Posted by Macheath on November 2, 2000 at 19:55:25:

In Reply to: Mental Vomit (multicolored, with chunks o' corn and red peppers) posted by Uncle Bob on November 2, 2000 at 19:32:37:

>
> I'd like to theorize here on something that just may be the missing link
> in CF...at least according to Uncle Bob.  I've been thinking about
> this throughout the day, and had to sit pretending to stare at half-finished
> code while these thoughts were bouncing about in my dainty, girlish head.

> This game is designed for the elite.

> Everything in it is geared towards those who know exactly what they're
> doing.  The bonus treats, as I call them (special forms, liches, etc.)
> will never be had by those who don't know CF intimately.  And that
> makes perfect sense in many ways.  The Army doesn't make Generals
> from civilians, after all.

> Or do they?

> In today's Army, no.  But in the civil war, it wasn't uncommon
> for a statesman or even a trusted businessman to be commissioned as a colonel
> or general.  So there are exceptions to everything.  However,
> in CF, this rarely happens.  There are of course, the 30 somethings
> who get cabal leadership, but I'll wager that for the most part these are
> folk who already know CF very well, and it's just a matter of time and
> jumping through hoops they already know all too well before they get hero. 
> I'm not suggesting yanking someone out of a fight with a leather-clad soft
> monster, and make them a hero.  In fact, I think the Hero focus is
> part of the problem.

> Becoming hero here is primary, mostly everything else is based on that. 
> You won't get lich without being a near hero nec, bullete without near
> hero muter, etc.  I'm not saying this is bad, on the contrary. 
> However, in the great epics, the great adventure is in the journey. 
> It's the getting there that's the key, not being there.  What would
> Star Wars be if they just hired some expert pilot to blow up the death
> star?  The Hobbit if the little fart was already a seasoned explorer,
> and knew exactly what to do?  Wheel of Time if Rand already knew the
> full extent of his capabilities, how to defeat the bad guy, and how to
> make a Spam souffle through sheer thought alone?  All would be surrounded
> by piles of polite 'Rejected' slips.

> Everyone begins as a rank 1 here.  But some people know the game
> to such detail that they brag how quickly they can hero.  "My
> last character, Buttpirate, rocked.  He got empowered, inducted, tattood,
> special skilled, uninducted, unempowered, reinducted, banned, unbanned,
> rebanned, unrebanned, untattood, reempowered, and got a special sword called
> 'ass sunder'.  all in 43 hours."

> I've been caught up in that more times that I can think.  "If
> I can only get to THIS rank, then I can play with the big boys,
> get in on the quests, make a name for myself, get that cool-assed ring
> of spanking, etc."  But let's face it...playing with the big
> boys isn't all it's cracked up to be.  It's just a step that is all
> too easy for those who know CF; it's a minor stepping stone.  Some
> of those big boys are simply pains in the ass, rp wise.  They know
> how to get to 51, get the wands, and are content to pk and say nary a word
> to anyone unless they know or suspect they know who it is.  Then there
> are those people that either enjoy ranking and take their time, or don't
> have the ability or patience for heroing, will never hit the majors. 
> Again, I have to be careful here to make it sound like a bad thing...there
> is certainly a circle of rites that we must all go through, and some things
> such as liches and major-major forms should be reserved for heroes.

> But I also think a LOT more emphasis should be placed on the 'rising
> stars'.  In any good story, it's the travel that is the key...hell,
> the Wheel of Time is, essentially, one big 20,000 page epic of people continually
> learning their limits, surpassing them through great trials, becoming stronger...why
> not here?  Is there a way to put less emphasis on 51, and more emphasis
> on each rank equally?  I wish I could come up with examples or suggestions,
> but none are hitting me just now.  I suppose an example is armor...it's
> been theorized that this is only useful for the first 10 or 20 ranks. 
> What if other spells or skills had a similar effect?  A semi-form
> for a transmuter, i.e., twisting his arm to create a powerful tiger's claw
> that would be like a felar attack.  Hmm I don't like that example,
> but I'll leave it for lack of anything else.  Simple skills/spell
> additions or tweaks isn't the answer.

> I guess I would just like to see more of a possibility of the excitement
> and adrenalin at all ranks.  After all, how many people hit 51 then
> delete?  That's their peak, and for whatever reason, there's no other
> path to take.  It would be interesting to see much more dynamism in
> role play and possibilities in the game.  Switch spheres.  Switch
> Gods.  Switch cabals.  Switch classes, perhaps even races through
> some bizarre rite.  The one thing that takes away some of the fantasy
> out of CF is the fact that mostly everything is calculated.  The elites
> know exactly what race/class combo has what, at what rank, it's weakness
> and strengths, underwear size, etc.  Exactly how many ***Demolishes***
> will kill their opponent.  The exact statistical odds of any possible
> outcome.    What is E L I T E?  I'd like to hear some
> people's opinions.  I would agree with Nepenthe that it's more HOW
> you do it, now Where.  It's knowing where to find that wand, not just
> knowing it's in such a place.  I also realize a major rewrite would
> be in order to accomplish this kind of dynamic environment.  I would
> be curious, though, if such things were possible, how people were to react
> to it.

> Once again, I'm not sure I said what I wanted to say.

> I don't want to know, and more importantly, I don't want anyone else
> to know the keys and paths and little tricks that essentially turn CF into
> some text-based Doom.  I don't want to know who anyone is, what they're
> playing, what class they are, what rank they are, nor would they know this
> about me.  I would like the chance, through sheer effort, trial and
> error, and rp (I hate to call it that, rp to me is the reason for playing
> the game, not something you do in the game), to get that lich quest, special
> form or anything else.  Some would say that's available now, but I
> would suggest that the cards are, in many ways, stacked against the 'non-elite'
> (Not trying to cry sour grapes here, but I see these as someone who figured
> out the tricks already, and in many cases, have been given the tricks on
> a golden platter through less than virtuous means.)  I don't play
> Doom tournaments, because someone already spent countless hours finding
> the cool crap, and I won't say there's no skill involved, but it certainly
> isn't a challenge to me to be blown away within seconds.  Some people
> get their kicks this way, and they do in CF as well.  The question
> is, is this what CF is designed for?  I honestly don't know...it could
> very well be that the Imps have CF designed to be completely different
> than what I envision.  In which case all this is moot.  I would
> be curious to here an Imm response, if one can be formed from this jumble
> of mental spew I just deposited.  Good lord *looks back at his post*
> I could have written a friggin' novel by now.

> I guess that I simply have some sophomoric
> wish to walk into Thera as a CF virgin, with everything new and exciting.

> That's what I want.

> Make it so.
>
>
>

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