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Orion · 10-22-2012, 03:48 AM

Thanks for the mention Leech

I imagine that because of the brutality involved in those plots, they are very short, and the staff have to keep coming up with new ones at a fast pace in order to keep anyone interested. I prefer sustained plots, which means that characters only die in extreme circumstances, and as Leech mentioned, character-killing will initially not be allowed on Broken Cycle, barring perhaps accidents. This is because of the setting.

I think it's important to support players in enabling their characters to affect other characters in ways that don't result in either character's death, such as:

Blackmail, spreading rumours, theft, rape, assault, publicly humiliating a character, forming or participating in existing groups if you have a different opinion on how an aspect of the village is run, having criminals arrested or arresting them yourself if you're a law enforcer and then imprisoning them.

You'll also be able to have an active role in keeping character-killing from coming into the game, or delaying it at least. Since the village is peaceful by outsider standards, maintaining this peace will be key to determining when/if the policy on character killing changes and by how much. I can say for sure though that it will never be completely unrestricted.

Basically, I want to encourage conflict, while at the same time limit character deaths as much as the setting allows. I think both are possible. Part of this requires that characters roleplay realistic reactions to certain situations - if someone beats your character to a bloody pulp, for example, your character becomes wary of crossing them again.

I'll give some examples of a couple of situations that hooked me on a MUD I used to play.

I created my first character and immediately got involved with a group that were heading to an inn for lunch. One of them had a missing nose. Asking why he had a missing nose, my character learned that the leader of the group had cut off the man's nose for stealing from him. The two of them were both still alive and interacting.

Later on the leader of the group was attacked by a man concealed in a cloak, who ran off as others came along, leaving the leader of the group bleeding all over the fountain. The concealed man could have just killed the group leader, but the player decided to set it up so that others came along and interrupted him.

In both of these situations, all characters remained alive. Players put the continuation of the storyline above any desire to simply want another player's character gone, and still managed to keep it interesting.

Long post, sorry. My MUD isn't open for play yet, but should be sometime in November, or December at the latest.

10-22-2012, 03:48 AM	#7
Orion Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 50	Re: Roleplay Thanks for the mention Leech I imagine that because of the brutality involved in those plots, they are very short, and the staff have to keep coming up with new ones at a fast pace in order to keep anyone interested. I prefer sustained plots, which means that characters only die in extreme circumstances, and as Leech mentioned, character-killing will initially not be allowed on Broken Cycle, barring perhaps accidents. This is because of the setting. I think it's important to support players in enabling their characters to affect other characters in ways that don't result in either character's death, such as: Blackmail, spreading rumours, theft, rape, assault, publicly humiliating a character, forming or participating in existing groups if you have a different opinion on how an aspect of the village is run, having criminals arrested or arresting them yourself if you're a law enforcer and then imprisoning them. You'll also be able to have an active role in keeping character-killing from coming into the game, or delaying it at least. Since the village is peaceful by outsider standards, maintaining this peace will be key to determining when/if the policy on character killing changes and by how much. I can say for sure though that it will never be completely unrestricted. Basically, I want to encourage conflict, while at the same time limit character deaths as much as the setting allows. I think both are possible. Part of this requires that characters roleplay realistic reactions to certain situations - if someone beats your character to a bloody pulp, for example, your character becomes wary of crossing them again. I'll give some examples of a couple of situations that hooked me on a MUD I used to play. I created my first character and immediately got involved with a group that were heading to an inn for lunch. One of them had a missing nose. Asking why he had a missing nose, my character learned that the leader of the group had cut off the man's nose for stealing from him. The two of them were both still alive and interacting. Later on the leader of the group was attacked by a man concealed in a cloak, who ran off as others came along, leaving the leader of the group bleeding all over the fountain. The concealed man could have just killed the group leader, but the player decided to set it up so that others came along and interrupted him. In both of these situations, all characters remained alive. Players put the continuation of the storyline above any desire to simply want another player's character gone, and still managed to keep it interesting. Long post, sorry. My MUD isn't open for play yet, but should be sometime in November, or December at the latest. Last edited by Orion : 10-22-2012 at 04:00 AM.