Weather

[Sanvean]

If we were revamping the weather, what would you want to see more (or less) of?

Things on my list:

seasons that affect weather
rangers being able to predict the weather over the next 12 hours or so
wandering lightning storms
the road randomly getting covered by sandstorms and having to get dug out by PC missions

[amoeba]

seasons that affect weather

Yes.

rangers being able to predict the weather over the next 12 hours or so

Yes, perhaps some other classes/subclasses

wandering lightning storms

A big yes.

I would love to see dust devils as well.  Nice nasty ones like they have on mars.  In those there are also a lot of electrical discharges.
Here is a nice movie of actual martian dust devils.
 

the road randomly getting covered by sandstorms and having to get dug out by PC missions

I love this idea.

In addition:  I'm not sure how feasable this is, but I find the dune areas too predictable.  In truth there should be a lot of volatility in where dunes are.  There is entirelly too much predictiblity in areas that should be less so.  South of Luirs for example.

[jhunter]

I would rather see some changes made so that someone travelling on the road can navigate in a storm so long as they stick to the road. Or through narrow passes and such where there are only two ways you can go. It's sort of odd to be travelling a narrow canyon and keep going in circles when realistically you should be able to follow the canyon wall on one side.

I think that those with the caravan guide subguild, those of the desert elf race, rukkians, and also whirans should be able to navigate storms.

When you look in a direction and it is storming in the room directly to that direction I think you should see blowing sands there instead of having  to look the direction...then use weather in that direction. It makes travelling outdoors an OOC pain in the ass to have to do this to keep from accidentally wandering into a storm.

Example:

lo west

[near]

Swirling sands obstruct your vision in this direction.

Something like that.

I like the idea of rangers being able to detect an oncoming storm and the idea of random lightning storms.

[Larrath]

I'd like to see Whiran, Elkran and Rukkian spells that would affect sandstorms.  A Whiran could have something to do with making a sandstorm move faster/move places, a Rukkian could make the sandstorm thicker, and an Elkran could have somewhat greater control over them.

I'd also like to see sandstorms being more localized and work in a roomexit-based form rather than area-wide.  That is, a sandstorm could be centered in a four-room square/stretch, and every couple of rooms away would have a storm in a different degree (center is damaging, then harsh, then stinging, then sweeping).  They'd wander according to where the wind is headed, and would be weaker in wooded areas and cities.

Finally, extremely powerful sandstorms should be able to do serious damage.  

And I'd like for everyone to be able to predict sandstorms but make rangers the best at it, or see them from a great distance (a strong sandstorm could be seen from, say, seven rooms away).

[Delirium]

In addition:  I'm not sure how feasable this is, but I find the dune areas too predictable.  In truth there should be a lot of volatility in where dunes are.  There is entirelly too much predictiblity in areas that should be less so.  South of Luirs for example.

What Amoeba said, and ESPECIALLY this part.

There are certain formations that don't move, but other than that I would really, really love a smart system of "shifting" dunes where they change according to the weather.  You could predict a little which way they went if you paid attention to the wind direction over the last few days, but you would have to travel the Red very often to keep your internal map of the place up to date.   Of course, that's probably WAAAAY too complicated, but.. what do I know about coding.

[adrien]

sand storms in north i hate them.

[LauraMars]

I love the lightening idea.

You could get struck by lightening, right?  Oh, I hope so.  If this is ever implemented, I want to be struck by lightening.  In front of an audience.  And die.

It won't happen, but I think it would be really neat if it would rain once.  Just to see everyone's reactions and how they rped being caught in something like that.  Mortal terror?  Rejoicing?  Panic?  It would go down in history and be really awesome.

[flurry]

the road randomly getting covered by sandstorms and having to get dug out by PC missions

Yes, that would be great.

It would be great if storms could also conceal, block, or even reveal caves, cairns, and other landmarks.   "There's a big mottled boulder around here somewhere, isn't there?"

I'd love to see more signs of impending storms.

Maybe animal behavior based on the weather.  Maybe this already exists.

And I know this is crazy talk, but maybe once in a while a storm so severe that a ranger has a tiny chance of being disoriented.   :wink:   I kid, I kid.

I'd like to see (and maybe this is already fixed to some extent - I am not sure) it a little easier to walk one room into a a place you can see through the storm.   (e.g. I can see that building.  I can see the people inside the building.  I'll just walk directly toward them.)   Ditto for large landmarks.

Maybe disorientation along roads should only make you fail in the wrong direction on the road.   (e.g. on a north-south road, if you try to go north, and you fail you go south.  Not east or west.)

[RunningMountain]

If on a road, you shouldn't get disoriented in a storm. The road is there for that reason it's not that hard to follow white stones, unless you adjust the code to make sandstorms so horrible you die in them from trying to travel through, then you should be able to stick to the roads during one.

-RM

[Gaare]

IMO all are awesome.. but here is my list.
1-

wandering lightning storms

This awesome and very deathly.. But I liked it a lot. That would surely add a lot to harshness.

2-

rangers being able to predict the weather over the next 12 hours or so

This is ... so cool. Maybe one of the most original ideas I have ever seen for a MUD.

3-

seasons that affect weather

That also gives some meaning to months. On the other hand, I have a bad feeling about it. Many could be annoyed and simply would not login in times of bad weather or make their RL plans according to IC months..

4-

the road randomly getting covered by sandstorms and having to get dug out by PC missions

Actually this is an excellent idea, but a bit less excited then above because these missions may get boring by time. On the other hand, I liked the idea of roads get covered by sand and dust. That's a bit harsh but realistic. Even RL highways lying along desert are get lost or can not be seen after a real sand storm.

[bloodfromstone]

I'm not sure I like the idea of losing a character to being struck by passing lightning. It would be pretty silly to have a lightning strike do anything less than obliterate a person 99% of the time, and it seems like getting caught in storms is already pretty bad.
Then again, if everyone could predict weather to some degree, it wouldn't be too bad. There is a balance than would need to be met, though. I wouldn't want to be sitting on my kank, picking my nose, and see:
"The rumble of a lightning storm echoes in from the south."
say (pulling his finger from his nose) Oh crap.
emote wipes his hand off on his leggings and grab %kank reins, turning it towards th-
Accompanied by a ear splitting crack, a bolt of lightning shrieks from the sky, tearing through you!
(insert mantis head here)

Being able to follow the road through storms would be very nice.

I especially like the idea of animal behavior (though I can't say whether or not this is already in the game). I'd like to see appropriate animals moving towards their dens and burrowing or whatever it is they do when storms come about. Maybe some animals thrive during storms, being found more frequently during them.

[Fragmented]

Re: the lightning storms.. I think that's very cool. I think half-giants should be at the highest risk for a jolt to the noggin, followed by elves, etc, etc.

[bloodfromstone]

That that 90 inch elves!

[marko]

For weather I'd like to see more compartmentalization of the weather affects based on geography.

For example, I don't think the north should necessarily have the same raging sand storms as the south - instead I'd like to see wind storms blowing sticks, debris, and stones.

I think in certain areas we should see vortexes of wind.  The salt flats come to mind - crazy salt devils that rage through a few rooms and dissapear just as fast based on weather conditions.

To go from region to region:

In the south, by the silt sea, I'd like to see silt storms.  The silt is thick, it is heavy, but when those winds pick up - it's ravage everything and could cause darkness.  I'd like to see light objects illume the room you are in (for the sake of playability) by constant echos of silt flying by.

Moving north across the plains to the sands - sand storms.  Allanak west to the mountains and north to Luir's should have sand storms.  These could be a lot what we have now across the known world.  Once again, I'd to see more echos when a storm is raging.  

Moving east into the salt flats - vortexes of wind and cyclones lifting the salt and stinging the eyes.  If a character isn't wearing something on the face I'd like to see them losing stamina randomly as the salt tears at them.  

Tablelands - since the area is really craggy and doesn't have a lot of loose sand I wouldn't want to see sandstorms here.  I can see massive winds causing debris to go by.  Perhaps pebbles flying through the air, bits of cactii, but not so much sand.  

Grey Forest - I'll leave that up to the discretion of the builder of this great zone.  She did a wonderful job expanding the Grey Forest and knows its features far better than I could.

Grasslands - There's no sand and therefore there should be no sandstorms.  Once again, there should be debris flying through the air.  I can see whirlwinds passing through the area.  

For the other regions - base weather on the prominent characteristics of the landscape.  Things from sand storms, 'other' storms (silt, salt, whatever), to vortexes, cyclones, and whirlwinds all fit.

[Agent_137]

stronger storms that don't last as long.

weaker storms that last for IC weeks.

sensible stuff that balances playability with realism. Not too far on the deep end of either side.

[Dalmeth]

First off, considering the general dustiness of Zalanthas as a whole, no place should be free of dust storms except for maybe deep in the Gray Forest.  Dust storms carry dust over incredibly long distances, prevailing local conditions aren't that much of a factor aside from things like mountains.

Also, if you are going to make seasons, make more types of weather.  As it stands, it's just clear, sandy, or really sandy.

Lastly, if you add in the feature of roads getting covered by sand, I'd strongly suggest you add the ability to follow roads in sandstorms as well to complement it.

[da mitey warrior]

Here's my ideas....

Sandstorms should be brief and deadly.  You should NOT have sandstorms which last for RL days.  They should last 20 RL min max, and you should be hit with a sandstorm maybe once per RL day.  ie the chance of any one place having a sandstorm at any one time should be around 1 or 2%

An unprepared person should have a good chance of being killed by a sandstorm, it should suck hitpoints, stamina and stun just for being in one.

Effects:
Random damage to hitpoints, stun and movement points.
Massive increase in lag moving from room to room.
Massive increase in the amount of stamina required to move.
NPCs could be coded to react, perhaps by making them rest and wait the storm out.  
Wagons would be stuck.

There's some factors which should reduce the damage:
-Wearing sandcloth or desert gear
-Being a ranger or desert elf (both with advance warning and class bonuses reflecting their know how to survive)
-Lying flat on the ground (resting or sitting) as opposed to standing.
-Being in a tent or wagon (100% immunity)
-Some races would have partial or total immunities (like kanks, gith etc) to damage.  They would probably still be effected by movement penalties.
-city/town walls would protect people inside from storms.

Here's some examples for how I'd see the messages go.  Imagine this taking place over around 20 min.  Note that these are only examples, and not perfect.

The wind picks up.
(only seen by rangers)

Faint rumblings can be heard in the distance
(only seen by rangers and desert elves)

The wind picks up noticeably and the air starts to fill with sand and dust.
(only seen by rangers and desert elves)

The horizon darkens as clouds of sand and dust build up ominously.  

The wind starts to howl, blowing sand into your eyes and clothing.

Lightening can be heard in the distance as the dark clouds on the horizon start to sweep across the desert with alarming speed.
(run! npcs take cover)

A terrifying wall of sand and dirt sweeps over you, covering the land in darkness and howling winds.
(movement penalties, the first damage penalties)

Sand bites at your skin, scouring raw any exposed flesh.  All sound except the sandstorm is drowned out by the tremendous winds.
(movement and damage penalties)

Sand tears through exposed skin and rips through clothing, scouring everything in its path.  
(movement and damage penalties)

The winds abate slowly as the sandstorm passes overhead.
(movement and damage penalties)

A thick layer of fresh sand falls onto the land from the slacking winds.
(movement penalties only)

As the wind dies down to a fierce gale the sky becomes visible once more.
(movement penalties)

The mighty sandstorm moves off as swiftly as it arrived and becomes nothing more than a dark cloud on the opposite horizon

The wind slowly dies down as small particles of dust fall down around you.

Faint rumblings can be heard in the distance from the passing storm.
(only seen by rangers and desert elves)

So if a storm comes along you have a choice:
1) Run like hell, and hope you get back to town in time.
2) Have a tent handy to hide in.
3) Be wearing protective clothing and stay close to the ground.

[Angela Christine]

Sandfire!  Ok, if you happened to watch the Enterprise episode The Forge, then you know what sandfire is.  If not, well, it is sort of like a sandstorm mixed with an electrical storm, except cooler than that sounds.



I like the idea of electrical storms, but maybe not full on lightning.  Suppose that something in the atmosphere (dust?  sand?  magick?) prevents the big spikes we all know in love from forming, and instead you get myriad little shocks.  Getting hit by a mini-strike isn't as dangerous as a full lightning strike, but is much more common.  They might only do 5-10 points of damage each, but you could get hit many times in one storm.

--  We don't really have a way to reflect "taking cover" in the code, there is no way to show if you are standing under the tallest tree for miles or crouching in a ditch, but I assume sensible people do take cover in electrical storms.  To give people the option to take cover to avoid getting fatally cooked by storms, I would suggest making the chance of getting zapped much higher while standing than while in any other position (I've noticed that while riding you are still considered standing, and so is the mount.  So basically if you are standing, walking, running, sneaking or riding you are zappable, but if sitting, resting, sleeping (things that make you shorter) you are unlikely to be zapped.  

-- If possible, I would suggest flyers are immune to lightning, but that levitators are considered the same as standing because the are just a tiny bit above ground, a distance the current could easily jump.  

-- Cities would be zap-free zones, because the electricity would be far more likely to hit the buildings than the people (exception: The Shire and similar locals, since hobbit holes are mainly underground, the people have a good chance of being higher than the buildings).



Another way to go would be electrical storms that are all echo, no Zap.  In real life getting hit by lightning is potentially fatal, but very rare.  Environmental echos of lightning would give the feel of electrical storms, the possibility of background including your uncle Ed was hit by lightning, and make Elkrosians seem more included in the natural world.  It's all good.



Angela Christine

[SewerRat_inTheOpen]

seasons that affect weather

Seems binding, in that people may be forced to stay in cities when the sandstorm season comes.

rangers being able to predict the weather over the next 12 hours or so

Rangers own the desert. It reasons that they may see more signs of weather changes and react to it, rather than being like the rest of the populace who see general signs like strong winds..

wandering lightning storms

I wouldn't like my pc to just walk into a wander lightning storm and get struck to death. But effects will be nice.

the road randomly getting covered by sandstorms and having to get dug out by PC missions

Sounds good. More jobs for people. With all the sand blowing here and then, it stands to reason that roads less used will be covered up.

Of the four, I prefer the road idea best and the seasons one least.

edited to add: Oh, sandstorms that last RL days... painful to play.

[Cuusardo]

I am still very fond of anyone being able to see a bad sandstorm looming on the horizon.  Thinking of the way that picture of the approaching sandstorm looked, or the way it looks when a really bad thunderstorm is coming, anybody should be able to see the huge, dark, ominous clouds coming at them.

[Kennath]

If we were revamping the weather, what would you want to see more (or less) of?

Things on my list:

seasons that affect weather
rangers being able to predict the weather over the next 12 hours or so
wandering lightning storms
the road randomly getting covered by sandstorms and having to get dug out by PC missions

Hell yes
yes
yes ok
hell yes

but if we're gonna bury roads you should atleast make them useable by non-rangers, until the point there covered. Give people a reason to grab there shovels! (The spice addicted man gets  his sifter from a large orange & tie-dye backpack and sifts through the sand on the street)

[Rindan]

A lot of people have already hit up most of these suggestions, but let me give my list.

I would REALLY like for storms to be scary.  Right now they are irritating, but there is little sense of 'holy shit' unless you are a non-ranger and caught outside of the city... in which you are more like 'holy shit, I need to log off and this damn sandstorm won't let me find my way back to Red Storm for a few RL days'.

One way to make storms terrifying would be to make them a little more Hollywood.  It would be awesome if you got echos describing the impending storm.  As others have suggested, give the early warnings if impending d00m only to rangers, but eventually everyone sees that terrible black cloud on the horizon.  Right before the storm hits, it would be great if there was a description of a big ugly wave like wall of sand coming right at you with just enough delay before it hits for everyone to should 'Oh shit!'.  During the storm, some nice environmental emotes to remind people who terrible the storm they are in would be great.  Lightening tearing around in the black clouds above you would be great.

I would like to see consequences to being in a sandstorm, but if the storm is going to last more then 20 minutes, I would like to see those consequences such that non-rangers can get away.  Nothing is more irritating then having your non-ranger stuck in a storm a few steps away from a city with more water then he can ever drink, yet be pinned at that location for hours and unable to log out.  Logging out is a big deal and really needs to be considered if you want to make storms basically immobilize people.  No one should die because they simply need to quit but couldn't.  That is just dying due to an OOC reason, and that is just irritating.

So, I would suggest the following.  There is nothing wrong with multi-day long sandstorms.  In these sandstorms, make the penalty for being out in them much higher water consumption, GREATLY increased movement lag, and occasional have them walk in a direction they didn't intend to.  Hell, maybe even garble all communication except shouts to encourage people to talk with hand gestures.  Have lightening in such storms, and make it so that lightening has a chance, depending upon your ride skill, to spook your kank and make him throw you off, run in a random direction, or do both.  Finally, in such storms have any exposed legs, chest, face, or head result in small amounts of damage.  If you get throw out of the city in the middle of a sandstorm naked, you should be thinking "Oh shit" to yourself.  If you simply forgot head covering, the code should just prick you as a friendly reminder not to do it again.  The idea isn't to make being out in your average mutli-day storm impossible to everyone except rangers.  The idea is to make it enough of a pain in the ass that people seek to avoid it an are constantly reminded that they are indeed in a sandstorm.  If you try and travel through a sandstorm with a group of Byn, you are going to slightly veer off course from the occasional movement foul ups,  you will constantly be stopping as kank's panic and throw people off, movement lag will increase the time of your trip, and the resorting to hand gestures and shouting will ensure that people remember that this is indeed a sandstorm, not just a code effect that limits how far you can see.

Every now and then, it would be nice if a truly terrifying sandstorm blasted through.  These would quick, but they would be the sort to tear off your skin and remind you how much you should love Allanak.  These would have all the same effects as a normal sandstorm, except that the effects would all be more sever, and that you would take damage even if you were covered up (although it would be less damage then if you were not covered).  Perhaps make some items that could greatly reduce or eliminate all together the damage associated with such storms.

For some real fun, have cities react to such monster storms.  When one of these is spotted the gates close before it reaches, the city completely clears of NPCs, warning bells ring, and everyone not inside when the storm hits gets subjected to all the negatives that sitting out in the desert would bring.  This would make it a GREAT time to for a well equipped group led by a ranger to go do something horrible.  Such storms should be feared and be associated with terrible luck.

Finally, as a little side item, it would be great if the seasons were more dramatic.  The month of Low Sun in particular should probably be an unpleasant month to be outside.

[jhunter]

As others have suggested, give the early warnings if impending d00m only to rangers, but eventually everyone sees that terrible black cloud on the horizon.

See this bothers me. I'm curious as to what people's reasoning is for this. Desert elves live out in the wilds more than most rangers. They are even given certain skills as a race because of it, but a human ranger from a city can navigate and deal with a storm better then your average desert elf that lives in it nearly -all- the time? This makes zero sense to me.

As far as the negative effects from a storm, a sandstorm is mainly made up of two things...sand and wind. Why -wouldn't- a whiran or rukkian be immune to most of the negative effects of the storm? I'd just like to hear the reasoning from those who don't seem to agree. If there was damage caused by blowing sands I think those two elementalists would be immune to it. More so than any one else, ranger or otherwise.

Logging out is a big deal and really needs to be considered if you want to make storms basically immobilize people. No one should die because they simply need to quit but couldn't. That is just dying due to an OOC reason, and that is just irritating.

Agreed.

[Boggis]

As far as the negative effects from a storm, a sandstorm is mainly made up of two things...sand and wind. Why -wouldn't- a whiran or rukkian be immune to most of the negative effects of the storm? I'd just like to hear the reasoning from those who don't seem to agree. If there was damage caused by blowing sands I think those two elementalists would be immune to it. More so than any one else, ranger or otherwise.

Rephrase that to why -couldn't- a Whiran or Rukkian be immune and I might be able to agree with you. Like all other elementalists Whirans and Rukkians have links to their elements but aren't living personifications of their elements. I could accept a Whiran or Rukkian having some spells which granted them immunity or reduced damage but immunity just because of their element? No way. Makes no sense at all. Drop a ten ton rock on an unprepared Rukkian and see what happens.

[picklehead]

Quote:
As others have suggested, give the early warnings if impending d00m only to rangers, but eventually everyone sees that terrible black cloud on the horizon.


See this bothers me. I'm curious as to what people's reasoning is for this. Desert elves live out in the wilds more than most rangers. They are even given certain skills as a race because of it, but a human ranger from a city can navigate and deal with a storm better then your average desert elf that lives in it nearly -all- the time? This makes zero sense to me.

I think that desert elves in general should perhaps have -some- of the benefits or be able to pick up on an impending storm quicker than a city-dweller, but I don't think that say, a warrior d-elf, should be noticing everything as quickly and easily as a d-elf (or any race, for that matter) ranger would.  That d-elf warrior obviously spends the vast majority (if not every single moment) of time in the desert, but he likely serves a different role within the tribe than a ranger would. For rangers, what's going on around them in their desert environment is what they spend a lot of their time thinking about and observing. Meanwhile that warrior is likely back in camp wrestling with some of the others to prove who's the stronger tribemate.