[MUD-Dev] Better Combat

[Brendan O'Brien]

cruise wrote:
> Byron Ellacott wrote:

>> I'd say the most entertaining combats are those which you want to
>> engage in.  The "grind" combats are those combats you must do in
>> order to advance.  The "fun" combats are those you choose to do
>> in order to gain some personal benefit - loot, the experience (I
>> mean real experience, not little numbers ticking over), the
>> challenge, or whatever you get out of it.

>> Increasing the complexity of an engagement the player never
>> wanted in the first place wouldn't, I should think, help matters
>> any.

> Thank you phrasing the problem better than I did :P

> To re-iterate, then: "How do we make players /want/ to fight
> monsters?"  Everything so far seems to suggest making combats more
> dynamic, allowing players (and mobs) to counter and
> counter-counter.

> Are there any other thoughts?

This is the primary reason why I discussed a proposed alternative to
the level grind before suggesting a longer, more complex combat
system.  In a standard grind-type environment, players will become
very frustrated by long, drawn out battles that get in the way of
where they want to be (higher level action).

The only way I see to truly make fights more fun and complex is to
remove the need for fighting to advance.  Trying to balance the
combat system so that you can slaughter rabbits and wolves quickly
to move up levels, yet still retain complexity in the later fights
that really matter, remains something I have yet to see.  However,
if you remove the need to fight those insignificant creatures
entirely, would that not help bring about the result we are looking
for?

No matter how well you design a combat system, I have to believe
that fighting rabbits is quite boring if you would rather be
fighting a dragon...

- Brendan
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