Cliffs, Sinkholes etc.

[Darmon]

Just curious if this has ever been discussed. When your character is newly exploring an area there is a chance he falls into a sinkhole or off a cliff. The few times I have fallen into something recently I was scouting carefully and looking in every direction. A couple times there was no real description or warning that there was a cliff or hole. IRL, you would clearly see such a danger. Exploring in this game you can fall into something with no warning when in reality you would see the danger.

I can see if your trying something like climbing, but can't do anything just moving into an area.

[MeTekillot]

Use "exits" too.

[CodeMaster]

Also, some rooms will describe the dangers in their day-time descriptions but not their night-time descriptions.  Don't know if that applies to your case or not.

[Darmon]

Yeah I use exits. Every location I look every direction and do 'ex'. Just seems like the only way players wont succumb to these pitfalls is if they are using prior experience from that past characters mistakes.

[nauta]

You still fall even with prior experience unless you are some super savant - I'm sure veterans have funny stories about falling all the time.  You should check room descs and if an exit even HINTS at something bad, you'll want to not even bother, unless you want to risk it.  I do agree that it is jarring to try to figure out how your PC, who sat there at the cliff's edge, looked at things, looked at the exit, spent time thinking about it, then went north and OOPs would do that, but I just make something up post hoc to justify it - I got distracted or the mount got jittery or whatever.

[valeria]

If there is no indication that a hole was there, in either the room description or through >look (direction) , please >typo the room that you fell from.

[KankWhisperer]

Prioritize con and play dwarf. Then group killing holes becomes a minor inconvenience.

[Erythil]

I liked a feature that Atonement had where exits that lead to a major drop would be marked in red text, as a big, readily-visibly warning.

I do think that the number of deaths to very large obvious holes in armageddon is a little over the top.

[Saellyn]

I haven't died from one in ages. Usually a yawning chasm has a hint in the room description you're in, during the day, that says "I AM A GIANT YAWNING CHASM TO THE NORTH" - but when you're spamwalking in the desert you tend to miss those things... or when you're not paying any attention. Or skimming.

[Beethoven]

It is a bit jarring when you hear IC that 20 people fell down a hole all at once and died. You should not automatically follow people down a hole when you just saw them plummet down an abyss.

[Quell]

It is a bit jarring when you hear IC that 20 people fell down a hole all at once and died. You should not automatically follow people down a hole when you just saw them plummet down an abyss.

Ugh, I always feel so bad for the followers. I mean the leader maybe deserved it, but all the guys who were codedly forced off the cliff before they had a chance to do anything to save themselves.

Bleah.

[nauta]

It is a bit jarring when you hear IC that 20 people fell down a hole all at once and died. You should not automatically follow people down a hole when you just saw them plummet down an abyss.

I don't know, I like that there are stories of the dangers out there that trickle in.  I do agree the code is a bit clumbsy about it, however.

[MeTekillot]

There's a bit of difference between stories of danger trickling in and a lemmings-style retelling of how Lieutenant Hardass and his platoon of soldiers are dead because not a single one of them realized mid-step that they were flinging themselves off a cliff.

[Bushranger]

Code Select Expand

alias fm follow me

This is one of the first things I do when setting up a new character. If you're playing someone who is observant look where your leader is going and be ready to stop following when you see a hole! Also toss out an up or the opposite direction

[gotdamnmiracle]

I followed someone off a cliff once. Good times.

[Saellyn]

I survived falling off a cliff once.

I didn't survive what was at the bottom of it.

Good times.

[Orin]

When exploring an area, it's good to read the room description first before anything else.  Once you've looked it over and know what you should expect, generally you don't need to read them again unless you have some deep RP going on.

I look in all directions, check exits, and look for in room hidden objects/storage items by issuing a "key .".  You'd be surprised what you find in some rooms.  When in doubt, don't enter a room if you think it's will cause your death.  I can't say how many times I've stupidly walked into a room that later I was like, damn... why didn't I check the exits from the previous room.

[Darmon]

I don't care what anyone says. Vets survive sinkholes, poison fruit, dangerous animals, and other traps by using what they learned from previous characters. If your a ranger or venture out in the scrubs often, impossible any other way.

[Saellyn]

Vets also fuck up and fall in sinkholes.

[Harmless]

It is a bit jarring when you hear IC that 20 people fell down a hole all at once and died. You should not automatically follow people down a hole when you just saw them plummet down an abyss.

This is the biggest beef I have with chasms, this, a million times.

[Centurion]

It still sucks but I wouldn't look at it as they all just walked off the cliff or edge, but that edge or cliff gave way and they plummeted to their deaths.

I did it a few characters ago. I was on my own tho, tired, playing late,  just wandering about and my heart stopped when I hit w and then caught sight of the room description I was leaving... ugh. I cant type stop that fast.

[Harmless]

that's actually a better explanation for it, but that still shouldn't claim everyone.

Anyway, the shoddy, unrealistic climb code completely excuses people who walk around with climbing gear at all times, in my opinion. Such as the famed climbing spikes. You fight fire with fire; silly chasm/follow code, take silly equipment bonuses to climb. That's the status quo.

[CodeMaster]

It still sucks but I wouldn't look at it as they all just walked off the cliff or edge, but that edge or cliff gave way and they plummeted to their deaths.

This seems to be the best IC response, and was just what I was thinking.

In real life, large groups of people are routinely associated with tragic falls.  It's for this reason that military personnel break stride when they cross bridges (to keep from destroying it with resonant feedback).  If you're crossing a frozen body of water with a large group, you're well advised to spread out.  Et cetera...

Zalanthas is a crumbling wasteland... leaders worried about this sort of thing might be well advised to figure out some kind of protocol IC to keep it from happening.

[manonfire]

It still sucks but I wouldn't look at it as they all just walked off the cliff or edge, but that edge or cliff gave way and they plummeted to their deaths.

In real life, large groups of people are routinely associated with tragic falls.  It's for this reason that military personnel break stride when they cross bridges (to keep from destroying it with resonant feedback).  If you're crossing a frozen body of water with a large group, you're well advised to spread out.  Et cetera...

Tragic falls are one thing, marching off a cliff like a bunch of lemmings is quite another.

As far as I'm concerned, everyone except the group leader should have been granted a resurrection. Shit has been broken since forever.

[Saellyn]

Code Select Expand

Marching forward with everyone else, the young man says, in sirihish,
     "Guys, where are we going?"

With a sly smile, the elderly man says, in sirihish,
     "To our deaths, son. The leader has walked off the cliff, so we must follow."

Stopping dead, the young man says, in sirihish,
     "I uh... I don't feel like it."

The young man stops following.

Everyone else falls.