Deserted RPCs characters

[Liberty4life]

manu just like you said, there isnt much solutions about wodin, and i cant help much about that

but for others i agree with calyx, so i think that there should be made that every rpc needs to have something like "right hand" or "first/main assistant" or "knights squire", call it whatever you like, so this could be created on already existing system of adepts, so if player is an adept of some rpc only them he can became his "squire" so if adept is interested rpc could teach him, train him etc, this "squire" will follow his master on every important quest etc, so them squire will became more connected to the role of his master and he will be also interacted in story, so if master dissapears, then squire could take his path, not necesearly whole role, but at least great deal of masters role, and he will be fit to it cause he was teached by his master, so in that way rpc could became legends, they could keep their indetity and story could go on with theirs squire taking their role

[Yami no Sakura]

I'll make my opinions simple and short since Ren basically said everything I wanted to say. In addressing the two issues presented by Manu:

1. I believe that the account .Wodin Ullr. should be left untouched. The powers and interfaces that were integrated into that account can be moved to another's. In that case, it would be as if the leader of GG (or whoever) gained the powers of Master Wodin through some complicated ritual or the other. But the powers and interfaces will be all that they get. Not the name. Not the avatar.

As for the character being forgotten...well...that will not happen. Not while I'm still addicted to MD. (which is, believe me, essentially saying a long time in the future)

Ren and I kinda talked about this, about what to do with that shiny thing standing on the Road of Battle. The avatar can become a statue where a short epitaph will pop up when you click on it.

2. As for the other RPCs, they can just become legends when they leave the game, and we'll just write them off as dead. Their roles can be passed on.

[Muratus del Mur]

i am still waiting for an answer from wodin....

remember wodin reset all his things, killed his creatures etc. so.. he obviously didnt wanted someone to use those.

Wodin history is strongly contected to his role because of the AL.. i cant just split it and give part of it to a new character.

[Metal Bunny]

If wodin doesn't want to play, I suggest manipulating story events and let the player him/herself choose a worthy person who fills the gap.. (slowly of course)

This means I am inclined to agree with Ren and the others..

[Ren]

Yes, my initial idea was to have someone that would be trained to take over the role of that character. This would of course tie in nicely with what adepts are (or at least, what I really think they ought to be, despite how they're actually being used...but that's another rant entirely). It obviously can't really be used with Wodin now...but it could be saved for the near future for the next RPC that decides to boot his/her interface.

Now, lets look at this from another point of view. The issue of Wodin is...well it has already been tossed like this. BigC answering his email is the best method of change there...but we can address this same type of issue in the future. Consider a new player who hasn't done much. Imagine they spend a long time (lets say....2 months) and manage to make it to the level of RPC for..idk, a grass cutter in the tranquil plains, who cares what. Then, for some reason or another, a great many feats and popularity and several adventure log quests later, that player gets integrated into the game. About a year later, that player finally decides the legacy is big enough, and throws in the towel. At this point:

A. Becomes Public.

B. Legend.

Now, put yourself in those shoes after all that work. (Remember, this is someone you built from scratch! Not just a role that was made you're now filling). Would you want someone else to be able to alter people's perception of your character? Or, would you like to see yourself become a part of a monumental game and become part of the legends that people are researching in the future? And, perhaps log back in from time to time to set a few old rumors straight, just for kicks and giggles?

If you don't want someone else taking over, but that rule was instated and you know that reaching that level means that for you..would you still try and get there? Or, would you try and get as many noninterface abilities and stories as you can, just preserve your personal identity?

In the case of Wodin, I'm actually leaning towards accepting him as Public because I can see it as if this had already happened in the past in a sense that BigC's character invoked Wodin, who was a MD specifically created character, so he got to control him, and didn't relinquish him for a long time. Now, his control there has left, and he remains as BigC.

But, what about those of us who want to get to that integrated level of...awesomeness (for lack of a better word)? I have every intention of getting just as integrated as Wodin was, or more, if I can...but I don't want to if that means someone else takes my identity. This doesn't apply for everyone of course, it depends on what you do. The Archivist can easily be replaced. The Legend Teller can be replaced. The Speaker for the Shades can be replaced....but what about someone like alche who is very specific in his abilities and even has some places named after him? What about if Metal Bunny succeeded in taking over the world? That's not something you can just let dwindle as a legend without first doing something to conclude it with things back to normal. What if we jumped back in time, and Gabriel Wind was a player created character that managed to come a long ways? Would the game be able to evolve with a rich storyline without his events finally coming to a rest with his death? If our actions shape what we can do in the world, shouldn't the world's history then reflect our actions in return?

That's a long bit, so I'm going to remind you again that this is not to address how the game is at this exact moment. This is a rule that could effect how things develop in the future with new RPCs. This does take me right back to the initial change that sparked my fire in the first place. If someone else is going to take over after me, I want to be able to reset my character and erase my personal achievements and creatures and my PURCHASED CREDITS (okay, some of them. I won some...;, but that's not true for everyone!) before I let someone else take over. Let them have the title and abilities, but they can't have my story or the benefits from my ideas!

*huff*......I'll probably be back later to rant some more...

[meiche]

While I believe that the player should be remembered and written into legend, perhaps. You can't leave a gaping hole in the game because so-and-so decided not to play anymore.

After you spend 2 months, a year, two years creating something glorious you should be proud! And you should hang around to protect your interest. When you leave you no longer can expect to retain the same position. Why shouldn't someone else have them.

It's ridiculous to think that a major part of the game should be lost because one person has a fit. Once you add to a common idea or group project, you give those ideas to the group. You should always be given credit, but realize too, that work, that idea, that action, no longer belongs to you alone.

[Muratus del Mur]

if i keep wodins identity as a legend, and put him out of the game then all work on that profile is lost, because wodin without that avatar is not wodin and that avatar is part of the game now.

as you said , wodin was created for bigc so its actualy part of the game, but bigc gave it life and personality. Bigc account will remain legend forever, in fact i will see to it that it wont get erased when account cleanup will take place later, same for all rpc or 'legends'

I think i am about to create a rule about this... all characters that become integrated in the interface, will be public characters if they desert their account. As an alternative for that, i can create a statue for that player and that statue wont represent a public account, but if you want to achieve something like wodin then you should take the responsability also. Players come and go, but me and the game remain for other players to come. I can not mutilate the game world with characters that appear like there but will never be actualy there, with incomplete quests and confused history.

I will try not to promote any player to a character that will require to become public in such a case, instead i will build those characters and give access to them based on a RULE so that others have a chance to achieve that position.

Its like in a company... there is a marketing manager position, and that is controlled by a person with its own identity and with its own achievements, but if that person dies or leaves, the company still goes on and that position and achievements are passed on to the next to occupy that position.

I will always grant credit to those that are behind such a thing, for example with wodin i put on the page that gives controll to that account detailed info about him and made it clear HE developed that character and that whoever takes over it will just continue its legacy.

I think we can keep wodin as a feature, because the having access to a legendary character if you manage to rule GG alliance is something i consider very cool. Remember Actraiser? he has a spell that is called "Summon Actraiser" and that gives the caster Actraiser's army , even if he stopped playing so long ago. Thats also sort of a summoning.

There are two ways to create a society from scratch... assign roles to people and have all under controll or let the society and roles occur in an natural way. I think in MD world we have to mix those two together, some things require to be a predefined role and some things need to evolve by themselves..like the Dojo initiative.

I consider this the second big "sacrifice" in md, after the use of alliance logos for different members than their initial creators. Things have to move on, game will constantly improve, even if that will hurt some of you a lot.

the wodin incident will remail as a lesson for me not to allow players to get so deep in the game without first thinking of the consequences. Afterall we are all human, and playing any game is just a temporary state. Some will play a day some will play a year some maybe more, but eventualy all will quit, so the game society has to be fluid and i am strugling to achieve that.

[Ren]

No no no no no. I'm not saying anything about no one ever getting the powers back. The game would continue to flow. In terms of a story, things can be written off and adjusted, just as has been done with Wodin. He quit, so he returned home. Then this, so he has been resummoned.

EDIT Note: At meiche.

[Muratus del Mur]

think that i want to put land leader over md lands ....

i dont want to have them by playername, because the transfer of features is almost impossible, instead i want them by a predefiend character.

Its also better that the leader of the land will have a predefined avatar, name, tag, and stats, than just an other player to be in that position.

I was planning to allow normal evolution of players towards that position, but after wodin incident, i am defenetly thinking of creating those accounts and then assigning them as public characters. Instead of creating md legend and have lets say player Abcde as king of MB for example, i will have a fixed char as king and allow others to controll it.

It will be a hit to the level of adventure in the game, but it will make the game world much more stable over time. I see this as a thing i must do, please correct me if i am wrong.

[Ren]

Sadly, I do know that's what you need to do. As a story, the game would evolve beautifully if there was someone specific as a king, that was overthrown by some group or another and then the land is ruled by an alliance for some time...but that would be...subjective to finding the best of the best of the best roleplayers that wouldn't leave the game....I do wish it as a possibility....but I understand it wouldn't happen.

[Glaistig]

I can understand both sides. I think it's a pity to discard the possibility of natural evolution of actual players to deep game integration, but it seems reasonable. Maybe an option could be left if a player wants to achieve the level of Wodin with the role he created and is willing to accept the possibility of the account becoming a public one if they desert the game later, but otherwise I don't really think there is much of an alternative when these characters are so integral to the game.

As to Wodin specifically, would it be possible to create some significant changes corresponding to this event? Perhaps in the story, some event occurs that makes his persona change as if he is another person in a sense. Umm, something like a new Wodin who is different from all the previous, but has memories of his ancestor-Wodins. His avatar is noticably altered. A slight change to the name. Something to set apart the old Wodin and the new Wodin in records, just this one time, because none of us thought about what should happen in instances like this--Wodin expected the role to remain his, his sole personality to be associated with it and no one else's, as signified by the account resetting. This won't happen again, I hope.

[envy]

If the spirit idea doesn't work. How about the child of Wodin. When your father sets great things over the years, doesn't the child usually follow in their family steps. Like the family members taking over the business after someone dies.

[SoulTear]

You can still allow a natural evolution toward game integration just make it so that all RPCs or all integrated RPCs have to agree to let their roles go public if they decide to stop using them and just suddenly leave. If they don't want to have their characters go public they won't become a game integrated RPC or at least they have to agree to complete that RPCs story if they want to become a legend rather then be reused. That way players at least have a choice.

As far as Wodin is concerned if he reset all his accounts then that probably means he is going to leave this game permanently and likely doesn't care what will happen to them. If I had enough of this game or had real life issues and just wanted to cut myself off from it for good then thats what I would do. Plus its BigC that was his original character whereas Wodin Ullr was really more of a special game character given to him by Manu to fulfill as specific role so I don't really see the problem in giving it to someone else to continue that role. if only to finish his role in the Necrovion-GG Conflict in a realistic way.

Personally if I ever got to the point where I just wanted to eject from the game for good never to return I could care less what happened to my character(s) and would just try to forget about them and the game. Its just a game after all I play it for fun not as work. At that point I might even go to sell my account(s) on the Internet and make some real money off of them if there was a demand as people do in some other online games (I won't if Manu really doesn't want it if my character is important enough though).

Well it looks as if from all the other posts I'm the only one with a dissenting opinion, go figure

[meiche]

No SoulTear, I quite agree. Except to the selling of accounts...that's pretty tacky.

[Gchick]

OK, I kind of skipped over the rest of the posts because there was lots of repetition in the end, so if anyone already mentioned what I am about to say, sorry.

I think we should treat Wodins leaving the game as part of the game. It doesn't matter if the character in game or the character behind the screen decided to leave, things happen. Just integrate it into the story. Maybe he was called back to his plane for an emergency, maybe the opposing faction found a way to "unsummon" him, maybe whatever kept him on this plane was broken, I don't know.

Just take it and move on. Things change, the land changes and the game should change with it. If RPCs can be created, why not removed? People are killed off in movies and TV series all the time, even when they seemed important. It just makes the whole story more interesting.

[Sol]

@Gchick Yeah I agree with your idea ^^ (I didn't read the prev posts...)

What I think is since Master Wodin is gone already, let it be. Like Gchick said, famous tv stars, programmes (etc.) have to end someday...

Maybe we could make a "Hall of Fame" somewhere in game (MDA maybe), so players could go and visit them and see their great deeds.

[Calyx of Isis]

Players create characters. Sometimes the character and its actions become part of the story. Additionally, sometimes the player also acquires special powers and abilities. These are of two kinds: [A] appropriate to the player's character, to fulfill some needed game function.

When a player leaves, their character leaves with them. Their legend remains. Significant players are likely to appear in the archives in one or more stories. A hall of fame might be nice, but in this world I would expect it to be spread among several locations.

To the extent that a player gains type B capabilities, these have to be passed on. Type A capabilities can be left with the character in case the player chooses to return. However a returning player no longer has the game role or abilities.

For example. if Ren were to leave, I'm sure there are some interfaces created for him that need to be passed on and others that need to remain with Renavoid. If he the returns he has emeritus status, that is he is honored as a former, indeed, the first chief archivist, but the alliance is not affected by his return.

I understand that Golemus and Mur need to preserve Wodin's type B abilities. However, I fail to see the need to preserve Wodin as other than as a legend. Wodin, per se, has already been written out of the story. Presently the leader of GG can summon Wodin. However, thinking of and implementing it in this way long term seems a mistake. Rather, the being summoned should simply be identified as a Light Lord occupying Wodin's deserted husk. That preserves the existing feature of the landscape without raising issues of the being's personality and history. This gives the reigning GG Leader freedom to give the Light Lord a different personality and objectives.

Wodin had adepts. This is obviously no longer appropriate. It should no longer be possible to be Wodin's addept. Far better that players adept to the principal, not to the summoned creature. I know some of Wodin's former adepts feel abandoned and confused. One has chosen to become my adept. I have no idea what others will do, but remaining attached to Wodin seems a mistake. I hope we can avoid this problem in the future.

In all things we should hearken to the ancient declaration: "The King is dead. Long live the King." The role persists without reference to the personality that inhabits it.

[Metal Bunny]

This is just an impulsive idea I am having, but.. Is it possible to have the 'land ruler features' or the interface and spells you are supposed to get, for ruling a land, and instead of putting it into the account (I know nothing of coding, but I just want to give this idea a thought), you put it in a crown or scepter.

What I mean is that if king abcde (who is a real player) of MB dies, the result has to be chaos, it's only more natural that way. If you create a player that is an eternal ruler, well.. that kind of sounds lame in my ears. (specifically because I want to rule the world, and when, not if this happens, then it means I would have to be some kind of puppeteer that secretly rules from the shadows.. Not as cool as being the supreme ruler of all the lands)

So my suggestion is that you don't put that kind of power into a fixed player who sort of gets all the glory and who /will/ change from personality from time to time, but you put that power into a device or a weapon of some sort. The new player gets the honor and is in fact the real ruler in name and power, and not just a puppeteer. This also kind of removes a desire of mine, to not just have epic players and spells, but also have a few epic weapons or some sort. (I like swooords This also means that one can rule multiple lands if one is truly an epic player. (I believe it is kind of hard to be the leader of multiple alliances)

[Sol]

Lol MB ^^

It's like if a king dies thrn someone takes his throne in your case a weapon ^^

Well I still think that Master Wodin could be left alone...

[Gchick]

What I mean is that if king abcde (who is a real player) of MB dies,

Anyone else notice this slip? Haha.

[Ren]

that's not a slip...he's saying king of Marind's Bell.....

pun off his name, perhaps, but not a slip

[Gchick]

Ah. I thought he was referring to MD in general. It was funnier as a slip.

[Udgard]

I guess I agree that Wodin should not be touched again. The role, maybe, as a summoned warrior. Maybe a new Summoned Warrior of light can be summoned. But not Wodin. He has stayed in game for far too long (and active!, if it was KC or Morpheus, i won't notice the difference if the player changes..), and his personality cannot be replaced.

[Kadeshi]

Well, i saw Wodin Walking around and even talking in front of the Necrovian gates, so i am guessing that he is Reborn/Reincarnated/resurected or any other Re- you can think of XD

[PenelopeLightMoon]

Wodin is back....he was resummoned. It is in the story log.