Shattered Kingdoms

I'm wondering if it would be interesting in the game to expand Brewing / Scribing to allow for a degree of deception:

That is a brewer / scriber could purposefully Label their own potions rather than have the content of the scroll / potion be known to those who cannot identify.

This would also allow for an expansion of the allowable spells to be brewed (I doubt scribe has the same limitations).

For example:

Brew a spell of Weakness and Label it as Giant Strength.

I would suggest that all potions / scrolls be identifiable with an identity spell.


Pros
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> Adds an element of control to those making the items.
> Has the possibility to add more depth to the RP around such items.
> Adds some ability for brewers / scribers to have decoy potions / scrolls in their inventory in order to foil thefts.
> Adds an element of unsurety to potions

Cons
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> More value on identifying items.

I quite like the dynamics that this could add to RP surrounding potions.


Potential Syntax:

brew <spell> <Label>
Scribe <spell> <Label>

People could have a lot of fun with this and the ability to steal / plant items. Haha someone goes to heal themselves in a battle and drinks a potion of fireball or something and poof!

Not a big fan of this idea.

First, since only positive spells can be brewed, labelling something "A tiny crystal vial of flamestrike" basically instantly is recognizable as a deceitful brewing.

Second, identify can already tell you exactly what's on consumables. So can lore, in the case of storebought scrolls and vials.

Third, this basically just seems aimed at making it a nuisance after PK to sort through the spoils of war.

That's why I noted you'd have to expand the list of brewable / scribables. (You'd have to allow brewing - not sure about scribing I doubt it's as limited - but you'd have to allow the brewing of damage / debuff type spells)

As to the nuisance that's partially the point of why a brewer might label their own potions oddly. They themselves want to protect their own investments.

It does undeniably add to the RP of potions / scrolls though as it makes people need to invest time into considering what they have, or to chance what they have.

Why should looting someone be easy?

Because usually, unless you're talking about people who don't have even a small grasp of mechanics and they aren't going to be carrying a lot of consumables in the first place, killing them is not easy.

I don't see this idea adding anything significant to RP in the game as a whole, either, and given that it would require code support I think there are other RP-oriented ideas that could and should take precendence.

I'm not talking about what priority this would be given in the grand scheme of all the issues that are on the plates of those who consider the game, that's another argument all together. I'm saying it adds to the RP of scrolls / potions. I cannot think of any argument against that fact.

We're also not talking about the ease of killing someone, we're talking about the self-interest of someone who made the item in the first place. OR those who wanted a specifically labelled potion in the first place. I don't see any argument that you've given that indicates to me that someone sorting through another's consumables (keep in mind they have to be ones that were made by another player) should be easy.

I think this would add an exciting element to the game myself, albeit you're right it's not going to be the be all and end all, though on the flip side I don't think the investment to make this a reality would be that difficult (though that's my intuition).

Anyway take for example the Harlequins. I could certainly see them asking for a shipment of false Word of Recall potions which they'd spread through the game. How does that NOT increase RP?

It's also not a bad thing for PvP, as it makes something reliable potentially less so. That's not a bad thing, honestly.

This wouldn't add anything exciting to the game, in my opinion. It would just introduce another time sink, which is the last thing that a text-based MUD competing with console games and MMOs needs.

It would especially be a PITA for classes that don't have identify. The drawbacks of this change would exceed any benefits.

You are talking about something that requires code to function. Given that there is only one coder for this game, yes, you are talking about the priority this should be given in the grand scheme of things. Given that the time taken to implement this could be far, far, far better used to implement other, more impactful RP-oriented code modules, it's important to make the argument that the actual gain vs cost of this particular idea is an extremely poor ratio vs other options that also fall under the "RP-oriented code" heading. Temote, to provide even a single example. The two conversations are not separated; they are inextricably intertwined.

You specifically asked why looting someone should be easy, and I provided an answer. That answer happens to be directly related to the ease or lack thereof of killing someone. So yes, we are talking about that. Again, the two conversations are intertwined on a fundamental level.

Again, and really what should be the final arbiter on the merit of this idea, the gain vs cost of effort that goes into this idea is not worth it. There are plenty of other things that will increase RP and quality of RP in the game as a whole that have been suggested over a number of threads in the last few months that are much better foci for coding time than this idea.

It's not that it will not generate RP; it's that it will not generate enough quality RP for the time invested. I'm sorry you don't seem to like to hear that, but that's just the way it is.

Can I ask a question of you? When you PvP how many consumeables do you use on a regular basis? Is it perhaps the reliance on consumeables that have people worried about this?

If so then I would be even more supportive of the change. Again keep in mind that this would only be something that players would control in how it is used, this wouldn't affect shop consumeables.

No, Objective, YOU are talking about priority, I am not. This could be a very good suggestion that the imms like and put on their list and isn't implemented until 4 years from now and the value of the suggestion is still the same.

I do not talk about priority because I do not know all the items on the list the imm team keeps. And so the relative priority is an unknown to me, as I do not know what they're considering in full.

As I've said before it's a suggestion and that's it.

Again looting someone and the ease of killing them although related (because you cannot loot someone until you kill them) are still seperate issues. You could kill a level 1 character that's loaded with potions and you could kill a level 50 character that took you hours to kill that had the same set of potions and you'd still be faced with the same question. The ease of looting someone. Why should it be easy to sort through someone else's belongings? It shouldn't necessarily be easy. You don't know their belongings.

You speak about quality RP, I'm not, and have specifically never talked about the degree of RP this adds. What I did say was that it ADDS RP. Why? Because it adds another element that must be negotiated. It makes something that was certain, not as certain. Therefore decisions must be made. It invests you in the object more, because you must make that decision.

That is adding RP. Again no comment was made on the degree.

Are you asking me if I think that there are other things that should be looked at before this? Sure there are other things that should be looked at before this.

If you're trying to convince me that this has no value as a suggestion, you're failing miserably.