auto retirement

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Ignatius
Giant Long-Eared Bat
Posts: 34
Joined: Sun 31.03.2013, 12:17

auto retirement

Post by Ignatius » Sun 27.07.2014, 01:25

I have a couple of questions with regards to killing morgoth:

My ignatius character kinged as a result from being in a party while Morgoth was killed. Does that mean he will also auto retire soon? If so, could someone tell me how much time I have left on him? Second question: I have heard that if you kill Morgy while being under lvl 40, you do not get the King title. If you do this, are you still forced into auto-retirement?

Ignatius
Giant Long-Eared Bat
Posts: 34
Joined: Sun 31.03.2013, 12:17

Re: auto retirement

Post by Ignatius » Sun 27.07.2014, 04:43

I dug around the source code:
/* Nothing left, game over... */
for (i = 1; i <= NumPlayers; i++)
{
q_ptr = Players;
/* Make everyone in the game in the same party on the
* same level greater than or equal to level 40 total
* winners.
*/
if ((((p_ptr->party) && (q_ptr->party == p_ptr->party)) ||
(q_ptr == p_ptr) ) && q_ptr->lev >= 40 && p_ptr->dun_depth == q_ptr->dun_depth)
{
/* Total winner */
q_ptr->total_winner = TRUE;

/* Redraw the "title" */
q_ptr->redraw |= (PR_TITLE);

/* Congratulations */
msg_print(i, "*** CONGRATULATIONS ***");
msg_print(i, "You have won the game!");
msg_print(i, "You may retire (commit suicide) when you are ready.");

/* Set his retire_timer if neccecary */
if (cfg_retire_timer >= 0)
{
q_ptr->retire_timer = cfg_retire_timer;
}
}
}
/* Hack -- instantly retire any new winners if neccecary */
if (cfg_retire_timer == 0)
{
for (i = 1; i <= NumPlayers; i++)
{
p_ptr = Players;
if (p_ptr->total_winner)
do_cmd_suicide(i);
}
}

So it seems like anyone who gets the KING title has his auto-retirement timer set. On the other hand it seems that if you kill morgy at a lvl under 40, then you can continue playing indefinately...

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Warrior
Evil Iggy
Posts: 667
Joined: Sat 26.10.2002, 15:00
Location: Norway
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Re: auto retirement

Post by Warrior » Sun 27.07.2014, 22:46

Good catch. Pretty sure that loophole wasn't intended... Then again, lots of this code was written in a different time, when people weren't as skilled (and creative) as they are now. But, as players change, so should the code.

I'm going to write some words about the background for auto retirement and some thoughts about what can be done about it.

If I recall correctly, there were basically three reasons for the auto-retire. One was to recycle artifacts, the second was to recycle houses and the third was to bring the character out of the economy. Having a bunch of advanced level 50's with infinite amounts of great gear for sale is no good. Prices will drop and severely affect the difficulty of the game, making it easier. Which in turn leads to a game that is significantly less enjoyable for many players. Another reason, which is considerably less "practical"... is that when / if you win, that's it, you're done, you succeeded. You can (and should) retire to a warm, sunny climate. I have no problem in seeing how some players disagree with this view however.

In the next version we will introduce house building, which will act as a great money sink, as well as eliminate the housing shortage (at least for those high level characters we're talking about here). With house building I expect that level 50's will be spending most their money on expanding their houses, and as such money would begin to have value for them again. Which in turn would (hopefully) prevent them from selling unlimited amounts of great items for minimum price. That leaves us with winners hoarding artifacts as the only practical reason to forcefully retire them. And I'm sure we could come up with some alternative solution for those players who'd prefer to play on, forever. Perhaps we could replace artifacts with similar ego items or introduce a new type of "replacement" artifacts.

In the Wish List / Think Tank area of the forums we have a subforum called "New MAngband Items". My original plan for these items were that they should have the potential to "replace" any of the high end artifacts. Now, to solve the issue of "what to do with the artifacts of players that win", I'm thinking that this could be a solution. Today, many of the high level characters will be more excited about finding a perfect orcish avari shield than finding a top artifact. If they're more excited about the artifact, it is usually because there is no ego item that comes close. So, replacing an artifact with a perfect combination of base / ego item should hopefully give a certain "cool" factor that could make it easier to accept that the artifacts should return to the game and help another player achieve what they have. I suspect that for most players, winning would be the "easiest" way to get their hands on these items.
-- Mangband Project Team Member

Ignatius
Giant Long-Eared Bat
Posts: 34
Joined: Sun 31.03.2013, 12:17

Re: auto retirement

Post by Ignatius » Mon 28.07.2014, 00:16

Artifact hording is a major problem, and auto-retirement has not fixed that at all on the current server. Hardly anyone plays these days, even though almost all of the arts are out of circulation. Of the people who do play, they hardly have any artifacts. Disclaimer: I have 1 artifact pick of erebor. (And Grond, which really isn't an art, more of a trohpy, as it drops each time Morgy is killed even if there are some in game already. In fact, one of the reasons i wanted to get a priest to kill morgy and not auto retire was to have a chance to some good items that can act as art replacements: +2 +2 orcish avari, some pdsms, esp bows/+2 kollas

In my time on the server, Ive never seen a pdsm sell for less than 10m, and plenty have been sold/bought at that price. Of course Im always looking to get a +17 or better speed ring (currently, ive found 2 16s, and 1 15.

I essentially wanted to give back to the server all the stuff that i took from it. I think Ive lost 5-6 pdsms which i bought (almost all of them from Domiano). This game is very difficult for newish people without alot of stuff available in player shops and without any arts.

PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Re: auto retirement

Post by PowerWyrm » Fri 22.08.2014, 11:52

I just came back from holidays and saw "Valon, level 38, killed by the Crown", wondering what the hell happened. Indeed, killing Morgoth at level less than 40 doesn't tag you as "winner". If nobody can think of a reason why, I would see that as a bug... if you managed to "kill" Morgoth, whatever your level was, you should be awarded the title (and of course be autoretired). Of course, the level requirement should be maintained for party members for obvious reasons...

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