SETH

[maxum]

Been thinking a bit about resurrecting SETH in some form or other.
Really of two minds on this one.
On one hand I can see the need for some form of support, as the low player numbers make it really hard for casuals to have fun as a non-casting class. Aside from balance issues, it is really hard to enjoy playing as a Barb solo.
On the other hand, it is potentially a bucket load of work that will end up going nowhere.
I am going to ignore the newbie helper argument as true newbies should be looking for a more active mud with immortal support, and people familiar with muds in general should be able to survive on Shadowdale to some degree.

SETH should be usable as support, but not as a free mana pool, casting spells already known, and should probably scale back on usability based on classes and number of players online.

I would potentially look at rolling a seth-type char as Mu/Cl and levelling over time, adding in bot functionality as levels increase. The core would be written in Python and would be easily executable from either the server or any other platform.

[unicus]

SETH has been on my project list for a long time. I have copies of his code thru multiple versions and even into NOAH (the planned replacement that Uma was working on)

Originally SETH was a replacement for Qstodian. Qstodian imparted newbie info and tips, gave tours of nearby newbie areas, gave map information (not walkpaths), answered questions, sparked conversations in Commons, cast some low level protections and heals on newbies, did emergency summons to lower levels on a timer, etc. SETH grew and grew until it became a 50-level grouper to selected people and there was even talk of immorting him. It also grew to the point that it took as much CPU to run SETH as it did to run the MUD itself.

If I ever got around to redoing SETH it would be back to a newbie helper. More interaction and response.

Also I was going to make more use of the load/unload options in TinTin++ which allows hot-swapping variables while it is logged in and running. Doing that would lower the system requirements drastically. Also it would allow swapping out response lines without increasing arrays. Things on the mud such as weather, time, holidays, who is on, etc could react by swapping out conversational responses appropriately. It would even allow for moods. Breaking SETH down into many load files could provide maximum variety without needing thousands of response choices to be always loaded in memory. (I love adding RANDOMs to anything)

[marla]

I always loved Seth. He would do weird socials from time to time, which made me want to hang out in common even more!

[unicus]

I forgot to mention that if I rewrote SETH I would also reinstate that higher levels would have to pay, and that everyone would have to include "please" in their requests. Not to mention a timer.

The continued "bringing back seth would make the mud seem friendlier" does not completely ring true to me when I see the player bots generating continual close together shouts of SUMMON

[drongo]

If Seth receives a request to summon using shout, how is he supposed to get payment in advance for his services? He's just a normal char - can't beat money out later.

[unicus]

On summon that would be true.
Altho he could easily keep a list of people who have stiffed him on the payment after they were summoned.

[lennya]

If he's hard coded, he can just make the mud extract the money. Kinda like joining the Shadows of the City.
And I know from experience that a player can go negative money, which he or she will want to solve before renting out.

[unicus]

Seth is not coded into the mud.
He is actually a bot running on TinTin/Zmud code as if he was another player.