Developing Suggestions

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Developing Suggestions

This section is for general discussion of suggestions for the game Urban Dead.

It also includes the capacity to pitch suggestions for conversation and feedback.

Further Discussion

  • Discussion concerning this page takes place here.
  • Discussion concerning the suggestions system in general, including policies about it, takes place here.

Resources

How To Make a Discussion

Adding a New Discussion

To add a general discussion topic, please add a Tier 3 Header (===Example===) below, with your idea or proposal.


Adding a New Suggestion

  • Paste the copied text above the other suggestions, right under the heading.
  • Substitute the text in RED CAPITALS with the details of your suggestion.
  • The process is illustrated in this image.
{{subst:DevelopingSuggestion
|time=~~~~
|name=SUGGESTION NAME
|type=TYPE HERE
|scope=SCOPE HERE
|description=DESCRIPTION HERE
}}
  • Name - Give the suggestion a short but descriptive name.
  • Type is the nature of the suggestion, such as a new class, skill change, balance change.
  • Scope is who or what the suggestion affects. Typically survivors or zombies (or both), but occasionally Malton, the game interface or something else.
  • Description should be a full explanation of your suggestion. Include information like flavor text, search odds, hit percentages, etc, as appropriate. Unless you are as yet unsure of the exact details behind the suggestion, try not to leave out anything important. Check your spelling and grammar.

Cycling Suggestions

  • Suggestions with no new discussion in the past month may be cycled without notice.


Please add new discussions and suggestions to the top of the list


Suggestions

Zombie Hunter skill: Disembowel

Timestamp: Aeon17x 12:31, 30 August 2010 (BST)
Type: New skill
Scope: Level 10+ survivors who can buy the skill, receiving zombies
Description: Ever wonder how can you still trigger a Headshot when you're using melee weapons like fire axes and knives? I guess if you keep at hitting the head hard enough you probably can do it, but that takes more effort and time than a simple bullet, and in a zombie apocalypse you won't have enough of the time part. I feel the flavor is a bit amiss with that.

So I've been thinking: what if there was a separate Zombie Hunter skill when you kill a zombie with those weapons? That is what the Disembowel skill is for.

Disembowel - If the player delivers a killing blow to a zombie with a knife or fire axe, it stands up with 20 less HP from its maximum hit points.

It costs 100 XP, and since it's a Zombie Hunter skill it's only available for survivors level 10 and above. Besides that it has no other prerequisite. The flavor is that with the knife or fire axe, the Zombie Hunter would further mutilate the zombie's body and heavily damage the organs and muscles; being a Malton zombie it would still stand up after that, but with a weakened constitution than usual.

Headshot still works the same for all other melee weapons like the crowbar, but for the knife and fire axe Disembowel has a higher priority than Headshot. If the player has both Headshot and Disembowel skills when they kill a zombie with a knife or fire axe, then the receiving zombie would not be Headshot and stand up with 5 less AP; instead it would be Disemboweled and stand up with 20 less HP.

Some things to consider:

  • 20 HP might be a relatively huge HP loss, but zombies with Digestion can recover it by feeding on dead corpses. To recover 20 HP it would take 5 AP of feeding, which is also the amount of AP lost with Headshot.
  • Zombie players would feel benefitted by the new skill since there's a chance they will only lose 10/1 AP upon death instead of 15/6 AP, if the survivor chooses to finish them off with a Disembowel instead of a Headshot. This would also be advantageous to the survivor since the next time they kill a Disemboweled zombie it would have 20 less HP if it hasn't recovered them. This leads to higher XP gain for both sides, with the zombies having more daily AP to play with and the survivors achieving the kill XP bonus more easily.
  • In siege situations this can either bolster or weaken the attacking zombie force, depending on the strategies used. If the zombies are experts on ?rise then using Disembowel to repel them would be fruitless, as even if they rise with 20 less HP they still stand up for only 10/1 AP. On the other hand if the zombies employ the Beachhead Tactic, on the long run the zombies might be worse off as they can be quickly evicted from the building with their significantly reduced hit points.

Personally at the start I don't believe Disembowel would change much in normal play since most trenchies would still choose to finish zombies with guns and therefore Headshot. But who knows, if many survivors would use it it could lead to new strategies being developed, not only for the survivor side but also from the zombies who adapt to it. Would it help out survivors or zombies more? Hell if I know, but it's something to think about.

Discussion (Zombie Hunter skill: Disembowel)

It seems rather a useless skill overall. Zombies have very little regard for HP. Even a 20HP loss isn't much. I don't think too many people would get this skill, since headshot removes 5AP immediately, rather than a HP reduction, which MIGHT mean that the zed is easier to kill or will use 5 AP to recover, but that the zeds will most likely ignore.

However, the zombie users would definitely like it (I know I would!). I think the issue is that it's too underpowered for the survivors. Why get a skill which actually somewhat HELPS the enemy? Shadok T Balance is power 13:27, 30 August 2010 (BST)

I haven't really considered if it clearly favors either side, all I can tell Disembowel is a very situational skill. When HP deficiency on zombies would make the survivors gain an upper hand it's great, otherwise Headshot is the way to go. Some examples I could think of:
  • Recovering ruins: with at least a one third reduction in zombie hit points, the survivors spend a similar lesser amount of AP on cleaning up zombies from within ruins. This makes TRP salting harder, and the 5 AP they save is a small reward compared to losing territory to survivors.
  • Anti-griefing mechanism: some survivors still believe that Headshot's AP loss property is harsh on zombie players who are after all humans in real life. With Disembowel these players can still contribute in keeping down the zombie menace by picking this skill instead of (or in conjunction with) Headshot, rather than not picking up a Zombie Hunter skill at all. --Aeon17x 14:09, 30 August 2010 (BST)

Uhm.. I like this, but there is this suggestion that is very similar. It's written by you! :p - User:Whitehouse 14:19, 30 August 2010 (BST)

Yeah, it's inspired by that. :-) From that suggestion I figured Headshot has had too much controversy with it to be tweaked any further, so I remade the concept as a new Zombie Hunter skill. --Aeon17x 14:32, 30 August 2010 (BST)

You know, I've got so many bones to pick with this suggestion's format, but I actually like the core concept a lot. Either way it's a 5 AP drain on the undead, but this allows (high level) zombies to choose whether to pay it or not. The only players who are really inconvenienced by this, as I see it, are Combat Revivers, and I doubt anyone will lose sleep over them (or us, as it happens). Newbies might find themselves dying a bit more often with this implemented, but they only lose 40% of their HP and get to drop a 50% greater AP drain for it. That's a net win and another reason for this. Lelouch vi Britannia is helping make Ridleybank green_ and gives Achievements 19:06, 30 August 2010 (BST)

no No NO NO! NO!!! When you first started the idea, it sounded great, because I was thinking "Hey, a realistic way for a survivor to headshot someone with a god damn fire axe!" but HP is important. It's not as important as AP, I admit, but I've logged on plenty of times with only 2 HP left, and plenty of AP so that I can attack survivors when I would have been dead, and had to spend an extra 5 AP if I hadn't IMPROVED my HP... I admit that I dislike the unrealistic effects headshot has with melee weapons, but taking away our HP isn't the answer... I would like to suggest changing it to the 5 AP and headshot doesn't work with melee weapons, only disembowl, but I'm sure I'd get the rants of everyone on this wiki since about 9/10 of the wiki users are pro-survivor. --Gat 04:50, 31 August 2010 (BST)

Zombies don't ever care about HP. Unless they're indoors. Like the suggestion said. The only real use of this would be to make establishing a beachhead harder for zombies, and gives late-level survivors a generally good buff in a siege situation. Which is the only situation where survivors are even remotely underpowered. And, if anything, it contributes to the fun of the game. With good coordination, sieges could actually be a real challenge again between survivors and zombies, instead of the regular old steamroll followed by trenchies whining.
If a survivor uses it on a zombie in any other situation, it wouldn't care about spending the 5(+) AP to heal up. There's no reason to. But in a siege situation, 20 HP off a zombie makes a hell of a lot of difference. And I play mostly Dual Natured PKers, so we're not bringing sides into this, Gat.
So totes in support, yo. RinKou 07:04, 31 August 2010 (BST)
Thank you, couldn't have said it better myself. --Aeon17x 11:56, 1 September 2010 (BST)

This is a massive survivor buff. It robs smart zombies of 5 IP hits if they can find a body that is neither reviving nor already eaten, and leaves the less than smart zombies with only 80% effectiveness. I suggest an alternative: New Skill, Disembowel, is required to get a headshot with a melee weapon, while headshot covers firearms. --VVV RPMBG 05:01, 31 August 2010 (BST)

It's really up to the receiving zombie whether they'll choose to heal the 20 HP. If they don't, that's great, they don't lose 5 AP. If they do then the 5 AP it takes to heal it all makes it the same as Headshot. There may be some lost AP when searching for dead bodies to feed, but it's a risk that's up to the zombie's choice whether it spends any AP to recover health in the first place -- unlike with Headshot, where they are pretty much guaranteed to lose 5 AP. I believe if the zombies figure out it's a bigger benefit if they don't heal the missing HP at all then they'll adjust accordingly. --Aeon17x 10:11, 31 August 2010 (BST)

I like it, it's just a shame that the current circumstances in the game are begging for more zombie buffs rather than survivor buffs. I'd still vote keep though. maybe make it 10HP not 20hp tbh. -- LEMON #1 06:43, 31 August 2010 (BST)

Also, as UUU above, good call on the differentiating headshot and this proposed skill. -- LEMON #1 07:37, 31 August 2010 (BST)
This is rather raw math-craft, but it would be too favorable for the zombies if they only lose 10 HP in exchange for no additional AP loss. With 10 HP loss it would only offset the HP bonus from body building/flesh rot and in siege situations, meatshielding would be considerably more effective. But with a 20 HP loss, 60 HP zombies with body building/flesh rot become 40 HP armored targets; if in this state they were to be mostly damaged with firearms, the AP expenditure would be the same as on 50 HP unarmored zombies.
As for the current circumstances... lately it seems the balance is shifting to the zombie side after the August update. It's too early to tell if it stays that way though. --Aeon17x 10:11, 31 August 2010 (BST)

This suggestion is better than it seemed at first glance. If you can get people to read through it rather than vote on simple knee-jerk reaction, I think you have a decent chance of getting it passed. Implementation is, of course, another thing entirely, but I think this could definitely be a worthwhile option, and one I'd certainly prefer to getting headshot! Tongue :P ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾ 06:15, 1 September 2010 (BST)

Thanks for the support. I might run this into voting if the balance starts favoring zombies around 60:40. DDR has a point that the survivors at present do not need a buff (since no matter how refined the skill is, it will still be perceived as a 'buff' for the sole fact that it's for Zombie Hunter), and once BB3 is over we might see a survivor bounce to the usual ratio favoring them. --Aeon17x 11:56, 1 September 2010 (BST)

Post Offices

Timestamp: William Burns 21:19, 29 August 2010 (BST)
Type: Building/ flavor
Scope: both zombies and humans
Description: In most cities around the world, there are post offices, or at least the equivalents for that region. Now in Malton, there are no post offices. I propose that some generic, non-resource, buildings are converted into post offices. These buildings would be barricadable as normal. They would have unique descriptions when both powered and unpowered. The description while powered could read "With the lights working, you can see all the undelivered mail, and the amount of it makes you want to hurt something", when the lights are off, it could read along the lines of "With no power to the lights, you can not see the mail that is waiting to be delivered". As for items and search rates inside, the only items you could find (because they governenment took everything good out of the mail when they read it) would be newspapers, firearms (postal worker rampages) and ammunition. Shotguns and pistols would both have search rates of (1%/3%), as would thier respecitve ammunition types. Newspapers, on the other hand, would be at a rate of (5%/7%).
Please voice your opinions.

Discussion (Post Offices)

Sorry, guns? In a post office? No. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I would support one post office somewhere in the city, replacing a wasteland, and only giving newspapers for searches.--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 21:31, 29 August 2010 (BST)

That, and possibly also books and poetry books (as some of them must be sent by mail). But then, what would the point of a post office be that a library or mall bookstore doesn't already fulfill? -- Spiderzed 21:39, 29 August 2010 (BST)
That's why I like the idea of only one. One unique building would likely spawn a group to defend it, and so that would be more interesting.--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 21:50, 29 August 2010 (BST)
Unique buildings should also offer something unique, though (like the EBS, or the walls of the forts). With post offices, I'd have no idea. -- Spiderzed 22:30, 29 August 2010 (BST)

Small post offices are too small and insignificant to count for anything, and like houses, are represented simply as street. Large ones operate out of Office Buildings. --VVV RPMBG 22:35, 29 August 2010 (BST)

Postal worker bag! Just like the Flak Jacket, it has a special effect. makes it to where you can carry 10% more stuff in your encumberence if you have it equiped! Because you can carry stuff in it. What do ya think? put it up for voting! I like it!-- Jerrel tlk (82nd!) (Project Unwelcome!). 22:37, 29 August 2010 (BST)
I'm sure that's a dupe, and it's not like encumbrance isn't already too nice. --VVV RPMBG 04:47, 31 August 2010 (BST)

Instinctive Gait

Timestamp: Lelouch vi Britannia is helping make Ridleybank green_ and gives Achievements 19:22, 28 August 2010 (BST)
Type: ffs
Scope: Starting Zombies
Description: Why not give newbies who start as zombies Lurching Gait? They already have it pretty rough trying to find food and taking 15AP headshots, and it's not like this is any worse than giving scouts Free Running. Maybe add LG to the RM, maybe replace it, I'm not sure. Discuss. Lelouch vi Britannia is helping make Ridleybank green_ and gives Achievements 19:22, 28 August 2010 (BST)

Anatomy

Timestamp: kerlc365 13:55
Type: new skill
Scope: survivors and zombies
Description: basically, you know where you hit them. you deal +1 damage with melee weapons, cause you know where the flesh is unprotected by bones and stuff. it is a science skill, so military would pay 150XP, civilians 100XP, and doctors and stuff 75XP. zombies would gain benefits from buying that skill while they are alive. why? because a feeling tells them where to strike, making them more deadly.

so, whaddaya think?

Discussion (Anatomy)



Discussion (Instinctive Gait)

Vigour Mortis is definitively the most important skill (as it's the means to gain XP at all), so it shouldn't be taken away at all. I'd be favourable towards a single extra skill for zombies, but I think it's a dupe. (One of the many suggestions for military and scientist zombies had extra skills depending on class linked to it, I think.) -- Spiderzed 19:29, 28 August 2010 (BST)

Found a dupe, although I'm certain there were more. -- Spiderzed 21:14, 28 August 2010 (BST)

How about just removing the daft 2AP cost altogether?--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 20:38, 28 August 2010 (BST)

Well we now have a new function where we get directions to the nearest groan, why not add a follow button which when clicked moves you one step towards the groan for 1AP with or without Lurching Gait. It would help newbies be able to level without giving them another skill. On the other hand, it would suck to follow it and find a closed door, but at least you moved somewhere. - User:Whitehouse 21:15, 28 August 2010 (BST)

+1 --VVV RPMBG 22:50, 29 August 2010 (BST)

I like the concept. Don't touch VM, but make LG more available. Maybe start with both, maybe import rage, maybe allow babahz to lurch in sync with their instincts. Either make it easier to get or make it less vital. --VVV RPMBG 22:50, 29 August 2010 (BST)

I like the idea of using the rage mechanic, as the code for that is already around and as it helps babahs retrocactively. It also encourages to search out survivors when dead, rather than to head to the next cemetery. -- Spiderzed 05:57, 31 August 2010 (BST)

This NEEEEEEDS to be done in some form. -- LEMON #1 08:58, 30 August 2010 (BST)

I might put this up then (as spiderzed just has my idea loosely represented as an option for part of it). Whitehouse, if you want to put that idea up, by all means go ahead. Lelouch vi Britannia is helping make Ridleybank green_ and gives Achievements 19:11, 30 August 2010 (BST)

I like the idea, but some folks might not if it was totally free. How about a discount? Like if you start as the Corpse class the first two zombie skills you buy are only 50 XP, after that they cost the normal 100 XP. That way they can quickly gain Lurching Gait + another zombie skill on their first 100 XP, which taken from another point of view makes LG somewhat free. --Aeon17x 01:02, 31 August 2010 (BST)

Newbies shouldn't have to stagger feebly around malton while actually paying 2AP per sad, sad click to do so. At least, that's the idea I've based this suggestion on. Lelouch vi Britannia is helping make Ridleybank green_ and gives Achievements 01:49, 31 August 2010 (BST)
Oh no worries, I'll keep your suggestion as is, think of my idea as a back-up plan. I just thought the double AP cost for moving simulates the slowness aspect of zombie travel. How will you represent that in-game once LG is made free? --Aeon17x 09:44, 31 August 2010 (BST)

Zombie Slap

Timestamp: •▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ #nerftemplatedsigs 03:30, 28 August 2010 (BST)
Type: Allow zombies to slap with newspapers
Scope: Zombie with newspapers
Description: Pretty basic. If survivors can slap others around with newspapers, why can't zombies do the same?

Discussion (Zombie Slap)

Thoughts? Comments? Too short? Too long? What is it? --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ #nerftemplatedsigs 03:30, 28 August 2010 (BST)

The zombie equivalent is currently clawing a person once and then saying "HAGZ!" Giving them the ability to use objects doesn't make sense to me, I'm afraid. Aichon 03:41, 28 August 2010 (BST)
They can already use melee weapons, so yeah. RinKou 11:08, 28 August 2010 (BST)
As Aichon. I cannot see a zombie hitting somebody with a newspaper. Gesture at them instead.--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 11:10, 28 August 2010 (BST)
It makes some sense that a zombie could wield whatever object happened to be in their hands upon death, and in fact the game allows for zeds to cycle through their inventory and select specific blunt objects from their inventory. On the other hand, perhaps zombies couldn't grasp the idea of rolling a floppy plane into a cylinder and using this as an ineffective means of attack. So flavor-wise I can see either argument. I'm on the fence.--GANG Giles Sednik CAPD 13:43, 28 August 2010 (BST)
The way I see it, zombies already have a system of emotivism through the gesturing. Pointing easily achieves the same effect, as does Aichon's suggestion.--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 20:40, 28 August 2010 (BST)

As for private signaling, there are sports weapons and toolboxes. 10% hit chance, but being hit by a zombie wielding one is outstanding enough to understand that it's an attack to communicate, not to kill. -- Spiderzed 20:42, 28 August 2010 (BST)

I like it, but I think you need a better name, because this one sounds a little stupid. The3pwv 21:53, 28 August 2010 (BST)
The name is completely irrelevant. --☭ Soviet Russia ☭ is currently: having his arm torn off by a zombie. 22:02, 28 August 2010 (BST)

Rend Ears

Timestamp: Gat 02:57, 28 August 2010 (BST)
Type: Skill
Scope: Zombies
Description: "Zombies begin to find new ways to reduce the efficiency of their food, looking into new techniques of damaging them. All around Malton, survivors can find zombies chewing on the ears of unfortunate survivors..."

Basics: On the dropdown menu for an attack after grappling a survivor, a zombie who takes this ability recieves a new option called "rend ears" this ability is a bite attack that deals half damage, but has the same effects as a regular bite attack from the zombie. Instead of attacking a survivor in general, the zombie instead attempts to make a "called shot" at the survivor's ears.

Effects: A survivor attacked by rend ears will find themselves unable to hear things such as feeding groans, and radio broadcasts. They also find themselves only able to pick up partial messages that players say. This effect stays active until they either A. Use a FAK, or B. Die. (where it is assumed a zombie's natural regenerative processes would fix this problem)

Location: Found under Digestion, or Memories of Life.

Discussion (Rend Ears)

So, it'd basically let a zombie not only infect a survivor but render them useless as a team player until they had been FAKed, all for the cost of a single bite? I do think that Infection is underpowered at the moment, but this is not the answer. To me, this seems awfully overpowered, as well as something that would greatly diminish the fun of playing. Aichon 03:44, 28 August 2010 (BST)


Last I checked, the game's about zombies, not Mike Tyson. RinKou 11:10, 28 August 2010 (BST)


HOLY SHIT A ZOMBIE JUST TORE MY EARS OFF!
It's ok, I have a spare pair in my first aid kit. --Dawkins DAWKINS IS WATCHIN' [T][P!][W!][] is currently: having his arm torn off by a zombie. 23:48, 29 August 2010 (BST)

Unless a zombie is shoving something inside someone's earholes (and no, a mouth full of teeth won't fit) and damaging their eardrum, attacking a person's ears isn't going to deafen anyone - you don't hear anything with the part on the outside. Also, you'd have to make two attacks, one for each ear. --Ms.Panes 08:05, 30 August 2010 (BST)


Memberance of music

Timestamp: Gat 02:43, 28 August 2010 (BST)
Type: Skill
Scope: Zombie
Description: Zombie: "The dead that walk the streets have been acting strangely, seemingly attracted to louder areas. According to the necrotech employees scattered around Malton, their naturally regenerative abilities have seemed to mutate, giving them advanced hearing, and the ability to comprehend sounds they were familiar with in life.. It has also been shown that this regenerative ability is counteracted by revivification methods."

Basics: As a zombie, the player can hear gunshots from pistols and shotguns coming from OUTDOORS up to 3 buildings away, but can only tell the direction, not the exact location. If standing outside a building when gun fire occurs, they will get a message saying... "You hear the sounds of gunfire coming from inside the building." If 10 or more things are said in a building that a zombie is standing over within a 4 hour time span, the zombie will recieve the message "you hear a series of murmurs, and sounds from within the building." If 30 or more things are said within a 4 hour time span, the zombie will recieve a message saying "There seems to be quite the commotion inside the building!" meanwhile, zombies up to 1 building away will get the message "you hear a series of sounds nearby..." Finally, if a zombie is within 2 buildings of a powered club, the following will appear in the description of their current location: "You hear the sounds of music bellowing from (insert direction, but not exact building here)"

(these will not spam, only be said once until the zombie player logs in/out)

This skill would be located under Memories of Life, since the zombie would be remembering the sounds from the different stages of the outbreak/past experiences.

Discussion (Memberance of music)

I found one. Now to hunt down the other possible dupes... --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ #nerftemplatedsigs 02:57, 28 August 2010 (BST) By all means, a survivor should always be able to tell the direction of gunshots, since they are frikkin GUNSHOTS... But a zombie would probably have to remember their sounds from when they were alive to be able to tell it was a gunshot, and not just another loud boom sound. Just wanted to clear that up ^_^ --Gat 03:04, 28 August 2010 (BST) EDIT: Also, there has been a past suggestion for just about everything, doesn't mean it can't be changed slightly and renewed!

Lemme tell ya something. All the guns in UD are seemingly equipped with silencers. There are no gunshots. ;) --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ #nerftemplatedsigs 03:09, 28 August 2010 (BST)

Not a fan. I think that any sounds or visible objects (e.g. flares) that players should see or hear in the game should be actively produced, rather than passively produced. That is, in the case of Feeding Groan, Bellow, and flares, the player has to actively click on a button that generates that notification for other players. If someone were to fire weapons and others were to get notified, not only would it generally be spamtastic (though you address that issue to some extent), it'd give out far too much information but also decrease the signal:noise ratio. Either way, it's bad for everyone. Aichon 04:23, 28 August 2010 (BST)


Zombie Safehouse

Timestamp: RosslessnessWant a Location Image? 19:10, 26 August 2010 (BST)
Type: Zombie Skill
Scope: Zombies
Description: Basically Im bouncing ideas. Zombies in a ruined building can make it their safehouse (lair? domain? charnel house? ) Cost would be something. Suggested Position in skill tree, below Ransack . Benefits? Who knows, but i'd suggest something like. Stand up cost reduced by 1ap, or the ability to hear feeding groans inside the building (you ransack the place further, punching holes in the walls) or ruin costs accelerate. Something like that. Anyway, its a skeleton. Discuss. --RosslessnessWant a Location Image? 19:10, 26 August 2010 (BST)

Discussion (Zombie Safehouse)

Chance to avoid attacks at 10%?--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 20:10, 26 August 2010 (BST)

I'd rather an advantage to zombies than a disadvantage for survivors. --RosslessnessWant a Location Image? 20:44, 26 August 2010 (BST)
A dodge chance would also mess with Scent Trail, one of the most potent skills a pro loiterer can have. Feral Undead has found many a snack in Whittensdie thanks to that. -- Spiderzed 20:54, 26 August 2010 (BST)

I don't really see much sense in it, as the imperative of a zombie should be to stay mobile and look for new targets.
Hearing feeding groans inside would take away one of the few important decisions (to stay inside and hinder cading/reclamation,or to stay outside and hear groans), so I'm not too keen on it.
Accelerated decay sounds more fun (and like something some FU's would love to do to Fort Feral), but how should it work? Should the game check at server refresh (when the ruin counter goes up) if the zambah is inside his fave barn? Should the zombie invest APs after "scouting" his barn? -- Spiderzed 20:54, 26 August 2010 (BST)

Its difficult, because your thoughts on zombies are that they should move about. Ironically thats my idea of what survivors should do. Perhaps every zombie inside their safehouse at server reset adds 1ap to the ruin cost? --RosslessnessWant a Location Image? 21:36, 26 August 2010 (BST)
So the RRF (or zergs for that matter) send their 100 accounts in to a building before midnight and make it so hard to regain that it's parallel with being ruined for 3 months?--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 23:06, 26 August 2010 (BST)
And yeah, that was the first thing that occurred to me too. I could just see some of the famous buildings in Malton either being perma-ruined, or else the unfortunate survivors that repair them being comatose for weeks or months afterwards. Aichon 23:36, 26 August 2010 (BST)
I also find it highly likely that somebody would soon find the upper bound of Kevan's system and break the game in some unpredictable way.--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 23:40, 26 August 2010 (BST)

6AP to set, decay rate doubles. Doesn't stack, even if multiple zeds do it, which they can. This mirrors the six-days-to-break-even functionality of safehouses. For hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee 21:42, 26 August 2010 (BST)

What causes it to lose the effect? --RosslessnessWant a Location Image? 21:52, 26 August 2010 (BST)
Being repaired. For hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee 21:53, 26 August 2010 (BST)
Headshot? --RosslessnessWant a Location Image? 22:04, 26 August 2010 (BST)
Nope, just repair. Easier to fix a ruin than ruin a populated building. For hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee 22:06, 26 August 2010 (BST)

I'm with Spiderzed on this one. Zombies are supposed to move around by nature. While I really dig groups like the Daubeney Resident Zambahz or the SFHNAS since they're both awesome groups and make things fun, I feel that, in general, zombies are supposed to follow the food source, wherever it may go, and that means moving with the survivors and giving chase if the survivors flee. I feel that survivors should be moving too, but, given the genre and lore, survivors making safe houses makes a lot more sense than zombies having dens/lairs or the like. Aichon 22:47, 26 August 2010 (BST)


An Extra Character a Day

Timestamp: •▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ #nerftemplatedsigs 16:30, 25 August 2010 (BST)
Type: More IP hits, enough for just one more character
Scope: Everyone
Description: When there were over 50,000+ characters roaming Malton, I thought it was pretty reasonable to keep the IP hits at 160, even if it was just to keep the server from overloading. But with the population currently at less than 20,000 characters, I think the IP hit should be adjusted from 160 to 210, just to allow one extra character per player to be played. That is, of course, until the population reaches 50,000+ again...

Discussion (An Extra Character a Day)

I'm assuming many of you probably won't like this, but how will I know until I post it? --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ #nerftemplatedsigs 16:30, 25 August 2010 (BST)


I'm indifferent to it, really. I guess I could get on board, but I've not found myself playing my alts enough recently to hit the 160 limit often. For hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee 16:42, 25 August 2010 (BST)

OMG WILL SUM1 PLZ THINK OF TEH ZERGS -- LEMON #1 11:14, 26 August 2010 (BST)

I hit the limit every day, and still I wouldn't back this. I find it sufficient. Pay or play with 3.--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 16:46, 25 August 2010 (BST)

I've run into enough friends who haven't donated and really can't enjoy certain aspects of the game as fully as those who have donated that I want to lean in favor of it. That said, I also know that the game only goes as long as money keeps coming in to cover the costs, and making it easier to do the things that usually are reserved for paid characters isn't a good idea in that regard. I guess, in the end, for the good of the game, I'm slightly leaning towards "no". Aichon 21:33, 25 August 2010 (BST)

If Kev creates another city, then Yes, otherwise, nay.--RosslessnessWant a Location Image? 21:37, 25 August 2010 (BST)

Someone on the FOM suggestions system once said "if people are making suggestions begging for P2P benefits to become free then we know it's doing its job." This is similar imo. Honestly, you only need to pay for your main and you're usually set for your alts, assuming your main will take up the most IP hits and attention. So, yeah, it's 5 bucks, and it's for a good cause (especially if you use UD/Wiki as much as we do), and it lasts a lifetime. -- LEMON #1 11:14, 26 August 2010 (BST)

Template created by Tohrurokuno 8 Jan 08 Proud Sponsor of Urban Dead!
Revenant decided to stop being a cheapskate and donated to Urban Dead. So what's your excuse?

ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾ 13:06, 26 August 2010 (BST)

I have donated for each and every of my current alts (and even for some that are idled). That being said, I'd be in favour of amending the IP limit, and if alone to make the town more lively. It's not like zerging will be made much worse by it - the majority of zergs use anyway proxies and aren't subject to the IP hit rules as honest players are. -- Spiderzed 20:57, 26 August 2010 (BST)

Judging from the ratio of like/dislike comments, there's more dislike...Maybe I should have increased donated IP as well from 300 to 400...If most people don't agree with that, well, we can toss this suggestion. --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ #nerftemplatedsigs 23:45, 26 August 2010 (BST)

Extend scout safehouse to ruined buildings

Timestamp: User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 11:01, 25 August 2010 (BST)
Type: Possible overpowered
Scope: Ruined buildings
Description: Right. As it stands, the recent update (but not too recent) did very little with it's scout safehouse feature, and did nothing towards helping survivors. Hence, I would suggest to extend the ability to scout safehouses to ruined buildings. There are several reasons for this.

First a flavour reason: Due to the massive amounts of damage caused across the city, survivors have begun to set up shop in ruined buildings, using any shelter avaliable to hide from the zombies that haunt the streets. - I think it adds a high level of flavour for survivors to be hiding not just in pristine buildings, but in ruins as well. It would also encourage Hiding in Plain Sight, which is an under-rated tactic, imo.

Secondly, a strategic reason. Currently, other than in mall seiges, there's very little to gain from the update. What I propose would allow people to do the one action people usually do in ruins; repair, more easily. Now, what this would entail is 31AP to be spent on the ruin before the repair begins, so this would mainly effect suicide repairs, or repairs greater than 32AP. It would then provide a gamble of whether the action would be successful or not. There would be a 10% chance to de-ruin the building with AP to spare, but most of the time you'd be running the risk of sleeping in a ruined building for the night.

Third, a tactical / increasing fun reason. This would mainly apply to suburbs which have been ruined for over a month. From what I've seen (playing in a suburb that's been ruined for 18 months) lots of survivors quit the game because their home suburb is ruined permanently. What this suggestion would mean is a higher turnover rate for ruined suburbs. Instead of being permanently ruined until the horde moves on, they would be easier to take after a month. They also wouldn't get to the point of every building being 500AP+ and requiring survivors to organise 100 people just to survive a day.

However, I see that this suggesstion is potentially overpowered. And by potentially, I mean completely. What was 500AP can now be reduced to 31. Now, with a bit of maths, if 1 in 10 times it's reduced, the average is made 453. For a 200Ap building, the average is made 183. For a 100AP building it's 93. Overall, it would be a 3-9% decrease in the power of ruins.

Short version: Scout safehosue usable in ruins. Adds flavour, tactical suburb turnover, and gives a use to SS in big ruin repairs. There would be a 3-9% decrease in the power of ruin.

Thoughts?--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 11:01, 25 August 2010 (BST)

Discussion (Extend scout safehouse to ruined buildings)

Thoughts? Point number 5 under "Please Read Before Posting". Otherwise, I agree that the truth of the safehouse update is somewhat disappointing as a survivor, but I think that the ruin factor of it is necessary. Now, if we wanted to talk about knocking the cost for scouting in half... Aichon 11:18, 25 August 2010 (BST)

In my opinion, the update required no adjustment. It essentially merited no change, and most people have already come to solid conclusions on it. I see this as patching a hole in an update which really didn't do much.--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 11:20, 25 August 2010 (BST)

I dislike this. For hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee 16:13, 25 August 2010 (BST)

I have yet to use Scout Safehouse for precisely this reason. ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾ 13:08, 26 August 2010 (BST)

No. Ruins are already far underpowered, HIPS is overpowered, and it would do away with the zombie mobility Kevan just created. --VVV RPMBG 04:46, 28 August 2010 (BST)



Self Harm

Timestamp: For hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee 19:24, 21 August 2010 (BST)
Type: Attacks aimed at self
Scope: Mostly death cultists
Description: There's been a few suggestions that would aid death culting and parachuting in general, such as self-infecting or gunshot suicides, but mostly it's an issue of power, being shot down due to the idea of easier parachuting circumventing barricades, and therefore saving huge amounts of AP. Well, in order to circumvent the AP imbalance, how about allowing a character to attack themselves with a knife (only a knife), same AP cost and damage as attacking another character, only with an 85% to-hit rate. That way, without an infection, a new-revived cultist can spend around 18-20 AP trying to kill themselves, which is, admittedly, a saving on infection - the crucial difference being that an infected parachutist can spend the AP barricading for a pinata, searching for items, or attacking characters or generators, whilst a self-harming character spends the AP with the sole aim of reducing their health. This would be a much weaker way of doing it, but is more reliable in that it can't be FAKed away. The imperfect accuracy is mechanically for balance, and flavour-wise can be explained by using You attempt to slash yourself with your knife, but can't bring yourself to do it. as the miss text. Successful hit text would be You slash yourself with your knife for 2 damage. Numbers are still rough-ish. Thoughts?

Discussion (Self Harm)

Nicely done. Without running the numbers or whatever I'd say it sounds quite reasonable.--GANG Giles Sednik CAPD 19:26, 21 August 2010 (BST)

Tasteless, and pretty pointless, IMO.--Mallrat The Spanish Inquisition TSI The Kilt Store TKS Clubbed to Death CTD 20:33, 21 August 2010 (BST)

85% accuracy and 2 damage gives 1.7 damage per attack, meaning you can take down 30 hp in 17-18 AP, and 25 hp in 14-15 AP, assuming average success for those numbers. You die faster than you would of infection, and probably stand up with about 30-35 AP, but you do have a point about not spending those pre-death AP on doing anything otherwise useful. Maybe this will get a better reception. --Nuisance 22:48, 21 August 2010 (BST)

In response to the above maths, maybe a drop to 80%. You want it to be just more efficient than infection. Since this would be readily available to anyone, it should be considerably less convenient. Infection can be prevented by a single heal, whereas this would be far more effective. So, yeah, 80% for 19AP, 75% for 20AP. Perhaps 65% would be most appropriate (23AP). Ultimately, it comes down to how much of an advantage you want to give, but I would definitely say that the lack of freedom doign the damage does not balance a substantially lower AP.--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 23:05, 21 August 2010 (BST)
65%, 1.3 damage/AP looks okay to me -- maybe not terribly sensible that it's so inconsistent to injure yourself, but it wouldn't leave people standing up with a nearly full AP charge, normally. For folks who don't like infection, though, this could make being infected go by a lot faster. At 2.3 damage/AP it takes about 13 AP to strip off 30 hp, 11ish to take off 25. Then again, presence of infected survivors should be a significant threat. --Nuisance 02:35, 22 August 2010 (BST)

I'm sensing if this gets implemented, we'll be seeing a lot of emo people in Urban Dead soon... --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ #nerftemplatedsigs 23:21, 21 August 2010 (BST)

I like it, both in regards of flavour as in regards of mechanics. There must be some desperate people who'd rather cut themselves than let themselves be eaten by zombies, as well as weird cultists sacrificing themselves to whatever dark power. In other news, I wanna start a new DC group called Judean People's Front Crack Suicide Squad -- Spiderzed 02:43, 22 August 2010 (BST)

Nah. I'm over suicide based suggestions. --

02:52, 22 August 2010 (BST)

Hell no. It defeats the purpose of HAVING BARRICADES. --Zamins 02:20, 23 August 2010 (BST)

Let me direct you to AN ALREADY EXTANT TACTIC. For hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee 02:21, 23 August 2010 (BST)

I want this now! Mostly so we can pull a Jim Jones in some mall. -- 

Emot-argh.gif 02:33, 23 August 2010 (BST)

Jump off a building if you want to die--CorndogheroT-S-Z 01:34, 26 August 2010 (BST)

The point is to die inside. For hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee 02:19, 26 August 2010 (BST)

Self-harm was deliberately removed from the game. ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾ 13:11, 26 August 2010 (BST)



Shorter Radio Code

Timestamp: --VVV RPMBG 05:27, 11 August 2010 (BST)
Type: Code simplification
Scope: Radio whores
Description: Now, a radio is represented in the inventory's string of code as BXXXX, where XXXX defines the frequency. However, the frequency indefinably starts with 2. Thus, you could say the code is B2XXX. But why bother having the 2 there at all? All it does is take up an extra character of code, and since each inventory can only have 50 characters of it, that means that it's lowering the potential space by something other than encumbrance. If the 2 was thrown out altogether, and all radios assumed to be on 2X.XX MHz, then it would save more space. You could have 12.5 radios, rather than just 10.

Discussion (Shorter Radio Code)

and since each inventory can only have 50 characters of it, that means that it's lowering the potential space by something other than encumbrance. - I have no idea what this means. Aichon 05:36, 11 August 2010 (BST)

Yeah, is there some documentation for this or something? I'm sure that many people's inventories go over 50 characters. Just think of how many letters there are in "shotgun shell" ^.^ Lelouch vi Britannia is helping make Ridleybank green_ and gives Achievements 05:43, 11 August 2010 (BST)
Only one. r. I suppose I should link to this. --VVV RPMBG 05:58, 11 August 2010 (BST)
So, to be clear on this, you're saying that there is another statistic in the game besides encumbrance which dictates how many items we can carry? And that the statistic is based on the number of characters in the code that represents the items we carry? To me, that sounds more like something that should be put up on Bug Reports, since it isn't an obvious feature of the game. If anything, slap it up there and ask that he increase it from VARCHAR(50) to VARCHAR(100) or something in the database. Problem solved without all of this complicated stuff. Aichon 06:10, 11 August 2010 (BST)
The slot limit only matters if you're holding multiple radios. Otherwise, it has no effect. The character limit could be increased to 125, however. --VVV RPMBG 06:25, 11 August 2010 (BST)
Why only radios? From the description on that page, it sounds to me like it could affect any item which has a code with a length greater than half its encumbrance. Radios are certainly the worst offender, but I would imagine they are by no means the only one. And all of this is based on conjecture anyway. If he built the database using a 3NF design, which is standard practice when dealing with RMDB, then it wouldn't be stored that way at all, which would render all of this discussion moot. Aichon 06:45, 11 August 2010 (BST)
It also applies to candy and Christmas lights, yeah. I have no clue clue what your fancy abbreviations mean, though. --VVV RPMBG 06:53, 11 August 2010 (BST)
RDMB = Relational Model Database (e.g. mySQL, Oracle, etc.), 3NF = Third Normal Form (which will take a really long time to explain if you don't know what it means...I'd suggest taking a databases course at a local college or else finding some references). Long story short, storing it in the way suggested by that article goes against 3NF, and 3NF is the generally-preferred way of organizing the tables in a database due to the various properties of the design. Assuming he set it up in 3NF, then none of this discussion matters in the least, since the conjectures in that article would be incorrect. I'm not saying they are, however, just that they would be, assuming he followed standard practices. Aichon 08:14, 11 August 2010 (BST)
You're forgetting one important thing about Kevan: He's a programmer, not a DBA. And Laziness is one of the Three Assets of a Programmer. ;) ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾ 20:01, 17 August 2010 (BST)

I'm not sure that is correct. I seem to recall Red have in surplus of 20 pumpkins as well as his regular inventory, and so I'd think that would go over the 50 limit, if that was the case. Also, I don't think a suggestion should be based on an article of maybes as its only reasoning.--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 11:49, 11 August 2010 (BST)

The post-encumbrance inventory string limit was experimentally determined to be 400 100 characters with the aid of crate drop scavenging and verified by multiple persons on multiple characters. I was sure I updated the relevant page… ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾ 19:56, 17 August 2010 (BST)
So basically this shouldn't be a problem unless you go out of your way to go over the encumb. limit?--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature2 20:05, 17 August 2010 (BST)
Yup. ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾ 21:00, 17 August 2010 (BST)
I tried this a couple of years ago. I had a character who spent most of its time as a zombie but wanted to listen to as many radio broadcasts as possible. Zombies can't retune radios so the only way to do it is to collect and tune as many radios as possible while alive. I managed to pick up 16 radios. If each takes 5 slots that adds up to 81 slots (if you add 1 for the flak jacket I was carrying.) Maybe the limit has increased since then? --your anal slut wife 12:15, 20 August 2010 (BST)
Sorry, that should be 100. Inaccurate information fixed. (We should probably add this to the relevant page(s).) ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾ 18:58, 26 August 2010 (BST)

Suggestions up for voting

None at present.