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Locating a Hidden Player: You can use any of the directed emotes, i.e. those requiring a {Person}, to check if the person is on a screen, including inside a combat cloud. For example, suppose you are hunting for MECHSuperJerk who just pick-pocketed you and then ran off the screen. You chase after him but soon lose the trail. Perhaps he is hiding behind some trees or has ducked into a combat cloud. By typing, for example, "/fro MECHSuperJerk" you can determine if your good buddy is on the screen. If he is, the Realm server will reply with "You frown at MECHSuperJerk" and you've found him. If he is not, you will receive the message "You can't find MECHSuperJerk to frown at" you can go on to the next screen to check for him. Back in the old days of Realm 2.x I used to have a handy macro ready for when everyone's most hated thief, ExtraSpecial, came around. The macro simply fed the characters "/fro extraspecial" to the server. One key press and I could determine if ES was lurking on my screen or could find him when he was in combat and... umm... wait to say hello.

Friend on Busy?: Is there someone in The Realm you need to get a message to but they have busy on? Simple solution: Join an unused gossip channel and set the channel name and topic to what you need to say to your friend. Then invite them to the channel using the /invite command. The invitation to the channel gets through to where a /t cannot go.

Gossip Revoked?: Suppose you are on a player channel (i.e. a channel other then 0-5) and you have your gossip privileges revoked. Shame on you! But, as long as all the people on your gossip channel still want to hear from you, there is a way to work around your inability to use the /g command. You must be the channel leader for this to work so, if you are not, /t a friend on the channel and ask them to request everyone leave the channel and then return, granting you channel leader status. Now you can talk on the channel by using the /topic command. This allows you the set the topic line of the channel and each time this is reset, the new text is displayed to everyone on that channel. Simply use /topic in place of /g until your suspension time expires. And behave yourself!

Equipment Enchanting: If you play more than one character, come up with a Standard Enchantment configuration for your equipment. Put the same enchantments on the same item for each character. This allows you to maintain an emergency back-up on your equipment in case you inadvertently violate the "Dying is not allowed" rule. The best idea is to have a complete set of fully enchanted back-up equipment stored in one of your chests. Of course doing this involves considerable expense. Alternatively, if you have standardized the enchantments on your equipment you can borrow equipment from another character to cover the loss on another character until such time as you are able to replace the lost item. I have developed a Standardized Enchantment List which I use. It is not the optimum standardization I can envision but it is too late for me to change it now. Click on the following link to see my Standardization and my recommended alterations: Standard Equipment Enchantment List.

Chest 4 Empower / Nimble / Improve Armor / Cold Shield

Pants 4 Empower / Nimble / Improve Armor / Acid Shield

Cowl 4 Empower / Nimble / Improve Armor / Fire Shield

Boots 4 Empower / Nimble / Improve Armor / Poison Shield

Bracers 4 Empower / Nimble / Improve Armor / Lightning Shield

Belt 2 Empower / Nimble

Ring 1 2 Empower / Nimble

Ring 2 2 Empower / Nimble

Amulet 2 Empower / Nimble

Backpack 4 Empower / Nimble / Immolation / Regen

Baldric 2 Empower / Nimble

Helmet 4 Empower / Nimble / Improve Armor / Missile Resistance

Robe/Skirt 2 Empower / Nimble

Total 40 Cost: 34 Enchants + 6 perms = 340,000 gold + 60,000 gold = 400k. Assuming no failed attempts, it costs a substantial amount just to fully enchant your equipment. Note that the price of enchanting your weapon is not included.

Emergency Healing: Carry one or two Greater Heal potions with you, even if you have the Greater Heal spell. It's a timing issue. Some things happen in a round of combat faster than others. Casting the Greater Heal spell takes time, drinking a potion is fast. If you are in serious trouble this timing difference can make the difference between life and death. You might also find it useful to carry an Invulnerability potion or two and a Cure Poison. When time is tight, drink a potion.

Regen Potions: Why drink Regen potions instead of casting Greater Heal? The answer is simple: Greater Heal may not completely fill your health while a regen potion gives you more health back and does it faster than any Heal spell. Regen potions are especially useful when battling snakes since one of the potion's effects is to Cure Poison. Against some of the nastier snakes you may be taking -200 or more posion damage each round. One other thing that I have found is that enchanting Regen on more than one piece of clothing provides additional regeneration. I have played with all of the spells and the Regen spell is the only one that I have found that gives added benefit by having multiple items enchanted. I have 4 items enchanted with Regen and I heal at a rate of +700 per round. Hope this helps guys & gals. Stay safe in the realm and have fun.

Enchanters: To become a 180 SDM you need to make an elf wizard and give all attribute points to intelligence and wear 2 rings of intelligence and an amulet of intelligence and get meditation to GM. To highten sucssess of enchants/perms you can eat and drink every five enchants/perms and make sure to cast indestruct on item and cast regeneration on item and make sure item is repaired to 100% before beginning. Also you should always put 5 enchantments on items that can be easily replaced (in case they break) such as belts, back pack, baldies, robes, and you can also buy mythril armor from Excellent Armory in Usk.

Buy and Sell: Tired of trying to find that Wrath or BoC the old-fashioned way, and ready to go to channel 5? Have you gone to channel 5 and found the prices there to be horrendous? Well, I think it's horrendous too, but just try convincing the sellers to lower their prices... Anyway, I have found that if you decide to buy an item from another player, Channel 5 is probably the easiest way to do it, even though prices are a bit steep. The best way to get a good deal is by avoiding the peak playing hours when everyone who needs a certain item will be clamoring for it and prices are at prime values. Wait until the off hours, early mornings or late nights. The choices will be more scarce but, at the same time, there won't be as many people asking to buy and you may be able to get an item at a lower price than you would in the daytime. And if yer the type of greedy munchkin who wants to amass tons of wealth, sell your wares during the peak hours. You'll often find yourself the proud center of a bidding war. And, whether buying or selling, always use a Middleman that can be vouched for by at least 5 or 6 people. As the old saying goes: "Trust, but verify". (Speaking of trust... never trust a human who claims to be 180 SDM with enchanting your stuff, but you knew that didn't you

Fighting Devils: When fighting devils carry some cheap daggers. The steel ones cost around 125 gps. Just before you are ready to fight them, give each one a dagger. Although you can no longer give the dagger to the Devils, if you drop one the Devil will eventually pick it up. The first round of the battle the devil's will equip the daggers. I use WoG to damage them all. When they do attack, they'll only hit with the hit points from the dagger and they won't take any experience points away from you.