Let there be Trade.. and let it be FUN!

Archive of the Sojourn3 Ideas Forum.
Yadir
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Let there be Trade.. and let it be FUN!

Postby Yadir » Mon Jan 29, 2001 4:42 am

Here are my thoughts on how trade can be improved to make it more fun and functional. I understand the players on Sojourn to all be Heroes of one sort of another. We are not like all those commoners, miners, farmers, serfs, what-have-you. We are Adventurers! We sally forth to discover what has yet to be discovered.. to do what has never been done.. to write our name in the stars so to speak. The old trade system never really made sense to me. Why would my mighty *cough* mage (or monk, or warrior or whatever) rent a cart and a horse and drag tobacco up to MH just because I stood to make a buck or two? I'm in it for the adventure, the fame, the equipment, and the experience. I play Sojourn to do the amazing. I want to escape the ordinary details of day to day life. I'm out to meet Juiblex and live to tell the tale!

OK.. so back to trade. Given my description of the role of players on the mud, I think trade can be way for the players to make a name for themselves and have some adventures along the way. It's something fun (and new) to do when the zones are done and the groups are scarce. It will make you a little (or a lot) of coin (which might actually be worth something this go-round, eh Kris?).. but that's not the only objective. So how to do this?

Here are my main ideas. If you want more information, please refer to the paragraph of the same number below.

(1) Let the players be heroes/guides/guardians (as they should be), not merchants.
(2) Use NPC merchants/mounts/wagons who are followers of the Pchars to move the commodities. Let the group limit be a part of the trade balance. For every merchant you bring you sacrifice a group slot for a Pchar.
(3) Make the profit (fee earned by the Pchar) from trade related to the risk of the journey. (Risk = value of commodity + dangers of journey/region + size of caravan)
(4) Add a 'trade reputation' stat for the char. The stat determines what caravans the player can lead (and therefore how much he can make on the trip).
(5) Have 2 basic risks to trade. Indigenous mobs to a region (who would commonly raid trade caravans) and mobs that appear due to special conditions.
(6) Create NPC's which give up-to-date information about the specials risks of trading in a zone.
(7) Expand trade to include messenger escort, quests, 'special' trade between black markets/mobs, etc.

1. The players aren't merchants.. they're heroes! Merchant life is boring as was trade on Toril, for the most part. A Pchar, be they warrior or mage or whatever, would contract with a travelling merchant(s) as his guide or protection to get their precious cargo through perilous lands to the far off trade center where they will be paid when they arrive.. cargo and merchant(s) intact.

2. Create NPC merchants that the player contracts to protect (along with their cargo, wagons, horses, camels, etc.) for the duration of the journey. This could be done through the trade center. The Pchar looks through the jobs.. accepts one.. and meets the waiting caravan at the city gates (or wherever). The merchants, et al are followers of the contracting Hero (or in the case of a group, the group leader). To prevent twinking, the merchants are below level 20 so they can't be welled/gated and they can never be ordered to fight by the Pchar or killed by a Pchar. Give the merchants relatively few moves (like 75 or less) so you can't sprint for very long without needing to rest them. If the merchant(s) are killed or the cargo is destroyed by raiders/mobs, the contract is broken and the Hero has lost the chance for reward and 'reputation' (see #4). If the player arrives with the merchant(s) alive and some of the cargo intact (say he lost a camel or two), he can get a reduced payment. The group limit will include merchants and Pchars. If you want to take a large caravan (and incur large risks), be sure to have enough slots for Pchars to handle the job! Sure you could 'squad', but those not in the trade group won't get any 'reputation' stat benefit (see # 4).

4. Rather than relating the Pchar's reward/fee from trade directly to the prices of commodities in various markets, connect it to the risks of the accompanying a particular caravan. The risks could include the value of the cargo, the size of the caravan, the commonly known dangers of the region to be traversed, as well as the 'special' dangers of the region. The Pchar can accept the caravan based upon the risk he/she is willing to take. If you're going to take the job solo, you would only accept job with a certain amount of risk through an area with type of raider mobs you can handle solo. If you want to make a greater reward, you can take a job with significantly higher risk but you may need to bring some friends along.

4. Create a stat that represents the 'reputation' of the Hero as a guide to trade caravans. It would be an indicator of success/failure at trade. When a char begins trade, they can only get a little job.. but as they successfully complete trade trips their reputation stat could grow. That way a Pchar couldn't start out protecting 10 camel diamond caravans from Mithril Hall to Calimport. The merchants would never trust an 'unknown' with such a high-risk job. As you build your reputation, your chance for getting jobs with greater rewards increases. Of course greater rewards mean greater risks. A failed trip reduces your trade stat. Let's say you've build up quite a rep but you get a little cocky and get a few caravans spanked.. Your reputation would go down a bit and you'd have to build it back up again to get the choice jobs. I can see it now... "Hrm... I dunno Mr. Ragorn.. I hear that you haven't much success traversing the Spine of the World.. as I hear it, the last 4 caravans you led that way were burned to the ground... maybe I'll find someone else with more.. experience." Have the trade stat gradually decline over time. If the player doesn't trade for a year or two of mud time.. the merchants have all forgotten him/her or no longer trust him/her as much as they used to. Perhaps a trade journey with a successful battle or two would increment the reputation stat more than one which occurred without incident. A group leader who seeks trade could have jobs available to him/her according to the total reputation stat of the group members. The successful completion of the journey would bring a 'reputation' stat increase for all group members, with a bonus for the leader. High level Pchars with a high trade stat could have the choice of all jobs; a high-risk job, or a lower-risk job that they could do solo or with a partner (with a lower reward). Very rare opportunities for special jobs could be available only to those with a very high trade stat, or a Pchar that could get a group together with a high enough aggregate trade stat to get the job. These jobs could perhaps bring a reward a quest item or begin a quest that could be completed only through trade instead of a fee.. This type of job would be very dangerous.. and perhaps pose unique risks...

5. Have two basic dangers to trade caravans. One would be mobs common to particular regions and could be expected to raid a trade caravan most of the time in varying strengths (dependent upon the value/size of the caravan). For example, brigands would frequently raid caravans passing through in the desert. These are the known risks of moving goods through the region. Of course, larger (or more valuable caravans) would draw a bigger group of brigands... and maybe they'd bring along a sorcerer or necromancer friend to help them even the odds (since they'd be betting on the caravan having decent protection.) Trade caravans that had significant value (according to size or commodity type) would be highly likely to be intercepted at least once (maybe more). For example, word is going to get around among the unscrupulous types that a very large shipment of mithril was heading South out of MH on a particular date. The second danger would be a 'special' mob or mobs that represent a seasonal or uncommon risk in a given region.. Word would get around that these risks existed. (see #) For example, orc raiding parties, hungry Dragons, etc. could be prevalent in a particular region for a time. Perhaps a particular mage and his minions could be after certain gems for his own nefarious reasons.. raiding all ruby caravans.

6. Introduce NPC's in the mud to help Pchar's assess the ever-changing risks (especially 'special' risks) of trade in a region. All towns, crossroads, etc. could have a mob of this type. For example, the hostel north of the Road Crossing N of WD could have a mob in it who would report on the conditions on the High Road, or the town crier in WD (or other towns) could shout changes in conditions of the regions. Prices of commodities, risk values, and protection fees in the trading houses would change accordingly. A smart Pchar would check not just the level of risk at the trading house, but the types of risks before accepting a job by checking with these NPC's (and have a party to match, if necessary). A smart Pchar would still check with the NPC's along the way for any new info. He might even turn back with no loss to his reputation stat if he felt the new information meant that the risks were too great... or recruit other players before continuing forward.

7. Allow messages/special deliveries out of trade centers. For example, a Pchar could sign up for a job that involved escorting an NPC messenger from the starting town.. (say BG) to his contact (say a non-aggro mob in.. oh.. I dunno.. UM) and back again. You could also meet a mob out in a zone that had a need for certain goods. Some examples: That hidden rebel outpost in CV probably needs supplies. I'll be there would be Ogres aggro to any caravan coming through with said supplies. Perhaps there is an agent that needs protection to get from BG to UD. He would sign up in the trade center for a Hero up to the task. Instead of mobs jumping the group there would be an assassin or 2 that is tracking the party, placing a trap, or hiding along the path.. trying to get in a fatal backstab on the agent to earn his bounty. Jobs of this type would have great RP possibilities as well. I'm sure a Paladin would jump at the chance to take needed commodities on missions of mercy.. or to help a ease a deficit of some sort in another land.. Those jobs would give the adventurers (us) a chance to improve your reputation stat, have a little fun in a dangerous zone, maybe learn a thing or two. Perhaps you could even have a 'back room' with black market trade (that would probably run out of the thieves guild). The Nilans of the world would be more interesting in using their skills (disguise, etc.) to get some 'interesting' goods in or out of UD or Faang. Perhaps the rogues could have a skill (or a spell class a spell) to disguise merchants or their goods to help with type of trade.

I think that trade of this sort would be great fun! When a Pchar is bored and wanted something to do he/she (and perhaps a buddy or two) could see what sort of trade caravans/messengers jobs there were.. and sign up! If your reputation stat (or combination of same w/ your buddy(s)) was sufficient you might be able to get a job that will make you a bunch o' plat... but I'm sure you'd earn it. The idea is that when we engaged in trade, we would do it for fun as well as profit. We would have a basic idea from the beginning of the risks involved with a particular job and the commensurate rewards. Hopefully this type of system would mean that the combat is more often expected, and planned for, rather than avoided. Of course some cases would call for the Pchar to use every trick in the book to avoid being caught! :) Besides, the caravan mobs aren't built for speed or combat. That's OUR job. I know you could argue that this reduces players to mercenaries, but think about it... Didn't Frodo get Gandalf the White Wizard and other brave adventurers to help him brave the dangers of his journey? The commodities/destinations/and conditions of the journey would give color to the trade activity and create RP opportunities for the Players of Sojourn....

Let there be trade.. and let it be fun!

Yadir
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Postby Sarvis » Mon Jan 29, 2001 5:05 am

Hmm... some good points in that. But how about making the caravans lead the players around? So maybe an npc merchant is getting ready to leave WD heading for MH... he might shout something like "Caravan leaving for HP, guards needed." Then a play could go to the trading post and sign up with that caravan after getting info from the merchant. Would have some nice advantages... people might meet each other when they both went to sign up for the same caravan and after the trade run go out for exp or somethin... heh. Would also be a good way for newbies to get cash... should make the trade runs fairly easy for newbies. (Could have advanced caravans too for the highbies, like maybe prisoner escorts? Escort Nilan from Calimport to WD *cackle* ;)

Err... one other thing... would need to create a safe way to get from WD to BG. Going through the troll hills sucked even without dragging a wagon along. Could just make the npc merchants go across ships... but then are guards needed? Guess that's all I can think of atm... heh.

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Postby Saitcho » Mon Jan 29, 2001 5:18 am

Hmm, to me, trade always seemed like a waste of time. After it was determined that it was cheating to use the trade system, people gave up. So what was the point? Ok so it wasnt cheating, it was just wrong to trade to the same city or something, that was a "bug." ok so it was a bug, so in order to make a few platinum, you had to

1) have a lot of platinum already
2) waste a lot of time dragging a cart around
3) kill the bandits that popped up sometimes

ok, yes. it adds flavor and a new way to earn money, but, IMO, its just not much fun. It kinda goes back to that risk vs. reward argument from sos2 about having a zone with no equipment. Trading is already in the game through the trade of equipment and money between players, keep out the npc factor and you have a player run economy, right? right. sure it will eventually get built up and people will be selling high level equipment at low prices, but thats how an economy works. besides the mud will be shut down and reopen before anything gets too out of hand. no im kidding, really. hehehe ok i wont go there again. anyway.. just my ramblings.

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Postby Yadir » Mon Jan 29, 2001 5:20 am

I thought about that.. but I felt that having the Pchar able to make decisions for the caravan would be important.. where/when to rest. If something *bad* jumped em he could try to order the caravan 1 room away while the Pchars fought (of course you would run the risk of being flanked and having your caravan jumped in the next room while you were still engaged). The main reason I suggested it the way I did was because I wanted to suggest a way that it could work without extensive coding (or so I hoped). Having caravans running around require AI.. and that can be messy. Followers, on the other hand, are already coded. Oh.. btw. I forgot to suggest that merchants in the caravan should be annoying.. always talking about nonsense and regaling the hero with stories of this and that (like the guest in IC). :P

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Postby Saraish Aderilix » Mon Jan 29, 2001 9:48 am

I really like the sound of all this trade stuffs. I came onto Sojourn just after the trade had finished, so I really don't know/understand how it USED to work. But this concept I really like.

If this is similar to how trade will be implemented, then I am really looking forward to being on at late night Aussie time. This is when there aren't too many ppl on the mud, but there is still enough for me to do :)

I really can see great diversity opening up - your reputation would also change upon the cargo you run. You may have a low reputation and run a poison run to an evil meeting point or something to gain "reputation points" very quickly - higher risk! If you do it bad - you get caught by WD authorities or something, chucked in jail to rot with Nilan... ;)

--Saraish "I didn't do it, the mentals made me" Aderilix, Black Market Co-ordinator.
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Postby Sarvis » Mon Jan 29, 2001 3:12 pm

Actually the code to make a merchant travel from spot to spot would be basically the same as the code that makes ships go from city to city. No AI would really be needed... would need some code to handle joining the caravan. The only other thing would be popping the merchants and such... but just make a certain number of merchant mobs and they go back and forth at timed intervals (like ships.) I dunno... the questions shouldn't be whether it's hard to code or not anyway... it should be "will it be better?" If stuff were left undone because it was hard to code then there wouldn't be any muds in the first place... heh. (Not to mention computers, operating systems, Zmud... )

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Postby Faerwynd » Mon Jan 29, 2001 4:44 pm

OMG! What a great idea! I like the trade system in general, but you're absolutely right, IT'S BORING! This is definitely true to the RPG Theme.

How many of you have played AD&D and actually bought/traded commodities?

Ok, now how many of you have ever played AD&D and escorted a caravan of merchants and defended it against raiders?!?! Damn right you have!

Great idea Yadir!

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Postby Lithius » Mon Jan 29, 2001 6:18 pm

I never was a great fan of the trade system but I like the idea of getting a messanger to protect until you have reached a destination that could be in a high level zone and that you might need a full group to accomplish but at the end the reward would be awsome cash with the eq you gathered on the way there. The players would have to play smart incase you incounter a mob that casts areas and so on.

This could vary from low level groups too high level ones. All you would have to do is have the messangers weak considering the zones you have to bring him in.

Ex. You could have a messanger that needs to
get to Jot. the group would have to
insure his safety until he would reach
his final destination.

or You could have a low level group needing
to bring a messanger in a hidden room
behind the king in the low level goblin
cave or whatever it is. (dont forget Im
from EM)

I find this would be cool and be more practiced then Trade cause a group could do it any time even if the zone has ben done, they could do it simply for the cash.

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Postby Lithius » Mon Jan 29, 2001 6:24 pm

oh and also could bring some life back to zones that are never visisted like Nizari or just to spice them up (like: Gith, Citadel, etc..)
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Postby namatoki » Mon Jan 29, 2001 9:25 pm

Those are some neat ideas. But would they also apply for evils as well? I wonder if a squid would offer to help guard or lead a merchant caravan...

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Postby Faerwynd » Mon Jan 29, 2001 10:27 pm

Great point Lithius, it sure would bring some life back to any old zones, just have an NPC that wants to go there for some reason or another.

And namatoki, of course it could apply to evils, maybe a squid would want to bring a bunch of slaves from Faang to the master brain in Ix or something.

All it takes is the kind of creativity the zone makers are famous for!

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Postby Lithius » Tue Jan 30, 2001 6:12 am

It should apply for both evils and good. Could increase the RP as well.

Ex. Evils are planning to move some slaves and you need to bring this messanger to his destination in order to stop them... Hey it could even be a race at some point if the GM's Would like. Good Vs. Evil

Iv allways played a Ranger but Im sure that there are many great evil zones that arent visited cause of the lack of eq or something.

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Postby Shevarash » Tue Jan 30, 2001 6:15 am

Yadir -

Excellent ideas man, and very well thought out. We will take all this into considation I assure you! Thanks for the input.

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Postby Yadir » Tue Jan 30, 2001 10:57 pm

Thanks Shevy.. It feels good to get positive feedback on an idea that has been rolling around in my head for a while. I gotta give credit to a few friends for helping me iron out the ideas into a more coherent structure. I had very helpful input and feedback from Keijen, Xaril, Lyt, Navia. They're all planning on returning for Soj3.

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Postby Wyrel » Tue Jan 30, 2001 11:25 pm

Yadir's suggestions seem to be an addition (a good one) to a trade system, rather than a replacement of one. In terms of actual trade systems, anyone have thoughts on the effect of a limited money supply? As it stands, there is an unlimited amount of money in the mud, and more is constantly being introduced via mob kills. What if, much like the real world, the money supply were regulated. It would be neat if one of the "control knobs" Kris refers to could be something akin to the interest rate controlled by the Fed. Whatever trade system is adopted, there will need to be an underlying economic system.

As the knob is turned in one direction, the supply of money available for distribution to mobiles would decrease, and the price of goods and services would increase. This would have the effect of reducing the money supply.

As the knob is turned in the other direction, the supply of money available for distribution to mobiles would increase, and the cost of goods and services would decrease. This would have the effect of increasing the money supply.

By goods and services, I mean everything we pay for in the mud, including, but not limited to, training, ship fare, food, supplies, etc..

The trick would lie in finding a way to code in control of the knob automatically. Perhaps an algorithm based on the average number of players over the last 3 weeks could be devised. That would mean as more and more players play, the money supply would increase, and as the number of players decreases, so would the money supply. Perhaps it could also be modified by the level of the players, as different level chars produce different cash flows.

Perhaps the whole thing could be linked to the GDP of the mud, or the total value of all goods and services produced in the mud over a given period.

The overall idea is to solve the problem of hoarding. Players have very low expenses in terms of regular cost of living. Any attempt to introduce new expenses would likely meet with great resistance, especially if it came in the form of rent.

Thus, we need a way to keep large numbers of players from amassing huge fortunes, and thereby causing massive inflation in the EQ market. At the same time, we must keep alive the hope that dedicated players who exercise reason, judgment, and good business sense will be able to achieve wealth.

Perhaps the answer lies in regulating the amount of money available to be amassed in the firt place. Yes, this will lead to concentrations of wealth in the hands of a smaller number of players. I humbly suggest that this isn't such a bad thing.
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Postby Harthorm » Wed Jan 31, 2001 12:11 am

As long as I don't have to pay taxes.

Yadir (and Co.'s) ideas have great merit. I'd definitely like to see some of that implemented (after the MUD is opened hehehe).

I do agree there should be some sort of limiter on the total wealth of the MUD. At some points between previous wipes, you'd see insane prices on the MUD for a single piece of EQ, for no other reason than the owner wanted to and could charge that much. If there were less money floating around, the prices of EQ and other goods would be moderated and you wouldn't see Mr. PlatinumPockets with 10 belts to hold up his leggings from weight of cash :)

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Postby Sarvis » Wed Jan 31, 2001 12:40 am

I think that's funny... people thinking too much money is floating around. The only time I ever broke 1k was when trade was "broken." Mostly the only people that were rich were the highbies that had been there forever, and that's pretty much how it should be. If you adventurer constantly for years and years you'd be rich. But people like me who aren't good at trading and such don't accumulate much cash. Lowering the amount of available cash would just make us poorer while the people who were already rich would stay that way. Not to mention the poor newbies when rations suddenly cost 5p and they are only getting 1 copper from all the bunny slayin'.

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Postby Wargo » Wed Jan 31, 2001 3:07 am

I believe a solution was already stated in the mud. As I recall, when of the help files on economy states that in the future players could purchase their own houses. Of course this is purely a novelty item to have. However, for the advanced players who had like 6 to 7 digit platinums, they would've loved to have a castle built in their name. As players gain more and more money, they can expand on what they already have. So instead of a lonely castle outside of let's say Neverwinter, he/she can add staples, plantations, orchids, baracks, etc. etc. Players should also be able to purchase/hire guards for their castles. Imagine the surprise on a newbie's face when he walks up to this magnificent looking fortress called let's say "Grand Citadel of the Great Warlord Wargo" =P then he sees me (as a player character) walking out of it =) Can't you imagine what that will do to a newbie player?

Heheh, this is not my idea. As I stated, this was mostly part of some help files I read on economy like 4-5 years ago when I first joined the mud. I really would like to see this implemented together with Yadir's trade system.

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Postby Harthorm » Wed Jan 31, 2001 3:25 am

I think what it really boils down to is giving the rich people something to spend their money on. In the end, having that house/castle, and other interesting things to spend money on will even out the economy. There will still be those super-rich people, nothing will change that because some people don't spend as much or just know how to make more money. We can stabilize it and make the mud a more enriching place by finding things to take the *huge* amounts of plat out of peoples hands.

I realize this is a little contrary to my earlier post about lowering the amount of money on the MUD, but they are both viable ways of equalizing the situation. I mean, it's not critical or anything. Who really cares how many 0's are in that lvl 50 dude's bank account, but it will help things like player-to-player trade, etc. in the ways I talked about earlier.

Hope this makes some sort of sense :)

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Postby Yadir » Wed Jan 31, 2001 5:36 am

Hrm.. interesting points on the economy. On Soj2/Toril, High level Player to Player EQ trade didn't involve plat.. because plat couldn't buy anything that those players wanted or needed. They had everying money could buy and a full set of eq, so they traded eq for eq and their plat just piled up in the bank. Kris has suggested that they has a fix for that.. and I look forward to hearing what it is. Speaking to the idea of the economy/GDP/goods and services on the mud as a whole.. well.. there really aren't any that involve the Player. The mud doesn't really have a full functioning economic model (that involves Player input), and doesn't need one. That's a whole different strategy game concept. If the mud wants to have a full economic model and deal with GDP... then the Players better be able to start/own corporations, hire laborers and start considering all the factors that affect supply and demand. (Who plays a mud for that?) The problem that needs to be solved is for the high levels only.. Players under 20 still bought/sold eq for cash.. and so it had meaning for them. If you try to fix the entire economy to reduce the cash horde on high level Players.. the lower level folks will suffer.

I think the idea that you can buy a home->mansion->castle->barony etc. and add various knicknacks is pretty cool... It solves the problem that the mud had in the past of tons of plat accumulating in higher level players' pockets. Hrm.. I'd be interested in hearing an Imm's view on their goals and plans for money on Soj3.
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Postby Shevarash » Wed Jan 31, 2001 6:53 am

Well, it's too early to make an official announcement, but I can tell you that the staff is definitely thinking along similar lines..
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Postby Faerwynd » Wed Jan 31, 2001 4:04 pm

Well this topic went from trade to housing and back again, but I hope some serious restrictions are placed on where people can build homes/castles/etc.

I dread seeing the buffalo plains between WD and BS no longer being a plain and becoming a haven for home owners. KnowhatImean?

I'm sure the Imms will do a great job with what ever they decide (hopefully they've already thought of this), but I just had a mental picture of houses popping up all over the countryside and it gave me chills.

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Postby cherzra » Wed Jan 31, 2001 7:07 pm

It will probably be in towns
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Postby Guest » Fri Feb 02, 2001 4:48 am

Yadir,

Your proposal on how trade could be done on Sojourn III was so good, that we would like to adopt it as the model for our new trade system. The timing on it could not have been better, as myself and Ilsensine are right now gearing up to actually code in the new system. It needs alot of fleshing out on technical details of implementation, and those discussions are already happening internally.

What struck me, and I think most of the staff, is how well the system would fit into Sojourn, how much sense it makes, and how it was professionaly written. (The more clear the proposal, the easier to read and understand what you mean). It's an excellent set of ideas. Do you mind if do this?

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Postby Sarell » Fri Feb 02, 2001 10:22 am

Ranger Scouting Skill

Perhaps a tog skill for rangers to enable to to keep a look out for bandits along the way. This would allow them to scout a few room ahead and check for danger. Or keep a few rooms behind and watch for mobs coming up the rear.

I think that using mobs more dynamically, such as ones that might start say 10 rooms behind the caravan and sneak up on it or the same ahead would be really fun. That way you would need to have people scouting ahead / behind and could also be used to slow the caravans down on the whole somewhat.

The scout skill (also for rogues?) could work as such. I am not sure if raiders etc load on a % chance per room btw so this could be completely off. Each room along a trail could have % chance per zone reset of loading raiding mobs (normal stuff). These mobs would have a balancing chance of being removed each zone reset(more normal stuff). This would enable the raiding mobs to be fairly random without having a check done each time a caravan enters a room. Why? you ask... So that the rangers and such have something to scout ahead for. When the scout skill is togged on have a chance depending on skill level of spying out an ambushing group, some gtroups would not hide they would just be marching happily down the road looking for kill stuff. Make these rading mobs move slow enough so that the ranger can get back to the group and report the mob. Use the report command so that it only works on players are in the room. Once a mob has been reported to a player it will be able to be seen..not mobs not hidden again could all be seen and have nothing to do with pointing out or scouting, but this system still would allow for them.

Different mobs of course would do very diferent things. An assassin might set a trap for the player. A band of ogres prolly walk down the path in open sigh and mash them with clubs. Bandits that sneak up from behind. Mobs could be controlled using current commands such as track, trap, bash :), hide, etc. plus the new skill of ambush, which is like hide but can only be seen by scout, or at least have very little chance of being searched for, I think search in what I am picturing would be too slow.

*Sarell's Mental Image*TM<I>
-----Ragorn has scout togged and sees some bandits, quickly returns to party and reports using command. "hey Ladak there are bandits coming down the road get ready!"
"Bandits this time of year? dont be stupid!" moans Ladak the stupid barb (god I loved our trip to scorn Ragorn)
Ladak's terminal----
<font color=green>
<1000000 hitpoints> A bandit enters from the south
<1000000 hitpoints> You get a mushroom from you tenth layer of you stupid ag collection and sit to eat it
<1000000 hitpoints> A bandit double backstabs a stupid unwary barb!
<-3 hitpoints> OUCH that really did hurties
Welcome to Toril...

-------
</font></i>
End Sarells mental image...



This skill would be better than having mobs just hide and be searched out by players as it would be unique to classes and therefore more RP orientated an in my opinion bettering the over all game feel.

Anyhow yay for interesting trade!

Patrick/Sarell/Ladak/etc
Yadir
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Postby Yadir » Mon Feb 05, 2001 6:39 pm

Miax and Co.

Thanks again for the compliments. The ideas are yours to implement as you see fit. I'm looking forward to seeing this system in action as I also see it being a great addition to gameplay on Sojourn. As to the timing and organization of the post, I was simply responding to the request for ideas on trade. I did write, ponder, and re-write the post offline and submit it to friends for critical review before posting it. I've learned that my first drafts tend to be wordy and unclear. Even the best writers can benefit from a little editorial review. :)
Faerwynd
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Postby Faerwynd » Mon Feb 05, 2001 7:01 pm

Woo hoo! *hi5 Yadir*

Good to see someone's suggestion go from idea to an actual implementation to the MUD! Way to go Yadir =)
Guest

Postby Guest » Tue Feb 06, 2001 12:29 am

Outstanding Idea!

Rho

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