Interview with Trithalos [Part 3]
Trithalos - Sorry, had to cpk.
Rinor - Haha funny
Trithalos - Yeah all random as hell.
Rinor - Who -b is huge.
Rinor - Ok to finish up now? I didn't think the interview would take this long.
Trithalos - Yeah sorry, I like to talk and there's been interruptions.
Rinor - We could probably spend a few more hours on your history alone.
Rinor - It's ok. History is interesting.
Trithalos - That's one of my favorite parts about Medievia, is the intertwined history of the game. How it's a story of players, at least that's how I look at it.
Rinor - There should be a complete record somewhere. I'd like to put something like that together, but my days started too late.
Trithalos - Everyone remembers it from their POV, too. So it's different for the same period.
Rinor - Even that would still be fun to read.
Rinor - In any case, this leads me to my question about Vryce's policy of clan removal.
Trithalos - Another change being implemented that leaves a bad taste in the players' mouths.
Rinor - Nods, then you don't agree with it?
Trithalos - I don't agree with his implementation. At all.
Trithalos - The number of clans in a game should be controlled by the players with a natural system that keeps it curbed. Keep in mind the only reason to join a clan is for hp bonus, clantitles and a message board.
Trithalos - A message board can be replicated with chat. A clan is just an organized, public chat server.
Rinor - I think there's more to it. A clan feels different.
Trithalos - Right but strategically.
Rinor - A chatserver just isn't the same/
Rinor - Oh strategically, yes.
Trithalos - So removing clans you're really not doing anything than creating bad PR and limiting the number of clanitems I guess.
Trithalos - But there's better ways to do that. V is struggling to try force a large town to exist again cuz it creates a lot of opportunities and encourages player growth. Should let it happen naturally instead.
Rinor - I think his main concern was new players being discouraged after joining inactive clans.
Trithalos - Yeah, but that wouldn't be an issue if big clans recruited.
Trithalos - There aren't many clans out there that desire to recruit newbies and raise them. That was a big part back in the day cuz you invested in the newbies cuz you needed numbers to fight the "eternal" war you seemed to always be in.
Trithalos - People built up towns cuz other people were building up towns and knew they had to do it in order to survive. Now, who wants to raise a newbie for over a year when they don't even know if they'll be playing.
Trithalos - Things are much more seasonal, less individual incentive to train and raise in mass like before.
Rinor - I think part of it is how players can choose now. Before, it was the clans that had the upperhand. If you ran a clan, there's less incentive to train a new clannie if you don't know how loyal he'll be.
Trithalos - That's part of it, its just the change in thought from long term to short term.
Rinor - Since most clans will enroll new members because they need the activity.
Trithalos - A lot of it is also the older players don't want to train anyone. It's a hassle.
Rinor - I'd say 76 is a good example.
Trithalos - Of?
Rinor - Older players congregating.
Trithalos - Yeah. We want to play and have fun.
Rinor - It's a pity.
Trithalos - There's a lot of learning and development that goes on though, most people underestimate that.
Rinor - But you could have more fun if you split up some.
Trithalos - 76 is kind of the cream of the crop as far as player development, very few people come in and leave without learning anything. Just because we foster such a group first attitude and sharing of knowledge, we don't have many people to split up.
Trithalos - We are amazed at our current clanwhere and it's 14 people. This is massively huge for us.
Rinor - Back to new players. Vryce's trying to make the game more newbie friendly:
Rinor - Double xp, slugs, removal of mlrs, creation of Haven & learning module.
Trithalos - Nod
Rinor - These changes are obviously make the newbie experience easier but I don't know if that's worth the tradeoff.
Trithalos - I beg to differ with double xp but nod.
Rinor - We get new heroes now that are completely clueless.
Trithalos - What's so wrong with that?
Rinor - They don't add value to the game imo.
Trithalos - True
Rinor - Especially since there are no hands to guide them.
Trithalos - Well, that's what happens when it becomes faster to hero, the less time it takes.
Rinor - Except for walkthroughs and such, which are very outdated.
Trithalos - The less you will be exposed to.
Trithalos - It took me 2 years to hero and I was still a fairly clueless hero. But once I heroed, I was already exposed to a bunch of opportunities to do things.
Rinor - Two years would be an eternity nowadays.
Trithalos - Well that's just how it was.
Trithalos - When we were "on our way to hero", we joined zone runs, pk battles, and other "town activities" cuz we were needed.
Trithalos - Now people would rather work on xping and leveling than partake in side activities. If a pker comes, people just leave.
Rinor - Yeah, so Vryce's goal with this is to keep newbies coming back.
Trithalos - It's more efficient to hero by simply avoiding pkers.
Trithalos - Keep them coming back with what?
Rinor - But I don't think he has thought out how to keep heroes coming back.
Trithalos - Nod
Rinor - By making the gaming experience easier.
Rinor - Do you have any ideas on how to change the current situation.
Trithalos - Med's been down a destructive path for a long long time. There's a lot of former heroes who have the potential to come back, much more than the potential to bring in totally new players.
Rinor - 21 has enrolled several players like that actually.
Trithalos - Med needs to fix the problems that matter: 1v1 pk balance, group combat scaling, and all the little weird bugs. And phase in changes slowly, continue to evolve and give players new adventures, but don't make them over taxing, over powerful, or expect everyone to rush to it.
Trithalos - There's a bunch of small ideas, but that would be a 2 hr conversation in how to save Med =p
Trithalos - I designed a mud this summer so it's pretty thought out.
Rinor - Well maybe part 2 in the near future.
Trithalos - There ya go.
Rinor - Something needs to be done with the gold floating around though and shipping is definitely not helping with that.
Trithalos - Nope. Med needs more opportunities to take gold OUT. V isn't much of an economist.
Rinor - He doesn't need to be one. Just has to be willing to take suggestions from others.
Trithalos - Right. That's his other problem =p
Rinor - Which he doesn't seem to do so well either.
Trithalos - He's gradually started to loosen some control but he needs to realize that he needs to free up a lot more in order to evolve this game.
Rinor - It was sad to see those 3 gods quit over the nemesis bow incident.
Trithalos - Well that will happen when you have gods who aren't properly trained. A lot of frustration and embarrassment.
Trithalos - You'll see a lot of gods quit when they are embarrassed, especially if they are power seekers or controllers to begin with, which this system naturally encourages.
Rinor - Hmm, I have more questions that keep popping up through this, but you've already spent so much time.
Trithalos - Well, I think you've found I love talking about this stuff so it's actually fun for me.
Rinor - That's good since I've never interviewed anyone before. This would have been awkward if you didn't talk as much since I didn't do much talking.
Trithalos - What prompted you to do all this?
Rinor - Mainly to attract visitors to shadows21.com.
Trithalos - Gotcha
Rinor - And who else better to interview.
Trithalos - Laugh
Rinor - You've done so much.
Trithalos - That certainly strokes one's ego.
Trithalos - This interview thing may be your bag after all =p
Rinor - Nah kissing ass isn't my thing.
Trithalos - It's not kissing ass, just making the person feel important.
Rinor - I was surprised about some of your stance.
Trithalos - Like they have something to talk about.
Trithalos - Like which?
Rinor - Like the more relaxed opinion you have on bandwagon players, but I guess if you've played for so long, it doesn't matter.
Trithalos - Yeah, and ultimately the power to create bandwagon players lies with the people enrolling them. They wouldn't exist if they didn't get enrolled elsewhere.
Rinor - This next topic will make a nice closing. How should the game be played in your opinion? And any advices for the upcoming players?
Trithalos - The game should be played to have fun, rule #1.
Trithalos - That doesn't mean everyone plays the same way, cuz everyone's idea of fun is different.
Rinor - I've seen people who get really angry over losing and other stuff in the game.
Trithalos - That's human nature though. You'll see competitive people get angry at losing in basketball, too.
Rinor - You can lose and learn from it.
Trithalos - Now you're talking about the difference between a good sport and a poor sport.
Rinor - Or you can lose and go crazy on imm or chat.
Trithalos - Nod
Rinor - Or win and go crazy...
Trithalos - Again, that's just sportmanship.
Rinor - You don't do a lot of trash talking, at least from what I've seen.
Rinor - Murghen probably does it enough for all of 76.
Trithalos - Yeah, he's hard to keep under wraps.
Rinor - What do you do when others trash talk though? Just shrug it off?
Trithalos - If people on my side trash talk, they have to keep it witty/creative. If it's pure trash, we ask each other to stop. If other people talk trash, I usually laugh. Sometimes I'll egg them on a lil bit to try to make them look like a fool.
Trithalos - But if it's some guy shouting at you, "HAHA it took you 3 tries to finally kill me". That's stuff you just ignore =p
Trithalos - People talk trash to get a rise out of people, if you don't give a rise, they won't talk trash. It's like siblings picking on each other.
Rinor - It doesn't seem to happen much anymore
Trithalos - Well there isn't a need. People have become experienced with losing, winning, dying, looting.
Rinor - I bet some just don't want to burn any bridges.
Trithalos - We don't have the continuous fighting so the effort in trash talking to create an irrational behavior out of the enemy. Like a ridiculous attack in cpk doesn't happen.
Trithalos - Yeah, some of it is burning bridges I guess. But that's just respect.
Rinor - Ok, so tips for new players?
Trithalos - Talking trash does nothing except get a rise out of people.
Trithalos - Tips
Trithalos - Don't let fear curb your gaming experience.
Trithalos - Explore, test, trial and error.
Trithalos - If you're curious, figure it out. There're walkthroughs on the board.
Trithalos - I spent a lot of time learning from walkthroughs and logs, learning from the mistakes of others.
Rinor - You're cool with people using them then? I know other heroes laugh at that.
Trithalos - So that I didn't have to pay the price of common mistakes.
Trithalos - Yeah, walkthroughs are fine. A lot of heroes laugh but shit, they were taught the zone by someone else anyways. It wasn't a walkthrough but it's the same effect.
Rinor - Walkthroughs probably require more effort, too. Most aren't perfect.
Trithalos - Exactly
Trithalos - To expect players to learn some zones today is ridiculous.
Rinor - Except the ones on my site. That was too good to pass up/
Trithalos - Haha
Trithalos - Learning Bloodstone by yourself is impossible I'd say. Well not impossible, but would take you hours and hours that you can't afford with such a risky place. So use a walkthrough.
Trithalos - The power of running stone isn't in how to do it, it's in how to do it well and avoid being banked.
Rinor - What are some zones you'd recommend learning for a new hero
Trithalos - A solo hero? Or like a guy who has 5 people at his disposal
Rinor - Well solo and then lead.
Trithalos - Well learning solo hero zones is totally different than group zones.
Trithalos - But I'd say learning Kalata (altho cpk and risky) is really cool zone to learn. It's pretty fun, represents a few different player vs mob challenges.
Rinor - I usually point people to Berkovic/Thunderhoume/Elnissa.
Trithalos - And if you're careful, it's impossible to get cpked.
Trithalos - That's all solo stuff though.
Rinor - Nods
Trithalos - I'd say for the aspiring eq leader, learn Veriguard, Kalata, Lyr (kind of advanced but a lot of people love it). Lyr you have to be careful on the cpk.
Trithalos - I'll throw this in for Kalata. If you close the door before courtyard, and sit someone outside of it, it's impossible for you to get cpked if that person guarding the door lets you know if anyone tries to come through.
Rinor - Can do the same with grate or hatch in Lyr, I think.
Trithalos - No cuz in Lyr you can get in before hand. In Kalata, it's impossible to stake before the zone is ran cuz blockers guard the entrance.
Rinor - Oh nods, I was talking about a rush.
Trithalos - And the zone only pops when people are outside of it.
Trithalos - Right
Trithalos - So if people take the precautions in running zones-the ones most people don't take-it's really hard to cpk someone.
Trithalos - So take those precautions. Who cares if people make fun of you, they just want an easier time at killing you.
Rinor - Yeah, getting cpked doesn't happen as often as people think. Getting banked is whole another story though.
Trithalos - Well getting banked comes with learning and it is the reason why eq from bankable zones is better.
Trithalos - It's more risk.
Rinor - Is there a tip you have for 1 vs 1 combat situations, in quests perhaps?
Trithalos - Hmm, I didn't focus on 1on1 or quests until I was leading Fate.
Trithalos - learned that very late, but I'd say the most important thing to realize is you have to pay attention to state of your character and your opponents at all times. Just because you are at 400hp, doesn't mean you have to run.
Rinor - I'd add to that the importance of watching the combat rounds and general timing.
Trithalos - Oh right
Trithalos - First rule is to know the mechanics, how things work.
Trithalos - 2nd rule is to be aware of these affects on both players at the same time.
Trithalos - If you're at 400hp, that doesn't mean you have to heal. It depends on what state your opponent is in.
Trithalos - You need to figure out things like: ok, I'm at 400hp. He's probably at 600, but in 3 rounds of lag. I have a 20% chance of killing him before he can move. If I fail, he has a 80% chance of killing me.
Trithalos - If I heal once, I gain 100hp, he's one round closer to being able to move, and the odds change.
Trithalos - So be aware of the combat mechanics, what an average shockwave damage is, etc. And then be aware of your decisions in how they affect not only you, but the opponent.
Rinor - And don't use sneak or sanc triggers.
Trithalos - Do you go for the shockwave, shockwave, stab. Or the heal heal stab. It depends.
Trithalos - Yes, avoid all triggers. Setup easy aliases.
Trithalos - I've mudded on a laptop for my entire life pretty much so I don't use a keypad to move.
Rinor - Hardcore
Trithalos - It's hard to get used to but once you're doing it, you'll find you can do a wider variety of things faster than other people cuz your hands have access to more keys.
Trithalos - As a leader it's almost essential to not use keypad cuz you're typing in words so often. So setup easy aliases for you to use.
Trithalos - http://hunter.theyeti.org/target.txt
Rinor - Haha nice
Trithalos - For mine, if you want a base to check out.
Rinor - What client do you use?
Trithalos - Mudmaster 3.1.3.13
Trithalos - The newer version doesn't allow Winamp controls and is buggy. You can get that on my site, too.
Rinor - Regardless of what client, get one with chat.
Trithalos - hunter.theyeti.org/Mudmaster2000.zip (case sensitive)
Trithalos - Absolutely. Chat is essential.
Trithalos - Well for any group related activity, you can get my combat reps and backstab reps too if you want. http://hunter.theyeti.org/agbs.txt and combat.txt
Trithalos - I'm proud to say its probably the most widely used script on Med
Rinor - I'll add a link to the 3v3 fgs log and those scripts.
Trithalos - Nod
Rinor - Well I think I've taken enough of your time today.
Trithalos - So yeah, view the game as a GAME. A learning experience and have fun with it.
Trithalos - Otherwise you'll be very upset with how you spent your time later on.
Trithalos - Np, thanks for making me feel like I have something important to say!
Rinor - You did all the grunt work! That cpk brawl in the middle is funny, too
Rinor - "Excuse me while I go cpk some people".
Trithalos - Haha
Trithalos - Yeah, hard to beat that for 'badass' effect.
Rinor - Nods, proof right there.
Rinor - Thanks for your time.
And that concludes the third and final part of the interview with Trithalos. Many thanks to him for giving me the time and insight into his and the game's history. I hope you found the series and the player behind them as interesting as I did.
Comments
Elindel Sunday, 03.2.08 @ 20:31pm dogmoth Thursday, 06.26.08 @ 15:32pm hazelrah Friday, 06.27.08 @ 01:46am