PlaneShift

Gameplay => Wish list => Topic started by: zanzibar on May 08, 2005, 09:33:03 am

Title: Cloaks which hide identity.
Post by: zanzibar on May 08, 2005, 09:33:03 am
What about cloaks that hide your identity and guild when the hood is up?  To see who the person is, you would have to look at them and make a roll.  The modifier would be a combination of the mental skills such as intelligence and wisdom.  If you win, then you learn the identy and guild of the person (unless it\'s a secret guild).  The information would appear once in the dialogue window.

This would also add more aesthetics and interest to the game.  People would be more concious of how they appear, if there\'s a reason for them to hide their identity.  Since we want to make planeshift more based on player interaction that killing rats, I\'m sure that hiding your identity will eventually find some use.  Perhaps we\'ll have pick  pockets in the plaza who will be cloacked, so that when they fail a roll, instead of saying \"X tried to pick Y\'s pockets, but failed!\", it might say \"A cloaked figure tried to pick Y\'s pockets, but failed!\"  That will mean the theif will have to make a quick getaway, but he or she will have his identity and reputation intact.
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Post by: zanzibar on May 08, 2005, 08:41:20 pm
Hmm.  I was sure that this would get more of a reaction from people!
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Post by: Zan on May 08, 2005, 10:13:06 pm
Actually I rather like this idea.
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Post by: John_Thazer on May 08, 2005, 10:38:50 pm
Actually not bad idea...No matter how it\'s annoying not to be able to know who passed you by, but then you can maybe confront them or something, it\'s a valuable RP tool...
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Post by: shorty13 on May 09, 2005, 01:10:07 am
Yes, i like.  Also, if someone successsfully uses the skill -hide in shadows- this would take affect too.
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Post by: TheRedMonk on May 09, 2005, 01:22:54 am
The idea can be nice, even though it\'s not of great importance to implement it right now.

What bothers me is the fact that IC you are not supposed to know who a person is until you\'ve asked his or her name, or have had somebody speak it to you. So if you get robbed by \"John Doe\" from \"N00bz united\" your character should not be able to know his name, unless it is already known to him. (That\'s if you are a good RP:er)
You get my point? :/
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Post by: wormking on May 09, 2005, 01:53:51 am
I agree with RedMonk I think that you shouldn\'t know people\'s names until you ask them or someone else tells you.
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Post by: buddha on May 09, 2005, 05:26:27 am
I\'m hoping that the illusion schools of magic will have disguise spells.

I disagree about the name thing, though I\'ve said this before.  I take as something cultural.  In many societies, people wore coats of arms to identify themselves.  I take the name above the heads as nametags that we wear in our culture.  That way i don\'t to talk to Klown Killerz or whatever.  I urge you all to adopt this convention, as there are NO OTHER IDENTIFIERS IN THE GAME
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Post by: derwoodly on May 09, 2005, 11:06:51 am
I agree with Buddha,

You need the names.  I would argue more, but I am confident that the names are here to stay.  There is a reason *every* MMORPG displays names.
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Post by: TheRedMonk on May 10, 2005, 03:56:01 am
Yes, the names should be known to us OOC. But our characters should not be aware of them before they have asked for it. Think about how it works IRL...
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Post by: zanzibar on May 10, 2005, 04:22:36 am
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Originally posted by derwoodly
I agree with Buddha,

You need the names.  I would argue more, but I am confident that the names are here to stay.  There is a reason *every* MMORPG displays names.


Isn\'t PS supposed to be different from all other mmorpgs though?:)
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Post by: derwoodly on May 10, 2005, 05:27:35 am
If you wish to role play that is just fine.  However when someone sends me a tell, shouts to the zone, or finds someway to exploit the system, I want to know who it is.  I do not want to see -- A cloaked figure shouts \"You loosers need to stop playing with your johnsons\" or something worse.

As Buddha points out. Names are the identifiers in the game.  That is why two people can not have the same one.  Red Monk likes to talk about IRL, well in real life you can have several male human friends named Mike, but still tell them apart.

I really like the different chat channels that most MMORPGs have.  It is not \"realistic\" to have a telepathic link to all of my guild members, but it is fun.  

I would also like to point out that haveing your name stuck above your head is just like having it pinned to your chest.  There is a reason nametags are used in real life, just as there is a reason they are used in a MMORPG.
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Post by: darkerdreams on May 10, 2005, 09:07:29 pm
I like the idea.  obviously it should be way off in development, but the idea that some pieces of information would be cloaked (changing the name above their head to \"cloaked figure,\" and regular say bits coming from some only slightly more identifying piece would be good) while others aren\'t (tells would be silly to cloak, and cloaking shouts just beggs for abuse).

as for the \"knowing people\'s names\" I assume you learn people\'s names through 2 methods (aside from the standard hi, my name is) that cover for the floating id syndrome;
description and reputation.  Joe may look like joe in real life, but I don\'t have any idea how to tell people apart on facial features in game.  There are huge tracks of my character\'s life I\'ve never played (how often does your  character use the restroom?  I\'ve been to the sewers, but where are the toilets anyway?).  I assume some interactions just go unplayed (talking to the landlord that doesn\'t exist about the room my character can\'t get to) and in these interactions I hear about some of the more noteable people (or people who I talked to because they were there and forgot to ask names from- something that happens to me irl fairly often).  The other side is exactly what was noted before- people in the past (and present to some degree) often wore things that identify who they are and who they are wish (gang signs and army/police uniforms are examples of modern items- the aforementioned coat of arms was for the same purpose).

generally- \"nametags\" don\'t bother me, but I don\'t see any reason why we shouldn\'t allow people to \"hide\" them on occasion- especially if doing so encourages RP.
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Post by: zanzibar on May 11, 2005, 12:41:42 am
Cloaks wouldn\'t completely hide things.  When someone speaks for instance, you might recognize their voice.  If you look at someone, maybe a dice roll based on intelligence will determine if you can identify them.


Cloaks could also hide things other than names.  Imagine trying to rob someone on the road, only for him or her to throw down a soiled cloak to reveal a full suit of rune armour.
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Post by: buddha on May 11, 2005, 04:14:55 am
A \"disguise\" spell could allow you to change your name and appearance to that of another player, for instance.  People would get the ubiquitous saving throw against it, but how cool would that be for espionage?  I\'m all tingly with excitement at the thought of it!

A cloak could allow you to re-write part of your description as well.
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Post by: derwoodly on May 11, 2005, 10:19:57 am
Did you switch sides Buddha?

I am a bit confused about what kind of effect putting on a cloak would have.  If your talking about just changing the look of your character, then I am all for that.

I do not think the cloak should hide your name, but it looks like I am alone on that one.  Maybe I have just been conditioned from previous games.
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Post by: Kin on May 11, 2005, 01:53:37 pm
I think it would be good Idea but only if they were rare, or else you would have tons of people wearing them which I dont think would be very good.
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Post by: buddha on May 11, 2005, 05:39:14 pm
Derwoodly:  I am like the wind!  I come and go as I please! :)

Anyway, I think the names over the head idea is a good one, and I don\'t find any problem in using someone\'s name if it\'s essentially pinned on their shirt.

On the topics of cloaks/spells, I think it\'s a good idea to be able to hide your identity.  That is the purpose of a disguise.  So you should be able to cast a spell which changes your appearance and the name/guild above your head for the duration of the spell.  Some people would still see you as you are, though.  Or, they might just see your correct name but not your correct character.

Of course this would have to be rare.
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Post by: Kwip on May 12, 2005, 02:46:07 pm
I like this idea, it would be good for it also to hide the race and possibly gender and have the user appear be of medium height.

Though I am wondering how it would work, so far all the magic accesible to non-god beings comes from glyphs, does it have smashed-up glyph powder enfused into the fabric?
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Post by: darkerdreams on May 12, 2005, 08:37:11 pm
see, I think that\'s going too far...  hiding gender is easy, race only slightly harder (unless you\'re kran, dwarf or something similarly odd shaped)- it\'s when everyone becomes completely the same size and shape that you get excessive wierdness.

and I don\'t think these should be rare, magical, or all that incredable... how hard is it to get a piece of fabric, pull it up over your face and hide your identity (I own a cloak, and my girlfriend made her own- so the answer to these is- not very.)
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Post by: Zan on May 12, 2005, 11:47:39 pm
I don\'t think that the race should be hidden, since that wouldn\'t be feasable in reality either. A short person can\'t pretend to be tall.

An addition I would like to see is that a skilled thief/spy/whatever is capable of stealing the outfit of his victims and as he disguises him/herself the name of the spy would change into the name of the one they killed.

It wouldn\'t quite work like a cloak but it would be a more advanced type of disguise.
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Post by: zanzibar on May 17, 2005, 12:02:16 am
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Originally posted by Kwip
I like this idea, it would be good for it also to hide the race and possibly gender and have the user appear be of medium height.

Though I am wondering how it would work, so far all the magic accesible to non-god beings comes from glyphs, does it have smashed-up glyph powder enfused into the fabric?



Cloaks can\'t hide height, and they don\'t need to be magic.  Think IRL.
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Post by: zanzibar on May 17, 2005, 12:03:40 am
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Originally posted by derwoodly
Did you switch sides Buddha?

I am a bit confused about what kind of effect putting on a cloak would have.  If your talking about just changing the look of your character, then I am all for that.

I do not think the cloak should hide your name, but it looks like I am alone on that one.  Maybe I have just been conditioned from previous games.



It would only hide your name when the hood was up.
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Post by: keder on May 17, 2005, 10:50:55 pm
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Originally posted by Zan
I don\'t think that the race should be hidden, since that wouldn\'t be feasable in reality either. A short person can\'t pretend to be tall.

An addition I would like to see is that a skilled thief/spy/whatever is capable of stealing the outfit of his victims and as he disguises him/herself the name of the spy would change into the name of the one they killed.

It wouldn\'t quite work like a cloak but it would be a more advanced type of disguise.


a short person can wear stilts... a tall person can walk on her knees or crouch... a voluminous enough cloak could hide either.

--- keder maloy