[DGD] Codes of conduct on a mud

[bart at wotf.org]

I like the idea of giving players 'secret' hints they need for doing something.

But the entire setup you describe causes one simple question for me:

How do you differentiate between someone who obtained the information from
another player, and those who know the information because they played
another, no longer existing character in the past?

Changing it often enough might work to prevent that, but wouldn't that mess
with players getting the information legitimately, and only acting on it much
later?

Bottomline, I do not think this gives a good idea about whom is getting
information 'illegally' because there are quite legitimate ways in which the
'detection' can be triggered still.

Bart.

On Sat, 29 Dec 2018 09:17:33 +1100, Tony Demetriou wrote
> I had a secret entrance, that required pressing a specific stone in the
> wall.
> 
> There was a command, something like "press third loose stone", I 
> can't remember the specifics, but I was using multiple names and 
> adjectives for the trigger. So "look at third rock" or "examine 
> stone" or "examine second stone" "third stone" "fourth stone" etc. 
> all used the same detail. The code then checked what the player 
> targeted with their command, so we know that they actually knew the 
> correct action and didn't find some other way to discover/test all 
> the details in the room. (It also meant we can change the trigger in 
> code without having to rebuild any details in the room.)
> 
> PCs that met a certain criteria logged in to a message telling them 
> about a dream, which revealed this secret doorway. There were no 
> other clues in the game. We then recorded who had been given the 
> dream. And then recorded whenever another PC witnessed the secret 
> door being opened, and who opened it. We also recorded who opened 
> the door with the right command despite not having the dream or 
> witnessing it.
> 
> That gave me a pretty decent idea of who was receiving information, either
> by using the information from one character to let another open the 
> door, or who had been told by another player.
> 
> I followed that up a while later with a different secret door that just
> used the standard "open" command, and gave an emote about their character
> opening the secret door. There was no specific command - anyone who knows
> how to open it can open it like a normal door (but still needs to 
> know what detail to open.) Anyone who doesn't know how to open it 
> can still try, and will be given an emote about them not seeing a 
> way to open it. Anyone who witnesses someone opening it can then 
> open it themselves.
> 
> That gave additional info about which _characters_ were sharing information
> with each other. Which could be checked against the earlier information.
> Unsurprisingly, a lot of characters that shared information about the
> earlier secret also shared information about this secret. Also
> unsurprisingly, a lot of characters that "magically" knew how to 
> open the first door very quickly were shown how to open the second 
> door, often by one of the player's own characters or by another 
> character that in-fiction had no reason to share that information.
> 
> I never did anything with this information - there are plenty of reasons
> why this might give "false positives" where a player or character 
> had a totally valid, innocent, or creative reason to know the 
> secret. Plus I don't like punishing players for playing the game in 
> a way they enjoy.
> 
> But I did use these data points when thinking about how secrets in 
> the game are shared, and to consider how characters sharing 
> information builds in-character relationships, but players sharing 
> information builds out-of-character community and friendships. And 
> to consider what sorts of game mechanics should be used to encourage 
> each type. (Our most basic decision was that we'd "punish" any 
> secrets that were shared openly on the forum, but not secrets shared 
> directly between players or characters. Usually by narrating what 
> happens due to the average NPC citizen now knowing the secret. That 
> allowed "secrets" that pretty much every player knew, so new players 
> could get the enjoyment of discovery or being told a secret, and get 
> that relationship strengthener in a way that wouldn't have happened 
> if they just saw the secret on the forum.)
> 
> This wasn't some big "figure out about secrets" project, it was a smaller
> part of a larger project to try and identify social relationships, 
> both in and out of game, via analytics. There are a number of social 
> mechanics in the game that we use as data points.
> 
> Cheers,
> Tony
> 
> On Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 4:21 AM <bart at wotf.org> wrote:
> 
> > Just some practical questions concerning this:
> >
> > 1. how do you imagine finding out about such 'OOC metagaming' ?
> > 2. how do you expect people can be enthausiastic about a game they play and
> > not share that experience with fellow players they also know outside the
> > game
> > environment?
> >
> > I understand why it would be nice to limit the exchange of such
> > information to
> > in-game channels only, but I think it is completely unrealistic and even
> > unreasonable to expect players to stick to that because it simply goes
> > against
> > how humans work.
> >
> > While I think there are more possibilities than the randomizing that Blain
> > mentioned, I do think variation and adaptation to individual players of
> > quests
> > are the most viable ways to at least reduce the direct usefulness of quest
> > information, regardless of how people exchange it.
> >
> > Another possibility is to create direct in-game reasons that make it
> > undesirable to share certain 'secrets', ie by reducing an advantage gained
> > from completing a quest based on how many others also solve that quest and
> > how
> > quickly they do that.
> >
> > Bart.
> >
> > On Fri, 28 Dec 2018 08:53:03 -0800, Raymond Jennings wrote
> > > I personally don't mind quest cheating itself.
> > >
> > > For me the line is between IC gossip, and OOC metagaming.
> > >
> > > For example, if Ruggles the wolf tells Shiri the cat which stone to
> > > shove, that's ok.
> > >
> > > But their players conspiring out of band and Shiri's player taking
> > > advantage of information that was not learned OOCly would not be.
> > >
> > > On Fri, Dec 28, 2018 at 8:21 AM Blain <blain20 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > The best way to stop quest cheating is to randomize the quests.
> > Otherwise,
> > > > don't even try. :o)
> > > >
> > > > On Sun, Dec 16, 2018, 06:55 <bart at wotf.org wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > On Sat, 15 Dec 2018 22:23:40 -0800, Raymond Jennings wrote
> > > > > > Ok, so one thing that caught my interest lately, is rules and
> > > > > > enforcement on a mud.
> > > > >
> > > > > Some would say.. it was about time for that.. :-)
> > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Some common themes:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > * a chain of command saying who gets to boss who around.  Plus
> > > > > > there's also the infamous "Confessions of an archwizard"
> > > > >
> > > > > Unless you are running a commercial game...start with the simple fact
> > > > > people
> > > > > work for a mud in their spare time, so rather than focussing on who
> > gets to
> > > > > boss whom around, look at who gets which responsibilities (yes, it is
> > > > > factually the same thing, but the difference between those ways of
> > saying
> > > > > and
> > > > > approaching it is key if you want any chance of anyone wanting to
> > spend
> > > > > their
> > > > > precious spare time on helping to run your mud)
> > > > >
> > > > > Chain of command is good, but think carefully about how you present
> > that
> > > > > and
> > > > > how you deal with people.
> > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > * Forbidding multi-accounting or multi-charing
> > > > >
> > > > > Good luck enforcing that. IPs can be had cheaply, so people can have
> > their
> > > > > multiple chars login from different IPs easily.
> > > > >
> > > > > Additionally, more experienced players often do like to also have a
> > lower
> > > > > level char around.
> > > > >
> > > > > Imo, its not a problem if people have multiple chars, but it should
> > not be
> > > > > allowed to play both at the same time, or to exchange things
> > (equipment,
> > > > > other
> > > > > items, credits etc etc etc) between those.
> > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > * Forbidding bots/macros
> > > > >
> > > > > Near impossible to enforce as a rule, but possible to deal with with
> > good
> > > > > game
> > > > > design. Ensure there is little to gain from bots and macros or
> > people will
> > > > > use
> > > > > them.
> > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > * Forbidding advertising of other muds
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Does that mean people are not allowed to talk about other muds at
> > all? or
> > > > > not
> > > > > on in-game public channels and locations? or?
> > > > >
> > > > > > * Forbidding the sharing of quest information.
> > > > >
> > > > > So, a multi-player game where people are not allowed to share
> > information
> > > > > that
> > > > > is important for playing? I know a lot of muds tried this, and I've
> > only
> > > > > ever
> > > > > seen it turn into failure, sometimes small, oftentimes huge.
> > > > >
> > > > > I understand the reasoning behind it, but I don't understand how it
> > can
> > > > > work
> > > > > in what is a multi-player game, and even less so if team play has
> > any role
> > > > > in
> > > > > that game.
> > > > >
> > > > > In general, they sound like rules you'd find on many classic muds,
> > but
> > > > > rules
> > > > > that imo all failed to some level because they are neigh impossible
> > to
> > > > > enforce
> > > > > and run counter to the concepts of multi-player games.
> > > > >
> > > > > Bart.
> > > > > --
> > > > > https://www.bartsplace.net/
> > > > > https://wotf.org/
> > > > > https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrobjective/
> > > > >
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> >
> >
> > --
> > https://www.bartsplace.net/
> > https://wotf.org/
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> >
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