[DGD] Pet peeves for users in a MUD

[bart at wotf.org]

On Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:39:34 -0400, Dread Quixadhal wrote
> Personally, I think many of these problems go away once the player realizes
> that dropping connection during combat will NOT get them a free 
> pass.

I agree.

> I've played several MUDs over the years which do NOT 
> magically whisk you out of harm's reach, just because you went 
> linkdead, and don't see why people would expect it to happen anyways?

Because quite often, people can't help that happening at all, and it is
generally known that the game can know about this happening?

That said, it is never reliable, so people shouldn't be counting on it.

> Let's look at the most successful MMO to date, World of Warcraft.  11
> million people don't seem to mind the fact that if you lose your 
> connection, your character will still be in-game for up to a minute, 
> and if you were in combat, you stay in combat (now doing only auto-
> attack and not being able to change facing).

The question is also what the consequences of this are. If death is merely a
bit of an inconvenience, but has no consequences, then this seems totally
acceptable. If death is a big deal, then I don't think this is acceptable at all.

> 
> In short, just stick a timer variable that counts down the time 
> since you discovered they went link-dead (last time you tried to 
> send them output, probably), and don't actually kick them off for a 
> minute.  If they're in combat, tough.... wait for the combat to 
> resolve before you start the counter.  As long as you're clear about 
> that up front, I doubt anyone BUT the cheaters will care.

Being clear about it is important indeed, but if only the cheaters will care
depends a lot on the consequences.

Regardless, I agree that the first step to solving this is ensuring it doesn't
pay to do this on purpose.

Bart.
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