Suggestion:20071227 Local Knowlege

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20071227 Local Knowlege

Seventythree^Talk 12:14, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Suggestion type

Skill.

Suggestion scope

Humans and Zombies.

Suggestion description

In this suggestion I want to introduce a new skill to be bought into Urban Dead. The skill represents a survivor (or sometimes zombie) who has spent some considerable time in Malton, enougth to know their way around the city. It is a survivor skill that allows users to locate nearby buildings of importance without having to metagame or use the map. Given that (according to Karek's calculations and estimates) only something like 5-10% of the game community use the wiki this may be of some use. I know that these figures are vauge and can probably be challenged, but I would ask you to accept that there is probably a large minority at least of players who do not use metagaming tools and proably some players who do not wish to for whatever reason. This skill has a flipside of course, zombies can use it too. In fact, combined with scent death this could possibly provide a great benifit to feral zombies.

The new skill A new button to be created if the skill is purchased on the left-hand "control panel", above the inventory. Clicking on this will use 1 AP. This will then, like scent death give you a message. This message provides a rougth indication of where the nearest Mall, Police station, Hospital or fire station is. If Necrotech employment is purchased it will also display the direction of the nearest necrotech facility. The radius of this would be 7 blocks. If a zombie has memories of life as well as local knowlege the zombie too can access this skill.

the techincal stuff

• Purchased as a skill under the civilian skill tree for 100XP.
• New characters starting as consumers start with it instead of shopping.
• Displays direction and vauge distance of the nearest PD, Fire Dept, Mall and hospital in a 7 block radius.
• Combined with Necrotech employment it also provides the direction and distance of the nearest necrotech facility.
• If a zombie has Memories of life they may also use this skill.

Flavour If the nearest building is 1-3 blocks away it will be described as a little way, 4-5 blocks a few blocks and 6-7 blocks away A fair distance

So the final message would probably look something like this.

You take a minuite to get aquainted with your surroundings. To the best of your knowlege there is a mall a fair distance south, a Police department a little way north and a hospital a few blocks east

Voting Section

Voting Rules

Votes must be numbered, justified, signed, and timestamped. # justification ~~~~ Votes that do not conform to the above may be struck by any user.

The only valid votes are Keep, Kill, Spam or Dupe. If you wish to abstain from voting, do not vote.

Keep Votes

1. Author keep --Seventythree^Talk 12:14, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
2. Non-author keep. --Midianian|T|T:S|C:RCS| 12:45, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
3. An author of other things, but not this keep.--Rosslessness 12:51, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
4. meh --~~~~ [talk] 13:33, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
5. keep - Works for me. The Mad Axeman 14:18, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
6. keep - Kewl. Why not? -doc crook 14:29, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
7. Keep/Change I don't think it should replace shopping as the starting skill, since shopping actually does something while this is a purely informational benefit. Other than that this is just a brilliant wonderful idea. --Jon Pyre 15:48, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
8. Keep/change - Give an exact location.Studoku 16:41, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
9. Cool Just not sure about changing the consumer skill. - Pardus 16:49, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

   As swiers. - Pardus 01:27, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

10. keep I like it. - Whitehouse 17:53, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
11. Keep/Change - I don't like the word "control panel". Make it a map or something. --Pdeq^Talk* 18:38, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
12. Keep - Nice. --Blobdude^{Talk TM MC} 19:21, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
13. Keep - Keep, and an exact location isn't needed as it's too specific, if it's recalling it from memory, it should be a vauge memory, bear in mind there are over 100 suburbs, with a 100 blocks in a single suburb, so 10,000 grid squares remembered exactly, not gonna happen. Acoustic Pie 20:33, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
14. Keep - Helps clueless people. --Heretic144 20:46, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
15. Well, 73. Here's some local knowledge...I won't send my Mudkip army after you...yet. --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 20:53, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
16. Change - Make it a skill that can be bought by any player, survivor or zombie. Also, Make it mention Forts, and some other buildings. BoboTalkClown 20:56, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
17. Change - I hummed and ha'ed for a little while now. My issue is that the wiki is right at everyone's finger tips. If they don't want to use it, and stay ignorant, than too bloody bad for them. That being said, sometimes I get home... my eyes are tired, I'm lazy, but I want to spend my AP. Instead of opening multiple tabs and getting distracted, I can just push a button in-game to get some bearings. As long as both sides get the skill, I'm good for it. The only thing I am dead against is changing the starting skill for Consumers. --Ryiis 21:57, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
18. This is exactly the sort of metagaming information that could help keep new players from getting so quickly discouraged; I know this because its exactly the sort of question my girlfriend asked me when playing the few times she tried. Of course, the buildings would still take some work to find, and might be barricaded past VSB++ when the character got there, but still, its a morale boost for newbies. The one change I suggest is that this be made a new ability that is part of the Shopping skill; instead of REPLACING the Shopping skill for consumers, they would get his as PART of the Shopping skill. After all, both essentially just tell you where things are at.  Swiers 22:21, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

    Hmm, good one Swiers. I'll have to include this if I ever have to revise this. And yes, i too remember how bloody hard it was to find anything first time I played, and people I know who have started playing have had similar difficulties.--Seventythree^Talk 22:40, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

19. Keep Consumers are almost as hard off as newb zombies.  Nalikill  ^{TALK  E!  W!  M!  USAI}  22:46, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
20. Keep Needs a few tweaks/addons. I agree with Swiers that this should be *added* to the shopping skill instead of replacing it (then shopping would be a useful skill even if you don't have free running). And don't think it should cost AP to realize that there's a mall/etc. nearby. Maybe GPS could enhance this skill by giving exact directions and a better range? Like, without this skill, you'd have to enter a location to your GPS manually when you landed on it, but with this skill the info would be in the GPS without you having to go to a particular square. Also, I think people should get a little more info even without this skill. Like maybe in some street signs would say things like, "Mr. Yuck Hospital - three northwest." The skill would still be useful because there wouldn't be signs surrounding the entire hospital, just *maybe* at one location nearby. Or occasionally it could say something like, "You recognize this street. You remember a church being nearby, but you're not sure in which direction." Just a few ideas to (hopefully) improve an already cool suggestion. :) --Ms.Panes 00:44, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

    RE Thanks for your input! Looks like this one won't have to be resubmitted, but it's nice to have these things on the voting pages, if nothing else it helps Kevan if he decides to implement it.--Seventythree^Talk 00:53, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

21. Keep Great skill, I'd love to have this! --Darth Lumis^{T! A! E! SR} 01:52, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
22. Keep Sounds good to me --Downinflames 04:09, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
23. Keep - An excellent skill for non-metagaming navigation.--TriPolarClicky! 05:11, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
24. Keep - I love it --Kuddles 06:16, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
25. Keep - seems ok to me.--'BP^Tmz 09:10, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
26. Keep - would be great for roleplaying a former taxi driver. --Pavluk ^{A! E!} 11:57, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
27. Keep - Sounds all solid..there´s just this little rub in it. What about those maxed out players with 1000+ XP? --the wallaby^♥ 18:32, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
28. Keep - I almost voted no until I thought about how useful this would be to a brand-spankin' new player. This would actually be a decent replacement for the consumer's starting skill (which they rarely get to use while level 1 anyway). --Uncle Bill 22:48, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
29. Keep-Good one. Useful to all. Helps zombies take out support points during siege, helps survivors find their way around.--Shotstol 16:29, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
30. Keep - A fairly harmless skill. But I got one question: Is this a carryover skill, or can both sides purchase it? --Hhal 01:42, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
31. Above.--  AHLGTG THE END IS NIGH! 14:42, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
32. Keep - I don't think it should replacing Shopping, but I like the rest.--The General ^{T Sys U! P! F!} 23:05, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
33. Very useful - Even those of us who do metagame would be using this. It's just convienent, and it's just generally better to put as much of this kind of stuff as possible into the game proper. --Reaper with no name ^TJ! 18:12, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
34. Keep - I like this skill, but I do agree Ariedartin on some points: Larger buildings of note should be included at a longer range (Zoo, Power Station, Fort...) and maybe PDs, Hospitals etc would only be available up to mid-range. I don't see it as a disadvantage to Zeds though, the directions would be to higher profile targets anyway, and the buildings could be ruined anyway! Just a thought or two. --McWaffle♥ 18:54, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Kill Votes

1. Kill/Change -- That is not balanced as many brain rotted zombies or feral zombies that do not want to get a revive will not be able to buy the skill...if you add that the skill could be bought as a subset to Memoirs of Life than that would be better.--Thekooks 13:16, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
2. change I would love to see a way for this skill to fail and misdirect you but I am feeling pretty evil today ;) I really like it though as I hate using the meta maps! Giving it a chance to fail opens up lots of options for it though... suburb knowledge, class differences (cops get a bonus to find PD's etc) even maps as new items... --Honestmistake 17:17, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

   kill - no. --Jack13 18:07, 27 December 2007 (UTC) Unjustified vote struck --Funt Solo ^QT 14:46, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

3. Change - I have a few issues though. This skill seems to actively support that these buildings are important, and that all other buildings are 'insignificant'. While it is not necessarily false, it does seem to provide a slant to the player's mindset in favour of these buildings. It's a psychology thing. However, failing what I've said so far, you could at least include the Zoo, Power Stations, and Forts into the scene. ~Ariedartin • Talk • A KS J abt all 19:09, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
4. Kill I think it's taking the game to another direction. Players shouldn't be helped with these kind of metagaming informations in the actual games. --lɐʇɹoW-t-ud 20:57, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
5. Kill - Not good... others have raised very valid objections... and the wiki is available at click, and i am certain many many people use the maps without actually signing up on the wiki. Thus, there is no need. And, if you chose not use to use something so simple as clicking on a map... you don't have to register to use the wiki... well, that's not my problem. --WanYao 21:42, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
6. Kill - There is nothing wrong with meta-gaming for a map of the city. This feature has already been implemented in the wiki. Inky 06:24, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
7. Kill - The wiki provides all this information. If you want to pretend you have a map, open the wiki in another tab. --Pgunn 08:44, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
8. Very Strong Kill - Its a nerf to zombies, It won't be fair, the low level zed wandering through the streets wanting food while the trenchie is safe in the mall/fort/buielding stocking up against a Assault, It very unfair to zombies.--Worthog117 15:48, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

Spam/Dupe Votes

1. Dupe of the metagame maps. Plus, by having "flavor" you nerf the point of the skill. Just tell the players exactly how far it is.--ShadowScope 16:30, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

   I'm afraid that doesn't qualify as a dupe. The metagame maps are not part of the game. Besides, do you actually believe we can sense if a player is searching for a particular building? Not me. ~Ariedartin • Talk • A KS J abt all 19:09, 27 December 2007 (UTC) --striking non-author re: --Ryiis 21:52, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

2. Spam - The fact that most of the game doesn't use the wiki is part of the reason zombies can break into buildings at all. So no, Overpowered due to free information_{(saves AP used to explore suburbs)} and is far too much of a benefit to those who have easy movement.--Karek^maps?! 20:49, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
3. Spam - an insane waste of AP. Use a meta-map, or implement an in-game map. --Funt Solo ^QT 23:07, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
4. Spam, spam, eggs, bacon, and spam – As Karek. Also: clueless people can get clued in. Make the slightest extra effort to metagame – hell, even glancing at the wiki which is linked on the game login screen – and you are better informed than this skill would make you. I want my skills to actually let me do something I can't already, or at least do it better. I'm going to stop there. ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾᚨᚾᛏ 14:46, 29 December 2007 (UTC)
5. Waste of AP - Plus, what happens if a zombie has MOL, Local Knowlege, and Necrotec employment? Can they find the nearest necrotec building too??? --/~WOOT~\ 22:01, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
6. Spam - I don't want my extensions to be an unfair advantage. --_Ducis ^Dux_Sloth^Talk 14:13, 2 January 2008 (UTC)