Dakkru Curse

[LigH]

I believe Zoomzoom would prefer to see Dakkru's Curse reducing the stats of weak characters (close to their race defaults) only by less than their half, but by more than their half for maxed stats characters.

[tman]

But this is _exactly_ what is called scaling...

Not really.  If you look at how taxes are scaled (in the US) people who make less money pay a lesser percentage of their income and people who make more pay a higher percentage.  It's not the same percentage for everybody.

This is what we're talking about here.  People with low stats should see a small percentage penalty and people with high stats should see a higher percentage penalty.

[Bonifarzia]

I don't think that makes such a big difference. Assume the penalty factor p from the curse is a linear function of the attribute a, maybe p(a)=1-qa/400. If the maximum of the penalized attribute a*p(a) should not be in the range 0<a<400, then the strongest penalty factor you can use is q=1/2.

Much more interesting considerations are

• debuffs on skill ranks,
• a lowered gain of practice and experience
• or a penalty that acts on all rolls/ save throws / random ranges.

After all, lowered stats don't necessarily lower your ability to hunt or train, but greatly enhance your gain of experience.

[Pakarro]

One can devise non-linear scaling functions of any kind, up to step functions with zero penalty below a certain attribute value and a full value above that. But in common-sense scaling means a simple factor, which is 1/2 in our case.

I firmly believe that these points form a useless discussion, with much ado about (almost) nothing. If really needed one could implement a logistic function with (Bonifarzia's notation) attribute a, penalty p(a) with

p(a) = M+A/(1+exp((a-s)/w)), where A+M is the maximum penalty for high values of a, M the minimum penalty for zero attribute, w sets the width of the increase and s the the midpoint of the change. For small w you have a step at s, for large w you have a linear small slope, and for intermediate values there is an s-shaped increase of the penalty.

Large w and negative M can simulate a linear increase or a proportional one like the now used factor of 0.5.

More complicated models can be found

[Elisha]

When I was new DR was a very scarey place:
  1) my version was almost always very dark. I learned to carry a torch at all times (didn't always work well).
  2) I spent a lot of time in there due to my habit of running off cliffs (which I still do).
  3) There have been some very interesting RPs in that particular place, not all of them nice to a newbie,  but most really fun! Call it a learning curve.
  4) We didn't have mounts.
  5) We didn't have storage.

THIS.

I miss those times in DR 

[LigH]

Welcome to the forums NOW.

Lolitra and Hagarath in the DR was an exciting time as well.

[Rigwyn]

Not really.  If you look at how taxes are scaled (in the US) people who make less money pay a lesser percentage of their income and people who make more pay a higher percentage.  It's not the same percentage for everybody.

You are trying to use the US Tax System as a standard for determining what's fair?!
Haaaa ha hah ha ha *cackle* ha ha ha *piggysnort* ha ha...

[NattyFido]

I personally don't see a problem with Dakkrus curse. I normally use the time waiting for it to lift to review unfinished quests, write in my in-game journal or I 'Alt-Tab' out of the game and catch up on the forum or FB, email etc.
It's also a good time to chat, either in the gossip channel or to new players who just pop into existence right before my eyes. Several times, some friendly stranger has come along and cast a Strength spell on my character, allowing me to get to Harns storage and unburden myself.
I agree it can be annoying when you are in the middle of something and you have to wait it out, but as I have yet to find anything in the game that is time-sensitive, it is no more annoying than running out of Stamina while mining/harvesting/running etc.

[LigH]

Wiping dust of a year off, Rigwyn... 

Well, 666 posts. Explains.

[Rigwyn]

Oops       Not sure how I managed to do that....   

And as for the mark of the beast, if only I knew.... dammit. I would have saved that post for something special.

[tman]

Not really.  If you look at how taxes are scaled (in the US) people who make less money pay a lesser percentage of their income and people who make more pay a higher percentage.  It's not the same percentage for everybody.

You are trying to use the US Tax System as a standard for determining what's fair?!
Haaaa ha hah ha ha *cackle* ha ha ha *piggysnort* ha ha...

Just to be clear, are you proposing that everyone should pay the same percentage in their taxes???

And no, I was not defending the tax code. I was explaining the definition of the word "scaling."

[Eonwind]

And no, I was not defending the tax code. I was explaining the definition of the word "scaling."

by definition a linear function "scale"

[bilbous]

And here I thought scaling was what you do to certain fish before you cook them

[Rigwyn]

Not really.  If you look at how taxes are scaled (in the US) people who make less money pay a lesser percentage of their income and people who make more pay a higher percentage.  It's not the same percentage for everybody.

You are trying to use the US Tax System as a standard for determining what's fair?!
Haaaa ha hah ha ha *cackle* ha ha ha *piggysnort* ha ha...

Just to be clear, are you proposing that everyone should pay the same percentage in their taxes???

And no, I was not defending the tax code. I was explaining the definition of the word "scaling."

As for having a flat tax rate, I really don't know if that would work or not, but that's another topic.

What I found odd about comparing the tax code to the rationale used to determine the time that dakkru's cure should last is that it would be far simpler to propose that it follow a simple curve or slope. I still don't quite agree with the idea though as I don't think it makes much sense from an in-character perspective. Would Dakkru really show pity on those with lower stats and lift her curse a little earlier? Also, from an IC point of view, how would stats affect the intensity and duration of her curse? Is her power relatively absolute or does the character have some ability to resist?  Given that she is a goddess, I don't think that a character could really resist her power much... but that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

[Eonwind]

As for having a flat tax rate, I really don't know if that would work or not, but that's another topic.

What I found odd about comparing the tax code to the rationale used to determine the time that dakkru's cure should last is that it would be far simpler to propose that it follow a simple curve or slope. I still don't quite agree with the idea though as I don't think it makes much sense from an in-character perspective. Would Dakkru really show pity on those with lower stats and lift her curse a little earlier? Also, from an IC point of view, how would stats affect the intensity and duration of her curse? Is her power relatively absolute or does the character have some ability to resist?  Given that she is a goddess, I don't think that a character could really resist her power much... but that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

She's a goddess, no mortal can resist her power, especially within the boundaries of her domain.
That said... could we keep tax rates out of this discussion?
There could be tons of things to be said about taxes but it's not something even remotely related to the topic.