Controversial Idea

Ok, I have had an idea. The reason it is controversial will soon be discovered. The idea is simple.

Should there be a point in our lives where we start to become weaker?

In real life, we hit a peak of our powers, then slowly get weaker. We get slower. We get more illnesses. should this be be represented in our game?

How would it work. Well admins work out at how old we should be to be at our peak (keep it secret, add mystery) then from that moment on, we get weaker. Our defence reduces (reflexes slowing). Our attack reduces (eyesight failing us). Our stealth reduces (get physically slower). This reduction starts very slowly, without it really noticing, but as you continue to get older, it the reduction in stats speeds up, like in real life.

I know this wont be liked, because people work hard to live long and get to the top, but in real life, when you are old, in mafia, you rely on your bodygaurds more, and do less things yourself.

There will become a point in the game where people who are extremely old (again decided by admins) that they have next to know defence or attack, and have to rely on their bodyguards/respect within community to continue living.

The following is a rought graph of how it would look:

http://i54.tinypic.com/1zpmk2d.png

Now if the admins wanted to complicate it more, they could add other real life factors into it, such as:

• If you rank slowly (ie take it easy) you get weaker slower then someone who ranks fast. This would resemble someone who is relaxed in comparison to someone who lives their life in the fast lane

• If you have been shot at a few times, you will depreciate quicker, due to wounds making it that you will become 'ill' more often.

• If you kill lots, you will depreciate quicker due to the stress problems killing will give you, ie more likely to get heart attack!

• I'm sure there are more factors that can go in.

Advantages:

• Keeps the game moving and allows new people to get to the top

• Makes the game more realistic

• Means that those at the top really have to think what they are doing when there (ie, have to rely on the respect to stay at the top, rather then their stats!)

Disadvantages:

• People work hard to get to the top, should they really have it taken away?

Will be interesting to get other peoples (including the admins) thoughts on this.

I like the concept of it, and I know that people who are currently at the top of their game will hate it and those who aren't at the top of their game will like it. That much is a given. I like the general idea of the person at the top of the game will be more vulnerable as time goes by and this could then allow for a quicker rotation of the main head of the game.

My concern is the disadvantage you raised. If people put over a thousand hours into an account or more, then is it really fair for them to start losing their stats that they've worked hard to achieve? In the overall scheme it becomes quite a redundant thing to do when you know that you're only going to lose them slowly again and there's nothing you can do about it.

If I recall, there was a suggestion along these lines to do with wack deterioration and the idea that you had to get a certain amount of kills to keep your stat high and if you stopped killing then your wack stat would slowly deteriorate. I think as long as there are methods to moderate your stats, and possible ways of keeping your account in tip top shape then this could be a good addition. Ie. "Going to the gym" to keep yourself in a good physical state therefore preserving some stealth stat and so on and so forth. This would then allow for the top accounts to maintain their accounts somewhat (meaning that they have to remain active to keep their accounts stats from waning too much).

I didn't look at your graph, and the added factors you listed seem like overkill.

That said, I think the basis of this idea seems like it would be pretty solid, if implemented well. Yes, from a gameplay aspect it would facilitate turnover and give more of a sense of progressive timeline, rather than the constant present state in which we currently exist.

It would also help to round out the leadership experience, and the standards by which the great ones are measured. After all, an important part of building your empire is securing your legacy and planning for what comes after.

Furby, thanks for the input and the chat on irc. I agree it is a fine line between keeping the game realistic, and not taking away the rewards of playing the game well and hard, and spending hours developing you character, to only have it killed because you have been successful.

Rudgiger, the graph was a very quick (and poor) example of how it would work. i wouldnt have stats drop off as quick, i simply ran out of space on the graph builder i was using! and some of the additional ideas were just 'afterthoughts' and me thinking out loud.

What it would encourage is for the old people to keep their power due to the respect others have them, rather then their strength.

Well with age i have a prob with one thing. just because you get older doesn't mean your weaker. and this is from knowing old people. my gramps could out run me, but he is ex military so i guess thats years of training. and same with like you said wack getting weaker. it doesn't take alot of strength to hold a gun and fire. now maybe if you add in a % of you getting in a tuffle then you might be overpowered but sometimes old people or sneaky and capable.

haha i mean take mr miyagi old but you see he still got it =] although this is still a good idea it will help the rotation of heads. And make those ontop fight to keep their seats.

I don't think DanK is proposing that one day you wake up useless here, more of a gradual decline associated with age. Even in your own example Gallifrey, whilst your Grandad is still incredibly fit, would he not accept that he is weaker than he was 20 years ago? 40 years ago even?

This would be a revolutionary change to the game. I personally think the system is broken at the moment and double/triple demotions for bodyguards are further stamping out the embers. However, that is just me and without knowing whether anyone upstairs is receptive to this, I don't think I'll expend more time on it.

I will return at a later date for a full discussion if there is a chance of this being implemented.

~C~

agreed chuckle and it would all depend on if the said person eats/exercise healthfully and the level of stress

also with your stress over killing dank it would all depend on the person like say i love seeing blood and the feeling of life slipping through my hands why would i be stressed

hmm Ok so lets say this is implemented. maybe you could tie it in with the start up answers on how your character is.

Gallifrey, the thing is, your Grandfather was probably very fit when is was younger. That would be resmbled ig due to someone very strong still be stronger then someone who was weaker then them at the same age. And you will still have them stronger then younger people if they were extremley strong at their peak.

I don't think it should be a rank based thing, where if you live fast, you die fast, But that mobsters have a life limit of say just a year and a half or two years just so the game doesn't stay monotonous with the same long ruling leader(s).

I love this idea and really puts in a percentage of realism.

I really don't like this idea. In my opinion this idea tells those who have patience that it is a worthless trait. If someone does well and has been alive longer than anyone else then they've done something right. I can't think of any situation where I want to punish a player who has done better than average or has lived longer than anyone else. Also this idea leans towards, like you said, "living in the fast lane." Those who are wack happy and purely want to kill others will have increased abilities over short periods of time where as those interested in building community will be disadvantaged in the long run.

I'm against this idea completely.

Excuse me for the double post. I would like to add that if this "curve" is over a long enough timeline I could be interested in this idea. Though, the change would have to be slight and the timeline would have to be long. Especially since our characters are living a day to day life as if they were mafia. So, as I beleive it to be one MR day equals one character day. So...40 years IRL is 40 years in game.

So are you saying that a person can join the mob when they are 20, and become the godfather when they are still 20? Since 120 days in game is 120 days IRL.

Godfather at 20?

Well, if you're constantly running cons, robbing a bank every few minutes, and moving several hundred pounds of drugs through four or five cities on a daily basis, you probably deserve it.

That is the way in which I beleive it to work Aldo. I'm not saying it makes tons of sense but unless I'm wrong I'm under the impression 1 day irl = 1 day in game.

TheBigEasy, my graph is bad, I was thinking along the lines of it being a long time until you start losing power, and the stats reduce vvvv slowly first of all. this time si something that i was unable to determine, but i thought around a year would round things off. So your stats keep raising for a year, when they get to a year, they stop rising, but wont drop for 6 months, after 18 months of being alive, they then start dropping over maybe the next year, slowly at first, and then quickening up, until after maybe 2 and a half years of being on the game, you 'die' of old age, but are imortalised some way? 2 and a half years for one character is a lot...

was thinking last night as well, if someone gets to the 'end' of their life time, and die of old age, they are then able to 'will' their money and credits to the next of kin/other players, therefoere taking away some of the disadvantages of them dying

i think this woluld be a fantastic idea,especially if for an example upon triggering youre decline you recieved a MM to the effect of

'you are eating your meal when you get a pain in your chest,eventually the pain subsides but the worry does not'

letting people know they had started to decline would give them time to groom a replacement if they were a high ranking member

It hink that perhaps your intro Q's could influence your age.

like if you chose backgrounds.

EX:   backgrounds

- aged WW1 veteran, great fighter, healthy warrior.

- street urchin, great at pping, slightly shorter lifespan

-immigrant, learned things in sicily before coming here to join a family

-convict, just got out of sing sing(?), looking for new roots after getting locked up for murder and/or drugs (possible boost to drug count, like starting with 6)

-rich kid, you got into crime at a young age because of your friends at school, your parents used to spoil you but now avoid you (possible $50k boost when you start off)?

I think that this is an utterly fantastic idea.

It will never, ever, in a billion years actually happen, but I think it's a great way to introduce new life into this game - which, let's face it, sorely needs it.

was thinking last night as well, if someone gets to the 'end' of their life time, and die of old age, they are then able to 'will' their money and credits to the next of kin/other players, therefoere taking away some of the disadvantages of them dying

Reply by: DanK at Jul 23, '11 06:39

Dank, that would be a stupendous suggestion if we wanted to add more money to the ridiculous amount already in the game.

Aldo,

Not only would that be a horrible addition to MafiaReturns but, from how I personally feel about it, would think that it would drive away 50% of it's userbase. If you are looking for a game like that, click on one of the little +'s at the top of your screen, I'm pretty sure if you go to the 50'th page or so you'll have a huge selection to choose from.