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<H1>RE: [MUD-Dev] Spawning and quests (was Sony ban)</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: <<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: RE: [MUD-Dev] Spawning and quests (was Sony ban)</LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: "Raph Koster" <<A HREF="mailto:rkoster#austin,rr.com">rkoster#austin,rr.com</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 23:40:04 -0500</LI>
<LI><em>Importance</em>: Normal</LI>
<LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
<LI><em>Sender</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu">mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu</A></LI>
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<PRE>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu [<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu]On">mailto:mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu]On</A> Behalf Of
> Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
> Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2000 3:50 PM
> To: mud-dev#kanga,nu
> Subject: RE: [MUD-Dev] Spawning and quests (was Sony ban)
>
> Regarding spawning, has anyone seriously considered or
> implemented a system
> in which mobs only spawn where heroes are not present?
Oh, yeah, countless Dikus have a crude form of this. Zonewide resets do not
trigger if there are any players in the zone. It leads to camping on zone
boundaries.
> Perhaps even an
> algorithm which scans a region for "natural predators" to be used in
> determining "reproduction" levels. This might even be a nice eco-system
> experiment with populations sizes based on available food,
> shelter, etc. in
> addition to predators. Maybe even a "monster food chain." Could
> be fun. :-)
Been there, done that, failed miserably. :) Wanna try it again someday
though!
> > Static quests for generic items: Take the monk quest to get
> three putrid
> > rib bones for a magic headband. Here's the quest: "Go camp the ruins
> > until you have killed the same putrid skeletons over and over again, for
> > about six hours." I kid you not, it literally takes that long.
> Not so bad
> > though, because while you are parked there in the same spot for
> six hours
> > (maybe with a cleric, who also needs to camp there for hours on
> end for one
> > of their guild quests), you can kill three different KINDS of skeletons.
>
> Yes...it seems that many developers confuse easily programmable
> activities
> with fun activities.
Many players like easily programmable activities. Tetris anyone? Heck--the
whole gameplay premise of The Sims could probably be coded into an optimum
solution by many of us on this list within a day or two. The gaming sites
have already posted optimum movement sequences for the simulation.
Is anyone really doing _epic_ quests? Why not? It
> seems to me that Frodo's ring would be good fodder for such a quest. One
> half of the world could try to prevent the other half from moving
> an object
> from one corner of the map to another...it works for football. :-)
Your example of epic seems to be team-based capture the flag? Yes, several
muds have tried that. UO's try at it is going in within the next few weeks
as part of UO: Renaissance. I think Meridian 59 had a coupleof versions of
it. Players quickly see it as football and not as an epic quest.
I've written very epic, narratively based quests for Legend. They take a
long time to craft, aren't repeatable, and get reduced to walkthroughs no
matter how compellingly written.
-Raph
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<li><strong><A NAME="00274" HREF="msg00274.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Spawning and quests (was Sony ban)</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Matthew Mihaly <the_logos@achaea.com></li></ul>
<li><strong><A NAME="00273" HREF="msg00273.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Quests</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> "Madrona Tree" <madronatree@hotmail.com></li></ul>
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<LI><STRONG><A NAME="00239" HREF="msg00239.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Spawning and quests (was Sony ban)</A></STRONG>
<UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services <Paul.Schwanz@east.sun.com></LI></UL></LI>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><STRONG>RE: [MUD-Dev] Spawning and quests (was Sony ban)</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
<ul compact>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00253" HREF="msg00253.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Spawning and quests (was Sony ban)</A></strong>,
Jeff Freeman <a href="mailto:skeptack@antisocial.com">skeptack@antisocial.com</a>, Sat 15 Apr 2000, 05:11 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00272" HREF="msg00272.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Spawning and quests</A></strong>,
Spin <a href="mailto:spin@fastlink.com.au">spin@fastlink.com.au</a>, Sat 15 Apr 2000, 17:21 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00291" HREF="msg00291.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Spawning and quests</A></strong>,
Chris Lloyd <a href="mailto:crl199@soton.ac.uk">crl199@soton.ac.uk</a>, Sun 16 Apr 2000, 15:59 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00391" HREF="msg00391.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Spawning and quests</A></strong>,
adam <a href="mailto:adam@treyarch.com">adam@treyarch.com</a>, Mon 17 Apr 2000, 21:53 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
</UL>
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</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00265" HREF="msg00265.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Spawning and quests (was Sony ban)</A></strong>,
Raph Koster <a href="mailto:rkoster@austin.rr.com">rkoster@austin.rr.com</a>, Sat 15 Apr 2000, 05:11 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00273" HREF="msg00273.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Quests</A></strong>,
Madrona Tree <a href="mailto:madronatree@hotmail.com">madronatree@hotmail.com</a>, Sat 15 Apr 2000, 17:21 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00280" HREF="msg00280.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Quests</A></strong>,
Raph Koster <a href="mailto:rkoster@austin.rr.com">rkoster@austin.rr.com</a>, Sun 16 Apr 2000, 06:17 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00288" HREF="msg00288.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Quests</A></strong>,
Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:the_logos@achaea.com">the_logos@achaea.com</a>, Sun 16 Apr 2000, 15:58 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00289" HREF="msg00289.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Quests</A></strong>,
Erik Jarvi <a href="mailto:ejarvi@megsinet.net">ejarvi@megsinet.net</a>, Sun 16 Apr 2000, 15:59 GMT
</LI>
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