Eternal Tombs To Feature Live Dungeon Masters Changing Things Up in the Dynamic Fantasy MMORPG | MMO

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Eternal Tombs To Feature Live Dungeon Masters Changing Things Up in the Dynamic Fantasy MMORPG | MMORPG.com

Triune Studios has officially lifted the lid on Eternal Tombs with the premiere of the official reveal trailer for the independent MMORPG-run by live dungeon masters.

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LamiaCritter

All this tells me is that there's too big a risk of 'dungeon masters' who will have bad days, or just be naturally spiteful and will actively work to screw over players and make them miserable.

Cactus_LFRez

The use of DMs does sound really unique and could be really fun.

I do wonder though if they can keep up with it if the game does take off.
Maybe you could win the ability to be DM for a day or something like that.

Sovrath

the use of dungeon masters is something that has been asked for from many players. If they can pull it off that would be a feat.

Having said that, once again, what a horrible name for a land: "Mythere!"

Or however they spell it. ugh.

OG_Solareus

horrible idea. The ability of humans not to be impartial, is impossible.

Sovrath

OG_Solareus said:

horrible idea. The ability of humans not to be impartial, is impossible.

Well, if they were more like actors, playing a role then it could be done. Especially if they had coded rules.

If a set of players with x levels and y gear entered a dungeon the dungeon master could spawn 17 dragons. The game interface might allow them only a certain set of enemies and a certain amount.

This could easily be done.

OG_Solareus

Sovrath said:

OG_Solareus said:

horrible idea. The ability of humans not to be impartial, is impossible.

Well, if they were more like actors, playing a role then it could be done. Especially if they had coded rules.



If a set of players with x levels and y gear entered a dungeon the dungeon master could spawn 17 dragons. The game interface might allow them only a certain set of enemies and a certain amount.



This could easily be done.

nope.

ValdemarJ

If there aren't problems with partiality and consistency, then I'll be surprised.

Iselin

Asheron's Call had this to some extent 24 years ago although they were mostly hands-off and just manually turned events on and off.

I don't expect much more than that here since a tabletop-style DM would be almost impossible to do with thousands of players.

Slapshot1188

Two of the best experiences I have had were with Live DMs in MMORPGS.  The first was on a private UO server where the host and team had developed a story and took control of the NPCs.   The second was Shadowbane where the GMs would again create some story and NPCs and even launch full scale attacks against cities.  I remember swearing allegiance to a 100 ft tall demon and joining his side.  It was glorious.  We lost in the end.  But great fun!

foppotee

Decades ago & briefly back in EQ's heyday they had a curated server forget the name which had live GMs. I played on it for 3+ months & it was great fun but back then more expensive than the normal subscription price of course & overall not worth the price but still had fun with their "escorted tours" & "live events".

cheyane

Mathew Mercer is the dream DM. 

Scot

Iselin said:

Asheron's Call had this to some extent 24 years ago although they were mostly hands-off and just manually turned events on and off.

I don't expect much more than that here since a tabletop-style DM would be almost impossible to do with thousands of players.

AC was the best experience I have seen of "regular" DM events, this does seem far more complex, good luck to them though.

Scot

cheyane said:

Mathew Mercer is the dream DM. 

Thing is, you are going to have DM's seen as not so good for one reason or another. I can see guilds putting of a run until a "good" DM comes along.

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Sovrath

OG_Solareus said:

Sovrath said:

OG_Solareus said:

horrible idea. The ability of humans not to be impartial, is impossible.

Well, if they were more like actors, playing a role then it could be done. Especially if they had coded rules.



If a set of players with x levels and y gear entered a dungeon the dungeon master could spawn 17 dragons. The game interface might allow them only a certain set of enemies and a certain amount.



This could easily be done.

nope.

I'm going to say "yup."

Especially as Iselin has pointed out that it's probably just dungeon masters  queuing events.

There are professional people out there who take their jobs very seriously. I've thought of  this  myself and quite frankly I'd hire  good  customer service people who want to do something different. I know my company employs excellent  customer service people, real professionals.

I  bet some of them would  love to have a more interactive customer service experience.

MadBomber13

Slapshot1188 said:

Two of the best experiences I have had were with Live DMs in MMORPGS.  The first was on a private UO server where the host and team had developed a story and took control of the NPCs.   The second was Shadowbane where the GMs would again create some story and NPCs and even launch full scale attacks against cities.  I remember swearing allegiance to a 100 ft tall demon and joining his side.  It was glorious.  We lost in the end.  But great fun!

Was there as well. Good times, good times...  (For the Shadowbane event) 

Sovrath

Scot said:

cheyane said:

Mathew Mercer is the dream DM. 

Thing is, you are going to have DM's seen as not so good for one reason or another. I can see guilds putting of a run until a "good" DM comes along.

Or make  it so that the Dungeon Masters who run the events/dungeons, "whatever" are anonymous.

Sovrath

DarkZorvanReturns said:

Live DM's is a nice novelty until there aren't any left. So when the last DM is gone, so is the game.

Why wouldn't they just hire  more?

ShinyFlygon

foppotee said:

Decades ago & briefly back in EQ's heyday they had a curated server forget the name which had live GMs. I played on it for 3+ months & it was great fun but back then more expensive than the normal subscription price of course & overall not worth the price but still had fun with their "escorted tours" & "live events".

All EQ servers had live GMs and events before that, along with volunteer Guides to help them out. It was a big, well-organized program, but prone to corruption, which is why they switched to the paid-employees-only version on a premium server.

Ultimately, this sort of thing just turns into a big, dumb, crowded cluster-F because everyone on the server always shows up hoping for special loot. It's been done many times on many different games, and it always turns out the same. You can never hire enough GMs to give that many players the attention they are hoping for.

If you want this level of curated content, you need to play a TTRPG with a small group on roll20 or TaleSpire or even Tabletop Simulator (assuming you can't get together in person).

Scot

ShinyFlygon said:

foppotee said:

Decades ago & briefly back in EQ's heyday they had a curated server forget the name which had live GMs. I played on it for 3+ months & it was great fun but back then more expensive than the normal subscription price of course & overall not worth the price but still had fun with their "escorted tours" & "live events".

All EQ servers had live GMs and events before that, along with volunteer Guides to help them out. It was a big, well-organized program, but prone to corruption, which is why they switched to the paid-employees-only version on a premium server.

Ultimately, this sort of thing just turns into a big, dumb, crowded cluster-F because everyone on the server always shows up hoping for special loot. It's been done many times on many different games, and it always turns out the same. You can never hire enough GMs to give that many players the attention they are hoping for.

If you want this level of curated content, you need to play a TTRPG with a small group on roll20 or TaleSpire or even Tabletop Simulator (assuming you can't get together in person).

There are different ways of doing GM events they can be over populated gift events, but I think if managed correctly they could do something different. Being regular occurrences and divorcing the GM as much as possible, do the players even have to know who the GM is? Not allowing the GM to dish out gifts is an obvious one, having a system in place that allows GM reward through achievement would be key.

No system you could come up with is going to be full proof against mistakes and "corruption" but then they never are. You sound like a tabletop player, so you should know that sometimes GM's can't help themselves when it comes to favouring best mates. We are all human after all.