[MUD-Dev] In Game Family Trees (Was: Time Limited MUDs)

[William Leader]

Quoting Scion <scion at divineright.org>:

> Realistically speaking, people tend to play these games out of
> character. That means that the friendships created are between the
> players, not the characters.  If a character died and the player
> made a new one, he/she would simply have to get in touch with the
> old character's guild to recieve out of character benefits. Of
> course this factor should be taken into account in the game design
> with one of the solutions we've already discussed in our numerous
> perm-death threads (ie. the new character is some relative of the
> old one).

I kind of like where this could go. This could give an added sense
of achievement if done right. The trick would be to attach a title
of parentage to characters that had earned it. For example, the
players first character might simply be 'Farin'. Farin finishes the
quest or whatever other requirement. Farin, now his son Borin sets
forth in the world, and adventurers recognize him as Borin son of
Farin. Each time the child is killed, completes the quest, or
retires whatever you tack on another name.

The result is that when you meet Gimli, son of Gloin, son of Groin,
son of Borin, son of Farin, you know the player controlling that
character probably disserves some of the respect that the characters
title commands.

Personally implementation of a son/daughter of system might not be
that hard. One Self-Relating table in the database could hold
it. Now you could also integrate a basic titles system into it. Not
only does it list parentage, but also list their parent's highest
accomplishment. For example, a player's extended name becomes
Tindolar son of Tindiyen, Bearer of the Chaos Hoop, Son of Tilmar,
Slayer of the OMGWTFBBQ Dragon.

The sweet part, is that it adds what I find is so often missing from
these games, History. Sure I read the little intro that comes with
the game that sets the stage and what not, but I hardly find that
satisfying. This formalizes a process by which players add their own
history (content). It gives achievers a thoroughly open ended
goal. If having a really long name represents achievements, then
achievers will work towards having the longest name. Explorers get a
richer history, and Socials get one more thing to talk
about. Depending on how it's implemented it could even give Griefers
a more satisfying outlet by allowing family feuds.

-Will Leader

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