Player Killers (Was PBM Report) From: MindShift Design <teammsd@mindshiftdesign.com> Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 00:00:00 +0000 In article <20001016052308.03135.00002117@ng-fj1.aol.com>, madcentral@aol.com (MadCentral) wrote: > >>That's why one of the options we've enabled in STSI is > the "non-combatant" feature, where you can't attack or be attacked by other > player parties but can still attack and be attacked by creatures in the > game. << > > Thats pretty much the usual method of stopping PKing, but in my opinion its > diabolical. I would never made a game set in a fantasy or sci-fi land where > some weird Deux Ex Machina rule prevents players from attacking one another. > Players *hate* it too, and you'll run into stiff opposition when they discover > it. We don't plan to hide it, and in fact to make strong mention of it. The first 10 turns a player has in the game are complete "non-combatant" turns where they cannot attack nor be attacked by other player parties. As they start in a settlement, such as a village or town, they could be in contact with lots of other parties from turn one. If would be a bit nasty to arrive in town and be assaulted by other player parties. Of course, in settlements the militia may or may not look too kindly upon combat happening in their walls, depending on who controls the settlement (which can end up being controlled by player parties. This can lead to interesting situations where a settlement is taken over by a player party and is then overthrown and becomes marked as bandits by the population of the settlement <g>). After that initial period, players can keep the option active (it is by default), or deactivate it. One thing we're thinking about is that if the player issues an attack command on another player party then it's automatically de-activated and they become able to be attacked. Not all parties that the players will interact with will be player-controlled. Some will be NPC parties that look like player parties, but players won't know that unless they interact with them. And if other players choose to hide their contact information, then the player party will look like and NPC party. > The secret to stopping PKing is to have in-character methods of making it a > dead end, while not actually disallowing it at all. It does become that in STSI. Bounty hunters abound as do militia and armies. As a player gains notoriety, this is reflected in their "fame" stat. Certain events can happen that make it problematic, such as being sighted by NPCs who write messages on the message tree in the settlement, or when bounty hunters come out to claim a reward for bringing in "outlaws" - there are many types of bounty hunters, and if you upset the Silvandesh, don't wander into any forests without plenty of armor, or a line of site out of the woods <g>. We're hoping that these elements will help balance it out. Any thoughts or comments from players/moderators ? -- Jason Paul McCartan - jasonm@mindshiftdesign.com CEO/President MindShift Design LLC http://www.mindshiftdesign.com Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy. Referenced By Up