Posts made by Sab

Removed as we're going to take an addition few days to balance a few things after first glance! Sorry about the inconvenience!

On the topic of World Building and timeline:

I will be posting a timeline of events that lead to the change in 2026. I've actually already started on the documentation post on our website carrierrpi.mudhosting.net.

The important thing to note, however, is that what happened outside of the gameworld will never be as important as what happens inside it. While I know players want more information about the world their character's come from, my first inclination was to let players make shit up (as is done in quite a few tabletop systems) as they go along, and approve it as long as it fit the theme and narrative.

That didn't last long, however, as people kept asking for more info, so I've started doing a rough overview of what each continent has gone through over the course of the next 10 years. Which, might seem like a short time, but given the fact that we're on the cusp of dozens of scientific advancements this year, I don't think it's that unreasonable that - if everyone ended up banding together in the face of danger (the floods and earthquakes) - they could hit a dystopian golden age. I'd be happy to discuss it further, but I want it to be very clear that my focus is never going to be on the story outside of the play area.

As for group apps: It's massively less about power struggle and more about what fits the lore. Why are three people, who all know each other, disappearing at once? Is it an accident? Is it intentional? Do they compliment each other? How well, is it too well? Those are the kinds of questions I'm asking myself when looking at group apps.

Frankly, don't give a shit about there becoming a power imbalance because of group applications. That's going to happen regardless, what's important is making sure the group applications are thematic and fit within the lore of the world. It's also why - unless someone gives me a really, really good pitch - group apps will probably be limited to 2.

@acceleration

We don't have an official policy on Group Apps at present. But I'm not against them at all. All that I ask is that you email your group idea to carrierrpi@gmail.com or PM me on our forums at carrierpi.mudhosting.net.

Either way we can have a chat about what you had in mind!

@Thenomain The area isn't particularly maze-like, and fighting other people is going to be entirely dependent on whether or not that kind of conflict happens between PCs. I actually don't expect a lot of PC-on-PC conflict early on, but people could surprise me.

With the approval system, you'll need to set your stats, your skills, and have a background written to support them. I'll have more information on the world by tonight!

And to clarify, I mean this friday, 6/24.

I'm happy to announce that CarrierRPI is going to be opening its doors for play on Saturday, the 2nd of July, at (tentatively) 12PM PST. This may be a bit earlier, or a bit later, depending on the needs of staff, but shouldn't veer too heavily off course. Updates will be provided!

As well, all week I'll be posting information, logs of roleplay and game mechanics, and official staff introduction to help clarify information for both new and old RPI players alike!

And, finally, applications will open up this Friday for players to get a head start on getting approved! This way when we open everyone will be able to jump right in and roleplay! This also includes our full chargen, so players will be able to get a solid grasp of some of the game mechanics early on! I should be on all day, as well, to answer questions and assist players with any issues they might have!

Disclaimer: CarrierRPI is opening up in an Alpha state. This means that there will be bugs, some helpfiles won't be entirely updated (and thus might be missing or contain outdated information), and some areas might still contain typos/information we missed during building. But, worry not, we'll still be running RPT's (recommended play times), story content, and the crafting/combat/character advancement should be entirely ready for play! I do ask that if players notice anything they think is incorrect, that they report it to staff!

Another Teaser and some Documentation!

"The year is 2026, ten years after modern day, and it's been a rough couple of 'em. We've seen shit hit the fan in more ways than one, and persevered through all of it. 2017 was the first year the earthquakes hit. Still don't know what caused 'em, but something like fifteen different major cities in the US were shifted into rubble. California's basically uninhabitable now. But we made it through it, seemed like nothing could stop us.

Then the floods hit, a year later. Global warming predictions were off by about--shit, I don't know, a decade? You'd think the smart fucks would have done a better job, but, here we are. Coastal cities were flooded, Venice sank, the ocean rose. People drowned. But the rest of us made it. We're still here.

There was good shit, too, don't get me wrong. Biomedical engineer had been making huge progress in deleting birth defects from children in the womb. The UN'd brought in dozens of previous war-torn countries and had done a good job of keeping everyone from bombing the shit out of each other. Global starvation dropped to a manageable level with the help of modified foods. Shit was good.

And my family was happy. We lived in Denver. I was a young, up-and-coming stock trader with more than enough income to support my kids. I'd even gotten in on the ground level with some major companies. Some big money-making shit. Long-term. I had two kids. One twelve, the other eleven. Beautiful girls, and the smartest fucking kids I've ever met.

And they're still there. I'm nowhere. I'm stuck in the middle of this concrete building in the middle of this forest, with nothing but the sounds of my own voice and the howling from outside to keep me company. I thought it was wolves, at first, you know? That would make sense. But then I saw one of them. It was wearing clothes--ripped up, bloody-covered clothes, but clothes. But that shit wasn't human. It was running around at the edge of the clearing outside of the building, on hands and feet like a fucking dog. And it was screaming.

Those aren't howls, they're screams.

But there's enough food here to last me a while. I've got these coins I woke up with, and these vending machines are pretty well stocked. Stocked enough to last just me a year, I think. If I have to go out there, I can probably use one of these pool cues as a weapon. If I have to. If.

Downstairs there's a fiberglass chute where I woke up, I must have slid out of it. Last thing I remember was going to sleep in my bed, next to my wife, hoping that the next day I wouldn't have to go to work. Now all I got are these cold walls and this pain in my neck to remind me I'm still alive. Jokes on me.

I'm still here."

---

CarrierRPI takes place in the near future, one that's been ravaged by natural disaster. But the world has adapted through it. Positive shifts in global culture have made it a better place to live than ever (assuming you survived the earthquakes and floods), and life expectancy for people even in third world countries has shot up.

Now, people generally live long, comfortable lives. Wars are things of the past, famine and hunger are thought of as things that happened to other people, long ago. And now, the only thing that breaks the monotony is the tabloid and weekly celebrity gossip that runs throughout modern culture.

You play as one of these people. The normal, average man. The soldier, made lazy by the lack of threat. The chef, powering through his life by virtue of every dish he makes. The lawyer, representing the myriad of drunk driving cases that come through constantly, as drugs and alcohol are some of the only things that break up the monotony of daily life.

But that's in the past. Now, somewhere in the world, you fell asleep. Whether on the side of the road after a long night of partying, or in bed next to your sleeping husband. But when you woke up, things weren't right. Behind you sits a fiberglass chute that slams closed as your body hits the floor. Around you are nothing but concrete walls, the far side of the room holding the only exit--a pair of dark stairs that lead up to a set of double doors.

The life that you led before is gone, and the only thing left is a far-off thought, and an aching pain in your neck. All that's left is something distant, after years of the comfortable life you once held. Survival.

---

Combat

There are two different types of combat on CarrierRPI: Slow Combat and Fast Combat.

Slow combat takes place when two PCs are fighting one another. Over the course of a round one player will emote their actions, then use the ATTACK/HIT/MURDER commands (the only difference being that MURDER Will attempt to kill the target outright), with a location on the opponent's body to attack. For example, two people are fighting one another over food, Jon and Edgar. Jon goes first:

Emote pulls his fist back and sends it directly at Edgar's head.
(Will read as)
Jon pulls his fist back and sends it directly at Edgar's head.

Then, Jon enters the command ATTACK EDGAR HEAD, and the code gives him a result based on how well he hits. Edgar will be able to retaliate with his own emote and attack, and combat continues.

Fast Combat takes place between a PC (or multiple PCs) and an enemy (or multiple enemies). In this instance, especially if the enemy immediately attacks the player, the player's job is to make sure they don't die. They can do this by changing defenses, aiming strategically for the correct body parts to make the enemy unstable, or overall overpower the creature and kill it.

When an NPC is killed, they drop as a corpse. Players, however, have the potential to be saved as they bleed out.

---

Policy

Sex: As an adult-themed game, sex is an inevitability. And, as a result, we request that all players be 18. Try and keep whatever sexual content there is to side-rooms, please, as no one like walking in on that. And remember, if anyone wants to fade to black and imply the scene happened, that has to happen. Staff will be very harsh about this.

Rape: No rape. Ever. No exceptions.

Graphic Violence: Due to the graphic nature of the game, violence, gore, and graphic depictions of death are likely going to be common, and are a central theme of CarrierRPI. Because of this, it's unlikely that these things are going to be able to be avoided.

Rules of Engagement: When dealing with PC-to-PC combat there are certain rules that should be followed:

1. Don't just use the attack command. You MUST emote in between attacks, describing your actions. Situations where this doesn't happen should be reported to staff.
2. Do not just disengage and spamwalk away. You MUST roleplay the process of running away, giving the other player the opportunity to react.
3. Remember, Carrier is supposed to be fun, and there are real players on the other end. If you intend to kill a PC, make sure that's really what you want to/need to/should do. Consider other types of antagonism, instead. Try and kill them in creative ways. Make the situation memorable.

Staff PCs: Storytelling staff will not have characters on CarrierRPI. Builders and Coders are, however allowed their own characters at their discretion, but their actions will be closely monitored by storytelling staff to ensure that there aren't any abuses of staff power.

Special Applications: Should there ever be a need for special applications (I doubt this will be the case), staff will place them openly for all players' access.

IC/OOC Crossover: This is an RPI. Don't post pertinent IC information in public forums, don't tell people who you play publically, don't use OOC information that you learn ICly. I know that IC information gets spread around, but as this game relies heavily on the mystery of what's going on for plot, it'd be really lame to spoil that for players who haven't gotten the chance to learn it

@acceleration

Specifically it means that players will drive the story, and build up the world. The world will get more and more dangerous as the game goes on, and players will need to adapt and build the world in order to deal with the dangers.

The engine supports a lot of different grid building skills and crafts. For example, with a shovel and the right skills, a character is able to dig a cave, shore it up, and provide supports and keep it safe. Alternatively, they might be able to make a tree fort in the forest that allows them to stay off of the dangerous ground.

From a conversation I had with someone over on TMS:

Having played versions of your codebase before, I had a couple of questions about your upcoming game.

It seems to be being built around the idea of cooperative group effort. With MUDs already having a small playerbase, and RPIs being a subset of that, with combat oriented characters being an even smaller subset of that, I wonder how you will work around smaller player numbers for your group oriented content?

So it might start pretty slowly, initially, as the reliance of other players being around is going to be a big thing. Fortunately, I have a good group of people that I know will be coming in at launch, and between them and the Storytelling Staff that we have set up, I'm expecting the majority of the content being focused entirely on the starting area.

BUT, if for some reason that doesn't work, we'll be adjusting the enemy mobs, adjust the availability of crafting items, etc. until we find a nice balance for our players. Our coder is off-peak, as well, so it's likely there will be some content going on at any time of the day.

Also, one of the things I specifically encountered in Dark Isles, was a long wait time when it came to player crafting availability. When you have a smaller playerbase that tends to only have one or two people focus on a specific crafting skill, it can create long wait times as you are forced to wait for the blacksmith (my example) to log in, and wait for him to be available to make your thirty nails, which then allows you to make your whatchamacallit. There were times I waited a week for a blacksmith to log in, because crafting was built upon player-to-player exchanges.

This kind of thing I don't expect to be an issue at all. Early on, pretty much everyone will be able to do everything (as far as I'm aware, and if not, I'll be adjusting it) in regards to basic crafts. Then you get into specializations, and crafting trees, and all of those will require materials and objects that aren't available early on. Hopefully this answers this question.

With crafting and exploration/combat geared towards groups or player-to-player reliance, will you have incentive or activities for people to participate in when the community doesn't have the numbers to support these ideas?

Yes, yes, 100 times yes. One of the biggest failures of other RPIs was their reliance on groups to accomplish anything combat related. We wanted to step away from that. Besides that, it's a modern setting, so people are probably better at hiding then they are fighting anyway. Anyone should be able to learn to hide and sneak, and moving around the forest should be pretty simple using these mechanics, allowing people who want to explore and move around on their own the ability to.

I usually find when the RP is slow (or no one else is on) to be the times I would craft or explore. With these activities also based upon other people, what can be offered during the 'down times'?

My goal is to cater to as many kinds of players a we can. So, my post may have made it seem like reliance on other players is REQUIRED for things like crafting/exploring, but what I mean to say is that it is one specific way of playing. While later on players will need to interact with one another to get their goals completed, in the meantime, especially early on, a single individual who goes about searching in a smart way is just as likely to be able to do these things on their own as a group, if not better. (As they're more able to dodge enemies/spend time searching, etc.)

You have a neat genre idea and a great codebase to work with. I just lived through lower player numbers during the Dark Isles days, and saw how relying upon large player numbers to drive combat and crafting really only caused it to stop functioning entirely.

Yeah, the Dark Isles codebase is pretty much the only holdover of that time that we're sticking to. Their coder came along with us, but I never played the game, nor did I experience any of the old good, or bad. I appreciate the questions, though, it means there's some interest. Do you mind if I post them on the forums? I'd be happy to make you anonymous.

@ThugHeaven

Yep! Level-less and Class-less system. RP Experience is gained and used to raise skills, and you get it by roleplaying with others.

So some more information about the game that have been set:

The crafting system that we have in place is primarily going to be oriented towards supporting the themes of survival. While initially it might not be hard to survive on the given resources alone, eventually players will need to go out and find supplies that allow them to live (not comfortably, of course.)

For example: Food and water are a necessity, and while they might be easy to get early on, they'll get increasingly more difficult. That's where the craft system comes in. Only certain characters will have the prerequisites necessary to learn how to do certain crafts, which forces the players to work together to survive.

A basic example: Players learning to craft water filters, or water purifiers, using salvaged equipment they might find. Learning to dry or smoke food so that it keeps longer. Learning to make water catchers that will fill up when it rains IG.

Combat also supports this. While players might start off with basic weapons, they'll prove to be extremely ineffective against the enemies that roam the forest, so it's necessary for crafters to learn to make weapons and armor that better support them, so that they can explore further.

As I'd mentioned earlier, exploration is an incredibly important aspect of Carrier, and without exploring the players will start dying off. Which means they have to be smart about how they explore. Running around with a bunch of combatants, killing mobs is an oldschool staple of RPI's, but I'm hoping to step away from that.

In Carrier, you're better off learning to hide, and be quick, when it comes to finding new locations and exploring them. Most of the enemies will be too strong for a group (initially) let alone a single individual, so using the stealth system will be necessary for getting around safely. Of course, this isn't going to be the case forever, as better weapons and armor are made by the crafters, but power creep is something we're considering significantly, and the gameworld is going to adapt and change based on the way the players act.

We don't have a hard date set yet, but considering we're about halfway done with building, and the deadline I have set for myself is quickly approaching, I'd guess sometime in the next 3 weeks to a month.

I'll post more when I have a guaranteed date!

@Bustahemo

The only staff that'll be coming back from the old games is Nyssa, who's our acting Coder. Otherwise, none of the other staff are involved in the project, just myself, her, and another who'll come out of the woodwork and introduce themselves around here at some point, I'm sure.

The only capacity in which you might run into previous staffers is if they decide they want to play the game!

@Thenomain

Not yet, but once we have some I'd be happy to post them!

@Thenomain

It mostly means that combat is slower, that you describe the actions of your character as they fight, as opposed to letting the code handle it all explicitly. Code does impact how well you are as a combatant, and how successful you are at your attacks, but the players are able to describe how they hit. Or, conversely, not fight.

So, for example, a player is able to describe how they're trying to scurry away from whatever is trying to kill them, or describe how they're clawing at someone else's face if they're being assaulted, etc.

Yep! Sorry, mostly been focusing on building and everything, very little time to set up solid promotions beyond the fact that it's an RPI, and that it's coming soon. Unfortunately for now, there's very little explicitly to share beyond some basics like: Crafting! Combat! Mystery! But I'll throw out some info.

The combat is a pretty huge step away from the automated combat that was seen in Arm, Atonement, or SOI. While basic, we think it does a good job of allowing people to actually roleplay while in fights. The flow of combat goes something like: emote, then attack, then respond. It's simple, but effective.

Beyond that, we're planning for a pretty large craft-suite as things go along, especially at start so that players have the ability to act on their own.

Like a lot of MUSHes, we're planning for a good deal of staff interaction. The concept of a Sandbox isn't for everyone, but that's my primary goal. We'll be allowing players to interact with the grid, create their own space (which is less of a perk and more of a requirement for the story), and protect themselves with what they build.

tl;dr We're using the old Dark Isles codebase to create a new Survival Horror RPI with descriptive, emote-oriented combat, crafting, and world-building.

CarrierRPI is a survival horror, roleplay intensive game with an emphasis on exploration, mystery, and world-building. Starting off with a small area, the players are set to survive against horrible threats, each other, and the elements, as they discover why they are where they are and the mystery behind their location.

Hi! I'm Sabrelon, Lead Staff, and I'm happy to say we're working hard on getting the game out swiftly and fully. Using a custom codebase built off of CircleMUD, we have access to years of work that was done before us that we have ready to put to use!

Our forums can be located at http://carrierrpi.mudhosting.net/forums/index.php and I suggest if anyone has any questions, suggestions (I'm open to any and all), or comments, please swing by and check us out! Beyond story, I try to make it a point to be transparent, so if anyone has any questions for me personally feel free to shoot me a message on there!