[MUD-Dev] Re: skill system

[Adam Wiggins]

On Fri, 12 Jun 1998, Richard Woolcock wrote:
> Katrina McClelan wrote:
> > quite frightened of Bubba after having seen him slaughter some friends,
> > Bubba might well know of Grimlock's exploits and be in awe of him as well.
> > This of course introduces a new consideration: prestige.  Bubba may be
> > of the "walk quiet and carry a big stick" build and not be known for his
> > skill (giving players less knowledge of him), however the dreaded Lord
> > Kilgoth carries a reputation and air about him, and anyone that recognizes
> > him is likely to know of the horrors that have occured by his hand.
> 
> ...although unknown to most, Bubba and Lord Kilgoth are one and the same
> person...multiple identities, anyone coded such a feature?  It's something
> I like the idea of but I'm not sure how well it would work in practice.

We sort of got this by default.  People can introduce themselves to those
that don't know them by any name they want.  This results in the 'Silke
effect' (cue search URL) of being known by different names in different
places.  (Note that you can also name others yourself if they don't
introduce themselves directly or if you don't believe/like the name they
gave, and you can introduce someone else to a third party as well.)
You can fail to recognize people if they look sufficiently different from
the last time you saw them, depending on how 'well' you knew them, how
long it's been since you last saw them, and so forth.  Thus if Bubba were
the master of disguise, he could slip on his false beard and his Kilgoth
outfit and everyone could know him by two names, or in fact, as many as he
liked.  Check out the book "The Legend of Nightfall" by M.Z. Reichert
(sp?) for a really nice example of this effect.  (Also, that book has one
of the more interesting concepts of "mage" I've seen.)

> Now imagine that same 'business man', in his black three piece suit, wearing
> mirrored shades and carrying a large brief case, walking towards you along 
> a desolate street in the roughest part of town at midnight, his stride slow, 
> confident and silent, his face fixed straight ahead.
> 
> Appearance can be more than just physical...but how would one code such a
> thing?

Hrm...at a certain point the code can only do too much, and then it's up
to the player to decide if their character should be worried or not.

Adam