Statics 2.0

Ideas and suggestions for game mechanics and rules.
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boombrakh
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Statics 2.0

Post by boombrakh »

So hey, I had a thought.

Well, I've had it since I proposed Waterdeep, but it sank with that idea. Recently i've been engaged in some statics on BG and they've made me think about how to improve on them to add more enjoyment to them. Which, in case people havn't noticed, is the reason i'm here :)

First of all, i can't script for shit. I probably wont ever be able to do it either. That's why this is just some brainstorming and hopefully someone who is more talented than I am will figure out a simple and fun way of implementing this.

All of these ideas were things that was going to be implemented in the Waterdeep server. There is no reason to just sit on the ideas so why not share them?

Delivery quests
One thing that irks me, or well not really irks me, but something that bothers me is that the delivery quests, regardless if it's mailbags or iron pots, are always the same thing. You repeat them etc. That means several people get together and run laps if need or they are done when no one else is online. What they do is promote RP when with others. You have a task that you have set out to do and you do it. You RP on the way and everyone gets happy.

I'd like to revamp the mail delivery statics. The way I think they should/could work is that you talk to the postmaster as per usual and agree to help him out. Before you accept the mission, he informs you that they have mail going all over the place. Sometimes it's as little as a single letter, sometimes it's as big as a crate filled with rocks.

What happens after you accept it, is that the actual destination gets randomly decided as well as the cargo. That means you dont run the same laps with the mail runs all the time, you get to explore parts of the server you may not usually go to and what's more is that in a group, you may get two separate destinations which only means you stay together longer with promotes more RP.

The reward for this would depend on a combination of value of cargo and destination.



Static spawns
Goblins in Cloakwood getting too boring for you? In ALFA1 we had diminishing returns which wasn't very fun. Risk/reward should go hand in hand. Imagine that the badass fighter keeps cleaning up the "streets" in Cloakwood (or any other place appropriate per server) for the same reason people walk with mail bags. He is bored and is looking for something to do. But killing goblins that can't even hit you anymore is just plain boring. Hell, even if you are a full group of people you kinda just breeze through some places.

What if after you've slaughtered three to four groups of goblins they start running away from the characters in terror. Now, this is where some players would start to complain because they want their new Goblin ear necklace. Now fast forward a bit and when the Goblins now see the same Fighter coming along, they dont only run away, but they do so because they are sneaky. They run away, luring the Fighter into a trap where they set loose a tortured and captured troll which of course goes after the Fighter.

Why do this? Because it's exciting. It's boring to know what happens and this way what would be a simple enough encounter can be adjusted on the fly to suit the person or persons who trigger them. The possibilities may not be endless, but it can be pretty fun to play around with and it would make casual play more fun, even for our higher level PCs.

That brings me to...



Gold/Experience/Reputation
The WD team played around with an idea to make sure that farming statics wouldn't end up with a heap of incredibly wealthy characters running around. The idea was that actual reward for many statics would be more focused on a new "stat" called "Reputation" and it would be server specific. Today, with the ACR, I imagine it could even be global. The idea was to reward players with minor gold/xp rewards for completing statics, and give them a third reward which was a shift in the reputation with the group or person administring the quest. This would then act as a form of currency that the player could use (and thus decrease reputation value) to influence NPCs or if they are really well respected within an organization, the player, should his body be retrieved, could even have them pay for reviving the character.

These doesn't have to be something stored on the Character Sheet, it could just as well be no-drop stackable weightless items that can only be removed by a DM. And this way, we could even award players negative reputation. Screw the city guard over enough times and they wont take too kindly to your kind. It could even mean getting banned from certain places or gain access to otherwise restricted locations.

The idea on WD was because of all the guilds there, it would be a great way to align the characters and make them choose sides in conflicts etc.



Anyways, brainstorm away!
pragmatic (adj.)
The opposite of idealistic is pragmatic, a word that describes a philosophy of "doing what works best."
From Greek pragma "deed," the word has historically described philosophers and politicians who were
concerned more with real-world application of ideas than with abstract notions. A pragmatic person
is sensible, grounded, and practical.
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Galadorn
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by Galadorn »

good ideas!
Zelknolf
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by Zelknolf »

Old ideas-- the thing we lack is the time, energy, and people to implement.

Except the reputation thing; that's already under development: it's moving slowly, but it's moving (and has been for a few months now).
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boombrakh
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by boombrakh »

Zelknolf wrote:Old ideas--
I see what you did there. You managed to take some of my enthusiasm and put it to a grinding halt in two words flat. But thats ok, I'll think of some new ideas instead. :)
Zelknolf wrote:Except the reputation thing; that's already under development: it's moving slowly, but it's moving (and has been for a few months now).
I am going to chalk your entire post up to "great minds think alike" or something like that. Good work!
pragmatic (adj.)
The opposite of idealistic is pragmatic, a word that describes a philosophy of "doing what works best."
From Greek pragma "deed," the word has historically described philosophers and politicians who were
concerned more with real-world application of ideas than with abstract notions. A pragmatic person
is sensible, grounded, and practical.
t-ice
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by t-ice »

I'm such a spoilsport, so here goes:

Going on about more and more static content is a symptom of missing the real deal, instead: DM time. The DM time to player time ratio of maybe 1:10 we have is simply too low. You know how to best help with it, and you don't need to know how to script for that, either.

All these things moves us away from "core" DnD, and towards any crpg out there. I haven't played around the internet that much, but I would wager these kind of systems, and far more advanced, exist in dozens upon dozens of internet games. It is not our core competency, not why we're here. No matter what you do, you can't make the computer run a DMs job, conversation trees to pick from will never be true RP, and running simple errands repeatedly should not give you more than the first inch of respect among a faction.

If there's voluenteers to devote time to neat statics, no reason to say no. But trying to make statics replace DMd game, stories and character development will only dumb the game down, and crucially will remove motivation for people to step up and DM. So I would much prefer, and I believe it would help the community more, if builders dedicate their precious time for new tools to help DMs run the game, as opposed to tools to make DMs more irrelevant. But of course everyone will voluenteer their efforts to what they wish.
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Riotnrrd
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by Riotnrrd »

I'm reluctant to enter this conversation, but just wanted to comment on what t-ice said. Theoretically, I agree with you. But practically, we don't have 24 hour DM coverage on any server, and even when a DM is in there are often PCs that aren't in on the fun for various reasons. Statics give people something to do 24x7. Code it right once, and its potentially endless fun and enjoyment for countless PCs when DMs aren't around.
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Heero
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by Heero »

We need more delivering of mail until glory is achieved.
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t-ice
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by t-ice »

Riotnrrd wrote: Code it right once, and ...
I totally agree with doing things right ;) :!:

Just to make clear, I am not set against statics and stuff for people to do without a DM. Should note that we tried that with Exodus and eventually it leaked more than it gained - and down it went. But I am trying to insert the other side of the coin to the discussion, that while too little of a good thing is too little, too much can also be too much. Though I don't think we are close to putting the cart before the donkey just yet, increasing the intended char levels and plot complexity of statics can take us closer to where we think we just added very nice things to do without a DM, but in fact we made DMing lose half its point - and so lost half our DMs.

It is more about allocating builder resources. And for that, the only working model is for voluenteers to do what they feel like. Guess I'm just making the counter-plea on behalf of considering creating neat tools for DMs.
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by johnlewismcleod »

I think they are brilliant ideas :D

Unfortunately I can't script either and our hard working tech wizards have quite enough on their plates already. They get understandably grumpy when we offer up ideas for "someone else" to implement.

Perhaps it's best to focus on things we can actually implement ourselves, or learn to script.
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Basilica
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by Basilica »

I don't think it's wrong to come up with ideas, although I would just say to keep in mind that that doesn't guarantee that any particular person will decide to pick up a particular project.
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hollyfant
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by hollyfant »

boombrakh wrote:several people get together and run laps if need or they are done when no one else is online. What they do is promote RP when with others. You have a task that you have set out to do and you do it. You RP on the way and everyone gets happy.
Everybody except the DMA, who has explicitly prohibited cooperation in "FedEx" quests when a PC can't actually carry the delivery.
luring the Fighter into a trap where they set loose a tortured and captured troll
And the Fighter, being a smart Fighter, goes away to greener pastures and for easier pickings. Enter the level 1 Squishy Sorcerer, looking for a challenge. And boy, does he find one!
actual reward for many statics would be more focused on a new "stat" called "Reputation" and it would be server specific.
Why not hand out cookies? Or medals? The right to modify clothes to have a specific emblem on a cloak? :chin:
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boombrakh
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by boombrakh »

hollyfant wrote:
boombrakh wrote:several people get together and run laps if need or they are done when no one else is online. What they do is promote RP when with others. You have a task that you have set out to do and you do it. You RP on the way and everyone gets happy.
Everybody except the DMA, who has explicitly prohibited cooperation in "FedEx" quests when a PC can't actually carry the delivery.
Well, that's just dumb. I will not be told how to RP.
hollyfant wrote:
luring the Fighter into a trap where they set loose a tortured and captured troll
And the Fighter, being a smart Fighter, goes away to greener pastures and for easier pickings. Enter the level 1 Squishy Sorcerer, looking for a challenge. And boy, does he find one!
Well, easily fixed with troll doing the same thing, but other green pastures.. on the other side of the fence. Level 1 squishy Sorcerer is now "safe" in Cloakwood again!
hollyfant wrote:
actual reward for many statics would be more focused on a new "stat" called "Reputation" and it would be server specific.
Why not hand out cookies? Or medals? The right to modify clothes to have a specific emblem on a cloak? :chin:
Why not? :)
pragmatic (adj.)
The opposite of idealistic is pragmatic, a word that describes a philosophy of "doing what works best."
From Greek pragma "deed," the word has historically described philosophers and politicians who were
concerned more with real-world application of ideas than with abstract notions. A pragmatic person
is sensible, grounded, and practical.
paazin
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by paazin »

They're not necessarily old broken ideas, just ones that need a bit (more) dedicated work. I've been toying with the idea of randomized statics that you mentioned but really haven't managed to get anywhere but the planning stage with all else that had been going on.
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Zelknolf
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by Zelknolf »

To be fair, the original note that the ideas were old never called them broken. The original post includes, right after the Foxnewsian citation stops,
Zelknolf wrote:the thing we lack is the time, energy, and people to implement.
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Re: Statics 2.0

Post by hollyfant »

Are any good scripting tutorials online?
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