User talk:PurpleSerpent



Welcome!
May I extend my warmest welcomes and offer you any help you may need? Thanks for your contributions, mate!


 * ...First, you may want to check out our FAQ page.
 * ...There's a wealth of wiki documentation on the Help page, perhaps some of it may be of use to you.
 * ...Before you upload your screenshots, which we really appreciate, please read our file naming policy.
 * ...With the wiki's most recent update from version 1.23 to 1.31, we now have many new features and abilities.
 * ...There's a really good over on Wikipedia also, it should help you figure out what's going on if you're new to wikis in general.
 * ...Don't forget to change your DDOwiki user preferences.
 * ...We pride ourselves on providing the best and most accurate information possible and are happy to reward our editors with extra privileges for making that happen. The first step in the promotion ladder turns off the CAPTCHA edit tests and you can check out the details DDO:Ddowikivip.

If you need help with something above and beyond what the links above can provide...
 * ...Someone is most always available! You can drop me a message on my user talk page (which I watch like a hawk), grab my other contact info on my user page, or ask one of the users on the.
 * ...Be sure to check out our live chat on the for DDOwiki or and our Social Media Sites!

Again, welcome to the wiki - and I can't thank you enough on behalf of the community for your help in making us the best DDO site around. ShoeMaker (Contribs&thinsp;•&thinsp;Message&thinsp;•&thinsp;Email ) 09:51, June 10, 2020 (EDT)

Thanks for chasing down those images for Memoirs of an Illusory Larcener. Well done. &rArr; Nom (Contribs • Message • Email ) 17:29, February 14, 2021 (EST) My pleasure. Taking images of monsters is kind of my thing around here! :) &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 17:49, February 14, 2021 (EST)

"refreshing" of monster images?
I don't understand what you're doing by removing the monster image and adding it back again. Are you trying to refresh the page/image? There is a button to refresh the page at the top (under More). This refreshes some aspects of the page in the wiki server like templates and categories. If you are trying to refresh the image then perhaps try clearing your browser's cache for ddowiki which will force your browser to reload the image page with the new data. If you are having some other problem, can you elaborate so we can test what it is? In any case, pointlessly editing the page clogs the recent changes and increases the server storage by the size of the page (as mediawiki stores each revision's full page code) &rArr; Faltout (Contribs • Message • Email ) 08:29, June 24, 2021 (EDT)
 * Ah, sorry. I'd been discussing this with User:GMTrojan earlier; it's the only way we can figure out to clear the pages in question from Category:Monsters without image, which isn't updating correctly a lot of the time. We've tried refreshing and it isn't doing anything. I wasn't aware it would be an issue. Any suggestions for what to do instead? &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 09:49, June 24, 2021 (EDT)
 * When you add an image to the page, the page should no longer list the category. Is that not happening? If it is happening and yet the category still has the page in it, it's a job queue issue. You can usually force the job queue to run by refreshing the category or performing a null edit on the category (edit the page and click save without changing anything) or performing a null edit on the page. Next time you see a problem can you leave me a message so I can take a look at it? &rArr; Faltout (Contribs • Message • Email ) 12:45, June 24, 2021 (EDT)
 * I have tried both of those methods previously; alas, to no avail. I'll be taking images of a couple of monsters in The Shadow Crypt today; I'll leave those so you can have a look at them. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email )
 * Ah, hold on. It looks like if I upload the image a while before putting its name in the monster template, it activates properly. That should solve the problem. Sorry for any inconvenience. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 13:14, June 24, 2021 (EDT)
 * I see what is happening. You put an image name in the template, but because Nopic checks if the image exists and returns the NoPic image, the template applies the category. Then, until the page has been updated, the category will not go away (as described in Mediawiki, categories applied by templates persist through a template change unless the page is refreshed). The solution to this as described is to perform a null edit (as I said above). Open the page for editing and save without any changes. You've said you tried that? Are you absolutely sure? &rArr; Faltout (Contribs • Message • Email ) 15:31, June 24, 2021 (EDT)
 * Yep. On both the category and the page itself (tried it on Abishai Executioner, for example. Didn't have any visible effect, even after leaving it for 24 hours and logging on from a different device. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 16:20, June 24, 2021 (EDT)

Nopic in item images
Please do not use the Nopic to wrap the item images. It disrupts the regular expression in Cosmetic item table row which we use to select the item pages displayed in the cosmetic categories. You obviously saw it used somewhere and copied it. Please remove it from everywhere you see it. The only reason to use nopic is to show a pretty image instead of a red link when there is no image. There isn't any useful functionality to the template. If, however, you want the pretty image from the item pages, you can incorporate the usage of nopic in the item template which doesn't disrupt anything. &rArr; Faltout (Contribs • Message • Email ) 05:06, August 6, 2021 (EDT)
 * I see. Apologies for any inconvenience caused, I made those pages at 10pm last night and was obviously not operating at full power. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 05:27, August 6, 2021 (EDT)

Wheloon Rare Encounters
Dear PurpleSerpent,

first of all, i am not a native speaker, so i apologize for any lingual mistake. :)

Thank you for editing Wheloon Prison Page again. Maybe we need to rework it together a bit. Heroic Wheloon Prison Rare Encounter contains only 12 entries, as shown in the screenshot linked to.

The full list contains 15 entries, from which two don't occur on Heroic. (The Dark Maw, Trassex)

Only beholders the Dark Eye / Black Eye spawn like the Panthers in Kings Forest.

Yours Kelandrion

P.S.: If you have a better place for our discussion, just show me.


 * Ah. I see what's happened.

There are some red-named Shadow Beholders in Heroic Wheloon which aren't on the rares list, but those are called Eyes of Shadow. Here's part of the list again:
 * Slay Okage, the Shadow Puppeteer (Heroic)
 * Slay Hush, the Shadow Stalker (Heroic)
 * Slay The Black Eye, (Beholder) Knower of Shadows (Epic)
 * Slay The Dark Maw, the Nightcrawler (Epic)
 * Slay Lord Monte, Right Cross of Darkness (Heroic)
 * Slay Trassex, Shade Lord of Lords (Epic)

Those are the last 6 entries on the list. Of those, three (Okage, Hush and Lord Monte) only spawn on Heroic, and three (The Black Eye, The Dark Max and Trassex) only spawn on Epic. Along with the nine that always spawn, that means both lists have twelve entries. So in total, there should be (and are) 3 + 3 + 9 = 15 rares on Wheloon's page.

To be fair, the list isn't formatted very well. I might change how it's displayed a bit. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 04:14, September 22, 2021 (EDT)

Dear Purple, I totally agree with you. It would be nice to display it a bit like 9 +3 +3. As I am not too firm in wiki formatting rules, I would leave this part up to you.

As you might have seen, I sometimes do special tasks in wilderness areas. I added a picture of Baba, updated Okage and now switched to Heroic Cogs. There I might change the Rare Encounters a bit, as the location could be put into details to keep the overview page lean. If you need someone to test some effect in game or hunt a rare event, just tell me :)


 * Great. I'll reformat that now. Thanks for the help.

(P.S. Where exactly did you find Baba? I've been looking for her for months - trying to get a photograph, as it happens - but I think I must be looking in the wrong place.) &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 05:13, September 22, 2021 (EDT)

Look in the ddo forum: I also tried for weeks to reach her, but failed. J1NG gave me with his video the input and after 35 more tries I found here exactly at the same position as he did.


 * That's really helpful, thank you. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 05:23, September 22, 2021 (EDT)

here a of her, msg 13 behind.


 * Oh, one more thing. While editing a page, you can type four tildes (a tilde is this symbol: ~ ) at the end of your edit to add your name. We prefer that you do this at the end of your edit on a talk page, to make it clear who said what, though obviously don't do it on other pages! &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 05:42, September 22, 2021 (EDT)

Understood &rArr; Kelandrion (Contribs • Message • Email ) 05:53, September 22, 2021 (EDT)

The Cogs - Rare Encounters
Hello PurpleSerpent,

as you are much more experienced, I ask you to have a look at Rare Encounters in the Cogs, especially the locations where they can be found. Some Information is in brackets, some in subtopics and I even guess some information is not complete.

Thank you in advance &rArr; Kelandrion (Contribs • Message • Email ) 01:34, September 27, 2021 (EDT)


 * Sure, I'll give it a look. The Cogs is a bit of a mess in terms of rares, as some spawn only in specific places, some spawn randomly all over the map, and some spawn only in certain areas. Luckily, I think most of the rares have spawn locations recorded on their talk pages. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 04:28, September 27, 2021 (EDT)

Category deletions
I see you deleting some 'Monsters in' categories https://ddowiki.com/index.php?title=Special%3ALog&type=delete&user=PurpleSerpent&page=Category%3AMonsters&pattern=1 - which is fine. I'd prefer to see them set up as Redirect category instead as many could be considered a 'common search term'. Thanks &#x1f45f;&thinsp;&thinsp;&#x1f45f; 13:02, October 17, 2021 (EDT)


 * Ah! A special template for redirecting categories! Now that I'm aware of it, I shall make use of it in future. Thanks for the tip. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 13:14, October 17, 2021 (EDT)

Creation Protection
Creation protection has never worked here on DDOwiki for as long as I can remember. If you attempt to protect a page that doesn't exist, it'll look like it goes through, but nothing actually happens on the back end to protect it from being created. The ways to resolve this is to either have the page exist in some state (such as a redirect to the correct page title or even as a simply blank page) and then fully protect it from being edited/moved or add the title to Titleblacklist with the appropriate. &#x1f45f;&thinsp;ShoeMaker ( Talk • Contribs • Email  • Patrol • Moves • B • D • I • PP • UM • UR ) &thinsp;&#x1f45f; 11:32, November 4, 2021 (EDT)
 * Wasn't the intention. My plan was to fully protect and redirect to DDO wiki:Social media until I figured out that only lists our Discord. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 15:02, November 4, 2021 (EDT)

"Edit War"
The reason I went ahead with the edit was that he is an IP user like me, and therefore probably doesn't use the site enough to care about its discussion section. Additionally, the edits are months old and it's likely that *no one* cares about its discussion section for that reason. 73.59.107.217 (Message &thinsp;•&thinsp;Block &thinsp;•&thinsp; Check ) 12:23, November 14, 2021 (EST)
 * I understand that. The reasoning for my warning is that, regardless of whether you're right or wrong, reverting the same edit more than twice (which you didn't quite get to, luckily) is called edit warring. If you do this without any attempt to communicate with the other user, you can get blocked for it. which I didn't want to happen. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 12:28, November 14, 2021 (EST)

The Storm Horns (legendary)
Hello, there are three rare encounters missing in the documentation. I just completed the area with two toons and did only find the already known 8 of 11. Do you have any ideas? Yours Kelandrion &rArr; Kelandrion (Contribs • Message • Email ) 16:15, January 1, 2022 (EST)


 * Had a discussion on this topic on the forum. The consensus was that nobody seemed to know what the other three were, and we concluded this was because they didn't exist. Our suspicions are that the two rare dragons (Charillion and Nexxylplyx) should be on the list but aren't, and number 11 should spawn in the Northwest cave but doesn't. We can't confirm that, however, because we never got a dev response (none of my questions do), so I haven't put anything of the kind on the page. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 14:33, January 2, 2022 (EST)

Thank you for the fast reply. I made the same experience with my dev/support requests. If you ever have new ideas to be tested, drop me a line &rArr; Kelandrion (Contribs • Message • Email ) 15:44, January 2, 2022 (EST)

raid boss tag
Hi PurpleSerpent, I saw you tagged several monsters with a "raid boss" category. Don't you think it would be a good iea to expand the template for that ? &rArr; Corgrind (Contribs • Message • Email ) 13:56, March 24, 2022 (EDT)


 * What happened there is that there is a second, special template made specifically for raid bosses (T:Raid Boss or something like that) and it is this template, not (T:Monster), that adds itself to C:Raid bosses; however, a number of raid bosses were just using T:Monster (which is frankly a much better way of doing it) so had not been added to the category. That is a good idea, though, and I will see if I can mock something up. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 14:03, March 24, 2022 (EDT)
 * If this is the case it might be a good idea to get rid of the raid boss template. We definitely have too much obsolete or irritating templates &rArr; Corgrind (Contribs • Message • Email ) 14:10, March 24, 2022 (EDT)
 * It's not entirely useless, it's just that most raid bosses aren't complex enough to merit it. Some are, though - the Black Abbot is an example. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 14:13, March 24, 2022 (EDT)

Suspected DCs for: Secret Doors and Traps
Regarding Traps and Secret doors: it's not a straightforward as it first looks... the majority of figures I have added actually use sound judgement. Even though they may look out-of-place or have what appear to be unusual values, which from an uneducated glance may seem to be just randomly "magicked from thin air".

Reading the following three sources might help: DDO information project/Traps and locks.


 * See also (it's lengthy): CritFail; Fail; Success; CritSuccess

 "[...] Part of the problem with the current values for 'Traps and Locks' is that anything added before: U19, August 2013, is likely inaccurate. Because the Trap DCs where readjusted by the Developers. In fact any Trap DC values added prior 2014 cannot be trusted one bit, and SHOULD NOT really be used in any table calculation whatsoever! ..."


 * [...]

"[...] With the (proposed) Template demo; I don't like the space before and after the dash [Suspected DC range] it looks more like a calculation rather than an actual range. That may be partly due to my disability but it's a lot harder to read and takes far too long to process by my brain.

Not all Traps can have a Critical Success, e.g. Bear Traps and Spell Wards (as they are removed) as you are fully aware.

''My answer with regards about possibly removing the [Modified Roll:Result] column, is I'm sorry but I disagree with you about that. I understand where you are coming from albeit it would lead to nothing but a headache for me.'' :-/

In fact, to be honest, I'd probably stop bothering editing the Trap DCs completely in future if that column was removed - full stop. ..."


 * See also: Suspected DCs for: Locks, Secret Doors and Traps

In contrast; it was actually feasible to use a template for: Spot and Search... Hope that explains things a little better. I'm not a rampaging Tyrannosaurus. ;-)

&rArr; Dywypi (Contribs • Message • Email ) 11:57, April 14, 2022 (EDT)


 * I have in fact given up on trying to standardise the results for traps; not being a Rogue, I have no way of verifying them anyway. It's the lock DCs I'm working on at the moment, as I can usually check those with Knock. Still, I was considering going back and trying again, so thanks for the note. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 13:39, April 14, 2022 (EDT)

Quest page names
Please, check the names ingame (Quest Journal for example). For Example the the quest "Captive of the Hidden God" is singular !!!! It's not like you feel it. (Wiki rule): We do as DDO does &rArr; Corgrind (Contribs • Message • Email ) 15:31, June 22, 2022 (EDT)


 * I could've sworn it said that when I checked it. Huh. Sorry about that, anyway. (Little bit of an overreaction for one mistake, though...) &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 15:34, June 22, 2022 (EDT)


 * Maybe be a little ;-) BTW: I won't check the monster page names you create; that's your business B-) BTW2: You may have to change cat names now Thanks &rArr; Corgrind (Contribs • Message • Email ) 15:41, June 22, 2022 (EDT)


 * I know the monster names are right, I have the pictures. Just working on the categories now. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 15:42, June 22, 2022 (EDT)

+JustBob
I suspect +JustBob might have been a Systems Engineer. I have personally seen the +JustBob skeleton in-game during 2016. He might also appear in the background of somebody's historic YouTube (2016 or 2017) 'DDO Anniversary Party' video. You probably wouldn't likely get a good screenshot even if he did appear or you were bothered to torture yourself trying to trawl through such videos. I think the best partial image we have of him was within the DDO Forums thread:.

&rArr; Dywypi (Contribs • Message • Email ) 15:21, November 21, 2022 (EST)


 * Thank you for this! I've taken a clipping of the forums image so I can upload it (even if not as one of my own) and get the missing list down to a single digit (exciting!) Obviously, I'll credit it appropriately. I wonder if JustBob and Nohbob are actually the same developer - apparently Nohbob's character first appeared in 2018's Anniversary, which would fit with when JustBob seems to have been removed.


 * I did once consider using a clipping from a video (for the Island Djinni, as it happens) but the double-compression just made it impossible to get an in-focus shot and it kind of felt like cheating. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 16:00, November 21, 2022 (EST)


 * Interesting; Robert Hess (NohBob) Senior Content Designer recently was on YouTube: . He did work on LotRO at some stage and possibly took a break from Turbine or changed job titles. The DDO Wiki has a link: Pages mentioning Nohbob.


 * [He] looked alive in 2017; within the 12th Anniversary 2018, he was certainly active as a human scenery decoration.

&rArr; Dywypi (Contribs • Message • Email ) 15:29, November 22, 2022 (EST)


 * Ah, thank you. I did try contacting him to ask about it, but I never got a reply. Sadly, dev team/wiki relations seem to have really soured after the Rien incident. It's a shame, really.


 * (Or maybe the account was just inactive. The last post was over a year old, but then he never posted that often anyway.) &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 16:28, November 22, 2022 (EST)


 * You should have tried Cordovan via PM rather than Bob. Some of SSG Team simplify won't reply to PM regardless of their forum activity. I've had success with Flimsy, the handful of times I've wanted feedback on Dungeon issues, e.g. dungeon bugs like misbehaving bosses or Traps and Secret doors. Flimsy would have access to the skeleton models being a Content Designer.

&rArr; Dywypi (Contribs • Message • Email ) 04:27, November 23, 2022 (EST)


 * Might be a good idea. Thank you. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 05:28, November 23, 2022 (EST)

Global notice
I disagree with you that the current bug is not serious; in fact it makes many higher level quests very difficult or even unplayable because energy drain is common for higher level casters &rArr; Corgrind (Contribs • Message • Email ) 14:18, December 7, 2022 (EST)


 * I'm not claiming it's not serious, I'm claiming it's not so serious that people could actually lose valuable items or, worse, entire characters simply by taking actions that would otherwise be harmless in normal gameplay. The Update 51 reincarnation issues were serious enough for a global notice because a lot of people were losing hard-earned tomes or characters by no fault of their own. While this bug is a problem, it will only make current progress harder; it won't risk wiping out people's progress entirely. (Maybe on Hardcore, but this is likely to be patched out before Death Ward even becomes an option for most people.)


 * If people notice that their Death Ward items are not working properly, they can go and look at the page and they'll see the bug notice straight away. We save editing the actual backline text of the wiki itself for when the issue is so severe that it needs to be the first thing anyone coming to the wiki reads about. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 14:30, December 7, 2022 (EST)

Dragon list
Dry: I understand ditching the dragon table to an automated thing (which I didn't know about) but then you showed this: Category:Monster_Manual/Dragon why wouldn't you put that there instead. I admit I am new to wiki editing, I prob didn't do this talk thing right, but I would never have found that category thing looking for a dragon list, why not put that on the dragon type page so people can find it?
 * Simply because not everything in that table counts as Dragon type (Dracoliches and Spectral Dragons are technically Undead, for instance) and some Dragon type monsters aren't in the Monster Manual. At any rate, the way I've set it up currently is how the lists are typically done - that way, whenever a new Dragon is added to the wiki, it will be automatically added to the various lists so we don't have to do it manually. (Thanks for pointing out that there wasn't a list, though - whoever created the page must have forgotten to add it.) &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 14:31, February 1, 2023 (EST)
 * Dry: All that makes sense but, why not put Category:Monster_Manual/Dragon instead of just a list, so people can see the difficulty so they can create a plan on the order in which to kill them?
 * As PS mentioned, that wouldn't be the correct list for the page; however, I've used that table format as you requested with the correct list.   &#x1f45f;&thinsp;ShoeMaker ( Talk • Contribs • Email  • Patrol • Moves • B • D • I • PP • UM • UR ) &thinsp;&#x1f45f; 17:07, February 1, 2023 (EST)
 * I'm not sure that's fully worked, to be honest. Apart from the fact that I can't see that we really need it and it clashes with how the lists work on every other race page, it's left an ugly dead table on Category:Dragon type monsters and, critically, it doesn't do the thing the original list did, which is to leave out everything that isn't a Chromatic Dragon. Why don't we just go with Dry's idea and include a link to the Monster Manual page? That would do the job just as nicely. &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email ) 17:27, February 1, 2023 (EST)
 * Scratch all that. It looks like we already had a template set up on C:Dragon type monsters to do exactly this but it's not currently working. I've decided to move the fancy table there, where it makes a little more sense and doesn't slow the page loading down as much, and put a link on the type's page to indicate its presence. Does that work for everyone? &rArr; PurpleSerpent (Contribs • &uArr; top &uArr; • Email )

Dry: I do love that the list has the quest and the picture is cool, I just wish it had the CR;s too. It took me 2 hours to make that list. So I could go on a dragon hunt, I'd hate to make others do the same. 17:40, February 1, 2023 (EST)
 * Named Monsters by type fixed to work like originally coded, even if it kind of looks ugly. Lets move the discussion to Named Monsters by type to discuss changes in output.  &#x1f45f;&thinsp;ShoeMaker ( Talk • Contribs • Email  • Patrol • Moves • B • D • I • PP • UM • UR ) &thinsp;&#x1f45f; 23:15, February 1, 2023 (EST)

Finding Dorris Bug ???
Hello PurpleSerpent, do you have an idea if the Bug stated on the quest page Finding Dorris is still valid? Or isn't it a bug? &rArr; Corgrind (Contribs • Message • Email ) 15:29, February 11, 2023 (EST)