Armageddon General Discussion Board

General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Pariah on February 23, 2023, 11:25:27 AM

Title: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Pariah on February 23, 2023, 11:25:27 AM
So I'll admit that there is one thing that depresses me instantly upon logging into the game.

time
It is late at night on Terrin, the 123rd day of the Descending Sun,
In the Year of Desert's Agitation, year 14 of the 23rd Age.


Because if you're in a city there is sorta shit all to do at night.  Sometimes you can get lost in playing with others, but that requires well others, and other times you just are forced to go AFK till dawn comes and you can actually go do things.

Some other threads have brought up some things that I think would help stem some of that.


Or...open the gates and let us go get killed at night time....
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: DesertT on February 23, 2023, 11:40:23 AM
Being unable to see at night in the city should be the exception and not the norm.

It should be reserved for tremendous storms and nothing less.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Lutagar on February 23, 2023, 11:57:31 AM
be stalker/scout/adventurer so you can log back out again

if you're not stalker/scout/adventurer (lmao why) then check the main website before logging in since it'll tell you what what time of day it is
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Patuk on February 23, 2023, 11:59:42 AM
Quote from: Lutagar on February 23, 2023, 11:57:31 AM
be stalker/scout/adventurer so you can log back out again

if you're not stalker/scout/adventurer (lmao why) then check the main website before logging in since it'll tell you what what time of day it is

'We have a solution! Just don't play!'

Yeah. I get why the city indoors/outdoors thing was technically a bug that got fixed, but practically, I think it did more harm than it did good.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Pariah on February 23, 2023, 12:07:03 PM
Quote from: Lutagar on February 23, 2023, 11:57:31 AM
be stalker/scout/adventurer so you can log back out again

if you're not stalker/scout/adventurer (lmao why) then check the main website before logging in since it'll tell you what what time of day it is

Yeah but this isn't really a good solution, you're telling folks to just log out at night, so then it cascades because folks log in and go who, shit only four players, fuck this and log off.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Lutagar on February 23, 2023, 12:09:57 PM
Quote from: Patuk on February 23, 2023, 11:59:42 AM
Quote from: Lutagar on February 23, 2023, 11:57:31 AM
be stalker/scout/adventurer so you can log back out again

if you're not stalker/scout/adventurer (lmao why) then check the main website before logging in since it'll tell you what what time of day it is

'We have a solution! Just don't play!'

Yeah. I get why the city indoors/outdoors thing was technically a bug that got fixed, but practically, I think it did more harm than it did good.

the perception of danger is more important to some people than respecting a player's time

though 99% of the time the danger is just negated by waiting patiently and not moving. storms exist to waste your time, they're working as intended. the danger comes from not being willing to have your time wasted and moving.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: betweenford on February 23, 2023, 12:10:39 PM
You can use the exits command to tell where you are going in the dark when there is zero visibility.

When using light sources and the storm is thick, you can use this to walk around at night without getting lost unless the storm sucks, the mediocre storm can't stop you that much from pathing to a bar.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Night Queen on February 23, 2023, 12:28:04 PM
Player 1:
Walks past. "Oh, an empty tavern, guess I'll log out for the night."

Player 2:
Walks past. "Oh, an empty tavern, guess I'll log out for the night."

Player 3:
Sits in tavern.

Player 4:
"Oh, people!"

You ARE the things to do, you CHOOSE not to make yourself available :D
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Bebop on February 23, 2023, 01:07:36 PM
Ideas for night time:

Make nights almost always have visibility in cities.  Add streetlamps etc, as a reasoning for this.

Keep shops open all night.

Bring back NPC entertainers and night time entertainment halls.

Move major barracks and hubs closer to the taverns (they don't have to be right next door, but not across the city) to encourage people gathering at night.

Make it so that all crime can be committed at night without being flagged, with the exception of how tavern zoning is now set up and make a similar zoning for major estates/barracks.  Making the streets more dangerous and the taverns/places in public safe hubs.  Safety in numbers.

Have NPCs with special trinkets/items visit taverns at night - like your local, industrious tamale or flower seller at the bars IRL.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Pariah on February 23, 2023, 01:11:59 PM
Quote from: Bebop on February 23, 2023, 01:07:36 PM
Ideas for night time:

Make nights almost always have visibility in cities.  Add streetlamps etc, as a reasoning for this.

Keep shops open all night.

Bring back NPC entertainers and night time entertainment halls.

Move major barracks and hubs closer to the taverns (they don't have to be right next door, but not across the city) to encourage people gathering at night.

Make it so that all crime can be committed at night without being flagged, with the exception of how tavern zoning is now set up and make a similar zoning for major estates/barracks.  Making the streets more dangerous and the taverns/places in public safe hubs.  Safety in numbers.

Have NPCs with special trinkets/items visit taverns at night - like your local, industrious tamale or flower seller at the bars IRL.

Fuck yeah, all this would be cool.

If you goto third world countries like the Philippines the bars are always filled with street vendors, trying to sell you snacks, or chocolate or flowers for the girl you're sitting with.  I don't see how Zalanthas wouldn't have this type of third world flair.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Kavrick on February 23, 2023, 01:14:10 PM
Quote from: Bebop on February 23, 2023, 01:07:36 PM
Ideas for night time:

Make nights almost always have visibility in cities.  Add streetlamps etc, as a reasoning for this.

Keep shops open all night.

Bring back NPC entertainers and night time entertainment halls.

Move major barracks and hubs closer to the taverns (they don't have to be right next door, but not across the city) to encourage people gathering at night.

Make it so that all crime can be committed at night without being flagged, with the exception of how tavern zoning is now set up and make a similar zoning for major estates/barracks.  Making the streets more dangerous and the taverns/places in public safe hubs.  Safety in numbers.

Have NPCs with special trinkets/items visit taverns at night - like your local, industrious tamale or flower seller at the bars IRL.

Shops being open at night would be really nice.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Bebop on February 23, 2023, 01:15:55 PM
Quote from: Pariah on February 23, 2023, 01:11:59 PM
Quote from: Bebop on February 23, 2023, 01:07:36 PM
Ideas for night time:

Make nights almost always have visibility in cities.  Add streetlamps etc, as a reasoning for this.

Keep shops open all night.

Bring back NPC entertainers and night time entertainment halls.

Move major barracks and hubs closer to the taverns (they don't have to be right next door, but not across the city) to encourage people gathering at night.

Make it so that all crime can be committed at night without being flagged, with the exception of how tavern zoning is now set up and make a similar zoning for major estates/barracks.  Making the streets more dangerous and the taverns/places in public safe hubs.  Safety in numbers.

Have NPCs with special trinkets/items visit taverns at night - like your local, industrious tamale or flower seller at the bars IRL.

Fuck yeah, all this would be cool.

If you goto third world countries like the Philippines the bars are always filled with street vendors, trying to sell you snacks, or chocolate or flowers for the girl you're sitting with.  I don't see how Zalanthas wouldn't have this type of third world flair.

I once bought a chocolate labia at a bar from a vendor just roaming the bars with chocolate labia pops. - heh.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: dumbstruck on February 23, 2023, 01:22:06 PM
Quote from: Kavrick on February 23, 2023, 01:14:10 PM
Quote from: Bebop on February 23, 2023, 01:07:36 PM
Ideas for night time:

Make nights almost always have visibility in cities.  Add streetlamps etc, as a reasoning for this.

Keep shops open all night.

Bring back NPC entertainers and night time entertainment halls.

Move major barracks and hubs closer to the taverns (they don't have to be right next door, but not across the city) to encourage people gathering at night.

Make it so that all crime can be committed at night without being flagged, with the exception of how tavern zoning is now set up and make a similar zoning for major estates/barracks.  Making the streets more dangerous and the taverns/places in public safe hubs.  Safety in numbers.

Have NPCs with special trinkets/items visit taverns at night - like your local, industrious tamale or flower seller at the bars IRL.

Shops being open at night would be really nice.

Yeah. I remember before they had threads asking how to make the cities more appealing. Most to all of the shops in cities were open at night during those times. Then someone changed that. For "realism" I think. Which is only silly when you consider that if you want people in clans those clans have schedules that keep you busy except during night time. But. I'm also just anti closing shops at night. It's a desert world. If you're going to close shops for 2 hours, close them during high sun and early afternoon when it's hottest out. If we're playing realism, this is when people in hot places nap. <3
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Windstorm on February 23, 2023, 01:23:42 PM
I'd love it if shops didn't close. At least the vast majority of them, unless there was a specific reason? It's hard enough doing things at night.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Riev on February 23, 2023, 01:39:26 PM
I think part of the idea of shops being closed at night was to try and funnel more action into communal spaces. Shops being open means you never once have to congregate anywhere.

I'm okay with shops being open at night, so long as there's still less soldiers/crim code. I want to punish the person doing 3000 coin Salarr trades in the middle of the night. Dumb fuckin' Runners.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Bebop on February 23, 2023, 01:51:38 PM
I think shops being open is more of a playability issue to prevent dead air.  It's really hard when a group is trying to get ready and they have to leave at dawn and you run to go get something and you can't and everyone has to wait.  Just gives people more to do in an otherwise downtime.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Pariah on February 23, 2023, 01:53:43 PM
Quote from: Bebop on February 23, 2023, 01:51:38 PM
I think shops being open is more of a playability issue to prevent dead air.  It's really hard when a group is trying to get ready and they have to leave at dawn and you run to go get something and you can't and everyone has to wait.  Just gives people more to do in an otherwise downtime.
Correct, say you're trying to sell to X shop that only is open dawn-dusk.  You go craft your shit at night, then have to spend ten minutes running around the city after you've idled in the bar for twenty.  By the time you get rinse/ready to repeat and go back out, you're at late morning or high sun, half the day is wasted for shit I could have used that time at night to do.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Riev on February 23, 2023, 02:18:25 PM
Quote from: Pariah on February 23, 2023, 01:53:43 PM
Quote from: Bebop on February 23, 2023, 01:51:38 PM
I think shops being open is more of a playability issue to prevent dead air.  It's really hard when a group is trying to get ready and they have to leave at dawn and you run to go get something and you can't and everyone has to wait.  Just gives people more to do in an otherwise downtime.
Correct, say you're trying to sell to X shop that only is open dawn-dusk.  You go craft your shit at night, then have to spend ten minutes running around the city after you've idled in the bar for twenty.  By the time you get rinse/ready to repeat and go back out, you're at late morning or high sun, half the day is wasted for shit I could have used that time at night to do.

What I'm reading, here, is "I choose to craft at night. It is frustrating to me that I have to spend time in the mornings selling off my things because I can't sell at night."

Is that correct?
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Pariah on February 23, 2023, 02:25:19 PM
Quote from: Riev on February 23, 2023, 02:18:25 PM
Quote from: Pariah on February 23, 2023, 01:53:43 PM
Quote from: Bebop on February 23, 2023, 01:51:38 PM
I think shops being open is more of a playability issue to prevent dead air.  It's really hard when a group is trying to get ready and they have to leave at dawn and you run to go get something and you can't and everyone has to wait.  Just gives people more to do in an otherwise downtime.
Correct, say you're trying to sell to X shop that only is open dawn-dusk.  You go craft your shit at night, then have to spend ten minutes running around the city after you've idled in the bar for twenty.  By the time you get rinse/ready to repeat and go back out, you're at late morning or high sun, half the day is wasted for shit I could have used that time at night to do.

What I'm reading, here, is "I choose to craft at night. It is frustrating to me that I have to spend time in the mornings selling off my things because I can't sell at night."

Is that correct?

Well sorta, the only reason any of my characters are ever in town is because it's night, or because they are hurt.  So I spend the nights doing the boring shit, crafting and bar sitting.

Then have to waste a good chunk of my day selling my spoils before I can go back out and get to the fun part again.

I don't want anyone to think that anything is broken per say, it's just super inefficient and makes city activities a chore.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Brisket on February 23, 2023, 06:07:57 PM
Alternate shops/a night market that springs up in the 2-3 tiles outside of the Gaj or whatever.  Give people a reason to show up to buy/sell and then grab a drink.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Gunnerblaster on February 24, 2023, 01:07:53 AM
If keeping a shop open all day, make NPC's rotate (even if it's just a change of their sdesc). Like a night shift/day shift NPC with access to the same inventory. I personally like to imagine NPC's having a life so they lock up shop at night and, ya know, sleep or go out to the tavern. Whatever.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Veselka on February 24, 2023, 09:33:36 AM
Quote from: Gunnerblaster on February 24, 2023, 01:07:53 AM
If keeping a shop open all day, make NPC's rotate (even if it's just a change of their sdesc). Like a night shift/day shift NPC with access to the same inventory. I personally like to imagine NPC's having a life so they lock up shop at night and, ya know, sleep or go out to the tavern. Whatever.

It'd be cool if there was a "Night Market" both in the Labyrinth and the Allanak Bazaar. A new set of NPCs with weird, different, semi-illegal shit to sell roll up and unroll a mat, and disappear at dawn.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Pariah on February 24, 2023, 09:38:24 AM
I'm loving a lot of the shit you guys are thinking up, hopefully some of it makes it into the game.

I personally think since you're a captive in Allanak and Red Storm at night, there shouldn't be all these closed shops because what else are you supposed to do?

It's all fine and dandy to roleplay when you get the opportunity, but as has been stated in other threads, most people don't actually hang out in taverns and shit anymore so that's few and far between.

If more things were accessible at night at least I wouldn't feel the need to just idle away the phases of night in a tavern/compound or whatever.
Title: Re: Making the nights more interesting...
Post by: Miradus on February 26, 2023, 05:52:06 PM
I have no issues with night. I know night is coming and I go find a safe spot to chat, Way, craft, twink spells, or whatever that character does.

It's like 20 minutes long.