Re: Frandum, a primarily quest-based exploration Mud
Awesome!
My problem with the elemental, and indeed with a couple of other fights I've run into is that the flee command doesn't work too well, so even if I am being fought by something a bit too strong there isn't usually a backout, I get "the so and so is surrounding you" or "you retreated a few feet" or something like that. That happened twice with the fire elemental.
Indeed since it takes time to look at an enemy, it might be helpful if you could let players know when something is too strong in the fight descriptions before it's needed to type the look command, eg "the fire elemental attacks you, your in trouble" That way if fleeing is this difficult you can start off by typing flee multiple times.
Fights seem a little odd even in terms of the arena. I have killed the veteran orc and as I've ground stats a little I can now often get him to severely wounded, and I can kill most of the opponents in the mult iple brawl scenario like the goblins and the dwarf, however on some occasions I just seem to get paggered very quickly.
Btw, speaking of food and fighting, I notice there is a butcher corpse command but I don't think I noticed if there was a cook command or something similar. given the amount of flowers herbs and leaves in the game that could actually be fun, being able to cut meat from a corpse, make a fire and either roast the meat on a spit or cook in a pan with leaves or flowers for seasoning and maybe roasted vegitables, with more prepared meals giving more hp regen.
I actually always like games that give me the feeling of wilderness survival ala a fantasy like lotr, catching my own fish and cooking them, having to literally survive off the land, maybe make some of my own items out of skins or bark etc. Indeed, one other game i've played let you make a bark skewer of a branche and cook meat on it so you didn't even need a pan (albeit if you had a pa n you could get more meet and seasoning into it).
Another random suggestion occurred to me looking at the game, and that is ratial advantages.
I wouldn't suggest Frandum do the "Well dwarves are stupider than elves so can't progress as far in magic" type of route, but it might be fun if each race had a little tweak which altered their gameplay or progression, not something so as to seriously affect the game or what a person can do (since if someone wants to be a wise orc mage there's no reason they shouldn't be), however just something to reflect the different past of the races and give a point to playing such.
I'd suggest something like the following.
Human: Less affected by heat and cold, gains more exploration points when wandering around (humans being more adaptable than other races), possibly a miner speed increase to learning skills, though a very miner one, say a %5 faster, than average across the board humans being sort of jack of all trades.
High elf: has more spellpoints (perhaps an extra quarter more than a human), and can learn wizardry, mental shield, spell focus, weaving, and knitting a bit faster, perhaps %10. You might also consider giving them an extra ability, for example the ability to meditate and regain spellpoints more quickly than normal resting or sleeping reflecting their connections with magic and lore.
Sylven elf: Gains a quarter more spellpoints like a high elf, however is %10 faster at learning wilderness lore, site and the bow and spear weapon, also carpentry and leather working (sylven elves being as I understand more about nature and less about studdying ancient lore and magic), it'd also make sence if sylvens got better at things like tracking, though not adventuring skill specifically since the amount the adventuring skill affects in the game improvements in it could be a bit too! overpowering as a race advantage. You could also consider lettin g sylvens regain hp more quickly in forests.
Dwarves: Gain more hp, (perhaps an extra %10), and learns forging, combat, offensive, haggling, maces and axes %10 faster, another fun advantage for dwarves might be paying over all less or getting more for their loot since they can appraise the value of things better than other races.
Orc: Gains a quarter more hp like dwarves, plus learns leather working, combat, and offensive %10 faster, (it'd also be good if they could improve more quickly at tracking or butchering), however can regain more hp when eating or taking potions. Another fun ability for orcs might be the ability to just snack on corpses they find to regain health, perhaps without cooking them first orcs not being too particular about their food.
Sibeis: Gains both %10 more hp and spellpoints, and learns wizardry, wilderness lore, city lore, mental shield and spell focus %10 faster (the entry on the site said they were into gaining knolidge). One rathe r fun ability for Sibeis might be the ability to use the "light" command without having a torch. I don't know if they actually breathe fire like a dragon, but if they could for example light their breath and give a quick blow to see where they were, that could be a very handy extra and make the game rather interesting, which indeed is mostly what I was thinking in race terms, not actually changing the journey over all so much as saying "here's a little quirk to play with to give a slightly different slant on things).
The same could go for other races if added, eg, MErelves could have no penalties for swimming, or goblins could be particularly good at looting and stealing (I did consider suggesting this for the orcs, but orcs are a bit hefty to do pick pocketing and the like).
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