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Post by Ranger on Feb 16, 2006 10:27:10 GMT -5
doesn't make much sense to me personally i think i would revolt against the healer. I agree there should be a steeper fee for dying in the deep wilderness. There should also be marked no rescue zones as in if you die there the guard won't save you. Just some thoughts
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Post by Notesurfer on Feb 16, 2006 11:07:03 GMT -5
What revolt healer wtf?
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Post by Draxas on Feb 16, 2006 11:48:31 GMT -5
I think Ranger's saying that he would probably stab the healer after he was revived if he charged him so much money. Talk about grateful. The idea about ramping up the cost for dying farther away from civilization makes some sense, but bear in mind that the world will not be limited to only 3 towns. Eventually, other cities will be added, which will likely complicate things. I think, since nobody is ranging too far away from the towns for now, a flat fee is reasonable. At the Overlord's discretion, the player can have their corpse looted on death as well, and that should always have the potential to occur, depending on the circumstances. For instance, if you're slain by a wild dog, it's probably not going to be interested in your items too much. On the other hand, if you're slain by a bandit, he's going to be pretty likely to steal anything he can lay his hands on. The idea of no-revive zones is interesting, but is not really appropriate for this early stage of the game. When players are able to venture into more dangerous areas, then we can consider generating no-revive zones. The Fields of Blood would probably be a good spot for something like this.
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Post by Notesurfer on Feb 16, 2006 13:19:09 GMT -5
In no-revive zones I would think that the character itself is not lost, only all the items and all/most of his/her exp.
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Post by Draxas on Feb 16, 2006 15:08:51 GMT -5
In game terms, what's the difference? It would be very hard to recover if you were reduced to trying to scrape by with no items or money.
On the other hand, I don't really like the idea of killing off players entirely, especially after they've invested some time and thought into a character.
Hmm...
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Post by Altl on Feb 16, 2006 16:31:15 GMT -5
My problem with a flat fee for dieing is eventually it will get to the point of "oh, well its only 100 exp I don't really care/that isn't much of an inconvenience. " Which in my opinion shouldn't be the player's feeling about things. I suggest a skill point penalty of X for N turns.
X = a fraction
N = Number of [battle] turns.
So, if I died and my stregth was 16 and you decided that it should be minus 1/4 of the player's stats I would retain 12 strength for a certain duration. Furthermore even if you train in stregth to 100 you still loose 1/4 stregth (down to 75), so you don't really want to die no matter what...I dunno just a thought.
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Post by N3B on Feb 16, 2006 16:32:02 GMT -5
Just a random bit; in D&D if a player was actually killed off (his party, anyway) you could roll to see how long their bodies would remain undiscovered. Perhaps if you're deep inside a dungeon they experience a time penalty (IRL or IG) before a random NPC explorer finds them. Or, you can hire someone (in the SS General Discussion boards) to come out and resurrect you. I don't know, I definitely am against perma deaths or deaths that set you back a lot. Because if I were to lose all my money and/or gear it'd be tough pickings to get back the stuff - I'd probably quit or make a new character.
EDIT: Or, we could make it like in Diablo, Dungeon Siege, and other games where you can venture back and find all your old gear. In this manner, players can have back-up equipment in their bank accounts and go out and get their main gear back. However, any lost XP from the "deep risk zones" could not be retrieved. Otherwise, I think a set fee for resurrection is ok.
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Post by Draxas on Feb 16, 2006 17:54:05 GMT -5
I'm still liking the flat fee best. An exhaustive analysis:
Flat fee + possible additional item penalties (current system): + Player is not permanently dead + Player is not set back a large amount on death + Ability for OLs to extract greater tolls for death by removing items - Death will eventually become a "non-penalty" as player wealth far outstrips resurrection cost (this is somewhat mitigated by the potential for tiem penalties)
Diablo 2 style (corpse retrieval): + Player is not permanently dead + Player can recover lost items and money + Ability for OLs to extract greater tolls for death by removing items permanently - Dying far away from civilization will leave the character hopeless unless they have a good set of spare equipment saved; this discourages far-ranging exploration - Dying in a hostile area, especially without (good) spare equipment, is tantamount to permanent death; many players will not feel it is worth the trouble to retrieve the corpse, and will give up on the character instead
Stat penalty on death (permanent): + Player is not permanently dead + Items and money are retained on death, allowing the player to get back into action quickly - Stat penalties could have an immense cost, depending on how high the stat is - Reducing certain stats could make equipped items unusable; this is tantamount to permanent death if it includes most of a character's equipment, or if they are unable to afford a temporary repalcement or retraining in those stats
Stat penalty on death (temporary): + Player is not permanently dead + Items and money are retained on death, allowing the player to get back into action quickly - Reducing certain stats could make equipped items unusable; while this is temporary, it can make things very difficult for a while - Once a player is powerful enough, this penalty is insignificant; they can simply fight weak monsters until the effects of death have worn off
Ghost world (player must rely on another to retrieve their corpse): + Player is not permanently dead + Player can recover lost items and money + Ability for OLs to extract greater tolls for death by removing items permanently - Depending on the kindness of others for resurrection is not reliable; it is possible that nobody will be willing or able to retrieve your corpse for a long time, or at all - Depending on NPCs for resurrection is the same as levying a fee in XP, but it lags down the game as you have to wait for the NPC to find you first
Permanent death: + Death is a severe penalty, to be avoided at all costs - There is no degrees to punishment; the player is dead, and must start anew, discouraging all but the most conservative styles of play
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Post by Draxas on Feb 19, 2006 14:59:18 GMT -5
Small announcement: I have added color text to all of the entries in the Arms & Equipment Guide, and have added locations for both color text and known habitats for all entries in the Bestiary.
Note to OLs: Please be sure to update the relevant sections of the Library when adding new things to the game. I will be adding descriptions to the Bestiary when I have some more time.
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Post by Ranger on Feb 19, 2006 20:12:53 GMT -5
If you have an idea of what the map looks like right now I can start making a grid map hand drawn with an old type pen nib type thing. Start with like a Number and Letter Grid and where things should be in relation to that like the crossroads and towns
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Post by Draxas on Feb 22, 2006 19:22:34 GMT -5
Color text and descriptions of special abilities have been added to the Bestiary, so other than pending entries that have not yet been entered, I think that section is currently complete.
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Post by N3B on Feb 23, 2006 21:05:25 GMT -5
For the Arena: I think the fee should be significantly lower (like 15 or so). If it's much higher than that, folks wouldn't want to PVP. One might even consider making it free of charge so long as it's mutually decided.
We could later incorporate like a tournament system which would involve a 50xp+ registration fee, or something similar.
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Post by Draxas on Feb 23, 2006 23:10:41 GMT -5
I'd be willing to lower the cost to 20 XP, but no less. Otherwise, how would the Arena stay in business? Seriously, though, if you make it free, what's to stop people from PvPing endlessly and ignoring the rest of the game? Especially since the current rules allow you to earn XP from PvP (I think this is a lousy idea in general, myself). I say for basic PvP there should be a fee to enter for all combatants, and they can wager items as they like (so long as all fighters agree to those terms beforehand), and that's it. No bonus XP for winning a fight (too abusable, plus it forces players to leave the arena and do stuff if they want to get more powerful).
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Post by Ranger on Apr 12, 2006 4:38:41 GMT -5
Various skills can be bought from a skill-store. We should implement these soon any idea how you want to do this. I was thinking things like Envenom and Naturalist would be best taught by say the monk who helped me in Lesko he seems like a good host for some of the skills whereas others in other towns would be good for others. We could make it a matter of finding the right person for the right skill to be taught and even make quests around learning them or fees for them. It seems like a better more adventure oriented way of handling it to me. Ideas?
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Post by Draxas on Apr 12, 2006 11:08:50 GMT -5
That's actually precisely what I had planned. Several existing characters are skill teachers, and others can lead you to new skill teachers as well. The cost required to learn a particular skill, as well as the tasks required to get the teacher to agree to help you, will vary by circumstance.
Of course, don't expect a teacher for every skill in the guide just yet. But a few are already available, so long as you make the right moves.
Of course, the only reason I can make these sort of elaborate plans is because I'm essentially the only overlord for the game. Doesn't help that you're the only player to boot; suffice to say, I've had several ideas for continuing to expand the game that I've backburnered or axed, simply because I don't see the point if nobody else is going to play.
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