Guard Changes!

ANNOUNCE NEWS #2100
Date: 2/27/2013 at 2:20
From: Razmael, the Synthesist
To  : Everyone
Subj: Guard changes

I have made several changes to the way maximum guards are determined,
with the aim of fixing a gross disparity between cities in regards to
how many guards they can hire vs how many rooms they need to protect.

Maximum guards are now based on accessible rooms. This means any room
you can walk to, from the city barracks, without encountering a door.
This change is going to result in most cities having to cut some guards,
as you can no longer block off portions of your city and still have them
count towards your guard total.

With this change, we also introducing a new mechanic for guards: Guard
complacency. A summary of this new mechanic and all the changes are as
follows:

* When guards are attacked and killed, every other guard in the city
grows less complacent.

* Decreased complacency confers:
  - Increased damage done.
  - Decreased damage taken.
  - Bigger response radius.

* Guards at 100% complacency are the same strength as they are now.

* A guard death will decrease the city's complacency by 2%.

* Complacency will increase at a rate of 5% per Howling.

* Maximum guards are now based on accessible rooms.
  - If you are over your guard limit, guard complacency will
    be 200%.
  - A room is counted as accessible if there is a path from
    the barracks to that room, with no doors in the way.

* Security can check CITY INACCESSIBLE to see where the city is
considered inacessible.

* GUARDS RETURN no-attack time has been lowered to 1 minute.
  - It will now increase complacency by 5%.

* Security minister and its aides can now add doors to the entrance of
houses and buildings.
  - CITY PLACE DOOR <direction>
  - Costs the ministry 10,000 gold.

* Security minister (but not aides) can now dismiss guards.
  - CITY CONSCRIPT DISMISS <guard>

City complacency will be locked at 0% for the next few days, to give all
the cities time to adjust to the new situation.
 
Penned by my hand on the 11th of Lanosian, in the year 384 MA.
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Let us know what you think/ask questions/become concerned within reason here.
LinAngweLianca
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Comments

  • DaskalosDaskalos Credit Whore Extraordinare Rolling amongst piles of credits.
    Did I do that? *Steve Urkel*

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    Message #17059 Sent By: Oleis           Received On: 1/03/2014/17:24
    "If it makes you feel better, just checking your artifact list threatens to crash my mudlet."

  • DaskalosDaskalos Credit Whore Extraordinare Rolling amongst piles of credits.
    How are guildhalls counted towards this, since they require special entrances?

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    Message #17059 Sent By: Oleis           Received On: 1/03/2014/17:24
    "If it makes you feel better, just checking your artifact list threatens to crash my mudlet."

  • At this moment, anything you can't normally walk to is not counted in the total of allotted guards. So, guildhalls with special entrances are not counted.
  • DaskalosDaskalos Credit Whore Extraordinare Rolling amongst piles of credits.

    Hrm. Ok. Noticed most of ours are in shop stockrooms, not many rooms otherwise unoccupied.

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    Message #17059 Sent By: Oleis           Received On: 1/03/2014/17:24
    "If it makes you feel better, just checking your artifact list threatens to crash my mudlet."

  • DaskalosDaskalos Credit Whore Extraordinare Rolling amongst piles of credits.
    Do neighborhoods that can be openly pathed to count towards the total?

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    Message #17059 Sent By: Oleis           Received On: 1/03/2014/17:24
    "If it makes you feel better, just checking your artifact list threatens to crash my mudlet."

  • No, thus the ability for cities to finally raise doors to blockade such places.
  • DaskalosDaskalos Credit Whore Extraordinare Rolling amongst piles of credits.
    Can you make them count? Enorian, in particular, has lots of areas that are regularly used and hung out in that were added by players as 'additions' to the city - the Yaslan's Gardens, Sahmie's Lighthouse (which had a quest in it last I checked), et cetera.

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    Message #17059 Sent By: Oleis           Received On: 1/03/2014/17:24
    "If it makes you feel better, just checking your artifact list threatens to crash my mudlet."

  • Unfortunately, for now, they won't count.
  • DaskalosDaskalos Credit Whore Extraordinare Rolling amongst piles of credits.
    But it's open for discussion to change at a later date?

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    Message #17059 Sent By: Oleis           Received On: 1/03/2014/17:24
    "If it makes you feel better, just checking your artifact list threatens to crash my mudlet."

  • Woo wee, talk about making it easier to raid and grief others. Well done.
  • DaskalosDaskalos Credit Whore Extraordinare Rolling amongst piles of credits.
    Conflict, yay!

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    Message #17059 Sent By: Oleis           Received On: 1/03/2014/17:24
    "If it makes you feel better, just checking your artifact list threatens to crash my mudlet."

  • ArbreArbre Arbrelina Jolie Braavos
    The Yaslana Gardens is part of a house - that's why they added the ability to make your own doors there.

  • Azrael said:
    Woo wee, talk about making it easier to raid and grief others. Well done.
    That certainly wasn't our intent. Think of it this way; cities with large disparities because of door blockage will now be able to open up and become more defensible because of it. Highmage class guards have a chance to stop raiders who go incorporeal. Aggravated guards leads to a bigger response radius among other buffs, and with the changes to allow cities to block off annoying 'neighborhoods' raiding spots, we expect maintained and solo raiding overall to become significantly more difficult.
  • LinLin Blackbird The Moonglade
    Azrael said:
    Woo wee, talk about making it easier to raid and grief others. Well done.
    Except that it should be doing the exact opposite, if I understand this system correctly.

    Say Daskalos kills three guards in the corner of Bloodloch, decreasing the city's complacency by a total of 6% (2% per kill). The guards begin to do more damage and it's taking him longer to kill them. And of course, more and more are being alerted, because suddenly they're able to respond to further rooms. Mind you, guards were also changed to occasionally try to eye sigil him out of lightform.

    As opposed to the previous system, in which Daskalos can simply kill guards all he pleases as long as he's careful, there will eventually come a point where he cannot, statistically, handle what he's fighting.
    DharIosyneSlypheArbreHaydyn
  • DaskalosDaskalos Credit Whore Extraordinare Rolling amongst piles of credits.

    I wonder how much it would cost to get an artifact so guards I kill don't affect complacency. <.< 

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    Message #17059 Sent By: Oleis           Received On: 1/03/2014/17:24
    "If it makes you feel better, just checking your artifact list threatens to crash my mudlet."

    ArbreAreka
  • What about cities killing off their own guards to make sure they are at a low level. I am sure that will exploited quite soon, so might as well nip it in the bud right now.

    Arbre
  • LinLin Blackbird The Moonglade
    That's really horrid roleplay. I would hope that the Minister of Security is appropriately recognizing such an act as grand treason against the city.
    HaydynArbreLianca
  • Damonicus said:
    What about cities killing off their own guards to make sure they are at a low level. I am sure that will exploited quite soon, so might as well nip it in the bud right now.
    I'd hope players weren't willing to sink that low to try and exploit mechanics. If they do, they can expect some pretty serious consequences.
    HaydynArbreLiancaObissia
  • MacavityMacavity Chicago, Il
    @dhar, if I am understanding this system correctly, if there is a door between whatever section of the city and the barracks is a good thing....so what about a door at the barracks itself, like Bloodloch has.  Would that not just bypass the need to put doors anywhere else?  Thus undermining this change?
    “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
    Nothing is going to get better. It's not.” 
    ― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

    Veritas says, "Sorry for breaking your system Macavity."
    Veritas says, "My boss fights crash Macavity's computer now."
  • Well. If I close that door, I get this:

    Maximum guards: 1.

    Not a good idea!

  • MacavityMacavity Chicago, Il
    Ilyon said:
    Well. If I close that door, I get this:

    Maximum guards: 1.

    Not a good idea!
    oh ok, thanks....just trying to understand the system!  heh
    “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
    Nothing is going to get better. It's not.” 
    ― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

    Veritas says, "Sorry for breaking your system Macavity."
    Veritas says, "My boss fights crash Macavity's computer now."
  • You know a mechanic is broken and abused when admin intervention is needed to change the system.

    Yes this is directed at you @Daskalos.
  • @daskalos WE HATE YOU.
  • edited February 2013
    I'd hate to be the one to deflate @Daskalos' ego, but these things don't happen overnight and we've been planning to deal with the guard disparity for quite some time. One of the biggest issues was how silly it was forcing players to block off entire sections of their cities for the sake of security. I'm sure there will be plenty of tweaks to it down the road when complacency finally fires up.

    Also, if you didn't check the changelog in-game, @Razmael boosted the allowed guards:room ratio.
  • Really, a change of this nature has been needed for a long time. Bloodloch in particular has almost -always- had the ability to cut off large portions of their city from use to scrimp on guarding them. Thus they were able to have a much beefier guard layout in the areas that actually matter. Combine that with the choke-point heavy layout of the city and you have a recipe for a very easy to defend area.

    As I see it, areas like the prisons in Bloodloch that have traditionally been locked up (for the last 5 years, at least) now no longer contribute to guard totals. This is a good thing. I would imagine the same could be said of places in the other cities: the museum in Enorian, etc.

  • DaskalosDaskalos Credit Whore Extraordinare Rolling amongst piles of credits.

    For the record, I did a count about a week ago on the raidability of each city. Spinesreach had to defend 309 rooms, Enorian 303, Duiran 261, and Loch only 215. So I love this change. The guard density in Loch was far above what any other city could pull off.

    Also, the museum was only 8 rooms. Enorian is, for the most part, open.

    Also, @Calipso, I didn't abuse any mechanics, I simply used the skills in front of me. Sort of like you using direcall all the freakin' time and yanking people all over the place.  Obviously, the administration didn't like the idea of a one-man raid, so they changed it, but I'll be the first to point out that I count for two people in most bashing situations. Either way, I like the change.

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    Message #17059 Sent By: Oleis           Received On: 1/03/2014/17:24
    "If it makes you feel better, just checking your artifact list threatens to crash my mudlet."

  • MacavityMacavity Chicago, Il
    Just so I understand this change....the more open a city is the more guards you get??  Or is the object to close off sections of the city so to use guard totals to protect what is open?!?
    “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
    Nothing is going to get better. It's not.” 
    ― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

    Veritas says, "Sorry for breaking your system Macavity."
    Veritas says, "My boss fights crash Macavity's computer now."
  • edited February 2013
    That's correct. For each accessible room, your city is allowed to deploy more guards.

    edit: While I can't really tell you guys how to plan your defenses, right now the ratio is 1.4 guards:room, so in general having more accessible defendable rooms could be seen as better in addition to the complacency changes which adjust guard response radius.
    Xavin
  • Dhar said:
    I'd hate to be the one to deflate @Daskalos' ego...

    Oh well that's just not true. EVERYONE loves doing that.



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    (The Front Line): Daskalos says, "<-- artifacts."

    Iosyne
  • AngweAngwe I'm the dog that ate yr birthday cake Bedford, VA
    Just try not to get burned by all the hot air rushing out :p
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