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Jazuela · 04-15-2009, 07:13 AM

I loved the gameworld of Inferno, the history and background, the smooth code, depth of room descriptions, etc.

What I didn't like was the crafting or the combat or the levelling parts. I didn't like how easy and attractive it was for min-maxers to write scripts and park their characters in a spot to "bot" for hours while their players were out at the supermarket or the bar or at work. I didn't like that people would -want- to do that, because it was clearly obvious that there were only two ways to obtain power: gain coded advantages through skill-grinding, or gain knowledge or help or "favor" from staffers either directly or through roleplay with the staffer's avatars.

Crafting was drudgery to the extreme. I played a tanner... I can't even remember the syntax but it'd look something like this:

scrape hide with soft
(roundtime 37 seconds)
scrape hide with soft
(roundtime 37 seconds)
scrape hide with soft
(roundtime 37 seconds)

rinse and repeat until that ONE hide is done. Then move to the next hide and do it again. Figure around a half hour real-time to scrape a dozen hides.

THEN

put each hide in the first barrel, a tanning vat containing noxious poison.

THEN

find something to do, or log out, for around 3 RL hours.

THEN

Make sure you actually log back in 3 hours later because if you don't get those hides out of the barrel in time, you'll ruin them and have to start all over again. Or - someone else might get to them first, because it's a public tannery and anyone can/will take anything not nailed down if it's something useful. If you take them out too early, the poison in the vat will kill you. AND ruin the hides.

THEN

scrape each hide again for a half hour.

THEN

Put them in the second vat, a pickling barrel, with more noxious fumes or whatever.

THEN

find something to do, or log out, for another 3 RL hours.

THEN

get to those hides in time, and put them in the finishing barrel for 6 hours.

THEN...take them out in time and they're ready to be turned into something other than..tanned hides. Except, if you're just starting out, that's pretty much all you can do with them. So now you have to sell them. And that's it. That's the whole of your character's existence, so far as "work" is concerned. His job is to sit in a tannery for around 12 RL hours, and your job is to type "scrape hide with soft" every 37 seconds. Usually by yourself but if you're lucky, someone who hunts for a living will stop by to say hello on his way to selling all the sparklies he got from grumgarts.

04-15-2009, 07:13 AM	#5
Jazuela Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: New England Posts: 849	Re: Inferno? Still around? I loved the gameworld of Inferno, the history and background, the smooth code, depth of room descriptions, etc. What I didn't like was the crafting or the combat or the levelling parts. I didn't like how easy and attractive it was for min-maxers to write scripts and park their characters in a spot to "bot" for hours while their players were out at the supermarket or the bar or at work. I didn't like that people would -want- to do that, because it was clearly obvious that there were only two ways to obtain power: gain coded advantages through skill-grinding, or gain knowledge or help or "favor" from staffers either directly or through roleplay with the staffer's avatars. Crafting was drudgery to the extreme. I played a tanner... I can't even remember the syntax but it'd look something like this: scrape hide with soft (roundtime 37 seconds) scrape hide with soft (roundtime 37 seconds) scrape hide with soft (roundtime 37 seconds) rinse and repeat until that ONE hide is done. Then move to the next hide and do it again. Figure around a half hour real-time to scrape a dozen hides. THEN put each hide in the first barrel, a tanning vat containing noxious poison. THEN find something to do, or log out, for around 3 RL hours. THEN Make sure you actually log back in 3 hours later because if you don't get those hides out of the barrel in time, you'll ruin them and have to start all over again. Or - someone else might get to them first, because it's a public tannery and anyone can/will take anything not nailed down if it's something useful. If you take them out too early, the poison in the vat will kill you. AND ruin the hides. THEN scrape each hide again for a half hour. THEN Put them in the second vat, a pickling barrel, with more noxious fumes or whatever. THEN find something to do, or log out, for another 3 RL hours. THEN get to those hides in time, and put them in the finishing barrel for 6 hours. THEN...take them out in time and they're ready to be turned into something other than..tanned hides. Except, if you're just starting out, that's pretty much all you can do with them. So now you have to sell them. And that's it. That's the whole of your character's existence, so far as "work" is concerned. His job is to sit in a tannery for around 12 RL hours, and your job is to type "scrape hide with soft" every 37 seconds. Usually by yourself but if you're lucky, someone who hunts for a living will stop by to say hello on his way to selling all the sparklies he got from grumgarts.