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Molly · 07-10-2002, 03:26 AM

I say the clues to the hidden secrets must exist. They can be extremely subtle, they can be hidden under several layers of useless information, there can even be some purposedly wrong information, to lead the players astray. The harder the zone, the harder the clues should be to find, and you should have to work your way through several steps to find the valid ones.

But the clues MUST be there.

Why? Because if they are not there, the players will think the zone 'unfair', and that opens the door to cheating. If you only can find the hidden treasure by pulling a lever that you cannot even see, or saying something totally far fetched to a certain mob, then that clearly isn't fair. They will think that the special item was put in there just for the Builder and his friends to enjoy, and more often than not they will be right too.

The Builder will know of course. And soon his closest friends will know. And eventually someone else will be told and then the word will spread very quickly. Nobody will respect the secret, because there IS no legitimate way that you can find it out. And because THEY were told the secret, they will think that it is perfectly okey to tell others too.

It's very easy to make a zone that is impossible to solve in a legit way. It's much harder to plant enough clues to make it possible for the skilled and observant player to get through it by their own work, while at the same time stopping other players from accidentally stumbling over some random solution. But it can be done. With scripts that set flags on the player, so that they can only enter the inner level of a zone AFTER they have performed certain tasks. With aggressive guards at the entrance of the inner circle, that are virtually unkillable for any player, but bow and step aside if you have the right flag. There are lots of similar tricks that you can use.

And if you set the puzzle up like that, and it takes 6 months for a player to solve all the riddles and get to the hard core, he is much less likely to blabber about the solutions. Why should he let others get for free what he worked so hard to achieve himself?

If there is a legitimate way to solve a very hard puzzle, most players that do will keep their mouths shut afterwards. If there isn't, and they were just told the solution, they'll blabber about it.

07-10-2002, 03:26 AM	#12
Molly Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Sweden Home MUD: 4 Dimensions Posts: 574	I say the clues to the hidden secrets must exist. They can be extremely subtle, they can be hidden under several layers of useless information, there can even be some purposedly wrong information, to lead the players astray. The harder the zone, the harder the clues should be to find, and you should have to work your way through several steps to find the valid ones. But the clues MUST be there. Why? Because if they are not there, the players will think the zone 'unfair', and that opens the door to cheating. If you only can find the hidden treasure by pulling a lever that you cannot even see, or saying something totally far fetched to a certain mob, then that clearly isn't fair. They will think that the special item was put in there just for the Builder and his friends to enjoy, and more often than not they will be right too. The Builder will know of course. And soon his closest friends will know. And eventually someone else will be told and then the word will spread very quickly. Nobody will respect the secret, because there IS no legitimate way that you can find it out. And because THEY were told the secret, they will think that it is perfectly okey to tell others too. It's very easy to make a zone that is impossible to solve in a legit way. It's much harder to plant enough clues to make it possible for the skilled and observant player to get through it by their own work, while at the same time stopping other players from accidentally stumbling over some random solution. But it can be done. With scripts that set flags on the player, so that they can only enter the inner level of a zone AFTER they have performed certain tasks. With aggressive guards at the entrance of the inner circle, that are virtually unkillable for any player, but bow and step aside if you have the right flag. There are lots of similar tricks that you can use. And if you set the puzzle up like that, and it takes 6 months for a player to solve all the riddles and get to the hard core, he is much less likely to blabber about the solutions. Why should he let others get for free what he worked so hard to achieve himself? If there is a legitimate way to solve a very hard puzzle, most players that do will keep their mouths shut afterwards. If there isn't, and they were just told the solution, they'll blabber about it.