dlc3007:Here's the abuse part. Kohs and I make a deal where we name the other person in our wills. I die and all my stuff goes to Kohs. I create a new character and he gives all my stuff back to me. Same thing happens if he dies.
Again, I've lost my character, but I just have to come up with a new name and start working my skills back. I still am fully equiped and that recovery is much easier.
*record scratch*
since there are no "skills" in Faith, you won't really have to start working them back.
and this abuse of Wills concerns me a good deal.
in my opinion, one of the tenets of playing your Faithless character is that you are playing in "hardcore" mode.
if he dies, he dies.
i wouldn't want to see players bypassing that.
it would lessen the meaningfulness of death for the Faithless character.
i don't think i'd like to see any sort of temporary lock on creating a new Faithless character either.
when someone's Faithless character dies, they shouldn't have to wait to play again.
they should be able to create a new character and jump right back into the Faith universe.
of course this new character shouldn't have any of the social advancements or rankings achieved by the old one.
it's a completely new character and should be viewed as such.
if my first Faithless character, Kohs, becomes the senior adviser to the Capo of the Rutinelli crime family, and he dies.
then my new Faithless character, Carlo, would not automatically become the new senior adviser.
so why then should any of Kohs' stuff go to Carlo?
if Kohs had an expensive Giovanelli sharpshooter rifle, he likely earned that item.
Carlo is new to the Faith universe, he hasn't earned anything yet.
if Carlo is given that Giovanelli rifle, he will have gained a distinct advantage over all other newly created Faithless characters (especially those created by new players).
if we allow players to pass along their stuff from one Faithless character to their next, the more established players will always have that advantage over new players.
this is something which has always bothered me in MMOs, and i feel we should try to avoid it as best as we can.
on the other hand, would that be too harsh a penalty? would it drive estabished players away?
perhaps.
there are other factors to consider though.
not every character is going to have a place of residency where they would be storing their stuff.
i would imagine by the very nature of the Faith universe, that many Faithless characters who get themselves into lethal situations would not possess very much. most would travel with what they own.
not every character is going to have a bank account either.
also, if there is a lawful "last will and testament" system implemented, a player should, as Cael said, "lodge official documents to detail your bequests or have them ignored".
this would mean that lodging official documents would cost the character money.
it would also mean taking an inventory of what would be left.
if you left all your belongings to me, i would have to consent to taking all of your stuff. this would mean i would need a place to store them.
if you owned your house, then that would go to me as well, and i could keep it all there. but if you didn't the bank would likely take the house back and force me to store my newly aquired stuff elsewhere.
also to consider, where your Faithless character died, and where your new Faithless character enters the Faith universe.
the universe is large, and it might take some time for the news of your death to arrive to the proper authorities.
it also might take some time for your new Faithless character to arrive to where i am, or where your former character's stuff is.
and once you arrived, would i simply be able to hand your house and stuff over to you?
legally, it would be mine still. at least the house and property. i would be paying taxes on the house and property.
if i were to transfer ownership back to you, that would cost money for lodging more official documents, as well as take time for those documents to be registered.
hmm...
i'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, if we allow that sort of thing, a "last will and testament" type of system. and we make it the right amount of complicated, that we might prevent players from gaming the system and bypassing our intents.
it shouldn't be overly complicated.
but there should be costs, time, and legal issues to consider. generally, it should require some sort of effort.
it shouldn't be a monumental effort, but it shouldn't be too easy either.
lodging official documents with a cost attached. having those documents take a certain amount of time to be processed. having to take an inventory of all items which will be passed on. having factors like taxation on property, as well as the great distances to travel.
all of that should add up to a decent level of complication.
i'll continue to think on this issue.