Tearing Down Walls (Figuratively) with NPC's

[Potjeh]

I'd much prefer defensive buildings to mobile NPCs. Every hearthling should have a human behind the controls, it's the best thing about H&H's atmosphere atm.

[AnnaC]

As I replied to the quoted post in it's original topic, I dislike the idea of automated NPCs because they have no precedence in Haven & Hearth. Hearthlings attached to real players has always been the model of play; even if a single player has a dozen hearthling "alts". So defensive structures like watchtowers, manned by "offline" hearthling characters, would be more suitable.

[Potjeh]

I don't see why they'd have to be manned. You don't man barter stands either.

[AnnaC]

Barter stands don't shoot at enemies or do anything either. Offline manned structures already have precedence in game (beds), so that would be some way to add growth or "training" to static defensive structures, is all.

The problem with all of this anyway, is there is no way to define what or who an enemy is. There are no village kin lists, no way to denote another village as hostile, or anything like that.

[Potjeh]

I'd rather have it be about quality than grinding up characters, it's easier to catch up with. Just make the towers do flat damage rather than the per/agi thing and it fits in with current ranged combat perfectly. Besides, it's not like we need more reasons to make a million alts (and make no mistake, people would make alts exclusively for manning towers).

[AnnaC]

I'd rather have it be about quality than grinding up characters, it's easier to catch up with. Just make the towers do flat damage rather than the per/agi thing and it fits in with current ranged combat perfectly. Besides, it's not like we need more reasons to make a million alts (and make no mistake, people would make alts exclusively for manning towers).

I agree I don't like the idea of causing more alts to be made either, I was just pointing out there is precedence for such a subject. The only thing with just having structures, is what drives them? Dream magic?

[Potjeh]

The same thing that trades at the barter stand. So yeah, hearth magic I guess.

[Vaku]

Another issue I didn't really take into account is villages versus personal claims. Personal claims would be utterly screwed by this as they would have no capacity to have guards or defensive structures but they would face the same assaults that a village would. No matter what they're going to be at a heavy disadvantage but like this they're just left out to dry. How do you make it so that newbies and hermits aren't entirely fucked, in other words.

This situation is a question of civilization versus nature. As a hermit, do you choose to forgo the unprotected wildlife and become a part of a village, or do you hold out as you always have with your humble little farm? This comes down to personal preference and the practical nature that, civilization offers protection at the cost of some freedoms, whereas not being absorbed by a civilization provides the most freedom, but less protection.

Alternatively.

Alternatively, the NPC guards could be less fleshy as most have assumed. What NPC guards could be are things like animated armors (AAG's) from the hearthmagic skill, inhabited by the spirit of an ancestor??? Doing so would give more use to Numen points, and make it a bit more in line with the lore of Haven and Hearth, where hearthlings are players. Additionally, crafting an animated armor guard would take in all sorts of skill sets, primarily hearthmagic, then metalworking, maybe even the will to power chain for the purpose of teaching your village's guard.

How this fits into being alternative to the dilemma of personal vs. village claims and relative protection, is that anyone would be able to craft AAG's should they possess the required skill set and resources, however, any one personal claim would only ever be able to contain one animated armor guard. However for a village, the threshold for Animated Armor Guards would be 10 (Ancestor spirits like living company).

Anyways, all of your thoughts?

[Potjeh]

Frankly I don't think that any provisions need to be made for personal claim. The game is already set up in a way that makes village claim an absolute necessity (keys are a joke, you have to have crossroads).

[Vaku]

Well, my goal of this suggestion is to have open gates for many villages. It's disappointing to walk around and see different villages and wanting to see their setup and the sort, but everything is on lockdown. :/ By having some sort of reassurance your crap won't be totally wrecked by having gates open would allow for a more social community rather than the village to village paranoia.