[MUD-Dev] Newbies

[MichelleThompson]

[MichelleThompson]
> > 3).  Why not do the mud school differently?  Instead of a small area where
> > people go thorugh and type look sign, look sign .............
> > Use mobs with prog, procs, or scripts (whichever you call them) that the
> > players follow and then the mob teaches the players.  Ie when they log on, they
> > talk to Eran, he leds them to the key shops in town, and explains how to
> > purchase things, not to fight in town, at least not in sight of guards,
> > anything that would fall logically into town information that you would want a
> > newbie to know.  Yuri would lead them to some of the close newbie areas and
> > explain about fighting.  Would he show them by doing a kill with them?  There
> > could be a mob that specailizes in whatever you needed.   One problem
> > presented by this suggestion: how do you keep jerks from killing the newbie
> > helpers? Questions that arise from this system:  Would a mob be able to take a
> > person on tours as often as they like, or would they do it only once?  If they
> > do it more than once, how do you make sure something is there for a newbie if
> > the key contacts are occupied by other newbies?  Actually, that question
> > applies whether they do it more than once or not. If they only do it once, the
> > mob has to retain a memory of who it has helped.  Is doing it only once not
> > worth it for that reason?  Should it be restricted by level instead?  Ie, they
> > can spot inexperience a mile a way.  This is something is just thought up so
> > please forgive the ramblings.  What would make it more interesting than a mud
> > school?  You have seen how there are mage_progs, thief_progs, warrior_progs
> > etc?  Why not include social progs?  Ie how would someone with a shy_prog react
> > if someone slapped them?  Now how about someone with a bully prog?  I have seen
> > generic progs that people attached to mobs that made them react to what players
> > did to them, but I have not seen any that would impart a specific character
> > to that mob. 
[Matthew Milhaly]
> A number of muds (including mine, Achaea), already do this to some extent
> or another. When you create a character in Achaea, you are presented with
> the option of taking a newbie introduction, which takes .5 to 1 hour to
> complete, approximately. The newbie gets led on a series of quests, such
> as going into a 'dangerous' dungeon with an adventurer (adventurer gets
> attacked and slain by goblins, and the newbie gets menaced, but a nice
> paladin comes by to rescue said newbie), one that teaches you how to use
> shops, etc. It's easy to stop jerks from killing these NPCs. Only the
> newbie who they are for can see them or interact with them.
> 
> 
> I'm unsure what you mean about progs imparting a specific character to a
> mob. We've got lots of progs, most of which are only used by a single,
> specific mob. I know we aren't unique in that....

Mainly what I am thinking of deals with reusability.  On most muds I have seen,
you can assign what is essentially a class to a mob.  Commonly, it seems to be
through an attachment to the mob as a special program.   What I was thinking
might be interesting is if someone built character scripts that you could
attach to mobs.  Ie, some kids would probably get a shy script, a drunk would
have a bully script.  A small boy could possibly get a curious script.   The
scripts would generally define how mobs reacted to specific actions by
characters and other mobs.  They would also define actions that did not need
triggering for that particular "personality."  Reusable personality scripts
seems to be a good halfway point between the fact that a lot of mobs do not have
a personality, they just stand there waiting, and have limited reactions to
the players, and the fact that it would not be practical to write a personality
script for every mob in the mud.

Michelle Thompson



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