[MUD-Dev] Interesting dilemma

[Benjamin D. Wiechel]

----- Original Message -----
From: Peck, Matthew x96724c1 <x96724 at exmail.usma.army.mil>
To: <mud-dev at kanga.nu>
Sent: Monday, May 03, 1999 1:38 AM
Subject: [MUD-Dev] Interesting dilemma


> I am currently facing an interesting and complicated dilemma in my mud.
The
> problem is what I call "Illegal Equipment."  This is equipment that is
> unbalanced for normal gameplay in one way or another.  Most of this
> equipment has a legitimate in-game purpose, whether it exists on mobs or
as
> artifacts.  However, I have discovered that several immortals will load
> multiple copies of the items and distribute them for various reasons, from
> quest rewards to level bonuses or other reasons.  In addition, they will
> often restring the items to personalize it, yet also making the item
> difficult to detect.
>
> There are several issues that I see here.
>
> 1)  Trusting my immortals.  I have to trust them to conduct day to day
> operations such as building and clan leadership.  They normally do
excellent
> work.  How do I restrict them from taking advantage of their positions?
> They basically need to be able to load equipment at will as part of their
> work, so I cannot restrict the commands.  I have posted rules, but they
got
> around it by using the quest equipment excuse.  (Somewhat valid, quests
with
> rewards are encouraged, but sometimes they go a little overboard).

Depending on what your desired effect is, you can handle this a few
different
ways.  On the muds I've been involved with (LP/CDLIB), the items, rewards,
etc. are handed out automatically upon completion of the required tasks for
the
quest.  Our immortals have no need or reason to "clone" items and give them
to
the mortals.  We have rules that prohibit them doing that, in fact, to keep
situations from arising like what you have described.  Failure to obey the
rule
results in one of a number of punishments, based upon the severity, and past
problems we may have had with that immortal (ie., the more you screw up, the
more stringent the punishment).  We then have a Law team that enforces the
rules when necessary (usually doesn't happen much).  So, in essence, we have
dealt with your situation through policy, instead of code, giving us a
little more
flexibility and tolerance (or grace if you will).

The truth of the matter on this topic is, if you don't trust them, you
probably
shouldn't give them the access that would allow them to screw up your game.
I try to avoid working with people I don't trust.  If I can't trust you, I
have to
spend that much more time making sure that you don't break the rules, that
you stay focused, etc.  If you have continued problems with people
explaining
this and that away as quest rewards, etc., write up a policy that clearly
states
when you can do what, and any variances can be dealt with accordingly.

> 2)  Restrictions on equipment.  I personally am against restricting
> equipment from players.  It would have to be based on some arbitrary
> standard, and I dislike arbitrary rules based on the fact that it
conflicts
> with immersion.  Why shouldn't I be able to pick up the sword?

We restrict based on our balance system.  Several of the admins on both
muds that I am involved with have years of experience at running muds.  On
the one that is "live", we have a balance system that defines what items are
allowable, their total quantities, and the frequency they should appear in.
The system is currently set up so that regulated gear (basically, the cream
of
the crop) cannot be cloned unless the balance system allows it.

> 3)  Restrictions on equipment stats.  This is the road that I am starting
to
> travel down.  On our development port I've written code that will
> automatically generate stats for equipment.  While billed as a time saver,
> it also serves to reduce equipment abilities to reasonable levels.  The
> problem is that some equipment should just be better than anything else,
and
> I want builders to be able to construct such items.  But then refer back
to
> #1.

As a part of our balance system, we set up what we call "macros" that handle
setting all the weapon, armour, and npc stats for our coders.  The coders
plug in
the level of the player that they want it to be a challenge for and the
macros
take care of automatically.  They can, if needed, tweak the values
afterward, to
artificially pump various stats or abilities up, but once it is in live
game, it is
regulated by our balance team, who has full authority to rebalance any item
as
appropriate.  Balance, obviously, is a big role on this mud.

> Another problem that I have is then confiscating these items.  Is there
any
> way to do it nicely?  I have one immortal who has taken it upon himself to
> start clearing out these items.  While I approve of the effort, the mud
has
> suddenly taken a hostile turn.  Morts seem to have gained a distrust for
> immortals.  How can I heal this rift?  No mud can survive with such
conflict
> for long.  The imms will win, only to find no players.

In our situation, a simple reboot solves the problem.  But it's also a pain
to have
to reboot to clear a few unwanted items.  I've worked on the concept of a
"cleaner" type app to clean out unwanted items, but the only good way for us
to do it is to let a reboot clean all the unwanted items out.  I have also
been
known to play little games like, hey, I just did an upgrade on this item,
and I
want to trade you the newer, better version for your old worn down version.
It usually works.

> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> --Matt Peck

--
Strycher
Synergy and Twilite Dawn muds




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