Top Mud Sites Forum - View Single Post

Kallian · 09-21-2002, 02:58 PM

What id the Queen of Andor had a panel of military advisors, each with a certain set of permissions to make decisions for the kingdom. Advisors number 1 and 2 could move armies about, change the defenses of the city, declare war, and attack other armies.

Advisors 3 and 4 could do eveything but declare war.

Maybe she trusts advisor 5 with the ability to do everything but change about the city's defenses... maybe advisors 6 and 7 8 and 9 can do everything, but only of there are two of them on at the same time and in agreement about the proposed action... and so on.

This concept can be used in countless situations where the game would otherwise grind to a standstill waiting for one specific player to log in... now you're waiting for 1 of 5, or 6, or 15 people to log in, which is much more doable.

Also keep in mind that in a game with a good and epic scale, entire armies cannot be mobilized and moves across kingdoms to lay siege to some unsuspecting city over the course of a rl hour or so. It's gotta take a few days irl. That way, nations and city-states and what-have-you's have time to anticipate and plan for battles and stuff. There's a lot more strategy to it than "Well, I've got my defenses set up; let's hope my castle is still standing when I log in tomorrow." It's also more realistic.

As for politics outside of war, there are 2 real keys.

1. Have a viable economy. Make money worth something, and having lots of money a rare but very cool and useful thing to have. People will form alliances, backstab, and fight over money -- just like in real life. If the only real commodity in your game is monsters to kill and the equipment they're carrying, you're in trouble.

2. Create a detailed political system, with meaningful positions. I've seen far to many games where all the girls would give their right arm to marry the prince, but the princess has no real power.. just the title. Sure, RP'ers will fight to get the position of princess, but they will fight all the more if the position actually carries powers and abilities to make decisions that concretely affect the game world.

RP arises from conflict. In the real world, conflict arises around religion, money, love, and survival.

In a mud, a lot conflict is thinly-veiled "I want to be the biggest and most powerful badass with the coolest sword."

Introduce religion, a working economy... take away the assumption that the players will always have enough food to eat or a safe place to spend the night.

09-21-2002, 02:58 PM	#6
Kallian New Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 9	What id the Queen of Andor had a panel of military advisors, each with a certain set of permissions to make decisions for the kingdom. Advisors number 1 and 2 could move armies about, change the defenses of the city, declare war, and attack other armies. Advisors 3 and 4 could do eveything but declare war. Maybe she trusts advisor 5 with the ability to do everything but change about the city's defenses... maybe advisors 6 and 7 8 and 9 can do everything, but only of there are two of them on at the same time and in agreement about the proposed action... and so on. This concept can be used in countless situations where the game would otherwise grind to a standstill waiting for one specific player to log in... now you're waiting for 1 of 5, or 6, or 15 people to log in, which is much more doable. Also keep in mind that in a game with a good and epic scale, entire armies cannot be mobilized and moves across kingdoms to lay siege to some unsuspecting city over the course of a rl hour or so. It's gotta take a few days irl. That way, nations and city-states and what-have-you's have time to anticipate and plan for battles and stuff. There's a lot more strategy to it than "Well, I've got my defenses set up; let's hope my castle is still standing when I log in tomorrow." It's also more realistic. As for politics outside of war, there are 2 real keys. 1. Have a viable economy. Make money worth something, and having lots of money a rare but very cool and useful thing to have. People will form alliances, backstab, and fight over money -- just like in real life. If the only real commodity in your game is monsters to kill and the equipment they're carrying, you're in trouble. 2. Create a detailed political system, with meaningful positions. I've seen far to many games where all the girls would give their right arm to marry the prince, but the princess has no real power.. just the title. Sure, RP'ers will fight to get the position of princess, but they will fight all the more if the position actually carries powers and abilities to make decisions that concretely affect the game world. RP arises from conflict. In the real world, conflict arises around religion, money, love, and survival. In a mud, a lot conflict is thinly-veiled "I want to be the biggest and most powerful badass with the coolest sword." Introduce religion, a working economy... take away the assumption that the players will always have enough food to eat or a safe place to spend the night.