Suggestion talk:20080901 Feeding Drag in Large Buildings

Galaxy125's Keep/Change Vote Discussion

Moving diagonally theoretically takes at least ~141% of the energy required to walk vertically or horizontally on a Cartesian grid. Therefore, in the event of multiple open doors, movement should be favored toward vertically or horizontally adjacent building blocks (as opposed to diagonal ones). Also, I don't think the game bothers remembering how you entered the building, so it might be easier to have (in the event of all doors being shut) the zombie drag the human toward the building block with the lowest barricade level, randomized as above if there is a tie. My vote is not conditional upon implementation of these terms, I just wanted to give you something to think about. -- Galaxy125 23:09, 1 September 2008 (BST)

Impractical

1. Possible Keep What happens if the door has been shut? Are they dragged to the inside of block you entered from? --Rosslessness^{Want a Location Image?} 21:31, 1 September 2008 (BST)

   Re: D'oh..knew I'd forgotten something. For this to fit and make sense, I'll have to say yes, you drag them to the square and get the error message as usual --Necrodeus ^{T M!} 21:44, 1 September 2008 (BST)

Impractical. The game doesn't keep track of your past movements. Besides, what if the corner you entered has a shut door, but some other corner was opened since you entered? That's one reason I don't like this- for it to work, it has to lets you "see" if the door in some other block is open.  Swiers 07:42, 2 September 2008 (BST)

So suggest zombies get something similar to fort dumping in multi-block buildings if that's what you need to float your boat. Don't, however, make false claims like malls are good feeding when the biggest problem with malls/multi-block buildings is that they aren't good feeding without a ruined corner. You know perfectly well how much of an advantage being able to see the other three corners is, you also know perfectly well how much better the search rates are and how much greater the chance is of an active barricader patching up a hole. Feeding drag means you get brought outside and that is the strategical loss to it, it's also why when it was first implemented it was almost never used, and still isn't, in mall siege scenarios; Actives are likely and basically ruin any such claims that malls are "good feeding", you're better off hunting NTs and PD/hospitals away from mall suburbs.--Karek^maps?! 08:39, 2 September 2008 (BST)

If a mall corner is open, but you moved to another corner to find food, then its almost certain you did so because the corner you entered was empty. If its not, you could just use feeding drag as normal (or not, if the door gets closed by actives). If it IS empty, you can ruin it, making the building a feral buffet. So, your argument that "malls/multi-block buildings ... aren't good feeding without a ruined corner" is entirely irrelvant to this suggestion; it will do NOTHING to improve that situation. Either you CAN use feeding drag, or there can be / is a ruined corner.  Swiers 19:08, 2 September 2008 (BST)

I, for one, always move to the least populated corner after entering a mall. I know many groups do or have encouraged the same behavior. If I can take people outside while also actually being a danger to the mall that is a good thing as opposed to the current mechanic which essentially forces you to decide between helping newbies/ferals and being effective in a large building siege.--Karek^maps?! 02:25, 3 September 2008 (BST)

AP balance

"I know I've wished for this a few times in mall sieges. As for AP costs: this will move a maximum of 1 square and then outside, which would take 2 AP just to move. Dumping a body from a fort potentially moves out of an inner building, up to 2 squares to the gatehouse, and then outside that, which would take 4 AP just to move, implying a 1 AP "surcharge".
However, dumping a body leaves you inside, while dragging leaves you out, and dragging is affected by barricades and doors while dumping is not, so I am satisfied with the AP balance. ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾᚨᚾᛏ 08:07, 4 September 2008 (BST)"

Yes, but dragging always leaves you oustide of an unbarricaded building. So, you can take that one AP to step back inside, then walk back to the original square for one more. Since dragging saves ~5 AP which would otherwise be spent attacking a target, this skill saves ~1 AP per kill in a large building, up to the effective limit of the normal cost of removing the barricades from the square plus the cost of dragging and returning from the nearby door (at which point you can reason that it would have been more effective to just remove the cades and drag straight out), so in its current form it does act to decrease the amount of AP it takes for zombie to clear a building, as well as substantially simplify the process. It's a token amount, so probably not so much to worry about, but this would be a slight buff- not a skill balanced against 5 AP body dumps, which act to achieve something different anyhow.--FT ^MCI 18:58, 6 September 2008 (BST)

So, how many AP does a fort body dump save, hmm? Let's see... how about the AP to headshot the zombie repeatedly until a) they get bored and leave, 2) they eat you and your little dog, too. Fort body dumping is significantly more powerful than the proposed dragging, and IMO more than warrants the extra 1 AP for the advantages it conveys. ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾᚨᚾᛏ 09:25, 10 September 2008 (BST)