Group

A group is a collaborative collection of players and/or mobs that band together to form a more powerful force. Mostly the term is used to refer to players groups, although it can also apply to mobs, who have the ability to form their own groups as well as join player groups.

How to start a group

There are two ways to start a group, if the person you want to group with is in the same room, first ask them to follow you, this can be done verbally or with beckon <player> command then type group add <player>. If the player is in a different room you can summon them to your location by asking them to join you group join <leader> and then by typing group summon <player>

Types

Player groups

A player group consists of a leader and at least one follower. The leader directs the group and moves it through the world, while the follower(s) assist in various ways, for example, by fighting, blasting, healing and tanking.

Mob groups

Mobs have the ability to form basic groups and some will work together in limited ways, for example guards that rescue and protect other mobs.

Minions in groups

Both player and mob groups can contain minions. A solo players who summons minions automatically form a group and start the broadcast of kxwt group data. Minions in player groups can be spammy, to config the spam options type spam minion.

Mobs in player groups

Sometimes a mob will join a player or player group for a short time, usually as part of a escort style quest.

Newbie groups

Grouping as a newbie is strongly encouraged and it is recommended that all newbies spend some time both leading and following in a group to gain experience. Alter aeon is multiplayer game and most players will find they get a lot more out of the game and progress faster by grouping. Newbie groups also have an additional benefit of a 100% death rescue from the grouping gods.

Benefits of a grouping

Running in a group has loads of benefits over soloing, a lot of the most fun times can come with running with others. Grouping is a great way to meet and interact the other alter aeon players. Often players will learn far more than soloing alone and ultimately playing as part of a group can be more rewarding. Typically grouping will allow players to travel to harder areas, take on and kill more difficult mobs and generally progress faster than soloing alone.

meeting and making friends.
xp bonuses
greater chance getting combat points.
stronger unit able to kill more powerful/difficult mobs that soloing alone.
able to kill mobs faster
leader and tank bonuses

Group channels

There are three main group channels grouptell (gt), subgrouptell (subgt) and warn. How the channels are used are largely dependent on the group and group leader although the basic guidelines are use gt for group related topics, subgt for general chatter and warn for events like when a player is out of mana.

Group tell

This is the main group channel, colored green. It's primary purpose is for the group leader to communicate with and instruct the group, although it often tends to be used as the standard channel for most group communication. This channel can not be turned off so it is important not to spam it. The leader has the option make this channel read only by typing group set nogt

Subgroup tell

Coloured blue this channel is used for general chatter and times when the leader makes the grouptell channel readonly, channel can be turned off.

warn

Colored yellow this channel is often used to send warning for example when someone is out of mana (oom) or a spell has drops. Can be made readonly to followers using group set nowarn

Group Roles and Jobs

To help make the group more efficient members can be given different roles either verbally or by using the group set commands. Many classes will be suited to a particularly task for example the mage class suits the role of blasting best. To assign a job to a particular follower type group set <player name> <job name>

Leader

It is the leaders job to guide players around the world. How they do this is dependent on the leader, different leaders may have different styles and abilities.

Settable jobs

Sub leader

The leader may choose to make certain members subleaders by typing group subleader. Subleaders will be able to talk on grouptell when it is read-only and group cast when nogc is on.

Hitter

see hitter

Hitters job is do as much physical damage as possible and assist with defeating targets as quickly as possible. Warriors make the best hitters as they have a wide range of attack moves as well as usually possessing superior movement and strength. Hitters should wear equipment that enchants their physical attacks like str, hit roll, dam roll.

Healer

Healers mostly stand back from the fighting and attend to the wounded by casting healing spells. This job is almost always given to clerics as they are the only class that have direct healing spells. Healing is a mana intensive task so healers should wear equipment that improves their mana and mana regen.

Sub healer

Sub or secondary healers job is to assist the primary healer(s) especially when they running low on mana or there are multiple wounded targets. Secondary healers often have other jobs such as hitting.

Blaster

Blaster cast offensive spells at enemy targets usually standing back from the hand to hand fighting, this task is usually given to mages who have the best range of blasting spells, other classes do have blasting spells but they are usually less powerful. Blasters should wear equipment that make their spells more powerful like magecast.

Unofficial roles

Group caster

This is an unofficial job given to one particular cleric for speed and to avoid confusion. It can't be set so must be verbally given. A group casters role is to simply cast group spells when needed for example sanctuary. Leaders will say something like

xera tells the group, 'gc san'

when they want something cast or the caster can use their own judgment.

Stabber

Sometimes a thief may be given the job of stabbing mobs. This simply speeds things up and ensures that the player who is likely to do the most damage starts the fight.

Experience in groups

Alter aeon has extensive coding in place to handle grouping and it forms an integral part of the game. Many different rules apply to grouping that don't apply to soloing, for example the way experience is handled, spells which provide little xp to a solo player may give a lot more in a various group situations. Leaders and tanks get bonus xp in groups and from Apr 28, 14 (1850) leaders who tank get both bonuses.

Group skills and spells

There are group specific spells and skills that only work or become more effective in groups examples include:-

area refresh
area heal
group casting
group waypoint
channel casting

Botting

Botting in groups is strictly forbidden, if detected punishment is usually severe and ramps up for repeat offenders.

Advertising as a group leader or follower

Players can list themselves as group leaders or followers by using group set <leader/follower>

To see who is advertising themselves as available for grouping type groups

Leader                Members  Max  Level  Rating  Comment
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sergei                      3   10     14     avg  
Yuusha                      3   10     26    good  
Feernon                     3   10     26   excel  
Flaris                      2   10     30    good  
Lamort                      2   10     35   excel  
Rese                        3   10     35   excel  
No followers are currently looking for groups/leaders.
(To add yourself to the 'leaders' list, use 'group set leader'.)
(To add yourself to the 'followers' list, use 'group set follower'.)
(To ask to join a group, use 'group join <leadername>'.)

A more detailed version showing members of the group can be seen by typing groups -who or group -old

Leader               Members   Lvl Low High Avg  Group Flags
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Flaris                     2    30  30   35  32  
   Jennifer                     35
Rese                       3    35  34   35  34  
   Harpbankickman               34
   Nattaly                      35
Feernon                    3    26  20   30  25  
   Blademan                     20
   Fireprincess                 30
Yuusha                     3    26  25   31  27  
   Elvina                       31
   Blue                         25
Sergei                     3    14  13   21  16  
   Massacreman                  13
   Morgus                       21
Lamort                     2    35  25   35  30  
   Togepi                       25

Comments

Leaders and Followers have the option to set various comments, to show what kind of groups they are looking for, by typing group set comments <commenst>

Valid comments are:-

Allowed comment keywords for grouping are:
    want
    need
    with
    hitter
    healer
    blaster
    caster
    stabber
    tank
    mage
    cleric
    thief
    warrior
    necromancer
    necro
    anyone
    everyone
    for
    or
    and
    hire
    fame
    blind
    no
    not
    exp
    gold
    eq
    explore
    exploring
    deed
    deeds
    quest
    quests
    questing
    dangerous
    social
To set the comment, use 'group set leader' or 'group set follower'.

For example if you favor socailizing over xp and are exploring you might type group set social exploring

Group size

To set the group size type group size <no>. Once the number of members reach the specified size the group is hidden from public view, as if group set noshow had been typed. While hidden it will not be advertised and no warning will be given for members trying to join, although players will still be able to be summoned. When the size drops back below the limit the group is automatically shown again. The amount of experience a group is able to get in any given area will vary with the size and level of the group. To help find the most appropriate places to run, use show glevel or brag glevel and consult the area listings by typing areas. From Mar 13, 2014 (1839) Experience in large groups (8+ players) is reduduced and there may be a noticable dent when adding the 9th or 10th person to a group.

Rating

Group followers can rate a group leader after 15 minutes by typing group rate <rating>. Possible ratings are:

excellent
great
good
fair
poor
bad
dangerous
gamlin.

Rating count towards a players group leader rank on leaderboard 20.

Group commands

Advertising as a leader or follower

To advertise as a leader type group set leader <comment>
To advertise as a follower type group set followers <comment>
To remove a leader and follower listing type group set none
To add or edit listing comments type group set comment <comment>
To view the available comments typegroup set comment
To hide a group from been listed type group set <noshow -
To list a group as clan only typegroup set clan
To list a group only for newbies type group set newbie
To set the group size type group set size <no>

Joining and Summoning commands

To join a group type group join <leader name>
To summon a player into a group type group summon <follower name>
To summon all requested players into a group type group summon all
To reject a players request to join a group type group reject <follower name> [reason]

Grouping and ungrouping

To add a follower type group add <follower>
To ungroup a player type ungroup <player>
To disband the entire group type disband -force
To remove a player and force them to recall type group boot <player>. It's a good idea to use this command on idle players, to transports them back to the safety of a waypoint.

Jobs

To flag a player with a particular job type group set <player> <healer or sub healer or hitter or blaster>
To mark a player as a subleader type group set subleader <player>

Group info commands

For additional info about the group type groupinfo, this shows who is leading, tanking and the chance of been rescued by the grouping gods.

There are 7 players in your group.
Only 4 of your group members are here with you.
You have a 100% chance to be rescued by the gods if you die near another group member.
Joeblogs  is the group leader.

To see if any players in your group are idling type group idle
To see which members of your group are in the same room as you type allies or al for short.

afk and idle players

It is usually helpful to let the group or group leader know if you step away from your keyboard for something by typingafk <comment>

Group kxwt data

group kxwt is addition data sent from the mud that can be used by a client to monitor a groups vitals, it is something that is not normally displayed and is only relevant for client developers. The data is only broadcast if client triggers are on and as soon as a group is started, this includes if a solo player summons minions.

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