Assassins assassinating asses outsides Allanak alone atnight

[Anonymous]

Dunno kid. Why don't we have desert pickpockets?

Because Jozhal don't have pockets to stash 'sids in?

Visiblity in the desert may be good, if you're standing on relatively level terrain, at the top of the highest dune, and without a sandstorm. Realistically, deserts (as we can observe) are highly prone to sandstorms. This granted, the game is not entirely -all- desert. Therefore, saying that you cannot backstab in the desert because people are generally very wary, and visibility is good when you're atop of the tallest dune, on level terrain, without a sandstorm is fairly absurd. How many times is -that- going to happen?

Sa'alam,

Dirr

[Xamminy]

Sneaking UP on someone in the desert, unless it's in the middle of the night (and even then), is incredibly difficult to realistically pull off.

Sneaking up on someond and backstabbing them while outside is not twinky.

We have wilderness hide/sneak for a reason.

Backstabbing does not necessarily require the person be unaware of your presence, simply unaware of your intent to kill them.

Still, I'm still in the camp that says, "If you want to be a 'desert assassin,' play an F'ing ranger and get a surprise shot off from three rooms away instead of right in the room with the person where they can turn around and start eating your head."

[JollyGreenGiant]

"... where they can turn around and start eating your head."

"That happened once!"

[Ghost]

[...]

Visibility in the desert is ridiculously good

[...]

That made me laugh  :wink:

You havent been in the desert lately, huh ? Try reach RedStorm at night.

Red Storm is a special case.  There is a reason people call it Red -Storm(!!!)-  So it would be absurd if I saw a rainbow in the sky around there.

That said, since you are not surrounded by sight blocking trees, visibility is ridiculously good, plain sight.  IF there is not a storm around.

And one league is three miles?  I dont think it is that long.  If it is, then we should have bows shooting only one league.
Or we have magick bows, amplifying the speed of the arrow and arrows ignoring the air resistance, and the law of gravity.

[Tamarin]

*slaps the twit flag on theebie for starting this pointless thread*

[Rhyden]

*slaps the twit flag on theebie for starting this pointless thread*

*snatches the twit flag from Tamarin and snaps it in half for being a twit himself not allowing this GDB to have free speech and allowing everybody to speak their mind without insult or ridicule.

[Angela Christine]

And one league is three miles?  I dont think it is that long.  

Yes indeed it is.

Distance:
Short distances are measured in inches (which bear a strong resemblance to the English inch in real life). An inch was considered to be the length of the Emperor's thumb, but was long since normalised to mean a single unit of distance.

Longer distances use units called cords, which are 15 inches long. Such units as miles and leagues are also commonly used, descended from the Bendune conventions of the nomadic tribesmen, a mile being 5,333 cords, and a league equalling three miles.

The question isn't the length of a league, but the length of a room.  As far as I know, no where in the docs does it indicate what the usual length of a wilderness, city or indoor room is.  An indoor room is pretty easy, it's the size of a room.    I generally assume a city room is about the size of a city block, unless the description says differently.  The length of a standard wilderness room is tricky, it isn't at all clear if it is supposed to be a league or a mile.  When somebody asks how far away something is and I know it is 12 rooms, I never know whether to say 4 leagues, 12 leagues, 12 miles or 36 miles -- so I usually say "oh, not too far" or "not more then an hour away" which probably makes more sense anyway for people who don't carry tape measures or have road signs.



As for archery and travel times, it's best to just keep distances fuzzy when you think about it.  Even if standard wilderness rooms were only 1/10th of a mile, the standard movement delay probably wouldn't be nearly long enough for realism.  Wilderness movement is deliberately unrealistically fast for the technology level, because if it weren't many clan RPTs and HRPTs would simply become impossible.  It should probably take at least one day to get from either city to Luir's Outpost if you are a messanger going flat out at a dead run the whole way, and at least a couple days for a common caravan . . . but no one wants to spend 3+ RL hours just getting to the RPT location, because travel isn't all that much fun and players have real lives that require they spend some time off the computer.  Likewise, if missile combat were to work realistically for the distances involved, there would be NO human missile combat at all outside the cities, because Zalanthan materials and technology are unlikely to produce a bow, knife or spear that can fly even a single mile with any accuracy (except perhaps for half-giants).  Nobody would bother to use missile weapons if they could only be used on targets in the same room, because that would force them into melee combat unarmed.  If the only purpose of missile combat was for throwing daggers into taverns, there really wouldn't be much point.


I'm not really opposed to the idea of modifying the map so that a standard wilderness room was 1/10 of a mile (10 or 30 times more than it is now, depending on what you think it is now) despite the problems it would cause for long distance missions.  I just don't see it happening in my lifetime.  


Angela Christine

[Tamarin]

*slaps the twit flag on theebie for starting this pointless thread*

*snatches the twit flag from Tamarin and snaps it in half for being a twit himself not allowing this GDB to have free speech and allowing everybody to speak their mind without insult or ridicule.

The ranger is the outdoors assassin.  End of story.

[halfhuman]

I think that the best way to assassinate someone in the desert is to just engage them in convo, and then use backstab on them while you're talking. Just find a way. Point to the horizon with one hand and whip out a knife with the other. While they're straining and your standing next to them, BOOM, right in the spine.

Tapping Guy B on the shoulder quietly and pointing out to the far west, Guy A says in sirihish
    "Bug."

Guy B squints as he strains to look off into the western horizon.

Guy A carefully pulls out a dagger with one hand while the other remains point and stabs Guy B visiously in the gut.

Ta da! Trick accomplished!

Shooting stills your best way to go.

OR, you could be a warrior and just bash them to the ground/subduing them and putting a sword to their throat and saying "You move and you're dead."
Of coarse I've seen people just twink run from this, but heh? If you find the right person...

[Maybe42or54]

Or instead of using a knife to backstab them. "miss" and send that arrow through their head at close range?

[halfhuman]

Ooo. Sounds like my ex.

I think just about anything, as long as it's well RP'd is possible. When I make an offensive action toward another player (such as the pickpocketing) I always send out an emote first explaining exactly how I closed that distance, whether it's walking closely behind them in a small crowd or "tripping drunkenly into them"