Post by Ari on Mar 13, 2016 9:48:28 GMT
Monsters and NPCS for your Threads
How to use them and why do my kills keep getting nerfed…
As John wrote a few days ago we are starting to notice a disturbing trend in which large numbers of monsters are being added to very short threads in a means of adding more overall XP value to a thread along with other associated rewards. I can understand that people are wanting to level quickly for the prestige aspect as well as the ability to take part in clearing events but there is a good way to use monsters to accomplish goals and a bad way. And it is my hope that I can offer some explanation into how monsters can add more value to your post both in statistics and in general roleplay so that no one will see their kills get nerfed any longer.
Now as the GM’s have already stated a thread’s value is determined overall by word count XP and that must be greater than the XP generated by kills…This is only part of the story however, albeit a very large chunk. Which brings me to three main points:
1. You must use monsters that are suitable for your level and the encounters must be realistic to a degree. This means that if you as a level 1, take on two Kobold Troopers (L3) at one time, you would die...EASILY. You would definitely not single-hit kill them under any circumstance. Not only that even if you lived you would most likely need to run to the nearest town to survive. A monster even a single level above you should be treated as a mini-boss for an encounter. The best rule of thumb, as I have stated a few times, is 2-3 posts for a kill with that number of posts growing by another post (or more) for a monster that is a level above you (A post being 500 words or more). If you face a monster a measure above you in level, you are going to get messed up in terms of HP…period...
2. The point above holds true with even creatures below your level…if an attempt is made to play off a single player killing 20 mobs in a single thread, I will nerf it in a heartbeat, I’m sorry. To be able to adequately RP that sort of mass combat out (especially in a solo) would simply take a novel…Realism is key if you want each of these kills to count, effort must be taken to make them seem as real as possible! And that many mobs, even if you are above them in level, would mean death, easily…
3. One must remember that monsters are stand-alone artificial intelligence's given life by the cardinal system…So what does that mean exactly…They fight back! And hard! These things are fighting to survive just like you are…This means that they will change their behaviors and tactics in response to your every action. Give them some for this credit too! A combat even with a level-1 boar should be a life-or-death struggle for survival and by no means be a simple: “Relsialle attacked for 10…it’s died” It should have the drama of a scene from Macbeth ending in blood, sweat and victory.
I hope this answers any questions you all might have in regards to thread review and how monsters play into that…
Keep writing!
-Ari
=^-^=
How to use them and why do my kills keep getting nerfed…
As John wrote a few days ago we are starting to notice a disturbing trend in which large numbers of monsters are being added to very short threads in a means of adding more overall XP value to a thread along with other associated rewards. I can understand that people are wanting to level quickly for the prestige aspect as well as the ability to take part in clearing events but there is a good way to use monsters to accomplish goals and a bad way. And it is my hope that I can offer some explanation into how monsters can add more value to your post both in statistics and in general roleplay so that no one will see their kills get nerfed any longer.
Now as the GM’s have already stated a thread’s value is determined overall by word count XP and that must be greater than the XP generated by kills…This is only part of the story however, albeit a very large chunk. Which brings me to three main points:
1. You must use monsters that are suitable for your level and the encounters must be realistic to a degree. This means that if you as a level 1, take on two Kobold Troopers (L3) at one time, you would die...EASILY. You would definitely not single-hit kill them under any circumstance. Not only that even if you lived you would most likely need to run to the nearest town to survive. A monster even a single level above you should be treated as a mini-boss for an encounter. The best rule of thumb, as I have stated a few times, is 2-3 posts for a kill with that number of posts growing by another post (or more) for a monster that is a level above you (A post being 500 words or more). If you face a monster a measure above you in level, you are going to get messed up in terms of HP…period...
2. The point above holds true with even creatures below your level…if an attempt is made to play off a single player killing 20 mobs in a single thread, I will nerf it in a heartbeat, I’m sorry. To be able to adequately RP that sort of mass combat out (especially in a solo) would simply take a novel…Realism is key if you want each of these kills to count, effort must be taken to make them seem as real as possible! And that many mobs, even if you are above them in level, would mean death, easily…
3. One must remember that monsters are stand-alone artificial intelligence's given life by the cardinal system…So what does that mean exactly…They fight back! And hard! These things are fighting to survive just like you are…This means that they will change their behaviors and tactics in response to your every action. Give them some for this credit too! A combat even with a level-1 boar should be a life-or-death struggle for survival and by no means be a simple: “Relsialle attacked for 10…it’s died” It should have the drama of a scene from Macbeth ending in blood, sweat and victory.
I hope this answers any questions you all might have in regards to thread review and how monsters play into that…
Keep writing!
-Ari
=^-^=