[MUD-Dev] The grass is always greener in the other field

[Matthew Mihaly]

On Thu, 16 Dec 1999, J C Lawrence wrote:

> On Thu, 16 Dec 1999 14:06:43 -0800 (PST) 

> I wrote: 
> > This is, unfortunately, quite impossible to do in my experience
> > unless your items are all very generic and exactly the same. For
> > instance, aside from the shortsword that newbies get if they go
> > through our newbie introduction, all armour and weapons within the
> > game (well, aside from a couple of resetting quest items) are
> > produced by players, and they all have individual stats attached
> > to them. Aggregating the items would require them to lose their
> > individuality. 
> 
> No, it would require them to lose the individuality being attached
> to a *specific* object.  Look instead at the class of objects and
> the distribution of "individuality".
> 
> Consider:
> 
>   You have 50 handmade short swords.  They all have individual
> "unique" stats and other qualifiers.  You put them in a pile in the
> corner of the room covered by a blanket, and then pull out a random
> sword.
> 
>   Do you really care that that sword was #438 and that its stats etc 
> are XYZ, or would you be just s happy with a shortsword which had a
> generated set of stats which fit the basic distribution model?

Yes, absolutely I care! I care because the players care! A player is going
to be AWFULLY pissed off if he puts his collection of kick-ass swords
under a blanket, and then pulls out an average sword. A player expects,
reasonably so, that sword #438 will have exactly the same stats today as
tomorrow. I suspect I may be misunderstanding you though, as this seems
obvious to me. 


> > It's the same problem with most items in Achaea actually. Most
> > things decay with time (whether in your inventory or not), and
> > aggregating them requires losing individual decay times.
> 
> I see little reason that a decay time need define a unique object.
> It merely defines an object as a member of a class of objects with
> similar decay stats.

Hmm, yes, I see what you are saying, but I'm not sure it is worth it. Many
of the items in Achaea are differentiated by a number of stats (in the
case of vials...type of vial...there are 20 types, what's in the vial, how
much of whatever is in it is left, how long efore it decays, what sigils
may be attached to that individual vial (ie are in that vial's
inventory. That's not actually stored on the vial itself though. Just a
pointer on the attached items.), who made the vial, and so on.

--matt




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