RP Touch Points

[Kinaed]

I was thinking about "touch points" in RP today, and the things that cause people to actually get off their druthers and play (as opposed to log in, chat and log out).

Here's some of the things that I think get people most involved. Can you help me figure out more so we can engineer the game to have more?

- Competition or conflict with another player or group of players.
- Getting involved in other people's plots when something interesting is going on.
- Someone actively engaging in their more mischievous tendencies (erm, RP trolling. I love it!)
- Staff run quests, especially those that require people to work together or interact with one another.
- When a player needs or wants something from another player (seeking systems, merchant ordering systems, player teaching, awakening latent mages, etc)

[Giftherz]

I think the staff run quests idea is great, it was fun this past weekend.
The seeking of guilds requires interactions, which is also a plus. Though somewhat limited for time as some of the guild leaders may be they do try and make time for those seeking them for any need.
Engaging in mischievous behavior simply sounds fun! And interesting for both sides.
I think if people worried less about their character being knocked off there would be more devious behavior as well as conflict.

[Platypus]

Tieing in with Geras' thread regarding the relevance of Nobles and conflict... What is the purpose of a Nobles life? It ought to be to increase their holdings and pass said holdings on to their children.

Bit of a lark here but if you're looking to make something to generate touch points, give the Nobles something to squabble over. Make a list of all the lands and who they belong to in a modifiable help file. Find some initial way to 'auction' them off. Nobles can then proceed to kill lie and cheat each other of each others lands. Gives rise to the need for men at arms, mercs, assasins, spys etc... Helps to break down the class barriers. Also block noble creation to raise the stakes.

If the idea is of any interest grab me and the other players and we can brainstorm a system that works for most people.

[Clockwork]

If I understand it right, the followers/minions code will do some of what Platypus suggests. Which I think is good, and long-awaited, and I'd like to see some major effects from those numbers that span through the MUD.

[Kinaed]

Oddly enough, I've actually gotten some interesting push back against the social "game" aspect of TI with the support code going in - namely a concern that advancing will become an issue of social skill and that the person in question felt that they are well liked, but not good at actually garnering support. This led to some changes in the system, such as having no support being the base and support pool being able to be used both positively (I support you!) and negatively (I denounce you, and my vote counts!). However, at the core crux of it, similar to people who don't like armor because they feel there's a one-true-way-ism about that, I think it's possible that some people on TI may not be prepared to need their fellow RPer's help to actually get to the "top" of the dogpile.

So, here's some support for this system going into play (thank you) - but overall, who would want to find things like reputation in game being calculated based on the number of people who support you, things like noble land and revenue being based on how many supporters you've got, and the ability to retain GLship based on maintaining your guild member's support, etc?

At this stage, we have not worked out flow-on effects of support. Right now it's a system that's coming into play at a basic level to see if the system would be fun. It will calculate and rank people's reputations, but nothing more. Eg, it does not dictate anything other than popularity and loosely measure's a person's sway against different factions.

But do people like the idea, hate it, etc? Excite you, scare you, or something in between? Thanks!

[Kinaed]

May I just bump this with a reiteration of the question:

What makes you as a player want to get into RP when you log in? Please be as candid as you like. Thank you!

[Enix]

When I type where and see that a room on the MUD has at least 3 people in it. Not a whole bunch of 1's that page down and different rooms. Public room too, not someones bedroom. Though if there are 3 people in a bedroom I do want details, thanks.

[Lei]

Public rooms, to second Enix, but more specifically: public rooms where the majority of people's characters can easily reason wandering into. The squares, the taverns, the theatre, etc.