May 1999

• Object server. Quzah [softhome]
• Censorship & Its Impact On World Immersion J C Lawrence
• OT: Ethics v Law Greg Munt
• Virtual v Artificial Worlds Greg Munt
• • Virtual v Artificial Worlds Matthew Mihaly
• Custom Server Roll Call? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
• • Custom Server Roll Call? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Wes Connell
  • • Custom Server Roll Call? David Bennett
    • • Custom Server Roll Call? Koster, Raph
    • Custom Server Roll Call? Greg Munt
  • Custom Server Roll Call? The Arrow
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Alex Stewart
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Nathan F Yospe
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
  • • Custom Server Roll Call? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
    • • Custom Server Roll Call? Jon A. Lambert
      • • Custom Server Roll Call? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
        • • Custom Server Roll Call? Jon A. Lambert
          • • Custom Server Roll Call? Matthew Mihaly
            • • Custom Server Roll Call? Jon A. Lambert
            • Custom Server Roll Call? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
            • • Custom Server Roll Call? Jon A. Lambert
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Chris Gray
  • • Custom Server Roll Call? Marc Hernandez
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Greg Munt
  • • Custom Server Roll Call? Jon A. Lambert
    • • Custom Server Roll Call? Matthew Mihaly
      • • Custom Server Roll Call? Jon A. Lambert
    • Custom Server Roll Call? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
    • • Custom Server Roll Call? J C Lawrence
    • Custom Server Roll Call? Ling
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Jon A. Lambert
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Emil Eifrem
  • • Custom Server Roll Call? Niklas Elmqvist
    • • Custom Server Roll Call? Chris Gray
      • Custom Server Roll Call? Emil Eifrem
      • • Custom Server Roll Call? Chris Gray
        • • Custom Server Roll Call? Emil Eifrem
          • • Custom Server Roll Call? Chris Gray
    • Custom Server Roll Call? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
    • Custom Server Roll Call? J C Lawrence
    • • Custom Server Roll Call? Emil Eifrem
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Marc Hernandez
  • • Custom Server Roll Call? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
    • • Custom Server Roll Call? Jo Dillon
      • • Custom Server Roll Call? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
      • Custom Server Roll Call? Marc Hernandez
      • • Custom Server Roll Call? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
        • • Custom Server Roll Call? Marc Hernandez
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Adam Wiggins
  • • Custom Server Roll Call? Matthew Mihaly
    • Custom Server Roll Call? Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
    • Custom Server Roll Call? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
  • • Custom Server Roll Call? claw@kanga.nu
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Emil Eifrem
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Chris Turner
  • Custom Server Roll Call? Ling
  • • Custom Server Roll Call? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
    • • Custom Server Roll Call? Jay Carlson
      • • Custom Server Roll Call? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
      • Custom Server Roll Call? Ling
• Interesting dilemma Peck, Matthew x96724c1
• • Interesting dilemma Caliban Tiresias Darklock
  • Interesting dilemma Quzah [softhome]
  • Interesting dilemma Brandon A Downey
    "Peck, Matthew x96724c1" wrote:
    
    > I am currently facing an interesting and complicated dilemma in my mud. The
    > problem is what I call "Illegal Equipment." This is equipment that is
    > unbalanced for normal gameplay in one way or another. Most of this
    > equipment has a legitimate in-game purpose, whether it exists on mobs or as
    > artifacts. However, I have discovered that several immortals will load
    > multiple copies of the items and distribute them for various reasons, from
    > quest rewards to level bonuses or other reasons. In addition, they will
    > often restring the items to personalize it, yet also making the item
    > difficult to detect.
    >
    > There are several issues that I see here.
    >
    > 1) Trusting my immortals. I have to trust them to conduct day to day
    > operations such as building and clan leadership. They normally do excellent
    > work. How do I restrict them from taking advantage of their positions?
    > They basically need to be able to load equipment at will as part of their
    > work, so I cannot restrict the commands. I have posted rules, but they got
    > around it by using the quest equipment excuse. (Somewhat valid, quests with
    > rewards are encouraged, but sometimes they go a little overboard).
    
    I would suggest some code to log whenever immortals load objects. This should
    log not only the load, but also the identity of the object loaded [most mud
    variants have vnums, or numbers for objects]. It would also be helpful if along
    with logging this info to a file, there was some sort of 'security' channel that
    saw this sort of thing, only accessible by high level imms.
    
    Admittedly, like most measures of this sort, this won't stop every attempt to
    subvert the system. For instance, if you have an OLC system, they could easily
    alter the stats on a seemingly innocuous object to make it more powerful. Or, if
    you have some 'enchant a weapon' variant, high level versions of this spell
    could easily drastically improve more mundame weapons. (The spectre of the +10
    toothpick of doom haunts us all).
    
    Of course, the real solution is to get your subordinate immortals to understand
    your reasoning on this issue. You might want to point out the dangers inherent
    in the appearance of immortal favoritism (I'm sure there are some people who
    *didn't* get this unbalanced eq that are envious), along with "eq inflation",
    from handing out this stuff wholesale. Those are both legitimate concerns, and
    if your imms profess any sort of belief in fairness or game balance, this might
    be the tact to take in approaching them, as opposed to just posting a list of
    rules.
    
    You also might want to require lower level imms to get approval before they run
    a quest. Or, just require them to send a note to the other immortals about the
    results of quests. That way, you get a handle on how many quests are run.
    
    >
    >
    > 2) Restrictions on equipment. I personally am against restricting
    > equipment from players. It would have to be based on some arbitrary
    > standard, and I dislike arbitrary rules based on the fact that it conflicts
    > with immersion. Why shouldn't I be able to pick up the sword?
    >
    
    While I tend to agree with this (I remember finding a 'level 5 smurf's cap' once
    I couldn't wear because I was level 4 -- they're always seemed something
    horribly wrong with that), a solution you might consider is having a player's
    skill in a weapon affect their ability to use it effectively.
    
    For example, you might have a sword that does, on average, 30 points of damage.
    This could be modified, though, by the player's skill in 'swords'. So, the
    actual amount of damage done is: 30* (percentage skill in sword/100). This would
    have the effect of preventing unseasoned or low level people, who would
    naturally have a lower skill, from using the weapon to do obscene amounts of
    damage.
    
    
    
    >
    > 3) Restrictions on equipment stats. This is the road that I am starting to
    > travel down. On our development port I've written code that will
    > automatically generate stats for equipment. While billed as a time saver,
    > it also serves to reduce equipment abilities to reasonable levels. The
    > problem is that some equipment should just be better than anything else, and
    > I want builders to be able to construct such items. But then refer back to
    > #1.
    >
    
    Since you already have the facilities for 'suggested' stats, why not have the
    code automatically slap a flag on 'unbalanced' eq, so that it makes the eq easy
    to spot. If your problem is imms just loading this equipment, this should make
    it easier to spot. (Particularly if you make a command that lets you look for
    objects on the basis of a certain flag type.)
    
    If you're having a problem with these sorts of objects in areas, you might want
    to consider giving them a 'limit' factor: Every time an object would reset, it
    checks how many are in the world, or in how many pfiles it appears. If it's over
    a pre-specified limit (fun ways to do this include basing it on the total number
    of player levels, or total number of pfiles), it doesn't reset. Of course, if
    you think these objects are too easy to get to in areas, that's fairly easy to
    monitor.
    
    >
    > Another problem that I have is then confiscating these items. Is there any
    > way to do it nicely? I have one immortal who has taken it upon himself to
    > start clearing out these items. While I approve of the effort, the mud has
    > suddenly taken a hostile turn. Morts seem to have gained a distrust for
    > immortals. How can I heal this rift? No mud can survive with such conflict
    > for long. The imms will win, only to find no players.
    
    One thing to keep in mind is that *any* negative change in the power level of
    the players will upset them. Take away an abusive skill or spell, people
    complain. Take away easy to get high powered eq, people complain. The thing to
    do is to make sure that you reduce their power level in a fair way.
    
    What this means is that you might want to notify the players that it's being
    done beforehand, so they can expect it. Rather than just deleting them, why not
    run a check with that stat generator on your equipment. If it's over what you
    want, give it a chance of having a 'decay' timer on it, so that after a certain
    amount of play time the item crumbles. Or, make it so that the items only last
    until the player dies, so that they don't stay in perpetual circulation.
    
    >
    >
    > Any help would be appreciated.
    >
    > --Matt Peck
    >
    > ________________________
    
    I hope I've helped.
    
    
    Brandon
    
    >
  • Interesting dilemma Shawn Halpenny
  • • Interesting dilemma Matthew Mihaly
  • Interesting dilemma Benjamin D. Wiechel
  • Interesting dilemma Koster, Raph
  • Interesting dilemma Wes Connell
  • Interesting dilemma Mattias Lönnqvist
  • Interesting dilemma Mik Clarke
  • Interesting dilemma Joel Kelso
  • Interesting dilemma Ronan Farrell
• Harvey's Rules of Immship John Hopson
• Confiscating items (Interesting dilemma) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
• AW: Interesting dilemma Hofbauer Heinz
• Virtual Property J C Lawrence
• • Virtual Property Koster, Raph
  • • Virtual Property Jon A. Lambert
• Autogenerating maps from muds using cardinal directions for exits? Ben Greear
• • Autogenerating maps from muds using cardinal directions for exits? Mik Clarke
  • • Autogenerating maps from muds using cardinal directions for exits? Ben Greear
    • • Autogenerating maps from muds using cardinal directions for exits? J C Lawrence
      • • Autogenerating maps from muds using cardinal directions for exits? Ben Greear
        • • Autogenerating maps from muds using cardinal directions for exits? Sunny Gulati
  • Autogenerating maps from muds using cardinal directions for exits? Jon A. Lambert
• Discussion of large server IO handling desing J C Lawrence
• Planes of existance Quzah [softhome]
• • Planes of existance Greg Munt
  • • Planes of existance Quzah [softhome]
    • Planes of existance Caliban Tiresias Darklock
    • • Planes of existance Ben Greear
      • • Planes of existance Caliban Tiresias Darklock
      • Planes of existance Greg Munt
      • • Planes of existance T. Alexander Popiel
        • • Planes of existance Ola Fosheim Grøstad
    • Planes of existance Matthew Mihaly
• Dynamically changing room descriptions Ronan Farrell
• • Dynamically changing room descriptions Mik Clarke
  • Dynamically changing room descriptions Ben Greear
  • • Dynamically changing room descriptions Koster, Raph
    • • Dynamically changing room descriptions Richard Bartle
      • Dynamically changing room descriptions Matthew Mihaly
  • Dynamically changing room descriptions Travis Casey
  • Dynamically changing room descriptions Travis Casey
  • • Dynamically changing room descriptions Ola Fosheim Grøstad
    • Dynamically changing room descriptions Jon A. Lambert
    • • Dynamically changing room descriptions Ola Fosheim Grøstad
      • Dynamically changing room descriptions Eli Stevens {KiZurich/GreySylk}
      • • Dynamically changing room descriptions Jon A. Lambert
    • Dynamically changing room descriptions Ling
  • Dynamically changing room descriptions Christopher Allen
• old fight system I toyed with Koster, Raph
• APE 0.2.1 J C Lawrence
• • APE 0.2.1 Marc Hernandez
  • • APE 0.2.1 claw@kanga.nu
• OT: robots, agents and emotions Ola Fosheim Grøstad
• • OT: robots, agents and emotions Ola Fosheim Grøstad
• Time Discontinuous MUD Ling
• Semi-OT: International intellectual property right (was: Custom Server Roll Call?) Custom Server Roll Call?) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
• Semi-OT: International intellectual property rights Ola Fosheim Grøstad
• Marc Hernandez' Server Greg Munt
• • Marc Hernandez' Server Jay Carlson
  • • Marc Hernandez' Server Caliban Tiresias Darklock
    • Marc Hernandez' Server Travis S. Casey
    • Marc Hernandez' Server Adam Wiggins
  • Marc Hernandez' Server Marc Hernandez
  • Marc Hernandez' Server qitelremel@hotmail.com
• Scry 1.9.1 (Feature Freeze) released. Ben Greear
• The distinction between magic spells and magic abilities Greg Munt
• • The distinction between magic spells and magic abilities Matthew Mihaly
• Multi-threaded mud server. Ross Nicoll
• • Multi-threaded mud server. Caliban Tiresias Darklock
  • • Multi-threaded mud server. Jon A. Lambert
    • • Multi-threaded mud server. Jo Dillon
      • • Multi-threaded mud server. Travis S. Casey
        • Multi-threaded mud server. Jon A. Lambert
        • Multi-threaded mud server. Chris Gray
      • Multi-threaded mud server. Chris Gray
      • • Multi-threaded mud server. Jon A. Lambert
      • Multi-threaded mud server. Mik Clarke
      • • Multi-threaded mud server. Chris Gray
        • • Multi-threaded mud server. Mik Clarke
      • Multi-threaded mud server. Ross Nicoll
      • • Multi-threaded mud server. Jon A. Lambert
        • • Multi-threaded mud server. Ross Nicoll
          • Multi-threaded mud server. Ross Nicoll
    • Multi-threaded mud server. Ross Nicoll
    • • Multi-threaded mud server. Jon A. Lambert
      • • Multi-threaded mud server. Ross Nicoll
      • Multi-threaded mud server. Caliban Tiresias Darklock
      • • Multi-threaded mud server. Mark Gritter
        • Multi-threaded mud server. Ross Nicoll
      • Multi-threaded mud server. Travis S. Casey
      • • Multi-threaded mud server. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
        • Multi-threaded mud server. Ross Nicoll
    • Multi-threaded mud server. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
  • Multi-threaded mud server. David Bennett
  • • Multi-threaded mud server. Ross Nicoll
    • • Multi-threaded mud server. Jon A. Lambert
      • Multi-threaded mud server. Travis Casey
• Macro languages Caliban Tiresias Darklock
• LOTR and Mud [was: Marc Hernandez' Server] Marc Hernandez
• Noise: boys will be boys (was Multi-threaded mud server.) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
• • Noise: boys will be boys (was Multi-t hreaded mud server.) Koster, Raph
  • Noise: boys will be boys (was Multi-threaded mud server.) Chris Gray
• Kanga.Nu has finally moved... claw@kanga.nu
• Java & MUD servers Laurent Bossavit
• ScryMUD 1.9.3 released. Ben Greear
• • ScryMUD 1.9.3 released. Chris Gray
  • • ScryMUD 1.9.3 released. Ben Greear
  • ScryMUD 1.9.3 released. Jon A. Lambert
• [TECHNICAL] How to generate pre-processor output (template problem). Ben Greear
• • [TECHNICAL] How to generate pre-processor output (template problem). bruce@puremagic.com
  • [TECHNICAL] How to generate pre-processor output (template problem). Greg Miller
  • • [TECHNICAL] How to generate pre-processor output (template problem). Ben Greear
    • • [TECHNICAL] How to generate pre-processor output (template problem). Greg Miller
      • [TECHNICAL] How to generate pre-processor output (template problem). Albert
  • [TECHNICAL] How to generate pre-processor output (template problem). Oliver Jowett
• Searching the archives claw@kanga.nu
• Text Parsing Albert
• • Text Parsing Greg Miller
  • Text Parsing Kylotan
  • • Text Parsing Chris Gray
    • Text Parsing Albert
  • Text Parsing Mik Clarke
  • Text Parsing Cynbe ru Taren
  • • Text Parsing Chris Gray
    • • Text Parsing Ola Fosheim Grøstad
      • • Text Parsing Nathan F Yospe
        • • Text Parsing Ola Fosheim Grøstad
      • Text Parsing Mik Clarke
      • • Text Parsing Marc Hernandez
      • Text Parsing Kylotan
      • • Text Parsing Ross Nicoll
        • • Text Parsing Kylotan
          • • Text Parsing Travis Casey
          • Text Parsing Chris Gray
          • • Text Parsing Ross Nicoll
  • Text Parsing Travis Casey
  • • Text Parsing Albert
    • • Text Parsing Travis Casey
      • Text Parsing Mik Clarke
  • Text Parsing Ross Nicoll
  • • Text Parsing Chris Gray
    • • Text Parsing Katrina McClelan
      • • Text Parsing Travis S. Casey
        • • Text Parsing Caliban Tiresias Darklock
          • • Text Parsing Chris Gray
            • • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
              • • Text Parsing Caliban Tiresias Darklock
                • • Text Parsing Travis S. Casey
                  • • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
                    • • Text Parsing Travis S. Casey
                      • • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
                        • • Text Parsing Travis Casey
                      • Text Parsing Greg Miller
                      • Text Parsing Albert
                • Text Parsing Chris Gray
            • Text Parsing Greg Miller
          • Text Parsing Ola Fosheim Grøstad
          • • Text Parsing Travis Casey
            • • Text Parsing Caliban Tiresias Darklock
        • Text Parsing Chris Gray
      • Text Parsing Travis S. Casey
      • • Text Parsing Chris Gray
        • • Text Parsing Travis S. Casey
  • Text Parsing Ben Greear
  • • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
    • • Text Parsing Travis S. Casey
      • • Text Parsing Greg Miller
        • • Text Parsing David Bennett
          • Text Parsing Travis Casey
    • Text Parsing Cynbe ru Taren
    • • Text Parsing Katrina McClelan
      • • Text Parsing Travis S. Casey
        • Text Parsing Greg Miller
      • Text Parsing Chris Gray
      • Text Parsing Martin C Sweitzer
      • • Text Parsing Jp Calderone
    • Text Parsing Chris Gray
    • • Text Parsing Ben Greear
    • Text Parsing Travis S. Casey
    • • Text Parsing Greg Miller
    • Text Parsing Greg Miller
    • Text Parsing Chris Gray
    • • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
      • Text Parsing Ben Greear
      • • Text Parsing Caliban Tiresias Darklock
        • • Text Parsing Adam Wiggins
        • Text Parsing Chris Gray
    • Text Parsing Kylotan
    • • Text Parsing Koster, Raph
      • • Text Parsing Ben Greear
        • • Text Parsing Jon A. Lambert
          • Text Parsing Adam Wiggins
        • Text Parsing Chris Gray
        • • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
          • Text Parsing Koster, Raph
        • Text Parsing Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
        • • Text Parsing Koster, Raph
          • • Text Parsing Travis S. Casey
            • • Text Parsing Greg Miller
              • • Text Parsing David Bennett
  • Text Parsing Ross Nicoll
  • • Text Parsing Travis S. Casey
    • • Text Parsing Ross Nicoll
      • • Text Parsing Albert
        • • Text Parsing Travis S. Casey
          • • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
            • • Text Parsing Greg Miller
              • • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
                • • Text Parsing Greg Miller
                  • • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
                    • • Text Parsing Chris Gray
                      • • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
                        • • Text Parsing Adam Wiggins
                          • • Text Parsing Katrina McClelan
                            • • Text Parsing Adam Wiggins
                            • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
                            • • Text Parsing Adam Wiggins
                              • Text Parsing Katrina McClelan
                              • • Text Parsing Jon A. Lambert
                          • Text Parsing J C Lawrence
                      • Text Parsing J C Lawrence
                      • • Text Parsing Joey Hess
                        • • Text Parsing J C Lawrence
                        • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
                        • • Text Parsing J C Lawrence
                        • Text Parsing Koster, Raph
                        • • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
                          • • Text Parsing Koster, Raph
                • Text Parsing Chris Gray
            • Text Parsing Albert
            • Text Parsing Caliban Tiresias Darklock
            • • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
              • • Text Parsing Greg Miller
              • Text Parsing J C Lawrence
              • • Text Parsing Caliban Tiresias Darklock
                • Text Parsing Jon A. Lambert
  • Text Parsing Caliban Tiresias Darklock
  • • Text Parsing Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
  • Text Parsing claw@kanga.nu
  • • Text Parsing Caliban Tiresias Darklock
    • • Text Parsing Greg Miller
  • Text Parsing Petri Virkkula
  • • Text Parsing Matthew Mihaly
  • Text Parsing Petri Virkkula
  • • Text Parsing Adam Wiggins
    • Text Parsing Katrina McClelan
  • Text Parsing Petri Virkkula
• Dylan Programming Language Ling
• • Dylan Programming Language Jon A. Lambert
• Ultimate Universe Documentation Caliban Tiresias Darklock
• Oh yeah... Caliban Tiresias Darklock
• [TECHNICAL] [SOLVED] (template problem). Ben Greear
• [RELEASE] ScryMUD 1.9.4 available for download. Ben Greear