[MUD-Dev] "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?)

[Vincent Archer]

According to msew:
> hard to understand why the console games can make the uber boss mob at
> the end of the level and have it balanced, yet the mmp world can't :(

Because, basically, in the console game, you have two premises:

1) the end boss is the challenge. The rest is cakewalk
2) you know exactly whose forces are arrayed and can scale the strength
	of the boss.

> quick dirty example:
> 
>   uber mob is balanced for 10 lvl 50 characters.
> 
>   uber mob sees that there are 40 characters.
> 
>   uber mob /shouts to the zone: "I see you have brought a host against
>   me!  i shall fight fire with fire!  Minions to me!"

That's where it breaks down. A good example is Cazic Thule in Everquest.
He does exactly this. Of course, the host has already killed about every
single mob in the area, so there's none to summon. You need to create
new ones - fiction breaks down :)

The added difficulty, in a large multiplayer world is: how does the boss
determine that there are 40 characters *against* him? Maybe there's a
group of 5 who are there for a different reason. Or you have two
separate group of 20, on who was readying itself to rush, and one who
just entered the dungeon.

And the first group wonder afterward why they got pounded into the
ground so fast :)


--
Vincent Archer                                         Email: archer at nevrax.com

Nevrax France.                              Off on the yellow brick road we go!
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev