User:Iscariot/New Server Ideas 2

Premise

It has previously been suggested by many that a new server, a new city, could help the game by bringing new challenges to players.

Malton would remain the same but there would be a completely separate city in which to play. Unlike Malton this city will not be permanent, it would have a definitive time frame unknown to players. To create new challenges there would be significant gameplay changes and major events throughout the life of this city.

Problems

These are the current problems with the game as I see it:

It is out of genre. Survivors should be a minority with survival being hard. It's not in Malton, the current split is 63% survivors to 37% zombies. Nowhere in the post-apocalypse zombie genre does such a travesty occur.

Death is no threat. While death shouldn't be threatening to a zombie, it should be of serious concern to survivors. Tactics such as meat shielding and suicide strikes should be discouraged by the game.

Barricades. They're overpowered. The only people who would disagree would be those who'd never played as a zombie.

Events, players are currently left to organise their own fun. Adding events and ongoing changes would put them into a more reactive role.

Changes

I therefore propose that the new city have the following gameplay changes instituted:

Limited Accounts

One account per player. How this is enforced could be worked out, but I'd suggest monitoring any IP that accesses more than one character and seeing how they interact. Zerging or any form of alt abuse would result in immediate banning of that account and IP in the new city.

There will also be a limited amount of players allowed in the game, either by numbers of accounts or a set time frame in which to register. This represents the fact that no more people will enter after the quarantine has been enacted.

Construction

It takes longer to repair something than it does to break it. Accordingly the cost to repair a generator will increase to 2AP and the cost to repair a ruined building will increase to 5AP.

Ruins

Free running into a ruined building currently drops a character to street level. Free running out of a ruined building will now do the same.

Revive Changes

Attempting to combat revive is out of genre. To use a syringe as a weapon will now involve a successful attack as with any other weapon.

The virus will adapt. After a certain number of successful revives, syringes will no longer work until the necessary research has found a cure. Scientists can conduct research and upload their findings into the Necronet. Whilst the virus is immune to the cure, no revives can occur.

Barricades

These are overpowered and will be weakened accordingly, either by increasing zombie accuracy (possibly through a new skill) or reducing the maximum number of 'hidden' levels. This will encourage survivors to disperse and not sleep in high value targets.

Limited Materiel

A set amount of items will be established that are within each area of the city at the commencement of the game. Survivors will eventually run out and be forced to improvise (melee weapons instead of firearms) or find new ways to construct what they need (creating ammunition, first aid kits etc.), this could possibly take the form of a new skill tree.

Specialisation

Character will be specialised according to their type. No matter how long an army soldier has been running around a zombie infested city, he won't be nearly as adept at treating wounds and infections as a new doctor who has undertaken seven years at medical school. This change will be represented either by new advanced skills or by restricting high level skills to those of that class.

Genre Considerations

Improvements will be added that bring the game more into line with the established genre. In the genre zombies do not have meta-game resources (like the excellent bahrah.com) to assist them. Zombies will gain a new skill to be bought that will allow them to tell if there is a survivor, indoor or outdoor, within five blocks of them. They will learn nothing more, but it will simulate the ability of zombies to congregate around survivor controlled buildings within the genre.

Events

There will be events planned into the very construction of the city. Possible scenarios involve break-outs that expand the gameplay areas or escapes which would allow players to leave the city altogether. The genre is full of ideas that could be used in the game.

Conclusions

These ideas, put into force, would result in a much more brutal game with the tables turned very much in favour of the zombies. Don't complain, it's the basis of the genre, one small group manages to survive whilst millions of others (no exaggeration give the sizes of major modern cities) have failed and died.

All in all this would be an interesting experiment in altering the gameplay. It would not effect the current status of Malton in any way, your current characters aren't being put into this and no one forces you to play in the new server. However for those interested in a challenge (and given the fact that there are survivor groups that seek out large zombie hordes to stave off boredom in the current game, this wouldn't be a small number) the possibility is for an excellent game.

The built-in time limit also means the experiment can come to a close and a new one started depending on the findings.