-made, never had any Circle 8. So far as I can recall, a mage shopkeeper's natural stock might have 1x Circle 7 (in quantity), and might have 1x-2x Circle 6, while probably had 1x-3x Circle 5 and 2x-3x Circle 4, plus a mix of Circles 1-3. These numbers I am providing can not be considered "hard" numbers: I am merely trying to "give a feel" for the overall condition that I am failing to perfectly remember; also, there would often be duplication in what spells were (not) available, and that would further confuse my recollections, as would any acquisitions of player-sold stuff (of course I can't remember which Circle 6s I bought that were shopkeeper-stock vs. player-sold!) ...
I know I have provided no concrete evidence: maybe I'll take a tour through The Wayback Machine and see if I can find any references in the Stratics pages.
Personally, here at LL, thanks to my kind benefactor and also to some very-generous wraiths/shades/spectres, my first spellbook now possesses a decent representation of the most-useful spells.
If I stumble across anything, that is actually tangible, that might shed more light upon this issue, I'll post it here.
Thanks again.
A Stranger
I am hesitant to argue with the demo and, of course, my personal recollections are nearly 20 years ago, now. However, I remember all the trouble I went through on OSI, trying to fill spellbooks before I levelled my own scribe, and now I am tempted to point-out that the demo was never intended for end-game-style play, merely for introductory play: certain functionalities may have been "truncated"; do you have any means of disassembling and analysing the related code (if I am on the right track, there might be code there that is "remarked out", or otherwise de-activated, or there might be a tattle-tale inactive remnant of excised script ...)?
Player-sold scrolls were rather obvious, as even multiple scrolls of exactly the same spell were listed in multiple quantities of one, rather than in a single listing of multiple quantity, as happens with any vendor's natural stock.
Now, I do not wish my remarks to be taken out of context, or in any exaggerated context: the mage shopkeepers did not have lots and lots of spells above 3rd Circle and, unless player-made, never had any Circle 8. So far as I can recall, a mage shopkeeper's natural stock might have 1x Circle 7 (in quantity), and might have 1x-2x Circle 6, while probably had 1x-3x Circle 5 and 2x-3x Circle 4, plus a mix of Circles 1-3. These numbers I am providing can not be considered "hard" numbers: I am merely trying to "give a feel" for the overall condition that I am failing to perfectly remember; also, there would often be duplication in what spells were (not) available, and that would further confuse my recollections, as would any acquisitions of player-sold stuff (of course I can't remember which Circle 6s I bought that were shopkeeper-stock vs. player-sold!) ...
I know I have provided no concrete evidence: maybe I'll take a tour through The Wayback Machine and see if I can find any references in the Stratics pages.
Personally, here at LL, thanks to my kind benefactor and also to some very-generous wraiths/shades/spectres, my first spellbook now possesses a decent representation of the most-useful spells.
If I stumble across anything, that is actually tangible, that might shed more light upon this issue, I'll post it here.
Thanks again.
A Stranger