Action Combat Ability Request. Puking
I'm a gamer, I love abilities that feel emotive and give you a sense of physical texture of the world.
Thats why I love half life 2's gravity gun. Its one of the reasons I love Tribe's grenade launchers and mortars. Something about being able to feel the speed you're going because of just how off set your position is from the arc your fire goes away from you, and how rapidly you move around your targets, and they around you. These things lend themselves to certain genres and styles of game.
So when I see a tab targeting game with a blend of action combat, it makes me think. What will lend itself to this, and what will make me feel more involved with the world.
MMORPGs aren't just a combat system, and aren't just a social hub for making friends. They're worlds, and to interact meaningfully with all those things makes me think of odd things.
What is socially fun, evocative of a fantasy world, and could have an action combat style physicality to it?
To me, the answer is obvious.
Let us, be drunk, and let us get a special ability from being drunk. Namely, puking.
In a very deep sense puking might be one of the most evocative acts one can do naturally. Its a real gut wrencher quite literally. Its also interesting mechanically and with its associations with tavern brawls.
If you puke on someone you are not only potentially starting a fight, but also engaging with your character, and a social system. To be puked on is to be embarrassed. NPCs that see you could laugh at you and mock you.
Certain NPCs could quite literally ignore you while you're stinking of puke.
That means that being Puked on, has a cost associated with it. Are you willing to be puked on without rebuttal? Well NPCs are going to laugh at you and maybe ignore you until you dunk yourself in water.
However avoiding being puked on is another game that I think is grounded in most of all North American kids. Dodge ball is a common game throughout school and is fun. Dodging and narrowly avoiding flying projectiles is fun.
So when you have a tavern full of drunks, puking in the air, being clean and a bystander will give you a sense of pride.
You will quite literally be unfaltering in your prideful display, another evocative sense, being noble, and above pettiness.
Next, you have the people brawling, if you get puked on and fight you puking rival you get the joy of beating up a jerk. Puking on someone and fighting them will be a challenge for the drunk combatant, but if they stand, or wobble into the fray and beat their combatant, they will truly have lived out the fantasy of the drunken tavern brawler.
All of this makes Tavern's a place of interest and reinforces that being drunk can be fun, but also risky, just like in reality.
I think that's a beautiful idea, and its my suggestion.
Let people projectile vomit on others and give them a place to do it in. Give taverns a real sense of tangible rowdiness.
