[MUD-Dev] Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface)

[Jon A. Lambert]

On  9 Nov 97 at 11:00, Marian Griffith wrote:
> Why grant players powers above those the guards enjoy. If players can
> have little fortresses  that others find it impossible to enter  then
> why not a town as well?

Good point.  The only answer I can think of, is that players have
feelings.  Mud monsters, well, they're made out of rubber. ;)
 
> *shrug*  there's numerous ideas that could at least overcome this in
> a way  that fits in a magical world,  including a magical trace that
> can be followed back to its origin (i.e. the mage). Retribution does
> not have to be immediate after all,  declaring a player wanted might
> serve just as well.  As long as a sufficient number of guards defeat
> even the most powerfull player  -and- the consequence of defeat is a
> repellant to risk being killed then guards can arrest a player or at
> least drive her from town.
> 

Speaking of magical traces.  It occurs to me that each practioner of 
magic might leave a unique signature in the residue of casting.  A
kind of a fingerprint or DNA signature.  If we could only register 
all of these mages and develop proper detection devices.  Maybe this 
is could be made a requirement of the wizard's guild.  Of course 
there are those renegade wizards to worry about.  And the problem of 
getting the evidence admissible in the king's court.

--
Jon A. Lambert

If I'd known it was harmless, I would have killed it myself.