User:Kalir
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Dual Nature |
| This User or Group supports the Dual Nature Policy & believes that the citizens of Malton should embrace their two-fold nature. |
I did that. Bring me a radio transmitter, yar.
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Swim swim hungry! |
| This user belives that Dopefish lives and that it's still hungry. |
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My Name is Inigo Montoya |
| You killed my father. Prepare to die. |
| Kalir | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Roleplaying Notice |
| Notice: This User or Group enjoys the RPG aspect of MMORPGs, the category of games that Urban Dead falls into. As such, there is probably quite a bit of roleplaying and/or creative writing on this page and in said User/Group's in-game actions. In other words, if you think the difference between IC and OOC is "One has an 'I' and the other has two 'O's," buzz off. |
My take on metagaming
Groggily, you awake from what seems like a long and restless sleep. However, you're not where you were last, or even in the same condition as you were. The last thing you recall was seeing your innards entering the maw of something once human. However, you seem to be more or less recovered, sans the slight fever. It's not too hard to discern from this that you were once a zombie, but have been brought back to life by some miracle. So what do you do now?
Why, start killing humans at random followed by a suicidal return to zombiedom! What else?
As another example...
Nothing. You feel nothing. Nothing but a primal urge: to hunt, to kill, to feast. You stand up, no longer requiring all of your body. Whatever is in excess is left behind. You lurch with determination to the one place where you can be sure to find solace from this raging instinct...
To the local revive clinic to return to life, of course! There's bound to be rotting things to eat there while you wait!
I am tired of the general perception regarding metagaming behaviors. It's no longer a constant battle of zombie vs. survivor in which any change is a significant one, but rather a stalemate where neither side will change very much at all. Zombies will kill survivors, yes, but those survivors will almost invariably head towards a revive point. And should a scientist offer the generosity of a random revive, what happens? That zombie, in most cases, will stand up as a human, shotgun anything that doesn't say "Barhah!", grab a flak jacket, and dive off of a window ledge to their death.
Admittedly, there could be some exceptions. Maybe, in life, the zombie was a serial killer. But was every zombie once a random murderer, slaying without remorse or afterthought? No, in all likelihood, they were probably the sort who'd give the person they just shot a slight nod on the way to the cubicle. Similarly, perhaps a zombie with, say, Memories of Life, would remember their previous life and attempt to find a way to revert to such. But not everyone does that.
This is what causes the game to stagnate. Not barricades, not lack of zombie skills, but player inflexibility. You might find a survivor who also has a plethora of zombie skills, but if you do, odds are that they've maxed out in both areas, sans Brain Rot, because they have XP pouring our their ears. And yet they still seek the revive points. Is it so bad to play as a zombie? What, exactly, is so horrible about having to switch from guns to tearing humans apart with your claws? And for those of you who play zombies, you have a much easier time of staying zombies. But please, don't stock up on items just to kill your reviver and anyone they're with beforehand. The skill Brain Rot is there for a reason: to practically negate the chance of you having to find a tall building to jump from.
Admittedly, for survivors who have been killed for the first time, it can be tough. However, it's not unmanageable, especially if you can find a crowd of zombies to hide in. And in my opinion, smashing down an EHB building packed full of survivors is much more satisfying than, say, logging in every day or so and saying "Mrh?" then logging out.
In summation: Start acting like what you are. The walking dead do not line up at a clinic for shots, nor does someone granted a second chance at life start killing those responsible for this chance.
On the subject of revive points
Revive points, as they stand, are as much a part of Malton as the appendix is a part of the human body. However, these points emphasize one nature over the other, to the point of calling zombies to act against their common instincts. If the Dual Nature Policy is to reach full effectiveness, revive points are to be done away with. Just as the removal of the aforementioned appendix can be a hazardous undertaking, attempting to bring down revive points is a task few would consider and even less would succeed at.
At the very least, one would need a sizable team behind themselves, and it is practically ensured that those involved would be hunted by "bounty hunters", those who slay others for glory and to reassure their compatriots. However, a coordinated team would be able to disrupt the efforts of a revive point quite effectively. As many revive points carry markings by spray paint of their function, this team must be composed of living members, as undead claws lack the dexterity to erase these messages themselves.
The first point of business would be the removal of the operators of the revive point. As may be expected from one who runs such a greviously single-nature service, they may not be removed by words alone. It may be necessary to move to force to oust them from the building they have chosen as their base of operations. Should one wish to avoid bloodshed, the removal of their barricades should ensure that they either flee or are changed to an unliving state.
After this, it is necessary to tend to the stock of individuals waiting to be returned to a living state. While most, in their hopeless delusion, will be feasting on each other, some may strike out at living flesh, so caution is, as always, something to be considered. Again, it may be necessary to erase any messages to the undead left at this location. Ideally, this may cause some zombies to scatter to other locations. Particularly reckless teams may even disperse around the revive point, within zombie sight, so as to lure the horde into dispersion and return the revive point to its former banality. To go a further step in this tactic, consider leaving messages to the effect of revive points in other random directions (or even inside the base of the operators, if the zombies are sufficiently bloodthirsty). If all else fails, a mass stasis may be called for, if for no other reason than to ensure that the cattle-like customers of the revive point do not linger in such a hostile environment.
Once this is done, it is vital for the perpetrators of the revive point's destruction to scatter and flee, so as to avoid the watchful eye of the former operators of the revive point and the groups that may be maintaining them. Indeed, those who commited the "crime" may be the targets of both the group and the bounty hunters for months to come. If you feel condifent that either they will not pursue you, or that you can withstand their attacks, consider staking out the former revive point and the nearby area for a rebuilt revive point.
I cannot hold myself responsible for what may happen as a result of this scribed train of thought, and with any hope, neither will anyone else. These are all ideas, nothing more, and it takes a human decision to turn these ideas into deeds.
