[MUD-Dev] Removing the almighty experience point...

[Matt Mihaly]

brian at thyer.net wrote:
> Devin Smoth <devin.smoth at gmail.com> wrote ..

>> I think that you are right. It would have to have that dynamic
>> system of quests. That would perhaps take away the fun of
>> replaying the game once you have gotten to the top and want a new
>> character. The game would be very predictable.

> Well I think that's where a hard working dedicated staff of GMs
> and DMs comes into play.  GMs and DMs in the traditional table top
> role playing sense.  People who can and do create storys and
> adventures.

> Of course that requires a lot of staffing and money...not to
> mention the possibility of extra tools that would need to be
> developed for these G/Dms to do their jobs efficiently...nor to
> mention the amount of skill and expertiese they would need to
> possess.

> But, if you could manage all of that, you'd have a very
> dynamically changing and exciting MMORPG with constnatly changing
> stories and an overall evolving plot that makes the player feel
> like the world really is changing with them on a (minimum of)
> Month to Month basis.

That's been managed and been done for well over a decade. All of our
games use that model, for instance. You are quite right too in that
it does create a far more dynamic, interesting world. Of course, it
doesn't mean that anytime a player wants to do something, a GM is
going to be available to help. We generally reserve GM effort for
events/quests/stories involving larger groups of players. So, for
instance, recently in Achaea, two city-states (Mhaldor and Shallam)
started fighting over control of a village (Jaru) that has
traditionally been under the influence of Shallam. I'm including
below the post-event write-up so you can get an idea of what's
possible when you move beyond purely hard-coded quests and
events. Keep in mind that what you'll read is a combination of
GM-assisted play and player actions that are enabled by code. I'll
include (NPC) next to the names of individuals that were NPCs being
controlled temporarily by GMs.

What I particularly enjoy, as a developer, about these kinds of
events is that they're not planned by staff. I mean, we do events
planned by staff, but this one, for instance, arose from the actions
of players. We just lent support to what they were trying to do,
since code alone can never anticipate more than a tiny fraction of
what players may wish to do. (Lest anyone misunderstand...I'm not a
fan of 'pure' roleplaying where there are no code mechanics. All the
combat you read about below, for instance, is coded mechanics.)

--<cut>--
The small town of Jaru is the setting for the latest clash between
Good and Evil. It started when Mhaldor took offense to Shallam's
statements that Jaru was under their protection and Mhaldor could
not hunt the villagers there for sport. On the 5th of Miraman, in
the year 368 AF, Ramoor Aristata posted a public announcement that
Mhaldorians would butcher Jaruvians until such time as Shallam
withdrew any claim to the town.

This sparked a marked effort by Mhaldorians to slaughter Jaruvians while
Shallam debated the legality of getting involved. Finally, after the
Mayor of Jaru(NPC) made a visit to the city, Shallam decided the
rules would not stop them from defending their sister village and
the battles began in earnest. Shallam excelled in the group battles,
but the Naga Guildmaster, Silvaria, regularly devastated the
defenses with quick, lethal attacks that Shallam was hard pressed to
do anything about.

Meanwhile, the Shallam leaders made overtures to Mayor Cotridge(NPC)
to figure out some sort of solution to the problem. The initial
meetings were less than successful with the Mayor reflecting the
feeling of the villagers that they'd be much better off if Shallam
stayed out of their affairs. He cited numerous incidents where their
relationship with Shallam had led to hardship for the town. It was
also very clear that the villagers had no liking for the Church due
to an incident many years past but still fresh in the minds of the
town. The Viziers, Kotori and Carmell, sympathized with the Mayor
and said that Shallam would respect the wishes of Jaru in this
matter and help them in anyway they could, but they strongly felt
that if Shallam withdrew, Jaru would be much worse off as the
Mhaldorians showed no sign of wanting anything besides bloodshed. As
no diplomatic overtures had been made by Mhaldorians giving the lie
to such an assumption and the actions of the Mhaldorians were
speaking quite loudly, the Mayor had to eventually agree on the
point that though the excuse of Shallam's relationship with the town
was being used to justify the Mhaldorians rampage, if Shallam
withdrew, the death tolls would rise drastically and the town would
be destroyed.

As the months went by and the town debated a decision, Shallam's
defenses did not waver and the Mhaldorian attacks grew more brutal
and effective, though to what end is still unknown. Finally, Carmell
spoke with the Mayor and he stated that their decision was to simply
abandon the town and start up new lives elsewhere. Strongly opposed
to this plan, Carmell pleaded with the Mayor to not let the
Mhaldorians drive them away from their home and their lives and
after more discussion and brainstorming, it was suggested that if
Jaru could fortify their defenses and limit access to the town, this
would be at least a partial solution to the problem.

Seizing upon this plan, the Council had Emergo Le'Murzen, the
cultural minister, contact the builders that he had employed to make
several additions and renovations to the city. The cost in
commodities would be high and the danger even more so, but soon the
builders were underway with a host of guards to protect them. It was
estimated it would take a month to complete the western wall and
gate and another month to complete the northern wall.

Catching wind of this, the Mhaldorians sought a way to stop the
construction. Cadiran Vastel and Skye Demaxx-De'Le'Vec led the
discussions with the grizzled old orc, Groukar(NPC), who was
proficient in building. The plan was hatched to build a temporary
dam and when enough water was gathered, release it onto the
town. They set about the plan with gusto, having a portion of their
forces lead attacks on Jaru in order to distract the Shallamese
while the dam was being built. They were soon discovered by
Aoelithon de Quenster but apparently he failed to notice the
building crews, the dam, or anything else out of the ordinary and
spent crucial time playing spin the bottle with the Mhaldorians as
opposed to actually warning his city about what was going on.

Eventually, Shallam caught wind that something was up when a
fisherman wandered in to watch the building, mentioning that the
water was too low for fishing. They discovered the dam and killed
Groukar but didn't actually destroy the dam and were soon distracted
by another Mhaldorian raid on Jaru. Eventually, they regrouped and
Kotori decided to lead a group to get rid of the dam, but it was too
late. The construction was finished and the water was released,
flooding the town and destroying the half-built wall.

Apparently not deterred, Shallam quickly gathered the commodities to
start anew and when the ground dried, a new, reinforced wall was
started. The attacks from Mhaldor's allies such as Silverfox and
Xtassy De Soulis-Aristata seriously slowed the building as the
builders were slain numerous times adding precious man-hours to
their schedule but they persevered and finally, the wall and gate
were finished and the gate quickly locked leaving only the north
entrance through the pash and the eastern entrance through Shallam.

Refusing to give up, Diamondesce Seir-Aristata once again contacted
Groukar(NPC) and persuaded him to come with her to speak with
Jirken(NPC), the Mhaldorian scientist. A series of discussions which
included Cadiran, lead to the plan to use acid on the hinges of the
newly constructed gates to get them to fall. Unfortunately, while
this plan was being discussed, the Shallam citizen Deago was slain
in Mhaldor and wandered into the meeting site, and heard and saw
enough to get an idea of what it was they were planning. He relayed
this information to the Shallamese defense force and they went to
the foreman to try to find a way to counter this. His solution
involved the production of a diamond mixture that could be coated on
the hinges and gate to render it impervious to the acid. The
downside of this was the extensive time it took to prepare and the
cost involved. The defenders were not concerned with the cost and
after some instruction from the foreman, Carmell began producing the
coating. Each application took around ten minutes before it was
ready and it took four to six applications before the hinges would
be safe from attack and at least a hundred to protect the entire
gate.

While Carmell was applying the protection as quickly as mortally
possible, Jirken(NPC) had sent Cadiran off to find him some
quicksilver to complete the acid. Though it took some time to
acquire, eventually she returned and Jirken(NPC) produced the acid
and gave it to Cadiran with special instructions on how to use
it. Cadiran reached the gate right before Carmell was going to apply
the last application needed to secure the hinges. The acid was
released first, causing the unsecured hinge to dissolve and the gate
to hang open. Shallam quickly moved to defend the spot, splitting
their forces two ways. Apparently though, Mhaldor had not devised a
plan as to what to do once they got the gate down and Shallam had
little difficulty crafting a new hinge and securing the gate. Two
more similar attempts were made with similar results.

This was the last major plan by Mhaldor in this conflict. As the
months went by, the Mhaldor leaders began taking a more direct hand
and the intuitive efforts of those initially involved fell by the
wayside in favor of less subtle plans that were never
executed. Meanwhile, the rest of the world community, mainly Ashtan,
began to grumble about their access to Jaru being restricted. The
Mayor of Jaru reacted with great indignation to this grumbling,
pointing out that if they wanted a say in how Jaru conducted its
defenses, they should not have sat on the sidelines while Mhaldor
tried to eradicate the village.

What will happen now is anyones guess. Will Shallam continue to
respect Jarus autonomy or will they attempt to annex the town in
their efforts to protect the innocent? Will Ashtan attempt to force
their rights in Jaru? Will the Mayor make good on his repeated
threats to organize a coalition of villages against the adventurers
that constantly slaughter them? Time will tell.

Two things are certain though. Jaru is closer than ever to Shallam
and the villagers will no longer sit idly by while they are
slaughtered now that they have a means to seal off the town in their
control.
--<cut>--

--matt
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