[MUD-Dev] Re: UO's rep system, was: CGDC

[J C Lawrence]

On Mon, 25 May 1998 17:22:58 -0500 
Koster, Raph<rkoster at origin.ea.com> wrote:

> The title of the thread was WAY overdue for a change, so I changed
> it.  :)

You just got no sense of tradition!  

> J C Lawrence [SMTP:claw at under.engr.sgi.com] said:

>> On Thu, 21 May 1998 09:39:32 -0500 Koster,
>> Raph<rkoster at origin.ea.com> wrote:

>>> J C Lawrence [SMTP:claw at under.engr.sgi.com said:

>>>> Can you take the head to any guard in any city?  Why virtualise
>>>> it to that extent?  Why not have the bounty tied to the city the
>>>> report and bounty donation was made at, such that a grevious
>>>> killer may then have multiple bounties at multiple cities
>>>> (translation: localised notoriety).

>>> Because we used to do it this way, and it proved difficult for
>>> players to locate the proper city, afforded too much anonymity for
>>> the murderers, and resulted in few bounties being claimed.

>> You ran your play testing on your test shards right?

> No, actually -- this was with the bounty system which already
> previously existed in UO (and still does, though it is currently
> largely disabled).  Despite the various means of rapid transport
> which you mention, we found that the expected "market in heads"
> never materialized, and that most people had real trouble finding
> the place where the head should be turned in. (The head didn't come
> with a handy notation saying "Wanted in Trinsic").

Did you consider adding something equivalent to a "This head wanted in
XXX" tag?  It seems the obvious answer, and doesn't break the Daddy or
hand-holding rules.

First thought:

  Your banks are game-run and impenetrable.  

  Would it not make sense for banks, as the holders of the bounty
money, to exchange bountry data, perhaps even going so far as to have
a bounty roll prominently displayed at each branch?

  Further, for the top 10 you could also have Wanted Posters, repleat
with all sorts of purple text and a graphic of their despicable blood
dripping selves.  Said posters would likely become collectors items
for some perps.  

>> You have Moongates and spells which are in fairly widespread use to
>> link the cities, yes?  While its not being widely done now, it is
>> possible to move quickly and detministically between all the cities
>> at fairly high speed?

> It is indeed done now. I don't know WHY it wasn't more of a
> factor--I just know it wasn't. :) The bounty system was in place for
> months...

<nod> The mystery of what head was wanted where seems a very likely
cause.  Certainly the investment required to search the land is
considerable, especially when weighed against an uncertain pay off.

--
J C Lawrence                               Internet: claw at null.net
(Contractor)                               Internet: coder at ibm.net
---------(*)                     Internet: claw at under.engr.sgi.com
...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...