[MUD-Dev] Morphable worlds, Reset based systems revisited

[shren]

On Tue, 29 Oct 2002, Brian Hook wrote:
> Shren said:
 
>> I've thought about this.  Say your world of city states has
>> 10,000 grid squares of land.  If you add diminishing returns for
>> controlling more than a certain number of them, then you
>> guarantee that no one kingdom ever conquers.
 
> That's basically the idea that I've had as well, but instead of
> diminishing returns, it's more like "power drops off as a function
> of distance from true home".

> So say you have two kingdoms, Alpha and Omega.  Alpha dominates
> the landscape, however players that are citizens of Alpha see
> their power diminish the further they get away from Alpha's
> capital.  To some extent, they can recoup power by conquering
> smaller cities and outposts that lessen the drop off, but the drop
> off exists nonetheless.
 
> Omega only controls its home city, and it can probably never be
> taken away because the power slope would likely function at such
> an extreme at that location that a relatively weak Omegan could
> defeat the most powerful Alpha.

To clarify confusion, I'm talking about some kind of Massive
Multiplayer Online Civilization-Type game, not a standard one
player-one avatar MUD.  I don't remember how we got on this subject.
I've been thinking about this for a while, because I've been
wondering what it would be like for different players to play the
same game at different levels of power (Gods, Countries, Merchants,
etc...)

I like my version better, and I'm here to tell you why.

  First off.  My objective is to keep someone from winning
  (conquering the whole world), not to keep someone from losing
  (losing all provinces).  I don't mind Omega getting it's ass
  kicked right off the map, out of it's home, chased across the map,
  whatever.  I mind Alpha killing everyone and ruling the map for
  the rest of eternity.  If Alpha wants to take Omega's land, absorb
  his empire, and crush Omega's capital under his heel, that's fine
  with me.  I just see it as important to prevent Alpha from doing
  that to everyone, thus, the limitation on the productiveness of
  territory.

  Second.  I like interesting tectical situations.  If Alpha has an
  unbeatable, stable home, and Omega has an unbeatable, stable home,
  then in the long run the 'story' has all of the dynamicism of a TV
  sitcom.  Nothing ever really changes.


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