User talk:Cell4

Hello! I am Cell4. I love Forgotten Realms and D and D, and play it on a regular basis. I have read four Forgotten Realms novels and mostly stick to gaming with my gaming group on Saturdays.

I am about 1.6 meters tall and have read five FR novels. All that matters, I guess. I was born some wacky time and I forget when. I live in a small thorp (not really) in Washington State in the United States. Since I am sort of weird I like to think of my userpage as my website. In a way. A website that I am letting people edit because I am nice. i'm not a grouchy wikipedian who won't let someone even visit their userpage. Sheesh.

What To Read? What I'm Reading!
These books are the FR Novels that I am reading, not planning to read.
 * Baldur's Gate by Philip Athans
 * The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore
 * The Lone Drow by R.A. Salvatore
 * Temple Hill by Drew Karpyshyn

Books that I am Planning to Read But Haven't Started

 * Canticle
 * In Sylvan Shadows
 * Night Masks
 * The Fallen Fortress
 * The Chaos Curse
 * The Legacy
 * Starless Night
 * Siege of Darkness
 * Passage to Dawn
 * Streams of Silver
 * The Halfling's Gem
 * Exile
 * Sojourn

FR Novels Read (Best to Worst)
Now some of these are really great books so I will put a rating nest to each one for the convenience of new FR readers that need a good read.
 * Servant of the Shard, by R.A. Salvatore. 5/5
 * Homeland, by the same guy (all of these are by him). 4/5
 * The Silent Blade 3/5
 * Sea of Swords 2/5
 * The Spine of the World, 2/5

Articles to Create

 * Siege of Darkness
 * Passage to Dawn
 * And many many more that you don't even know existed.

Suggested reading
Hi! In response to your questions on my talk page, I am not an expert on the Realms but I have been a reader of both the novels and the source material, and a player of the computer games for some time now. To get a better knowledge of the Realms there is nothing better than reading the sourcebooks themselves (the novels are great too, but their focus is storytelling, not Realmslore) but I admit that it's probably mainly D&D players or DMs who read the sourcebooks. It's worth checking out the Forgotten Realms archive because it contains nearly 7 years of articles, all free. For local reading, try: I hope that helps! Fw190a8 22:46, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Cormanthor
 * Western Heartlands
 * Realms Cosmology
 * High Forest

D&D

 * My D&D character is a dwarf. When I created him I realized what a great character I had. I created him this year, and have been playing D&D since 2005. I have been DMing since my second game of Dungeons and Dragons. I hate the Eberron campaign setting, and I have not played the Greyhawk or Dragonlance settings. I play a bit in the FR setting, but pretty much just the v. 3.5. Rulebook setting. I like making up my own stories so that works perfectly. I am feeling like buying the Forgotten Realms RPG Sourcebook about dragons. But what sucks... I am almost broke!
 * My character's class is druid. You can't wear certain kinds of armor but... oh well. At first I wanted a psionocist but I decided against it when I saw that the handbook for Psionicists was $30. Now I do not know what monetary units all of you guys use, but I use... the dollar. It's okay. But I'd rather be using foreign money (for me) like English pounds. So anyway, the handbook is about 150 pages and that just sucks. But... I've seen worse in D&D. Believe me.
 * I have a gaming group of three people: myself, and two friends. They have both been doing D&D for at least a year longer than I have. And I've been doing it for about 1.5 years. We wanted to play in the commons of our local bookstore but there was a group of people with more people than 3 across the way playing heroscape. We thought they might think we wanted competition so we moved off.
 * I also have a cleric character. (I hear the chorus of "Booo!") His name is Boundard and he was made for me when I was playing D&D in a large group with many adolescents and younger kids too. A couple adults were mixed in too. But the game wasn't half as good as the Star Wars game the people at the next table were playing. Or half as fun.
 * When it comes to D&D, I am pretty obsessed with games. I called about ten different stores to see if they had a copy of Baldur's Gate, which Fw190a8 recommended to me. After that I will look for the sequel Shadows of Amn and then I will be able to play the last game of the series. Then I'll move on. I'll start playing D&D computer RPGs. Whatever. Then I'll play the console games and read every single book in the FR series with the exception of Lisa Smedman's series.

The Plan
I am staying on this wiki till the turn of the decade, at the least. I personally know some of the people on this wiki and they will make it easy for me to stay on, though I have other dedications like Star Wars. Not the games, really (not the console games) but the RPGs and anthologies.

And I've been learning about Eberron
Did you know that it is the least popular of the three D&D settings? Greyhawk has a total of 21 books, Dragonlance (if you count it) has 185 last I checked, FR has about 210, and "regular" D&D (just Dungeons and Dragons) has at least as much as the Greyhawk setting. Eberron has 11 books. What.... The.... Heck??!!!?!!??!?!? I might have time to read every single one and chart out which sucked the most. I am a pessimist and I believe none'll be good. Hee hee hee hee heee eeeeeeeeeeeee!?!?!!? (Ignore that.)

SWRPG
The Starwars RPG from Wizards is not the best. They have ONE core rulebook. The classic SWRPG is what I what to play. The one from West End Games, which is an old company you may have heard of because of its competition against TSR. I'd be really happy if I could get my hands on the Starter set and at least one sourcebook (adventure) because there are 100 adventure supplements that the DM (in this case GM) can use. But what sucks is... the SWRPG was published in the late 80s, several years before I was born. And I would not have been able to understand it until i was ten or so but by that time it was out of print.

Thank you

 * Thank you very much indeed for your kind words on my talk page. I've found that one of the best parts of Wikia is the really friendly community that can build up here, and I am glad to be contributing to it. As far as I know, only Wikia staff can turn people into administrators, and I was made into one along with Zerak-Tul on the request of hash after he found that one administrator just wasn't enough. Fw190a8 01:21, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Once again, thanks for saying that I am deserving of the admin position! I am not comfortable giving out (even my first) real name on public websites, so sorry about that. There are so many Forgotten Realms novels available that I agree, it's so tough to decide which ones are worth reading first, but I would say that you could probably find an author you like and stick to him or her, or find an area you like, such as Icewind Dale or Cormyr and stick to novels about that area. I just read the Hunter's Blade trilogy and although I enjoyed it, there wasn't quite enough suspense for my liking! I'll probably go for some older Salvatore next. Fw190a8 01:37, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
 * You are very welcome. I like being nice. This wiki is one of my outlets for sudden bursts of random kindness, as some may call it. But I don't give out compliments as party favors. As a matter of fact I am sort of like Matron Malice... critical. But I am not a female, just in case you thought I was contradicting myself. Cell4 02:30, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Happy Valentines Day to all!

Contact
If it ever becomes necessary to contact me, tell me so on my talk page. My email has not been working. Or just use my talk page or here to ask me a question. I average a lot of edits per day, and I may not be able to get back to you until the next day. Let's hope that does not happen.

Welcome to the Realms wiki, Cell4 :) As for your question on your user page; this wiki covers all canon information on the Forgotten Realms, any other questions, feel free to ask! Zerak talk 01:15, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

When did this website start up? It is sort of a random question, but I stumbled upon it when looking up something on Wookiepedia. I saw in the "Wikia Spotlight" it said "Forgotten realms Wikia" and I was very excited. And we don't have to be absolute experts, you know, 100 edits per day or anything, roght, because I've been an editor on other sites like Wikipedia for six months. And I don't even have one hundred edits there! User:Cell4 Visit my page if you want but please don't turn it into a huge wreck. Thank you.
 * The wiki was started in October 2005 I believe, but was inactive for long periods of time. We're only a handful of regular contributors (Hash, Fw and myself being admins) as well as some new faces like Perikles etc. Still trying to attract mor editors, and seems like the spotlight did a little bit :) (By the way, please sign your posts by adding four tiddles ( ~ ) at the end of your comments, this will sign with both name and time+date, thanks:)) Zerak talk 01:54, 31 January 2007 (UTC)
 * This is yet another question. I am not ignorant... most of the time. But there is the Sword Coast, so there must be another coast as well. I just need to check. Is it the Dragon Coast or what? Thank you! User:Cell4
 * There's the Sword Coast, and then there's the Sword Coast North (north of Waterdeep) Zerak talk 01:54, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Do you have a full list of users? Cell4 01:56, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

What the heck is Ches? Cell4 01:58, 31 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Ches is a month in the Faerûnian calendar, and the only list of users available is one for all of Wikia, which is really little use at all. Zerak talk 02:03, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

One, are there any Forgotten Realms movies, and another thing, I'm a videogame loving geek, so you'll understand my next question. I guess. Do you have a list available of Forgotten Realms videogames that lists what platforms they are made for? I have not played any of the videogames yet, but I know what I know about them because of a whole lot of interviews that I've seen. Like the Drew Karpyshyn interview told me a lot about the second, or third, I think, Baldur's Gate videogame. Check out his site, by the way, drewkarpyshyn.com. DrizztTheSlayer 02:35, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

I know, my new nickname sucks. It's still me, Cell4, in my heart. OK, bad joke.


 * If you type "video games" into the search box on the left, the first result is List of computer and video games which contains a fairly accurate... I'll let you guess what it contains! To date there have been two D&D movies, neither of which were very good. No movies have been set in the Forgotten Realms but most fans, judging by this thread and many others on the Wizards boards, feel that a movie would ruin the Realms. Imagination is part of the joy of the campaign setting, and the Realms, despite having a huge amount of source material, are very much open to personal interpretation, not what some big- (or small-) budget movie decides they should be like. By the way, welcome to the wiki! Fw190a8 22:02, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Can you get promoted here? And one other thing, can we name this site, like the way the SW wikia is called Wookieepedia, couldn't this be something like that? Cell4 01:37, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

What is Alturiak? Cell4 01:51, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Another month on the Calander of Harptos. --Perikles 15:33, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Has anyone here read all of the FR novels, yeah, sounds crazy, but I am very curious. I want to try to find out if there are any huge experts here. And just a question, is it recommended that we are above a certain age before we become users on this wikia? Cell4 01:51, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't think that there is an age restriction here. This site is supposed to deal with canon FR material, which means it's basicly collation, reproduction and discussion of already published material. It is unlikely that anything so published will have much of an age restriction to it.--Perikles 15:33, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
 * As to experts, I doubt anyone is a authoriative expert on all areas of the Realms. You will probably find that some people tend toward certain areas of interest, while others may be more expert in other areas.--Perikles 15:33, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Another question, can we personalize our userpages? Say, put something up like "this user spends 5 hours of his or her day playing Forgotten Realms video games" or "this user hates the Eberron campaign setting"? Cell4 01:51, 1 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Personalize away :) Zerak talk 15:56, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Re: Drizzt Admin
Drizzt was the founder of the wiki, but he could not maintain it, so he let Hash take it over, but he remained as an admin - I doubt he's coming back, but we've left him as an admin for now, as it does no harm. Zerak talk 15:56, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Template for Novels
If you could, use Template:Book (Example page: The Summoning) Thanks :) Zerak talk 16:19, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Thank you Guys
I hope this wiki keeps running. But I would prefer it if we had less redlinks. Oh, and a question. Every night I come online and I see that none of my articles have been deleted. What a relief!!!!!! So I guess I'm just thinking like a Wikipedian. They delete every single article that has less than two lines. And they also say things like "you did this wrong, but you were new so.." I definitely prefer it here. And as my thank you, to all of you, try reading Homeland and tell me what you think of it. It's great. When you muscle your way through acres of blood and gore, it's a good book. Cell4 01:07, 2 February 2007 (UTC)
 * No need to thank us for not deleting articles, we value all contributions that are made in good faith, no matter how small! It would help us out if you would use the   template on pages you have created that are only a few lines long, so that people know it needs more details added later. Fw190a8 00:05, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

OK, guys, I am having a problem. You said I could personalize my userpage however much I wanted, right? Well, how do you exactly do that? How do you get little panels that say, "this user is..." "this user hates..." and all the rest? Is there a thing of text you are supposed to copy onto your page, or what, exactly? Cell4 23:29, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
 * You can use the   template for that. If you click that link, you will see there is a usage guide in a blue dotted border on that page. You can just copy that to your user page, and fill in the blanks with whatever information you want. Fw190a8 00:05, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * As for the User Boxes, (This user is interested in the "Forgotten Realms") and such, they are templates used on Wikipedia, you'd have to make your own templates here to have such ones on your user page. Zerak talk 21:37, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

About the Time: How do you keep track?
Forgotten Realms, it's a big place and their are 200+ novels. Is there a timeline for even a small portion of the series? It would really come in handy. And is their a complete map available for Faerun? That would also be helpful, because even books as good as the Drizzt novels don't give you a sense of where the heck you are. Thank you! And when I created an account i told you my real first name, right? Thank you again. And if I did give it to you, I'd prefer to be called that. Cell4 00:45, 7 February 2007 (UTC)


 * If you chose to give your real name when signing up for a Wikia account, it's more for contact purposes. All we can see is your nickname. We can't even see your email address!


 * For the timeline, I strongly recommend A Grand History of the Forgotten Realms because it's pretty complete. The articles on years here at the wiki will also be an excellent resource eventually, but there is much yet still to do. Fw190a8 02:43, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Map
For a map, try the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting map gallery – I recommend the 150dpi large map for maximum detail. Fw190a8 02:43, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Becoming a DM
I used to DM, many years ago. Now I just stick to reading about the Realms. My biggest tip for being a DM is that you should remember you need to spend about 4 hours preparing your campaign for every one hour you spend with your players, so it takes a lot of time! Fw190a8 02:44, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, Fw190a8, and I've been DMing since 2005 but only about five games, none of them very long. Thanks for the tips. Each game however averaged 45 minutes to an hour. Cell4 01:01, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Another something where it says "we have ____ articles" on the main page is it just counting articles about the Realms or our userpages and talk pages as well? Cell4 02:19, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
 * If you click the number you'll end up at Special:Statistics, and it says:

"There are 3,707 total pages in the database. This includes "talk" pages, pages about Forgotten Realms Wiki, minimal "stub" pages, redirects, and others that probably don't qualify as content pages. Excluding those, there are 866 pages that are probably legitimate content pages"
 * Zerak talk 16:39, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

A Comment on Comments
Hi Eli, when leaving comments on article/user talk pages, please leave them at the bottom of the page, makes them far easier to find, thanks :) Zerak talk 16:35, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Userboxes
Hi Eli, I have created a few userboxes for you and added them to your user page underneath the member template. I hope you like them, but if you don't want them there, just revert the page to an earlier edit! Fw190a8 23:50, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Games
Fw190a8, I know this should be a question on your talk page, but just one question. When you play the videogamesfor FR, do you use PC, Mac, Xbox, PS2 or other? If you played a lot of the games like you said, what platforms were they for? I'm trying to find out specifically what game systems would be like a four letter word to Forgotten Realms game designers and what consoles they make most of their games for. Cell4 02:04, 9 February 2007 (UTC)


 * There is only one way to play role-playing games: on a PC. Anything else just isn't gaming. Consoles are great for platformers and sports games. Macs are just horrible for gaming. I highly recommend the Baldur's Gate series and I know that there is a complete collection (both games, plus both expansion packs) for $20. Beyond that, I loved the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, even though it's not set in the Realms, but it needs a pretty good computer. Fw190a8 05:33, 9 February 2007 (UTC)


 * With regard to your question about obtaining BGII online, try this on amazon.com. Fw190a8 02:31, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Endless wastes
It's a pretty boring place. That's why there isn't much written about it. Kind of like Antarctica I guess. There is stuff beyond the wastes though, you just don't see it on that map because it doesn't extend far enough. Fw190a8 05:37, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Wikia admin
If you need help regarding Wikia itself, you can click the "Live wiki help" in the menu on the left of every page! Fw190a8 05:37, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Re: Same Country
Well, I'm danish, not sure if that qualifies as "same country, as you're from the states, heh : ) Zerak talk 21:11, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Help, please
Okay. This is a very minor question, but is there any class besides "stub"? Like say, "gargantuan class" with something that says, say, "this article has been rated gargantuan class" or something like that? Cell4 03:11, 13 February 2007 (UTC)


 * There are many categories. You can have a look at Special:Categories to see a list. Have a look at articles similar to the one you're writing to see what category/categories you might put the article in. Fw190a8 13:53, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. Cell4 00:19, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Greeting new users
We don't have a specific policy for welcoming newcomers to the wiki. We generally use Special:Recent changes to see who has made recent contributions, and use that to discover new contributors. Fw190a8 13:53, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Hello, as you can see, my talk and userpages have changed because I think my userpage should not be so much of a dump and idle chat is really the point of THIS pages, the talk page. Yeah. Hope you like it. But I do have one question. there are templates for novels, of course, but are there templates for characters or would we have to make those? I'd just think that the Sheila Kree page I created about five minutes ago would look more attractive with a box that told a bit about her off to the side just like with Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun's page. And how eactly do we make our own templates? And one more thing, how do we put captions under images? Please respond here instead of on my userpage like before, because I'd like it neat there. Thank you very much. Cell4 02:40, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

This, you must have noticed, is a very long talk page. It's fine with me. Cell4 02:40, 15 February 2007 (UTC)