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Loremaster · 11-06-2002, 07:30 PM

The more complicated that combat/magic system, the more complicated the RP messages can become. When you have three mobs in an area, each having certain 'immunities', numbers become part of the experience for the player in learning which spells/weapons to use.

The **annihiliate** kind of messages are just plain silly to me and dont belong in ANY mature MUD. They are more distracting to me in an RP sense than numbers.

Numbers to me are RP assistants: If I really WAS an elf, I would know after a fight or two that a claymore was not a suitable weapon for me compared to a lighter weight longsword. If I were a mage, I could cast a level 3 fire-based spell and a level 3 cold-based spell and would know instantly if a creature was immune to one or the other... I *may* even be able to tell if they only had partial immunity by their reaction and the damage visible.

The way a MUD informs a player how effective their attack has been is numbers. A MUD does not have to be H&S, or PK oriented to benefit from this.

Again.. the more complicated the CS/MS, the more complicated the messages have to be, as in determining what part did they hit? (head, neck, r/l arm, r/l leg/back, belly, foot?) [more damage bonus to critical areas like head], what type of weapon/magic damage? (slash,puncture,crush, earth, fire, water, electrical, necro, psionic etc.?) each would leave certain types of wounds. How powerful the weapon/spell? Armor type modifications?

Numbers give players a 'feel' for how much damage they are doing. I actually prefer numbers to percentages because until you have actually killed a few Ultra Death Goblins, you dont have any idea what their HP range is. Hitting for 50% (barring notification that it was a crit) would let you know the fight will likely be over soon.

Hitting a Fire Drake for 228 may seem OOC, but I just translate that in my head to "Hrmmm. I fair shot, gonna have to hit harder!" whereas,"You mutilate a Fire Drake", even if the coders associate certain damage messages to certain damage range is more misleading than numbers to me. The numbers don't make a value judgement. Mutilation to me indicates that the mob is massively damaged and is either near death, or has lost most of the ability to defend itself.
It bothers me more to have a mob fight on as if it was never hit after a message like that than seeing numerical damage.

sorry for the ramble. long day.

11-06-2002, 07:30 PM	#20
Loremaster Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 35	The more complicated that combat/magic system, the more complicated the RP messages can become. When you have three mobs in an area, each having certain 'immunities', numbers become part of the experience for the player in learning which spells/weapons to use. The annihiliate kind of messages are just plain silly to me and dont belong in ANY mature MUD. They are more distracting to me in an RP sense than numbers. Numbers to me are RP assistants: If I really WAS an elf, I would know after a fight or two that a claymore was not a suitable weapon for me compared to a lighter weight longsword. If I were a mage, I could cast a level 3 fire-based spell and a level 3 cold-based spell and would know instantly if a creature was immune to one or the other... I may even be able to tell if they only had partial immunity by their reaction and the damage visible. The way a MUD informs a player how effective their attack has been is numbers. A MUD does not have to be H&S, or PK oriented to benefit from this. Again.. the more complicated the CS/MS, the more complicated the messages have to be, as in determining what part did they hit? (head, neck, r/l arm, r/l leg/back, belly, foot?) [more damage bonus to critical areas like head], what type of weapon/magic damage? (slash,puncture,crush, earth, fire, water, electrical, necro, psionic etc.?) each would leave certain types of wounds. How powerful the weapon/spell? Armor type modifications? Numbers give players a 'feel' for how much damage they are doing. I actually prefer numbers to percentages because until you have actually killed a few Ultra Death Goblins, you dont have any idea what their HP range is. Hitting for 50% (barring notification that it was a crit) would let you know the fight will likely be over soon. Hitting a Fire Drake for 228 may seem OOC, but I just translate that in my head to "Hrmmm. I fair shot, gonna have to hit harder!" whereas,"You mutilate a Fire Drake", even if the coders associate certain damage messages to certain damage range is more misleading than numbers to me. The numbers don't make a value judgement. Mutilation to me indicates that the mob is massively damaged and is either near death, or has lost most of the ability to defend itself. It bothers me more to have a mob fight on as if it was never hit after a message like that than seeing numerical damage. sorry for the ramble. long day.