Your thoughts on death and the death realm.

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

I really don't like having to repeat that the people who work on certain assets are not the same people who work on others.

There are many more people capable of working on map and code content that CANNOT do models or horses or all the stuff they require.

Please allow the team to determine how to use its human assets as the team does so from an informed position and those outside the team do not know the available human assets.

[Zweitholou]

To expand on the issue of new players needing an easier way out: What if the more you die, the deeper (meaning at a point that is further from an exit) you begin when you die.

Expanding on the maze concept: The maze could be a collection of large portions of maze with openings on each side which shift constantly, like a 15-number puzzle. Then the maze would be ever-changing and also make a sense of urgency. To avoid the monotony of always going throught the maze, the maze could be the way out only occasionally. Say there is a portal you must take from the deeper parts of the realm to the higher parts. The portal could send you to 1 of 3 locations randomly, one being the maze, another being a pit of dangerous monsters and the 3 being permadeath. Of course, these "deeper" reaches of the realm would only be visited by those who had died MANY times. For those dying for their first few times, the path would be similar to what it is now.

[Mythryndel]

I have thought about this a bit more... I think that it might be advantageous to offer a few options for leaving the DR... and allow the character to choose their difficulty... the more heroic the character, AKA the tougher the trials they face in the DR, the less they are punished once they leave. Offer the maze/aggressive creatures/whatever to those that wish to prove their mettle. While leaving those that do not wish to do so the option of still using the easy way out, just with the full penalty once they leave.

I do not know how hard this would be to implement, but i thought it worth mentioning.

[Nikodemus]

On fighting in DR:
If DR will be decided as spiritual real, different stats should be used for fighting. For instance Strenght having no efect if this stat describe purely physical capabilities. Instead Willpower would prove to be much more effective. Skills may have modified effect and it would be  affected by DR-like skills if they come to existence.

[Duraza]

After giving it some thought, though its been a while, I wanted to see if an idea I came up with would be an acceptable one for the whole idea of punishment in DR in regards to stat loss.

So, basically when you go to DR I still think your stats should start to weaken. Whether it's all of them or the realm just draining away your 'willpower' you should in someway become weaker as you wander the realm. However, since there is such a big disagreement with it, we cut out the permanent part and replace it with one of two options:

1. The stats you lose in DR have to be retrained( If your level 10 charisma and you drop to level 0 you need to retrain back to level 10) and you still deal with Dakkru's Curse.
2. Just Dakkru's Curse, maybe longer, maybe worse, maybe the same, but just the curse 

Now, for those who want to avoid having to feel drained or who won't lose willpower while in the realm and wish to play out that whole agebound thing then I suggest that the whole 'blood oath' with the Dark Crystal would be an interesting thing for players to be able to do(if it is intended for players to ever be able to take the blood oath). By doing it you wouldn't feel the drain like other players who go through DR and whatever other effects that it's supposed to have. The side effect is that if you were to leave DR you'd suffer the permanent stat loss. I'd assume before you make the blood oath you'd be promoted with a warning (like in the BF quests).

There you have it, risk and reward but the option for players to go along without dealing with either. I don't see why there should be any problem with this one. Makes things harder for players while they stay in DR but since they won't suffer permanent effects unless they basically choose too there should be no problem

[khoridor]

Well, it seems to me that this 'blood oath' is the opposite of logic, if there is any logic to be found:
- The only thing I know for sure (so far) that can be lost in the DR is sanity. Maybe that's what your willpower loss would represent?
- However, I'd expect sanity loss for those who attempt to escape the DR as quickly as possible. People are said to become insane because they are lost in the DR. As in: they can't find the exit, therefore they lose it.
- Those who feel comfortable in Dakkru's world wouldn't be afraid, wouldn't become insane. Yet they could be tainted in another way.

As a result, I find it difficult to affect both kinds of characters in different ways. It's as if a stat would decrease for people running and jumping, and not for people reading, working or resting. Could sanity be run by mechanics? And should it, in a PG game?
I'm not against permanent losses personally, but I don't see how to make them both bearable and logical, yet.

Maybe, just maybe...
Once (if) hunger, food, and food rot are implemented, I could see some way: People staying long in the DR would eventually run out of food, and might have to resort to eat local products... with detrimental effects on the stats. But even that may not make much sense. We have to study the DR inhabitants, such as Londris, and see if they suffer any kind of stat loss, either in the DR or outside of it.

Another thing I just realised, from your description: someone running errands between the DR and Yliakum would suffer many permanent losses. Or the same could apply to someone who is unlucky enough to "die" often. Which leads me to: how about a stat cap instead of a stat loss?

[peteyboyy]

I just saw this old thread and i saw a lot of really good ideas. I for one like spending time in the DR when i die. Its nice to be able to help lost people and explore it(too bad its so small). I was reading through and i saw the maze idea and the city idea. I also saw a load of other stuff, so heres my idea:
-Have stat drain as you stay in the DR, with the minimum being 25-15%
-Create a "ghoul city", this would have a temple to Dakkru where you could pay to have your drainage removed before leaving, and several portals, one to Hydlaa(spelling?) and the rest random points in Yiakum. These would switch around.
-Create a maze outside of the ghoul city, the more times you die, the farther into you would be pushed.

Thats all i have! Maybe this thread will be revived.

[Rigwyn]

Would be nice to see the following:

More creatures - and with drops exclusive to DR

Items/materials that could be crafted/mined from within  DR only. [ death metal ? ]

More areas to explore , perhaps portals to other places...

As far as punishment for dying goes,  I think the current inconvenience of being relocated and encumbered is sufficient - especially for new players. If you want to prevent users from using dr to "teleport" from point a to b then perhaps make them resurface at a random  town when they exit.

[enderandrew]

I'd like to SEE what happens to people who stay there too long.  Have some NPCs/denizens who have stayed in the DR.

I like the idea of a maze, as well as a temple/shrine.

I don't think the way out should be more difficult per se.  It takes a while to figure out the first time, but isn't a huge deal when you die after the fact.  If you want to make return trips a little more difficult, then I'd expand the "realm" and have several spawn points or instances, so that you have to remember 10 different ways out.

[Akkaido Kivikar]

My two Tria.

Expand it, but don't make it too tricky to get out. This will just annoy players and possibly lower the amount of people playing as much.

As for the effects of staying too long in DR...

Don't make it permanent. What if the length Dakkru's Curse lasts is proportionate to the amount of time spent in DR?

Also, don't make the curse random or dizzying, this [whilst being fun at first] will get annoying, dizzying, and again make players less happy.

So that way, the "we should have physical problems for being in DR too long" and "Don't permanently harm our stats" crowds will be happy.

Also, the length of time the curse lasts after the players first death should be limited (because they'd spend ages in DR and be annoyed that they have the curse for hours)

[khoridor]

I don't think people meant "long time spent in the DR" as in taking a long time to find the exit, but rather as in voluntarily spending time there, as in living there for a while.
So, instead of counting the actual time spent there, which would be mostly walking and running, what could be counted are actions implying involvement in the DR, such as casting spells, crafting, fighting, questing... something like that.

[Akkaido Kivikar]

I agree...

[enderandrew]

And again, without having to count time on the players, or affect them in a permanent sense because they fell off a ledge and ended up in the DR, I think you can have the effects demonstrated on NPCs.  How does it affect the NPCs currently there if they've been there a very long time?

You can also place NPCs out in the rest of the world that are altered, and allow players to view the effects that way.

[Bamko]

Dcurse is based on the 'cost' of going back to the land of the living.  not based on rent in DR, I think Dakkru would prefer people staying longer, not punish them for it.
What happens when you stay too long is discussed in a book in the library in the DR.  Go check that out?

effect is not THAT long or that bad.  You have a guardian who even suggests you lighten your load so you are not stuck sitting for 30 minutes when you get out.  And I never got any effect like becoming dizzy... unless you were just carrying too much stuff and had to sit for a bit.  Hardly too extreme considering you just died.

I really like discussions, but I like it better when people have at least attempted to understand what we are talking about.  And I am sincere, not trying to be snarky.  But someone wrote the settings down, made the book and made it available.  Maybe we should investigate why we have the current state before we recommend changing it? 

Some games have you lose experince when you die.  So what, shall we have Dakkru take a couple levels  from a random skill you have levels in, instead?  yeah, I'm not sure about that either, but at least it would prevent people who are carrying too much stuff from having to sit for the length of time it takes me to take the dogs for a walk around the block.

[Akkaido Kivikar]

Or, while your char is sitting there for 30 mins, you could take your dogs for a walk around the block while you wait.