So, months ago (when immolations were free), when novices / lowbies died, there was often a race to go find the body and retrieve it for immolation. This was very beneficial for younger members of the org, as it helps them feel a little more connected ("Hey, someone cares about me enough to go find my body and save me experience!"), and it helps us old folks feel like we're doing something good.

Nowadays, however... I know I've personally stopped going to hunt down corpses, and I know I am not the only one. Most lowbies just pray. There is a double-whammy for rescuers-- first, you must spend the time to find and grab the body from wherever it is, and then you have to actually obey whatever power laws there are regarding corpses (even in Glom, it's "immolater repays 50p for every immolation," despite our income... because 100p every time really starts to add up). In Glom, people under level 40 are not even allowed to be immolated because of how easily they die. I immolated 3 bodies today of people who I accidentally got killed on hunting trips, but this is in fact what brought this concern to the forefront. If I had not been with them, they would have prayed. Period.

This 100p for an immolation is really outdated. It was fixed by being able to have the Construct, but now... well. That construct just cannot be built, with the current rules. Only one can be enacted at a time, and it will never be that one, as the others bring more benefit to orgs as a whole. It is "easier" to just let the little guys pray and not bother with it... which, well, isn't really the message we want to be sending, here. Yet, we're "punished" for trying to help the people who need it. (No, the punishment is not the organization rules-- those exist to alleviate the power hit, which is the actual mechanical disincentive being thrown at us)

Does it really need a cost? It is already the most limited in terms of being able to use it. You have to get the body, you have to bring it to your nexus. At the very least, the cost could be put on par with other skills (10p).

Firstly, anyone below 40 can regain the lost xp in a matter of minutes. If you're doing it to feel "connected" with the lowbies, just find a reason to RP with them that doesn't involve them gazing into your eyes as they are restored to life.

Secondly, I am violently opposed to anything that remotely makes raising an ascendant easier, aka, lessening power drains on the nexus. If anything, up the power cost. Make immolations reserved for people and situations where you need them back asap.

If the newbies are having a hard time coping with death, they are playing the wrong MUD. I don't buy the "that isn't the message we want to send" argument.

No, that argument comes free with the purchase of two arguments of an equal or greater value.

I know that some people are discouraged from hunting on prime because they won't conglute and without immolation, they're probably going to pray and if they're anything like me, it will take months to get that experience back.

three deaths today, losing 66 three times. Hunting prime and not being able to get any immolation or what not, hurts.

I'd like to see it lowered, not sure how it should be done however. Or even if it's needed, we might've just gotten spoiled by the Constructs.

I think we're spoiled. If all you do is hunt, you shouldn't be dying that much. If you are, that's a sign to hunt something easier.

Or just plain lag spikes before I can move, how ever so fun!

Yeah, that happens to me alot too.

"There's no way these things will ever kill me!"

*20 second lag*

pray

Yep, that's what I've had since the Great Hunt ended.

I'm with Celina in this one. If Glomdoring has such harsh power laws for immolation, maybe you should change them, it is you who made them, after all.
It's not so much 'Sorry, you have to pray, the administration took away our construct!', but rather 'Sorry, you have to pray, saving power to raise Ascendants is simply more important to us.'

Having a bad connection sucks; having played via a modem for years, I know what it's like. Somehow, I never expected games to adapt to that, though.
If it is a temporary problem, i.e. you lag for a short period now and then, don't hunt or pk during that time if you don't want to risk dying. If it is not temporary, you might want to either stick to hunting in groups in areas with no or very few aggressive mobs (with someone else leading who preferrably knows about your problem), or you should take steps to change your isp provider, if the option is there.

Another option is to provide newcomers with a bit more of an introduction to hunting grounds or other options to gain experience. As Celina said, getting experience in the low levels is actually really easy, at least once you know where and how to get it.

It's not just Glomdoring that has those laws. If you immolate anywhere, you're expected to pay it back in full. Maybe add an ability to discipline so that you can use ten power from you instead of the 100 immolation power from the nexus, but it still needs to be done there?

When I played Aetolia, people rushed to find your body and immolate you at the tree. It was nice, and free. I think it's a shame it can't work similarly here.

It's also 5x harder to level up in Achaea than here. This game pretty much gives Demigod out for free.

Harder, slower. Same thing.

100p per immolation is fine.

Befriend a Celestine. We get to finally use our fabled skill.

This is why we Resurgem

Nope. The power laws are there to help address something that is not the players' problem at all-- the fact that the Administration has decided there should be a disincentive to immolating people. Well, guess what? It worked. It is a disincentive. People do not get immolated in Glom much at all any more, so it's working as a disincentive. It's certainly not slowing down the drive to gain power because it's rarely being used at all.

The problem is, as I said, not the laws themselves. It is that this entire mechanic has such a heavy disincentive that organizations have to make power laws to protect themselves. 10 immolations is 1000 power gone, and as Dylara said, it's pretty easy for lower levels to drop multiple times in a day. She is also one of those people who, prior to this, would have had people rushing to the Undervault to look for her corpse... and now is praying. Every time.

I don't see the power laws changing at all. They are already about as fair as can be expected given the cost. Glomdoring already waives half of it, and only requests that 50p be returned. Even that is pretty hefty, though, and starts getting into the "it's not worth it" category. (Well, more than "starts getting into"... it's very firmly crossed that line)

Getting experience at lower levels is easier if you know what you're doing, sure. However, you're still frail, you're still very likely to die if you take a wrong turn into an aggressive mob, and there is essentially 0 chance of someone coming to help you after you've died at this point, excepting an alternate body-skill such as Celest has. Further, Lusternia is still professing to want new players (that is, players who don't know what they're doing, but will put in time, learn, enjoy, and stay). This entire concept as it stands is antithetical to that, far more so than it was when immolations were free. It is not as if it protects them from death. It does, however, save time, a bit of frustration (it's not like there isn't frustration when praying multiple times), and there's no real reason not to go for it.

Higher levels have alternatives that they can easily attain. Immolation is rarely ever needed on someone who is actually working on / closing in on Demigod, just because they actually have access to these other skills. Conglutination, org rez options, vitae, and so on. Low levels are the ones who have primarily had the pleasure of being immolated, and they're the ones being left out in the cold at the moment.

Hmm. Alternatively, it could be made 1p per level for immolation. Immolating a Demigod/Ascendant is the maximum of 100p, whereas immolating a level 20 is 20p, which (again) would make it easier on those who need it without really reducing it much for the higher-ends.

It's not such a big deal for level 40 and under people, but it really sucks for the level 60 - 80 range. During that period of levelling you often have to fight things too hard for yourself. Most things have become too easy and give painfully little experience, but you aren't really tanky enough nor do you get enough crits to safely bash the things you should be bashing.

After level 80 you get better at surviving and don't die as often.

Note that I am including 66 as a "lower level" in my discussion above, which is the level Dylara's at. Once you get to 80, you start getting healthy enough to easily pursue more options... and you're invested enough that you've probably found your way into getting a few credits. Prior to that, it's rough.

Yeah, I agree with your sentiments in this thread completely.

I don't see the point in making things unnecessarily annoying for players. One of the more frustrating things that can happen in any game, MUD or not, is to feel like you've lost what you've already done, and have to redo it.

I also don't get the argument that we're "spoiled". Spoiled relative to what, exactly? It's a game you are playing for fun...reducing the things that make it un-fun or very frustrating is not what I would call "spoiling" players.

This might be going off the path a bit, but one thing that is harsh for midbies is dying while bashing/defending off prime pre-conglute and having to pray. Not too sure what the laws say about returning power if you're defending though.