Adam
Saviour
Group: Immortals
Posts: 11
Joined: Oct 30, 2007
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Let me make this much clear: almost any changes in-game are relatively easy to do. There are no/few complex system or coding issues involved. The only thing that makes this class of modifications "difficult" is the sheer number of things that have to be checked into.
That being said, there are other changes that might not be so simple because they do take system issues into account, such as the account-based system. But coding tomes/mobs/etc., not so bad.
About permadeath: please no! The last thing anyone wants is to feel like they've put hours/weeks/months/years into a character and have it disappear. People would leave. I know nobody's serious about it, anyway, so let's keep it that way.... 
Conner said:I don't think he was trying to imply that we let folks level too quickly as is
Actually, perhaps I should have implied that. It's hard to pick the right amount of time for players to get from level to level, but I think whatever speed at which players advance should be maintainable, even beyond the avatar level. But I think there are enough shortcuts for players to get experience faster that they can get really strong really fast. Getting to avatar level in the first place should feel difficult, but honestly I feel that I could fairly easily bring another character up to level 50 in very short order if I wanted to. All I would do is CENSORED (I can't give out too many hints!).
The first step to limiting multichar is by setting rules in the first place and reminding players of them. Then, to deal with those who wish to break the rules, impose penalties, and then to get the people who are really good at breaking the rules, impose more sophisticated systems. I don't see an account system as really stopping anyone, but I do see surveillance, IP comparison, and other possibly automatic systems helping in identifying cheaters. I might be able to provide some assistance here. 
Adam 
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Posted Jan 16, 2008, 3:58 pm |
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Adam
Saviour
Group: Immortals
Posts: 11
Joined: Oct 30, 2007
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Wow, such a popular topic! Let me try and keep this response shorter (I'm sure I will fail).
Iridium said:Adam said:First, there is the idea that some basic abilities will be taken away from the player. I am of the opinion that a player would not want to lose abilities as they get more powerful.
While it could be perceived as "forgetting" it, the point is more to emphasize the idea that they've grown beyond it. ... (I)f one really wanted to go the route of forgetfulness, a powerful figure isn't going to waste time committing minor cantrips or spells to memory.
My point is more to emphasize that the player will have either evolved beyond the need for the ability in the first place or have otherwise become so good at it that they get it really easily. Examples: High level clerics don't tend to use cure light, create food is useless if a player doesn't get hungry, and a possible skill/spell 'defense' casts, say, stone skin/barkskin/forcefield/force shield/ogrish hide/cool breeze all at once (all for the same time limit) for a lower total mana cost. What I think we want to avoid is a player losing a very useful ability that their character should just know how to do (ie: just removing the 'armor' spell and not giving a better, mutually exclusive alternative). I don't think we're very divided on this point, I just think these are caveats/extensions on your initial idea.
And, regarding the entire latter part of the last post, I think permanent player upgrades or rank/status info should be much more difficult to get than equipment. After all, you can't lose it in a DT. 
My favorite mud from the past (which is probably now defunct) had a great system for this. The level limit was 50, single classes, no multichar. In the central town there was a "metaphysicist" to whom you could trade increasingly larger amounts of experience and money for stats and attributes (small amounts at a time). As you did this, you gained status (an internal counter of some sort). You would then go to the mayor in his office between 6am and 7am mud time and ask him for a promotion. If your status was high enough, you would be promoted to the next rank, or otherwise be told, vaguely, how far away you were. There were 7 ranks: Lord/Lady, Baron/Baroness, Count/Countess, Marquis/Marquise, Duke/Dutchess, King/Queen, and Emperor/Empress. Each rank gave your character innate capabilities and an ability of sorts (ie: emperors could morph into dragons). There was a ranklist, similar to the avlist, and getting to emperor usually took a couple of years of constant playing. It was a very busy game, with 10-20 players online average, all the time (with NO multichars!), and still only seven or eight people ever made emperor. I, personally, only ever got to Marquis.
I liked this system because of the constant incremental gains you could make. The implementors were very careful to make the game difficult and slow, but not too slow. That way people's initial interests were sustained but they didn't get too powerful so fast that it petered out. Along those lines, I do think being able to have too many characters online at one time really unbalances the game for those who choose to use it (I like the idea of only being allowed to have 1 or 2 chars on at once, especially if we can get a sustainable population of players). Then, to take out those really tough mobs to get the really spectacular equipment or to get to the trainer who teaches some really awesome skill, players are required to cooperate in a group. That really gets the roleplaying going, too.
Regarding the PK issue, I'd say my piece on this, but I honestly never liked doing it myself. It's only really interesting, anyway, when there are many players and not just a few.
Okay. Off my soapbox. 
Adam
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Posted Jan 15, 2008, 6:39 pm |
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