[MUD-Dev] Enforced log out aka "real sleep"

[rayzam]

From: "Brian Hook" <brianhook at pyrogon.com>

> Now, take this and stick it straight into an on-line game and you
> have a problem.  Vampire characters aren't going to want to be
> limited to the hours they can play.  So do you just give up on the
> concept, come up with some hacky work around, or do you pretend it
> really IS a World of Darkness and thus daylight never comes into
> play?  Mandatory log out seems like a really bad idea though, but
> in this particular case, it's what's necessary (hell, I'm not sure
> how a mixed werewolf/vampire PnP session would handle this).  

I've played in a number of vampire LARPS held at conventions, etc,
over the weekend. The basic rule as a vampire is that you can only
be active in game after sunset, and till before sunrise. If you're
'active' [i.e. checked out as playing, doing things in character],
during daylight hours, you take damage and will quickly die if you
don't find a place out of the sun.

So how does this compare?

Well, the ghouls, humans, werewolves can play 24/7, as long as the
player can push themselves to stay awake. The vampires rush around
near sunrise trying to get the last few things they want done, the
last few people talked to, and whatnot before their time runs
out. The first thing they do upon sunset is try to find out what
happened during the day, from friends, allies, anyone who could be
around and was.

  - It aids in forming alliances with others who can exist/play at
  other times.

  - There is a sense of urgency at the end of each night.

  - There is a sense of surprise at the start of each nite.

I'd consider all 3 of these selling points for a new game. But only
if the game has a level of dynamics to it: ongoing storyline,
roleplaying, or PvP-politics/killing/competition.

If you want to avoid that, this game concept really begs for a
player having, not a character, but a set of characters as a common
group. So a vampire or 2, a ghoul, and some human allies. Oh, it's
the nite, so I can play the vampire. It's daylight so I can play the
ghoul.

Or even at nite: the vampire head of the group decides someone needs
to be asked something. It's a contact the ghoul knows, so the ghoul
is asked to go. The player, in effect, makes a decision to log out
the vampire and log in the ghoul briefly to perform some task.

Instead of one player having multiple characters with no connection,
start them off with one, but sell the group as a set. Worked well
for ccg's: rare [vampire or werewolf], uncommon [ghoul], common
[human].

    rayzam
    www.travellingbard.com

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