Frustrating Bug in the swamp room

[Kent]

There is a room in the Gaslight Swamp that is bugged, as it will never under any circumstances allow my character to walk out of it no matter how many times he types in directions, no matter which directions.

Other players have walked in and out of that room with minimal difficulty. I call it the Pitcher Plant room, as it has the phrase Pitcher Plant in the first few words. Today, Spearhead told me he walked right out of that room by typing NE but for me no amount of NE would result in anything except walking right back into the same room. I also tried S, same dud result. I also tried the other six cardinal directions, it told me, "You can't go that way".

When a mob enters the room, it often enters in a direction that doesn't actually exist in that room, ie, "A swamp snake slithers in from the north." I try to exit by going N, game replies, "You can't go that way".

I can attest this is the fifth or sixth time I have been perma-stuck in this room. Once, egged on by other players telling me "Keep trying, it's not a bug",I wasted two hours typing directions, trying different combos of directions, etc, only to walk back into the same room for two hours straight. The only escape from this room is to allow a mob to kill Kent then depart.

I recall way back when the area was first created, that Kent was able to get through the Pitcher Plant room with minimal difficulty just as Spearhead did today,and make it to some sort of pyramid place with some primitive slinging stones at him. Can't recall exactly, but perhaps back then on his way out, Kent got killed in the Pitcher Plant room and his death there is connected to the bug that permanently traps him there forever after?


Furthermore, I tried to hire Spearhead today to guide me through the swamp, but the code base imposed a punitive and unrealistic mechanic of disbanding our group. I would like to request that this inappropriate mechanic be removed from the game; in reality, people can and do hire swamp guides and they do not automatically lose each other in the swamp...unless they are fleeing in some sort of panic, they actually can and do stick together.

[Kiyaani]

I've been stuck in that room before as well and had someone lead me out. I'm not sure what the mechanic is there to be honest, but it can definitely be frustrating to go the allowed directions and always end up back in the same room. I've also been told it's working as intended and to keep trying. I guess it's just one of the many wonders of that swamp, but maybe it could still use some looking over.

[Sneaky]

From my experience there's multiple, "Pitcher plant" rooms, with their own unique exits that allow you to progress forward. The messages you see when things move into that room are because that snake or w/e went south out of a room and wandered into the room you were currently in. It really just takes time and is random.

[Fayne]

Yeah, this isn't a bug. That area is supposed to strange and hard to navigate IC, thus the reason for groups auto-disbanding, and exits leading to rooms they aren't technically connected to by logic. It is random for each person every time you enter, though I have heard claims that it is possible to navigate the area safely every time if thebsame route is used. Could just be hearsay, since I've never seen proof of this. I do agree that whatever mechanic randomizes the exits should not allow permanent loops into the exact same room. I'm sure it would be difficult to prevent loops consisting of a few rooms, but everything can't always be perfect.

[Jirato]

Can't divulge the specific mechanics, or the reasons behind them, but Fayne is right, this isn't a bug.

Yes, it's frustrating. The mechanic was intentionally made this way. There's a lot more in CLOK to explore than just the swamp. If you don't like it, I'd suggest just not going there.

[Kent]

Like I said, I spent two hours typing in all manner of directions...I must have typed over a thousand combinations of S and NE only to be dropped every time in exactly the same room.

No doubt the room was designed to be frustrating, but among that design is a defect that if perhaps the player doesn't type the right keys at the beginning, he is forever trapped in there. You say there are several "Pitcher Plant" rooms? Then why is the riln I dropped always in the Picher Plant room I perpetually rewalk into, or the same mob, etc. It's a bug, trust me.

[Kiyaani]

I agree with Fayne on this one. Even if it's not a bug, I think the game is meant to be enjoyed and not be a chore. The design element in question could probably use some adjustment to prevent potential perma-stuck situations. I don't mind wandering around the zone endlessly, the random disbands, the shifting directions etc., but the same room on a loop is a bit tedious. As much as I appreciate the various mechanics of the zone, there are certain things about it that seem to go against a player's ability to actually play the game. If this issue was addressed the zone could be more fully appreciated for its other unique attributes. It's plenty interesting and challenging without getting stuck in a single room for extended lengths of time.

So maybe this should be a suggestion rather than a bug report, but I still think it could be given more thought.

[sona]

+1 Kiyaani as suggestion. Could use a bit of modest tweaking.

[Jirato]

Other players have walked in and out of that room with minimal difficulty. I call it the Pitcher Plant room, as it has the phrase Pitcher Plant in the first few words. Today, Spearhead told me he walked right out of that room by typing NE but for me no amount of NE would result in anything except walking right back into the same room. I also tried S, same dud result. I also tried the other six cardinal directions, it told me, "You can't go that way".

[Gaslight Swamp] { gaslight_outer_15 | other random GM stuff } (OutWeFrMuDt) Mild, Partly Cloudy, Calm
Pitcher-like plants grow in small clumps in the spongey soil, waiting patiently to trap insects foolish enough to seek their contents. A particularly powerful smell of decay wafts over from the scummy water where cattails grow in thick patches. Several trees grow straight out of the water off the narrow path, their tired-looking branches draped with hanging moss.
There is a cloud of fog here. The area is slightly noisy.
Obvious paths: northeast, south (shallow).

Is this the room you're talking about? Then I apologize, because maybe I was wrong about there not being a bug. See the 'gaslight_outer_15' by the room name? That's the room's actual name in the code, and it should be impossible for it to loop back in on itself (going northeast should take you to one of five rooms, but gaslight_outer_15 isn't one of them. The same with going south, none of the destinations it could possibly take you to would be the same room room. I also checked each of the rooms that are possible to go to from here and none of them have the phrase "Pitcher-like plants" in the beginning of the description.

You're saying when you're in this room, no matter how many times you go northeast or south, it takes you back to this exact same room, every time? With no other rooms in-between?

[Fayne]

Yeah, I've gotten stuck in that same room before in the exact same way. For whatever reason, going south or northeast will occasionally lead you nowhere but the same room indefinitely. The only way to get out is to die. Doesn't happen all the time, but is extremely frustrating when it does.

[Kent]

Other players have walked in and out of that room with minimal difficulty. I call it the Pitcher Plant room, as it has the phrase Pitcher Plant in the first few words. Today, Spearhead told me he walked right out of that room by typing NE but for me no amount of NE would result in anything except walking right back into the same room. I also tried S, same dud result. I also tried the other six cardinal directions, it told me, "You can't go that way".

[Gaslight Swamp] { gaslight_outer_15 | other random GM stuff } (OutWeFrMuDt) Mild, Partly Cloudy, Calm
Pitcher-like plants grow in small clumps in the spongey soil, waiting patiently to trap insects foolish enough to seek their contents. A particularly powerful smell of decay wafts over from the scummy water where cattails grow in thick patches. Several trees grow straight out of the water off the narrow path, their tired-looking branches draped with hanging moss.
There is a cloud of fog here. The area is slightly noisy.
Obvious paths: northeast, south (shallow).

Is this the room you're talking about? Then I apologize, because maybe I was wrong about there not being a bug. See the 'gaslight_outer_15' by the room name? That's the room's actual name in the code, and it should be impossible for it to loop back in on itself (going northeast should take you to one of five rooms, but gaslight_outer_15 isn't one of them. The same with going south, none of the destinations it could possibly take you to would be the same room room. I also checked each of the rooms that are possible to go to from here and none of them have the phrase "Pitcher-like plants" in the beginning of the description.

You're saying when you're in this room, no matter how many times you go northeast or south, it takes you back to this exact same room, every time? With no other rooms in-between?

Yes, that's the room (ironically a pitcher plant of a room to Kent), and every single time I was dropped immediately into the selfsame room and no other.p

A couple of days ago, Jirato, you appeared to me in game and fixed something on my char and now I enter other rooms when I go S and NE, which hasn't happened since the first couple of weeks since area was released to the players. I have had only minimal amount of time on to explore, but at least I can move into different rooms than that one, and thank you.

Let me toss out a few ideas of what may have caused an incomplete room movement in Kent leading to this trap:

- Kent was killed in there or a room leading to there
- Kent used the Flee command
- Kent moved while hiding
- Kent quit or was killed while in roundtime
- some combination of above

As the problem happened quite a long time ago, I cannot recall what I did the visit prior to the bug being manifested.