=== ANCHOR POEM === ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────── In Majesty, you place reward flags on specific monsters as a concession from the simulation crowd to the real time strategy crowd who wanted more direct control. In Symbeline, you determine the bounty price for various crimes that mordaunts and bandits might commit. In addition, you can incentivize your heroes to commit crimes against neighboring nations the same way. In this way you do not have direct control, but rather can build out a simulation and tweak it bit-by-bit to reward certain types of behavior. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┘ === SIMILARITY RANKED === --- #1 notes/symbeline-design-the-guild --- ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────── design the guild, design the capital, then design their path through mordaunts. easy peasy. design the guild like a museum. Each spot there's an exhibit which teaches the randomly generated rolled statistics hero something new. Maybe it teaches them how to use certain weaponry, maybe it teaches them how to use a bow. Whatever the spell might be, they can learn it, and use their randomly rolled statistics to cast spells that scale differently depending on how their character has been built. design the capital like a flow diagram, if horses need feed and forged steel (for their shoes) then send the outputs of a blacksmith and the outputs of the farmers to the inputs of the stables. Everything has to go somewhere, but the streets are only so wide. You'll have to coordinate the traffic diagram if you want it to go anywhere useful. design the path through the mordaunts. Fighting skeletons teaches you about perseverence and the ability to crush bones, while goblins teach you to always be wary of attack. The sacred grove held blessed berries, and now that the land is liberated from the evil bandits preying on villagers those berries can be carted into town and used to make an antidote which heals death poison caused by the scorpions in the desert (and city rats) design the ruler's schedule like a calendar where each event gives them a bonus on all the ones that come later. Just make sure that they don't get knifed in the posterier or driven mad by the whispers of the orb... or perhaps just the stress of running a kingdom. (how do you simulate that? you can't! you can't simulate humans!) ha I bet I can. They're not so different, you and I, so if given a team I will... ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────┘ --- #2 notes/star-realms-balancing-tradeoff=2 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─ what if I use equal signs instead of dashes, so prevent people from assuming they're duplicates? hmm okay. right so anyway the star realms balancing tradeoff between combat and authority is measured against the duration of a hand (does it fit balanced between other cards of it's playcost) instead of balancing it for the duration of the game (how long does the player want the game to go on for) one of which is just inverse combat damage / healing, and the other of which is an enablement of different strategems. put this in symbeline-gen-realms please ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════┘ --- #3 notes/symbeline-aspects --- ═════════════════════────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 7-24-22 There are three aspects to this game. Broadly, they are military, economics, and diplomacy. More specifically, they are lateral problem solving and lane management, logistic traffic management, and a worker-placement bluffing game. These three aspects can be toggled on and off at will, essentially designating one or more as "AI controlled" and will require no input from the player. They will time their progression to be about at the same rate as the player, thus creating a balanced feel to the game. They also provide alerts and notifications to the player, for example if military is AI controlled and it needs a certain type of hero to progress, it'll ask for it specifically. Each aspect will develop and progress at it's own rate, and the difficulty increases as each milestone is achieved. This is to allow the player to create their own difficulty curve, mediated primarily by their drive to proceed. An analogy would be in Factorio, the game doesn't increase in difficulty unless the player builds pollution spawning factories - in the same way, in Symbeline the difficulty doesn't increase unless the player solves lane challenges in the military aspect, develops new trade routes / traffic paths in the economic aspect, or creates new treaties in the diplomatic aspect. In order to properly explain each aspect, a brief overview will be necessary. In Symbeline, the game plays as a factory might operate. The economic aspect produces heroes, items, and other deliverables that are consumed by the military and diplomatic aspects. There are various problems that need to be solved far from the capital, such as a particular type of monster that is weak or immune to various damage types which necessitates particular heroes or items in order to progress on the military aspect. All of the resources in the game operate on an "income based" system, where output is not measured in total amounts but rather in terms of how much is produced versus consumed. If the input cannot meet the demand, the output is slowed. If input exceeds demand it can be converted into gold which can be used to hire guards and heroes. Resources can be produced inside and outside of the city, depending on their type. But they need to be moved around to various shops for various processing and productive purposes, so pathways must be constructed to deliver those goods. In addition, each building must be supported by several houses for the workers to live in, and the closer they are to the building the better. The denizens of the kingdom don't mind being shuffled about, so they'll organize themselves according to what's most efficient. However they will not organize the paths they take to get places, which is the primary gameplay for the player - designing routes for each building and ensuring they don't overlap or cross too many times, causing traffic and disruptions to your income. Each choice the player makes is immediately reflected in the income calculation, thus allowing for the visual aspect of the game to be wholely separate from the economic side - in fact this is a common thread throughout all three aspects. Computation power is the ultimate enemy of scale, and this game flourishes with a massive scale. The gameplay for the military aspect consists of manipulating "lanes" that designate where each hero will adventure. These lanes are scalable to the player / AI's whims, with a careful balance required - too thin, and the heroes might not encounter enough monsters to level up. Too thick, and they may find themselves patrolling a vast wilderness full of dark and evil monsters. At the end of every lane is a "frontline", where progress has essentially been halted. These frontlines can develop as a result of meeting a foreign kingdoms front or finding a monster type or puzzle that is particularily difficult for your heroes to overcome. The lane / frontline can be scaled not just laterally, but linearly as well such that heroes will be a certain level when they reach the end - think scrolling on a mousewheel translating into deepening level zones. In addition, each monster zone can be set to a certain "security level" meaning how many monsters are there for your heroes to defeat. It's important that they have ample targets for training, however it's always more effective to train on monsters near their level so you have to be careful not to wipe out the native skeleton / goblin / troll population. Each monster zone can have a relationship with the kingdom, on a 2x2 matrix - cultivating / desecrating the land, and fostering / exterminating the monsters. The land produces monsters and treasures, while the monsters provide experience and danger to the heroes and kingdom denizens who live there. However by desecrating the land, farms may be built and by exterminating the monsters, those farms may be safe and require fewer guards. As ruler, you must balance the development of unique magical and alchemical productions with the need for food and other mundane requirements. Diplomacy is a careful balance of internal and external matters, played out through feasts, tournaments, and faires. Each of these events will require input from the economic side and military side, and will involve "courting" other nobles from neighboring kingdoms to sway them to supporting your edicts. When hosting an event, you may pick a particular topic of conversation for your nobles to discuss with their guests. You may also assign your nobles to attempt to engage with a particular foreign noble. Each member of your court has a differing personality (including you, the Majesty) and depending on how you assign them you may experience better or worse results - such as assigning someone who's kind to talk with someone who's cruel would impart a malus to their conversation. Unless the kind person has the trusting trait, in which case they'd succeed in this encounter but fall sway to them in future conversations... Complex interactions that all boil down to a single pair of d12 dice - one for your noble, one for the enemy. This represents the charisma of the two conversants on that particular day, and whoever wins the roll sways the other to supporting their edict. Speaking of edicts, they may include trade agreements, non-aggression pacts (lasting for a short time), and other regulations - perhaps your greatest rival utilizes necromancy, so it would behoove you to attempt to regulate the practice and limit it's effect. By swaying the nobles of their kingdom, you may be able to enact a mutual agreement to limit the usage of dark magics, essentially hamstringing their progress. But in order to learn of their necromantic usage, you'll need espionage... Which brings us to spies. Spies are similar to nobles in that they can be assigned to various roles, however they take a more passive role, acting in the background. The information they gather is compiled into a report that is presented at pertinent parts of the game, such as when preparing for a feast or inspecting an enemy frontline. These reports are considered the diplomatic deliverables, giving information and mechanical bonuses to many different parts of the game. They may be given three possible roles - information, defence, or offense. Offense involves placing cursed artifacts (creating through economy) in enemy lands, which debuff their heroes when used and bind themselves to them preventing their removal except through extraordinary means. Defence is essentially countering that in your own kingdom, and uncovering disloyalty in your nobles. These three aspects fit together like interlocking puzzle pieces, but each is able to be utilized or ignored depending on the preferences of the player. It is important that the game doesn't progress unless input is received. The simulation plays in the background, but each stage of development must be considered "stable" such that nothing changes. There are three different exceptions to this rule, one for each aspect: The military side encounters raids from enemy kingdoms and the dark lord. The economic side encounters raids from ratmen and moss trolls and bandits. The diplomatic side has a rolling schedule of events that must be attended. These three "exceptions" are recurrent events that require attention, but they don't *increase* in difficulty unless the player takes an action that causes it. Meaning, if the player overcomes the rock golems, then they are displaced from their home and join the dark lord in his conquests. If a new district is built new sewer connections must be built as well, creating a larger attack surface for ratmen to exploit. As time goes by, various foreign events must be attended, as absence causes your future events to attract fewer foreign nobles. By addressing these threats, your kingdom may grow and eventually overcome the dark lord at the center of the island. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ --- #4 messages/446 --- ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────── Every month, a new ship arrives in port. It bears with it many souls who come seeking gold, glory, or bloodshed. Your job is to make sure they all get jobs that are suited to them. If you don't, they'll start to starve and become brigands. If you feed them, they get bored and become brigands. If you entertain them, they are useless and you'll be overcome with monsters. If you police them, they'll go to your rivals. You do this by building guilds which can identify and train the best potential candidates. You can invest in more time spent identifying, training, and equipping, but the more time they spend on those things the less resources they'll have to process more people through their systems. On the other end, you get a hero, or perhaps something similar. They do battle with the mordaunts and strive to better the kingdom. You reward them with bounties and they can find treasure on their adventures - how weird, it seems to just... Spawn from the earth. Almost like it's an elemental property of the land. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┘ --- #5 fediverse/1713 --- ════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────── ┌───────────────────────────┐ │ CW: re: divination, tarot │ └───────────────────────────┘ @user-1071 like a king who dictates on high, the taller the chair the farther the fall. how simple is it, when everyone trusts you, to betray the wishes for direction they grant upon you. By leveraging their direction to forward your own ends, you are depriving them of the liberty to choose their own ends. how cruel is it! to be the reason for distrust! alas, who can you go to for guidance if not anybody you trust? ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────┘ --- #6 messages/442 --- ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────── In symbeline, they aren't monsters. They're "Mordaunts" and they need your help. When slain, their essence flows back to the villain who remakes them in a new form. As time passes the villain gets more and more essence, as heroes are slain. They have taken several ancient guardians (many types, randomized at the start of the game) and they protect their sanctum in the center of the island. The heroes need to level up to defeat them and slay the villain, but the villain gets stronger as well. If too many heroes die, the villain wins. And the villain can focus their efforts on one area or another, while your heroes fight with the kingdom next door. Brigands arrive on ships as well. If you implement the law saying only approved members may travel on boats, they'll arrive in little dingies on the coast, meaning less trouble in the city but same amount of trouble. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┘ --- #7 fediverse/4113 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────── ┌──────────────────────────┐ │ CW: capitalism-mentioned │ └──────────────────────────┘ I don't know how much simpler I can state it than this: power is penance and yet repentance is scant amongst those chosen to lead us. Voting slows things down. It gives us room to breathe. It is crucial for long-term operations. Leaders should be chosen for experience, wisdom, and a humble lifetime of dedicated service to others. Executive action is important when reactivity and adaptability are important. Projects should be undertaken by those chosen for merit and spirit. They should not be chosen for charisma or gravitas - both can be earned in the line of duty. Power should not be rewarded. It is it's own reward, the feeling of strength and control, and it must be wielded with care, precision, and honorable intention. Self flagellation and forced humility are self defeating. They are traps that the greedy fall into when seeking righteous power. They misunderstand the nature of virtue and seek to claim it for themselves, failing to realize that virtue helps more than it hedonizes ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────┘ --- #8 fediverse/5277 --- ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────┐ ║ ┌──────────────────────┐ │ ║ │ CW: ~dnd │ │ ║ └──────────────────────┘ │ ║ │ ║ │ ║ @user-1788 │ ║ │ ║ if a dragon on a pile cannot claim what it yearns for, it can throw piles of │ ║ minerals at the ape warriors made of steel and then it's fate will appear. │ ║ what trifles does all else seem to compare! you should give me your whole │ ║ hoard because I dazzled you with my charisma score -..- │ ║ │ ║ ha, like I'd fall for that again twice. oh? I already did? and this is the │ ║ second twice? well, then no-more of that behavior, I say, with my elven │ ║ tongue, "beware! for dragons blood runs silver when unicorned." │ ║ │ ║ the bigger the hoard, the bigger the dragon. if you want me to come along, │ ║ you'll need to hire at least 3 other men to carry my ballista. In addition, │ ║ I'll need seven weeks worth of supplies. If all else comes to ruin, me and my │ ║ boys will have that dragon-sized-spider impaled on it's own fate threadwheel │ ║ before... well... y'know it might take more than seven weeks, we just... can't │ ║ find the dragon. We've been wandering all through the blasted peaks, and │ ║ there's nothin'! Maybe it requires climbing gear? │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╚═════════╧═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───┴──────────┘ --- #9 notes/dungeon-looting-methods --- ═════════────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── the reason dungeon masters should give the gold value of the items distributed is because the number represents what it eventually sells for. and the players will try and appraise and haggle at the market and such but that all happens off screen between sessions. so anyway during the adventure, the dm will say "you find some precious gemstones" or "there's some high quality silk here" or "these bears are renowned for having magic livers" or "the mold growing on the walls can be scraped into a vial and sold to an alchemist" then the dm will say "this treasure is worth 50gp" or "this treasure is worth 25gp" and players can "buy" the items from the other players. so player 1 has 50gp, the item costs 20gp, so in a party of 5 he gives every other player 5gp this way, the relative treasure hordes of the players stays the same. then, when the players find treasure, it can be evenly split - it's only fair. when in town, players will feel more impulse to buy things if they can sell them too. like "here's an enchanted axe that does some mundane thing like never dulls" well, that's probably going to be very valuable to a small village or "an enchanted quill that writes down everything you tell it to" could increase the education level of the area ever so slightly. Then, after several generations of adventurers, the surrounding area will be ripe with magical loot the players distributed from the dungeons and such. it can trade with neighbors and so over time the markets will have better and better goods for sale - for example, maybe after trading with the swamp people, now there's a supply of healing potions that runs out both over time (to represent other adventuring parties buying the supply) and when the players buy some (to represent consumption in their minds). Trade with the dwarves? Now you can buy +1 swords for a while. village attacked? the militia can be armed with the holy relics plundered from the evil priest-lich. boom development! the players should also have choices about large scale effects. for example, the heart of the forest could be a) preserved, b) burnt down, or c) studied by the local wizards. each choice would have different effects on the populace, and so the world would change to adapt to the player's choices. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘════════─┴╧══─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ --- #10 messages/286 --- ═════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────── > <@gabrilend:matrix.org> What if we... Ballots, bodies, militia and? Jobs are how they deprive us of time and energy. Rent is how they deprive us of value. Fox news is how they deprive us of a well regulated militia (and point it at our feet) Sugar laced foods are how they turn our bodies against us Ballots are how they deprive us of faith Schools are how they take our curiosity, as teachers are not given freedom to fully explain. Meh... There's so many more. It's pointless to elaborate. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────────┘ --- #11 fediverse/3635 --- ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────── ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ CW: politics-housing-crisis │ └─────────────────────────────┘ if you want to solve EVERY housing issue in the United States, at least in the short and mid-term, add a ramping tax penalty for unoccupied houses that doesn't reset to 0 upon being occupied but rather starts ticking down at the same rate that it increases. Something like 0.5% to 1% of the property value for every month it's gone unoccupied as a primary residence. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────┘ --- #12 fediverse/2570 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────── ┌───────────────────────────┐ │ CW: re: frontline-tactics │ └───────────────────────────┘ when leap-frogging, have each person use different ranged weapons. Then, as you come to each sight-line intersection, choose who goes first based on the size of the sight-line you're approaching. less important in a place like a suburb because the sight-lines are pretty similar. more important in a city or the country, where there are plenty of long-range lines of sight. also, keep in mind that the garages of suburban dads are like goldmines for the future backlines. So try not to blow them up. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────┘ --- #13 fediverse/4515 --- ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────┐ ║ in strategy, the first move is always public knowledge, while the second is in │ ║ reaction to the first, as a contestation. │ ║ │ ║ This is good design because well designed games reflect reality, and the first │ ║ move is very rarely a surprise. Timing can shock you, methods can scare you, │ ║ but the strategic goals are almost always known in advance to both sides. │ ║ │ ║ The third move is to challenge your foe's advances while striking in a new, │ ║ unexpected way. The fourth almost always addresses the unexpected, often with │ ║ force out of proportion to the impact of the third, leaving the second to be │ ║ defeated by the first and third in tandem. The fifth is a feint, as the first │ ║ and third come to bear against the fourth, while the sixth is a rapid retreat │ ║ and attempt to regroup. The seventh should strike where they intend to be, not │ ║ where they are. Beyond that you must press your advantages and shore up your │ ║ critical weaknesses, while sacrificing the weaknesses that are not part of │ ║ your win condition. │ ║ │ ║ These rules are not set in stone │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╚═════════╧════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────┴──────────┘ --- #14 fediverse/2816 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────── one difference between fantasy and reality is that in fantasy, when you fail, you try again. in reality, when you fail, you are promoted so your boss doesn't have to deal with your shit. in fantasy, when you succeed, you are tasked with greater trials in reality, when you do well, you are given more of the same. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────┘ --- #15 fediverse/3474 --- ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────── @user-883 true, but much the same way people will rebel against inconvenience by writing passwords on sticky notes, so too might they put SSH keys onto the nearest flash drive without validating that it hasn't been compromised. There's tradeoffs everywhere I guess. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────┘ --- #16 fediverse/434 --- ═════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────── @user-324 @user-325 @user-326 thus enters the promise of technology: that we might solve the problems of bureaucracy once and for all by ever more effiency-aligning mechanical processes that produce effects which we desire - such as efficient allocation of medical resources such that all of humanity is protected from the ravages of pain and the incongruencies of our nature. Alas, that we should only conceive of success through the lens of profit. Perhaps another design is in order? (oh yeah also people who are in control are worried that we, like all other examples of natural entities, might immediately proceed to breed beyond the capability to cater to the needs of said entity (such as "to feed" and medical resources) and therefore might overburden (and therefore destroy) said system which allows for their sustenance and initial creation. To this I say... Yeah probs, what should we do about it?) ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────────────┘ --- #17 fediverse/2744 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────── ┌──────────────────────────────┐ │ CW: re: capitalism-mentioned │ └──────────────────────────────┘ @user-1074 ah but you see when "maximizing profit" and "maximizing value" sound like the same thing to those directing the corporation (as is the case anytime they have greedy shareholders) then "maximizing profit" doesn't have to be very efficient at all, as long as it's extracting the most "value" for the stakeholders (which to greedy shareholders is the same thing as profit) and honestly, who would invest in a company that isn't eternally growing as fast as possible? that's just bad business acumen, gotta pump those numbers up! ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────┘ --- #18 fediverse/4676 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────── ... but I needed to choose lawful-good at character creation in order to play a paladin. the guard looks at you with confusion, decides you're hallucinating and dangerous (because of the sword) and forcibly detains you wait, what did you think I was going to say? Did you think I was going to advocate for crimes on a public forum?? what am I a gopher? do you take me for a lemur in jamaica? am I truly so triceratops to you that you'd think I'd do something so washing machine? Get real, I'd never byzantium my way into such a utterly coherent and clearly intentional and not at all arcane situation. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────┘ --- #19 fediverse/2752 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────── ┌──────────────────────┐ │ CW: police-mentioned │ └──────────────────────┘ cops thought "enforcing the law" was their job when really it was "keeping the peace" and like, yeah, sure, laws define how they optimize for but sometimes the laws are just out of reach. (though such an impartialized system is also pretty flawed in it's own unique ways, like for example the enforcers of the law would be able to apply their law selectively, which... would not be great.) downside is... how do you dissent to those who cannot hear you? you have to break things which is why I believe that breaking things unnecessarily is unethical. sometimes you have to do a MORE unethical act in the pursuit of your goals, however nefarious or not they may be, but as long as they are done in pursuit of a greater grander truth, then... the ends justify the means? right?" ... ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────┘ --- #20 fediverse/4897 --- ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────── what if we asked chatGPT to generate a list of every personality archetype that humans have. Like... really get super specific and fill out the whole list of character sheets. then we give each fraction of it that fraction of dollars and if some people aren't fully represented (because they have greater needs) then we both increase production of resources and take a penalty on our own supply, in order to meet the needs of our allies. simplest thing. how could it work? who can say. maybe it won't. maybe it's just... arcane. /shrug that's game design for ya you can't tell how it'll go until it's in the hands of your players. too bad we don't do too many play-things. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────┘ |