Suggestion:20080820 Instance Characters For Different Scenario Cities

20080820 Instance Characters For Different Scenario Cities

Jon Pyre 15:53, 20 August 2008 (BST)

Suggestion type
Alternate game modes

Suggestion scope
Everyone

Suggestion description
Monroeville was a lot of fun and I'd like to try playing different cities, with individual maps and/or different game rules. I suggest though allowing people to play under their main Malton character's name in each city.

This suggestion presumes a lot since I don't know if you ever plan on adding new cities, but I'm simply presenting this as a method you could use if you hypothetically ever chose to.

What I suggest is adding a link on the left hand side of the game screen, added to "settings", "contacts", and all those other links. This link would say "Cities."

Clicking the link would bring up a list of all cities, showing your character's level in each, perhaps looking like this:

Malton	Level 34 Civilian
Monroeville	Level 2 Doctor
Amityville	Level 11 Zombie
Oceanside	-------------------
Research Facility	Level 15 Scientist
Mountain Caves	Level 9 Zombie

Clicking the name of a city would log you in to your character there. If you click on a city you've never played before, like Oceanside in the above example, it would give you a character creation screen before dropping you in the city. You'd start at level one in each city as the class of your choice. You'd have separate AP, HP, XP, skills, and inventories from the versions of your character in each city. There would be no connection between any of them other than the name and the fact you're playing all of them, so if one dies in City A the one in City B is entirely unaffected. Similarly phone messages sent in one city could only be received in that same city and characters would idle out in each city individually.

In addition to switching between cities while logged in it would make sense to allow people to directly log into the city of their choice. The main sign-in on the UD home page should always be for Malton as the flagship city, but their could be a small "Other cities" link that would let you navigate to individual sign-up pages for each city.

LOGISTICAL ADVANTAGES

• One important thing that would stay the same between all your characters is your contact list. People added as contacts in one city would remain your contacts in another city. This is the main purpose of this suggestion, to allow people to keep the same group of friends, enemies, and acquaintances in each city.

• Another advantage of this is that if someone makes a donation for a character they receive the benefit of no IP restriction in any city. Otherwise they'd need to donate once for each new character in each city.

• No need to remember the names of lots of characters.

GAMEPLAY ADVANTAGES

Variety. This would allow Kevan to experiment with, and for us to experience, all kinds of alternate maps and rules. Big cities, small cities, cities with few buildings, cities with high search rates, cities with low search rates, cities without certain skills (imagine a city without any medical skills for example), cities with special skills or items not found in Malton, cities with higher or lower AP regen, cities with max level 5 so you need to carefully pick what skills to take and specialize, cities where zombies can speak (I guess they'd be mutants there rather than zombies), cities where people lose a level each time they die, the list is endless. Malton is fun but it gets stale. With additional cities you could still play in Malton, but also experience worlds of variety.

Possible Problems

• Roleplay. Some people might have a problem that their character, who is one person, is in entirely different cities and possibly as entirely different people. One answer is to simply consider these "What If" scenarios. Malton could be canon, these alternate cities are just hypothetical. If that doesn't work a simple solution is to simply make a different character for each city.

• Not wanting to be recognized. What if you're a PKer in City A, but you want to play as a pro-survivor in City B. People in City B will recognize you from City A and might kill you. Again, the solution is just to make a new character for the different city.

• Server load. More cities means more clicks right? However the IP restriction still stands. Unless they make a donation they'll be limited to 180 a day. And if they do make a donation then that $5 can go towards Kevan's cost of running the site. In fact, this might give people added incentive to make a donation and benefit Kevan financially.

• People abandoning Malton. Won't Malton, the main city, become a ghost town? No, it'll remain a click away from any other city. I think Malton will have a higher active population if people stick with Urban Dead, even to play other cities, rather than getting bored and leaving entirely.

• You personally not wanting to play other cities. Ok, don't. Nobody is required to play anything other than Malton if you don't want to. But why stop everyone else from playing other cities?

• Kevan might have no desire whatsoever to make other cities. In that case, this suggestion can just remain in peer reviewed as an option. Most of those suggestions will never be used, they just remain on record as possibilities that the players wouldn't mind taking effect. All I'm saying is, I'd like alternate cities and here's an easy way of managing it. At the end of the day if Kevan doesn't want more than Malton it's not going to happen.

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How many cities would there be? Up to Kevan. He could periodically add them at whatever pace he prefers. A new one every six months might be nice.

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. Keep Why not try new versions of Urban Dead? It isn't as if playing seven card stud detracts from other people playing Texas holdem. Urban Dead is a great game, but it gets a bit boring after three years, even with the many improvements. BTW, this suggestion is not to suggest new versions of Urban Dead. Kevan already came up with that himself in Monroeville. I'm just suggesting an interface that could keep alternate cities from getting unwieldy for players should he ever do it again.--Jon Pyre 16:07, 20 August 2008 (BST)
2. Keep Sure! Why not? --BoboTalkClown 16:18, 22 August 2008 (BST)
3. Keep Cool. Darth Lumis^{T! A! E! SR} 02:26, 23 August 2008 (BST)

Kill Votes

1. Kill Way too much stuff for one suggestion. And what if i have more than one character in malton. Which would appear on the sidebar? Although Id like to see finis' sidebar. (No innuendo meant.)--Rosslessness^{Want a Location Image?} 17:20, 20 August 2008 (BST)

   REing Myself. Also the ability to add numbers to names make this seem like an overrly complivated method. --Rosslessness^{Want a Location Image?} 17:29, 20 August 2008 (BST)

2. Kill - Different cities -> different people. Different people -> different names. Simple as that. --Midianian^{|T|T:S|C:RCS|} 17:23, 20 August 2008 (BST)
3. Kill. No. Go make your own game--Airborne88^T|Z.Quiz|PSS 19:44, 20 August 2008 (BST)
4. Kill No, you would hit the IP Address limit of 160 hits much quicker, with all of those accounts in different cities. And the site would be bogged down. Riukken 16:19, 20 August 2008 (EST)
5. Kill RP reasons. I don't like the idea that other characters can 'know' eachother even though they have never met. Linkthewindow 11:28, 21 August 2008 (BST)
6. Kill I find myself better convinced by your "Possible Problems" section than the rest of the proposal.--Idly Hummingbird 04:11, 22 August 2008 (BST)

Spam/Dupe Votes

1. Spam - Get the fuck over these new city suggestions already. --Papa Moloch 16:00, 20 August 2008 (BST)
2. Spam - Last I checked, Suggestions was there to help improve a game, not make a bloody new one. --Vandurn 16:27, 20 August 2008 (BST)
3. Spam - May I suggest you go and create your own game? Then you can do all this stuff and we can all go and not play it - Sage|Carr ^Cobra 16:35, 20 August 2008 (BST)
4. Spam - As the above. Go make your own game if you want a new game, which is a rather concise summary of your suggestion. --The Grimch ^{U! E!} 17:09, 20 August 2008 (BST)
5. Spam - Instances? What, you nuts? "More cities means more clicks right?" More cities means MORE than just more clicks. And I think I've heard enough "up to Kevan" excuses. ~Ariedartin • Talk • A KS J abt all 19:57, 20 August 2008 (BST)
6. Spam - I usually avoid commenting on suggestions that do not specifically pertain to Malton, but seriously, make your own game. Kevan is not your code monkey.  Billy Club Thorton  T!  RR  21:42, 20 August 2008 (BST)
7. Spam - lolQUE? Amazing's was better. the current system, is fine, good, better, great. Addressing your advantages, Pointless, Laggier, Fail, Already done in some capacity. Kevan already did it, The way he wants to. Though, This is just a suggestion, But it won't see his eyes D: _■^■ 22:50, 20 August 2008 (BST)
8. SPAM - as everyone above. Give it up already, Pyre. --WanYao 06:29, 21 August 2008 (BST)

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