Posted by Proud Blade(VIP) on October 19, 2000 at 09:57:45:
Manifesto of the day, that is. Challen's got me going. =) There are a few topics that I think hurt player morale of late, and take away from the fun for more jaded people. Right now, I'll talk about rewards. They are getting very hard to come by, except for the more or less standardized ones (cabal, title, leader position, tattoo, in order of difficulty). The ones that aren't are now very, very rare. Quest forms essentially do not exist. No one has liched (has anyone even assembled an Elixir?) in the year 2000. I can think of a handful of characters who received skills above and beyond the norm in the recent past (Malaglen, I think I saw something odd on Iracundur.) Maybe there are more that people keep under their hat. *shrug* Is this because people have gotten "worse"? I don't think so. I think RP has improved considerably since I've been here, and I'm sure it was far worse in the early days. A lot of those well-roleplayed characters could fight as well, or at least die trying. If the IMMs are grading on RP, then the standards are getting very, very tough. Many cabals cannot maintain a full roster of leaders for any length of time. Sometimes, it's because there really isn't a good choice. Sometimes, things are a bit more baffling. My solution: Hand out some candy. Most people don't really care if there new form/skill/whatever is actually -good-. Most people like that kind of thing because it's fun, and it's novel, and it says "I'm different". Code some special items that aren't much better than 'normal' gear for that character, but have the "Leader Weapon" link on them, and some nifty restringing. (Ooohh.... The Shadowy Robe of the DreadLord (+20 hp, +20 mana, -10 save spell, grants detect good while worn), or whatever.) Find some goofy skills that are lying around on some shelf, and let one or two people play with them. (Squire, was it? Could be neat for a Dawnie. Give it a few cosmetic alterations if it's too Knightish.) Give a semi-proven person a chance to lead. If they die a whole lot, but are otherwise doing a fine job, throw 'em some trains. Reward newer players who are obviously trying their hardest, and doing OK with it. Reward older players who are trying something new, and succeeding. Why? Most of the recent coding changes reflect this: Players like having something unique. They like having choices, and they like to stand out from the crowd. None of the above rewards would be useless, nor would they be unbalancing. Merely, neat. Not everyone wants a Yeti or Eyes of Intrigue. But everyone likes bells and whistles. Make 'em earn them. =)