[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers

[quzah]

-----Original Message-----
From: Koster, Raph <rkoster at origin.ea.com>
To: 'mud-dev at kanga.nu' <mud-dev at kanga.nu>
Date: Tuesday, August 18, 1998 8:34 AM
Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers


>If I had to state this and Dr Cat's Stamp Collector Problem, they'd be
>stated thus:
>
>Marian's Tailor Problem: Given an environment that supports violence
>between players, and given that it also supports a robust set of
>features for non-combat-oriented activity and advancement, is it
>possible to allow the peaceful player to have fun without being impinged
>upon by combat?


Here's an idea: Knights need castles, (or at least a tent to hang
their sword at night ), and tailors needa shops ( or at least a tent
to peddle their goods ). Given this, here's an option that could be
used, I think, to some degree of success [which leaves me plenty of
room to squirm, because any degree is a degree of success ;) ]

Ok, some muds allow players to buy a room/home/castle and at later
times, when they have amassed a great sum of cash, they can add on
to it or whatever. Using a similar approach, we allow the tailor,
upon creation time, to design their shop. They get to select nice
things like "Mage-Bubba's magical ward" which allows no spell
casting in their shop, "Sorcerer-Buffy's unending peace", which
disallows any physical combat from happening in the building, and
perhaps, "Boffo's magical inventory." which will prevent the theft
of any item in said local.

Upon this, we allow, upon creation, the purchase of similar types
of runes, which are premenant tatoos upon the body. These prevent
the same sort of thing happening to the player itself. -- These
could be handled in any of a number of ways, but for now, I'll
list two: (1) Explained as wards tattoed on as a child. [free],
(2) Purchased by the character from a magician[whatever] [not-
free]

Now then, the purchase of a shop, and of said tatoos, will have
to cost the player money. Since it is a new player, we will not
have the required money to buy them. Implement debt, and auto-
deduction from whenever they gain some money. Hey, if we're 
paying off a mage, we could say that said mage has embedded a
spell that removes a % of our money when gotten, until the debt
is payed off. Now then, the shop some day will be payed off
with all of the work that the tailor has done.

Note, this works only in a magical setting, you'd have to re-
word it for something else ;) Anyway, it's an idea.
-Q-