Yet another update...

After a several hour morning play-session during which we traipsed from Weye to IC to Bruma to Cheydinhal (via mountainous Jerall trails) and beyond, I'm getting a better feel for the care and feeding of Marxist donkeys. I think the "wait" command, as it currently exists, is suitable for a number of situations and should be retained. For instance, we patrolled the road between IC and Bruma, an official duty assigned by the Elder Council Justice Department. In the process of doing so we amassed a decent amount of loot. Once in Bruma, patrol completion documented, I of course opted to sell our newly acquired spoils to a local business establishment. In the past Vilja and I, and often even Wolfgang, simply headed to the Nord Winds and conducted business. But what to do about Groucho? Bringing a donkey inside the shoppe was unacceptable. Yet I did not want him wandering around loose. (Though being confined inside a city he couldn't have strayed far.) Then it hit me. Why not tell Vilja to wait outside in front of the Cathedral? With Vilja and her apple standing there, I could have Groucho wait almost assured he would not stray. And so it was. I sold our goods, returned to the Cathedral, and found Groucho snuggled up next to Vilja. This makes perfect roleplay/immersion sense. One would, I assume, want someone to stand guard over a beast carrying valuable possessions. Vilja served that role admirably.

That said, there are many situations when I will not want to leave Vilja behind as a glorified donkey guard. The upcoming "tether" command (if that's what it will be termed) will, in my opinion, be essential.

As the above implies, my further experiments point more and more to Vilja's apple (and maybe apples in general?) being at least a partial cause of Groucho's less than desirable behavior. (Through again "tether" should solve this without need to modify "wait".) None of this accounts for Chico turning up where he shouldn't. No idea on that.

-Decrepit-

I'm planning on using this with my next character (assuming I ever finalise my LO) so thanks Emma

Please forgive a brief OT question:

@Decrepit - Have you ever considered some fanfic or even a diary of your Oblivion adventures? I find the tone and turn of phrase you use in your posts very entertaining.

I'll attempt brevity too, though as should be obvious it's not a strong-point. Thanks for the compliment. I have indeed considered creating a written chronicle of my avatar's adventures. I went so far as start a thread on the subject in our Oblivion General Discussion sub-forum. Alas, it was not to be. While I found myself capable of expressing rough ideas in an interesting manner, creating a polished "publishable" product was beyond me. I abandoned the project after a few mediocre entries.

For what it's worth, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1114736-thoughts-on-my-second-play-through/. It even contains one short journal excerpt, several posts below the initial entry. I sort of like that excerpt. It needs work, yes, but the basic concept is sound.

-Decrepit-

Ah well, I'll have to settle for entertaining bug reports

Apples:

We visited the Imperial City twice, Groucho in tow. Both times we entered via the Talos District Gate, leaving Groucho outside. Once he was on his own. Once Vilja and her apple remained with him. On both occasions, even with Vilja present, the donkey headed straight for the open-air roofed structure behind the Stable office. Once there he parked himself in front of a bunch of barrels, facing away from them. There he waited, patiently standing in place until we finished business and resumed our travels. Out of curiosity I inspected the barrels. As suspected, one contained an apple.

The more I use this mod the more I appreciate Groucho's sometimes eccentric ways. They give him a distinct personality. I think "wait" mode need not be changed**. It's fine as is. It just needs to be complemented by the upcoming "tether" mode, for those occasions when the donkey can not be babysat and can't be allowed to wander off.

-Decrepit-

**By this I do not mean to imply that any aspect of mod should or should not be fine-honed and enhanced. Only that there is nothing overtly wrong with Groucho's current apple addiction.

Right... a new ver 1.1 of the Donkeys is now available. What I have done is the following:

The "Wait" command will now mean that the donkey will actually wait where they are, without moving around, stealing apples or stalking npcs.

A new command "Relax" has been added. This command means that the donkeys are free to wander around, stalk people, steal things and generally misbehave like they are used to .

The new version is available on http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=36966
and on http://lovkullen.net/Emma/Packdonkeys.htm


Thank you so much for the feedback and help to sort out the problems. I do hope that the donkeys will be more reliable than before (and that the Relax command will allow them to keep their weird personalities).

I installed version 1.1 yesterday morning, 02/13/2011, but didn't get a chance to launch the game until evening. As expected, the new version of "wait" solves my issue with Groucho disappearing into the wilds. Ironically, during that play session I used the new "relax" command more often than wait. Due to the nature of our current quest, there was never any call to leave our pack-animal unattended for a great length of time. That being the case I often let Groucho relax with Vilja and her apple remaining behind to guard him. That makes solid role-play sense to me.

Poor Chico. We found ourselves on the Green road heading south. Sure enough, there he was again, somewhere between Faregyl and Bravil. Only, this time he was standing placidly in place. That's no biggie. Should we buy a second beast it would be he. We'll swing by the Chorrol Stable, purchase him, then pick him up next time we pass through that section of the Green. Should he be missing then, we'll simply go about our business and, once home in Weye, use the summon spell, pretending he had been delivered there following purchase.

Despite a few teething pains this mod is a solid addition to my load-order. Used properly, it has the potential to enhance role-play and immersion.

-Decrepit-

Thank you for all the help you have given me with this, your feedback has been invaluable .

I'm glad that you enjoy the donkeys, in spite of their border-line-criminality and stalker habits. And, yes, it DOES sound as if Chico is already so devoted to you (well, maybe rather to Vilja or her apples) that *he* is determined that you should buy him. And, as you know, there's nothing as stubborn as a donkey!