Thoughts on The Black Arts.

[poltifar]

First of all, I'd like to say something in general for the 'offline summoning':

Think about it this way: Does the victim need to be online for you to steal their stuff? Nope. It is actually BETTER for him to be offline. Then, you have alot of time (if he's asleep, as much as 8 RL hours) to break the defenses and steal from him. As such, I dont see why it wouldnt be fair for the victim or a ranger helping him to be able to enact revenge the same way, while you are offline. You could ofcourse build your own walls and defenses. Then you would be exactly even.

I'm not saying the system doesnt need fixing, just not outright removal. We might need to fix the time duration of scents, but dont make it too short. Because many people can only log in once per day. Its not their fault that they cant be on 24/7 to check for clues.

As for the 'decay while online', definitely not. ESPECIALLY not 8 hours ingame. What if the guy you stole from isnt online in those barely like 3 hours RL? What if you log on, far away in a corner of the world, wait 30 minutes, log off before anyone gets to you, and repeat that over a few days? No, no, no.

[Rugs]

Static Items are static items.

Players are not static items nor are they possessions.


However, your point about players logging on for 30 minutes a day is a valid issue.

[poltifar]

Then put in item tracking. That would be 100% fair according to your statement.

[Raephire]

The proper solution to summoning is to allow an attacked player to automatically defend themselves using a preset GAMBIT system much like Final Fantasy 12.

Flags that are set to react to special situations.

[poltifar]

But then super strong people could steal without any resistance, and weak people would have no chance of stealing, as now. That would only be making strong characters (like you) even more invulnerable.

[jorb]

Suggestion

Your suggestion has at least two fundamental flaws:

1) It would be possible to simply lay low with the character for an IRL month or so, log in an play an hour every now and then, always with one finger ready to log out quickly when the posse comes looking for you. This takes away the entire point of the system, which is to force accessibility.

2) The players would need to be logged on at the same time. This is difficult because victim and offender might not even share the same timezone, and thus see very little simultaneous play.

If it weren't for the fact that scents can be stored indefinitely ATM (Which was, I'll admit, a major oversight on our part), our system has, as I've said, the exact same consequences as the one you yourself first suggested (The EVE system).

Your character cannot generate a scent if you do not want to. The choice of whether or not it will be possible to force summon your character is entirely yours.

Also, this game is not per se designed to be PvP heavy. It is intended to emulate certain aspects of reality, and it is intended to allow for PvP combat. If PvP will be common or not is something I'll leave up to the players.

@ Delamore: See no. 1. Counting played time instead of actual time means the thief has control over when his scent ticks away, which is essentially the same as if there were no scent. This is exactly how you don't want it to be.

@ Raephire: I agree that summoned players should try to defend themselves. At the very least this will require pathfinding in order to be meaningful, however.

[poltifar]

But jorb, if very strong players get to defend themselves, they would be nigh unbeatable and would thus be able to steal as much as they wish. While weaker summoned players would remain as vulnerable as normal, since most rangers are atleast intermediate in power. Wouldnt that only increase the gap between strong and weak? Unless the fighting-back part was not at full strength or something.

[Rugs]

Jorb, you're right, that problem kind of negates my suggestions usefulness.

Maybe the issue could be approached another way, apply a 30% reduction in LP lost if the death is offline and the player has been offline for more than a specific amount of time?


Quick, someone tear apart that suggestion! :p


Or do it based on crime

Murder = 100% of LP lost before the % usually lost based on tradition/change
Battery = 60%
Theft = 50%
etc etc.

[poltifar]

I'm more in favor of not being able to kill thieves at all, but instead to get back our items if the thieves are found. Thus, maybe a timer should be put each time an item is stolen, and the thief can't drop this item until the timer is done, and when a clue is used to summon/attack him, he can be beaten unconscious to make the stolen items appear? That way, we address the issue of the high risk of thieving (you wouldnt lose your character, just your stuff), and the we-need-a-timer part. Also, since the thief's inventory gets clogged up by undroppable stuff, stops him from 'stealing the whole hen house'.

[Erik_the_Blue]

But jorb, if very strong players get to defend themselves, they would be nigh unbeatable and would thus be able to steal as much as they wish. While weaker summoned players would remain as vulnerable as normal, since most rangers are atleast intermediate in power. Wouldnt that only increase the gap between strong and weak? Unless the fighting-back part was not at full strength or something.

I would hope group combat would be implemented in some form before this. Then to take out a strong character who's player is offline, you have to get a few rangers (or a single ranger and an angry mob) to attack at the same time. The strong player might still do some significant damage, befitting of his "epic-ness", but it'd still be possible to take him down.