More possible opportunities for diplomacy in-game?

[Lucidity]

Hello everyone,

An observation I've made since I've been back is that there don't seem to be too many attempts to use diplomacy on the server.. I realize that it would obviously work and make sense with PC-to-PC interaction, but outside of that, basically PC-on-environment there seems to be no real usage of diplomacy (or at least from what I've seen.. I have a feeling I'm wrong, but could anyone provide examples so I could go find it on the server?).

I had an idea that if diplomacy or bluff could be implemented more into PvE interactions, it may help curb attempts on new player's temptations to go out and hack n' slash until their capped level. I'm going to be introducing a friend of mine to the server and I thought that more skill interactions like those just might make it more user-friendly for unconventional roleplayers like him, at the least.

Any thoughts?

[Jonel]

It is mostly used during DM events, but other then that I don't think there is many NPCs that you can talk to that Deplomacy would be very much use for anyway.

Love,

~Syne

[greypawn]

You could always request players to make a roll. Most are cool about that. I do get annoyed when everybody wants to keep on counter rolling till they win. At some point, you need to move on pass the game mechanics and play the role - win or lose. In events if you'd like to make a roll then you could always just request one. Different DMs run their events differently in my experience.

[Su Chan]

I would love more diplomacy. My current character is all about talking and persuasion. She has zero combat skills.

Speaking with NPCs, there doesn't seem to be opportunity there although I am a newbie and have not been around much.

With PC's, I'm reluctant to 'force' a position on them and rely on roleplaying, but then how do I apply my character's abilities without rollplaying?

[Lucidity]

I'm with Su Chan on this one. I personally took feats that added more towards my skill of persuasion and charisma, since I figured that not only would I be using this with other players, but possibly in more dialogue since the quests are pretty decently scripted and set up.

Just to clarify too, I'm not complaining. Just figured it could add another degree of complexity besides the "Pick up quest - kill stuff - pick up stuff - turn in quest - accept or decline shinies" quests that are around.

[Vaelek]

Yeah, you're going to be real disappointed real fast if you intended your persuasion skills to add up in PvE instances.

That said though, I've been in dozens of events where knowledge skills and diplomacy/intimidate have been a noticeable and very pleasing addition to my character's interactions.
Don't be afraid to pump out the odd Diplomacy or Intimidate roll if you think the situation warrants it in dialogue.

A successful roll doesn't dictate how a character is going to respond, and it really shouldn't be as dreaded as some players make it out to be.

[DM_Acorn]

There are some new quest ideas in the works and you can bet they aren't your typical hack and gather type quests.

I guess what I mean to say is that, I think the Devs here are always trying to find ways to showcase non-combat skills. We have implemented climb and balance checks. We have merchants and some quests that require knowledge, bluff, or other int based skills. Granted those are one shot deals.

Players are often open to making checks BUT if you fail, you had better roll with it. It never guaranties that a play will react the way you want but they should at least take it into account.

I have been in situations where one character is evil but might not be pegged as evil with available IG knowledge and there has been PHENOMINAL RP because Mr. Goody went along with Mistress Devious because she made a bluff check. So I fully support this! THIS is A WIN. Killing Mistress Devious because she is evil is NOT the win. I think most folks I have interacted with lately understand this and the server is quite good because of this.

If you want to parley with the lizards in sestra... there is absolutely NO way we could script that. But the DM team is awesome with requests like the following: "He DM_X I think the lizards in sestra are unlawfully persecuted. I want to go talk to them and find out why they are attacked and how they feel about it. Maybe I can get folks them to stop fighting."

Boy howdy that is just a request for FUN, at least in my mind.

Now you make good suggestion, but it leaves the question; what is it you want? We know you want to use diplomacy, bluff, intimidate etc. My question for you is this; how do you want to use it? To what end? What do you want it to influence? Have any examples of diplomacy in use. Bluff checks for NPCs, which NPCs? and why? Answering these questions will be far more constructive than simply saying I want more diplomacy checks.

[Kaeldorn]

There are a couple of quests in the game that already do use persuasion skill checks (diplomacy, bluff, intimidate and even sense motive), but they're few and far between. And, as has been said, they're a one shot deal.

Players are often open to making checks BUT if you fail, you had better roll with it.

One thing that's kind of important to note here is that if you 'fail', you shouldn't necessarily be any worse off than someone who didn't roll at all. If you don't try to be persuasive (i.e. you don't roll), you're not any more 'safe' from failing in social encounters than if you roll poorly. It's also the total score that matters. So if you have a good base score and roll a 2, you might still get some of your point across and might not fail at all. That's what DC's are for, even if they're just rough estimates

[Root]

Would be cool if it was possible to target an enemy, then roll Diplomacy from the skill list, and cause them to cease being hostile for a while.

Of course, only working with humanoid enemies that are likely to listen to such.

[Kaeldorn]

Such mechanics tend to be easy to exploit.. For instance, think of a group of enemies.. you 'diplomacy' all the encounter but one guy, and kill them off one by one. Or you use diplomacy to make an entire encounter non-hostile, and then go heal and buff right in front of their faces only to smash them in half a minute later.

That's not even mentioning the potential bugs/issues inherent to uncontrolled messing with factions.

It's a nice concept, but unfortunately there are simply too many loopholes. That said, it's still the intention as Acorn said to make skills generally more useful in PvE encounters. I can't give a time frame indicating when this will be realised, however.