[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Perma-death

[Peter Keeler]

Jeffrey Kesselman wrote:

>> It's far from perfect, but it fulfills many of the requirements laid out
>> earlier in this thread:
>>
>>
>> 1) You can't get killed by a player unless you agree to player killing.
>> 2) You can't permanently die unless you agree to assume that risk.
>> 3) You are informed of the time limit on the flag up front before you
>> turn
>> it on, so you know you can't just toggle the flag whenever you want.
>> 4) The benefit of turning each flag on may outweigh the risk.
>> 5) Players don't ever have to turn either flag on, so you can't run
>> around and kill off the player shopkeepers, nor can you trick an NPC
>> into perm-killing player shopkeepers unless they're foolish and have
>> PD-OK turned on... in which case they asked for it.
>> 6) If the players don't like the system, they don't have to use it.
>> 7) It's simple enough for just about anybody to understand (although
>> they'll still complain when their characters get deleted and their stuff
>> gets looted... there's no fixing that).
>>
>> There are two major disadvantages I see:
>>
>> 1) It may be hard to work this system into your game's fiction. If
>> you're creative though, I think it could be done.
>>
>> 2) It gives a pretty hefty bonus to players who choose to use it. Combat
>> characters running around with PK-OK and PD-OK flags level up really
>> fast while everyone else lags behind. You could adjust the bonus or
>> devise a complementary system that crafters would use and combat chars
>> wouldn't like (some sort of "can't wield weapons but crafting works
>> twice as well" flag? A "can't die, but can't move either flag?") that
>> would even out the playing field.
>
> One more effect I can see, which may or may not be a good thing...
>
> (1) Players set for PK/PD at odd hours of the night in order to try to
> get the benefit "for free"
>
> (2) MAYBE some Pkers patrolling for victims at odd hours of the night
> because of (1)

Sure. Players would naturally try to minimize their risk and maximize
their reward. Since different players have conflicting goals, it would
probably work itself out the way you pointed out. There would certainly
be times when you really didn't want to have either flag on because the
server was crowded or a clan that specializes in killing players was
roaming around. There would be other times when it was relatively empty
and it seemed safer. Since using the system is voluntary, it puts the
all-important interesting choices in the hands of the player, where they
belong.

Worst case scenario: you piss off a guild that specializes in killing
anybody who has their PK-OK flags on. If they catch you with your flag
on, they kill you repeatedly until you can turn it off. So... you turn
it off, and all they can do is taunt you until you mute them. Not really
that big of a deal. Chances are your group will have their flags off at
that point as well. Moreover, if you have enough powerful buddies, you
can all go PK-OK and exact your revenge since the jerks have to have
their flags on in order to harass people... they're just as vulnerable
as anyone else; they probably just use better than average tactics.

   Pete