[MUD-Dev] Re: Character evolution

[coder at ibm.net]

On 27/08/97 at 08:18 AM, Jeff Kesselman <jeffk at tenetwork.com> said:
>At 05:46 PM 8/26/97 PST8PDT, you wrote:

Uhh, Jeff.  Please handle your attributions, permanently.  I realise
that memory is fallable.  However you are a programmer of some
competancy and I expect that you can devise a system to handle this
area.

We currently have several projects underway to catalog, summarise, and
thread the list archives.  We *NEED* full attributions.  

>The key for "my" system ( and ist really ours, i have 2 co-designers)
>is the lack of witnesses.  Reputation is gloabl, it gets aroudn
>relaitvely quickly.  As we have world-wide person-to-person chat in
>the game thats only logical.  (Its a very psychic world so that is
>easy explained.)

>But witnesses are key.  Witnesses actually generate a % chance that
>the system then rolls against to see if this act gets tarcked to your
>infamy.

Underneath this would seem to be an implicit virtual simpeep
population who depsite not being seen or even being accessible, are
responsible for propagating the reputation across the game world.

>We're nmot sure of thsi one ourselves.  We are leanign toward makign
>a eprsons infamy known, though not in any ckind of nuerical way that
>coudl be sued to make a game otu of gettign the lwoest infamy.  The
>reason for makign it knjwon is "newbie' players really shoudl knwo
>that Black bart is a well known wanted killer....

Which begs the questions:  Why should newbie playres (automatically)
know (or have access to the data) that Black Bart is a well known
wanted killer?

>>Okay:
>>
>>  Bubba is a generally, Okay-sh sort of character, not to good, not
>>too bad.  One day he's out and about and discovers a Super-Whammy
>>Sword.  He then wanders into a fairly sizeable town and slaughters
>>every soul therein.  No survivors.  None.  Nada.  Zip.  Perhaps a
>>dragon comes along as well and eats the corpses and burns the place to
>>the ground after the fact.
>>
>>What is Bubba's reputation?
>
>Again depends on teh size of the town.  In general above a fairly
>small size we are going to assume soem of the "men on the street'
>thata rent in game rpesent can survive and run away.

Simpeeps?

>>That point I am heading towards here is that reputation is dependant
>>on perception.  The fact that Bubba takes off on a long voyage and

>We agree HOWEVERE we also believe that our game does not physicaly
>represent on screen al lthe potential witnesses.  In fact, ina 
>reasonably densly populated area yo uare virtually ASSURED of NOT
>accountign for all the witnesses.

How about if Bubba instead nukes an entire city from a remote
location?  BOOM!  __Everything__, and I mean __everything__ is gone. 
Okay, you're doing a fantasy world, not atomic physics. make that
instead of a nuke, a huge fireball that Bubba has been constructing
and massing for years, the equivalent of a large meteor strike.  BOOM! 
Instant miles of wastleand.

--
J C Lawrence                               Internet: claw at null.net
----------(*)                              Internet: coder at ibm.net
...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...