I would like to see the following eventually become adapted to both promote a healthier game-play lifestyle by scripting but also promote benefits of game-play without scripting.

First, I've been playing DR since 1998 and have seen the "changes of the seasons" with DragonRealms. A big talking point discussion in game right now is players feeling like they NEED to script in order to advance to a competitive level of game play with other players, especially when it goes to the PVP realm (which by the way is an incredibly fun, challenging and complicated style of gaming).

My Proposal:
- Allow players to set themselves into a "Scripting Mode" state.
-- This allows players to mark themselves as scripting and allows their character to participate in the realms in more of a passive mode. Player cannot really interact with others or be interacted with.
-- During the duration of a player being in scripting mode, learning rates are set at the normal rate (or reduced, <=100%).
-- Since the player has registered themselves in scripting mode, they are immune to script checks since they are would be following the scripting policy.

- Provide benefits and promote game-play without scripting.
-- Players that do not put themselves into scripting mode will begin to learn at an accelerated rate (compared to scripting mode, >=100%). This promotes people to want to play or train outside of scripting.
-- Players that do not put themselves into scripting mode are susceptible to script checks. If a player fails to respond to a script check then violates the DR scripting policy and is punished according to policy (exp loss, etc.).

This simple change in my eyes would create a less threatening policy of "we are policing everyone" to "please follow the policy". Regarding the experience learning rates, these are just numbers I threw out there, but I believe this would create a perk or benefit for players to not script but also not penalize for when they do.

This is just some groundwork that can be improved on from the community of players. Any thoughts to add?

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Your mind hears Person thinking, "$* away"
Your mind hears Tikorro thinking, "Dont mind if I do"
Your mind hears Mossyoak thinking, "haha!"
Your mind hears Person thinking, "shift my bad"

I feel like it's time to take off the blinders to scripting and make it more acceptable and become more friendly to it even that means accepting it into the policy but with restrictions.

---

Your mind hears Person thinking, "$* away"
Your mind hears Tikorro thinking, "Dont mind if I do"
Your mind hears Mossyoak thinking, "haha!"
Your mind hears Person thinking, "shift my bad"

>>I feel like it's time to take off the blinders to scripting and make it more acceptable and become more friendly to it even that means accepting it into the policy but with restrictions.

Scripting is acceptable.

AFK scripting is the policy restriction.

>>You really can't miss a check if you're paying any kind of attention at all.

+1

>>That is not the policy, that is a limitation of the testing criteria.

This is incorrect. All Simu cares about is that you (as a player, not as a scripted response) are responsive to the in-game environment within a reasonable amount of time.

>>I would like to see the scripting policy replaced with a disruption policy that gives incentive to enjoy the game without causing harm and harassment to others.

Kudos to the attempt to encourage people to view being busted (or just checked!) for AFK scripting as harassment, though. As a general tip, most script checks start off as roleplay opportunities. They only really become a check once you repeatedly don't acknowledge them.

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Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.

>>Can you point out where in the policy that it states this? It may be an unofficial trend, but the POLICY makes no distinction which opens it up as a tool for rule lawyering or discrimination at will.

https://elanthipedia.play.net/Policy:Scripting_policy

"Any activity that results in ANY benefit to either you or another player while being unresponsive to the gaming environment will be considered against policy."

So, once again, all GMs care about is if you're responsive or not. If you can read the forums and be responsive, you're okay. If you can watch TV and be responsive, you're okay. If you want to watch paint dry and be responsive, you're okay. Given the way script checks work, they provide a very very wide range of what counts as responsive "enough" to the game (given that it starts off as something not screaming at you and ends with something screaming at you).

This is very very very very very clear cut. Scripting = okay. Being unresponsive = not okay.

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Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.

And then one poor sap with bad scriptdodging skills crosses the line and gets piledriven by simu-police while hundreds of others continue to walk back and forth across the line every day.

It's a useless and resource intensive battle that just doesn't make sense anymore. It alienates a few random individuals and nothing more.

>> The fact that not everyone can get busted for breaking policy is not a reason to remove policy.

Inconsistency seems like a valid reason to me. If they wanted to destroy afk scripting there are plenty of ways to do it, but it would destroy the player base. They could force a client side front end with scripting limitation in a .DLL or something similar. They could repeat something like turning off magic a few times or set background flags for anyone who gains x experience or stays online for x time (<-I assume they have these already).

They don't. Instead they just randomly handicap someone every once in a while as a deterrent that does not work.

>> The line is where it is because it is bad for game balance and immersion to permit 24/7 AFK scripting.

This has been beat to death so many times that I can't respond with a straight face.

If anyone plays any MMO expecting fair play, then that MMO would have to have time based windows that would only allow gameplay if every member was online at that time. Playing an MMO that is online 24/7 means accepting that there will always be someone that is advancing faster than you and there is nothing wrong with that. I stopped trying to "win" at MMO's long ago and just want to casually progress and chat, but I still semi-afk script through the tedious parts.

It seems like a purely RP mmo would have no structure except that agreed on by the players, you would simply create a backstory that you are a 50 paladin and therefor that is what you would be. Dragonrealms does not seem like a pure RP game. It may have been envisioned as RP with a side of structure, but what was designed is more like progressquest with a side of RP.

>>It's also commonly used as harassment in player conflicts among some that would have turned a blind eye to a friend<<

Don't be afk and you'll be ok. Alternately, stay under the radar if you're going to break the rules. =)

>>and is only successful against those who don't run watchdog type scripts which are getting more popular. <<

Triggers that aim to catch afk checks are not a new thing.

Mazrian

Should just transfer offenders over to The Fallen. It's a win-win-win; original realm no longer has offender, offender can script themselves to their hearts content in their new realm, The Fallen receives fresh meat.

Casual afk scripters do exist. There are people who enjoy playing but have busy lives and turning the game on and off every 15 minutes makes it unplayable. There are also people who find more entertainment in creating scripts than they do in the gameplay. Being able to create advanced scripts to survive a complex world like this is a far rarer occurrence than an RP chatroom. The challenge of doing that is just as real and fun to some as the game specific mechanics are to others. I don't understand why both groups cannot coexist.

One issue I see with the script mode setting is the infrastructure and that people would just script with the bonus at the computer and then turn on scripting mode overnight, in which case what is the difference between that and just removing the policy.

>> Should just transfer offenders over to The Fallen. It's a win-win-win; original realm no longer has offender, offender can script themselves to their hearts content in their new realm, The Fallen receives fresh meat.

>That's like saying we should just transfer everyone wants to RP and is offended by scripting to Plat. There are varying levels of preference. I noted earlier, just because I drive a go-cart sometimes does not mean I want to pay more to drive a go-cart in a destruction derby with rocket launchers.

Either of these solutions actually sounds really good to me. If a person can't script with enough attention on the game to avoid a warning, why not go to The Fallen? Because he or she wants a comparative advantage over those who follow the policy in Prime?

I also truly believe that the number of afk scripters does hurt the overall experience in DR, especially for new players who don't really know what's going on.

It's hard to determine how to join into the social side of the game when you're new. It's not about a player ignoring afk scripters, it's about the new player feeling ignored by everyone around. Imagine you come before a guild hall or a Crossing gate for the first time, and you see many people with interesting titles and cool looking gear braiding grass. You say, "hi," and hear nothing - or worse, you interpret someone's scripted messaging for social action that just utterly ignores you. It's hard to get excited about joining that community; whereas meeting a few friendly (or unfriendly or drunk or sweet or obnoxious) characters can really make all the difference.

It's much harder for me to see the upside of wholesale allowing afk scripting in Prime. A 10 minute window to react seems pretty reasonable, and the potential for garnering new players in a world where retro gaming, role playing and fantasy are becoming increasingly mainstream makes me think that the no afk scripting policy is a good one. Methods of enforcing it are another issue, but I think it's certainly possible that if DR can sustain its commitment to maintaining an RP heavy environment, it has everything to gain from its shift towards microtransactions and pay events in addition to its faithful subscribers who have generally understood and accepted the no afk scripting policy.

Global chat could help with new players if it was defaulted on at creation and people did not get nudged every time they try to help with anything partially ooc like saying "try discern spell".

I'm pretty confident that the strict RP adherence and warnings at all times even when helping has driven off more new players than bumping into afk scripters who usually avoid attention in out of the way locations.


Also, being an afk scripter does not mean that you are afk 24 hours a day. It does not mean that you do not RP. It just means you automate the tedious stuff in a room by yourself while you wash dishes IRL. Those that do script 24/7 are usually advanced scripters that will pass the afk check anyway.

If TF was the same price and allowed transfers and had a normal harassment policy I would already be there. I believe Plat has even fewer people playing, but if it was the same price and allowed transfers the other half of the population would probably be there already. But neither do and I doubt they ever will. TF is not a solution as it stands now anymore than Plat is for the other half.



>> and the potential for garnering new players in a world where retro gaming, role playing and fantasy are becoming increasingly mainstream makes me think that the no afk scripting policy is a good one.

Scripting and passive progress quest is also becoming more popular. My 8 year old daughter can write basic code in C# or edit levels in unity. There are dozens of games like screeps that are based on scripting and they are getting more popular. The retro gaming thing has been going on for quite a few years, how many of those has DR lured in and kept with it's 21 year old mentality?

I really feel like the best solution would be to just open a brand new DR prime. Sort of like the Everquest time locked progression servers. Don't allow free to play characters on it and let people start fresh there and just police it more against scripting. This will allow people to get some names and give the game a fresh feel :) Or just delete everyone in prime and have em start again. I'd be fine with that too.

This thread is now closed.

Please direct your discussion about current DR policy and changes to it over to Elanthipedia, where the discussion is still happening. As a reminder, the original announcement said: http://forums.play.net/forums/DragonRealms/Discussions%20with%20DragonRealms%20Staff%20and%20Players/Game%20Master%20and%20Official%20Announcements/view/1402:

"Upcoming discussion: The Policy Rewrite

Some players have been helping me copy all of our POLICY and NEWS articles over to Elanthipedia, where each article will have its own page. This project should be finished soon. (Feel free to help; follow the template Kythryn and Mistanna have set up and get these pages built, so we can get to work!)

https://elanthipedia.play.net/Category:News
https://elanthipedia.play.net/Policy_command

As we prepare to dive into the Policy updates, I invite you all to make suggestions on the DISCUSSION pages of these articles. Each and every item will be reviewed, and I welcome any and all feedback before we begin making official changes to The Rules.

The discussion on the individual articles is not going to happen on the forums. It is to happen on these DISCUSSION pages only. Respect each other and offer constructive suggestions. Follow the instructions provided, and sign your comments. If you don’t know how, ask a Moderator!

Helje
DragonRealms Senior Board Moderator

If you have a question about the forums, please email me Senior Board Moderator Helje at DR-Helje@play.net and Gamemaster Evike at DR-Evike@play.net

This thread is still closed. Please do not continue to post in it.

Helje
DragonRealms Senior Board Moderator