Dispensary changes discussion

[Pandip]

This was touched upon in Discord and I think it would do to voice opinions on the forums instead of having them lost to the Discord void.

As it stands, the issue with the dispensary seems to be that it's mostly a matter of being the sneaky invis person to get to the loot bag first and run off with it. Frequently, people  who "win" the brawl do not end up with the spoils.

I would suggest a colored message whenever someone takes the package, and for it to be a heavy item that can only be used outside of combat to "open" the spoils. This would, ideally, make it more prominently clear who has the spoils and put a target on their back should they try to run off with it.

[TheShadow]

I should comment, being near the dispensary right now dispels you of invisibility. Maybe adding a second script to throw 'Sparks of Revelation' throwables?

[Anonymous Lemur]

A pick able lock and an area of effect trap on the dispensary like a moderate fire/sonic trap would probably go a long way.  Alternatively having the box only open through a dialogue answering a series of randomized lore questions with the options being in random order so as to prevent people who've done it before opening it too hastily.

[Miscellanious]

Dialogue option sounds good, as you can't do it in combat. Lore questions seems bad , as new players can easily get shafted on this part.

[Anonymous Lemur]

Dialogue option sounds good, as you can't do it in combat. Lore questions seems bad , as new players can easily get shafted on this part.

A new player won't be alone and if the dialogue is just mashing 1, it might as well not exist, since you only get into combat by being attacked or attacking someone recently, so somebody in stealth could easily stealth in, mash 1 on the num key and be done before anybody can stop them.

[Thekangaroo]

I personally like the free-for all nature of it. It gives a really chaotic feeding frenzy vibe and allows the little-guy solo players a chance at the pickings rather than reserving it for factions to fight over.

[HighGround]

I love the idea of a dialogue box.

[Cruzel]

It can be scripted to break stealth/invis for sure, maybe play an uninterruptible full round "looting" animation in plain view of everyone else.

Maybe it could even be scripted so that if ANYONE immediately nearby is in combat, the lootable thing remains locked. (Not sure how I feel about that one though.)


I love the idea of a free-for-all smashfest, but consequence-free ninja looting is something that takes away from the experience for everyone else, for sure.  But it should be clear who is taking the loot, always.

[Thekangaroo]

I'm all for a message popping up saying something along the line of "takes from the dispensary " over players heads when they loot it. Maybe even have a pickpocket check for stealthed players to avoid the message and being revealed?

[Astegard]

Maybe it can be like a hold the point x rounds with overhead countdown before you can claim it?

This would give others time to intervene and would make organized attempts to take it more viable.

I kind of like the element that it can be swiped by someone though, especially considering the setting.

[Anecdotes and Annotations]

This would be the only time I would advocate for the spammy count down script.

Three persons not in combat standing in an area with the count down to unlock being 1 minute.  Once unlocked the packaged would be a heavy crate that cast light and invisibility purge and spark of revelation on the carrier.

Obviously the people who are subdued in these areas should move out of it to avoid it unlocking.

[bobofwestoregonusa]

Honestly, just have the dispensery do the following to avoid stealth scumming:

Break all stealth/invisibility
Dispell ALL buffs

That way you can really only take from it safely when the combat is OVER

[Miscellanious]

Dispelling all buffs is rediculous - a lot of pvp is based /Around/ the dispenserary already.

Have a dialog box with a timed delay, dispel invisibility (it already does this) and Spark of revelation on the dispenserary (Dialog box) . Problem solved.

No lore questions, full dispel, whatever else needed.

[Cruzel]

Here you go.

Just shove this in the OnUsed()  script of the dispensary, set it to be locked by default.  With this script, no one can open it if anyone nearby is fighting.
Anyone who tries to open it will be unstealthed and dispelled of invis effects.

Ideally, stick a Timer variable on the dispensary when it spawns, so  no one can unlock it for X seconds until it's been around for X seconds.

[hide]
void Unstealth(object oObject)
{

SetActionMode(oObject, ACTION_MODE_STEALTH, 0); // simple unstealth

// now look for invisibility and dispel it with flair:
effect eEffect = GetFirstEffect(oObject);
        while (GetEffectType(eEffect) != EFFECT_TYPE_INVALIDEFFECT)
           {
             if ((GetEffectType(eEffect) == EFFECT_TYPE_INVISIBILITY) | (GetEffectType(eEffect) == EFFECT_TYPE_IMPROVEDINVISIBILITY) )
                 {
                   RemoveEffect(oObject, eEffect);
                   ApplyEffectToObject(DURATION_TYPE_INSTANT, EffectVisualEffect(VFX_FNF_DISPEL), oObject);
                  // SendMessageToPC(oObject, "Debug. Dispelling INVIS!"); 
                    return;

                 }
                 eEffect = GetNextEffect(oObject);
           }



}

void main()
{
object oPC     = GetLastUsedBy();
object oCheck;
object oBox    = OBJECT_SELF;
int    nCombat = 0;
int    nTimer  = GetLocalInt(oBox, "nLockTimer");

if (nTimer >=1)
{
Unstealth(oPC);
SendMessageToPC(oPC, "The lid won't budge you just make a lot of noise.");
return;
}

//Check if we're locked. If we're locked, we check to see if anyone nearby is in combat.
// Anyone in combat, and the box stays locked. No ninja looters!
if (GetLocked(oBox) == TRUE)
{
      oCheck = GetFirstObjectInShape(SHAPE_SPHERE, 10.0, GetLocation(oBox)) ;
     while (oCheck != OBJECT_INVALID)
        {
           if (GetIsInCombat(oCheck) == TRUE)
              {
               nCombat = 1;
               SendMessageToPC(oPC, "Someone is fighting, the lid won't budge and you make a lot of noise trying to open this.");// sub with better writing pls
               Unstealth(oPC);
               return;  //No need to check for more dudes if someone is fighting. End script.
              }

             oCheck = GetNextObjectInShape(SHAPE_SPHERE, 10.0, GetLocation(oBox));
        }
       // if nobody tripped the combat check we should be good to open it.
     //SendMessageToPC(oPC, "Debug. No one in Combat. Unlock!");
    // INSERT TIMER CHECK HERE
   SetLocked(oBox, 0);
       SendMessageToPC(oPC, "With relative calm nearby, you make a lot of noise trying, but eventually move the lid");// sub with better writing pls
       Unstealth(oPC);
       return;
}
else
{
     //  SendMessageToPC(oPC, "Debug. Chest already unlocked.");
       Unstealth(oPC);
       SendMessageToPC(oPC, "With relative calm nearby, you make a lot of noise as the lid moves.");// sub with better writing pls

}

}[/hide]

[Random_White_Guy]

I dislike EFU's constant anti-burglary vibe. Sneaking in while everyone is beating the shit out of each other is cool because if you do get caught you're gonna get slapped hard. It's a huge risk. That's why it's a FREE for ALL typically.

If it's changed to A PC who is trying to sneak in who gets debuffed or unbroken of stealth is going to get fucking demolished by the melee PC or the selfbuff caster PC or etc in 2 seconds.  PCs who are dedicated to stealth have to invest a lot of feats, a lot of skills, and etc sacrificing mechanical benefits like saves, combat capabiltiies, etc. There's plenty of detection classes out there. Monk, ranger, bard, I mean even Barbarian gets listening as a class skill.

Not everything in EFU has to be catered towards the melee or caster buff up and crush. Sometimes there's merit to discretion, subterfuge, and sneaking around.

There's scarecly few chances to actually RP playing a scout because people rush ahead. There's few instances of open lock being of any use since PCs will either multiclass crossclass it or use stone summons. There's few chacnes to do disarming of traps because people will just crabstep around and metagame them or tell everyone to "stick to the walls".

One of my favorite dispensery events was a non stealthed, non buffed PC just walking up and swiping while everyone chased around a few casters.

Yet I don't think it's THE APOCALYPSE for a sneaking PC to act sneaky and swipe some of the free for all goods.