Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Corpse camping in Dragon Realms

Corpse camping in the MUD I used to play was really bad. Thinking back, that was one of the really contested practices, then as it is now. In WoW you at least don't have to move all the way up to your corpse, and you resurrect with your equipment on you. In DR you had to run naked through enemy territory, all your weapons still in the corpse you had abandoned. The trip could be very, very long, no convenient nearby churchyards. And when you got there the enemy would be sitting right on top of your precious corpse and equipment, waiting to kill you while still naked, before you got your stuff back. If this happened often enough your original corpse would deteriorate, your equipment would be all over the ground and free for the enemy to steal, and you would have to start over again.

In WoW you are a ghost as you run, you can resurrect as soon as you are a certain distance from your corpse, but you are free to find a safe spot, and you resurrect with all your equipment on you. Also, you can choose to resurrect at the graveyard. There will be a penalty, but at least you're not right under the nose of your enemy. I think that particular adjustment is a much better way to deal with death and ressurrection, but I guess the hard core gamers think it's whimpy. This is expressed through culture: resurrecting (ressing) at the graveyard is whimping out.

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