Making the cleft multiplayer is... quite outside the scope of this thread's purpose, since that's actually a fairly huge change with lots of details that'd need to be worked through and discussed and a lot of work put into it to make the change rather than a minor tweak to improve things. It'll take quite some time to multiplayerise the cleft, especially if you were to insert different people seeing different states. (Which would just lead to potential confusion. Not to mention you'd have to pull a lot of puzzles anyway just to stop seeingpeople walking through doors.)
But if we're gonna talk about it, personally, I don't like the idea of doing it... the lonesome, endless desert is one of my favorite environments, and it's not meant to be bustling up there. New arrivals are very rare. You should be alone in your journey until you hit the city.
I still think issues with it as single player can be covered by a 'skip tutorial' button where the relto book would normally be putting you in relto in single-pillar state. That'd let people go where they want.
In any case, for the moment (when that moment comes), whilst the idea of a multiplayer cleft gets talked about and then possibly worked on, something that will take quite some time, a return to single-player cleft start would be an improvement on Relto. Agreed?
vidroth wrote:
I strongly oppose "start in the cleft," at least as it stands. It is too hard by FAR for a new, non-Myst player to be forced to solve it before they can play the game.
Before? The cleft is the game. They're gonna have to do it anyway. And better that they start there than they stumble around the hood around not knowing where the start of the game is.
Plus Zandi will pretty much tell you how to solve the puzzles if you take too long and go back there, won't he? :p
Simone wrote:
Moreover, I don't think that enforcing the 50-person limit is a problem given the current status of MOULa
I was in the city just after it came up after that three-day down when the population was in the mid-40's. Trust me, the 50-person limit is definitely needed. A fair bit of serverside work is probably required before that can be upped.
A'na wrote:
I 'm afraid I fall into that group of gamers who enjoy being brain challenged. I don't want to see Uru dumbed down. There is nothing difficult about getting the KI. It requires exploration and discovery and a questing mind that seeks answers.
It's not meant to be, though. User Interface shouldn't be a challenge. Neither obtaining the Ki nor using it were designed to be puzzles, they just ended up being put in in a really obscure way.
Whilyam wrote:
I agree with all the suggestions here. One thing, though. I would have every new person get placed in either Bevin or Seret and people who wanted to go to the other hoods could. I'm not really fond of the idea of changing a million DRC (number) hoods with a million D'ni-sounding names.
I'm not saying we get rid of personal hoods or other public hoods that people can join instead, but one or two default ones isn't enough. Remember the server code can't handle more than 50 people in an instance, and with hoods because the books lack the ability to population check it has to constrain membership numbers. Whilst that's something that should be fixed that'll take quite some time.
B'ni Rabbit. wrote:
My suggestion is to have a book on the second bookshelf with just enough explanations on where they are, what and where a Bevin is, the orange pillar outside the hut, what a KI is and where to get it, written in IC, with a hint of OOC, all written in concise simple English which will give the "What am I supposed to do now?" newbie a direction and purpose, at least enough to get started.
If we jig things properly then this isn't necessary. If the pillar is open then it's obviously the location of the game puzzle. If you first time get to a Bevin through the Nexus and we rename Bevins to Neighborhoods then it becomes quite clear what they are. If you get sent straight from Nexus to Ki-Gahreesen to get the Ki then it'd make sense for there to be a notebook there next to the Dispenser telling you what this is and a few sketches of how to use it.
Rudolfson wrote:
Besides, I do not need any major changes. I want a full RESET. As soon as the open source project gets it wings entirely, fans and Cyan should make that happen. Tweek has me fully convinced that this is what I want. The game restarted and made as it was intended as far as it is possible to recreate.
ThedStranger wrote:
- Start in the cleft singleplayer, make your way to D'ni through the volcano (after you go through that-door-which-you-couldn't-open you immediately tranported to D'ni). You also have an option, once in the cave under the caldera, to transport you to D'ni right away).
Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. I'll see you in 2085 when that gets done.