New Class Idea: Trainer

[Beux]

I think it would take a lot of coding, as it basically requires
skills that we don't have in game, mobs that we don't have, lots of
new code and more mobprogs but I personally think it would be
awesome! I have been working on this idea for quite a while, and
hope to submit it properly at some point, but it would be nice to
get some feedback and ideas to smooth over issues people have, and
to have definate ideas for certain 'grey areas'.

Overview:
A class that can capture and train 'animal' mobs into being: pets,
mounts, or 'guards'. This would be an extremely risky and dangerous
class, though I doubt it would need to be karma, as I can't see any
way it could be overpowered or abused. It would just be very hard
to play with a high chance of death.

(I'm going to put this in a few posts, because it's big - break it into smaller chunks, bare with me a sec).

[Beux]

Capturing:

You would be able to go out and attempt to capture animals. You may
need different equipment to catch different animals, and the
instances would also be different. Like aggressive animals you
would have to capture in battle.

For example:

(please forgive my knowledge of perfectly syntax'd code/mob
descriptions)

Code Select Expand



A red and yellow striped raptors' bite misses you.

> capture raptor

A red and yellow striped raptors' bite grazes your arm.

You attempt to capture a raptor with a length of chain, but miss.

> capture raptor

You dodge a raptors claw.
A red and yellow striped raptors' claw misses you.

You swing a length of chain around a raptors neck, capturing it.

> hitch raptor

You firmly secure a raptor



This would basically 'subdue' the raptor and hitch it to the
trainer, allowing them to take it whereever. There would be an
element of risk in this, as the raptor could break free from the
chain and attack the Trainer at any time. Trainers capture skill
level would be the deciding factor in what they -could- capture and
how well they secure what they capture. Raptors would probably be
one of the -hardest-. Obviously, not all animals would be
capturable and trainable, as it would take a lot of coding. More
could be added over time. Another example (a much easier one) would
be:

Code Select Expand



The Grasslands
Plains of grass stretch out into the distance in all directions,
though in the north a hint of smoke screens sky where the walls of
the great Tuluk can be seen.
A brightly patterned grass-snake is here.

> hold cage

You hold a small cage in your hand.

> capture snake

You attempt to capture a brightly patterned grass-snake with a

small cage.

> emote treading lightly, @ sneaks up behind ~snake, opening the cage quietly before bringing it down over the snake.

Treading light, <PC> sneaks up behind a brightly patterned grass-snake, opening the cage quietly before it down over the snake.

You fail to capture a brightly patterned grass-snake.

The brightly patterned grass-snakes's bite misses you.
The grass-snake has fled!

> w

The Grasslands
Plains of grass stretch out into the distance in all directions,
though in the north a hint of smoke screens sky where the walls of
the great Tuluk can be seen.
A brightly patterned grass-snake is here.

> capture snake

You attempt to capture a brightly patterned grass-snake with a

small cage.

You successfully catch a grass-snake within a small cage!

> close cage

You carefully close a small cage.
It holds a brightly patterned grass-snake.



[/code]

[Beux]

Training would involve multiple steps.

- Securing the animal somewhere
   - somewhere where they will stay, small animals are fine in
       cages, however larger ones, such as raptors would need pens
   and such - perhaps stables could be rented out. Larger
   animals could be tethered and trained wherever - out in the
   desert or on the grasslands, but would need to be left in a
   stable - or an apartment - to be saved over quitting out.    
       Caged animals could be left in inventory or in an apartment/stable

- Deciding on a path for said animal: pet/mount/fighter (not all options would be available for all animals)

- Training said animal over numerous levels on the path.

Breakdown of the Paths of Training

Pets/Mounts/Fighters

ALL Paths

- Owner would have control over adding one keyword - Name. So pets can be named.

- Owner would be able to control pet emotes.

===============================================
PETS

- Could be toggled to follow owner/stay. Could be left in apartments.

Code Select Expand



> order Fluffy stay

A long-haired black Quirri sits obediantly.

> order Fluffy follow

A long-haired black Quirri follows you.



- Would have friendly mobprog towards owner and just general emotes.

Code Select Expand



A long-haired black Quirri purrs softly, rubbing it's head against the leg of <PC>

A bright coloured parrot chirps loudly.

A bright coloured parrot says, in a croaking voice:
Polly wanna cracker?



Level 1
- Would be very likely to run away if out of apartment/stable/cage/enclosure. (Could be captured again, but only
by a Trainer)

- Aggressive creatures could turn on owner and attack.

- May disappear from enclosures while owner is not around. (When
ordered to stay, or while owner is logged off)

Level 2
- Less chance of running/away attacking, but still possible.

- Very unlikely to disappear from enclosures.

Level 3
- Very unlikely to run away/attack

- Friendly mobprogs start here.

Level 4

Perfect behaviour. Very hard to achieve.

===============================================
MOUNT

- Would -not- be controllable by emotes. Would just function as any other mount, however trained mounts would have levels of training.

Level 1

- Would not be mountable, could just be hitched.

- Aggressives may attack owner/leader.

- May break free and run away, could then only be caught by a Trainer.

Level 2

- Mountable

- May throw rider off (and may then attack/run away, or just be remounted).

Level 3

- Unlikely to throw rider off

- Does not run off with rider.

- Aggressives may still attack

Level 4

Perfect mount behaviour.

- Except: Extreme aggressives (raptors etc may still throw and
attack)

- May run off (with rider on the back!) for a few rooms, before
rider regains control.

===============================================
FIGHTERS

This type of animal could be used to aid the owner in battle. Also
it might be quite interesting for battles in the Arena, just
between animals, but under the control of their owners (ordered to
fight other mobs - without the owner engaging in battle).

Level 1

- Likely to turn on owner and attack, (unlikely to death, would
just flee and then owner could follow to get back)

- Would just follow owner, could not yet be ordered to attack.

- Likely to run away

Level 2

- Less chance of attacking/running away, but still possible.

- Could be ordered to attack, but may not always obey.

Level 3

- Even less chance of attacking/running away

- Can be ordered to attack, will always obey, and will aide leader
in battle automatically.

Level 4

- Very unlikely to attack/run away except in the case of extreme
aggressives.

- Will guard owner.

[Beux]

//The Act of Training//

I'll just give a couple of examples of how I think the code would
work, the actual act of training would be just as dangerous and
risky:

Code Select Expand



A Dirty Stable
This room has a foul odour of dung. The walls are dirty and stained
and dried grass is scattered over the floor. The wide stable-door
to the south is the only visible exit. Large stone rings hang in
the walls and lengths of rope and chain hang from them where
various animals have been tethered before.
A yellow and red striped raptor is tethered here.

> train raptor

Your options for training a yellow and red striped raptor are:
Mount
Fighter

>train raptor Mount

[insert emoting here]

You fail to train a yellow and red striped raptor.
A yellow and red striped raptor pulls angrily against it's chain.

[enough of this and it could break free and attack you]

>train raptor Mount

You fail to train a yellow and red striped raptor.
The stone hoop in the wall shudders as a raptor pulls against it.

>train raptor Mount

You manage to subdue a yellow and striped raptor and tack it up.

> look

A Dirty Stable
This room has a foul odour of dung. The walls are dirty and stained and dried grass is scattered over the floor. The wide stable-door to the south is the only visible exit. Large stone rings hang in the walls and lengths of rope and chain hang from them where various animals have been tethered before.
A leather tacked raptor is tethered here.



'leather tacked' is just an example of how the short can change to show what level of training/path an animal is trained at. Plus, taking out more unique descriptions means a variety of raptors could all be trained, but they'd only lead to one mob of each level mount. Making it easier for the staff to code. Meaning all raptor trained as mounts would become 'A leather tacked raptor' at level one. Instead of having 'A tacked yellow and red striped raptor' and 'A tacked blue and green striped raptor' etc etc.
Another example, this assumes that 'subdued' is the descriptor for the first level, and tamed for the second, in regards to pets:

Code Select Expand



A Dirty Stable
This room has a foul odour of dung. The walls are dirty and stained
and dried grass is scattered over the floor. The wide stable-door
to the south is the only visible exit. Large stone rings hang in
the walls and lengths of rope and chain hang from them where
various animals have been tethered before.
A large cage is here.
A small bone cage is here.

>get bone

You get a small bone cage.
It appears to be holding a subdued, barakhan lizard.

> close door

You close the door.

> open cage

You open a small bone cage.
A subdued, barakhan lizard flutters to the ground.

> train lizard

A subdued, barakhan lizard has already been trained as a pet.
It can progress to the next level of training:
A tame, barakhan lizard.

> train lizard to tame, barakhan lizard.

You attempt to train a subdued, barakhan lizard.

[add emoting here]

You manage to tame a subdued, barakhan lizard.

> hold cage

You hold a small bone cage.

> test lizard

This lizard seems well trained and well-behaved. Though a still a
little green around larger beings and quite timid. You are doubtful
that it would bite you. But it might still run away, and does not
yet obey orders.

> capture lizard

You capture a lizard easily in a small bone cage.

> drop cage

You drop a small bone cage.



So basically, Trainers would have: capture, train and test as their main skills.

[Ghost]

Rangers can already capture and tame mounts.  This looks like an idea for rangers to me.  Though rangers tame only mounts at the moment, maybe they can also tame pets as well.

Still though, it does look quite a bit a ranger's job.

[Yokunama]

Capturing:

You would be able to go out and attempt to capture animals. You may
need different equipment to catch different animals, and the
instances would also be different. Like aggressive animals you
would have to capture in battle.

For example:

(please forgive my knowledge of perfectly syntax'd code/mob
descriptions)

Code Select Expand



A red and yellow striped raptors' bite misses you.

> capture raptor

A red and yellow striped raptors' bite grazes your arm.

You attempt to capture a raptor with a length of chain, but miss.

> capture raptor

You dodge a raptors claw.
A red and yellow striped raptors' claw misses you.

You swing a length of chain around a raptors neck, capturing it.

> hitch raptor

You firmly secure a raptor



This would basically 'subdue' the raptor and hitch it to the
trainer, allowing them to take it whereever. There would be an
element of risk in this, as the raptor could break free from the
chain and attack the Trainer at any time. Trainers capture skill
level would be the deciding factor in what they -could- capture and
how well they secure what they capture. Raptors would probably be
one of the -hardest-. Obviously, not all animals would be
capturable and trainable, as it would take a lot of coding. More
could be added over time. Another example (a much easier one) would
be:

Code Select Expand



The Grasslands
Plains of grass stretch out into the distance in all directions,
though in the north a hint of smoke screens sky where the walls of
the great Tuluk can be seen.
A brightly patterned grass-snake is here.

> hold cage

You hold a small cage in your hand.

> capture snake

You attempt to capture a brightly patterned grass-snake with a

small cage.

> emote treading lightly, @ sneaks up behind ~snake, opening the cage quietly before bringing it down over the snake.

Treading light, <PC> sneaks up behind a brightly patterned grass-snake, opening the cage quietly before it down over the snake.

You fail to capture a brightly patterned grass-snake.

The brightly patterned grass-snakes's bite misses you.
The grass-snake has fled!

> w

The Grasslands
Plains of grass stretch out into the distance in all directions,
though in the north a hint of smoke screens sky where the walls of
the great Tuluk can be seen.
A brightly patterned grass-snake is here.

> capture snake

You attempt to capture a brightly patterned grass-snake with a

small cage.

You successfully catch a grass-snake within a small cage!

> close cage

You carefully close a small cage.
It holds a brightly patterned grass-snake.



[/code]

I like the idea of using chains or something to capture an animal, instead of having to knock it out each time. Maybe raiders could use it to kidnap people?

We currently have some sort of method of capturing people and animals, stowing them away in cages.

[Yokunama]

Rangers experienced with handling animals can tame certain types to be used as mounts using this command.

[Forty Winks]

Crap...just erased my entire post by accident. Well, to generally sum everything I had in mind, most of the things you proposed with the trainer guild can already be done in the game, and the time and effort involved in making it a fully functional guild vs. the impact it'll have for the game world IMO isn't worth it. HELP ANIMAL explains alot of what the current game already has coded for rangers to do this.

A nice and detailed post though.  

[Beux]

STABLES

Stables would be rentable in the same that apartments are. And would allow for having animals kept there, and kept in the control of the owner. Though should be much much cheaper than renting apartments. Trainers would also need more than one stable, as keeping two untrained animals in the same stable may lead to uhh, only having one the next time they check.

OWNERSHIP

Obviously the point of training animals would be to sell them. I'm not entirely sure of how ownership could be transferred code-wise (as the owner would have control over emotes/actions of said animal). Any ideas here would be great.

WHAT TRAINERS WOULD BRING TO THE GAME

I think this would be a very diverse new class, and not like anything else in the game. Yes, ok, it can be Rp'd out with VNPC animals etc etc. But really, having it coded in could really be quite fun, theres only so far you can take VNPC RP, and having coded, domesticated animals could be really great. It would allow a whole new class of trader, who only deals in animals, PC's could get their mounts from PC's rather than from NPC's. Also, if haughty Lady Chosens Quirri runs away, she'd have to go to the Trainer and hire him/her to try and track it down and bring it back. 'Fighting pets' could be sold to rich merchants, other trainers and nobles who might want to throw their fighters into the Arena and watch them battle. This could even be an event open to the public, who could all bring their pets and for a small fee could enter them into tournaments, other members of the public would come to watch.

These kind of forced fights between animals are extremely regular throughout real history, and are still present now in some cultures, I see no reason why they shouldn't be very popular in Zalanthan culture too.

POSSIBILITIES:

New objects/shops/craftables - Toys for pets, muzzles, cages, chains for trainers etc etc.

Animal fighting

Work towards domesticating animals for use on farms, and tada! You could have farmers too, who would pay a nice price for a wild caught breeding pair of Erdlu's.

Trainers could also deal in slaves and such, though this would be RP'd rather than coded.

CONCLUSION

I just think a class based along these lines would make a really great, diverse new class. Yes it would take a lot of coding, and a hell of a lot of planning to get it right, but it would be something completely different. Rather than adding yet another trading type, yet another fighting type, a slightly different kind of scavanging type...something completely unique.

I know there's a lot of inconsistencies, and parts I haven't managed to 'get' 100%, but I don't know what the limitations are code wise, or exactly how things might work. So I'm posting this here to get some feedback and ideas on how this could be made to work. If you don't like the idea, please criticise constructively, avoid just slating it. Thank you.

[Beux]

HELP ANIMAL explains alot of what the current game already has coded for rangers to do this.

I think you made that helpfile up....... :roll:

[Djarjak]

I don't think this is enough to warrant an entire new guild, but the idea may have some merit. Things that require "tons of code" are always hard because of limited resources. You should make sure you idea the rentable stable bit.

Nets and other things like that have been constantly proposed.

[Forty Winks]

HELP ANIMAL explains alot of what the current game already has coded for rangers to do this.

I think you made that helpfile up....... :roll:

Hehe, woops. I guess I ment HELP ANIMAL LIFE

[Dresan]

While i would agree that a whole guild for the idea is a bit much, it still might be cool to have in some way.  I would like to see more NPC pets in some form or another in the game.

That said, I give you Kudos Beux for taking the time to write out your idea and sharing it in such a detailed post.

[Sephiroto]

It sounds like a great idea.  Here is where the problem lies:  Most animals that are trained today are domesticated and/or docile.  Cats, dogs, dolphins, and horses are examples of these.  Those that don't fit the description above are very risky feats (bears, sharks, tigers, etc.) to train as pets as they may even turn on and attack their masters under even the most fickle of circumstances.  The chances of capturing a live raptor/tembo/carru/ (insert aggressive name here) are slim to considering the fact that it has not all ready been done.  Even raising one from child birth would only take you only to a fraction of the loyalty needed for the proper fostering of a fully functional pet companion.  Also, it is doubtful that the average commoner is going to have the facilities to maintain an exotic pet because of appetite, aggression toward others, special care, etc.

Honestly I think you'd have a better chance in the creating of a mystical guild that can use mind control over animals via some newly discovered branch of the Way or a guild that can summon creations of magick; the latter of which can all ready be done to varying degrees of success.  Despite my view I am in no way bashing your idea, Beux.  I applaud the level of dedication you put into the thought of a new creation.

[Dalmeth]

I happen to know that there is one aggressive animal that was trained attack-dog style.  It's very nasty.

[elvenchipmunk]

I know are various 'pet' lizards in game. It would be neat if these 'pets' had scripts to make seem more...there, than just objects. Things like...random emotes about shit. Or possibly if you put them in a bag (not a cage) they will break/rip that bag or whatever.

It would be really cool to actually have a pet store or something. Even if only in the Noble Quarter of the city. And if the animals had to actually bed fed and stuff.

Oh the possibilities! I realize that could take lots of work, memory and stuff like that, but it would be cool nonetheless.

While the ideas you put forward are neat, Beux, I too think that an entire new guild is not necessary. At least not yet. If animals could become tame (not just mounts), I wouldn't mind seeing a subguild that allowed this. But it doesn't seem worth it at this point in the game's history, I think.

[Beux]

Hokay. Well even coded pets would be cool. Well, if not coded...then just item pets (I know there are -some-) and the stuff to go with them, like you said, bedding, accessories etc. Even if, yeah, it was only available to nobles.

But still would be cool to see the crazy little commoner girl who carries a tiny pet lizard, on a home-made leash,  in her pocket everywhere she goes.

[LauraMars]

But still would be cool to see the crazy little commoner girl who carries a tiny pet lizard, on a home-made leash,  in her pocket everywhere she goes.

Seen it.  DONE it.  More pet objects would be cool.

But what I really want are pet npcs that you can order to emote, follow, sit, and so on.  I've seen non-aggro gortoks around the game, I don't see why they couldn't be coded to follow.

Then again, maybe we're getting a little too pokemon here, and before we know it everyone in the bar will have an animal friend by their side. Weird.

[Beux]

Hehe..Naw, the idea of pet NPC's that you have some control over is great. Humans have had animals for companionship for nearly as long as we can look back historically, so it makes sense the same would be in Zalanthas too. However, to avoid the whole pokemon thing...it would be treated the same too. You don't take animals in bars/shops/other peoples houses, usually....so why would you on Zalanthas? Plus bigger, exotic animals should be REALLY expensive.

[LauraMars]

Well, there's that, PLUS, soldiers are coded to attack many animals.  Ever had a raptor hunt you to the gates?  C'moooon, you know you've done it.

Wasn't hunting you anymore, was it!

[Beux]

Rofl! I actually...I haven't....but now I know what to do next time I get attacked by a raptor.

Thanks! :p

[Dalmeth]

Well, there's that, PLUS, soldiers are coded to attack many animals.  Ever had a raptor hunt you to the gates?

In my experience, the guards close the gates and leave you to die.

[Beux]

Well, there's that, PLUS, soldiers are coded to attack many animals.  Ever had a raptor hunt you to the gates?

In my experience, the guards close the gates and leave you to die.

Ok, so maybe I -won't- try that...

[LauraMars]

Rofl! I actually...I haven't....but now I know what to do next time I get attacked by a raptor.

Thanks! :p

ok, expect the appropriate consequences.