Posted by A coder on July 7, 2000 at 18:11:10:
In Reply to: Inspired by the long arbiter thread below, IMM replies welcomed posted by Cathoir on July 7, 2000 at 15:18:33:
I had a very long reply to this message... was working on it for the last 20 minutes and then IE crashed. Word of Advice: Windows 2000 Professional is a GOOD thing. My system was up and running in W2K Prof without rebooting for the last 23 days. Oh well, looks like I have another month or so till I crash again. I will reconstruct my answer as best I can. Firstly: I am not, nor have I ever been, an Immortal on CF. I hope to be, soon, because I can add a lot of programming experience to the Staff. Another more important thing I can add is time. My average as of late has been 6-12 hours. *cough* This isn't the reply of an expert CF Immortal, but of an expert [elite if you so choose] CFer and coder. Anyway, I digress. (That reminds me of a good book.) You mentioned in your post that you weren't sure if certain things could be coded... I'm here to tell you that anything can be coded. There are, as with everything, certain limitations. This could be a limitation brought on by coding changes the Staff has made, or a 'world limitation'... [The 'world' is items+mobs+players+rooms+... every separate aspect of CF added up. The base system for CF could have some sort of limit on it, I'm not sure.) > The most travelled and (next to cabals) most common battlefield in Thera are its cities. Cf has long been becoming a far more heavy roleplay mud than it used to be. Some changes i've liked, some I haven't... but the same is prolly true for everyone. With all of this in mind, I think the next step should be drastically altering the cities in a more meaningful way than just changing their appearance. I agree with this aspect, and seeing as in Udgaard Paladins are immediately attacked I strongly suspect that CF already has the code giving them the ability to do this, quite easily, in other ways. The question is not if they can do it, but if they will do it. It has been my experience with the ImmStaff that they thoroughly test things before putting them in, but there are certain things that quite simply cannot be thought of before implementation. [see: various flames following the introduction of a new major feature] Until the dust settles and the ImmStaff 'fixes' it to the way that they intended it to work, there will be a noticeable amount of people whining about it. Incidently, there is a big difference between whining and criticism. This difference not only lies in that one of these is rude and one of these is helpful, but also that one of these the Imms will listen to, the other they will be much less receptive to. > It was mentioned in the thread below that each city should have its different laws and not every guard should assist against chaotics etc... I mostly agree with this. The each city having its own laws may be suspect, but I think each citie's guards should assist against a char according to how the city is being run. Tar Valon, for example should have cityguards assisting against evils, and so on. I was very happy when I learned about the fact that everything attacks paladins in Udgaard. New areas and such are always being done, but most are rarely travelled, even the better ones such as Whistlewood swamp. I think that this energy should be turned in upon changing the cities. Like in many fantasy novels, I think that many of the cities (not all of course) should have some sort of theme going through them. Such themes as lawlessness, hatred of good/evil, a strong will to remain neutral, worshipping a particular god, etc... I don't really know anything about coding so I can't make any concrete suggestions. Once again... The ImmStaff has been dealing with the implementation of new things for quite awhile now, and they know how certain things effect game balance. If the Imms see that there aren't many Polearm specs in Thera, they might introduce a few more high-level polearms scattered throughout the world. This might entice people to play them. It's all done for balance, and just like the economy of a country CFs changes take some time to take full effect. > One of the happiest times on the mud, that I remember, was being in the old shrine of Shokai. It was fairly roomy, no evils could enter, it had an altar where you could leave and enter the realms, and it was fairly annoying to get to. There would usually be a few paladins or other good characters around, some spare stuff lying at the altar. Outside was a popular place to summon/rank, a few evils would ocassionally gate in or try to summon kill one of us and people would spill out of the temple in a battle. This sort of spirit was great, and I miss it. I think the towns should sort of be arranged like this. To get the more true roleplaying on the mud I feel that people have to be spread out more. It would be nice to have a hometown where there was usually at least around 4 or 5 people in it, especially if they choose it for the advantages it offered them (ie. guards assisting against those they usually fight, maybe a few things scattered about that are agressive to certain types of characters.) Like the temple of Shokai, you'd be able to meet others of your same alignment, or others who just share the same goals as you. Galadon would no longer be the only hub of activity (which is a fairly poorly done city as far as i'm concerned). I have two comments: The first is one of agreement, the second of confusion. 1) I liked the temple of Shokai.. and was part of those Evils that would come by and wreak some havoc... It was a fun place and that very small area was more powerful than any city. (Gee, maybe that's why steps were taken to reduce its 'attractiveness' eh?) 2) What don't you like about Galadon? You didn't say anything about WHY you didn't like it. I, for one, like Galadon. It does exactly what it was intended to do. To choose a little insignificant detail that I might be blowing up for no reason: is 'In The Mouth' there for no reason? No. I happen to think that Galadon is a newbie-friendly city... But... 'In The Mouth' shows the importance of careful exploration... Just as an aside. >Hell, maybe go so far as to have people who choose the hometown be advantaged over those who don't (cityguards favoring them and such). It would also be nice to have places to deposit spare equipment where you know it probably wont be snatched up by those who might eventually be your enemies (inner chamber in galadon is a good example of this). I think that is a good idea, but that brings about other problems.. Inconceivable to even the most knowledgeable of players. > The new revision of New Thalos I think is both great and very poor. The city design is vaguely confusing and not very ordered. Yes, this is a small thing to pick at, but the name of things are long and very arabic which make them quite hard to remember, especially when trying to get your bearings (mostly a personal problem I s'pose). I don't like how all the guilds are shoved into one place (Seantryn will always be my favorite city, both for guild and street design.) I've always kind of better liked the idea of distinct neighborhoods with their own fitting guilds in them. I love, however, how the city is designed around worship and those universal tells within the city say it's time for prayer. The new additions that are coming also sound very intriguing and will add flavor to the city that will make it unique (one of the main aspects i'm looking for in a city.) The gates can be a little annoying, but it's fine by me as long as one can go around the city. The gates are annoying, yes, but to be honest.. I make a habit of not even entering the city if I don't need to, so that I don't get stuck. In fact, the route is just about the same about of paces to go 'around' the city up to Balator, than to go through the city. I really they add realism to the game, and they're generally 'cool.' > Errr, I don't feel like proofreading this so I apologize for any grammar, spelling, etc... that would make it difficult to read. Any Imm response is especially welcomed, I also would especially enjoy any response from people who are knowledgable in coding and can tell me how much of this is actually possible. I hear ya man.. same.
> -Cathoir