Hello

So, lets start the "daily" blog now!

Perhaps TODAY it will work... Yesterday, a minute before
i started to write here, my mainboard of my box burned up.
Beside the 100$ i had to reinstall my hole system and thats
never really funny... Oh well.

In CVS and the ns.trenz.ag testserver, the group playing/xp sharing/
aggro and a damage manage code goes very well.

I added the last group related command /gsay to have a kind of "group shout". Every member of the group will see that "group speak" in yellow in the same channel as shouts.

I also added the /help pages for all group commands.

To give a short overview:

To start a group/add someone to a group, type /invite <player name>.
The player then gets a small windows where he is asked to join or not.
He can type (or use the mouse) /join (to join the group) or /deny to
deny the invite.

There is some spam protection related to the /invite to avoid abuse which works very well. Beside the server/client sided protection, a player can
disallow all invites with "/invite off" (or "on" to turn it on again) or "/invite allow <player name>" will allow one player (for example the group leader of the group you want join) to invite you.

Group leader is always the first player who invited someone for a group. OR the first player in a group. If a leader goes LD (link dead/disconnected) the next player in the row become group leader automatically.

A group leader can remove (kick) players from a group by using the "/remove <player name>" command. A normal member can leave itself a group by typing "/leave".

With the "/gsay <text>" command, group members can talk in a group.

I plan to add a /group command later, where a group leader can set some group behaviour like how to devide loot, assign the group leader to someone else as himself and so on.

For exp sharing, the rule is that a group member must be near the kill spot to get exp. So, if you are not in the same dungeon as the playre who generates the exp you don't get exp. The algorithm is somewhat tricky, you don't must stay direct on the same map but near.

A corpse with loot generated by a group will named "corpse of your group" and can be looted by any group member.

If a group member kills a mob with a one-drop or quest item, ALL group members get that item when they would get him as when they killed the mob themself.

XP is shared in a special way i will explain deeper when i tell something about guilds. Only this: Exp goes in the skills you use - maximum 3 skills are counted. If you use only one: 100% exp in that skill. If you use 2: 60% in first, 40% in second. If you use 3: 50/30/20. If you use 4 or more skills, the skills with lowest dmg are skipped except the first 3.

If you DON'T do any dmg to that mob but another member kills it, you get exp in your GUILD exp row. For example is the default skill list for the mercenay guild physical, agility & wisdom. That means you get exp in the highest skill of each of that group.

Now i will finish the faction system. It will be nearly the same as in everquest or daoc. If you kill a orc, you will get faction points to elves. If you kill elves, you get points for orc. If your points are high enough, that
faction will count you as friend. Its even possible to have differnet orc factions or human faction. Thats a interesting stuff for NPC towns for example.

I see here a need for /elect command, to allow group to choose leader by voting. Just in case present leader doesn't play his role well. Also /kick should not be allowed to leader only (see up), but made /kick_vote instead.

How it works exactly? 60/40 and 50/30/20. You said: "If you use 2: 60% in first, 40% in second." What makes one skill first and another a second? Amount of damage done? Order of precedence?

/elect or vote: don't think to complicate. If the leader plays its role bad, the other simply can type /leave and found a new group without that leader - that even works without a /group command to move leadership. In DAOC for example, that all don't exists. If a leader won't lead, he simply leaves the group and the new leader invites him again. for kick vote again: If you can't discuss that
out like man - type /leave... This group model is the standard model of commercial mmorpg and you will be surprised how good and
easy it works.

Its the skill group. The highest skill in it counts for that 60/40 or 50/30/20. And its the GUILD (aka your prefession) who defines which skill group are in which order. As member of the mage guild you will get 60% in magery, 30% (aka 2nd skill group) in physique and last in agility - in THAT mage guild. The war mages guild will have magic as 1st, wisdom as 2nd and melee as 3rd.

Thats not only logical it also add a fine tweak to game play - you can plan what skills you train  and/or you get a bonus in a good & powerful skill group row for your special guild.

Again: Its not THAT important. It only kicks in when in a group fight the player DON'T do any damage. Its a nice way (but also needs some time) to train some special skills (when you select your skills & guilds nicely). But training them alone will work still faster.
This system has some more benefits i don't want make public now because they will need a bit more brainstorming. But it will make guilds alot more senseful & powerful.

that sounds well planned and junk. uh, i'm kind of a loner. when i play a game like this i like to just be alone with my dark depressing thoughts and some monsters. for some reason i don't like having other players near me. guess i'm anti-social in real life too. anyway, i would really hate it if groups became the norm.

i do think guilds are pretty stupid at present. i mean, whats the point. people in daimonin aren't really close and friendly anyway.

nice to meet you by the way. i wanted to see you on the game, since i don't like the forum very much, but you're never on when i am.

I like the idea of groups! I'm a group player and enjoy a lot being part of my clan...

what if your in multiple groups, whats the commands for /gsay, <group> <text> ???

I'm going to make a couple of assumptions here......you want to be part of several groups to get more exp faster.  Groups are based on who is on and unlike clans/guilds are not "permanent" and so you would not get exp from any groups even while offline.  Groups are on a per session basis.  The bad thing about that is you can't be part of 20 groups and levelling alone in DT and still getting exp from everyone else in your groups (or sharing your exp with them).  The good thing about that is you can't be part of 20 groups and levelling alone in DT and still getting exp from everyone else in your groups (or sharing your exp with them).  Another good thing about instanced groups is you aren't forced to play with the same people constantly.

This group system sounds good and so far well prepared, I ll like it a lot (I guess) and look forward to its became implemented. One smal idea I have, could there be something like a Paladins Guild too? - Skills sugested Ph melee weapons, WI, Ph shooting weapons.

w/r bigbroni alias Per :-)

groups sound good...i get anxious when i'm left alone to long

I think we need also a some kind of a vote command for who will get the loot.
If the points are equal for some players then a dice (?) will be thrown to decide who will get the loot.

How's that sounds like?

ROFL first of all there are a great deal of players who are quite friendly with one another.  But beings as you are such a loner I wouldn't expect you to notice that fact.  2nd you trying to get friendly? :wink:

She Who Rocks

EDIT:  also I have played with the group experience system on an Unoficial server and it works very well TY  very much.  something that some peeps have not mentioned is the ease of use for lvling a lesser player.  a NOOB can stand somewhere safe and heal his/her "trainer" while getting expeirience from Very tough enemies indeed !!  helping a Noob that is very much lower than yourself, you do not lose much exp as they max out fast. One other thing is this will alieviate the Small clans problem (small groups of players that clan up to chat)  You can instead group up to chat no matter where you are, only the players in the same maps will be shareing experience, in that way, It really works Great!!

Groups, Interesting

I'm a stickler for working alone, and feeling the satifaction that u and u alone defeated that monster or worked your way to the position of Lev 100 High Supreme Warrior without any assistance. The pride and satisfaction of this far greater than sitting on the fringe of a group as a newbie , while hi level players bash high level mobs, getting Max exp as a lev 1 while shining your sword and picking your nose is Preposterous.
This makes Rod babies look innocent.

Having said that, I can always stay away from groups and therefore there is no problem with me achieving my goals alone. And as there is so much interest and favor for the exp,spoils, quest item sharing then I agree with changes. It's the democratic thing to do. Who knows maybe I will give in eventually and reap the spoils of Group play. Sounds interesting.

Can't remember who said Daimonin isnt friendly before, but u couldn't be further from the truth. I have never met a better bunch of people on any game server in my life. Everybody is fairly well known, helpful, respectful of others and the community. Hmm..getting off the topic a bit now.

Cheers
SirRupert

So would there be a way to have like a Searat group - it has all online Searat members in it automatically as they log in and out? Connected with cherbot in some way (or whatever Npc you're using to replace him)

I believe there is a max of 4... or 8 or something . Maybe 6? Lol. Groups do allow for newbies sitting in the back and picking their noses--and i hate that! I am not sure how we are going to fix it, or if we are going to fix it, or if MT wants to . I do, though.

Cheers,
Unislash

easy way to fix that- groupmembers only get xp if they acted within the initating and final blows of mob killing, and only in a group of
(+/- 5 lvls) for lvl<20 (where group members gaining xp are within 5 levels of the highest level player in group)
(+/- 10 lvls) for lvl 21-45 (where group members gaining xp are within 10 levels of the highest level player in group)
(+/- 20 lvls) for lvl 46-70 (where group members gaining xp are within 20 levels of the highest level player in group)
(+/- 25 lvls) for lvl 71+ (where group members gaining xp are within 25 levels of the highest level player in group)