Combat, OOC Info, Helpfiles

[Geras]

I'd like to humbly request that the rock-paper-scissors aspect of combat be laid out in appropriate helpfiles. IE which defense is strong against which attack. Otherwise it gives OOC knowledge of our combat system far too much bearing IMHO.

[Julea]

Completely agree.

[mattc]

Thirded, whole-heartedly.

[Kinaed]

Sorry, no, we will not be adding this information to help files.

A player asked me if the defense-offence patterns changed recently, however, and the answer is also no. The rock-paper-scissors setup has not recently changed... and has only changed once since conception a long, long time ago (near its inception) based on observed problems with the original choices.

[Geras]

As an alternative, could perhaps defense be tweaked such that it automatically uses whichever defense is best against a certain attack. I would think if you're facing multiple people for example, it would be far more plausible to be blocking one with the shield and another with your sword than shifting the shield back and forth.

[Leech]

That would put combat completely in the hands of code, and make it so whoever has the highest skill wins. Maybe I've read your suggestion wrong, but it'd be much better to eventually implement setting defenses specific to a person fighting you, so that you could dodge the attacks of one person, and block the other's. This would also make fighting two people difficult, as if they switched weapons you'd have to switch two defenses.

[BingoX]

Is there a reason why the pc with the highest skill shouldn't win?

A little randomness is great, but it should be IC randomness, not OOC knowledge of code.

And why should I have to switch defenses? I'm not a master with the pikestaff. My PC is the master with the pikestaff, let him switch defenses. Asking me to figure my PC's combat priorities is like asking me to change a setting for my 'ride' skill depending on the height and origin of the horse! Be nice if we could toggle 'auto combat.'

[Leech]

Do you like games that don't require any amount of skill? I sure don't. Investments that require large amounts of time instead of skill, like real estate, stock trades, marriage, and grandmastering every combat skill, have never been my thing.

It's as easy as pie to make that OOC knowledge IC knowledge. Watch!

Naer asks Mentor; "Oi, if some bleedin' idiot comes at me with a dirk, should I parry that shit or try t' avoid it?"

Shaking his head in disappointment, the Mentor slaps Naer and says; "Dodge it, you frak."

And once you know it, write it down somewhere if you can't commit it to memory. Then, when you play your next character, who is going to be a badass Knight, you can apply that knowledge.

I wouldn't expect anyone to be playing a badass Knight from the get-go, so EVERYONE should have a chance to learn that OOC information ICly, and then decide whether or not future characters would know it - and apply it if they do, discard it if they don't.

Edit: By the by, the whole 'I'm not, but my character is' thing can only be stretched so far. Your character might be a master artist, but if I ask you what the first step in making a fresco is and you say <insert stuff my character would know here> I will be rather upset.

[Geras]

I don't think even the OOC knowledge is very widespread. Point taken I guess on it removing one of the three major decisions we have in combat right now though. (Which defense/weapon combo do we use? Should I attack or defend? If I attack, where do I target?)

[BingoX]

Investments that require large amounts of time instead of skill, like real estate, stock trades, marriage, and grandmastering every combat skill, have never been my thing.

You've never been married.

It's as easy as pie to make that OOC knowledge IC knowledge. Watch!

You can--and should--still play that entire scene the same. You (or at least I) shouldn't have to write things down on slips of paper that my character knows. I'd much rather focus, when I'm in combat, on emoting interesting things than double-checking my defense position is optimal. Combat is stressful enough!

And I don't understand your edit. If my PC is a master artist, and you ask the first step toward making a fresco, I'll do one of these: "emote sits back in his chair, puffs on his pipe a few times, and explains in tedious detail the first step toward making a fresco."

But with combat, that sort of IC fudging isn't possible, because the code, not the storytelling, determines the outcome. There's a good reason we don't ask thieves to change settings whether they're hiding in the city or the country, in the day or the night, in crowds or alone. We could. But it'd be cumbersome, awkward, and unnecessary.

In addition to defense-setting, I have the same issue with distance. Getting within range. My PC, who is adept with a dagger, doesn't automatically understand he needs to get in close? My 4 year old understands that. That's like having to type 'left foot, right foot, now left foot again, right foot, there you go!' instead of 'east.'

(Part of the problem might be the helpfiles. As far as I can tell, there's no mention of 'set combat defense' in 'help combat overview' or 'help defense' or 'help combat'. And there's also no mention (AFAIK) that emoting during combat forfeits your combat turn, which I didn't notice even after emoting during combat.)