Re: (TFT) the challenge of computers, and idea

["Tim.Sireno" <tim.sireno@econmktg.com>]

<Snip>
>     The adventure multi-player games has borne this out.  As a whole
people
> behave terribly on games like Diablo, Ultima, et al.  Artificial
restraints
> have to be put in place (no fighting in town), and sometimes fighting
among
> players is completely disabled (no damage to allies).  I find this counter
> productive.  Experience has shown me that the more computer game designers
> try to restrict this behavior the more attractive it becomes.
Particularly
> to the hackers.

  One of the primary reasons why I got frustrated and eventually stopped
working
on designing a Multi-user dungeon on my BBS! The PK'ers kept coming up with
ways
to attack the players... Which was not my design intent.

>      If one player walks up behind another and kills them, I don?t even
> think a bounty should be put on their head.  Their icon, or avatar, or
skin,
> or what ever they are calling it this week, should turn into a monster
right
> there.  They are a monster now.  When they re-spawn they are still a
monster
> and they have to come up from the bottom of the pits.  They are literally
> ?escaping from hell? as it were.  To start as a humanoid again they would
> have to make a new character.

	Now that's a grand Idea, in fact, I once toyed with the idea of setting up
a Multi-player game where players got to choose if they wanted to play the
monsters. Nearly everyone told me it was a stupid idea, then. But, when you
bring it up in this new context, I still think it would be interesting for
some people to go into say, Ultima Online, and be a wander monster or an
organized monster patrol of some sort. If there's any game designers
listening, take note, I sure there's dozen's of people willing to volunteer
for such duty.  Just look at the PK-rate among such popular games as Diablo
2, Quake 3 arena, and so on. And for you PK haters out there, imagine the
challenge of living in a online community game where every monster *is*
another player. Now, that would be something. Even I'd have difficulty
deciding which side to be join!

(The thought of being able to mastermind a group of monsters takes GMing to
a new level... Heck, I salivate at the thought of Blizzard producing a
Diablo I or II Scenario/Level/monster editor, where I could create a
dungeon/town/or something to run the players through online. But, alas, I
know that the greedy companies won't let it happen for a long time. Though,
I repeatedly wish somebody would buck the horse and put something out along
those lines...)

>      People who like killing other players will get instant gratification.
> They will get nifty looking horns and spikes growing out of them.  The
more
> PCs they kill the more demonic looking they will become.  It?s a fantasy
> game, and being bad is yet another thing that the players wouldn?t do in
> real life.  To sum up, at the beginning of a campaign there are zero
> monsters in the pits, towards the end almost nothing but.  AI quickly
> becomes a non issue in this arrangement.  And to end with the thesis, to
> propose a solution, the last sentence of this post shall be this.  I
submit
> that characters as well as monsters should be played by actual people
> on-line.
>
>      David Michael Grouchy II


           I thoroughly agree with you David, that would be a near perfect
solution for some of the PKer's who are merely looking for more of challenge
than the computer generated thugs. But, I also know there are some, (why
don't we call them what they really are?) *evil sicko's* out there who won't
satisfied with that, and would still be going around masquerading as player
characters trying to kill the 'legits'.  Since their thrill is a more of a
sick kind of perversion than anything else.  The only solution I see to this
problem, is if anonymity in online games is not allowed, and a Hall of
Shame/reputation record of the PKer's actions is kept for all to examine.
Because I find that secrecy is a part of their thrill, and when that's taken
away, the thrill usually goes with it. And since no one wants to be the
subject of such public shame either, their less likely to commit such stuff.
And I know this works, because,  when I was a member of big online game, I
saw this exact policy in action, no anonymity was allowed, and PKing was
publicly punished by the game itself! Whenever a PK incident happened,
*EVERY* NPC in the vacinity ran over and kicked the living tar out the PKer,
and if the foolish PKer came back online and tried to repeat it, the same
thing happened! Some 'career' PK'ers got so well known by the games
moderators that they had programmed the game to have a NPC mob go after
would them as soon as they arrived. Sure, it's not fair, but it sure worked!
PKing was almost non-existent there. Only PK'ers with pathetic attempts at
masquerading was the remaining problem, and those I believe, were usually
got turned over to the legal beagles when they were caught. Unfortunately,
the profit hounds running the online company, decided to shut down the
MU-dungeon game system in favor of some other 'more profitable' stuff,
offering internet Archie (menu) services, instead of providing content...
*Sigh*

	- Tim Sireno
	  AKA White Wolf

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