Had some ideas about weather, especially storms.

While it seems pretty reasonable to have light rain built into a room description, it's both easy to miss, ignore, or disable.

Perhaps there could be regular messages similar to those in cities in rooms where it's raining? For example "Rain pitter-patters about you, weyting you and your equipment" or something much more imaginative.

Also, storms. Now, anyone who's been watching the news lately knows that weather can have massive effects on people's lives. Massive. As in deadly and effective. Sure, during blizzards in Lusternia we can't see room descs or exits. Thats cool, but what would be really awesome is a serious storm, either as an event or an occurance.

Here's an example of an event sized storm. For a Lusternian Month (One day), people start to get messages about storm clouds on the southern horizon during daylight hours. Perhaps the weather system as implimented could go a little crazy, with worldwide raining leading up to the storm proper. The cloud messages would get more and more ominous as the month progressed, and popped up often enough that people would notice.

Month two (this would probably all happen in the spring or summer), the storm hits the southern part of the basin. In the Glomdoring and mountains, high winds cause fliers to be blown about uncontrollably, often smashed to the ground causing damage and breaking limbs. In the forest, high winds blow debris about, striking players and causing serious damage. Chances of lightening strikes in the moutains would be pretty high, forest fires as a result of lightening perhaps too. This would persist for perhaps half the month, with the storm moving forward a bit each day. Also, flash flooding in the desert and Dairuchi, with expected reaction from involved mobs. Mobs in Southguard and Ankrag would also react accordingly, staying inside etc.

Later in Month 2, the storm hits Magnagora and Stewartsville, eventually Acknor and Delport as it moves north. Being outside during this time would be extremely dangerous in any populated area as well as in the wilderness. Lightening, flying debris and low visibility would make navigating a city or even surviving outside very difficult. Villages would lose contact with cities, comm trading would cease for the duration, as would production as everyone had to stay inside. Perhaps the lack of communication would cause some villages to go up for influencing, but since going outside would be hard, or even traveling to villages, this could be interesting. There's always the catacombs tarot. All the denizens would be inside for protection, given outside conditions would be very harmful, think hurricane of the strong variety.

By month 3 Celest would be hit, as would the southern Serenwilde. More forest fires, hard to be outside. Given Serens don't have much of an inside this would be pretty interesting. How would a commune deal with a serious storm? Perhaps people would have to conduct a ritual to prevent the Mother Tree from being struck, it sticks far above the other trees according to the desc, an ideal target. We all know what happened to the Ravenwood heh.

Eventually the storm would pass by the end of Month 4, passing over each area. Maybe there could be an Eye too.

Here are the reasons why I think an event like this would be good:

1. It would provide a different sort of event, a players vs. environment event with all the denizens of the realm affected. It would give people a break from pk oriented events and focus on an RP even but one that everyone in the basin would have to deal with

2. The implications are interesting. Being outdoors would be difficult, but possible. It would provide an environment where travel is actually a challenge, not unlike the real world during mideval times when long distance travel was actually dangerous. The weather would actually affect some people, as flying debris could and probably would kill you if you weren't careful. It would provide a different environment for a few days and facilitate some RP. With everyone cooped up inside, and villages up for influence, there would be a lot of tension.

3. The event wouldn't drag on really but would be a factor for everyone. Unlike some events it could really apply to everyone and make everything different and interesting for a while.

Anyhow, it would probably be really hard to code but I think it could be an interesting sort of "storm of the century" type event, a change.

Comments/Divine Promises to impliment always welcome

That would be absolutely awesome if implemented right.

Don't make it too dehabilitating, though. And maybe don't have it affect Newton/Lolliprin.

EDIT: Okay, well, I mean, make it dehabilitating, but don't make it so that if you step outside you get struck by lightning and die instantly. Make it possible but just hard. Ooh! And you could get blown around by gusts of wind like with the gust spell! And imagine the fun the Aquamancers would have with all the flooded places!

The higher your size, the less you should be flung around. But lets say the wind is strong, and you have a size of 7, you'd be blown around often. But if you have the size of 13, it knocks you off balance for a couple seconds.


Edit: Oh, add in a new environment skill thats somewhat high up there that helps you resist the storm weather.

awsome
What about the pool and the megalith? would they get affected in some way? even thoguh they do not jut out...

Haha, the pool might get kinda disturbed, i'm thinking whitecaps

Love it. GREAT idea. How about some whirlwinds that pick you up and send you crashing in another location in the same area?

Yea totally, especially if you were flying. Not sure how realistic that would be if you were walking, but i suppose 4 month storms kinda aren't anyhow. Which makes one think, what if the storm were from some sort of magical event, like it had a cause or something?

Like flooding in the mountains that erodes a new path and which reveals a new village? *nudgehintnudge*

Here's the thing with ideas like this.

Everyone sees this. Says, "Wow! This is so cool! Giant storms and stuff, woo!"

Coder spends weeks designing and implementing the system. System put in place.

Storms start kicking up and screwing people up, and everyone bitches ten times as loud as they supported it to begin with, and Coder sighs and goes back to the thankless work.

The cool factor would last about a week. Then it would just plain suck. What's the fun of fighting the effects of something over which you have zero control? It'd be about as good RP as having bricks thrown at you as you walk around, with no chance of controlling when or where the bricks are coming from.

Maybe if it happened once every couple years it'd be cool. Maybe lightning would strike a hole somewhere and reveal a new area? *winkwink*

A tornado or two would be interesting also I think.

This kind of thing should only happen once, and only last a couple RL days. As Isntinuse said, the cool factor would wear off quickly if it lasted much longer, and it would quickly become just irritating.

I think climatize the cities and communes a bit more. Higher up in altitude you're going to get harder winds. Near the sea level, it would hardly snow.

At the moment it's pretty much standard across board. I mean you sometimes get snow up in the mountains, but bleh? Not enough.

But great idea on the weather thingy, just not too strong that it would majorly disrupt things.

Yea, a major storm every couple other decade or so? And minor ones here and there.

I like the way the commune in places creaks and sways in the wind - if that could be amplified a bit, it'd be brilliant.

Right, like in the example I only had it lasting 3 real life days with one month of buildup. I agree totally that anything more would begin to drag on.

Don't compare it to events in the traditional sense. What makes it good for RP is the fact that it would expose players to new challenges and they'd have to find new ways of dealing with those challenges. Its not comparable to the brick example because it adds realism to lusternia, not random invincible gnomes who walk around the basin throwing bricks at you. Which would get old rather fast.

EDIT: That's Lusternian month by the way

I don't know, I wouldn't be averse to one day a year of storm.