Idlechasing
WARNING: This page contains information about idlechasing, which now returns less xp and is no longer possible by sharing experience in a group due to changes[1] to the game.Since the change all commands that give xp typically return 20 times (or less) the cost in GP and command xp is no longer shared.
The creators have proposed missions as a way to gain experience without combat.
Contents
Where to look
There are many pages including this one that explain concepts and methods of idlechasing.
See below for an explanation of what idlechasing was and basic concepts related to it.
There was a guide to help characters new to idlechasing.
See also idle etiquette for community conventions.
- Guild guides to idlechasing
The guild you're in used to determine which commands had which return rates, which in turn determined your best idling strategy.
- Improving idlechasing
- Guild commands | Idlehunting | Idlechasing commands | Idlechasing locations | Portable NPCs | Thaums | Tips, Tricks & Useful Items
- Research
- Command repetition and experience | Experience Rates | Inefficient Aliases | Shared command experience
- Alias and client information
- Alias | Idlechasing aliases | Spam Blocking | Timers and triggers | XP Counter for MUSHclient
Idlechasing explained
Idlechasing was the indie alternative to hitting people with clubs. While hunters gain most of their experience killing and burying, idlechasers prefered the less violent approach of relying entirely on commands. Commands give experience, and that experience used to be shared between group members, so let's see how much experience we can get!
Idle groups were usually found in the Old Warriors' Guild in Ankh-Morpork, the Djelian Guard training dummy, or various other locations. Groups were often named idle:<location> to make finding them easier.
Here is the finger information for the Idlechasers club. Though you didn't have to be a member to idle, we would sometimes mention it on the club channel when there was room in a group.
Commands
Every command had its own GP to XP conversion rate. Palm, for example, costs 10 GP to execute, and gave 150 experience in return. Many commands gave different rates depending on your guild. (See the command list for idlechasing for a full list of conversion rates, and Guild commands for a list of commands that gave the highest conversion rate.)
So, the idea of idlechasing was to create an alias of several commands, making sure those commands would give the maximum experience and TM chances.
While command xp is no longer shared, it was previously believed to be the case that your groupmates would receive half of the experience gained from all your commands, while you still got full experience. Taking this into account, the theoretical maximum XP rate per hour you can reach in a full group was about 760,000. However, it was rare for this to actually happen.
The percentage of experience you shared depended on your and your groupmate's guild level. It was the case that the fraction you shared from your peers was equal to your guild level divided by your groupmate's guild level, with a maximum of 1/2.
Commands vs. Time
Your commands will not always give full experience. If you execute the same command twice, you will notice it gives much less experience the second time. This is why, when creating an idling alias, you must consider how many commands are in it, the amount of time it takes to complete, and the amount of GP it uses (and, in turn, the time it takes for your GP to regenerate).
The more commands in your alias, the less time you have to wait before you can fire it again for full experience gain. Finding the balance between command count and the time between each alias can often be a challenge. The only way to be sure your alias will give full XP every time is to test it, adding/removing/changing commands as needed (Note that this must be done on your own, as group shared XP will interfere what you are trying to find out).
Hints
Don't neglect TMs. Shared TMs are appreciated as much as shared experience in a group, so consider interspersing your high XP commands with a musical interlude, studying a map, or doing a quick weapons and armour inspection.
Commands give experience even if they fail. Your ability to succeed in a command is irrelevant, if you have the ability to attempt it, you will gain the experience.
Remember that idling isn't particularly interesting, unless you like to chat with groupmates while doing so. One of the main advantages of idlechasing is that you only need to input to the mud every few minutes, so you can do whatever else while idling at the same time!
See Also
External links
- There are a number of Achievements related to numberchasing.
