[MUD-Dev] RE: Discussion of MUD system design, development, and implementation

[Chris Duesing]

Dave Mitchell wrote:

> As players completed these events they would be moved to the next
> world instance with players that had also completed this
> event...NPCs could respond to them appropriately ("You saved the
> kingdom!")

The exact same instance of that event? As in were grouped together?
If not it is going to be a bit awkward when Bob who saved the king
in July is walking past an NPC with his friend Fred who saved the
king in August and they both get the greeting. If it is only for
players that were in the same group at the same time, well then you
will be down to one player per shard after a few events.

> People joining the game would potentially have to complete
> x-number of these events to connect with their friends in the same
> world instance.

Not really, when Al joins the game to play with his friend Bob and
they walk past the NPC it says, "Wow, you're friends with Bob?! He
saved the king you know."

Personally I think you are probably better off with a randomly
generated quest system and NPC memory, if that is your goal. This
way when EvilVillian Morticus steals PrincessA and Bob saves her he
is now the official savior of PrincessA. All the NPCs he passes can
cheer his valor. When Al is in need of an ego boosting quest
EvilVillian Martukus can spawn a strangely similar kidnapping quest
for PrincessB. Obviously this will require major window dressing to
not be as obvious to players as it actually is, but conveniently
there is another thread on MUD-Dev all about that regarding
"Personal NPCs".

The point is sharding post event is far too costly as a means of
recycling content. You are better off writing a really good template
system for quests/events and letting GMs customize a generated story
once a month. Besides if the only people around you also killed
Morticus, who are you going to brag to?

Chris
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