[MUD-Dev] Re: [ssows] thinking about EQ2 - kill locking

[Dread Quixadhal]

Bart Simon <simonb at alcor.concordia.ca> wrote:

> Just wanted to pick up on Lisa's comments about kill locking. I am
> dumbfounded by this feature - if there is any case for game
> designers contracting ethnographers for useability studies it is
> this.  In story after story player remarks about those lone ranger
> types who ride in save the day when they are just about to bite
> it. Players seek to build their reps and their game identities
> this way and these unplanned events are what make for the truely
> heroic episodes of the kind memories are made (absolutely right on
> Lisa).

While this is true from a role-playing perspective, EverQuest has
never really pretended to cater to the actual role-player.  Rather,
like most DikuMUD style games, the game has been engineered with the
"power gamer" in mind.  Kill locking helps prevent griefers who try
to "kill steal".  One reason to do this is to get the experience
reward for mobs that are higher level than you can safely handle; by
waiting until a mob is nearly dead and then jumping in at the last
moment, you can sometimes get the credit.  In many games, credit is
handed out per kill, not per point of damage inflicted.  Thus,
whomever gets the last blow, gets everything.

Another reason that some people have is the malicious thwarting of
other players from enjoying the game.  Some people get a sense of
power by following others around and preventing them from advancing
their characters by stealing as many kills as possible.  This is the
same kind of mentality that some people exhibited in Lineage II by
"camping" the newbie homelands and killing new players as soon as
they appeared, just to see who could kill the most.

> In review after review of EQ2 I am reading that the game is
> actually turning off the hardcore players because "accidents" are
> less likely to happen. Despite what Lisa's friend is saying - they
> are calling this EQlite - - dissing it as a commercial cash grab
> for non-serious casual gamers. If Sony misses the hardcore and the
> casual audiences they will fall right through the middle with this
> one.  Anyway, linked to kill locking is that all the strategizing
> for dealing with group aggro (pulling one, rooting another,
> mezzing a few - botching the job then pulling out the beautiful
> save) is gone because mobs are linked in a group and they all go
> at once... and really fast too. This is linked to kill locking --
> its a mode of guarenteed satisfaction obviously meant to prevent
> kill stealing and accidental death but with the unintended
> consequence of reducing spontaneous sociality.

Having played both the original EverQuest, and the new version for a
week now, I will say that pulling individual mobs out of a group is
pretty close to impossible now.  This is unfortunate for those who
play the stealth classes, since it diminishes their strategic value.
If the spell caster classes eventually get group hold spells, that
will become the preferred way to handle groups.  I have noticed that
single target roots seem to stay held until a certain amount of
damage (random) happens to them, at which point they break their
hold.  It may be a timer based thing, but it sure feels like doing
damage makes them more likely to break free.  A group hold would
allow an entire group to be frozen and individual targets taken one
at a time, if this continues to be true at higher levels.

> nothing just expecting to be buffed). It would seem that EQ2 game
> design is consciously or otherwise trying to funnel all social
> behavior into the intentional category. Online gaming as a from of
> totalitarian social engineering anyone (hah - Jonas I know you
> love this stuff so i'm always

I'll add that crafting in EQ2 is also intended to be a group
discipline.  Both the adventuring classes and the crafting system
use a tree structure for advancement.  That is, you begin as a
generic "artisan", and then at a certain point choose to specialize
into either craftsman, scholars, or outfitters.  At this point, the
recipes you have to create goods will usually require components
from more than one of these specialists.  To make a spell scroll,
you need to use a more advanced type of quill which only a craftsman
can make.  To make these quills, craftsmen require resins and oils
that only the scholars can make.

Because grouping in terms of crafting is a loose idea (as opposed to
the adventuring group which sallies forth from the tavern to fight
side by side), it tries to make an environment of cooperation
amongst all the players.  I think the game is too young to make any
predictions, but it feels rather tense and forced to me right now.
Most people seem to be trying to fit the various crafting
disciplines into their existing combat groups.
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