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Old 11-17-2002, 03:44 PM   #9
Sapphar
 
Posts: n/a
In the interests of realism, I would have to agree that full looting should be possible, but with certain restrictions in place.  Not restrictions on what can be done, but restrictions on how it is done.  I am strongly opposed to level limited PvP.  It makes absolutely no sense in a roleplay world.  I am going to assume, having tried out your game, Ytrewtsu, that you are seeking an RP-oriented way of making PvP work.  So I’ll approach my answer from that point of view.

Attacking should carry consequences.  If you attack in a city, no only should the guards recognize you attacked at the time of the attack, but there should be long term consequences.  If you attack on public roads, similar consequences should exist.  I would think that most types of areas, at least of those I saw on your game, would have some measure of consequences.  If you implement an invisible “flag” on players where mobs can check and see how often that character has attacked someone in that area, you can have long term consequences that may only gradually wear off.  For example, in the centaur area on your game, you could have the guards attack on sight if the person is a repeat killer and the other mobs flee.  In areas that aren’t designed as organized populations, there could still be wandering vigilante mobs.  This would make choosing to PvP someone, of any level, dangerous for the long term health of the character.  If that doesn’t serve as enough of a deterrent (I can imagine high level PvPers killing lower level PvPers in weak areas that will never hurt them), generated mobs of appropriate strength that have descriptions fitting the area could be created instead of only the existing mobs attacking killers.

As far as looting goes, I would suggest implementing a time delay loot.  Not the same for each item.  If the person has an item in their inventory, the weight of the item would determine the time delay.  So if you go after a full sack of gold coins, you may be standing there trying to get it free of the body for 10 seconds.  If you try and remove an item the person is wearing, the time delay gets even higher.  Perhaps taking off the cloak from a dead body is a full 20-30 seconds.  During which time you are at risk from others attacking you.  On the other hand, if you just grab for a scroll in the inventory of the person, that may only require 1-2 seconds.  This would encourage strategic looting, instead of full looting.  What the killer wants most and the killed needs most.

I have seen similar policies implemented on other games and they appear to work quite well.  Consent to PvP and roleplay enforced PvP are additional tools, though I think the first one tends to kill off most PvP situations rather quickly and the second one risks concerns about favoritism, depending on how strong it is enforced and who is doing the enforcing.

Good luck in finding a nice balance in your PvP policy and getting your players to join the system more.  : )  PvP does not need to be as much of a headache for admin or a roller-coaster of emotions for players as it often is.  Well implemented, it can be a ton of fun.

Sapphar
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