[MUD-Dev] (no subject)

[Mordengaard]

From: "John Buehler" <johnbue at msn.com>
>   I once postulated a system where faction/opinion/liking/regard was a
very
> significant factor in the world's operation.  Whenever any character does
> anything, all characters that can perceive that action make a judgement
call
> about that action.  Most actions would be inconsequential, but some
actions
> would cause characters to form a positive or negative opinion of the
> character performing the action in question.
>
>   Now couple opinion with possible favors.  If the baker likes you, he
might
> be willing to part with some ingredients that are a little tougher to
find.
> Or a recipe that he only hands out to buddies.  Build up good faction with
> the captain of the guard and he might be willing to talk about security
> measures being taken to protect somebody - or even just mention that an
> important 'somebody' is coming to town soon.  And so on.  NPCs that like
you
> will grant you various favors that you have earned.  If NPCs actually
> provide favors that enhance the success or enjoyment of players, that
means
> that what they like and dislike is significant.  That, in turn, means that
> the players will have to be watching their P's and Q's in one town and how
> they dot their I's in another - because the townsfolk are touchy about
those
> topics in their respective towns.
>
>   This means that NPCs will like or dislike you as they see fit according
to
> your actions.  Obviously, this is good stuff for the NPC behavior code.
An
> orc sees a human and immediately forms an intense dislike of him.  Change
> things around so that the human appears as an orc and it might not be as
> belligerent.  Change things around so that the orc doesn't see the human -
> or can't tell if it's a human and you get yet another new behavior.  This
is
> the value of a good character perception model.

Here's another idea to throw into the pot.  If, like us, you don't have
rigid constraints on your NPCs leaving their "area" (we use a
"nest/territory" wandering system), and your NPCs are a cut above the usual
noisemakers you get on most muds, why not have them talk to each other?
Example:
NPC shopkeeper Boffo meets NPC Biffa in the streets on the way home from
work.  They stop for a quick chat, and Boffo mentions that today at work a
nasty player called Zippo attacked and almost killed him.  Because Boffo can
describe Zippo to Biffa (we have a fairly good introduction/ recognition
system), the next time Biffa sees Zippo she's likely to scream the place
down for the guards.
/Example
What basically happens is that Boffo passes on his (very) negative opinion
of Zippo to Biffa, who will then have a pre-formed opinion of the PC Zippo
before she's even met him.  This is also how we pass rumours around the mud.

Mordengaard (Yhared MUD)

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