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Valg · 03-03-2005, 04:57 PM

Something someone mentioned above is rather intriguing:

Let's say the game has a certain set of numbers denoting a 'recipe' for a potion. For each player, that set of numbers gets encrypted by a unique ID attached to the player file. (Upon character creation, one is randomly assigned.) Now, each player has to (essentially, not in an IC way) figure out the answer to that puzzle.

Let's say Alice comes along, and figures out through clever experimentation that he can make a certain potion using objects X, Y, and Z. If Bob came along, and tried the same ingredients, it wouldn't work- Bob has a different ID number, and his items get encrypted differently.

This solves the issue of characters subverting IC communication with OOC information sources, but it creates a quandry as KaVir pointed out... why can't Alice teach Bob ICly?

However, the ID number also solves this. Let's say you create a command called teach. Alice can do:

teach Bob potion_name objectX objectY objectZ

Because the recipes are encrypted in a predictable fashion (Alice can always make that potion the same way... it's not determined by random number at the moment of creation), the code can 'translate' from one character to the other. The code says, "Alice uses X, Y, and Z. I've checked that it correctly would generate potion_name, so I'll give accurate information to Bob instead of misleading results. Using Bob's ID number, I'll tell Bob that he needs U, V, and W."

Now:
1) Alice can teach Bob in-game. Players are rewarded for in-game collaboration.
2) Alice can't teach Bob out-of-game. Web sites aren't very useful. People have to play your game, not fire up Google.
3) ICly, you'll need justification for the different ingredients (alchemy linked to the user's soul, you're balancing out your own magical auras, etc.), but that's fairly easy to do.
4) Alice can lie, or simply be wrong. If she inputs bad ingredients, Bob gets misleading results. The roleplay dynamics of finding a knowledgeable mentor that Bob can trust are interesting.
5) Alice can make a living doing this, thus driving an in-game economy. If Alice is the first person to figure out how to make something, she can charge an arm and a leg for it. Of course, she might also have to swear her new student to secrecy...
6) It's compatible with your game's metric of ability, be it level, skill, etc. The teach command may malfunction if the teacher doesn't fully grasp the Potion Making skill, or if the potion is too high level, or anything else. This helps keep Alice in business- while she might be able to teach Bob how to make his potion, Bob might have to practice quite a bit before he's ready to teach Cindy. In the meantime, Alice is out seeing what price her talents can get.
7) Once Alice dies, the system still works. Her next character has to start as the student again. No one "beats" your game and moves on to other things- each time they play, it's a new challenge, based on interaction in two ways:

A) With other people: She has to convince new master she's a good student.
B) With the game's areas: Knowing you need mandrake root to make PotionA is all well and good, but you still need to go out and get some. And Alice's last character probably never had to bother finding mandrake root, since it wasn't in her recipe.

Thoughts? Problems? Donuts?

03-03-2005, 04:57 PM	#7
Valg Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Home MUD: Carrion Fields Posts: 643	Something someone mentioned above is rather intriguing: Let's say the game has a certain set of numbers denoting a 'recipe' for a potion. For each player, that set of numbers gets encrypted by a unique ID attached to the player file. (Upon character creation, one is randomly assigned.) Now, each player has to (essentially, not in an IC way) figure out the answer to that puzzle. Let's say Alice comes along, and figures out through clever experimentation that he can make a certain potion using objects X, Y, and Z. If Bob came along, and tried the same ingredients, it wouldn't work- Bob has a different ID number, and his items get encrypted differently. This solves the issue of characters subverting IC communication with OOC information sources, but it creates a quandry as KaVir pointed out... why can't Alice teach Bob ICly? However, the ID number also solves this. Let's say you create a command called teach. Alice can do: teach Bob potion_name objectX objectY objectZ Because the recipes are encrypted in a predictable fashion (Alice can always make that potion the same way... it's not determined by random number at the moment of creation), the code can 'translate' from one character to the other. The code says, "Alice uses X, Y, and Z. I've checked that it correctly would generate potion_name, so I'll give accurate information to Bob instead of misleading results. Using Bob's ID number, I'll tell Bob that he needs U, V, and W." Now: 1) Alice can teach Bob in-game. Players are rewarded for in-game collaboration. 2) Alice can't teach Bob out-of-game. Web sites aren't very useful. People have to play your game, not fire up Google. 3) ICly, you'll need justification for the different ingredients (alchemy linked to the user's soul, you're balancing out your own magical auras, etc.), but that's fairly easy to do. 4) Alice can lie, or simply be wrong. If she inputs bad ingredients, Bob gets misleading results. The roleplay dynamics of finding a knowledgeable mentor that Bob can trust are interesting. 5) Alice can make a living doing this, thus driving an in-game economy. If Alice is the first person to figure out how to make something, she can charge an arm and a leg for it. Of course, she might also have to swear her new student to secrecy... 6) It's compatible with your game's metric of ability, be it level, skill, etc. The teach command may malfunction if the teacher doesn't fully grasp the Potion Making skill, or if the potion is too high level, or anything else. This helps keep Alice in business- while she might be able to teach Bob how to make his potion, Bob might have to practice quite a bit before he's ready to teach Cindy. In the meantime, Alice is out seeing what price her talents can get. 7) Once Alice dies, the system still works. Her next character has to start as the student again. No one "beats" your game and moves on to other things- each time they play, it's a new challenge, based on interaction in two ways: A) With other people: She has to convince new master she's a good student. B) With the game's areas: Knowing you need mandrake root to make PotionA is all well and good, but you still need to go out and get some. And Alice's last character probably never had to bother finding mandrake root, since it wasn't in her recipe. Thoughts? Problems? Donuts?