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 by Webbstre, Level 16
Last updated at September 29, 2008, 8:01 pm
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Before I get in to what we are doing let me go over some things we want to avoid with a death mechanic.Â
We want to separate being in town and being out on a quest/adventure/dungeon as much as possible. Leaving the safety of a town should not be a decision you take lightly. We don't want to remove the sense of suspense and danger by making town something you're always going back to pretty much whenever you like. The intent is to create a greater separation from being in town, and not, and to make your time away from town a lot more tense.Â
On that same note we also don't want to remove the player from the action. Throwing them back to town for every death really breaks up the action, and not in a fun, interesting, or necessary way.Â
So, with these things in mind we've found that a check point system works really well. Throughout your adventures, and generally at the ends of each "floor" of a dungeon your character is saved to a checkpoint. When you die you're dropped back at the last checkpoint with a small amount of health, and the rest regenerates slowly. It's obviously a very forgiving system as it is. It's just too early to put a ton of thought in to what penalties there should be, if any, added on top of it.Â
Regardless, potential penalties aside, this is the death mechanic we're currently using and it's working really well so far.
We want to separate being in town and being out on a quest/adventure/dungeon as much as possible. Leaving the safety of a town should not be a decision you take lightly. We don't want to remove the sense of suspense and danger by making town something you're always going back to pretty much whenever you like. The intent is to create a greater separation from being in town, and not, and to make your time away from town a lot more tense.Â
On that same note we also don't want to remove the player from the action. Throwing them back to town for every death really breaks up the action, and not in a fun, interesting, or necessary way.Â
So, with these things in mind we've found that a check point system works really well. Throughout your adventures, and generally at the ends of each "floor" of a dungeon your character is saved to a checkpoint. When you die you're dropped back at the last checkpoint with a small amount of health, and the rest regenerates slowly. It's obviously a very forgiving system as it is. It's just too early to put a ton of thought in to what penalties there should be, if any, added on top of it.Â
Regardless, potential penalties aside, this is the death mechanic we're currently using and it's working really well so far.
I can see this being really good and really bad. Good, because if this mechanic was in Diablo II I might go back and play it some more. Bad, because in other games with sort of similar mechanics, you can basically lead way stronger monsters to the checkpoint and keep getting pot shots in between deaths until whatever it is dies.
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Qlimax Sep 30, 2008 at 4:55 am
+1 votes
Solution to your problem, as with diablo II: Monster health regen.
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Sol Invictus Sep 30, 2008 at 6:17 am
+1 votes
Monster health regeneration might not work if there are other players within the same dungeon who haven't yet died. This could become an exploitable element of the game, whereby one player stays alive and hides in a corner while the other player lowers their health little by little.
Then again, it all depends on how the health regen mechanic works. If it works like it did in Diablo II, in that monsters a certain distance away from the character regen their health, then it'll solve the issue.
Another way would be to add a temporary experience and loot penalty that lasts for a period of time or for a certain amount of experience. That is to say, the next ten monsters that the player kills will provide reduced experience (due to the exp penalty) and have a lower chance to drop good loot. Â
Then again, it all depends on how the health regen mechanic works. If it works like it did in Diablo II, in that monsters a certain distance away from the character regen their health, then it'll solve the issue.
Another way would be to add a temporary experience and loot penalty that lasts for a period of time or for a certain amount of experience. That is to say, the next ten monsters that the player kills will provide reduced experience (due to the exp penalty) and have a lower chance to drop good loot. Â
Sp3tSnAz Sep 30, 2008 at 9:54 am
+2 votes
Checkpoints.... health orb drops... no life leech, this game is becoming more and more arcadey by the minute, what next....
God I hope they at least deliver on some sort of mage type class so I can at least do some sort of MF in this game...Â
God I hope they at least deliver on some sort of mage type class so I can at least do some sort of MF in this game...Â
ThyrsaM Sep 30, 2008 at 10:29 am
+1 votes
I don't know if I am too fond of this. Checkpoints can now be used as traps. people can lure monsters there so that if you die and respawn you won't stand a chance. Hmmz first change I don't really like..
Sp3tSnAz Sep 30, 2008 at 10:31 am
+1 votes
P.S. This might lead to huge griefing if 2 people use it on you... one lures monsters to the checkpoint, the other helps u, then leaves u, so u die and then get into an endless death loop until you quit...
Sol Invictus Sep 30, 2008 at 10:33 am
+1 votes
This would all be an issue if there were actually PKing in Diablo 3. There isn't. There's arenas, instead.Â
Then again, people could still lure them there... Hmm. Â
Then again, people could still lure them there... Hmm. Â
ThyrsaM Sep 30, 2008 at 10:36 am
+1 votes
it is not really pk-Ãng I am talking about but MK-Ãng that is even worse, since it could mean you loose exp. And what would happen it you got killed 10 feet away from the last checkpoint? Would you be set back one more or... Really confusing...
ThyrsaM Sep 30, 2008 at 10:34 am
+1 votes
That is the first thing that came to my mind, if there are checkpoints they can be trapped. Just like townportals. Especially if you are being dropped there with low health.
PS: in hardcore it wouldn't happen, cause you would have died....
PS: in hardcore it wouldn't happen, cause you would have died....
Sp3tSnAz Sep 30, 2008 at 10:36 am
+1 votes
Yeah, I edited my comment :p
But yeah, in Softcore it could lead to a new form of griefingÂ
But yeah, in Softcore it could lead to a new form of griefingÂ
ThyrsaM Sep 30, 2008 at 10:39 am
+1 votes
yeah the new way of ganking, people indeed working together to get you screwed.
Hope they have a solution for it.
Hope they have a solution for it.
Silvast Sep 30, 2008 at 11:16 am
+1 votes
We don't want to remove the sense of suspense and danger by making town something you're always going back to pretty much whenever you like.
This probably means that town portals will have cooldowns.
This probably means that town portals will have cooldowns.
Harbinger Oct 1, 2008 at 10:28 am
+1 votes
What are the consequences of the checkpoint system when you are in a party?
That's what I would really love to know...
Do you respawn naked, alone, half dead and a hundred meters from any help from your party?
Because I would hate that...
That's what I would really love to know...
Do you respawn naked, alone, half dead and a hundred meters from any help from your party?
Because I would hate that...
illo Oct 4, 2008 at 9:53 am
+1 votes
Monsters probably will not follow you across a whole dungeon they will stick to an area on the map and if someone trys to lure them they just fall back and regenerate their health.
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