Re: CF: Fwd: Race & Skills

[David Andrew Michael Noelle <dave@Straylight.org>]

> Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 23:34:54 -0700 (PDT)
> From: John Cater <john_cater@yahoo.com>
> 
> There was talk a while ago about splitting race and class at startup and
> I think it would be best to make this change at the same time as a new
> skills arrangement.
[...]
> 
> Human, Elf, Dwarf, Orc, Undead, Demon, Elemental, Dragon.
> 
> With perhaps mixes allowed:
> Half-Elf, Half-Orc (others?)

Don't forget Ogre.  As I recall, that was one of the most popular
requested additions in the previous discussion.


> And to facilitate that change I would be happy to make starting maps for
> each race, with links to (or around) Scorn.
> 
> The starting maps would consist of a few simple tasks, with rewards of
> starting gear. Some signs with instructions an altar for an appropriate
> god, and some food + money etc.

That was one of the possible solutions.  The other was a guild system,
for new level 0 players to choose a class and receive their starting
equipment and skills.  I don't think it was ever decided which to
use, if not both.


I would suggest that a voting booth be set up for such issues, where
players and developers and other interested parties can register their
preferences and suggestions on a web page, where the results can be
clearly displayed.  That would be much easier to keep track of than
the mailing list for issues like races, guilds, and classes.


> I would also like to see the long-awaited for addition of a "recall
> location" in the player structure, which is set to the last altar prayed
> over.

Really?  I didn't think anyone but me even remembered that.  I still
have all the code, but I stopped playing with it when it became
unclear how exactly the "return address" should be set.  There are
quite a few situations in which you might pray at an altar that you
would not want Word of Recall to return you to.  And there are a
number of altars in places that should not be magically accessible.

I could turn that code into a seperate spell, for testing purposes at
least, and maybe altars in temples could be specifically assigned the
ability to cast that spell.  Or maybe special "Altars of
Teleportation" could be installed in appropriate places.  The main
problem with this alteration of the Word of Recall spell is the same
as with the Portal spell - controlling the destination without making
the spell useless.


> As for the title of player: I suggest a table/scale based on the highest
> skill level.
> 
> For a character whose highest skill level is in physical (melee_weapons)
> 
> Level   Title
> 1-5     Fighter
> 6-10    Warrior
> 11-15   Paladin
> 16-20   Knight
> 21-25   Lord etc
> 
> 
> Or something (I am not attached to these levels or names)
> Or for a character whose greatest skill is in Magic
> 
> Level   Title
> 1-5     Mage
> 6-10    Magician
> 11-15   Summoner
> 16-20   Spellcaster
> 21-25   Wizard etc
> 
> 
> So, a characters "class" is really just a title that says what he is
> most proficient at.
> (I can see similar tables for each skill)

Theoretically, in a classless system, this might work, but seperating
class from race will not necessarily make Crossfire classless.  Also,
I suspect that under this system, we would never see thieves or
low-level mages at all.  Have you ever had a character with more
Agility experience than any other category?  Have you ever had a
low-level mage who didn't end up with more Physical experience than
Magical, just from trying to stay alive long enough to cast the next
spell?

If a character has approximately equal levels in Physical, Magical,
and Wisdom experience, would their title keep switching between
categories, or would some unreasonably complicated formula determine
which categories are and are not relevant and come up with a title
like "Warrior/Magician/Priest"?

I would suggest that a character's initial title should be their race.
Anything more specific really depends on whether we have classes or
not.

If we have defined classes, shouldn't the character's title be a
function of their chosen class and their overall experience rather
than their experience for whichever class they most closely fit at the
time?  If classes are determined by guild membership, is it possible
to be a member of more than one class/guild at a time?  Or are the
various usual combinations seperate classes by themselves?  

If we don't have classes, what is the purpose of describing the
character's class and rank in their title anyway?  Just let the player
set the title to whatever they think is appropriate.

-- 
            -Dave Noelle,                 dave@Straylight.org
            -the Villa Straylight,  http://www.straylight.org
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