What would you change?

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Belamir
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:28 pm

Re: What would you change?

Post by Belamir »

Lindonon, new players can ask experienced players questions at any time. I find it a good reason to open shops 24/7 simply because this is the only reason you were able to supply for 'why' shops should be closed at night. It is not a reason.

Even as an experienced player I've found it endlessly frustrating when trying to level a new character when I want to sell something and I have to wait upwards of 10 or even 15 minutes for a shop to open. Realistic, yes. But realism is not the first concern when tweaking features like this, from what I understand. Playability tends to (and should) take precedence.

I'd rather see shops operate like Angdil does now. He's not open 24/7, but nor is he closed for long stretches at a time. Even if shops are open for two or three separate one-tick stretches during the night, it would reduce the frustrating wait time for players. After all, I suspect most players don't spend excessive amounts of time browsing shops. Most want to buy or sell and be on their way (selling is straightforward, and it is so easy to search for items in shops now that buying should be too).

I just can't buy 'realism' as a reason to potentially discourage new players this way. 'Realism' is already compromised in so many other ways (this is a game, remember?), and more visible and jarring ways than this will not be changed due to playability reasons. So why should shops be open only half of the time? Hell, the only other restriction of 'you can only do so and so half of the time' that comes to mind is the restriction on playing dark-side characters, with their sun malus/death. But those are for experienced players. Why are we treating new players in a similar way?
Aximander
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 2:33 am

Re: What would you change?

Post by Aximander »

I have a question right now, but shops are open in the game so I can't ask it. =(
Caerroil
Bug Hunter
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:25 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: What would you change?

Post by Caerroil »

The only question I have heard while standing in a shop waiting for it to open or some mended eq to be finished is "spare some gold?", and that pretty much only happens at Angdil (and Kormock) and the ones asking are rarely newbies but semi-experienced people who most of the time just are too lazy to go out and pick up some eq to sell. Newbies very rarely ask for gold, and they don't reply with a "only 20 gold? that wont get me a full set of metals" when they get some.
kogan
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:57 pm

Re: What would you change?

Post by kogan »

Most important changes: bash and block door!

1. Bash:
From my point of view bash is bugged! You bash someone and fled before you can bash it ... This smells! Bashed should be bashed for the whole duration, no flee, no wimpy flee nor anything!!!

2. Block Door:
30 mana for like humpf .... 150+ moves ?
Blocked doors should be treated like armour (eat some damage, get weaker and give a higher chance to bash/break it).

3. Serveral game-correction:
Old Sneak: Was nice like it was. Why the hell it was changed ? Adjust the the changes for sectors instead (forest -5%, open fields -15% etc ..).
Commands: Some ms delay of close/open doors, hit etc ... or fixed number commands per seconds, in example 3-4 commands (need to be tested what's better).
Reduce Melee: slighty decrease chance to get (depends on terrain; caves are fine, but open plains are worse) ...

Skill-Fixes:
Spears vs Dagger, Spears vs Warsword ... keep at bay doesn't really work there!
Fix Charge-Skill: Shorter distance, higher damage (like backstab damage), higher chance (depends on stats/terrain!) to miss.

Nice todo:
Items can be bought, sold and mended 24h/day ... During night-times prices are higher than normal (33% or whatever).

I think that would be all
Caerroil
Bug Hunter
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:25 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: What would you change?

Post by Caerroil »

I like the idea to make the chance of not being able to engage an opponent to be based on the type of terrain one is in currently, also some change to block door (preferably the often suggested give-block-door-hps idea).

Something I didn't like at all was the idea to add any real importance to weapon size, for the simple reason that I think such a system would be severely lacking in realism and thus I very much prefer the oversimplified system we have today. It is simply too much to take into consideration and I very much doubt that there are any competent people available to model such a system, that is people with experience and knowledge about real fighting with different types of weapons vs. different types of other weapons and preferably vs. different types of armour if we are heading down that road of "extreme" realism.

Also backstab like damage for charge would most likely be abused in some way, and personally I don't really see any good way to implement charge in MUMEs simplified combat system so I'd much rather see it removed completely.
Elestir
Posts: 231
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Location: Olomouc, Czech Republic
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Re: What would you change?

Post by Elestir »

Kogan wrote:1. Bash:
From my point of view bash is bugged! You bash someone and fled before you can bash it ... This smells! Bashed should be bashed for the whole duration, no flee, no wimpy flee nor anything!!!
As long as there is rather flawed melee system which allows tons of attacks being performed on you in one bash delay, this feature is simply a necessity. As it is now, eating a bash vs big enough group is already quite dangerous, making it sure death would not help the game.
Kogan wrote:2. Block Door:
30 mana for like humpf .... 150+ moves ?
Blocked doors should be treated like armour (eat some damage, get weaker and give a higher chance to bash/break it).
Block door currently does two things: keeps the door closed and makes it harder to break (both through might or magic).
Removing the feature that makes it harder to break would suffice. To balance it, bashing the door should become bit harder. There is lot of space for new features as well (like door materials, door hps, etc.). Also I never understood why door has to be closed to be blocked. If the magic is strong enough to keep it closed, why isn't it strong enough to actually close it? And perhaps there could be another spell for keeping the doors open. All these spells should be countered with dispel magic of course. Break door could stay as an alternative to bashing a door, or it could get replaced by physical offensive spells applied on the door.
Kogan wrote:3. Serveral game-correction:
Old Sneak: Was nice like it was. Why the hell it was changed ? Adjust the the changes for sectors instead (forest -5%, open fields -15% etc ..).
Actually it is good idea to make sneak behave differently based on terrain. I can even imagine sneak being slower outdoors than indoors (not as overpowered outdoors and still useful in indoors pk). The nosneak was definitely bad solution.
Kogan wrote:30 mana for like humpf .... 150+ moves ?
Blocked doors should be treated like armour (eat some damage, get weaker and give a higher chance to bash/break it).
Block door currently does two things: keeps the door closed and makes it harder to break (both through might or magic)
Removing the feature that makes it harder to break would suffice. To balance it, bashing the door should become bit harder. There is lot of space for new features as well (like door materials, door hps, etc.). Also I never understood why door has to be closed to be blocked. If the magic is strong enough to keep it closed, why isn't it strong enough to actually close it? And perhaps there could be another spell for keeping the doors open. All these spells should be countered with dispel magic of course. Break door could stay as an alternative to bashing a door, or it could get replaced by physical offensive spells applied on the door.
Kogan wrote:Commands: Some ms delay of close/open doors, hit etc ... or fixed number commands per seconds, in example 3-4 commands (need to be tested what's better).
4 commands per second is already a general MUME limit as far as I know. But perhaps something in the sense like this could work: Only one action on door per one MUME heartbeat. I.e. no insta-reclose after it has been opened, but only next-heartbeat close would be possible (and of course an attempt to close already closed door would be ignored as well as an attempt to open already opened door). Same would go the other way around, that is no insta-reopen after it has been closed. This would reduce the door spam a bit and give bit better chance to flee from traps. Question is if that's what we want...
Kogan wrote:Reduce Melee: slighty decrease chance to get (depends on terrain; caves are fine, but open plains are worse) ...
I'd prefer melee along with whole combat system completely revamped, but current state is adequate for general combat system as is now imo. What I'd prefer would be combat system that is more based on your decisions than on sizes of your groups (which is 90% of that what matters in MUME combat system of nowadays). Though I am aware that change like that would require a lot of work with rebalancing the mobiles and stuff, so I basically can't imagine such change in MUME...
skyhawk
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2008 3:46 am

Re: What would you change?

Post by skyhawk »

Well, this thread's been open awhile, so no idea if anyone's still watching, but...

If I could change anything?

Well, here's my top three (in no particular order):

*In Middle-earth, do we see Orcs ripping off the gates at Bree? I don't think so. Commonly at the fords near Rivendell? Probably not. So for one thing, give them more to do on the ''other'' side of the mountains, and to the south. (As well as more defensive barriers to the west.)

*Shops. Way too many long lists of *junk*. These should be diversified.

For example, I'd split out the woodworked items (boxes, barrels, etc.) for a woodwright shopkeeper/craftsman. (Among several others.)

In addition, if I were the tailor, I would be upset that people could buy/sell at the armourer. Why the heck would he know better than me about clothing?

Or if I were the grocer, why wouldn't I buy fruit and other raw foodstuffs so that I could sell them? Or the baker, flour? Or the the various pubs and bars, various bottles of spirits?

*The magic system needs to lose it's D&D image, and meld at least a little closer to M-E. As such the following spells would need a rename at the very least: Chill Touch; Colour Spray; Energy Drain. And honestly, I think they could probably be removed fairly easily.

And while removing those, I would remove the spell "poison" and with that the presumably last reason to keep around "Detect poison", so it would go too.

And "create food" would be *gone*. A couple pracs which makes quite a few items and processes useless. (And creating mushrooms out of thin air? Where in Middle-earth did even Gandalf do that?) And it's not as if there isn't a local fox or squirrel or whatever to sate your palate. Unlike water, which you would have to travel, possibly some distance, to obtain.

And while I was at it, remove the words "cleric" and "priest". Possibly even reshuffle the spells:
type 1: generate energy, enchantments, and provide personal protection/enhancements/teleportation;
type 2: Beguile, find, or transport others, and nature-affecting magic
type 3: good/evil magic, and healing/harming magic

Link to the wiki with more specifics:
http://mume.org/wiki/index.php/User:Sky ... Spell_list
Last edited by skyhawk on Sat Jul 26, 2008 5:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
Misfit
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:13 am

Re: What would you change?

Post by Misfit »

Giving zorcs the ability to capture some towers with a small garrison is an excellent idea. It would definently promote some fun play on zorc side. IMO another rent spot is needed for them as well. Its a bit restricted as it is.

Trolls: Ologs should be more resistant to sun death. Some trolls in warrens can walk freely in the sunlight according to their description. Maybe give trolls over 40 extra thick skin which lets them move through sunlight but still with health penalties. Just not as severe.
Materia
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:39 pm

Re: What would you change?

Post by Materia »

Get rid of the useless items like toungues etc, or do something with them, such as allowing players to forge armour and make more weapons.
Anthamos
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:30 pm

Re: What would you change?

Post by Anthamos »

Yeah, smithing would be great! Especially as it was so important skill among dwarves and elves. I made a new topic for this idea, please add your input there!
Belamir
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:28 pm

Re: What would you change?

Post by Belamir »

Smithing would be pretty cool (well, as long as tongs are used, and not tongues), but I suspect balancing the addition of something like this would require a few more steps than a first glance would suggest. If you could only create items that load in shops by default, what would the point be (other than farming cash, which in itself creates separate balancing issues)? If you can create items that don't load in shops by default, you're potentially affecting the carefully (?) planned item loads. Etc.
Anthamos
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:30 pm

Re: What would you change?

Post by Anthamos »

Sure, naturally it requires more changes and balancing but what important change doesn't? Every new zone, item or loadspot which is created requires balancing aswell so it isn't no-can-do, it's just how-to-do! I once proposed a new item, a piercing weapon for whities equal to enchanted fang. I recall it wasn't rejected by gods aslong as I'd come up with descriptions, history for it etc. Don't remember what happened with this plan actually, it was a few years ago and I haven't been very active a last couple of years.

Items created by smithing - there could be quite some jewellry, made from silver and with simple gemstones. New type of wedding and engagement rings for exsample. Also equal weapons and armor to existing common items but with small differences perhaps and ofcourse different appearance/name. Custom made helmets which could be shaped like heads of animals or birds etc. They don't have to be stronger they don't have to bring in more cash. Also one important thing - smithing wouldn't be mainly about cashflow or creating uber legendequipment. This would be more roleplaying, fun feature.

It would also require enough time, patience and work to make it useless for abusers or anyone who knows how to do smobs or semismobs for good equipment and cash. Still an alternative for those who perhaps like more soloing or don't find doing smobs more fun. Also - since it wouldn't be too fast and easy majority would still go for existing items loading in various zones.

Smiths would form sort of new society. Think of smiths in Tolkien books. They did not create nice jewellry or armor just to make a bigger buck, it was an art. Except for very powerful items which I'm not talking about here and do not recommend to be discussed and these are not what I intend to see coming from smithing; except for those few items most works of smiths were just craft and artistic work. Sure you can divide smiths into various cathegories - common blacksmiths, then weaponsmiths and alike who did it for living and chose quantity over quality and finally exceptional artists who commited to this craft entierly.
I don't see how it couldn't be balanced and I'm sure every weak point could be covered and fixed especially with some testing. Do you see masses of smiths if these changes would be implemented, completely taking over tasks given to shops or smobs?
Please point out possible flaws and weak points if you see them, truth comes out from discussion! :)
science
Posts: 70
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 7:00 pm

Re: What would you change?

Post by science »

I'm going to reply focusing primarily on things that I think keep people AWAY from mume.

1) As many others have said, mobdeath is too strong. Yes, this adds to the fear+excitement, but it could be toned down a lot and still have this. Plus the "losing eq" possibility also adds quite a bit of fear. I'd cut the xp loss in half. Every time I mobdeath I quit mume for a year out of anger/frustration :)

2) There are a lot of "annoying" things that seem to be done in the name of realism. Corpses rotting -> why does the EQ dissappear then? Just leave it on the ground. No banking. If I'm a big hero coming into down naked, I'd like to think someone would let me have a spare set of basic armor. Or at least be happy to take some of my gold (+ a fee) to give back to me later.

3) Encouraging grouping with others even more than currently. 10% XP bonus, things like that. It's also be nice if there was a personal quality to TPs - I hate exploring a new area for the first time and not getting anything out of it. I hate adventuring alone, I play an online game so there are others there too.

In other notes, we need to recruit more. The pk wars are more fun with more people on. Mudconnect.com, topmudsites.com, etc.
Timodeus
Arata
Posts: 301
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Location: Germany

Re: What would you change?

Post by Timodeus »

science wrote: [...] It's also be nice if there was a personal quality to TPs - I hate exploring a new area for the first time and not getting anything out of it. [...]
In fact, there is something like that:
from HELP TP wrote: [...]
There is also another way to gain TPs: MUME grants a consistent TP bonus for the first few times you ever visit a new zone. For example, a new character starting in Fornost should gain about 1500 travel points for her first trip to the Grey Havens - even if she remains on the main road. This bonus is unaffected by being a leader or a follower, or by any other issues.
Wobbler
Posts: 393
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:02 pm

Re: What would you change?

Post by Wobbler »

The new zone TP bonus is not something one usually notices while tping.
See, for instance, this thread that is dedicated to a TP discussion.
Politicians are wise and benevolent and will gladly sacrifice themselves for the common good. Anyone who implies that there might exist dishonest politicians is obviously a terrorist who should be locked up indefinitely without a trial.
Materia
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:39 pm

Re: What would you change?

Post by Materia »

I would cap xp loss to a reasonable amount. My level 45 character loses ~300k per pk death, you better believe I run around with two stored teleports on him. Mobbing? 1.4mil give or take 100k. I would at least cap the pkdeath at 100k as well, and maybe mobdeath at around 500k? Sometimes, its just not worth it. I mean mobbing an old age Noldorin for 1.4mil and then mobbing again a few minutes later trying to recover your corpse, THAT is what makes players leave the game. Do that a few times, and you can severly screw your trophy in the bum.
trank
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:21 am

Re: What would you change?

Post by trank »

The "Fog of War" should descend when player-killing.

Those so engaged should not be able to narrate, tell, sing or anything else to anyone not in the same room as them. Also, a group fear penalty should apply to all group members in the same room when a group member flees a player-killing fight.
Wobbler
Posts: 393
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:02 pm

Re: What would you change?

Post by Wobbler »

You mean out-of-game communication should be made even more powerful?
I think it has been proven well beyond reasonable doubt that such a change would be quite horrible.
Politicians are wise and benevolent and will gladly sacrifice themselves for the common good. Anyone who implies that there might exist dishonest politicians is obviously a terrorist who should be locked up indefinitely without a trial.
aeliran
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:05 pm

Re: What would you change?

Post by aeliran »

Here are a few ideas:

1. A proper economy. Prices in shops should be based on supply and demand, not arbitrary values in the code. Have auction houses or commodity exchanges to sell things.

2. Increase the importance of materials. An armourer needs iron to make or mend breastplates for example. Either you supply a bar or iron or he has to it the open market, and if iron is expensive then he'll charge you more to fix your plate. The game goes for weapons, leather/cloth armour etc. The only source of iron should be player-mined. If you want your mithril armour mended, you'll need some actual mithril. Additionally, to operate his forge, the armourer or weaponsmith will need coal.

3. Have a bank where players can get their cash, but when they die, the bank takes 50% of it. It's a money sink, and means when you die you can get back into the game quicker.

4. Simple stuff: coded guild support, proper group tell, horses that actually increase speed, charge that works, shops open 24/7, allow horses on the GH ferry, ban the killing of people's pets/horses,

5. Make horse-riding more important. Rather than just affecting moves, make it affect the whole game mechanics. If you're on a horse, you can attack people on the ground harder, including being able to run them over, someone on foot shouldn't be able to outrun someone on a horse. Disable bashing from horseback, and someone on a horse being bashed should be knocked off for extra damage. Plus riders should have zero DB.

6. Increase the importance of non-plate metals. There should be reasons to wear mail and leather. Increase the maluses for metals, say -5 def for each piece of metal, and a 10% reduction in weapon speed. Lesser maluses for mail, and none for leather.

7. More herblores. Every herb you find should have a use, for a lore that people might actually want. Therefore herbalists would buy herbs for a reason, rather than just to fill their inventory. Simple lores that give small mana regen, healing properties,

8. Quests. There should be hundreds of quests, they don't have to be complicated, just a way to make the xp less boring. Look at World of Warcraft: you have quests all over the place, and by the time you've done them you've gained several levels without actually thinking about xp, so it feels like less of a grind. They should be used to help newbies explore the world and get hooked on the game. For example if you start an elf in GH, you have a few quests around the area killing deer and foxes and whatever to get up to level 5 or so, then a quest sends you to deliver something to the Shire, there you get more quests to xp around there, then you might get sent to Bree or the Blue Mountains. When a newbie is buried in quests and errands, they don't have time to get bored aimlessly xping, and before they realise it they'll have been playing for hours.

9. Spread the skills out more. Instead of getting a load at level 1 for instance, give out one new skill every level or two. This makes levelling more rewarding. But when you get a new skill, it should be usable immediately. Not like it is now where you practice a new skill, but it doesn't do anything until you've maxed it a few levels later.

10. Improve mining. Have viable mines all over the map, digging up everything from coal to iron to anything else that might be needed to make items. Have 'prospecting' as a skill that shows up nearby minerals on a map like 'locate'.
Andróg
Posts: 204
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:10 pm

Re: What would you change?

Post by Andróg »

My thoughts on what you wrote. First of all, let me emphasise that if I don't reply to something, then it means that I totally agree with that statement. :)

Now...
3. Have a bank where players can get their cash, but when they die, the bank takes 50% of it. It's a money sink, and means when you die you can get back into the game quicker.
This would just increase the "gap" between newbies and experts. Thus, a bad idea. (I've explained why I think this already a few times on these forums...)
5. Make horse-riding more important. Rather than just affecting moves, make it affect the whole game mechanics. If you're on a horse, you can attack people on the ground harder, including being able to run them over, someone on foot shouldn't be able to outrun someone on a horse. Disable bashing from horseback, and someone on a horse being bashed should be knocked off for extra damage. Plus riders should have zero DB.
While I totally agree with the basic idea you're presenting: riding should matter in more ways than simply move-cost! - then I can't agree with the specifics you're proposing. Sure, a rider should have certain advantages against an on-foot opponent and vice versa, but I see no reason why one shouldn't be able to bash while riding. I mean, bashing basically knocks your opponent out - why shouldn't this be possible while riding? Sure, it would make sense to perhaps make riding-bash slightly easier to dodge, but no more than that. Also - I'm not so sure if making riders move faster than on-foot people is such a good idea. It might "make sense", but it would put zorcs (especially warriors) and trolls in severe disadvantage. Oh and - I see no reason why riders shouldn't have any DB, rather their DB should depend on their riding skill as well!
6. Increase the importance of non-plate metals. There should be reasons to wear mail and leather. Increase the maluses for metals, say -5 def for each piece of metal, and a 10% reduction in weapon speed. Lesser maluses for mail, and none for leather.
I think this argument simply falls into the general category of "please make it so that absorb isn't everything!". :) And yes, I agree, these days even scouts wear some sort of armour. I'm not so sure about that -5... I think it's too much, but the proposal to make armour effect weapon speed is certainly interesting.
7. More herblores. Every herb you find should have a use, for a lore that people might actually want. Therefore herbalists would buy herbs for a reason, rather than just to fill their inventory. Simple lores that give small mana regen, healing properties,
While I agree with this idea, then inventing new herblores isn't the easiest thing to do. Aside being useful, they also have to be balanced and "make sense". We can't just pick a random set of 3 herbs and say that these help manaregen. Adding herblores like that would be kind of simplistic and lame. However, if you have any specific potential new herblore in mind, definitely write about it! If I like it, then I'll do what I can to help it get implemented. :)

By the way, this reminds me... one really cool thing would be to have "varying herblores", where someone with the necessary skills can develop a whole variety of different herblores by combining different herbs. Right now we just got what I'd called the "planned set herblores" where everybody mix the same things and get the same result. However, how to make it possible to have more variance to that... and at the same time keep it relatively uncomplicated to code... I still haven't figured out how to do that, but I'm certainly open to all ideas!
8. Quests. There should be hundreds of quests, they don't have to be complicated, just a way to make the xp less boring.
Like Timodeus and others have said many times - building a new quest is not as simple as it might sound. Plus, it takes quite a bit of time as well. And given the relative shortage of builders these days, then, quite simply: if you want more quests, then join the building crew and build them!
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