Quote from: Krath on Today at 12:04:07 PM

Quote from: Riev on Today at 11:56:12 AMAttitude wise, I mean the people that feel you have to kill a PC because they looked at you and see your description. Because being anonymous means you can still socially roleplay with people back in the city. Because once you know Green-eye Amos is the raider, every templar and Bynner in the game will be contacting green.eyed.amos and hunting him. Once we can collectively get over the idea that a PC raider in the sands doesn't need the other 120 people in the game hunting them, we'll be closer to allowing more fun raider RP.

Staff could bring back the mask that hide mdesc to solve this issue.

Exactly this. Anonymity actually promotes the ability to be an antagonist in between the 0 (don't do anything conflict related) and 100 (instant PK before you can get desc sniped). There is so much more hoop-jumping, workarounds, and abuse potential that comes about because people try to avoid the consequences of getting look-ID'd than the downside of someone running around incognito. It opens up many more avenues of roleplay (infiltrating, cults, subterfuge) that the absence of being able to obscure identity actively stifles.

And no, people aren't going to act like fools without IC consequences. There are very easily enforceable IC consequences to being masked up all the time, the Guild boss can kick you out, the Templar's can have you seized and searched, etc. What exactly are people worried about? That someone in a mask will PK them or steal from them? I mean, that's exactly what's going to happen without mdesc obscuring ability, because that's what happens now. There's really much less room for you being left alive, and frankly, I'd rather have a raider leave me bruised and wondering than dead with a glimpse of who it was.

Atonement, Shadows of Isildur, Harshlands, essentially every other RPI could cloak up. It didn't break the game. It in fact led to some of the coolest reveals and situations I can remember. Sure, there might be some edgelord who wears a greathelm literally every second in game, but there's ways of discouraging that. (Needing to remove to eat / drink, etc).

---

The ways of addressing mdesc obscuration also opens up a good avenue. Basic information is already available with assess -v, and sdesc. But many of the muds I listed above had a 'study' command, where you could obtain things like eye color, build, hair color, etc, which could be set in character generation. It's something that could potentially be piggybacked of watch, or a new skill that could serve as a boon to the subterfuge / noncombat roles branching from it.

Quote from: Usiku on Today at 11:21:31 AM

Quote from: Patuk on Today at 09:18:24 AMI distinctly recall past staff members telling us that PK was a once-in-a-week kind of event. With the rules you've made currently, it'll likely be even less. Even if every single PK ended up contested - and they won't - you'd talk about this once a week at the absolute very most.

Is that really the realm of the impossible? One such a talk a week, at absolute most?

Yes, it is in the realm of impossible. Not due to how often it may or may not occur, but due to the nature of the required decision making. Armageddon is a coded game. Whether or not the death happened is based on the code. We will consider resurrections based on what is outlined in the helpfile. What gets added there are instances that we can assess that are basically black and white, was it a bug, were they cheating, did a staff member royally screw up and set a bahamet to have 1,000,000 strength by accident, did that person die of dehydration with a full waterskin in their hand and so on. There is simply not a chance in the burning firepits of Suk Krath that I am opening up staff to have to mediate over every PK that happens on the basis of 'was their RP good enough' where the progress of the story and life of a PC one way or another hinges on that decision. I'm sorry, but that is a fast track to a high stress, no win scenario for staff where whatever they decide, someone will be angry and it would ultimately chip away at the relationship we are trying to restore between players and staff and almost certainly cause higher staff turnover. So no. Draw a line under that. I can understand why people wish this was a thing that we could do, but unfortunately it simply is not.

Okay then.

Quote from: Krath on Today at 12:04:07 PMStaff could bring back the mask that hide mdesc to solve this issue.

This should be an ability linked to assassination techniques(backstab or sap) which only lasts for a couple minutes after performing the attack or be an assassin skill that activates for a limited time after attacking from stealth.

It should not be an item that freely allow people to act like fools without IC consequences.

On this note, I think it'd be a cool idea to have Regen of all types when you log out. But only if you quit inside your "home". This being either a tribal camp that belongs to your clan, clan dorms or your own rented apartment. This'd be a cool way to encourage rp even when logging off and would give people another reason to rent apartments, which I think is always good.

Quote from: Riev on Today at 11:56:12 AMAttitude wise, I mean the people that feel you have to kill a PC because they looked at you and see your description. Because being anonymous means you can still socially roleplay with people back in the city.

Actually, this is the importance of making sure the different areas (redstorm, rinth, luirs and allanak) are somewhat autonomous to each other. Fucking up in one location shouldn't ruin your ability to live in all locations but we will see how this is managed.

This allows people to practice the age old art of 'Not shitting where you eat'. It was one of the purposes to my thread here: Closure vs Unsupported

If you choose to not follow this rule, there should be IC consequences to personally killing/attacking your neighbor like needing to leave find a new neighborhood. And with the policy changes, some OOC consequences if you keep using anonymity as an excuse to repeatedly murder people especially when you had the option of just going to live somewhere else or hire someone else to send a message.

Quote from: Riev on Today at 11:56:12 AMAttitude wise, I mean the people that feel you have to kill a PC because they looked at you and see your description. Because being anonymous means you can still socially roleplay with people back in the city. Because once you know Green-eye Amos is the raider, every templar and Bynner in the game will be contacting green.eyed.amos and hunting him. Once we can collectively get over the idea that a PC raider in the sands doesn't need the other 120 people in the game hunting them, we'll be closer to allowing more fun raider RP.

Staff could bring back the mask that hide mdesc to solve this issue.

I wouldn't mind seeing at least a "gennable bump" after more than 4 hours of being logged out or linkdead. On ALL of those effects. Movement, stun, HP, mana, focus, spice, poison.  If your natural max HP is 100, and you were down to 25, that's the point where you have to "sleep" in order to regen. Once you hit something like 55 (?) it'll start going up even if you're awake. So maybe something like that could be added to the system.

If you log out at a low [whatever] and it's low enough that it won't regen naturally without jumping through hoops, then logging back in after 4 hours being logged out/linkdead, will bring you above that threshhold.

I believe up until now, characters log into the game with mercy OFF being the default.  Perhaps that toggle could be switched, so everyone who logs in, starts out with mercy ON, and they have to turn it off intentionally if they are consciously planning on killing someone.

Mercy being fixed would be paramount. Secondary is just changing attitudes across the board. Sap vs Backstab ... Sap had always been something you branched and was an advanced technique because of its ability to knock someone out FAR easier than it is to damage their HP.

Unfortunately, the way the code works, being knocked out is basically a free kill and losing stun CAN BE easier than losing HP. So the non-lethal combat methods the game allows are basically "get the opponent into a position where I can kill them faster".

Attitude wise, I mean the people that feel you have to kill a PC because they looked at you and see your description. Because being anonymous means you can still socially roleplay with people back in the city. Because once you know Green-eye Amos is the raider, every templar and Bynner in the game will be contacting green.eyed.amos and hunting him. Once we can collectively get over the idea that a PC raider in the sands doesn't need the other 120 people in the game hunting them, we'll be closer to allowing more fun raider RP.

Again, with staff focusing more on the players and plots, hopefully there can and will be more opportunity to play things out, rather than "win".

I think it is just as easy to not PK, as it is to PK. It depends on the situation though

Going on a hunt for a noble or bastard in the sands? OOC: Everyone turn Mercy on.
I want your boots and you will not give them to me? Mercy On, PK, steal boots, wait for them to wake up, talk shit and leave
Trespassing onto elven lands? Peraine/Heramide/Grishen - KO, steal boots, scar them, subdue, toss outside of the lands

You murder my best friend: Mercy off

ALL THAT BEING SAID - Mercy needs to be fixed like the suggested post above. Accidents do happen. There was a Bastard noble that was in the sands, we got information he was out there with a group looking for us. We all rode out to meet him and his group. Before the battle I had OOCd "Everyone, mercy on please", with full intention of KOing them, scarring and sending them back to nak naked. We had a mul that attacked after he was damaged and mantis head. No KO, nothing. It was not what I had hoped for and OOCly i was disappointed. A fix of the Mercy On code would be great. Heck, just changing  combat to once a pc hits 0 or goes negative instantly moving them to the knocked out state and ending combat, rather than them dying. At that point the PC can "Kill Joe" and end the PCs life, or let them live.