User:Nahallac Silverwinds/sandbox



 This page includes notes on things I am currently working on

Pulse Oximeter
A pulse oximeter is a small device that uses red light to estimate the oxygen saturation of a person's arterial blood. A sensor that resembles a clothespin is put on the person's finger (or sometimes a finger or ear) and a light passes through from one side to the other. The percentage of oxygen and the person's pulse rate are displayed on a small LED screen.

Useage
If the main concern of treatment is to monitor oxygen levels, the pulse oximeter gives a percentage that is not as reliable as one determined by arterial blood gas, but helpful in determining approximate values. The values are dependent on the person's blood flow, and other factors that may affect readings. It doesn't hurt a bit and does not incur any laboratory costs.

"differential reflectance colorimeter technology"?

Sources to explore

 * Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists
 * AVweb
 * Smiths;pictures of several
 * Nellcor
 * About.com
 * List of suppliers
 * Medicalresources.com
 * Use

Steve Clover

 * Eurogamer
 * Sigil Games
 * Stratics
 * IGN
 * Dikumud ordeal
 * Brad McQuaid
 * Microsoft Vanguard Press Release
 * Vanguard Fact Sheet & Microsoft
 * Vanguard @ Gamespy
 * Another Vanguard Interview w/ McQuaid
 * Avault.com article about EQ
 * Warcry

Pass the Pigs

 * Background Info
 * PTP Java Game
 * PTP Analysis - Probabilities

Improving the KEI article
(just jotting down memories for now, will need to re-write in a Non-POV manner, as well as for style, grammar, spelling, readability etc.)

Argueably one of the best-known spells (the other being SoW) in EverQuest and even outside the game within the MMORPG community, Koadiac's Endless Intellect, more commonly know by its acronym, KEI, sometimes also called C3 since it is the third spell in the Clarity spell line, is a much sought-after level 60 buff spell castable by members of the Enchanter class upon any player character level 45 and above.

KEI and several other new spells were first introduced to live servers on December 4, 2001 with the release of the Shadows of Luclin expansion. Originally, the spell scroll could only be found as loot off of Luclin boss mobs. Later it became researchable by Intelligence casters with a skill of 200 or higher and trivializes at a skill level of 227. With the release of the Gates of Discord expansion, the KEI spell scroll also started dropping as loot in the zone 'Ferubi, Forgotten Temple of Taelosia' from mobs Pxet Elite Blademaster, Pxet Elite Hammermaster, and Pxet Elite Spearmaster.

Spell function and usage
The purpose of this spell is primarily to accelerate the regeneration of mana (magical energy source used for casting spells) by 14 points per game tick (about every six seconds). Many players have affectionately dubbed KEI "crack" or "mind-candy" due to its large mana-accelerating quality, and because once used, it is often hard to play a spell-casting class in the game without it, due to how much it speeds up gameplay. KEI also enhances the base Intelligence and Wisdom statistics of the recipient character by 25 each, and increases the base amount of the recipient's mana pool by 250 points.

The duration of KEI is abnormally long by contrast with many spells of a beneficial nature in EverQuest. An Enchanter casting this spell who posesses the right enhancements, focus items and/or Alternate Abilities (AAs) can make this spell last for over four hours. As a consequence of this, KEI is a buff greatly desired by characters who are dependant upon mana for the efficiency of their play time; faster mana regeneration equates to less downtime.

Moreover, the enhancements to Wisdom and Intelligence are of value to people seeking skillups in tradeskills because the rate at which any tradeskill is raised can be determined by the level of the Intelligence or Wisdom that character has. It is common to see Enchanters offering to cast KEI upon other players for a small donation of platinum (the in-game EverQuest currency) or in exchange for other buffs in a central location such as the Plane of Knowledge.

KEI is also one of the more common spells that is cast using the Mass Group Buff (MGB) ability. MGB is an Alternate Advancement ability which allows its caster to hit up to 72 player characters who are in the near vicinity of the caster with a single cast of the group version of any beneficial spell. The level a character must be to obtain a buff via an MGB depends on the level of the spell being cast. To obtain an MGB of KEI, a player must be level 46+. Other buffs that are often the subject of MGBs include those that increase hitpoints, armor class, movement rate and spell resistance.

Spell Line
KEI is not the only Enchanter spell of its type. Three lower level versions of the spell also exist: Breeze, Clarity, and Clarity II. Each of these does increase mana regeration, but none of these predecessors to KEI enhance a players Intelligence, Wisdom or mana pool.

With the release of new expansions, more powerful versions of this spell have been made available to higher level Enchanters, but essentially have the same function. These higher level spells (Tranquility, Voice of Quellious, and Clarivoyance) increase a players base Wisdom, base Intelligence, base mana pool and mana regeneration more than KEI, but none of them have the duration of KEI. (See table below for information on the entire spell line). Of all the spells in this line, KEI is the only one that does not have a single-target version in addition to the group version; it is group only.



The nerf
Around ___ a rumor started circulating among the EQ community both in-game and on message boards that KEI and other level 60+ buffs would soon be nerfed. Instead of being castable on characters of any level (1+), these spells would instead only be castable on characters of level 45+. Obtaining this buff had been a major key to powerleveling spell-casting toons from the spell's inception.

While 'mass hysteria' did not ensue, there was still quite a large uproar when rumors were confirmed after the month/day/year game patch that KEI had, in fact, been nerfed along with other 60+ buffs as suspected. The majority of the EQ community understood that these spells needed to be nerfed in this manner for the sake of the game balance, but most still found the nerf annoying for awhile.

Humorously, for months (and even years) following this particular nerf, people would log on toons/alts that they had not played since before it happened and would find that many of those characters still had X-minutes of KEI (or other) level-inappropriate buff(s) still on them. (Most buffs do not go away when a character logs off the server). This finding would often be announced in a common area like the Plane of Knowlegde, or to the person's guild, resulting in a good chuckle for all. Occassionally, players coming back to EverQuest after a few years absence can still be seen annoucing this after re-activating their old account.