I have seen an increase lately in the number of complaints about full loot, etc., and I wanted to throw out a few ideas I have about it, and see what other players/imms seem to think about changes such as these.


1. Do away with full looting totally, make it to where only one thing can be taken from the corpse at a time, and to get it you must target it specifically. g blademasters corpse for example. Sure in theory people would still be able to full loot, but they may be less inclined to hang around and sort through your corpse. This would still allow circulation of limited gear, while taking away a little of the frustration of full loots.

Granted someone will write a script where #alias loot will g ring corpse;g ring corpse;g boots corpse, etc until it goes throught all the different possibilites. The only thing I can think of to combat this would be to place a variable lag timer on looting that can be adjusted on people based on how often they loot. Say a char loots x amount of items in x amout of time, so his loot timer is adjusted from 0 to 1/2 round per item. And of course, it would go down as well when they looted less and less.

2. In conjunction with one, create a skill sort of like recall, called spiritties or something that when called it automatically takes you back to your corpse. (Would not work to bring you into Area Explorer area) Of course, it would cut the ghost time in half that you have, maybe in 1/4. Also it would have something like a 100 hour timer on it that would not reset, even if you die.

3. This is alternative to 1 and 2. Like the equipment freeze command, there would be an outfit freeze command that would commit your best NON LIMITED gear to memeory and allow you to OUTFIT with it after a death. Again, a really high timer would be added and only be usable by a ghost. Again, it would cut ghost time in half. It would not refit you with preps, limited items, food, drink or containers. Instead you would still get the same food, drink, etc that you would if you typed the outfit command now.

Anyhow, this is just a few thoughts out of left field that is my mind. Comments/critism/revisions are welcome.

I mean, I take a couple days off after a full loot, yeah, but when it happens, it happens. When I die, I expect to get full-looted, mostly because the stuff that WAS mine is now free for any walking by to take, plus someone slew me (probably for my gear).

Yes, I understand getting full-looted means 1-2 hours of regearing and prep-gathering, but it sucks. Just do what I do, take a couple days off next time you get full-looted, look over the logs, see what you've been doing wrong, find places you can quickly regear,etc. When you next login, don't rank, don't look for pk's, sprint to start regearing. Get your self a starter set, grab a couple preps...then start looking for a group and/or a PK to enhance your set.

Hope this helps, I know I haven't had MUD rage in probably two years because of this.

I don't see any problems with the current setup. I'm not often full-looted, when I am it's usually an hour's inconvenience to get back a barebones set with some preps and hop back into the mix. This inconvenience is what makes me hate dying, which is a good thing and a part of the game. What other incentives are there to fear death besides loss of con?

As has been stated many times, when you die, your gear is no longer yours. I'm all for gear circulation and the possibility that your death brings serious short-term consequences with it. If someone full loots your sack of food and a basic non-limited starter set comprised of skull rings and snow worm gear, then you take the hour or so to build back to what you had before. Some classes, races and alignments have it easier and some harder, but in my opinion this is balanced the other factors and pros/cons that those classes have going for them.

So, in short, I really don't see a need for any of your solutions:

1. Do away with full looting totally, make it to where only one thing can be taken from the corpse at a time, and to get it you must target it specifically. g blademasters corpse for example. Sure in theory people would still be able to full loot, but they may be less inclined to hang around and sort through your corpse. This would still allow circulation of limited gear, while taking away a little of the frustration of full loots.

As a PKiller, this limits my reward for said PKilling. If I kill a player with a highly coveted, I like being able to take everything I want and being able to sort it later. As a PKVictim, I try and make it to my corpse to see what I can salvage. If nothing remains, I make my way to get the basics and plot my revenge on the offender.

2. In conjunction with one, create a skill sort of like recall, called spiritties or something that when called it automatically takes you back to your corpse. (Would not work to bring you into Area Explorer area) Of course, it would cut the ghost time in half that you have, maybe in 1/4. Also it would have something like a 100 hour timer on it that would not reset, even if you die.

No to this. I like having time to sort through belongings without worrying about grabbing everything as fast as I can. What happens if in group vs. group fights, I'm first to die and use this to collect my fallen groupmates' belongings? Not fair to the PKer.

3. This is alternative to 1 and 2. Like the equipment freeze command, there would be an outfit freeze command that would commit your best NON LIMITED gear to memeory and allow you to OUTFIT with it after a death. Again, a really high timer would be added and only be usable by a ghost. Again, it would cut ghost time in half. It would not refit you with preps, limited items, food, drink or containers. Instead you would still get the same food, drink, etc that you would if you typed the outfit command now.

I like this idea personally in theory, however I don't see how it fits into the game. Outfitting now makes sense, in that you get crap peasant eq and a shoddy weapon -- something you can find lying around anywhere. If I outfit in Hamsah and get my full set of snow worm gear back, that would be harder to explain IC.


That said, I wouldn't mind seeing some variations of the above ideas put into effect for people answering 'yes' to the newbie char. creation question.


-Exit

As a PKiller, this limits my reward for said PKilling. If I kill a player with a highly coveted, I like being able to take everything I want and being able to sort it later. As a PKVictim, I try and make it to my corpse to see what I can salvage. If nothing remains, I make my way to get the basics and plot my revenge on the offender.

It's worth making the point that the vast majority of the McMMORPG games limit looting to a large extent, if not entirely. It's also why the PvP action on a lot of those games isn't a big draw, because there's no incentive to do it, other then being able to inform people that they have been owned in some horribly spelled manner.

In most of the McMMORPGs, dying is a largely meaningless speedbump on the infinite treadmill of leveling. It's that way for the same reason that the games generally don't require roleplay, turn a blind eye to cheating, wouldn't use a limited-item system, and don't institute permanent character death-- the games are designed above all else to be inoffensive. They're there to extract money from the customers, and that often means a Third Grade Award Ceremony reward system.... everyone's a winner! Three cheers for everyone! Here's a trophy! They shy away from true competition, because competition means people lose. It's safer to go with a system that doesn't bruise egos.

We're not that kind of game, really. It's fundamental to CF's original design that the game aims for big highs and big lows. Wins are triumphant and meaningful, losses are crushing setbacks. This model is set up to provide intense gameplay, which is the hallmark of the testimony you hear from our experienced players.

It's also why most people don't go to Vegas and play the nickel slots for an hour, promising to go back to their hotel room if they're down more than $2. It's more exciting to play with an amount of money that makes winning and losing important. Some people overdo this (just like some people take winning or losing a CF fight way too seriously), but a lot of people can go to a casino, play with a couple hundred bucks for better or worse, and go home smiling either way.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

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Carrion Fields: Where the high rollers play.

If anything, I suddenly have an urge to go to Vegas.

"Just when I thought that I was out.... they pull me back in." - Michael Corleone(*), probably not discussing being the guy who frequently ends up writing the CF promotional material.

I still think Amusingly Salty Nep Ad and/or Ironic Haxxor Nep Ad would read well. *cough* I rarely know when to play the "Whips the Llama's Ass" or "I ownzor joor newbie breads!" cards amidst my sea of text. Le sigh.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

(*) Admittedly, in my mind, I'm quoting Silvio Dante (Steven van Zandt's character on The Sopranos), impersonating Al Pacino, complete with hand gestures.