[DGD] Pet peeves for users in a MUD

[bart at wotf.org]

On Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:15:50 -0700, Shentino wrote
> 
> Personally I think that, unless you are in a realtime situation like 
> active combat, you should not be penalized for a situation that 
> might not be your fault, unless it can be proven to some degree that 
> your quitting is habitual, and thus evidence that you are either 
> unlucky, or you are trying to exploit linkdeath, both of which are 
> Good Reasons not to take pains to be generous.

All that is needed there is to take away the advantage. There is no reason to
penalize players for this if there is no advantage to be gained.

<snip> 

> One thing I would never enjoy doing is penalizing a player for isolated
> connection farts.  What I'm thinking of is creating a mobile 
> specifically to manage characters whose players are offline (either 
> by accident or design).
> 
> This "linkdead AI" would be active at any point the character is in 
> IC land, but whose player is offline.  It's job would be to control 
> the PC in a reasonable manner.I remember KaViR discussing something 
> like this on his site (before his domain was sadly swiped by 
> spammers).
> 
> Reasonable, of course, is relative, and would probably need to 
> factor in a few things, such as perhaps your experience, learned 
> data from how you fight or move, and perhaps some stats or skills 
> like intelligence or tactical, and last but not least, probably 
> soemthing that takes into account how prone you are to disconnect.

For me, this would be an absolute show stopper. It is definitely a matter of
taste, but, if I am expected to spend a fair bit of time on developing a
character, then I 'demand' that the game doesn't take control over my
character and potentially puts it at risk. If it does, I'm out. Personal pet
peeve for sure, but also a very strong one.

> 
> Which brings me to another idea I just thought of...the "connection
> balance", that would act as an account of "connection funds".   If 
> you wanted to quit while IC, you would need to spend some of this to 
> hire the linkdeath ai to get your PC home.  You'd get a steady,
>  continuous deposit for your IC time (even if you yourself are 
> offline).  Sorta like the system paying you to roleplay.
> 
> Here's the fun part.  If you "overdraft" and your "check" bounces, 
> Bad Things will start happening.  The linkdeath AI would go on 
> strike, with a severity that depends on how far in debt you are. 
>  Minor overages could cause you to delay, drop some stuff, or 
> otherwise make your PC's departure for OOC land less than smooth.  
> In extreme cases, the linkdeath AI may simply quit and leave your 
> character vulnerable to attack until you've earned enough to pay it 
> to take the PC home, and you're SOL if a monster comes along and 
> attacks you in the meantime.

That is what I meant with the above. While this may be quite fitting for your
game, for me it would be a reason to run and never ever take another look.

Again, expect me to spend time on character development? Then I demand the
game does not endanger that when I am not in control, simple and, for me, end
of story, end of discussion :)

That of course is my personal opinion :)

Bart.
--
Created with Open WebMail at http://www.bartsplace.net/
Read my weblog at http://soapbox.bartsplace.net/