gucci mane's UOF GameBalance SuperThread

gucci mane

Apprentice
this post is a list of "low hanging fruit" aka easy to do fixes that are are to implement (staff code time) vs how much
effect they'll have on the game play immediately

going to preface this to all readers to keep in mind that in sandbox world game balancing, using invisible hands to
accomplish players doing actions or stopping them is a poor path to follow so we will try to avoid that as much as
possible. it is better to put the experiences in the hands of the players, to solve their own problems as much as
possible.

you can critique and add your own GOOD suggestion topics of other easy to tackle problems to build a better UOForever scene (talking veterans here sorry, as they have a better idea about balancing than run-and-post-on-forum-right-after-dying posters with less than 1 year of playing age)

new players or "sheeps" in the system do have valid opinions because they teach us about some true problems going on in the life of average UO players, you can't ignore what they say as there is some truth to it. the problem becomes when they get swept up in something with their 10 days experience vs someone with 10 years experience and make ridiculous suggestions without understanding existing COUNTERS and seeing the full scope of the UO PVP world ecosystems)

Some "out of players hands" additions that would need to be created by GMs would be APPROPRIATE and balanced incentive rewards can be created and added to promote player driven solutions and counters to strategy's (AKA ANTI-PK scoreboard trophies for turning in red heads. They use existing game systems and natural game play to just feed into itself and self sustain. I support that kind of stuff)

------------PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are a few initial low fruit problems in this document that we can fix right away


Problem 1: Leave House menu function is too powerful or "un-fun", that it is in-conducive to actually carrying out a
human PvP fight in the field world with player houses around.

Problem 2. There is no stamina loss at all from player running or mount stamina for animal fatigue. Chases between
competent players can last for a very long time with nothing sapping their stamina while running laps around Britannia.

Problem 3. Player Ghosts are blocked from moving through solid objects in the world and should be able to move throughthem so they are not trapped after having being killed.



****
PROBLEM 1: Leave House menu function is too powerful or "un-fun", that it is in conducive to actually carrying out a
human PvP fight in the field world with player houses around.


Solution(s): Add a delay to the Leave House function so that it cannot be activated more often than once in A CERTAIN
TIME PERIOD:

examples: 300 SECONDS = 5 minutes
600 SECONDS = 10 minutes

RESULT: Use skill Leave-House only once ever 5 or 10 minutes.

==========:Balance Discussion:==========

It is true that everyone has access to Leave House just the same. But the discussion here is whether it makes PvP morefun and supporting of standing and finishing a battle. I have a hotkey for it here just as I have on other servers.

But it is CORNY and discourages good fights. Using your environment is just as much as a battle as the weapons and
equipment you carry. But The LeaveHouse menu takes that to another quasi-level. It's there for when you are legitmately trapped in trap-houses designed for players or pets to fall in and have no way of escape (requiring a help ticket, sorry nightmares ;))

I encourage adapting to your environment and using correct movement to outplay your opponent but PlayerCreated housing is a bit of a loophole. Players put the houses there. And what they put there destroys fights using MENU GUMPs and non swords & sorcery fighting. It's not creative use of the game world, it's mundane menu options. I don't support that if we can get rid of it.

If no LeaveHouse delay AT ALL was added and instead it was removed, I would also be okay with it having completely
removed from the game. I would even be okay with it staying exactly how it is. But in the interest of establising a
server with a high level of fair PVP this would be a good change to add a delay without removal IMO.

It is useful to just get out of your house with its intended use, but using it to dodge PvP over and over is cheese.
LeaveHouse guild dumps are cheese. Who think its not cheese? Would like to hear em. If it exists on a server, you adapt and fight it, but this is something we can afford to drop for the sake of fun.

If your guild is a fan of using LeaveHouse drops then there is already a counter to this being removed in the place of
using custom house tiles you can use to build attack-ports and doors to jump into battles ready to dump from sides of
house. Letting you get into the battle fast. Compromise.


~CONS~
Rapidly leaving-house does aid people escape ganks by confusing their chase direction and clutch hides etc.... But should they have survived anyways? (would they have without it, a lot of times no)

~PROS~
Promotes people to stand and fight rather than anti-fighting with game mechanics and menu dodging. Actual fighting
rather than using menu's. (Explained like a 5yr old: Invisible Menu's That Teleport You In Highstakes PVP Instantly, With No Cooldown & For No Resource Cost = Bad Design)
 
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gucci mane

Apprentice
****PROBLEM 2: NON EXISTANT STAMINA LOSS FROM RUNNING / MOUNTS

Problem 2: There is no stamina loss at all from player running or mount stamina for animal fatigue. Chases between competent players can last for a very long time with nothing sapping their stamina while running laps around Britannia.


Solution(s): Getting flagged against a player or getting hit by a player (or monster too?) into combat turns on your stam loss used from your character during running OR your mounts stamina fatigue for a short while until you have been out of combat for awhile where it is then turned off.

STAM LOSS RUNNING ADRENALINE MODE AFTER BEING COMBAT FLAGGED:

You are flagged upon OR struck and your character enters combat and starts to lose stamina at a low rate from running (currently we lose 0 at all times). This promotes ending chases and stopping people from running forever. Instead of player stamina their mount could lose energy instead and refuse taking any more steps (ethys included).

examples: ENGAGEDCOMBAT StaminaDrain = lasts 3-5 minutes and then checks if you are still in combat or hostile mobs around, if they are not around and you are safe you are no longer in StamDrain "adrenaline" mode

example: Running Stamina Loss amount is small like how running would take stamina on other UO:R servers

This takes the best of both worlds as running through the gameworld can be very boring and annoying with no stamina. So unless you are engaged into combat you will be able to still run freely through the world non-stop as it is now.


==========:Balance Discussion:==========

Chugging Total Refresh potions will nullify this addition anyways. But it may make people run out of potions eventually during long chases (those less prepared..) Although this is not a perfect fix I think it is a step in the right direction (it's currently just disabled and losing stamina from running could be easily turned on)

I would be willing to try bola's on the server for a week or two but they promote even more item-based PVP as being another "need-to-have". For what they do, they would be even more of a needed item than equipment or potions. They fall into another field, something that affects a players MOBILITY (very important in UO).

We should make changes slowly and easily. This seems like a good place to start with.

If we even need to change this is at all. Chases can go on for a long time when both players know what they are doing. But it's not like it's impossible to kill someone. You have to commit to the kill when you are sure you can ice 'em right then and then. That is part of the UO judgement skill. Some may argue you should be able to use bola's to force someone to stay onscreen and fight.


~CONS~
Require to carry more Refresh potions, may affect newbie players more than vets because vets can afford to carry more red potions

~PROS~
Chasing down players becomes marginally easier in PVP instead of round-world Benny Hill chases to a players house where they can live in Trammelworld escaping their opponents)
 
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gucci mane

Apprentice
****
PROBLEM 3: Player Ghosts are blocked from moving through solid objects in the world and should be able to move through them so they are not trapped after having being killed.

Solution: Modify ghost properties so that they can move over "solid" objects such as kegs, chests, stools, and whatever else so they can't be trapped while dead (and not have to use a a daily helpstuck if they can afford it. they shouldn't have to use it..)


==========:Balance Discussion:==========

I generally support the creative use of solid furniture like chests, kegs, stools, human bodies, and whatever else to trap living players into highwayman situations or even death pits. But once the player has been slayed and left the mortal coil, they should be able to walk their azz home (and preferably without a "ImStuck" GM warp)

~CONS~
May have to do some testing with ghosts passing over "solid" objects like chests etc in player houses and then being resurrected. May have unintended consequences in IDOC gameplay style. One player has suggested that ghosts would not be able to move over 'locked down' objects. Which sounds good to me. If they got trapped again in that house, they could still leave house every 5-10 mins or helpstuck.


~PROS~
Living players will continue to be able to make their mark on the gameworld and build inventions that help them swindle or kill enemies or throw events. Allowing player ingenuity is what makes UO great. And the losers who get the short stick of a box of exploding purple potions can continue playing to get rezzed when their ghost is laying in the aftermath debris :)
 

Shyvana

Novice
Add in-combat stamina loss
Add a 2-5 second cooldown on refresh pots
Add stamina drain to mace attacks
Make leave house only usable as a ghost
 

gucci mane

Apprentice
Gucci, no one cares about your shitty opinion. Great job wasting your time. Go outside and stop pretending to be black on the internet.
thanks for the bump. ull get to being a higher level internet troll like myself one day. today is not that day, you have a lot more to learn
 

gucci mane

Apprentice
you pretend to be black on the internet and actually think you are being humorous in some way or fashion


so sad, so bad
my forum name and avatar has successfully worked on you, its designed to immediately break the mind of people of lower mental fortitude like yourself . i am a powerful wizard
 

besttherewas

Grandmaster
No to mount fatigue but yes to stamina loss of some sort.

problem : statloss too harsh for good pks who actually fight from roaming blue zergs with target closest.

Solution : make more dungeons and or areas with no statloss that have incentives to go there.

I.e bucs has a random champion spawn with a 1 hour cool down. The champ has half the spawn required to be killed to advance levels. Maybe turn of ffa OR better yet, anyone who enters an area close to the champ spawn flags grey if they didn't do x amount of damage by mid way lv 2 or 3?

could also make another dungeon level with no statloss that has unique monsters with chances for unique rares. This could be as simple as a few greater poison ellies that spawn throughout that have a .5 or 1% chance for 1 yard of poison ellie cloth and .01% for sandals. Obviously would have to be a cool hue for people to go there and take the risk. THIS WOULD get people fighting over the areas and thus create pvp.

Should also do a MOM type thing like the above. I.e for 1 month only and never to be repeated, titans for example can drop 1 yard of unique cloth yard/footwear just to generate demand and Traffic in areas.
 
problem : statloss too harsh for good pks who actually fight from roaming blue zergs with target closest.

Solution : make more dungeons and or areas with no statloss that have incentives to go there.

I.e bucs has a random champion spawn with a 1 hour cool down. The champ has half the spawn required to be killed to advance levels. Maybe turn of ffa OR better yet, anyone who enters an area close to the champ spawn flags grey if they didn't do x amount of damage by mid way lv 2 or 3?

could also make another dungeon level with no statloss that has unique monsters with chances for unique rares. This could be as simple as a few greater poison ellies that spawn throughout that have a .5 or 1% chance for 1 yard of poison ellie cloth and .01% for sandals. Obviously would have to be a cool hue for people to go there and take the risk. THIS WOULD get people fighting over the areas and thus create pvp.

Should also do a MOM type thing like the above. I.e for 1 month only and never to be repeated, titans for example can drop 1 yard of unique cloth yard/footwear just to generate demand and Traffic in areas.

DEVS DO THIS ALREADY.
 
How about something similar to the uoforever Dragon on UOG that would drop 2 'rare' seeds upon death, these in turn could be grown into plants, some good, some crap.

When they put this in, that place was booming.

a UOF one, but with UOF unique plants would be incredible.... Again, placing no stat in such an area would promote pvp as well as the pvm aspect. Shit, put it in bucs den as far as i care, just do something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Dewderonomy

Grandmaster
Stamina loss that's linked to a character rather than a mount would be ideal, regardless if they are mounted or on foot. The second we put mount loss, specifically, into the game without bolas you're gonna' have weird dismount/feed/mount scripts that only benefit fast connections and the "best" (I use this term so loosely it isn't even accurate) PvPers.
 

Nubby

Apprentice
@gucci mane You must be back on the syrup with these awful suggestions:
http://www.bet.com/news/music/2013/09/22/gucci-mane-admits-addiction-to-lean.html

Get your mind right! Stam loss whenever running is a horrible idea, if it's player incurred it means more potting and eating food. It won't be an issue of stamina loss, it will be who has the most pots. If it's a mount issue, just as @Dewderonomy pointed out, people will just figure out a way around it and create even larger issues.

House leaving macros...really. Out of all the things possible to fix. This is a non-issue. The real issue is people owning multiple houses by dungeons. If you know they run to their houses don't fight them, and if it's a public house, keep up.

Player ghosts...been trapped maybe once in months of playing. Help my character is physically stuck option exists. Step your game up.

You fumbled on this thread. Let them work on real fixes, not create new ones by altering major mechances (nice try sneaking stamina mount loss between those awful, non-issues to gain favor).
 

halygon

Grandmaster
three non issues that dont need a fix
No need for two, but the lack of stamina loss is a huge issue. It makes pvp impossible if your opponent is a runner. I personally have chased ppl from trinsic to skara because there is no consequence for running. This is great for non pvpers but for those that DO pvp, it is horrible. Because it is good for pvmers and not for pvpers, it is unbalanced and should be fixed.
 

kurtis

Grandmaster
For the most part, I like all of the ideas. Running is obviously the biggest issue.

So many posts have been made about that. Everyone is clamoring for it. I can't really understand why it hasn't been addressed. Even a statement as to why they refuse to try something to mitigate the running issue would be nice. Just so we have some closure. This should be a #1 priority of staff, imo. Though, I'd prefer to see mount fatigue rather than stam loss personally. Like you argued, it will result in people carrying more stam pots, which is just more items. If there is mount fatigue, you actually have to run on your mount strategically, not just load up with more stam pots. That's how UO always was... But I would settle for your suggestion, if it's some kind of necessary middle ground. Something has to give here...
 
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