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About muling/twinking/metagaming/powergaming

edited July 2020 in General Discussion
1) Muling - using an alt to drop gold/gear/items in a safe location (namely your house/apartment or empty area) and logging in with your main to pick up 'said item to empower that character. Since there are no "dungeon masters" this would be more easily accomplished...is it not.

2) Twinking - dropping Black Scale Imperator with one character to be picked up by a brand new character /you like better/, or am I mistaken?

3) Metagaming - using out-of-character knowledge as a weapon to destroy someone in-character. Since there are no dedicated roleplay servers this would be a tad more difficult. Here on AoC, they will just either kill you in town, in the wilderness, or both. One vs one, group vs one, or group vs group.

4) Powergaming - all of the above into one Main.

Comments

  • JahlonJahlon Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I'm sorry, is there a point to this discussion?

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  • Yes. Is muling, twinking, powergaming, metagaming monitored by the devs and if not how does the community feel about these issues?
  • JamationJamation Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    What you call Muling I think there are some things in place, or at least in talks, to prevent a ton of resource moving. But I might be mistaken on that.

    I don't know what a Black Scale Imperator is...so I don't know what Twinking is by this definition...but I know it by something veeeery different...

    I don't have any problems with metagaming as long as it's not malicious. Like if someone goes out of their way to murder a bunch of people RPing somewhere that'd be crummy, not something I'd want punished outside of the corruption system, but still crummy regardless.

    As for monitoring though, they can't really monitor something if it's not available yet. I think once the game goes into Alpha 2 or beta they might look more into these things, but for right now I think they'll consider these topics and what to do if it ever becomes problematic for the health of the game and its community.
  • Wandering MistWandering Mist Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Power Gaming is something that a lot of players enjoy and personally I see nothing wrong with it. If someone wants to spend hours upon hours with spreadsheets meticulously working out what build does the absolute best damage, etc then uses that knowledge to win, I say "fair play to you good sir".
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  • Yes. Is muling, twinking, powergaming, metagaming monitored by the devs and if not how does the community feel about these issues?

    They're not monitored, unless they exploit game systems or violate the ToS in some way (i.e bullying/harassment). I don't really consider any of these as issues.

    Metagaming is pretty much an accepted staple of MMORPGs, especially when it comes to things like guild diplomacy/interaction on Discord, theorycrafting, and players referring to online databases for information.
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    There will be a system in place to be able to move items between characters on the same account. Likely in home storage.

    I'm not sure why this would be against any rules, why players would have an opinion on it or why Intrepid would monitor it.

    Twinking is likewise not going to be against any rules. If you have an alt character, of course you can use your main to bankroll them in to better gear than you would otherwise have.

    Again, I'm not sure why this would be against any rules, why players would have an opinion on it or why Intrepid would monitor it.

    Metagaming (or at least the way you are using it) is using the knowledge players have of the game. If I know your class well, and so know it's weaknesses, of course I will use that knowledge to defeat you. Why on earth wouldn't I?

    And so once again, I'm not sure why this would be against any rules, why players would have an opinion on it or why Intrepid would monitor it.
  • CaerylCaeryl Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    You gave a list of commonly expected and undeniably useful ways to play any multi-character game, why would anyone have an issue with any of these things?
  • MMO stands for "Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game."
    Not just about 25 people.
  • unknownsystemerrorunknownsystemerror Member, Phoenix Initiative, Royalty, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    The Deep Purple lyrics made to seem like some deep quote tell the whole story.
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  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    MMO stands for "Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game."
    Not just about 25 people.

    I'm not sure how any of what you are complaining about here impact this at all.

    I mean, if I buy some armor on my main to give to an alt, how does that make the game less massively multiplayer?
  • noaani wrote: »
    MMO stands for "Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game."
    Not just about 25 people.

    I'm not sure how any of what you are complaining about here impact this at all.

    I mean, if I buy some armor on my main to give to an alt, how does that make the game less massively multiplayer?
    Actually it does not make the game less massively multiplayer per se, other mmorpgs had issues with this because it breaks roleplay immersion, which some of the community members /staff/devs/and DMs value greatly.
  • AtamaAtama Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Roleplay immersion is almost surely not going to trump gameplay and fun in AoC. This isn’t a MUSH or online LARP. I’ve played and enjoyed those sorts of games, for many years actually, so don’t think I’m stigmatizing them, but most MMORPGs have a totally different culture and intention.
     
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  • CaerylCaeryl Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    noaani wrote: »
    MMO stands for "Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game."
    Not just about 25 people.

    I'm not sure how any of what you are complaining about here impact this at all.

    I mean, if I buy some armor on my main to give to an alt, how does that make the game less massively multiplayer?
    Actually it does not make the game less massively multiplayer per se, other mmorpgs had issues with this because it breaks roleplay immersion, which some of the community members /staff/devs/and DMs value greatly.

    RP immersion isn’t a reason to remove basic functionality from a game that allows and encourages alts
  • Maybe this is one of the main benefits of no dedicated RP server. Because of strict rules/guidelines that are imposed to "denote" them.
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    other mmorpgs had issues with this because it breaks roleplay immersion
    Which MMO's?

  • AtamaAtama Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Maybe this is one of the main benefits of no dedicated RP server. Because of strict rules/guidelines that are imposed to "denote" them.
    Yes, that is definitely a potential benefit.
     
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  • edited July 2020
    noaani wrote: »
    other mmorpgs had issues with this because it breaks roleplay immersion
    Which MMO's?

    Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights 2, Legends of Aria, D&D Online, and a few others that had dedicated RP servers.

    Legends of Aria also had a toolset that lets players build their own servers. The customization is actually pretty incredible, though a bit time-consuming and tedious.
  • AtamaAtama Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    noaani wrote: »
    other mmorpgs had issues with this because it breaks roleplay immersion
    Which MMO's?

    Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights 2, Legends of Aria, D&D Online, and a few others that had dedicated RP servers.
    I played both NWN games and neither were MMOs. They allowed for group online play but weren’t anywhere close to MMOs.

    DDO doesn’t have a dedicated RP server, let alone one with mechanics or rules to limit the behavior you’re describing. Can you link to something supporting what you’re saying?

    Legends of Aria is a complete sandbox game run by the players. It’s not even remotely related to AoC.
     
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  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    Atama wrote: »
    noaani wrote: »
    other mmorpgs had issues with this because it breaks roleplay immersion
    Which MMO's?

    Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights 2, Legends of Aria, D&D Online, and a few others that had dedicated RP servers.
    I played both NWN games and neither were MMOs. They allowed for group online play but weren’t anywhere close to MMOs.

    DDO doesn’t have a dedicated RP server, let alone one with mechanics or rules to limit the behavior you’re describing. Can you link to something supporting what you’re saying?

    Legends of Aria is a complete sandbox game run by the players. It’s not even remotely related to AoC.

    This is basically the reply I was going to give.

    I can understand there being a small subset of players that want this kind of thing in a game - but there wouldn't be an MMO developer that isn't ok with each of the above things.

    If there were 10k+ players wanting a rule set like this, it would be all good asking Steven to put a server in with them in place (whether he would or not is a different question).

    However, I would be surprised if you found even 1% of that number.
  • Actually the point of the thread was already taken in before I edited the post to a select group of audience. Thanks for your expertise though.
  • CaerylCaeryl Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Actually the point of the thread was already taken in before I edited the post to a select group of audience. Thanks for your expertise though.

    Ok except you didn’t make any point? You think common MMO gameplay patterns are.. what? Ruining RP?
  • Did you read the original post before the edit?
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    Did you read the original post before the edit?

    I did. It still didn't actually say what the point you wanted to make was, not why you consider each of those things to be negative.

    Honestly, I'm still not sure why.
  • CaderleyCaderley Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    I think, provided there is no tool or mechanism for automatically grouping strangers, the community would pretty much "police" itself. In that, if you act like a dick people won't want to play with you so you won't get to do very much, if anything, outside of the solo game.
  • edited July 2020
    noaani wrote: »
    Did you read the original post before the edit?

    I did. It still didn't actually say what the point you wanted to make was, not why you consider each of those things to be negative.

    Honestly, I'm still not sure why.
    They were negative where there were Online RPGs with role play servers. At one time this was discussed but Intrepid decided to leave roleplay servers out of the box. I was just curious as to whether they still apply to non-rp servers.
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    edited July 2020
    noaani wrote: »
    Did you read the original post before the edit?

    I did. It still didn't actually say what the point you wanted to make was, not why you consider each of those things to be negative.

    Honestly, I'm still not sure why.
    They were negative where there were Online RPGs with role play servers. At one time this was discussed but Intrepid decided to leave roleplay servers out of the box. I was just curious as to whether they still apply to non-rp servers.

    I've still never seen an MMO that has considered these things an issue - including MMO's with RP servers. A handful of players may have taken issue with these things, but that is about it. It was never bought up at all while I played DDO (years ago, to be fair), and I was as active on those forums while I played it as I am here.

    Note that the OP of the thread right now makes no mention at all of RP servers, nor that you think these things are an issue. All it is doing is listing these things. Even the original OP didn't mention RP servers before you edited to (for some reason) contain less information.

    If the things you were complaining about were self evident as issues (such as third party gold sellers), then your OP as it is now would at least make sense. As it is right now though, you are simply listing a few things that 99% of players would consider standard, normal things to be able to do in an MMO that no one should have any reason to have an issue with - and then only after question you do we find that you have an issue with them. That is information that should be in the OP - you should be saying that you have an issue with these things, *why* you have an issue with them, *why* you think this issue is so great that Intrepid should address it, and what you think should be done.

    Instead, you just list a few things without any context.
  • AntVictusAntVictus Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    1) Muling - using an alt to drop gold/gear/items in a safe location (namely your house/apartment or empty area) and logging in with your main to pick up 'said item to empower that character. Since there are no "dungeon masters" this would be more easily accomplished...is it not.

    2) Twinking - dropping Black Scale Imperator with one character to be picked up by a brand new character /you like better/, or am I mistaken?

    3) Metagaming - using out-of-character knowledge as a weapon to destroy someone in-character. Since there are no dedicated roleplay servers this would be a tad more difficult. Here on AoC, they will just either kill you in town, in the wilderness, or both. One vs one, group vs one, or group vs group.

    4) Powergaming - all of the above into one Main.

    1. there's probably something in game to deal with that.
    2. uhh depends on if things are soulbound or not.
    3. ...this is an rp thing and isn't something that a dev or a game master should even be bothering with. This is a player to player issue, not a dev issue.
    4. powergaming isn't all of those, in fact it's basically just a bigger form of meta gaming. So once again see point 3.
    Don't worry so much about it, and also don't try to get the devs or a gm to deal with a problem in an rp situation...that's actually dumb, unless of course it's actual issue with the player and not the character....but even then it's still pretty dumb to involve them.
  • TacualeonTacualeon Member
    edited July 2020
    Seems the type of question a single player player would make. No offense.

    When competing, humans will make everything efficient, even in detriment of fun. Devs can guide players towards desired attitudes, but ultimately, they will make their own choices.
  • NagashNagash Member, Leader of Men, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    if the devs make it possible then it's up to people if they wish to multibox
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    The dead do not squabble as this land’s rulers do. The dead have no desires, petty jealousies or ambitions. A world of the dead is a world at peace
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