thoughts on the ability to track down players

[Brafu]

Ok, so instead of just pointing out all of the issues with the mud and why I think it's failing, I figure I should at-least try to be productive and throw out an idea or two.

The way I see it, one of the main issues is with how easy it is for people (especially a group) to be tracked down and harassed. Right now the game is setup to give the advantage to the hunter and not the hunted, and I think that's a mistake. It's just too easy to hunt someone down, even if they know they are being hunted and take steps to avoid being found. Sure, the hunted can hide behind a locked door in a no-relo zone, but that doesn't seem right. The work and effort should be placed upon the hunters to find the person, not on the person to avoid them. Not to mention it really takes away from the enjoyment of the game when you are limited to a small % of the zone because someone wants to attack you just to make you log off.

So, here are a few of the idea's I said I was going to throw out there..

1) Make Relocate only work for clannies, group members, and when the target is not a clan/group member make it so the spell will only work if the target is in the same zone (ie. a town) as a mage guild master. Aside from removing the spell I cannot think of another way to make it less useful for finding someone, but I'm sure there's a better solution.

2) Change hunt/track so that you need to have seen the target within the last 5 minutes, and to actually have the targets "physical" tracks in order to get anywhere. Let's say I saw a mage run past me on the road, and I want to find him. I start tracking and I'm lead along the exact same path the mage followed, at-least up until the point when he relocated out because he saw me too. From that point on I can no longer track him until I see him again and thus am able to pick up his trail once more (at-least til he poofs/recalls/gets summoned out again).

I know I'm leaving out temp path, but I'm not even fully aware of it's current limitations and such, so I can't really comment.

What I would like to see is for everyone who wants to play to be able to actually play and not be forced off because someone wants the ego trip. This is suppose to be fun, entertainment, and not a pissing match to see who can ruin the other sides ability to play first. I know of no other game where people actually see it as a GOOD thing to drive other players off of it so they cannot play (and can actually do it).

So far that's about all I got, but I wanted to throw them out there for people to rip apart and tell me how terribly wrong I am =P

[sart]

I like where you are going with the track thing... I have always thought that.  Not neccessarily need to "see" the person.. but be on a trail they walked on; how else would you find tracks.   However, that would be a very complex system to build into the game indeed.

I don't think that anyone would say it was a bad idea... it is just that we don't have the programming bench strength to make something like that happen.  So then it would be an all or nothing answer.

I will start my own thread on what I think we should do so I dont hijack your thread.

[Aristox]

]I don't think that anyone would say it was a bad idea... it is just that we don't have the programming bench strength to make something like that happen.  So then it would be an all or nothing answer.

It is not every day you get your programming ability insulted randomly by someone you do not know, who has no clue what is going on.

[Brafu]

Well, the way I see it is that any change meant to help blunt the player mentality of driving people off the mud will probably need to be a serious change. No band-aide measure will work.

The imm's have tried many things over the years and while some have helped deter the behavior a little, it's not been nearly enough to actually stop anything. But if you make it harder for people to track each other down then you have a system in place that will help to self regulate the issue.. meaning less time the imm's have to spend on the issue themselves.

Also, the reason I specified that they would need to see the person was to prevent blind track attempts all over the mud looking for someone. And if you think about it it makes sense that a tracker wouldn't know who's tracks they were unless they knew for a fact who made them (ie. seeing them make them). Not that I'm advocating having the mud make logical sense or anything... just another step to make the task more challenging for the hunter(s).

But anyway, I'm just posting some idea's that came to me and that made sense (to me at-least). Maybe someone will see some value in them, or even in part of them, and maybe it'll help the mud. Just want to do more than bitch and moan like most everyone else.

[sart]

Hi.. Im Sart.  I didn't realize you were that out of touch with the player base.. been here since 94. 

And wasn't trying to insult your skill I perhaps chose the wrong words.  Far be it for me to comment on anything (randomly).. I have it on good advice that I have no clue what is going on

[Dyl]

I like making it harder to find people.  This will ultimately lead to more skirmishes and full group out of the inn hunting checking possible zones looking for corpses etc

[Brafu]

I like making it harder to find people.  This will ultimately lead to more skirmishes and full group out of the inn hunting checking possible zones looking for corpses etc

I agree. The net result would be more people actually playing the game at the same time, and that benefits us all (even if some might get pissed off by it).