Shattered Kingdoms

At the moment dying is painful. With such a low player count it is difficult to find a priest, or anyone, to bring you back to life. It becomes a deterrent for playing, especially when you hit the higher levels and that xp becomes a grind.

Suggestions?

Simple, do what every other game on the market now does, Use a respawn timer. Say 15 minute wait time before you're returned to life as the gods took pity on you. Could even go as far as increasing time say if the system detects any Priest classes logged on, forcing you to RP with them or sit on your butt longer.

Also removing the penalties on Raise / Breath, but leave Rez sickness on all types of returning to life. If the game had a larger player base than the system now would work fine.

Don't die.

Death RP to get new life is something interesting and fairly unique to muds, would probably be good to keep.

Quick review of death as high skilled vet. You probably arnt PKing with out away back to life already planned. You know all the death quests, you probably have a reward since the last time you died (because you die less than others) You also have contacts that are priests priest. Also you are likely to have a kill some time alt if things go catastrophically bad.

Quick review of death as a semi skilled vet. You are probably more careful about engaging when you dont have a way back. Chances are you know all the death quests and have gotten rewards enough to get your way back.

Quick review of death as a perpetual newbie. You have your priests on speed dial. Chances are if you have been in SK for so long and you havnt learnt PK you have learnt RP so rewards are plentiful. You likely have a selection of alts because thats one of the easiest ways to avoid PK. You also may be willing to spent time in the afterlife because you know you can manifest and RP from there.

Quick review of death for a real newbie... Crap how do I get out of here, help files. Deathquest questions are hard, chances of finding someone who can res at any random time of playing close to 50%. The message about getting use to the afterlife is panic inducing. High risk of leaving and not coming back.


Removing the XP cost to raise dead and breath of life. Wouldnt really change much for anyone who plays the game a lot. Perhaps the perpetual newbies. Removing the XP cost to raise dead and breath of life, increases the chance death RP will take place. In a PvP things arnt really going to change that much because of copse destruction. It actually opens up another point of negotiation in you killed me I want my stuff. Corpses have value greater than just the bag they turn into.

The ability to raise dead and breath of life would make more interesting adventures more likely to not result in leaving all your gear lost in hard to get places, however res sickness would likely still stop such adventures pushing though a death. If that was an issue doubling the spirit disorientation of raise death/breath of life would solve this. It would also make low level priests more useful. Also dont forget most really hard places have petrify scripts.

That would require not playing.

Most of this becomes moot when their isn't a single priest on. Which I've seen quite a bit.

Death quests, breathe/raise dead eat xp, which I said at higher levels it's a grind. When the numbers were higher and there was a priest around it wasn't so bad. They have become a rate commodity at certain pay times.

I know the ways to get back to life very well, I use then enough, lack of players is putting a damper on life when you expire.

Is this a problem for true newbies? Or just perma newbs? Sorry if that's harsh, but dying at low level and death-questing isn't much of a setback even if it eats 2/3 of a level. There's tons of low level xp out there that's accessible solo.

Dying and not being able to get a res as a GM leaves you stuck making choices and I kind of like it that way, even when it bites me in the [REDACTED].

I'm apermanewb, dying at champion our above is a pain, dying at gm is a chore if you don't have axp buffer.

Until I saw the count not exceed 15 I didn't see much of an issue with it either.

You seem to like playing with very few people, Patri. I know the low player count has made me second guess playing again. There just doesn't seem like a point when the player count tops out at 12.

edit: Also, the new newbie zone taking hours to get out of level 5 is another reason. Leveling is just a means to an end and not fun in the slightest.