<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers --> <!--X-From-R13: Epnggre <fpnggreNguribegrk.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 03:50:59 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 35DAF321.2700#thevortex,com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:scatter#thevortex,com"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00775.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00777.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00775.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00777.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00776">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00776">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00776">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Scatter <<A HREF="mailto:scatter#thevortex,com">scatter#thevortex,com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 11:45:37 -0400</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> Marian's Tailor Problem seems to me to be a case of "how do we enable Buffy to prevent Bubba ruining her fun without ruining Bubba's fun when both players are enacting different but valid facets of the game?" For the case in point, Buffy enjoys role-playing a tailor in a medieval setting. Bubba enjoys role-playing a strong fighter in a medieval setting. I'm assuming both Bubba and Buffy are valued players (i.e. you don't particularly want either of them quit) and that you don't want to drop either facet of the game (tailoring or fighting). There are certain stipulations in that medieval setting though. By chosing to play a mud with a medieval setting, Buffy has chosen to allow medieval-type things to happen to her. Presumably if she wanted to play in a safe environment, she wouldn't be playing a mud that didn't provide one in the first place. So, I assume that her choice to play in a mud where player vs. player combat is unrestricted means that she has no objection to player vs. player combat involving her provided that said combat is appropriate to the setting (e.g. she insulted the head of the local thieves guild). Heading back to the Tailor Problem, Buffy is running her little tailor shop quite happily and in walks Bubba. He kills her easily, raids her shop for loot and departs. There's now a question of motivation - there may nothing wrong with this if it is valid, in-theme, in-character roleplay - for example if Buffy had previously done something to insult Bubba or one of his friends or followers and Bubba was exacting revenge. If it's simply Bubba being a vile idiot and harrassing Buffy for out-of-character reasons, then Buffy should be able to file OOC complaints and there should be OOC methods of punishing Bubba. I think the core of the tailor problem is in the valid, in-character motivations, because these require game-world mechanisms and can't be dismissed so easily. Buffy wants to be a tailor, happily designing and selling clothes. It might be valid roleplay for Bubba to turn regularly on destroy and loot missions. What in-character, in-setting methods can be put in place that will allow Buffy respite from such attacks without requiring her to become a tougher fighter than Bubba? (I don't consider the options of simply blocking player-killing and player-stealing because they are out-of-character, artificial methods which block valid roleplay situations. Besides, as I mentioned above, Buffy has specificly chosen to play her tailor on a mud that allows this sort of thing rather than on a "safe" mud.) So, what mechanisms could/should be implemented to enable Buffy to protect herself from attack? Buffy could hire a guard to protect her shop. Of course this would require that the shop make enough money to pay the guard, and that the guard is tough enough to be a deterrent for Bubba. Depending on setting details, she may be able to hire a mage to protect her shop and property with various spells. Or indeed she may be able to draw on player friends to do these tasks for her, for free. This could be a problem when she's just starting out and doesn't know anybody and/or can't afford much. In-theme law can be used to discourage such attacks on good citizens of the city. Bubba might have a valid roleplay grudge against Buffy but he's also much less likely to carry out an attack in a place where guards are likely to respond quickly to disturbances and punishments for crimes are strong enough to deter. In a medieval setting, the penalty for murder is likely to be execution - the possible penalties involved in death could potentially be more detrimental to a fighter than to a tailor (e.g. stat reductions are common). Consider also banishment from the city - leaving Bubba bereft of the support the city provides (this requires that the city provide something of value to Bubba in the first place). The point here is that in a "civilised" city such as one in which tailoring is a valid business occupation needs to provide legislative measures that protect the businesses from attack. Similarly, a more feudal environment like a being tailor to a Lord in his castle should bestow the Lord's protection on the tailor. Another good social mechanism is things like clans, secret societies and the like. Buffy is a member of the Chain Clan so an attack upon Buffy is considered an attack upon the Clan and the Clan will therefore enact terrible revenge upon the perpetrator. This may depend upon Buffy's value to the Clan of course. Other forms of revenge may also be possible - what if there are assassins available who could be contracted by Buffy to kill Bubba? If he fears this sort of reprisal he will be less likely to carry out the attack in the first place. Depending on the reasons for Bubba's attack, attacks can be discouraged by finding ways to remove or minise the rewards for the attack. If Bubba's reasons are not personal, but motivated instead for profit - i.e. Bubba is a thug/thief type of person and is raiding for fun and profit - then reducing those profits reduces the chances of Buffy being attacked. If Bubba is attacking, looting the place and then selling off the loot for profit then ways are needed to make the loot either less valuable or less sell-able so that the rewards do not justify the risk so well. Give Buffy a way to mark her equipment as hers so that stealing and selling it off is not trivial. Make the equipment undesirable to non-tailors - why would someone pay much money for a set of needles and a dummy that will only be useful to another tailor? Allow Buffy to add a safe and locked storerooms to her shop so that the majority of her cash and/or goods are much more difficult to steal in a smash-and-grab operation. Allow her to purchase "safe" places elsewhere to store materials and garments so that they can't be taken in a raid on the shop. Such safe places could even be things like warehouses run by npcs or other places exactly for this purpose and thus much more secure than your average shop. There is a compromise here in how much this restricts Bubba's enjoyment of being a thug and killing who he pleases. He has more to take into account before embarking on murderous incursions into civilised areas, but this is in general fully appropriate to the setting. He can enjoy being a thug in the mountain passes or forests, way-laying travellers; or in those smaller, less civilised places where tailors don't mind a bit of combat and expect to need some combat training to survive, or in those darker, cheaper, poorer parts of the city where Buffy would be stupid to wander unaided in the first place. I think that as long as your game and setting allow a certain style of play, and there is an element of realism in that style of play then you need to make sure that the setting is realised in sufficient detail that the style of play in question is rewarding. That means providing appropriate social measures to protect certain play styles from being overly spoiled by other play styles but at the same time it means making sure that those other play styles are still enjoyable even with those measures in place. The only other choice is to drop one or other style completely. -- Scatter ///\oo/\\\ </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <ul compact><li><strong>Follow-Ups</strong>: <ul> <li><strong><A NAME="00777" HREF="msg00777.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Marian Griffith <gryphon#iaehv,nl></li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00775.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00777.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00775.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00777.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00776"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00776"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><STRONG>[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00769" HREF="msg00769.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></strong>, quzah <a href="mailto:quzah#geocities,com">quzah#geocities,com</a>, Tue 18 Aug 1998, 17:25 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00772" HREF="msg00772.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></strong>, James Wilson <a href="mailto:jwilson#rochester,rr.com">jwilson#rochester,rr.com</a>, Tue 18 Aug 1998, 23:20 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00774" HREF="msg00774.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></strong>, Damion Schubert <a href="mailto:zjiria#texas,net">zjiria#texas,net</a>, Wed 19 Aug 1998, 06:10 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00775" HREF="msg00775.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></strong>, Dr. Cat <a href="mailto:cat#bga,com">cat#bga,com</a>, Wed 19 Aug 1998, 07:45 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00776" HREF="msg00776.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></strong>, Scatter <a href="mailto:scatter#thevortex,com">scatter#thevortex,com</a>, Wed 19 Aug 1998, 10:50 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00777" HREF="msg00777.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></strong>, Marian Griffith <a href="mailto:gryphon#iaehv,nl">gryphon#iaehv,nl</a>, Wed 19 Aug 1998, 19:40 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00798" HREF="msg00798.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></strong>, Brandon J. Rickman <a href="mailto:ashes#pc4,zennet.com">ashes#pc4,zennet.com</a>, Fri 21 Aug 1998, 21:34 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00846" HREF="msg00846.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></strong>, Travis Casey <a href="mailto:efindel#polaris,net">efindel#polaris,net</a>, Wed 26 Aug 1998, 03:20 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00916" HREF="msg00916.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers</A></strong>, Brandon J. Rickman <a href="mailto:ashes#pc4,zennet.com">ashes#pc4,zennet.com</a>, Thu 03 Sep 1998, 02:05 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>