I know there was a thread earlier about looking for ideas on things that'd be like game mechanics that support RP. I didn't really read it, but I wanted to present this idea for chasing around.

It's not fully formed, and of course there are things that would need working out...

It'd be nice if we could have pregnancy and birth.

It'd be REALLY nice if guys could get pregnant, too, but I know that would take some wriggling around and the way people have been playing has been that males impregnate and women gestate, so while that'd be nice I wouldn't go so far as to ask for that (or maybe one or two races that could be the case? Maybe male faelings have pouches? )

So you get pregnant through some means... perhaps there's an herb or elixir that increases fertility. Then you can well.. have a makelove emote or something, doesn't have to be anything graphic, that would case one person to impregnate the other assuming they have the right plumbing and they're both fertile (meaning they've both eaten/drunk the herb/elixir).

Pregnancy would last 9-11 months (Brylle's pregnancy lasted 11 months) or whatever, during which time the pregnant person might get strange food cravings, or get hungrier faster. And as the pregnancy progresses they get clumsier and drop things occasionally, or bump into people and make them lose balance for a moment (like cows do). Then they go through labour and have the baby.

Babies would be helpless and need to be held and fed and have their diapers changes. They'd change and grow over time until they were toddlers, when they could put down to follow along behind you or your spouse. You'd have to walk slow or you'd lose your toddler, but eventually they'd grow up enough that they could keep up and follow you. When they get older they'd get too big to pick up.

When they hit age 16 (or some random number between 16 and 24) they leave and go through the portal of fate!

Crafters could make baby food and bottles, cradles, blankets, toys, carrying slings (to keep your hands free), all sorts of things...

Okay, pregnancy is a good idea. So is having different races have different sexes carrying the child. In fact, different gestation periods, even different methods for the races. Perhaps Lucidans grow their children from stalagtites and then snap them off?

But please, no MAKELOVE emote. Just make it purely OOC (X has reqested to have a child with you. Read HELP PREGNANCY for information on having a child as your race. Type YES to agree to have a child - type NO to refuse. Offer will time out in 10 minutes.) and then you can RP all the other stuff. Especially considering different races - do lucidans even mate?

Same with daipers. Eww.

EDIT: Just thought of something. What about changlings? Would they have children as the race they were when they started? Not be able to change for the period without damaging the baby, perhaps?

I think there was a policy in Achaea (I'm not 100% sure about this, it's been a while) to never, ever allow actual, implemented children because of the potential psychological damage of someone coming through and killing your child.

I love the idea! Though, I agree that a 'makelove' emote prolly isn't a good one. Something like Xinael suggested would work.

I think there would need to be a limit on how many 'active' children you can have at one time too. Maybe make it where your current child has to be a certain age before you can get pregnant again or something.

There is...though I thought it was a policy to disallow a way for people to abuse other people's children? It's been so long since I've played I don't remember the exact wording.

Ugh, the newbie mudsex rates would skyrocket.

That's why we don't want a MAKELOVE emote. Though I think something as small as this would barely cause a blip - it's so high already.

I don't know about Achaea's policy, but Imperian has always had it in mind to impliment children at some point. And now I think about it, how is having your character stapled to an iron cross, bleeding like "a stuck pig", having all their limbs ritualistically shattered, and then their heart ripped out of their chest while they're still alive to see it stop beating any less disturbing (OOC speaking - obviously RPing the situation is a totally different matter, as people already RP these things) than someone killing a mob that represents your child?

No.

For so many reasons, no.

Do you mind listing some of them, Guido? As people already roleplay children and having them, I don't see why setting up a system to take some of the impetus off the player is a bad thing.

It just needs careful consideration (see daiper comment above).

I 'vote' no too.
Can't really present any coherent reasons atm but I don't like that idea.

Besides, what would happen with that baby later? You'd have your own 30 years old mob in diapers, or what?

Because we'll have 20,000 newbies mudsexxing and getting pregnant just so they can get off to their crazy pregnancy fetish and Lusternia will become one of those insane sex muds populated by an army of well-endowed perverts?

I've seen it happen. I know what I'm talking about. I wish I didn't, but I do.

Over off in Avalon they have this, but you must have a Patron and it costs said Patron like 500k essence per child.

People would kidnap them and and there were ransoms and stuff, but then someone actually killed all three of an animists children (Animists have to be pacifists by law) and the tone of the game went downhill for a looooong time.

See you read the text of what I wrote and it tells you. It grows and in 16 to 24 years (age randomly chosen at birth) It goes into the portal of fate and disappears.

You have 16 to 24 years to find someone to play your kid and make a character for when it comes through the portal.

So if killing the kids is such a horrible thing, make it so they can't be taken, like pets...

But hey, people kidnapping your kids is part of life, isn't it? Why do people get so squeamish about the idea of having a kid mob that could get kidnapped or killed (which, BTW, would make for some really way bleepin' cool drama in the realm) but they don't blink at slaughering people's pets, or kidnapping their husbands/wives, or impaling their husbands/wives right there in front of them?

Besides, if you don't want your kid stolen, then take precautions. Keep your kids home, or leave them with the baby sitter if you're going up to Astral to hunt. Don't take them up with you.

My bad, missed it.
But still, killing the baby is one thing, seeing some bored players perform some sick emotes on them is another. I just have no confidence in players maybe, but remember that kids also play this game.

Hiriako was a changeling when he got Brylle pregnant, and he did so as an elfen. So the baby was elfen. Dunno about changeling moms...

Wait, WHAT?

Hee hee... Not sure which words you don't understand *sparkle*

Some bored players can perform sick emotes anytime they want, whether there's a mob in the room or not. They often do. Not sure why a whole set of potentially very dramatic and interesting RP should be avoided 'cos some people are buttwipes.

If we went based on that reasoning, there wouldn't be any PK, either, because it's really emotionally upsetting for some people when they get killed.

In Lusternia, there are no farmers, not many true craftspeople, pretty much no one but hunters, soldiers, politicians... all of whom are bad choices to raise kids. I'm not going to worry about finding a babysitter if a village is being raiding, I'm going to be stuck hauling a kid to a slaughter.

Also, this is basically giving people free pets. Unless the child is just a base mob you have no control over, in which case it'd be weird. A 14 year old child who can't speak?