What features would you like to see on an isometric MUD?

A means of advancement that ISN''T simply based on killing things! Lots of gestures/emotes.

A good skill system that allows for balance but also allows the player have many options for growth and skill exploration. This one is a lot tougher than it sounds. Personally, though they are harder to do right, I like skill based (as opposed to character classes) since the player can pretty much create whatever character class they like.

Also, no skill advancement like in UO. Sorry but chopping wood for two hours is not fun!

Sieggy

Naked chicks of course .

How about sending voice messages to eachother?
That would be interesting... and CONSEQUENCES. I''d love to see consequences in a game - ie, you kill the big badass orc clan in the mountains, and next thing you know, all your crops are eaten by the mountain goats those orcs had been eating all their lives


#pragma DWIM // Do What I Mean!
~ Mad Keith ~
**I use Software Mode**

Hey, I''d go for the naked chicks idea!

Voices messages would be cool, however a great deal of the world still have lame internet connections, with me included. I know TF2 and Tribes2 plan to do voice. I''m curious how it will work in such intense games, particulary over modem....

I think UO tried that resource/ecosystem approach when they first came on and it went all out of whack and they had to back it off. If you could pull it off, though, it would very cool.

Sieggy

Hmm, voice communication. I had planned on implementing a language system based on race, and birth-location. It would be hard to do with voice communication, although, not immpossible. Still a good idea.

Consequences, eh? Elaborate, but possible.

Keep the ideas coming guys...

Joe Geek.

I''m working on (what appears to be) a similar idea at the
moment, as designer and artist.

Something you might like to add into the game is a diurnal rhythym system - basically, as day and night pass, the environment changes. Villagers might only set up market in the morning, stay inside at night. Creatures might be seen more frequently in the day, found nesting at night. You could also extend this to a yearly or seasonal system - have creatures die out (reduced numbers) and flourish, or have certain plants flower in different season.
Adds that touch of realism.

Got any good ideas for me, in return?

---
Benjamin Grayland

I like the Idea of consequnces, but with a few exceptions.

1.) could a simgle person really kill an Orc clan? I doubt it, based upon common Orc stereotypes(dont''s comment on this - i don''t care). According to most Tolkein-esque books, Goblins and Orcs were actually quite strong, and the ods of a single Human killing more than a few before being take out are extremely slim - Which is exactly my point.

2.) experience systems all suck. Would you really learn more from running around a dragon, stabbing it in the back, and repeating until dead, or from fighting a real player who would be able to move and strike randomly?

3.) Realistic damage. If I stab a person in the head with a dagger, they are going to die weather they are 60 levels higher than me or not. I think skills should garner more experience than Killing. I would learn much more forging swords than stabbing giant spiders with a sword.

I think you could really get a winner game with a decent Experience/Skill system. The problem is developing that system. I''m a paper-and-pencil roleplayer myself and I''ve wrecked my head over a good advancement system that would be balanced.

I think the game would need REAL danger. Killing a dragon should be a heroic feat, getting more than three orcs in a dungeon at the same time should be an accomplishment.

A first thought, with a critical hit system, if you pissed off one of the peasants enough to take a poke at you with his shovel, he might get "lucky" and actually kill you ( and end up in jail ). Could make for a much more interesting and careful world.


#pragma DWIM // Do What I Mean!
~ Mad Keith ~
**I use Software Mode**

I know what a daunting task this would be so no flames about how impossible it is. He asked what we like to see not what we thought was possible. I want consequences for events, but for them to not be instantaneous. Let''s say you kill someone in the room of an inn, but you do it silently so noone hears. You would have time to get away before the guards were called. But the next day when the innkeeper goes to collect rent he would discover the dead body, then he would call the guards and they would start an investigation. If they found out you did it and you were still in town, they would catch you eventually if you hung around. But if you left for another town, it would be some time before the news caught up with you. So if you could keep ahead of your reputation you would not get caught. And eventually the murder would be forgotten and you could return. For something as serious as a murder, this woudl take a long time.

Have fun implementing that.
Eck