I'm generally satisfied that this is a complete FAQ when combined with samsyn's FAQs. The most frequently asked questions can be found here, I just assume you've played for a few days!
This guide is for use to answer simple questions reguarding Well of Souls and credit belongs to samsyn for most of the information, while I added some of my own where he didn't comment. I'm making this FAQ to prove two things, the first is that I can actually have useful Well of Souls content on my site, the second is that Dan hasn't actually updated his own FAQs in ages. If you are having trouble connecting to servers, you're better off going to the Network Troubleshooter. If your question isn't answered here, you might want to check samsyn's Super FAQ.
Why can't I recieve skins?
If you NEVER get skins, check the setting of the option "Ask for new skins" in your FILE menu.
If you look in your WoS\SKINS folder, sort it by date you will see what skins you have gotten. If they all end with ".tmp" it means something went wrong before you completely received the skin (they left, you left, there was excessive UDP packet loss)
Here is how skin transfers work (as of A43):
1.) You enter a server
2.) You see a skin you don't have, if you have the "ASK" option turned on, you ask for it. (By you, I mean your copy of the game). Usually I put an asterisk after one of these skin names in the map list.
3.) If the other guy has the "SEND" option turned on, he starts sending it (unless the server is too busy - currently that means 28 people). Only when he starts sending it do you see that "receiving skin" message.
4.) It is accumulated in the file WoS\skins\skinName.bmp.tmp which gets longer with every packet
5.) If something interrupts the transfer like you leave, he leaves, or you drop some packets somewhere over the internet, the transfer stops and you are left with a partial ".bmp.tmp" file
6.) The next time you encounter the guy, the process repeats, only this time it picks up where it left off (unless he has edited the skin in the mean time).
Over time and repeated encounters, you should eventually get the skin. (and only then do you get the "got skin" message).
If there is a particular skin you really want right away, you can transfer it by any means you like. However it gets into the WoS\skins folder is ok, as far as the game is concerned.
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OTHER REASONS FOR NO SKINS RECEIVED:
* huge skins won't get transferred by the game. A reasonable skin size is 20K bytes or so.
* The folder "WoS\Skins" (or the filename in question) has been marked "read-only" This is most commonly reported by people who use CD-R to move skins back and forth between computers.
* You are behind a firewall which is blocking UDP traffic. As of version A52 you can specify a specific range of port numbers to be used in UDP transfers. Your firewall administrator may be able to work with you on this.
* You are behind a proxy (another computer which has the REAL Internet connection on it, which handles all requests on your behalf). This can lead to your computer not knowing its own address, making it difficult to tell other player's computers where to send stuff (and even if they knew, the proxy will probably reject their attempts to send it on to you).
What is a cheat code?
A cheat code is actually a legal code you can enter into Well of Souls that will allow you to do certain things to the game. Most cheat codes can be used by anyone without negative effect, like /asteroid will open the asteroid mini-game and /afk will make you appear afk. Other cheat codes only cheater characters can use, like /inn, which fully heals your character, and /stepper will open up a scene debugger (only useful to world developers and will only work in solo-mode).
Why would I want to be a cheater? Well, if you're not a world developer, you can still use things like /gimme and /inn to make playing most worlds very easy. A lot of the more recent worlds will not let you play as a cheater, but evergreen will. To become a cheater, first go to your Book of Options and uncheck "don't allow me to use cheat codes." Then go to solo mode and type in a cheater cheat code like /inn and ignore all the warning messages until you become a cheater. You can only become a cheater in solo-mode, and you CANNOT REMOVE YOUR CHEATER STATUS ONCE YOU HAVE GAINED IT. So don't do it on your favorite character!
Where are all the cheat codes? Well, MOST of them are here. I say most because it hasn't been updated in years and things have been shuffled around. The /bkgnd command is now a cheat command after the advent of wide scenes, and things like the /stepper are completely missing.
What's the disadvantage of being a cheater? Well, most people don't like the fact that you cheat, and will try to hurt you (you can use /inn and go "haha, you can't kill me"). Else, you can't hurt people unless they hit you first. Some servers have the rule "noCheat," which means you can't play on them. Other people have the Book of Option command checked that doesn't allow you to go into their camp if they are hosting a camp. Once again, some worlds will not allow you to play if you have become a cheater character. Other than that, go wild, evergreen is your playground!
HOW DOES TRAINING WORK? HOW HIGH CAN IT GO?
Basically, you 'train' in the use of magical elements and physical 'hand' attacks (16 training categories total).
Training occurs whenever you use the skill in question, but can also be achieved by 'spending' PP (participation points) on one of the training screens.
As you train, you increase your level in that skill. This is done in a non-linear fashion which gives you a diminishing return. For example, it is harder to train from level 2 to level 3, than it was to train from level 1 to level 2.
And, it would require an infinite amount of PP to train from level 9 to level 10 (hence you can NEVER REACH level 10) For all practical purposes you can't really train any higher than 9.99 or so.
Now, what good is training anyway? First off, many spells and weapons require a minimum training level to be used. So, for example, to cast a level 3 water spell, you must have trained to at least level 3 in the water element skill.
The other advantage of training comes from "excess training" That is to say, training in excess of the minimum required for a particular weapon or spell.
This excess training makes your attack somewhat stronger. Although the actual amount may vary from one version release to the next, in A43 the effect is about 19 percent for each full excess level.
Hence a level 3 water spell would be about 19 percent more effective if you were trained to level 4 in the water skill (1 excess level).
With 2 excess levels, a spell would be improved by about 42% (you don't add the percentages, you multiply them.. so three excess levels would be 1.19 * 1.19 * 1.19 which would give about 68 percent, etc.)
The actual math is done with a base raised to a power, so it works with any excess training amount.
Note that it is impossible to get more than about one level of excess training for a level 9 spell. Hence low level weapons and spells are more easily improved with excess training. This keeps the low level spells interesting even after you have raised your character to the highest levels, without allowing the high level spells to become overly powerful, thus destabilizing the game.
Also note that training for hand levels makes next to no difference in the amount of damage you do. If it makes you feel better, you can raise your hand level, but there isn't much of a change. Read the next section for why you'd increase your hand level.
WHAT IS THE POINT OF THOSE CHARGE METERS?
Careful examination of the HP and MP meters in the lower left will show a simple white bar beneath each.
This is the charge bar for physical attacks (HP) and magical attacks (MP). It discharges whenever you attack, and then slowly recharges back to maximum.
In general, if you wait for it to recharge before attacking again, your attack will be stronger as a result.
The actual means by which this is achieved ties in somewhat with the 'excess training' discussion above.
But the important thing to remember is that this effect is more impressive when you have LOW training to begin with. For example, if you are only trained to level 1 in water, and cast a level 1 water spell, it will be considerably improved by waiting for a recharge.
However, once you achieve level 9 or more training, you will be hard pressed to see the charge meter making much of a difference.
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR STARTING A GUILD?
Full details can be found here.
You need to meet the minimum age (time played) requirement both for your Soul ID (what shows on the MAP player list) and your actual character (what shows in the Soul Diary).
It used to be that you could just leave the game running in solo mode, and walk away, to accumulate massive amounts of 'AFK Hours' (Away From Keyboard).
But as of A55, only your soul ID gets AFK hours credited to it, but your character ages only as you actively play.
HOW DO I COPY WOS TO ANOTHER MACHINE, OR RESTORE IT AFTER A REFORMAT, WITHOUT MY CHARACTERS GETTING MARKED AS MODDERS?
If you are running the current version of WoS then all you need to do is be sure to backup the ENTIRE WOS DIRECTORY from the old machine and copy it to the new machine.
If you install and run a new copy of WoS on the new machine, it will get a new soul ID. And your old characters will appear to have been moved, and get marked (though new characters will be fine.)
Of course, if there is any chance you want to keep playing WoS on the old machine, you might want to go ahead and get a new soul number anyway (two machines with the same soul number can't play together)
At the risk of repeating this excessively. One solution for the mobi-centric player, is to donate $25 and get a GOLDEN SOUL ID. Then you can take your identity to new machines as needed. Details at http://www.synthetic-reality.com/donate.htm
Also be sure to read the specific instructions at http://www.synthetic-reality.com/wosSuperFAQ.htm
What is the hunting skill?
Well, the higher your hunting skill...
* The more likely you are to start a fight every time you hunt.
* The less likely you are to be attacked while simply walking the map
* The more information will be available to you on the Monster Radar.
TELL ME ABOUT THE MONSTER RADAR!
Normally, when walking the map you have no idea where the monsters are. But when you press your HUNT button, you turn on your monster radar.
Until your hunt skill reaches a certain level, you really don't see anything. But as your hunting skills get sharpened, you find that you can begin to sense nearby monsters.
At first, you can't completely pin-point their position, but as your skill increases further, you eventually see the center of their hunting ground.
Additional information is shown if you have fought the monster in question before. Otherwise all you know is that a monster is nearby.
By the time you reach hunting level ... 9 (I believe), you pretty much get what you had before (I mean the equivalent of "/monster") only you only see the information during the hunt itself.
So, the levels of hunting skill (without telling you the explicit numbers, since they might change), are:
- see nothing
- see a question mark
- see just the monster picture
- see the monster picture and name
- see the monster picture, name, and level
- see all that and the range circle.
The "/monster" command itself, in A57, is a cheat (marks your character as a cheater) unless you have a Golden Soul.
The monster, in addition to snapping its jaws from time to time, now slowly orbits its true position, with greater uncertainty if your hunt skill level is low.
The higher your hunt level, the further away you can detect monsters.
The Bad News:
The monster radar is a "demo feature" which means you get to use it until you have a certain number of *player hours* (not character hours) and then it stops working unless you have a Golden Soul.
Right now the demo hour limit is set to an insanely high value, so as to let current players have a 'taste' of it. But to be a meaningful sales tool, I will need to cut that down to a more realistic value in future releases.
I hope you will understand the reasons behind my making this choice. I'm not really evil, just hungry. And this is a 'plush' feature, not something you cannot live without.
HOW ARE EXPERIENCE POINTS SHARED?
When a monster battle completes, the total XP earned from all monsters destroyed is split between the remaining, living, human players.
But players do not get equal shares.
If your level 10 character fights alongside a level 100 player, you will get only 10% as much experience as s/he will for the same number of attacks.
The math is:
1.) Each time a human player, or pet, hits or casts a spell, a certain number of share points are created, equal to their level. For example, as a level 76er, I create 76 share points each time I attack (and this includes healing). Only the hitting of monsters generates share points.
2.) A common pool is maintained of all share points so far in this scene.
3.) At the end of the scene, the XP is distributed to the human players based on their own total share points divided by the total share points in the pool.
4.) Pets earn XP by the 'old rules' but their share points *do* dilute the reward for the human players.
WHAT ARE HALOS?
Halos cost 1,000 Halo Points each, and are purchased via the "Halo Dialog" which you open by clicking on the "Karma Meter" while viewing your characters statistics.
Halo Points cost 1,000 PP each, meaning a Halo costs one MILLION PP.
Halos serve absolutely no purpose other than their intrinsic collectability. They are just a means to squander PP after you've gotten everything else PP can be spent on.
They are the answer to the question: "Hey, I have everything and I want something to mindlessly spend PP on to continue justifying my existence!"
They are just something to brag about, be jealous over, and mourn the loss of after your disk crashes without backing up your WoS\Save folder.
How can I lock a camp?
If you are a PKer, you can't lock your camp (other than in Macguyver Castle where all camps have the little lock icon). This behaviour might vary from world to world. If you are a non-PKer you can right-click on your own name on the STATS panel and select... um... lock party. This will both prevent people from joining your party, and latecomers from entering your scene.
