Armageddon General Discussion Board

General => Code Discussion => Topic started by: Salt Merchant on November 30, 2007, 03:50:17 AM

Title: Giving orders to disconnected PCs
Post by: Salt Merchant on November 30, 2007, 03:50:17 AM
Here's a suggestion that players have a switch they can set for their character, similar to nosave. If they put the switch on, then characters in their clan that have sufficient rank can give them orders as though they are NPCs, during times that they are disconnected.

This would let a Sergeant leading a group to, for example, make a disconnected soldier mount up and follow him, then order the soldier to stable his mount and quit out when arriving back in a city. It's tidier than the current option, which is basically to subdue someone "sun-touched" and drag them to a place of relative safety, when realistically the character would still be active and responding to commands.
Title: Re: Giving orders to disconnected PCs
Post by: Throttle on November 30, 2007, 03:55:59 AM
Sure, why not. As long as it's restricted to sergeants and similar ranks, and excludes commands such as kill/hit, skill and spell use, and communication.
Title: Re: Giving orders to disconnected PCs
Post by: My 2 sids on November 30, 2007, 08:56:20 AM
mmm... maybe, I'd have to give it more thought.

Really, I'd rather have someone wish up "Hey, I saw this PC go link-dead... still hasn't come around... can you trasport her to clan house/ log her out in a tavern"  I mean, then it's an OOC solution to an OOC problem.
Title: Re: Giving orders to disconnected PCs
Post by: Yokunama on November 30, 2007, 09:08:20 PM
order "linkdeadperson" quit
Title: Re: Giving orders to disconnected PCs
Post by: Vanth on December 03, 2007, 04:59:13 PM
This would be better handled by using the following command:

>wish all Hi.  <insert name/sdesc of linkdead person> is linkdead, can you take care of them?
Title: Re: Giving orders to disconnected PCs
Post by: Salt Merchant on December 03, 2007, 09:16:48 PM
Quote from: Vanth on December 03, 2007, 04:59:13 PM
This would be better handled by using the following command:

>wish all Hi.  <insert name/sdesc of linkdead person> is linkdead, can you take care of them?

Some disadvantages to 'wish all' though:

Another load on staff members.

Some people are very reluctant to use 'wish all', including me.

Sometimes no staff member is available.

OOC interruption. What if you're in the middle of a desert trek, for example? If the companion is made to quit at the location, then he or she is stuck out there upon logging back in. If the companion is whisked away, there's no getting around the OOC nature of it.

Completion may be more complicated than simply making the character quit out. Maybe he's carrying something on behalf of the group that needs to be handed over upon reaching the destination. Maybe she's riding a borrowed mount. Maybe the character is wounded or poisoned and the healer is back at the camp. Maybe the character is dehydrated.

Disadvantages of allowing commands are:

Potential for abuse? But this can be controlled by restricting the commands that can be given and to only ranking members of the clan. And the player would have a flag to set indicating her level of trust.
Title: Re: Giving orders to disconnected PCs
Post by: spawnloser on December 04, 2007, 06:37:25 AM
If the only commands allowed were 'quit' and 'follow,' I would support this idea.  Otherwise, I'm with Vanth.
Title: Re: Giving orders to disconnected PCs
Post by: Fathi on December 04, 2007, 11:11:00 AM
Quote from: spawnloser on December 04, 2007, 06:37:25 AM
If the only commands allowed were 'quit' and 'follow,' I would support this idea.  Otherwise, I'm with Vanth.

Well, there are a few more that would need to be added in order to make the 'follow' part viable, "stand" and "mount" coming to mind, first.
Title: Re: Giving orders to disconnected PCs
Post by: IntuitiveApathy on December 07, 2007, 01:58:54 AM
Quote from: Fathi on December 04, 2007, 11:11:00 AM
Quote from: spawnloser on December 04, 2007, 06:37:25 AM
If the only commands allowed were 'quit' and 'follow,' I would support this idea.  Otherwise, I'm with Vanth.

Well, there are a few more that would need to be added in order to make the 'follow' part viable, "stand" and "mount" coming to mind, first.

One way to get around this codedly is to use the subdue command.  When you subdue someone, you haul them to their feet and when you subsequently release them they remain standing.  If you need to get them to rest, you can throw them out of the room, where they will land sitting.  The only problem with this is that it can be a massive drain on your character's stamina, especially if you're not especially strong/skilled at subdue - an IG problem flowing from an OOC issue.

And yes, I've had to do this in the past.   More than once.   :'(
Title: Re: Giving orders to disconnected PCs
Post by: X-D on December 07, 2007, 02:22:31 AM
During peak, 64 people on.

Wish all (insert PC) has been linkdead now for 15 min, Somebody mind quitting him out...he is in a quit safe area.

Wait 45 min...
61 people on

Wish all It has been an hour now, (insert name again) Is still linkdead...quit safe room...somebody want to quit him out?

Nearly two hours goes by,  5 wishes and NOTHING.

This happened within the last week.

Personaly, I think that if you are in the same clan...you should be able to order a linkdead PC to do certain things. Staff is not always around or if they are, sometimes they miss things or simply do not feel like being that helpful.

Happily, in this case, My PC has friends who helped move the other PC to a much safer area. But in the last 7 years,  I've seen the problem hundreds of times...nearly half of them did not turn out happy.

QuoteThis would be better handled by using the following command:

>wish all Hi.  <insert name/sdesc of linkdead person> is linkdead, can you take care of them?

That works less then half the time.
Title: Re: Giving orders to disconnected PCs
Post by: Elgiva on December 07, 2007, 11:33:44 AM
Sadly, I have to agree with X-D. Yes, wishing up is nice and sometime it helps. But sometime it doesn't help at all and I often feel pretty stupid in such cases - especially if your char is a sissy Advisor of the House, your company is the Big Strong Warrior and you are five ten rooms out the Nakki gates. I think basic comands (follow, quit, mount, dismount, rest) might solve the trouble and probably save some lives out there too.
The trouble might be... who should be allowed to do it?