Taverns

[Despereaux]

Aren't the taverns sort of bleak?
Cause i mean, they've got tons of tables and food and beds and room and space
but no PEOPLE!
In the next update there should be people in all the taverns, like you know useless NPCs that say like only one line, but at least there'd be the illusion that somebody is actually using the tavern
Like the one in Zendar, it should probably be like crowded or something

Also they should be going through the motions of a bar-person. like you know, drinking, or maybe sitting on a bed taking care of weapons or something, and people eating, talking, etc.

And maybe(as an added feature) there could be random bar fights now and than, and then when there is, like a screen pops up where you choose if you want to stay and fight or retreat to one of the rooms or something like that
Than if you do fight, you use your fists and just peasant clothing, because you've ditched your armor, seeing as its an inn and all
Something like that would be really cool because it'd be every man for himself, and it would be crowded, so no running to safe ground

It'd also be nice if you could buy beers or food from the tavernkeeper, maybe for health or just for fun
And maybe do jobs for the tavern? like serving people or errands or something?

Anyway, all in all, im just saying the taverns should get a little more excitement in it, because it is, after all, the tavern

 

[Dannyhamster]

Yep good idea

You know what M&B reminds me of?

Morrowind

Just the same, except morrowind is alot bigger with a lot more stuff, but its TOO big and got TOO much stuff so its boring 

 

[Despereaux]

hm right

But M&B is still in the opening stages, so there's still lots of room for more stuff

 

[Sabin Stargem]

Actually, this could go well with roads and rumors.  For examples, a bunch of scruffy-looking peasants could talk about how the local Black Knights are causing trouble, while a Swadian soldier mentions where an army of the Swadians is headed to.  Heck, maybe people in the tavern could recognize the player by reputation, raising their mugs and some offering jobs.  All kinds of possibilities here, if used right.

 

[Despereaux]

wow seriously

That'd be really cool
Like walk into an inn and all the peasants hail you

 

[Destichado]

We're not that far yet.  Wait until elements of plot start coming out.

Winter has done a wonderful plot mod, I'm working on a plot mod, and adding lots of people and giving them all something to say becomes vitally necessary, simply a function of writing stories.  It will be done.  Even without talking to Armagan or knowing his intentions, I can virtually assure you of this.  But until you need people so they can say all the things you want to write, it becomes rather pointless.  It would be nothing more than window-dressing.

 

[Joza]

I like those ideas. Maybe we could start with simple people speaking only one line and when developers have time they could implement those other interesting ideas. However, if it is very time consuming (which I doubt) then we should forget it for now.

 

[PIL313]

Actually, this could go well with roads and rumors.  For examples, a bunch of scruffy-looking peasants could talk about how the local Black Knights are causing trouble, while a Swadian soldier mentions where an army of the Swadians is headed to.  Heck, maybe people in the tavern could recognize the player by reputation, raising their mugs and some offering jobs.  All kinds of possibilities here, if used right.

that is a really cool idea 

 

[thaimodz]

Yeah, I don't think I'm VIP enough to close down the whole inn for me.

Inns and taverns can always lead to sidequests, money and fame.

 

[Despereaux]

lol if you were famous enough, i guess all of the serfs and peasants
would look up at you in awe and start applauding you, and like maybe ask for your autograph or something
But that's kinda out of the era, right?

 

[Sabin Stargem]

Not neccessarily.  There are many old concepts that still hold true in the modern world, and one such thing is idolization.  Be it gods, celebrities, or others, there is little doubt that someone would want a souviner of such things.

 

[calandale]

Not an autograph though. I would guess more like a bit of clothes or hair.

 

[Garrett]

lol...
just imagine, ten people are rushing to you and try to cut off  your hair or your cloth

Anyway, great idea but for the whole game, not for beta, now there are more serious things

 

[Antique Futon]

I like the idea of taverns being crowded with NPCs. But why not take it a step further, and allow for brawls and pick pockets? I would imagine that taverns could get sort of rowdy; to represent this, one of two things could happen: either a) two random NPCs would start a fist fight in randomly determined intervals or b) there is a set of generic dialogue options ("How's the weather?" "Where ya from?" etc.) that you could have with the NPCs that could eventually provoke a fight ("Your father smells of elderberries," "The weather sucks, just like you!" etc.).

To elaborate on the first suggestion: none of the NPCs would be attackable until they started a fight, but when they did, you or anyone else could attack them, but only with your fists. If you get involved, however, other NPCs are more likely to get involved. And when some other NPC gets involved, another NPC does... and so on until eventually the whole tavern could potentially turn into a big brawl. This seems a bit over the top, so maybe the chances of the latter happening are really slim, or maybe the bar tender can call on local police forces to kick you out if the brawl gets out of hand (or maybe he just joins in the fight).

Pick pockets would work in two ways: your character can pick pocket NPCs and NPCs can pick pocket you. Make pick pocketting a new skill, with the more points you invest in it the more likely you are do pull it off successfully and the more loot you'll grab (although nothing crazy, like pick pocketting a great helm or something). You could initiate a pick pocket by talking to an NPC: when your pick pocket skill is high enough, you'll be presented with the following option: talk or attempt "pick pocket." If you choose the latter, you'll have a random chance of pulling it off successfully (although not completely random, because the odds are based on your skill and level).

When you pick pocket, several things can happen: you can steal a person's money without him noticing, you can steal his money with him noticing, you can fail to steal his money without him noticing, and you can fail to steal his money with him noticing. If he notices, he tries to brawl you (or maybe attack you with a weapon). If he attacks you, a brawl can break out.

But other people can steal from you in taverns as well. Some NPCs should randomly have high pick pocket skills and actively try and pick pocket you. You don't officially notice anything (it's not like the NPC would move at you, because that would be sooo obvious), but once you leave the tavern, you'll see that you've lost some money. You can detect whether or not someone is trying to steal from you by a combination of your intelligence, agility, and spotting skill (or something like that). The chance of you detecting a pick pocket depends on this and the pick pocket's stealing skill. If you successfully detect a pick pocket, a dialogue will pop up where you say something akin to "Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing!" or something like that, and the NPC will stutter out some lame excuse and then you guys can brawl.

I know this topic is limited to taverns, but while I've been writing out this idea, I've been actively thinking about ways to expand it to the rest of the game. Maybe you could pick pocket other NPCs, like merchants? But if you fail, you don't just get into a brawl, the city guards come after you and you are banned from the city just as if you had attacked that faction's parties on the map (although just the city bans you). If you get banned, u can sneak into the city or pay some money to the duke for forgiveness. If you are thrown in jail by the guards, you should lose your party, some cash, maybe some loot, and a certain amount of time should pass.

Maybe we should be able to go even farther than pick pocketing, what about just down right robbing? I mean putting a sword to a merchant's throat and being like "Gimmie all your money." You should be able to steal a lot of stuff this way. But even though the rewards are higher, so too are the costs. The city would not only ban you, the entire faction of the city would. And they would actively try and hunt you down with scouting parties and manhunters and stuff. You'd have to lay low, and live life out on the lamb.

Wow, this suggestion got way more expansive than I initially thought. I just wanted to say I liked your idea, but now, I don't even remember what your idea was. Anyway, I remember liking it.

Thoughts?

 

[Pipuli]

Actually, this could go well with roads and rumors.  For examples, a bunch of scruffy-looking peasants could talk about how the local Black Knights are causing trouble, while a Swadian soldier mentions where an army of the Swadians is headed to.  Heck, maybe people in the tavern could recognize the player by reputation, raising their mugs and some offering jobs.  All kinds of possibilities here, if used right.

Yeah, it would be cool when you could offer jobs for NPC:s, or they would offer you somekind of jobs, like escorting caravans or safe dougther from bandits .

 

[Garrett]

lol

heh, nice suggestion about giving jobs TO npcs. For example, find an old samurai master and tell - "I want great samurai sword, Nakamura-san!" - and he answers - "Come to me in a month, I will craft it... for certain amount of money"

Or find some recruiter and/or slave traider and give them jobs to find specific kinds of troops for recruiting

 

[Pipuli]

lol

heh, nice suggestion about giving jobs TO npcs. For example, find an old samurai master and tell - "I want great samurai sword, Nakamura-san!" - and he answers - "Come to me in a month, I will craft it... for certain amount of money"

Or find some recruiter and/or slave traider and give them jobs to find specific kinds of troops for recruiting

Yeah, that was good suggest for next version. That samurai master thing could go like this way too: "I want great samurai sword Nakamura-san!" - and he answers - "Ok, but before that, you must help me whit my mission to destroy they who stoled it from me!" etc. That was only one example for quest, and that Garret's great idea.

 

[thaimodz]

If they ask me for autograph, I would throw my spare clothes at them.

I think if I stand up on the table and shout "Who's gonna fight me? I'll PWNZ0R every last of ya!" then the brawl starts. Sometimes a brawler could ask if someone want to duel 1-on-1 against him. If you do so, everyone would back off to the walls and form a ring for you and the bully to fight.

Edited: Sorry for spelling error in 1 word(s).

 

[Despereaux]

Ya great ideas everybody

That pick-pocket one was really good too
though i'd probably get tempted to try it even though my brain would logically would tell me it's not a good idea
Then i would get banned from a city...
and get angry...
and get more angry....
than go uhhhhh!! that was such a bad idea!!
or something like that

 

[powertothemidgs]

Maybe we should be able to go even farther than pick pocketing, what about just down right robbing? I mean putting a sword to a merchant's throat and being like "Gimmie all your money." You should be able to steal a lot of stuff this way. But even though the rewards are higher, so too are the costs. The city would not only ban you, the entire faction of the city would. And they would actively try and hunt you down with scouting parties and manhunters and stuff. You'd have to lay low, and live life out on the lamb.

Thoughts?

this does not sound very fun to me to have to be chased by an entire faction and work my way up the ladder everytime i get caught stealing... i think ther should be a consequense but not that drastic