Game Development: Whack-a-Mole

[abt79]

Why not just make water weight you down. If you have 3L you are fine but over you are forced to walk

I like my idea of being able to drink from equipped buckets on the move but having them empty when you make an attack, sure water weighs you down but so does literally anything else you could carry, especially something dense like metal or stone.


And if I have to walk at crawl speed with a full inventory that would be some serious bullshit

[Granger]

I vaguely remember suggesting that combat equipment (armor/weapon) weight (both equipped and in inventory/belt) should have an impact on movement speed (gradually) so that lighter builds (less armor) will have a speed advantage - with an action to 'flee' that'll give a nice speed boost for a while but will leave a trail of gear behind you vanishing on the horizon.

[sMartins]

Yeah but then we need status effects on attacks moves, stun, etc... a more action oriented combat system could be fun...never been a lover of action games....if you know some that can fit H&H with a good combat system...suggest it to take inspiration...

[loftar]

and it disappears into a cloud.

... whyever would it do that?

[staz]

Moles are funny, I love the way they burrow and then pop up elsewhere, so fast too ... and they don't look quite as gruesome as hedgehugs ... lol, (that was a mistake but it makes me laugh so I won't change it. ) and so are actually kinda cute for this game.

Hahaha me too, and I love hedgehugs too. They are so cute.

[staz]

I understand it is an MMO and so you want people interaction but as the game sits right now those who are non-violent do not stand a chance in the game. Which overall just wouldn't happen in the world. Even in the real world during war there were people in the campaign who were not fighters. They were blacksmiths, cooks, medics, etc... They had value. As well as in kingdoms all over the world. Not everyone fought for the king, there were farmers, blacksmiths, horsemen, medics, carpenters, rug makers, seamstress's, etc.... There was a social order. These people were non violent and lived outside the kingdom and worked the land and sold their crops, and specialties to the kingdom they lived within. And they paid taxes (either with their wares or money) to the kingdom they live within. And that payment protected them from harm so to speak. In times of war most retreated within in walls of the kingdom while soldiers fought. Even the uncivilized knew you needed people to be able to do xyz.

My point, if you expect most of us to pay money into the game which upon many conversations with other hermits like myself we would do and have done in past worlds readily. But, if we can not protect ourselves from being ganked or even killed in the "wrong place, wrong time". Then why would be pay put our money into a game we enjoy otherwise? Many of us don't want the PVP side of things and simply enjoy this amazing game you have developed for the tilling of the land, the making things with your own hands and seeing the fruits of your labor grow. Many of us don't bot and have no desire to bot. And if this very LARGE group of settlers is afraid of every dot you aren't getting the interaction you want. Because every white dot means death to us. So we run, we don't hid in our homes which even those aren't safe as 5 high level killers can now knock it down in no time. (From the videos people are posting right now) This makes us not want to play your game and go elsewhere. And there are options available to us and yes we have to pay for them as well and not 100 dollars either.

So, here are things some of us collectively have come up with as possible solutions. (I took notes while talking with friends in game over last couple of worlds) You like to sell hats but these hats have no purpose. Make different hats for different classes which can both protect non-violent people and do some buff or something to warriors/soldiers etc... In game if you choose not to learn the fighting and aggressive teachings your dot could be a different color (same as above dots could show a non-violent color and maybe even for specific classes). These dots could have an advantage and you could pay LP into learning survival techniques to get away from evil white dots. (this is how we view white dots..it wouldn't be that way in real world...you don't think everyone on the street is going to kill you.) IF you choose violent paths they could suffer disadvantages like not being able to learn special farming, butchering, wielding, mining techniques. Therefore making working with others (REAL OTHERS NOT FRICKIN BOTS) important and having to seek out these people not to kill them but to make them better gear, food, etc... and thus creating a community. A working MMO community. Doing so within kingdom's could yield better or faster crops/blacksmithing/animal husbandry/etc...) because you are paying taxes and tariffs to the land (right now realm) you are in currently. And you could move from the realm if you choose to do so but have to pay a high tax/tariff etc to the land owner because having a community boosts the realm somehow. There could be different skills for a soldier vs a bandit. We understand that there are those who like the PVP part of the game and more power to them. And this world the number of people who are on actively has doubled and yet the world is significantly smaller. Most of this player base does not consist of people who want to PVP. Your larger player base are those who enjoy the rest of the game dynamics and who don't actively engage in PVP.

Again, you want us all to be a community. IF creating a community is what you really want then you have to look at your larger player base. If all you want to to giggle as bullies terrorize the land then my post is moot and you will lose a large player base as well as funding and a better way to continue to get funding to support a game that most of us clearly LOVE Playing! These things I've mentioned aren't difficult to do from a coding viewpoint either. You already have the backbones in it now. I am merely suggesting a platform that caters to both those who want to PVP and those who don't which is a higher percentage of your player base.

And IF people want bots to do the work that's fine. Make those people pay to bot but the bots can't learn specialized skills because they aren't real people so their skills would be capped. Kingdoms could have marshalls or hermits a sorcerer (or the Nedbane) to go after murderers and thieves. (real people could do it faster and in less time than a bot version) Which again would have to be a skill bought item. (This could be a learned skill tree item for those who learn fighting/etc...) And they could earn a bounty for bringing people to justice so to speak. People could still be bandits (mercenaries) just have a color devoted to this "skill". The kingdom's taxes and tariffs could in real life go to help the kingdom pay for continuing to be a kingdom. Towers could only be built in kingdoms and so many points added to defense. And the towers could be like pillars and only have distance limits. Purchased bot privileges could help defend the kingdom either all the time or have a time limit until the bots need to rest. (When their bars are low they go to sleep until bars are full again...instead of dying perhaps.)

All the above brings in more capital for the game and to be honest 75% of your player base would have a higher incentive to pay to get to play how they like. Because as it stands right now many of us just aren't going to spend the money in the game why pay money into something where you KNOW all you're going to be killed and lose all your hard work. People could have to purchase specialized skills and for building a kingdom. (Branching out coin milling could be an actual monetary thing that goes back into the game itself. (Similar to how a monetary system works in Second Life and Linden Labs...wrote codes for objects there years ago...so coding exists) These are just a couple of the ideas we've all been talking about.

The above ideas would generate much more income on a steady basis and allow for more ways to generate income into devs pockets and back into the game. Just our little village alone the game has lost more than 800 dollars because we aren't paying for the extras for our toon this world and have only verify accounts and not even all of those toons are verified. Because there is no value in doing so for us atm and we aren't purchasing sub tokens either. And we know many others who feel the same way. Again, there is a larger player base than there are factions much of that player base consists of people who are accustomed to dropping money for the games we love. So I am at a loss as to why you haven't seen the value of the above comments (many which have been made before) and done the math. Why only have your eggs in one basket? We all want the game to prosper and continue to grow in player base and size and right now unfortunately we just don't see throwing our hard earned money in a tight market into something so risky. So, either you have a handful of people paying and progress is slow because most don't pay anything, or you find a way to cater to the masses. Furthermore, the above paragraphs would make you more money within each faction. As all the above would be within each faction and added cost for them being able to bot, own kingdoms, etc... money on top of money. And you would get the interaction you want as an MMO.

[razfen]

wall of text i mostly TL;DRd

Or just build up your palisade, contact a realm to have them claim you, and ask them for their protection?

[Aethyr]

...

Say hi to gate-block by non-pvp alts

[Kirche]

literally the only solution for peaceful players would be removal of permadeath, but that's something that won't happen because autism

[iamkug]

Ok let me say it a different way. You used to have a Peaceful violence bar. Reinvent that... maybe if i am ALL peaceful then I cant do ANYTHING bad or take huge damage if i do. Maybe it gives super defense but ZERO PVP (ie i would fail attacking any other player). This is what the hermit/farmer does anyway. So you could make it either an all player feature OR a paid for feature. If you dont like the super defense, then have the permadeath be 100% recovered LP for full peaceful paid subscribers and maybe 75% for unpaid full peaceful. That way i could interact, and be killed but still get back into the game as a hermit.

If money is the goal, then you want to cater to passive income ie small group players /hermits who pay the same as active but use less server resources and still make you money.

I posted other ideas such as allowing hermits to have NPCs that would require food they could be archers defending a tower or whatever. I dont have 50 people in my group or even 5 - so you are squeezing out all small players - meaning I wont spring $200 for a farmer and miner on separate accounts when i am dead in 2 seconds with roaming gankers. Yes i could try to join a peaceful group but i have no mechanism - no warping to village or kingdom.

And dont get me started on the f-ing crystals (and other special resources) they are botted PERIOD - they are always gone, so us normal lowly non botters have zero chance of getting it - it reduces trade - in previous worlds i would trade, now its impossible for the part time player or true hermit. Only the hardcore (bot) players get them. And they find ways to lock them up with 1/2 pali's or encircling the resource, or just leaving alert bots on and killing anyone who gets close. That means i (and other small/hermit players) cant trade/teleport.

The apparent fact that pali's can be taken down in seconds also negates any chance i have of hiding - that combined with a tiny map - and i have no chance of playing in the corner of the map away from big fighters.

It is your game - and i do like it, but its moving in a direction that has already driven me to not invest. Further - if it keeps going this way i will probably stop, which is just ONE person or 3 but I was paying, and now will not.

anything to balance us non PVP people vs the crazy PVPers - honestly i did try to figure it out, my son walked me through it, but then he went through the details on the stats and since we dont bot, we are not at 200 to 300+ str / agi fighting sklls right now and even if I could a group of 2+ shows up and we are done even hiding behind a pali. So there isnt a lot of point in playing if i am guaranteed dead (and starting over).

If you add in the paid 100% recovery on peaceful - oh and you could even make it so if i did anything "bad" i would lose peaceful status - i am totally ok with that. I run or warp from white dots since 4 worlds ago, so it would be fine.

I like these other ideas:
viewtopic.php?f=48&t=46598&p=609156#p609156 (neverman4)
viewtopic.php?f=39&t=52550&p=697551#p697551 (mine)

I do hope you make money and the game turns out as you plan, I just find it more and more an elitist fighter driven game - with zero chance for a hermit (and/or part time player)

Oh and one last thing - a bigger map allows hermits to at least have a chance, doesnt cost a lot and might get people on the fence to invest (especially if you add some of the other features)