CLOK BBS

When a player is dead and he attempts to use the chat or question channels, he is accused by the game of being a cheater and that he can't tell other players where his corpse is.

This response from the game ceased to be accurate and relevant about two years ago.
Now the game code itself tells other players where his corpse is.

I think this whole experience would be totally confusing to a newbie dead for the first time and not knowing what really to expect.

I cannot see any current value in denying dead characters access to the chat channel much less the question channel.
Abuse of these channels is already routinely dealt with. Currently, very little abuse is possible given the fact that the location of death is being broadcast anyway. A player giving out ic information here can be dealt with as easily as any other player giving out ic information over these channels in any other circumstance. I can get behind denying access to Tells while dead because that is harder to moderate.

At the very lest please take away the accusing and obsolete text when a dead character attempts chat or question, replacing it with the current information that looking at the bell reveals the location of your corpse to characters with the appropriate tuning crystal, and if they sense twinges that means someone is signalling a rescue intention.

In addition, please consider restoring access to Chat or at least Question to the dead, as their initial encounters with death must be very dark and frustrating to new players. I am sure we have along the way lost rookie players because of it.

I do agree with this. While maybe not chat, at least question.

I'll give you a scenario from last year, which prompted my request that Chat be disabled while someone is dead:

Newbie dies. They start complaining on Chat. They think that because a group of us is talking on that channel, nobody is looking for them, so they depart.

Another scenario is that someone spills that they are looking for a certain someone on Chat and the newbie departs because they don't want to deal with said character.

I'd usually agree that this sort of thing could be controlled, we can't count on the GMs catching everything, and that's not their fault. They've got things to do and other matters to attend to. There could possibly be a nice prompting upon dying for the first time explaining some OOC things, like pulses in addition to the notice that one can look at the bell or depart.

I'm on the fence about the Question channel. I wanted, even as a non-newbie, to ask something or answer someone's question and was unable to for being dead for a long period of time. Unfortunately, this, too, could be and has been abused in the past.

I think the thing after you look at the bell, the (This is a step toward the new death mechanics), could stand to be removed. That particular mechanic is fairly solid, if not complete, and hasn't been new for a while. It also makes one wonder if it's something not quite completed if you don't know the story behind it. Plus, the death mechanics haven't been in the spotlight for a long time now, so who knows how long it could be before the rest are finished and implemented.

jilliana wrote:I'll give you a scenario from last year, which prompted my request that Chat be disabled while someone is dead:

Newbie dies. They start complaining on Chat. They think that because a group of us is talking on that channel, nobody is looking for them, so they depart.

Really? Huh. I have been playing for years, and am unable to recall a time when chat was possible while dead.

jilliana wrote:I'll give you a scenario from last year, which prompted my request that Chat be disabled while someone is dead:

Newbie dies. They start complaining on Chat. They think that because a group of us is talking on that channel, nobody is looking for them, so they depart.

Another scenario is that someone spills that they are looking for a certain someone on Chat and the newbie departs because they don't want to deal with said character.

They depart.

That should not be our main concern, Jill. What should take priority is the new player who doesn't type Depart, instead they type Quit and don't come back.

jilliana wrote:
I'm on the fence about the Question channel. I wanted, even as a non-newbie, to ask something or answer someone's question and was unable to for being dead for a long period of time. Unfortunately, this, too, could be and has been abused in the past.

My point is that on occasion, the Question and Chat channels do get abused from time to time by alive characters...but what is so unique about being in the Void
that the risk of abuse there is insufferable to us, and we would rather lose a new person than risk letting him ask a question there? What is the risk there compared to letting him ask a question while alive?

If you want to know the risk associate with not letting them Question, and not providing correct information while in the Void, go into the crypts of Shadgard or Mistral Lake...there you will see the corpses of people who never came back to CLOK while in the death experience.

I think the thing after you look at the bell, the (This is a step toward the new death mechanics), could stand to be removed.

The death system as a whole in CLOK is far from complete. Sadly, our visions for it are just too grand to put into text form. Every time we try we just feel like we're not doing it justice.

I'm on the fence over the whole chat/question thing too. I'd almost rather deal with "cheaters" on a case-by-case basis than just assume that everyone is going to do it. For now, I've opened it up to QUESTION, chat is still disabled, as you can't even see chats while dead, but you can see questions.

Plus one. I've always wanted to have question be opened up so I could at least answer people while dead.

That's fair. :)

Jirato wrote:

I think the thing after you look at the bell, the (This is a step toward the new death mechanics), could stand to be removed.

The death system as a whole in CLOK is far from complete. Sadly, our visions for it are just too grand to put into text form. Every time we try we just feel like we're not doing it justice.

I'm on the fence over the whole chat/question thing too. I'd almost rather deal with "cheaters" on a case-by-case basis than just assume that everyone is going to do it. For now, I've opened it up to QUESTION, chat is still disabled, as you can't even see chats while dead, but you can see questions.

Right now, my character is dead and I have tried to use Question, but the game still is calling me a cheater. Question is not working.

Kent wrote:

Jirato wrote:

I think the thing after you look at the bell, the (This is a step toward the new death mechanics), could stand to be removed.

The death system as a whole in CLOK is far from complete. Sadly, our visions for it are just too grand to put into text form. Every time we try we just feel like we're not doing it justice.

I'm on the fence over the whole chat/question thing too. I'd almost rather deal with "cheaters" on a case-by-case basis than just assume that everyone is going to do it. For now, I've opened it up to QUESTION, chat is still disabled, as you can't even see chats while dead, but you can see questions.

Right now, my character is dead and I have tried to use Question, but the game still is calling me a cheater. Question is not working.

I'll look into it, it's supposed to let you.