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-   -   Legendary inactives (http://www.topmudsites.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7031)

ChocolateMage 04-27-2013 07:18 AM

Legendary inactives
 
So a player finds <insert legendary/epic item>. This item is the only type of its kind(or perhaps even has other unique counterparts).
This item has its own myths and fables surrounding it, finding it is something that only a determined veteran can do.
To find and defeat the beast requires the sort of veteran who doesn't mind mindlessly farming one single mob over and over until they get the item. Then they find it! Thieves come after the player. But he holds them back
Rare collectors attempt to purchase the item. But he declines.

And then something happens to him...

He stops logging into the MUD. Suddenly the rare unique item is stuck on a pfile that doesn't play anymore.
I'm curious to know as to how admins( and players) think such a thing should be handled.

KaVir 04-27-2013 09:01 AM

Re: Legendary inactives
 
Not much you can do other than take it off him. Most muds with unique or limited items use rent, so that if a player goes inactivate the item will eventually be cycled back into play.

Personally I'd rather make items unique through randomisation, that way each player can have unique gear without blocking other people from finding their own.

ForgottenMUD 04-27-2013 11:50 AM

Re: Legendary inactives
 
Is it truly unique, or just an extremely rare % drop?

Here are the options that I can think of:

[Delete]
Regularly clear the database from players who haven't logged for <insert time>. Perhaps something like 1 month / level. This is something that I've seen done quite often. I don't know if they are running out of space or if it's some sort of OCD perfectionism...

A bad option is to take the item from the player. Players would get very angry if the admin steals items from them.

And don't implement a rent command. Like eating and drinking, this is a highly annoying feature.

[Clone]
Re-open the quest that gives the item. Even if it's supposed to be unique, you can either make up a reason why there were several copies of the item, or just not care. Players are used to it e.g. if there's a mini-quest to save the princess, everyone runs around with her behind them, thanks to the suspension of disbelief.

[Change]
Change the game mechanics so that such situation doesn't arise again. You can randomise items as Kavir suggested, or simply make the odds of the item dropping so low that it's virtually unique. You can also open the area only once per month/year so that it cannot be farmed.

[Ignore]
Ignore the issue. Treasures get lost in real life too. The legends surrounding the item makes your MUD lore richer. The player might or might not come back but you can always create new artifacts. In fact, it's necessary if you don't want your MUD to be stagnant.

plamzi 04-27-2013 12:50 PM

Re: Legendary inactives
 
I think the right answer will reveal itself once you ask the right questions. For example, "Why is this one event such a problem? Did this person getting the ultra-rare item cause them to feel like they've won the endgame and stop playing? If so, what can I do to extend the endgame? Can I make changes such that active players can continue to feel rewarded regardless of what inactive players have done in the past?"

Markov_AU 04-27-2013 01:48 PM

Re: Legendary inactives
 
We have one on AU that is the basis of much of our mythos, it is impossible to quit with. the other w/ Limited flags are supposed to cleanup after 30 days of inactivity (though it never worked right)

SnowTroll 04-27-2013 03:16 PM

Re: Legendary inactives
 
If this item is that uniqe and that legendary, why is it acquired through simple, tedious repetition, i.e. killing the same beast mob 5000 times until the rare chance of the unique item dropping happens? That's dumb.

If the game is the least bit roleplaying-enforced or encouraged, the item needs to be pilfered from the inactive player (using discretion based on the amount of time gone, whether that player's IP is around playing alts, etc.), because in a RPI/RPE game, there's no IC explanation about where people go when they log off. Suddenly, a noteworthy individual is never seen or heard from again, is completely imposible to locate, and his impossibly poweful and unique magical artifact that defies all forms of detection (and clearly insn't being used since the effects of the item would be heard about) is gone with him?

If it's not a roleplaying mud, just clone the item. Who cares if there's two if there's no in character story that needs to be upheld? Especially if one will probably never be seen again.

Molly 04-27-2013 03:31 PM

Re: Legendary inactives
 
We have two items that are unique, in the sense that only one player can have it at the same time. One is the sword Excalibur.

And our way of handling that is, that you only have the sword on loan from King Arthur. You cannot put the sword in a container, give it to someone else, or drop it in a crash proof house. When you log out, the sword returns to the stone from whence it came. Only players that complete a rather elaborate 10-step quest of helping King Arthur can draw the sword from the stone, but quite a few did complete that quest. So the first of those who logs on and finds the Excalibur available, rushes there to grab it, and keeps it as long as he/she is logged on.

(On a side note, it took some rather advanced scripting, to ensure that they were no duplicates in the game, while on the other hand not having the sword go poof, if you lost link for a few seconds, which happens pretty often and is rather irritating. The scropt solution I set up myself didn't work, but eventually I got some help from some players, who are better at scripting than I am, and we ended up with a bug free, but very long script).

The other item is the Blue Band of Victory, the ultimate PK reward, which you get by challenging the holder and defeating him. If the holder doesn't accept the challenge, the BBV is forfeited. But the holder has to be on line to be challenged, so we've been in the position that the original poster describes a couple of times. The solution, if we have the e-mail to that player - (which we usually do, since only long time players have a chance of winning that PK fight) - is to mail them, and give them an ultimatum: Unless they show up within a month's time to defend the BBV, it will be forfeited and we remove it from the player's inventory file, and put it back in circulation. If we don't have an e-mail adress, we send them a mud mail in game. At least then they have been warned, before we grab it. And they always have the option to challenge for it, if and when they return.

The last time this happened, the holder was in the US army, and disappeared from sight for almost 2 years, while he was in Afganistan. We tried to mail him, but didn't get any response, since he wasn't allowed to by the army. But we actually went lucky, since he happened to return from the deployment before the time limit went out, promptly showed up, and defended the BBV. (Since he naturally was a bit ring rusty after being away from the game for such a long time, he lost the first fight, but managed to win it back in a re-match...)


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