[MUD-Dev] Re: META: list "peerage"

[Quzah]

From: Andy Cink <ranthor at earthlink.net>
Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: META: list "peerage"


>At 02:25 AM 1/25/99 -0800, Caliban Tiresias Darklock wrote:

>>Or, conversely, that if this is what PvP combat boils down to, something
is
>>seriously wrong with it.
>
>Actually, I think the problem is a lack of balance in the game systems.
I've
>seen a lot of muds where the players are fairly well balanced against the
>mobs, but to make the players strong enough to kill the mobs, the players
>wind up being so strong they kill each other way too fast. This seems to
>lead to (in many cases) implementing some hack-ish solution that makes it
>so players only do half damage to other players. (See UO, just as a most
>notable example.. I've also seen it happen on muds)
>
>Maybe the problem isn't balanced PvP, but just general imbalance in the
>mud? My oldest and biggest mud pet peeve is that mobs can often do things
>that a player cannot do. I don't mind if I get my ass kicked if I'm simply
>outclassed. But if a mob kills me by doing something a player cannot do,
>then I get mad and feel cheated. My ultimate goal for my mud is to make
>it so players and mobiles are as equally balanced as possible; players
>and mobs should have the same capabilities, but there will be great
>differences in their individual skill levels as well as what skill sets
>they choose to develop.


Nod. I agree here. Every mud I've ever been on does this. Mobs take way
longer to kill then a character at the same level. A mud I frequent,
rather the only mud I frequent, has a damage cap of 3k per hit. Some of
the mobs have like 100k hitpoints or something at the higher levels of
play. Compare that to my "tank" who I put a great number of hitpoints
per level gain, having 5000 hitpoints right before I remorted him.
Recently I killed another player (twas sort of an accident, I wasn't
supposed to be able to kill him, I didn't have a PK flag, and I was
under the impression I was in a "safe" room, so I was thinking that the
attack would do no damage, just knock him out, where upon he would get
up a few moments later) in 2 hits. The first hit was the headbutt that
knocked him out, the second was a follow up hit that I had no control
over -- automatic combat ala diku. :) Anyway, his 2K hitpoints were
no where close to my hitpoints even though he was a higher level, and
it wouldn't have mattered anyway, combat would have been way way too
short regardless. God forbid I had the backstab skill where I would
have done max damage and killed him in a hit. What PVP boils down to
there is "first hit wins" basically. (The reason I didn't think I
could damage him was because of my not having a PK flag, and the fact
that people often headbutt the healer in the temple and knock it out
where upon it stands back up in a few moments. I was on a ship, (my
own) and people often headbutt the ferry captains and they stand back
up later, so I though all ships were "safe".)

Regardless, they have to make mobs have 100000 hitpoints because if
they didn't everyone would level too fast. Make the mobs live longer
and do more damage, make the players do more damage to combat the
effect of the mobs having a lot of hitpoints, so that combat takes
twenty rounds or so, and then try and add PK to it. It just doesn't
work. In addition, if they didn't make mobs have a load of hitpoints
grouping would be an insta-kill on every mob. Imagine a group of
5 players taking on a mob with non-massive hitpoints.

Quzah.