Post by rpilcrow on Feb 20, 2014 2:30:28 GMT
yo
so earlier today somebody asked (to the server) how the game could be improved for players (paraphrasing) and i rattled off a small list
iirc they told me to bring some of those to the suggestions forum
here they are
first off; gamemodes
there's something to be said about simplicity in a gamemode, you know? death note, normal mode, and.. possibly madoka mode; there's simple goals, the roles are clearly defined and they lend themselves to a lot of RPable situations.
in normal mode, one lone student must find some way to eradicate the rest of them - whether through deceit, simply waiting for them to turn on themselves naturally, or through actively fighting them. there's a lot of paths to take, which is primarily because the role is so vague, it's just: you are the murderer.
in death note mode, the killer is given a precise tool with set-in-stone rules around it, is given active opposition (the detective) and a being that depending on whether it wishes to cooperate, can turn the death note into a fearsome killing machine, and the round into an easy win. of course, there's still multiple routes - how do you get the names? do you risk it with the eyes, or try the office? do you get the names from the students themselves, or even use the note at all?
mahou/madoka mode.. is a difficult one.
it's got the groundwork for a good mode - a character with a defined goal and a number of ways to reach it, as well as a character who can work either in opposition of or with them (kyubey and the starting magi) as well as a large number of potential roles (the students) and there is so much potential for rp and character development (especially with the concept of wishes), but..
the issue is it always ends the same, yes? the problem, i think, lies in the witches.
i'm not entirely sure how i would, personally, fix the witches, but there are several problems with them:
first off, they're pretty much always the same, being NPCs - they'll always move in a random pattern, teleport about occasionally, and are created whenever a magi (or the depressed kid) dies.
secondly, their mechanics are.. arcane. there's no immediately clear rules with them or how certain powers/abilities work with them. does cleansing someone remove all their grief? how often does grief build up? what radius? is it better or worse to be a magi when dealing with grief? do you ever recover from grief naturally?
third, they're either overwhelming, or underwhelming with no middle-ground. anybody who's played a madoka round will know that the only two endings are: everyone dies, witches are everywhere, or the first witch is killed and it turns into a waiting game.
of course, the big difference between, say, madoka and death note/normal modes is this: madoka has its main antagonist be an unchanging, practically static NPC with no thought or reason behind it, whereas death note and normal's antagonists are all real (maybe), thinking (sometimes), human beings (debatable) who are perfectly capable of RPing (usually).
when they aren't, and act irrationally or dumb, things fall down.
I won't even begin to go into some of the more complex modes (what the fuck is even going on in umineko) or, heaven forbid, some of the custom modes - where we're suddenly bombarded with an array of arcane roles and rules that mostly require you to know the subject matter beforehand to RP.
so the overall point from this? the big tl;dr?
Modes should be intuitive, basic, and the roles should be few in number and have clear-cut goals that can be achieved in a variety of ways.
phew, that was a lot
let's see...
secondly, guides!
this'll be less of a doorstopper, since it's not that much;
to put it simply, there should be some form of guide for new players easily available in-game.
remember how the old MH used to have that neat little browser segment with the catgrill from some game/anime i don't remember?
yeah, something like that, with a big stamp on it saying 'player guide', explaining common situations, the items, and roles.
i'd make it myself, but right now it's late and i'm focusing on telling you what to make
third: i've completely forgotten!
awesome!
it was probably something that would fill a novel if i explained it
i'll probably remember tomorrow. i'm going to bed now. goodnight.
maybe i'll go back and edit this after i've realised i've said something really stupid. or maybe not.
so earlier today somebody asked (to the server) how the game could be improved for players (paraphrasing) and i rattled off a small list
iirc they told me to bring some of those to the suggestions forum
here they are
first off; gamemodes
there's something to be said about simplicity in a gamemode, you know? death note, normal mode, and.. possibly madoka mode; there's simple goals, the roles are clearly defined and they lend themselves to a lot of RPable situations.
in normal mode, one lone student must find some way to eradicate the rest of them - whether through deceit, simply waiting for them to turn on themselves naturally, or through actively fighting them. there's a lot of paths to take, which is primarily because the role is so vague, it's just: you are the murderer.
in death note mode, the killer is given a precise tool with set-in-stone rules around it, is given active opposition (the detective) and a being that depending on whether it wishes to cooperate, can turn the death note into a fearsome killing machine, and the round into an easy win. of course, there's still multiple routes - how do you get the names? do you risk it with the eyes, or try the office? do you get the names from the students themselves, or even use the note at all?
mahou/madoka mode.. is a difficult one.
it's got the groundwork for a good mode - a character with a defined goal and a number of ways to reach it, as well as a character who can work either in opposition of or with them (kyubey and the starting magi) as well as a large number of potential roles (the students) and there is so much potential for rp and character development (especially with the concept of wishes), but..
the issue is it always ends the same, yes? the problem, i think, lies in the witches.
i'm not entirely sure how i would, personally, fix the witches, but there are several problems with them:
first off, they're pretty much always the same, being NPCs - they'll always move in a random pattern, teleport about occasionally, and are created whenever a magi (or the depressed kid) dies.
secondly, their mechanics are.. arcane. there's no immediately clear rules with them or how certain powers/abilities work with them. does cleansing someone remove all their grief? how often does grief build up? what radius? is it better or worse to be a magi when dealing with grief? do you ever recover from grief naturally?
third, they're either overwhelming, or underwhelming with no middle-ground. anybody who's played a madoka round will know that the only two endings are: everyone dies, witches are everywhere, or the first witch is killed and it turns into a waiting game.
of course, the big difference between, say, madoka and death note/normal modes is this: madoka has its main antagonist be an unchanging, practically static NPC with no thought or reason behind it, whereas death note and normal's antagonists are all real (maybe), thinking (sometimes), human beings (debatable) who are perfectly capable of RPing (usually).
when they aren't, and act irrationally or dumb, things fall down.
I won't even begin to go into some of the more complex modes (what the fuck is even going on in umineko) or, heaven forbid, some of the custom modes - where we're suddenly bombarded with an array of arcane roles and rules that mostly require you to know the subject matter beforehand to RP.
so the overall point from this? the big tl;dr?
Modes should be intuitive, basic, and the roles should be few in number and have clear-cut goals that can be achieved in a variety of ways.
phew, that was a lot
let's see...
secondly, guides!
this'll be less of a doorstopper, since it's not that much;
to put it simply, there should be some form of guide for new players easily available in-game.
remember how the old MH used to have that neat little browser segment with the catgrill from some game/anime i don't remember?
yeah, something like that, with a big stamp on it saying 'player guide', explaining common situations, the items, and roles.
i'd make it myself, but right now it's late and i'm focusing on telling you what to make
third: i've completely forgotten!
awesome!
it was probably something that would fill a novel if i explained it
i'll probably remember tomorrow. i'm going to bed now. goodnight.
maybe i'll go back and edit this after i've realised i've said something really stupid. or maybe not.
