Mob Follower Rewrite?

[Leech]

I was playing with Casimir's mobs while dawdling about in Southside and I realized something - even if I can do it via code, it would be incredibly twinkish for me to warp my mobs in to defend me should Casimir get jumped. Then this got me thinking... why couldn't I? If they were only a few rooms away, it'd make perfect sense for Casimir to be able to call over his bodyguard for defense.

Oh, and why can't my bodyguard attack people? Wassup with that? What if the price for bodyguard mobs was increased drastically, would that level it out a bit? I just want tools to terrorize, as is thematic for a noble. =(

[wimple]

Can't you do this? Stable your mobs instead of having them walk out of a room, then if you want to call them back, just hail return them? I've never actually had bodyguards, and I'm just assuming they work the same way as pets.

I don't know about the attacking bit. I'm fine with that being possible, but there should be standards for purchase then on how good of an attacker they are... if it's cheap to buy someone who is super good, then that's way too far out of alignment.

[Applesauce]

Oh, and why can't my bodyguard attack people? Wassup with that? What if the price for bodyguard mobs was increased drastically, would that level it out a bit? I just want tools to terrorize, as is thematic for a noble. =(

That is a semi-recent change, mobs can only be used to "protect" (a command which lets them take damage instead of you). I think it was in response to folks buying 4 crazy soldiers and suddenly being the toughest MFer around.

Technically the prices were already increased drastically, since the prices didn't drop when the mobs' abilities significantly dropped. But dunno, maybe there's some price point even higher that could bring back attacking.

[Leech]

Going to come back and put my thoughts on mob balance and attacking later. On my way to that glorious place, the Olive Garden, now! But I did want to holla @Wimpled: you can stable your mobs and call them whenever, but to onlookers it looks like they just warped in from nowhere (which they basically did. You can pretend they were 'just over there somewhere'). When scenes are getting tough and you can just call in four mobs to your side from the ether, it's a bit twinkish. I want the code to be a little more punishing, I guess? You can send your mobs home, but you have to go home to get them if you want them - rather than being able to send them back and forth from anywhere in the world for only a piddly 50 silver.

[wimple]

I understand that want, but that's time for Az to do code-rewrites. If it's possible in game, then just punish people that use it twinkishly. I.e. if you've RPed your guards are nearby, and everyone agrees they are, then you can call them in. If you've RP'd you're somewhere alone and then hail and call them in, then it's time for imm intervention and a halt to the scene, 'cause you done just twinked.

[Leech]

Ideally, I don't want to ever ask a player for permission to do something. Ideally! I understand it falls behind a long list of priorities, but basically I'm wondering... is it a good idea? Something people would like to see?

[Applesauce]

It seems to me that anyone who's both important enough and a big enough target to need one or more bodyguards would already have them out more often than not. Why would you ever risk having them tail you "a few rooms away" and just hope they can run up in time if something goes wrong? If you need them, you use them.

So attack vs protect aside, what's the rewrite you're suggesting? It's not clear from the first post what you actually want to be changed, is it that you DON'T want people to ever be able to stable and hail mobs? It costs money to hail mobs, so you at least have to be prepared enough to have the cash on you.

[Leech]

I don't want to be able to warp my mobs in from across the city to help me. Instead, they should be persistent, stay where I leave them, and be able to be sent to a room or stable designated as home but not be called from there to anywhere in the city, only picked up. As for situations where you would have your mobs a few rooms away, I can think of four off the top of my head.

1. When you want to appear vulnerable to draw out an action.
2. When you want to hide your status.
3. When you want privacy, but still want protection. (For players who realize that others could kidnap their mobs, or bribe them, for information.)
4. When you want to spring a trap.

That is beside the point though. I can already -do- that, and call them to me. But I can also call them to me from anywhere in the city.

So, what I'd like to happen instead, and at this point I'm just wondering if anybody else agrees, is:

Be able to call my mobs back to me from only a designated number of rooms away, for free. 3?
Be able to send my mobs home from anywhere in the city (currently available).
Not be able to call them back to me from anywhere in the city, must go get them from home.
Be able to designate both a stable and a house for human npcs and animal npcs.

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Again, not anything on a priority at all, just a few things I think that would balance mobs out a little, make them play a bit more realistic, and set them up for a little more versatility down the road.

[Onyxsoulle]

This sparked an idea for me. Why not just disable them going to the ether/broomcloset altogether? Then you can set them wherever you want, have them follow, make them crash on your couch, etc etc.

[Applesauce]

That all sounds cool, Leech.
I'd also like to propose some conditions on the from-nearby-hail:

1) There's an obvious action made to the room as part of the hail, and
2) It takes a few seconds for them to arrive, to represent the PC travel time from a few rooms away.

I haven't run into people springing traps with instamobs before, but I would suggest the same conditions be put in place with what we have already (summon anywhere). A trap's a trap, but treating NPCs as people they would have to have some sort of cue and then physically get there.