Dawn of the Artifact Code (old thread)

[Sesexe]

There's something I've noticed about really powerful artifact like items in the AD&D/D&D world. They always talk about how this thing randomly shows up, then randomly dissappears, and a lot of the time taking the life or soul of the possesser. Noone ever knows when or where you're going to run into one.

Toril/Soj has had a lot of 'artifacts' in previous incarnations of the game. And like in AD&D/D&D they are normally handed to players by those who run the game, and to anyone and everyone on those rare chaos pkill events so many of you apparently despise.

Ok so..

What if they weren't handled by the staff? Or rather, there was a category of artifact power level items that weren't?

What IF these 'artifacts' could be found by anyone, at any given time, but never able to hold on to it for any length of time, and each artifact actually has a real curse associated with it?

In mud terms (the idea here):
What if there were artifacts that could rare load (at any time during a boot) in any room in the entire mud accessable to players? (This would probably need to be new code to allow for it)
AND
What if they were !rent?
AND
What if they were !locate?
AND
What if once you picked one up, you couldn't pick up ANYTHING else, or drop anything else? (to stop multiple artifacts on one person, and to serve as a curse aspect)
AND
What if you couldn't use it (the restrictions prevented you) meant you took constant damage from it like a Valkyrie sword on crack (faster then a bard constantly singing heal to prevent twinking as well - one aspect of a curse), until you were dead?
AND
What if the artifact was removed from the game when you did die? (to load randomly at a different time and place, and to allow you to ress that glorious corpse)
AND
What if there was a timer on the artifact and after so much non-use while in the possesion of someone (like 30 mins), it would poof. (So people couldn't idle with it, they had to be used)

[Grizz]

Being a casual player I wouldn't like the !rent concept personally but I like the idea overall.

Personally I wouldn't want to be a possesser of an artifact. Reason being goes to that old saying "Great power rquires Great responsibility" (thanks spiderman). As I said, I am a casual player and if I had such a powerful unique item it wouldn't be fair to those who play more often. Suddenly I would be a popular addition for raids and such due to the item. I'd feel obligated to do these things and when I can't or don't want to then people would be pissed at me.

All in all, far too much trouble for me. Keep yer fancy schmancy dohickey thingamabobber.

However, I like your ideas for the game. Just not for me.

[Shadow1ife]

You know, I like this idea because I've actually seen it work to a lesser extent on Godwar style muds in the past.

Artifiacts would randomly load during reboots, when somebody left, or if the item was dropped(?). Now, there could be 20 artifacts, but only 3 or 4 would be available at one time. Example follows:

Arti A
Arti B
Arti C
Arti D

These artifacts are all circulating within the realms, Joe picks up Arti D, goes on a raid and has to log (artifiact code would prevent him just handing the arti off to another player). Once he logs, Arti D poofs with him... now the arti's circulating might be:

Arti A
Arti B
Arti C
Arti H

So anyhow, I personally like the idea.

Shadow

[Sesexe]

Being a casual player I wouldn't like the !rent concept personally but I like the idea overall.

Personally I wouldn't want to be a possesser of an artifact. Reason being goes to that old saying "Great power rquires Great responsibility" (thanks spiderman). As I said, I am a casual player and if I had such a powerful unique item it wouldn't be fair to those who play more often. Suddenly I would be a popular addition for raids and such due to the item. I'd feel obligated to do these things and when I can't or don't want to then people would be pissed at me.

Grizz, the fact that it's !rent and can't be handed off would prevent the whole responsibility/power deal. A player would only have an artifact for a night of playing to a couple of days, if they played nonstop (I just added another AND to artifacts to prevent players from just idling).

[Grizz]

My mistake. For some reason I put the !rent thing out of my head.

[Disoputlip]

ADnD style artifacts/relics are only meant for 1 thing. To destroy.

I wouldn't mind there was a whole zone for destroying an artifact. But seeing players run around tweaking with an artifact and not wanting to destroy it would be wrong to me.

(Giving to the rightful owner = destroy.)

On the other hand. I wouldn't mind some zones gave really good eq that was !rent.

/Disoputlip

[Delmair Aamoren]

I agree with some of what you are saying Sesexe. It would be neat
to have some "chaos". Artifacts could indeed bring this chaos. Perhaps
as something found, perhaps they are a random load on some of the
muds more powerful creatures, depending on their power.

I would suggest, however, they be rentable, but have special hard-coded
rules around them. These rules would control the amount of time one
mortal could wield said item or have it in their posession. For example:
a) after killing X number of mobs (randomly generated each incarnation
of the item to prevent twinking) the item disappears.
b) a "good(or evil) aligned artifact" that disappears if you kill a good(or
evil) aligned mob
c) item would disappear after X days ( generated randomly each
incarnation)
d) ...old memories of a certain mage disintegrating avernus TWICE come
to mind... i think his name was Crynus...

These are just a few examples of what could be. Albeit there are much
more important things at hand at the moment, but definately something
to look forward to as a posibility of the future.

[Sesexe]

Well since Tiamat is on her way here, or so Shevy has indicated, thought I'd raise this old thread that had her in mind. Seems especially imperative now with the dramatically increased difficulty forcast for the new Tia.

Besides, morts need artifacts to fight gods! ;)

[Pril]

The only problem with this idea imo is that while most of the gods are honest and trustworthy some aren't. Quest info leaks all the time, and i feel that some gods would check where the artifacts would load, unless Shev can code it in some way so that only he and shar for example could check where those items loaded, it maybe code it so that noone can... shrug just talking from expirience of chatting with certain gods who used to check where stuff would load or find global load mobs for their chars quests.

Pril

[Botef]

My 2 cents:

Artifacts shouldnt just 'load', they should be in some way quested.

Artifact Quests should never, ever be the same twice.

They should have a limited time of usability.

Should have some kind of negative consequence for extended/abusive use.

Perhaps be limited to being usuable only on certain mobs, i.e. high-level god-like mobs.

Should probably be !ID and have quirky effects. Like 2h gith but much much more dangerous.

Could also be interesting if players possesing artifacts could be subject to pkill with the risk of the artifact being 'lost' when they are smited.

[Lilira]

Oh no!!! NOT the 2H gith!!!!

Lilira is running very far away since she seems to attract those DAMN Gith knights...

Just ask Ticarios what his summon percentage was BEFORE he met Lilira.....

I think 50% of it was with Lilira in tow....

ACK.

Otherwise, just adding to the BBS spam. *Halo*

[Ashiwi]

It would be cool if artifacts had a very small chance of loading in the treasure haul of random zones. It would be something kept tucked away from prying eyes, prized... or even worn by random mobs in the zone, if it was the kind of item they might not recognize as something ancient and powerful.

But that still begs the question of how an artifact could transfer from the hands of one player to the other. I like the idea of artifacts you could potentially lose, or keep for a limited time before they disappear into some random distant corner of the world, to be picked up by some unsuspecting mob.

[Sesexe]

I like the idea of artifacts you could potentially lose, or keep for a limited time before they disappear into some random distant corner of the world, to be picked up by some unsuspecting mob.

I can see it now..

A strangle vine wraps itself around you, making it so you can't even breathe!
A strangle vine half kills you with it's mighty slash from Avernus the life stealer of Arex the great!


Artifact wielding strangle vines.... groan
;)

[Pril]

I like the idea of artifacts you could potentially lose, or keep for a limited time before they disappear into some random distant corner of the world, to be picked up by some unsuspecting mob.

I can see it now..

A strangle vine wraps itself around you, making it so you can't even breathe!
A strangle vine half kills you with it's mighty slash from Avernus the life stealer of Arex the great!


Artifact wielding strangle vines.... groan
;)

Better yet the ferns in DS....

A fern places 'Life Fang' the dagger of Trogeh the stealthful in your back...

Welcome to Toril...

[Ashiwi]

Actually... yeah. I think there's a 'humanoid' flag in the game, so that humanoid-only mobs can be flagged as potential finders and wielders of an item. Other than that, it would be cool to see it load hidden in the inventory of a non-humanoid mob. It would be kind of like Tolkien's one ring... it lay at the bottom of a riverbed for ages, so why couldn't an axe lay in the depths of a growth of vicious ferns?

It would be better if something like that loaded at boot, though, so mobs which are done and redone over and over through a boot don't stand a greater chance of loading the item.

[Cordan]

Code it so the arti will poof if it hasn't been used in a certain amount of time (if possible). Considering if someone finds an arti at the start of a boot, and spends 90% of the boot afk/idle (with macros) so they don't loose it if they decide to come back on and play at some point.... know what I mean?

[Drogga]

i like sesexe's original idea and would like to add some points.

- the artifact need to be on a mob in a not-very-easily-accessed zone. Which mean they could be on any mob in a medium or hard zones not only on mob that wearing the eq.

- the artifact should not be too powerful and only be giving you certain kind of 'enchantment' & can only be kept in your inventory.
for examples:
1) globe of regen : make you regen 4x than your normal regen rate.
2) globe of anger : give you permanent +10hitroll +10damroll
3) globe of haste : permanent haste
4) globe of might : permanent +30maxstrength
5) globe of health : permanent +30maxhealth (hence more hitpoints)
etc etc

- remember this apply to sesexe's original idea....which means !RENT, etc etc etc