[MUD-Dev] Better Combat

[Michael Hartman]

cruise wrote:
> Amanda Walker wrote:

>>  "Whew, that was close.  OK, we head back to town."

>>  (GM rolls dice a couple times) "OK, nothing bothers you on the
>>  way back.  You're back at the tavern."

> Another of the "little things" that CoH got right - after a few
> missions, you can simply phone a contact to get missions, without
> having to travel all the way back. This includes some trading too,
> though not all.

Um....

You have to do at least 2/3s of the total missions a contact has
before they give you their cell phone number. This is one of the
more immersion breaking aspects of the game. They want you to risk
your life for them, but their cell phone number is off limits.

Also, absolutely no trading can be done via the cell phone.

Honestly man, did you play this game? :)

As to the main topic, MMORPGs are hurt if you eliminate travel time
completely. Huge, painful amounts of travel time are bad. But 5 or
10 minutes here or there actually encourage socialization.

A lot of conversations took place in DAoC while sitting on the
transport pad or while riding a boat in the Trials of Atlantis.

In CoH, there is almost no socialization at all. You cannot really
follow people in your group since the /follow code doesn't keep up
over even the tiniest obstacles or corners. Thus, your hands are
never free to chat even during the 30-60 seconds it takes to get
from Point A to Point B.

Down time and travel times are frequently complained about aspects
in MMORPGs, but I think players are often their own worst enemies
when developers give in too much on these two things.

Down time and travel time are both excellent opportunities for
socializing. The importance of this should not be underestimated.
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