User:Basilius/NubianEgypt

A Nubian Egypt

(Get it? a Newbie in Egypt)

Hello, my name is Basilius, I am a traveler of many lands, and am still new to Egypt. (or at least was when I wrote this on my fourth day of play--Basilius 23:39, 2 December 2016 (EST))

After reading some other guides, clearly written by more experienced Egyptians, I felt I should offer my own view point, that of the new comer, to help other new comers with their first days in country.

Let me be the first to welcome you to Egypt. Of course I'm not though am I? If you found this guide before meeting anyone else in Egypt, you are already off to a horrible start. Don't worry, that's why I'm here, to tell you what you are doing wrong.

So I shall rephrase . . .

First, let me welcome you to Egypt, Land of the Pharaoh. Really, you'll see him around more often than you would expect, I spent half my first day tip toeing past him, hoping I wasn't being a nuisance, fool that I am.

Welcome to Egypt, this is not what you were expecting. I promise. Lets get to it.

Rules of survival in the Wild'n'Wide are true every where, even in the big Sandy.

• Rule #1 Wherever you go, make friends.
• Rule #2 Eat, drink, and dance at every opportunity.
• Rule #3 Flexibility is a function of Mobility and Stability.
• Rule #4 Always have a plan.

I'm a drifter. I've wandered from city to city, land to land, world to world. Following these rules has kept me alive in places where I didn't know the language, and in places that have rarely heard language.

They are just as real in Pharaoh's Egypt. Let me explain each one to you in terms of Egypt, if not other worlds.

Rule #1 Wherever you go, make friends.

Humans, and really all peoples, are social creatures, gathering in groups for protection and exchange. As I've said I've rambled many roads, and I tell you people everywhere are ready to be your friend, some are afraid you don't want to be their friend. Peoples of all worlds are the same in this. We share our uniqueness and discover both ourselves and the universe by swapping stories, sharing cups, and fighting over the last eclair.

Egypt may have a small population compared to other worlds, but all the more so it is social. Sound carries a long way in the big sandy, and the wind carries words far longer than you might expect. You will quickly discover that what you say, will be heard. Eventually.

When you arrive in Egypt, before you even start building, start talking. Each Region has a dedicated chat channel. As you enter each Region, take a moment and introduce yourself, let people know you are there, and that you are new to Egypt.

Why? Well first off it's polite. Though Pharaoh's land is vast, Egypt has a small population, and each Region is like a small neighborhood. It's just kinda nice to say hi and introduce yourself if your gonna be wandering around in someones back yard.

Ok nice is nice and all but whats the angle? Well this is a social environment, and there is very little you can do in Egypt that isn't better with friends, whether for help or for just sheer company. Again, truth in any realm, life is better with friends.

One of the biggest advantages to being friendly is learning about guilds and public facilities.

When you decide what region you are going to be operating out of, you will want to join a local guild. Ask in regional chat which guild is best for newcomers. Guilds in Egypt are social clubs for sharing information and resources, and you are not limited to just one.

In the early stages, building your own equipment isn't really hard, but the starter equipment tends to wear out quickly and not run as efficiently as higher level versions. Also, you are going to want to do some waves of mass production, so it's better to have access to banks of machines, instead of just using one or two at a time.

Before you build a wood plane, a distaff, and a flax comb out in the yard, before you pick the spot for your compound - Join a Guild.

Let them know you are new, and ask for help putting together a Starter Pack.

Whats a starter pack you ask? Excellent question. It's everything you need to get started. Excellent answer?

Starter Pack

• Hatchet
• Shovel
• Jugs
• Flax Seeds
• Vegetable Seeds

Why do you need these things? Another excellent question, and a far better answer. Now understand there isn't just a pre-wrapped gift box with "starter pack" in it, these are individual things that you want to get together so you can get started at full steam.

A Hatchet, made by a player, has a quality rating. That quality rating will determine how much wood you can gather from trees. With the amount of wood you will need to get things started, this is a huge time saver.

A Shovel will let you dig. You can't collect dirt, or cuttable stones without one. A slate shovel isn't hard to make, but if someone has a higher quality one available for you it will be a big help long term.

Jugs are one of the early bottle necks of the game. Yes I went there, but it's true. Here's the catch. To make a jug . . . you need clay. And guess what? To get clay you need a jug. Sure the school will give you 1 jug, but the reality is you will need more than 1 jug, and making a potters wheel is not a first day mission. Ask for jugs so you can grow your crops. Which brings us to seeds.

Sure, you can get your flax seeds from any School of Art and Music. However, they will be simple seeds that take a great deal of attention, and yield little harvest. Asking for some better flax seeds will massively increase your production, saving you much time, and trust me on this boredom.

Vegetable seeds, can be picked up from any University of Worship, however, much like flax seeds, the tending and yield of vegetables will be far more effective if you get some advanced seeds. This will not take anything away from the game for you, this is just a time saver and boredom blocker.

Rule #2 Eat, drink, and dance at every opportunity.

Veggie's brings me to the next rule of survival. My grandfather raised me, he was a drifter too. A rail hopping hobo over a century ago. He taught me a great deal about life, including why you can never trust clowns.

One of the most important lessons he taught me was - "Eat, drink, and dance at every opportunity. You never know when you will get the chance to again."

I was . . . what?

Oh the clowns.

Fine.

When my grandpa was a younger man, he worked for a traveling circus in the southern states of America. This was back in the first quarter of the 20th century. He was a performing clown, had gone to clown college and everything. I once saw the photo of his graduation.

What do they teach you at clown college? Pick pocketing of course.

Ok, everyone laughs a little bit there, but pause and think about it a moment.

A clown, working a crowd gets caught stealing your coin or jewels, he laughs, squirts water in your face, hands your loot back and keeps on goofing around.

A clown, working a crowd doesn't get caught stealing your coin or jewels . . . . well there's no punch line it's not a joke.

Eat, drink and dance at every opportunity, you'll get more work done that way. In many worlds the more you enjoy life, the happier your body is, the happier your body is, the easier it is to do hard things.

One of the most important facets of Egypt to understand, is how food affects game play. This is where we talk about stats. Stats reflect your characters presence in the game world, and affect what you can do successfully, and efficiently.

The quick breakdown for your starter needs is like this.

• Endurance affects how long it's going to take you to use machines and perform tasks.
• Strength determines how much you can carry.
• Dexterity determines your speed across country.
• Speed determines your speed on roads, and fishing.
• Perception affects your ability to gather extra resources.

Constitution and focus will affect some specific tasks, but nothing you need to worry about right away, cause this section isn't about stats, it's about food.

Ask in your guild about what foods are available. You want to eat a "SINK" meal first. Clears any other food affects on you and prevents bad stacking. Then you pick the meal appropriate to the task you are going to undertake. Be aware meal based stat boosts are short term buff, and wear off. The specific timer varies depending on recipe and other factors so be sure to know the timer on the particular meal you eat.

If you are going wood cutting, or generally out to gather resources, use high Perception will help you gather more wood per tree, combined with a decent hatchet this will be a significant boost. Dexterity will help you get from tree to tree quickly, and strength will help you carry more total weight. I don't like to rely on Strength food, because meals wear off eventually and then I'm over burdened far from home.

If you are working around your compound using High endurance food will make processing many tasks faster. High strength food will let you can carry and thus work with more raw material.

Eat, drink, and dance is all about keeping your body, your stats, in good shape.

Besides food there are other stat buffs, some stack, some don't. Eating herbs in the wild counts as food and can debuff your meal, so be careful. Smoking herbs with a hookah gives a separate buff that stacks with food. Hookahs can usually be found near chariot stops.

Some Tests will raise your stats permanently, Incense provides a short buff, and a few other ways are floating around out there, but the primary methods will be through Food and Hookah.

I want to impress upon you that these food buffs are not minor. They will be a massive time and energy saver. Ask about food, read the cooking guides.

Rule #3 Flexibility is a function of Mobility and Stability.

Once you've got your starter pack, now browse around for a neighborhood you might want to build your starter compound on. I strongly recommend you keep it within less than five minutes walk of the Guild facilities you are going to use. Similarly, keep in range of a Chariot Stop. Later on you can build yourself a remote camp if you feel like it, but your starter CP should be near facilities.

What else should you consider when building your starter CP? Location location location. Or in this case, Resources, Resources Resources.

For convenience and step saving, thus serious time savings, you want your compound to be built on a conjunction of resources.

Build your CP so that where you stand you can gather Mud and Sand at the same time. You will regularly need access to these in vast quantities.

Just outside of your Compound, and I mean just outside, a couple of steps, you will want an open stretch of sand, and an open stretch of grass. You will need these for planting your crops, as some only grow on grass, some on sand.

Some buildings can only be built on specific terrain, so you will want the variety to be near your compound. In particular the sheep pen needs grass to be built, however, sheep eat onions, which grow in sand.

Wood is a major resource early on, ask someone to build a Bonfire near your compound. By near, I mean right up against so you can reach it without moving while working in your compound. Although it takes more than a starting tech to build your own bonfire, a higher level player can build one and give it to you. You can continuously add and remove wood as long as you don't 0 it out. This will be a significant storage capacity saver. It's handy to have at least a small grove of trees within a couple seconds of your compound for short term needs, but it will be far more efficient doing mass wood cutting runs and stockpiling in the bonfire.

Slate, Dirt, Clay, and Silt you will want in varying size batches when you need them, but don't need them as regularly as Mud, Sand, Grass, and Wood at first. These resources are usually near water, and as long as you have them within 1-2 minutes walk your fine. Not that further doesn't work just fine, but most of your "wasted" time in Egypt is going to be running from here to there.

There are also some advantages to building near the Nile, which become more evident later.

While wandering around considering camp locations, keep in mind how far you are getting from both the chariot stop and the guild and public facilities. You will make those walks regularly, and time is not a renewable resource.

Give your self a stable place to work from with most of your resources close, and keep your flexibility open by being near guild owned advanced buildings and the chariot stop, because you will need to travel all over Egypt, and you don't want to waste your food running 10 minutes up the road to the chariot stop.

Rule #4 Always have a plan.

No matter what world your in, Always have a plan. Always be moving toward a goal. Time is not renewable resource, don't waste it.

Whatever you are doing in Egypt, do it intentionally and you will increase your efficiency and consequently give you more time for fun. Which is the whole point right?

What I mean specifically is, know what your next goal is, and work towards that goal with focus, gather the resources you need, produce the materials you need, build the machines you need, don't wast time on side projects. There is a great many things you can do in Egypt, collect herbs, fish, gather wood, play games, criticize art, explore, chase gazelle, and so very much more. It is very easy to get sidetracked, diluting your efficiency. I'm not saying avoid opportunity, if you are out collecting wood and see a wild scarab beetle or sheep or what not, pick it up. But me mindful of your timers and inventory space.

If you need boards for a project, go eat a hearty wood cutting meal, particularly high in dex and perc, and go from tree to tree gathering wood. Don't worry about picking up slate, or clay, or stopping and playing a game. Your wasting your food, and your total productivity. Loop around and grab all the wood you need. Grab more than you need, grab as much wood as you can and stockpile it for later. You will always need more wood. After gathering up a full load of wood, stash most of it in your bonfire. Take enough wood to crank out your current project and plane them. I recommend only mildly overproducing boards, wood stores in a bonfire, but boards take up storage space. Through the whole process be focused on the end goal of your project. Overproduction is inefficient.

If you need bricks, get a high endurance and high strength food. Plant flax, best seeds you have. The high strength will let you carry vast piles of flax and it's derivative products. The high endurance will let you rake flax quickly. This will pile up straw quickly. You've got sand and mud in range of your cp, so you'll be able to crank out bricks in waves at the same time as producing tow and lint en mass.

If you need canvas and linen and rope, after you are done with your bricks, carry all your lint and tow over to a bank of distaffs and spread the load out so it gets done quickly. If you've got 100 tow and 10 distaffs to work with, put 10 in each and go! Once you've got your thread and twine, use the guild loom to crank out your linen and canvas.

Again the reason for using the guild machines in these cases is multi-fold. Saves you the cost in bricks, boards, and time of building your own machines, and the starter machines are far less efficient than more advanced versions, so you'll get more for your work.

The goal here is to enable you to advance your level by producing the materials you need for tests, to advance your skill set by leveling and producing the tuition you need for higher skills. When your are a few levels in and have unlocked some advance buildings you can start relying more on your own compound, but at first, for your sake, use the guild facilities.

Don't feel like you are abusing the system, trust me you are going to make up for it. By advancing yourself quickly, you increase the value you have to offer back to the guild, to Egypt, and ultimately to Pharaoh's glory. Perhaps one day you too will help a Nubian out with an old hatchet and some seeds.

Here is my suggestion "Starter Plan"

Starter Plan

Complete Immigrant Island and Citizenship Tutorial

Gain Level 1

Pick a region

Make Friends

Join a Guild

Ask for a Travel Meal, High Dex and High Speed

Visit a University of Harmony to start Principles of Harmony

Visit a University of Body to start the Principles of Body

Complete the Principles of Body by running around clicking on Plants

Gain Level 2

Visit University of Architecture to start the Principles of Architecture

Ask for Starter Hatchet and Eat Wood Cutting Food - High Dex, High Perc

Collect 200 Wood

Use Guild Facilities to Plane 200 Boards

Get Good Flax Seeds and eat Endurance food

Produce at least 100 Rotten Flax

Use Guild Facilities to comb Flax into 100 Lint, 100 Straw, 100 Tow

Gather 50 Sand and 150 Mud

Use Guild Facilities to produce 300 Bricks.

Pick a location for your compound

Build Starter Compound using 100 Boards and 200 Bricks.

Build a box in your compound using 24 Boards

Complete Principles of Architecture by gather resources to expand your compound

Gain Level 3

Visit University of Art and Music to start the Principles of Art and Music

Gather up 50 Tow and 107 Lint and 100 Wood

Use guild facilities, and at least a small strength buff

Spin the tow into 50 Twine, Spin the Lint into 1605

While those are spinning Plane out 100 Boards

Spin the 50 Twine into 10 Rope

Weave 1600 Thread into 4 Linen

Build a sculpture

Add 3 anything to the sculpture, I used 3 of the left over thread

Complete Principles of Art and Music by tearing down your sculpture

Gain Level 4

Visit University of Architecture to start the Test of the Obelisk

I think you get the gist on how to gather materials and produce materials by now.

Build a 7 cubit Obelisk to pass the principles.

Gain Level 5

Somewhere in here, when you get the chance visit the University of Leadership and Start the Principles of Leadership.

When you are running back and forth collecting and building, be friendly chat in your guild. Let them know you are new and need your Leadership Petition signed, and need introductions for harmony.

Visit University of Body and start the Test of the Bedouin, and the Test of the Oyster Collector. Passing the principles for both of these is fairly easy, but does require running around, so make sure to get some high dex food.

While you are out running around, go visit the Lake of Reeds. From the Chariot Stop in Lake of Reeds head west into the desert. At the map coordinates 3300,6460 you will find a beautiful pyramid. Get close, click on it, and get a free level.

This should bring you to a total of level 9, use your University Beer Token to get to level 10.

At this point, you are still a Newbie, but you'll have a firm grip of how Egypt works, a new group of friends, and a wide variety of tests and challenges available to you.

Have fun, and I'll see you in the sand.