Descent into Hack & Slash?

[Nao]

Just to check, in the thread dedicated to discussing the negatives of a perceived descent toward hack and slash we're now saying that having to interact with other people is an unnecessary burden to you being able to hack and slash your way to perfect skills?

We want to interact, we really do. There wouldn't be so many complaints about low numbers if we didn't.

But interaction is not the same as 'find that one specific PC'. Pretty often, you just end up surrounded by all combat classes, or all city classes, and just without that specific thing you need. It can be pretty absurd, like being unable to find a miscreant in the Guild. I don't think this is just an off peak problem, either. When you need something done that requires utility skills, but all you have is five heavy combat classes, it's not happening and everyone is left twiddling their thumbs. When something needs a perfect storm, chances are it's just not happening at all. You'll get less interaction, not more.

[Riev]

As a player of utility classes, I suggest also making it worthwhile that these skillsets do the work you need for them.

Do you NEED cures?
Do you only want to spent 50 coins on them?
Is this PC the only source of them? Pay them 75 each. Bring them herbs. Do something for them.

One thing I've noticed about utility and crafter types is they want to be part of your story, but you just want them for their master brew. Fine. But let them set some rules, or negotiate.

Don't want to descend into HnS mentality? Don't just tell someone they should have cheaper prices or your Jman chopping skill will negotiate for you.

[dunecrawler]

As a player of utility classes, I suggest also making it worthwhile that these skillsets do the work you need for them.

Do you NEED cures?
Do you only want to spent 50 coins on them?
Is this PC the only source of them? Pay them 75 each. Bring them herbs. Do something for them.

One thing I've noticed about utility and crafter types is they want to be part of your story, but you just want them for their master brew. Fine. But let them set some rules, or negotiate.

Don't want to descend into HnS mentality? Don't just tell someone they should have cheaper prices or your Jman chopping skill will negotiate for you.

Whatever you do is going to fail if you just can't find one, or if that person logs on twice a week at 3am.

[MeTekillot]

You can get all the combat benefits of a high strength character with spice use.

[Brisket]

As a player of utility classes, I suggest also making it worthwhile that these skillsets do the work you need for them.

Do you NEED cures?
Do you only want to spent 50 coins on them?
Is this PC the only source of them? Pay them 75 each. Bring them herbs. Do something for them.

One thing I've noticed about utility and crafter types is they want to be part of your story, but you just want them for their master brew. Fine. But let them set some rules, or negotiate.

Don't want to descend into HnS mentality? Don't just tell someone they should have cheaper prices or your Jman chopping skill will negotiate for you.

It's this from what I've seen.  I play all over the clock and regularly have an 'off peak' schedule.  I play utility classes.  Perhaps its just what I've personally encountered, but the majority of the 'rp' I've gotten has been a Raider/Fighter demanding a cure that took me 2 hours to forage and make for 40 coins and won't negotiate.

Maybe there's an even more off off peak that I'm unaware of, which again I accept is a struggle.  But the key can't be 'just let everyone do everything'. 

It might be a good idea to run some numbers and have areas 'highlighted' as populated during off peak, or potentially to have some other method of helping gather players together during low pop times?

[Riev]

I might also suggest throwing a few coins at a local barkeep and putting out simple rumors again.

"people around the Gaj, even Vennant himself, have been heard spreading word that a roughneck named Riev has been looking for an herbalist to trade with. Riev only comes around the Gaj early in the week, but is willing to pay for a concierge herbalist"

I haven't been in a city in a while, but if you don't ask, you'll never find.

[Harmless]

..the leaf you went out to gather on a trip a couple weeks back when you had a crew together is going to be rotten before the month's end normally.

That's not how it is now.  It's more like 4-6 Real Life months for herbs to decay.

I'll submit bug reports when I can prove this statement inaccurate, Halaster. Thanks for pointing out what seems to be a lack of awareness of rot times for poisons. (I was discussing poison objects, not herbs in my post).

[Brisket]

..the leaf you went out to gather on a trip a couple weeks back when you had a crew together is going to be rotten before the month's end normally.

That's not how it is now.  It's more like 4-6 Real Life months for herbs to decay.

I'll submit bug reports when I can prove this statement inaccurate, Halaster. Thanks for pointing out what seems to be a lack of awareness of rot times for poisons. (I was discussing poison objects, not herbs in my post).

This was written in a way that comes across kind of sharp and antagonistic.  Let's try to focus on Pariah's idea of approaching each other from a place a empathy at least in this thread.

[Harmless]

Pardon me, but the purpose of my post was that the player side experience is different from an assertion by staff and that I will be handling it in game. Didn't mean to come off antagonistically.

Together, from the players submitting information about the game and pointing out bugs, along with the efforts staff make to develop new systems, the game will improve. In the meantime, it's going through some growing pains.

There, is that better worded? I never meant to be 'antagonistic.' Unless I'm stabbing someone in the game that is.

[Brokkr]

If it was a high end poison object, like peraine or heramide, there had been a script in place that decayed them for awhile now, which came before and was independent and on top of the general poison object decay.  I only removed that script inside the last month.  That script would have decayed them faster than the overall system, in many cases, I believe.

[betweenford]

My observation is that the incredibly common but weak poisons, like iunno random animal gland #1, decay to inert in less than a week. This makes them annoying to trade in any capacity, even more annoying than trying to smuggle something like spice grains in a player-to-player system.

[Kryos]

Just wanted to chime in on the jist of the op's sentiment - I've done pvp in Arm since the early 2000's to now, sporadically.  Anything from when Borsail was staggeringly prevalent and southern nobles wore masks in a tavern now destroyed and roving mantis death squads were coming to you while gith npc's ran up and chucked spears, to everyone gets mutations in chargen.  Your realization isn't about a change in the players and the game, just how you saw it.  There have been people who treat Arm as hack and slash, and got away with it for reasons I don't know, since I first left the gates of Allanak.  There have been great players who do PvP masterfully and make it feel like an interaction, not a contest of scripted reactions.  I am only very recently coming back so I can't say how it is 'right now', but for the 20 odd years before:  yep, HG, Muls, dwarves and gickers twinking up skillz to go pk newbs and power gaming all done and acceptable.  And so were interactions like trying to hunt down Kust.

But it isn't just Armageddon.  Any game with PvP, especially games with PvP that bring about consequences, will attract those types.  Staff's unenviable job is to put the thumb on them.  And for what its worth, my quick looking around has me presently leaning slightly optimistic, but we'll see.

[CalmThyPalm]

I might also suggest throwing a few coins at a local barkeep and putting out simple rumors again.

"people around the Gaj, even Vennant himself, have been heard spreading word that a roughneck named Riev has been looking for an herbalist to trade with. Riev only comes around the Gaj early in the week, but is willing to pay for a concierge herbalist"

I haven't been in a city in a while, but if you don't ask, you'll never find.

I completely agree with using rumors as a driving force for more character interactions, even in the smallest of scales, especially for toons who either just haven't gotten in with a clan yet or simply prefer solo play.

I haven't been around for long— account just turned one year old a few days ago, actually— but throughout the handful of characters I've enjoyed heavy RP with in that year, I found the RP from typing up vague rumors here and there that prompted others to seek out my toon out of either need, curiosity, or even the want to end me.

And even if they didn't seek MY toon after hearing the rumors, I've heard that some have sought OTHERS to share the rumors with because it was either one that they felt the other person needed to know, or it was just some neat little thing they wanted to talk to them about.

And nothing I've experienced in the game yet has made me as happy as a player as seeing something I put out into the world being what made other players interact as well. Those little IC interactions where someone goes, "Oh yeah, I know you; Amos told me there was some weirdo visiting the tavern lots lately!"? Golden. Love them.