[MUD-Dev] Unique items vs. item references

[Damion Schubert]

From: shren

>   A Ring
>     That lets you regenerate
>     Lets you do lots of damage
>     Makes you blind and deaf
 
> A player finding such an item who thinks about in character has to
> wonder about who designed such a bizarre item.  Who would include
> property 3, or finish the item when he found that the item would
> have it?  Random items are often total non-sequitors, the only
> response is, "huh?"

The blacksmith simply couldn't handle the mystical forces he was
screwing around with, and chucked it in the trash where it was found
by a thief.

> If you want to have random magic items, then one has to design
> very carefully the randomization system, otherwise 10% of the
> random items are good, 20% are usable, and 70% are curiosity
> pieces.

Well, it depends on what you're going for.  Considering a player may
be able to wear 20 items at a time, and may find well more than 2000
items in his career, this suggests that less than 1% of the items he
finds are considered 'good'.  And of that 99%, if a handful make me
stop and think "What kind of stupid blacksmith would make this?", at
least it has offered me -that much more- gameplay interaction than
finding yet ANOTHER Club +1.

I've always liked systems that force players to make interesting
choices.  If the regeneration on your ring was fast enough, for
example, it might be perfect for a mage who needs to heal in the
battle while his tank soaks some damage.  But then, I always favored
the sick Magic cards like Lich that were considered unusable by most
of the player base as well. =)

--d



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